Children experience military 'deployment'

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacque Lickteig
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Children here recently got a taste of what their military parents go through when deploying during Operation Kids Investigating Deployment Services.

Tech. Sgt. Senya Zeitvogel, noncommissioned officer in charge of family readiness at the 82nd Mission Support Squadron here, said she planned this event to educate military children and spouses about the "hows and whys of mobility."

About 101 children were “recalled” at 7 a.m. to deploy to "Discovery Air Base" at one of the base’s hangars.

When they showed up, the children put on camouflage shirts, and then camouflaged their faces with brown and black paint.

Brig. Gen. James A. Whitmore, the 82nd Training Wing commander, briefed them about the deployment on one side of the hangar.

After General Whitmore stressed the importance of the journey in which they were about to embark, an agent from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations gave them an intelligence briefing about their deployment area.

Then, the mini-Airmen loaded up in a C-130 Hercules on the flightline to "fly" to the make-believe air base.

After a short “flight,” the young troops climbed off the aircraft and entered their deployed location, a site on the south side of the hangar.

During the deployment, children learned how to don gas masks, ate samples of Meals, Ready to Eat, witnessed what patient care in the field is like and rested on camouflaged cots.

OSI agents displayed night-vision binoculars and other sight enhancement gear for the children to look through. They also showed them the instruments inside an unmarked police car.

The children toured a firetruck while a firefighter taught them about the instruments onboard. Later, they each got a chance to carry an honor guard practice rifle, sit on a camouflaged four-wheeler and check out a camouflaged jeep.

At about 11:30 a.m., after all the children got to fully explore "Discovery Air Base," Sergeant Zeitvogel rounded them up for the C-130 flight back "home."

Upon arrival, their parents welcomed them in the hangar. They ended the event with a welcome home party, including cake and balloons.

Even though his day was filled with new experiences, one young "troop" proved air technology still reigns in young eyes. Alex Martin, a 3-year-old who was dressed in a flight suit, said his favorite part of the day was getting in the aircraft. Although, painting his face ranked a close second.