JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- Students from Aiea High School’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp got the opportunity to see what it is like to be an active duty member of the Air Force during their visit to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Feb. 18, 2016.
The 30 JROTC students started the day by marching in their dress uniform across the flight line to a C-17 Globmaster III aircraft, where two pilots and two loadmasters, from the 535th Airlift Squadron, gave them a tour of the aircraft and a briefing about the day-to-day operations as a C-17 crewmember.
“This is really cool being able to get into the cockpit of the C-17, see all the buttons, hold the controls in my hand,” said John Bieganek, a Cadet Senior Airman in the Aiea High School’s Air Force JROTC. “To thinking that I could one day fly this plane is very cool.”
After all the JROTC members had an opportunity to sit in the cockpit, they moved on to the 647th Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit.
Airmen from the 647th EOD kept the student’s attention by talking about the different equipment they use to detect, disable and dispose of different types of explosives, such as improvised explosives devices also known as IED.
The final stop of the tour was to the 647th Security Forces Squadron's military working dog kennel, where students were given several different demonstrations showing the military working dogs in action.
The JROTC students watched as the MWDs and their handlers worked together to take down a simulated suspect in several different scenarios, ranging from personnel in an unauthorized location to a vehicle chase, where the suspect attempts to run from the vehicle. Additionally, the students were shown how the members of the 647th SFS care for the Military Working Dogs by providing a tour of the kennel.
“It was so awesome to see everything today,” said Bieganek. “I am looking forward to seeing more in the future.”
The students were not the only ones who enjoyed the tour.
“We are excited to host these types of visits,” said Senior Master Sgt. Gregory Wasson, JROTC coordinator for JBPHH. “We get to show how proud we are of what we do and we get an opportunity to educate the young people. What they get from the tours here at JBPHH is to see what the different jobs and skill sets there are [in the armed forces].”