Cadets provide look into day of deployment

Published Aug. 5, 2007
By Senior Airman Clark Staehle
379th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Many people have noticed them by their uniforms - white shirts with blue collars with the word "USAFA" in blue letters, or their desert camouflage uniforms with names and service, but no rank on their collars or sleeves.

For the last few weeks, the Desert Eagle Team has hosted a rotation of Air Force Academy cadets who are here to experience a deployment first hand.
A day in the life of a deployed cadet typically begins between 7 and 9 a.m. and often includes a tour in the morning..

According to Cadet 1st Class Daniel McLaughlin, who arrived here July 3, the cadets were given tours of units like the Combined Air and Space Operations Center, security forces and the fire department. These tours give them a better working knowledge of the Air Force.

"We were with (the 379th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron) one day and we saw the firefighters who explained their job and how they responded to building fires, aircraft fires and also small medical emergencies ," he said. "While we were there they had to respond to one and they had to take off - I was impressed by that. They heard the announcement, jumped in the truck and took off. It's good to know they're there."

Much of the cadets' time here is spent shadowing units around base. The cadets are often put into jobs that might fall into their purview once they graduate.

"After lunch, we go to work in the afternoon," said Cadet 1st Class Nick Haiar, an Omaha, Neb., native. "Everybody's got a different squadron to shadow."

Most units here have had an academy cadet spend time shadowing them This has two benefits: it gives them the opportunity to experience the operational Air Force and it also allows them to gain experience in their career field.

"I've learned a lot, not only about how a deployment and the ops tempo works, but I've also learned about pilot training," said Cadet Haiar, an operations research major who will be a pilot after graduating. "By working with the flying squadrons now, I can see what's beyond pilot training. I've learned a lot that I can use in the future."

Cadet McLaughlin, said his time here has been an eye-opening experience.

"When I was with the C-17 squadron, I worked with both tactics and (intelligence)," he said. "They showed me how to put together a briefing. I sat in on a couple of briefings for intel and saw how those went through."

Their days weren't all filled with work. The cadets also had opportunities to volunteer while they were here.

"The thing that I enjoyed the most is when we worked for the Blood Transshipment Center for three or four hours and helped them sort blood one Saturday and we packaged 500 units of plasma to be sent into the field," said Cadet McLaughlin, a political science major. "That was great. I was really glad I volunteered for that."

Deploying here has opened doors for the cadets and given them opportunities interact with people they might not otherwise meet.

"In the dining facility, people will see us in our PT gear, which has USAFA written on it so they know we're cadets, and (Air Force Academy) grads will come up and talk to us," said Cadet McLaughlin, a Chickopee, Mass., native. "I had a chief master sergeant who sat down with me once. She was coming from another base and had met the cadets there and wanted to stop and talk to us for a while, so that was nice. We talked to a member of the Royal Australian Air Force for 45 minutes at the pool one night."

For the cadets who spent a month here learning about the Air Force, the experience was invaluable.

"If you come in here with an open mind, thinking 'I'm going to learn something new,' the possibilities are endless," Cadet McLaughlin said.