|
Appreciation to those serving in the U.S. military runs deep in
the student body at Buckhorn Middle School.
Seventh and
eighth grade students expressed their appreciation
to Soldiers visiting from the Aviation and Missile Command, honoring
them in an early morning 2017 Veterans Day patriotic assembly, showing
their respect and gratitude during classroom sessions, and sharing
notes of thank you during the few minutes between classes.
|
November 8, 2017 - Buckhorn Middle School students raise their hands
to ask questions during a class session with Soldiers from the
Aviation and Missile Command. The Soldiers shared their experiences
of military service and answered questions running the gamut from
the insignia on their uniforms to how dangerous it is to be an
airborne Soldier. (U.S. Army photo by Kari Hawkins, Aviation & Missile Command)
|
In return, the Soldiers ... 1st Sgt. Lachelle Wiggins,
Sgt. Maj. Jon Martin, Capt. Quinton Watkins, Capt. Austin
Cheng, Sgt. First Class Yolanda Hall, Capt. Justin Wax,
Capt. Alexander De Rosa, Martha Foss and Col. Kelsey Smith
... gave the students insight into what it means to serve in
the military. They talked to six different classes of about
100 students each, discussion military career opportunities,
traveling in the military, the uniform insignia, Army values
and the sacrifices they’ve made to serve.
“We want to
thank you for the warm welcome at the assembly,” Wiggins
told the students during a classroom session. “We know your
pep rally roar comes from a special place. It means more to
us than you can ever imagine. It’s good to hear you clapping
and giving appreciation to veterans.”
Wiggins
recalled her own path that led to military service.
“When I was in seventh and eighth grade, I didn’t think I’d
be a Soldier,” she said.
“Maybe the military is for
you, maybe it’s not. But knowing what is available can help
you make a better decision. You are never too young to go
down the path to see what you want to do. When I got done
with high school, college wasn’t for me at that time. So, I
joined the Army, learned a little more about myself and
about leadership, and realized I was a pretty good Soldier.”
The students were particularly interested in the
different military careers and in the opportunity to travel
as a servicemember.
|
November 8, 2017 - A Buckhorn Middle School student tries on Capt.
Alexander De Rosa’s pilots helmet during a presentation to seventh
and eighth graders at the school. In the background are, from left,
Sgt. Maj. Jon Martin, Capt. Justin Wax and 1st Sgt. Lachelle
Wiggins. (U.S. Army photo by Kari Hawkins, Aviation & Missile Command)
|
“Most of us have lived around the world,” Martin told
students. “We’ve done lots of different things and served in
jobs similar to jobs in the civilian workforce.”
Martin’s 30 years as an Army as an aircraft structural
repairer have taken him to assignments in Germany, England,
Poland and France, among other places in the world.
“All of us have different jobs – lawyer, military
intelligence, aviator,” added Watkins. “There are millions
of jobs in the Army. You have it, the Army does it, and I’ve
never had an inkling to do anything else but serve the
country.”
One of those jobs – serving in the legal
arena as either a lawyer or a paralegal – was represented to
the students by Cheng, an AMCOM Judge Advocate, and Hall, a
paralegal.
“Even though I am an attorney for AMCOM,
I’ve also learned how to march, how to fire a weapon, how to
put on a gas mask, how to do pushups and sit ups, how to
jump out of an airplane and land quickly,” Cheng said. “The
Army has also taught me skills that any lawyer needs – how
to communicate, how to work on teams.”
Hall, who’s 16
years of service has included assignments in Korea, Kuwait
and Afghanistan, not only enjoys her job, but said “it give
me a great sense of pride to be a Soldier, and being a
paralegal is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
While the military does offer a wide range of career
opportunities, the Soldiers emphasized the importance of
doing well in school so that students can take advantage of
all the military has to offer.
“We need a broad
range of people with a variety of skill sets to serve in the
Army,” Wax told the students. “But it all starts with good
grades in school.”
Many Soldiers choose career fields
they were unfamiliar with as middle school or high school
students.
“Does anyone know what a Black Hawk helicopter pilot does? I
didn’t know what it was in the eighth grade,” De Rosa said. “But,
that’s what I am now and it has taken me around the world to
Germany, Afghanistan and Korea. There is a chance that you can do
what you want to do in the Army.”
Good scores in math,
science and other school subjects translate into high performance in
the military, the Soldiers said.
“To maintain a helicopter, you have to be precise,” Martin said.
“You don’t want a mechanic guessing when they are working on a
helicopter. What I learned as a student helped me to learn what I
needed to know as an Army helicopter mechanic.”
The AMCOM
Soldiers shared both enlisted and officer experiences with the
students, talking about the reasons behind joining the military and
the challenges they faced in becoming Soldiers.
|
November 8, 2017 - Sgt. Maj. Jon Martin takes on a pushup
competition with seventh and eighth grade students at Buckhorn
Middle School. Martin and eight other AMCOM Soldiers shared their
message of military service with the seventh and eighth graders at
the school. (U.S. Army photo by Kari Hawkins, Aviation & Missile Command)
|
"Everyone who comes into the Army has a different story
to tell, and that story starts when they join,” Foss said.
“But all of us, every Soldier, when we first come into the
Army we go through training.”
Though different
journeys led them to the Army, each of the AMCOM Soldiers
said that one of the reasons they joined the military was to
serve the nation.
“I
wanted to give back to my country because this country has meant me
so much to me. I joined in 2003 during the Iraq war,” Cheng said.
“It’s not just about what you can take and get in life. This country
has been good for my family. My mom owns a shop in New York and my
dad is a doctor. This country has given my family a lot.”
Wax
recalled seeing the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York City on
television. He, himself, was a student at the time.
“I
thought ‘This is going to change our world.’ I cared about
protecting our country. There’s a lot of opportunity and freedom in
our country. It’s not perfect, but I wanted to defend that,” he
said.
The first priority for any Soldier is to protect the
U.S. constitution, something that Soldiers learn during their first
few months in the service, Smith told the students. Also through
that training, Soldiers learn about Army values, leadership,
teambuilding and other aspects about soldiering that grows bonds
between Soldier and Soldier units.
“I love Soldiers and I
love soldiering,” Smith said. “It’s a hard job. It’s a challenging
job. But it is also rewarding. We all abide by the same set of rules
and we all have the same values, and we all know what it means to
serve others before ourselves.”
The hardest part of being a
service member, the Soldiers agreed, are the separations from family
during deployments, training and special assignments.
“We’re
veterans, but we are just like you,” Watkins said. “We have
families. We are called heroes because we have sacrificed so much.
Our families have sacrificed a lot, too.
“It takes a lot of
sacrifices to wear this uniform. We have made those sacrifices for
you so that you can have the freedoms we have in this country – the
freedom of speech, the freedom to worship, the freedom to go to
school. The liberties that you have are because of people who
sacrifice their life on a daily basis.”
By U.S. Army Kari Hawkins, Aviation & Missile Command
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
Comment on this article |
