Tennessee native empowers global relations

Published Oct. 21, 2010
By Mr. Alan Black
AFCENT Public Affairs

JORDAN -- It's this Tennessee native's job to keep the power going round-the-clock at a small American military compound in the country of Jordan.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Josh R. Arnett, a graduate of Daniel Boone High School in Elizabethton, TN, is in Azraq, Jordan for two weeks participating in an annual air meet hosted by the Royal Jordanian Air Force. Sergeant Arnett, a power production craftsman in the U.S. Air Force, has the task of keeping the power going to critical systems that keep the 200 plus Air Force contingent in communication with the rest of the world, and more importantly, with the U.S. aircraft participating in the air meet.

For Sergeant Arnett, the first five hours here were the most critical. "I need to get everything up and running so the rest of the infrastructure can be put online," he said. "Once that is done, I keep everything running smoothly." Part of the 28-year-old's job may sound like a lot of waiting, but without power to these key systems, the operation would come to a stop.

"Most people take power for granted," he jokes. "Without power, your just camping." A lot of people need adapters, extension cords and power strips and he tries to help them out. Very few people realize the work it takes to keep power generators going. One of the challenges in coming overseas is always the power and trying to figure out the right adapters to bring along, according to Arnett.

On his third career deployment, Sergeant Arnett has seen duty in Iraq twice and received a multitude of pre-deployment skills training. The deployments average about eight months with training factored in. His last visit home was Thanksgiving of 2009, but he's looking forward to being home in Tennessee for this year's Thanksgiving food and festivities.

Although the deployments are long, Sergeant Arnett said he does not mind at all. "The deployed mission is definitely a challenge," he said. "At home station we train a lot, but to come out here and put it in play is a lot different." His first two deployments were with Army units, so he welcomes the change to be deployed with an Air Force unit.

When deployed, Sergeant Arnett can't spend too much time on his hobby - his 2008 Mustang GT - but devotes a lot of time to the gym. He lost 27 pounds, while on one deployment at Mosul Air Base, Iraq. "They had a better gym there than the one at home," he said.

Originally enlisting in the Air Force in 2003, he said he joined for the education and to turn his life around. "I was just a young punk with no direction," he said. "I wanted to change that and the Air Force gave me that chance."

Warner-Robbins AFB, Ga. is where Sergeant Arnett is currently stationed with the 5th Combat Communications Group. But the former high school baseball center has a different path he wants to take in the future - he's working on a package to become a Military Training Instructor. He wants to be an MTI at the Air Force's Basic Training Center at Lackland AFB, Texas.

He credits the eight-week program with turning his life around and wants to use his own experiences to motivate others to do the same.

He will be one of the last out the gates of the American compound in Jordan in early November. But the end of one chapter is just the beginning of another for this Air Force staff sergeant.