Pathways to Blue shows ROTC cadets the way

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFNS) -- More than 180 ROTC cadets from 22 colleges and 31 active-duty enlisted Airmen attended the second annual Pathways to Blue initiative April 15-16 hosted by Second Air Force at Keesler Air Force Base.

Cadets and Airmen learned about job opportunities, toured aircraft and sat down with officers for one-on-one mentorship and varying perspectives on commissioned life in the Air Force.

“Cadets can gain a lot from the perspective of mentors actually performing the mission,” said Maj. Gen. Mark Brown, the Second Air Force commander. “What we hope to achieve is to explain what really happens when you choose a specialty and join the Air Force; to show what it’s really like to be a cyber operator or a remotely piloted aircraft pilot. The ‘art of the possible’ inside the Air Force is what we are talking about here.”

Pathways to Blue aims to help build future leaders in the Air Force, as well as highlight different routes to becoming an Air Force officer. The target audience is freshmen and sophomores along with enlisted members who may be undecided about various career fields once they get commissioned.

The event kicked off with an introduction to the mentors then quickly moved to hands-on demonstrations with various career fields ranging from aerospace medicine and cyber operations to battlefield Airmen, space and missiles, aviation, medical, and a mixture of support fields.

“This is my second Pathways to Blue and it’s been very engaging and hands on,” said Kayla Davis, a Tuskegee University Air Force ROTC cadet. “I’ve wanted to be a nurse since I was little because my mother was a nurse. The mentors have helped me better understand the different paths I could take to become one in the Air Force.”

As an event designed to showcase the Air Force’s mission diversity and commissioning options, Pathways to Blue mentors also appreciated the event’s scope.

“To see something like this 20 years ago would have been mind-blowing,” said Maj. Sarah Abel, an 81st Medical Operations Squadron clinical nurse specialist. “I’ve been in the Air Force for 16 years now and this would have been a game-changer for my college’s ROTC program.”

Brown also offered his personal take on opportunities in the armed forces for cadets attending Pathways to Blue.

“I can be what I want to be in the Air Force,” he said. “Regardless of my background, zip code, gender, race or economic standings, I can rise based on my capabilities in the Air Force. That is exactly what we want these cadets and all others to know.”