Through the eyes of a child

  • Published
  • By Jeanne Grimes
  • 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) --  The military working dog demonstration ended, and the audience dispersed, heading back toward an overflow parking lot where a fire truck and security forces patrol car waited.

Lt. Col. Derrick Richardson of the 327th Contractor Logistics Sustainment Group here walked toward the pavilion when a small form hurtled across the grass and tiny arms locked a grip on the officer’s knees.

Col. Richardson looked into a face serious beyond its years.

“Thank you,” the boy said before turning and racing back up the hill to a waiting parent.

It was not the first and was likely not the last such encounter for the colonel during a recent Bring a Child to Tinker event. But it put a smile on his face just the same.

“This is a great opportunity for a child just to get out and understand what mom, dad, aunts, uncles and grandparents do all day,” Col. Richardson said. “I know I get those questions, (like) ‘What do you do at work?’ every day from my 5 year old and 9 year old.”

Adults registered to bring a child to one of four half-day sessions.

Activities like this event leave a lasting impression on young minds. Colonel Richardson said his own life was shaped by events offering similar glimpses of the workday world of adults.

“When I was growing up, I remember seeing fire trucks and police cars … and thinking, ‘Wow, these are people to be respected. I want to be respected, too, when I grow up,’” he said.

Seven-year-old Kyler Hall was with his dad, Shanon Hall, a sheet metal mechanic.

Slipping on a firefighter’s helmet, Kyler tested the fit before turning to firefighter Michael Wise and saying “You’ve got a big head, I guess.”

After satisfying his curiosity about the controls in the cab of the fire truck and learning he was not allowed to turn on the truck’s emergency lights and siren, Kyler left the truck.

“I like getting inside the airplane and the cars, and I like getting to meet other people,” he said.

The dogs topped the attractions for 10-year-old Austin Stiver, whose dad, Mike Stiver, works in electrical accessories.

“The dogs will be the best,” said Carlton Robertson, 9, son of Tempie Robertson from Financial Management.

Staff Sgt. Archie Poindexter of the 72nd Security Forces Squadron narrated the scenarios at the military working dog demonstrations as Dennis, a German Shepherd, attacked a fleeing suspect, searched an aggressive suspect, performed a search on a prone suspect, met and greeted a nonthreatening stranger and held without biting a suspect who gave up.