I have always thought about Veteran's Day with a heavy heart. I thought about all the soldiers that have lost their lives. Up until recently I hadn't thinking about my parents, who are now both retired Air Force enlisted. But on Veteran's Day this year my whole perspective was changed because I was the one being recognized for standing up to defend our nation. It was so different standing there being looked at enviously instead of just being another face in the crowd. I know now what if feels like to truly be an Air Force airman and the Veteran's Day ceremonies are to thank.
C/ Ellis
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Veteran's Day
Veterans Day Lead Lab was an incredible learning experience. The thought of participating in my first official Air Force related event was a little frightening. But when Thursday came and we were lining up to march toward City Hall I felt calm and confident because I believed that we were well prepared! I knew that we were a part of a very important event. My family has zero military background, and honestly it was one of the only military memorial events that I have ever attended, and I am thrilled I did. My appreciation for all those who have spent their life protecting our country and I was vastly widened. I am grateful for all they have done, and for the opportunity to honor all our wonderful Veterans.
C/Marquart
C/Marquart
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
My name is Cadet Tesch. I am a Junior and a POC, in the AFROTC program at the University of Columbia-Missouri, better known as Mizzou. After three years in the program, I still think that it is one of the best decisions that I have ever made! I’m kept to a higher standard than if I was not in ROTC. I’m more physically fit, more confident, and I feel that I have been afforded more opportunities than I ever thought possible. I have met many people that I’m very glad to call my friends and that I have the utmost respect for. I have learned a lot about myself, because as a POC, I am placed in charge of other cadets and I am no longer following, I am leading and it has opened my eyes to many things that I can not only take into my military career, but my life in general.
All in all, I feel such a sense of accomplishment, pride, and determination in AFROTC. I feel accomplishment in that I am on a path to join one of the world’s most elite fighting forces. I feel pride that I am part of something larger than myself, and determination to carry on with the tradition of excellence that has been laid before me.
All in all, I feel such a sense of accomplishment, pride, and determination in AFROTC. I feel accomplishment in that I am on a path to join one of the world’s most elite fighting forces. I feel pride that I am part of something larger than myself, and determination to carry on with the tradition of excellence that has been laid before me.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A Letter For Future Cadets
At the time of this writing, my name is C/4C Jonesi. I am an IMT (Freshman) in AFROTC. I am trying to improve my PFT score by doing both PT and PST regularly. If you want to participate in ROTC, you’ll have to learn what all these things mean. But don’t worry, you will. If you want to join AFROTC detachment 440 here at MU, or anywhere, know that it won’t be easy. Know that sometimes it won’t be fun. But also know that if you put the right amount of effort into being the best future officer you can be, you will find it well worth it.
You’re not going to have the typical college experience. From the outset, you’ll have more pressures and responsibilities placed on you than the average freshman, and over time, more and more responsibility will be placed on you. All that being said, the Air Force isn’t going to throw anything at you that you won’t be able to catch, provided you’re paying attention.
First and foremost, you are responsible for yourself. That means you’re going to have to earn better grades than many of your peers, avoid underage drinking and illegal drugs like the plague, and don’t plan on gaining the freshman 15 or Mizzou 22, it will count against you in the Physical Fitness Test (PFT). The Air Force does not have a zero tolerance policy on fun; they just expect you to have a decent head on your shoulders, both inside and outside the classroom. Once you graduate, you could very well be responsible for millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money, and more importantly, the safety and welfare of the taxpayers themselves, who place their trust in you.
In the meantime, it isn’t the distant taxpayers who will place their trust in you; it’s also the people you will encounter on an almost daily basis at AFROTC. The cadre will trust you because you’re the future of the organization that has very literally been their life and livelihood. Whether you succeed or fail is a reflection of how much use you have made of the lessons they have taught you. Your actions and attitude decide the success and failure of detachment 440 just as much as they decide your own.
Even more importantly is the trust your classmates place in you. The most important lesson AFROTC can teach you is how to work as part of a team and from the beginning it is the lesson you need to learn best. That means you have to learn how to depend on others and have them depend on you. No matter what major you are doing or what career you are seeking you must prepare for the eventuality of war. In combat, this lesson means the difference between life and death.
There are many different reasons why you might have decided to become a cadet. Maybe one or both of your parents have served and you want to follow in their footsteps. Maybe you are interested in the career and educational opportunities the Air Force has to give you. Still maybe you know that America is besieged on all sides by its enemies and you want to be part of its first line of defense in a future dominated by technology. For whatever reason, I hope that the Air Force gives you what you were looking for. I also hope that wherever your career takes you, you find out something new, and good, about yourself.
SAMUEL G. JONESI, C/4C, AFROTC
You’re not going to have the typical college experience. From the outset, you’ll have more pressures and responsibilities placed on you than the average freshman, and over time, more and more responsibility will be placed on you. All that being said, the Air Force isn’t going to throw anything at you that you won’t be able to catch, provided you’re paying attention.
First and foremost, you are responsible for yourself. That means you’re going to have to earn better grades than many of your peers, avoid underage drinking and illegal drugs like the plague, and don’t plan on gaining the freshman 15 or Mizzou 22, it will count against you in the Physical Fitness Test (PFT). The Air Force does not have a zero tolerance policy on fun; they just expect you to have a decent head on your shoulders, both inside and outside the classroom. Once you graduate, you could very well be responsible for millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money, and more importantly, the safety and welfare of the taxpayers themselves, who place their trust in you.
In the meantime, it isn’t the distant taxpayers who will place their trust in you; it’s also the people you will encounter on an almost daily basis at AFROTC. The cadre will trust you because you’re the future of the organization that has very literally been their life and livelihood. Whether you succeed or fail is a reflection of how much use you have made of the lessons they have taught you. Your actions and attitude decide the success and failure of detachment 440 just as much as they decide your own.
Even more importantly is the trust your classmates place in you. The most important lesson AFROTC can teach you is how to work as part of a team and from the beginning it is the lesson you need to learn best. That means you have to learn how to depend on others and have them depend on you. No matter what major you are doing or what career you are seeking you must prepare for the eventuality of war. In combat, this lesson means the difference between life and death.
There are many different reasons why you might have decided to become a cadet. Maybe one or both of your parents have served and you want to follow in their footsteps. Maybe you are interested in the career and educational opportunities the Air Force has to give you. Still maybe you know that America is besieged on all sides by its enemies and you want to be part of its first line of defense in a future dominated by technology. For whatever reason, I hope that the Air Force gives you what you were looking for. I also hope that wherever your career takes you, you find out something new, and good, about yourself.
SAMUEL G. JONESI, C/4C, AFROTC
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
As we get further into the fall semester of 2010, the weeks seem to be flying by. Each week the cadre presents the younger members of AFROTC with something new, and they begin to teach different techniques that we will need to succeed in future missions and military areas of our lives. The new material, such as learning how to inspect uniforms and how to perform an ORI are essential because we will be performing these inspections once we become part of the military officially. As it was a little intimidating, it was a great learning experience to watch the FTP take on leadership roles and take charge of each squadron. Each FTP member would take turns commanding our squadrons and walking side by side with an inspector as they would in an official ORI. As freshmen, I stood there being inspected, while silently taking notes on the mistakes made and good things that were done as well. I look forward to performing these tasks and others as well, as my class becomes upperclassmen in the ROTC program and eventually officers in the Air Force. The upperclassmen this year have done a great job on making material interesting and useful, thus far.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
This last week, the Det 440 wing took a trip to Columbia College in support of our fellow cross-town cadets. Lead lab opened with practicing parade marching, which was performed flawlessly at the Homecoming parade as the crowds cheered as we passed. Following practice, we began training for open rank inspections. This gave the GMC a new challenge where we will be performing ORIs and will be expected to know this information in the upcoming lead labs. To end the day, a formal retreat was performed requested by Columbia College.
As always, the FTP cadets are challenged to step up, lead, and learn from our mistakes, and this week was no different. We trained for open rank inspections, where we will be executing these in just a couple of weeks leading as the key staff. The knowledge we take in from every LLAB is essential to our preparation and success for Field Training. Each week, the challenges we face become increasingly more difficult and the FTP as a whole become a stronger and unified team. We have a true sense of team as we progress through the semester facing these challenges. Each FTP cadet wants the other to succeed and we are at each other’s side to motivate, push, and learn to show the best of our abilities and Excellence in All We Do. Next week, the FTP will be tested as we fill the major job positions in AEF 2, and we will face obstacles only teamwork and good leadership will be able to overcome. For any challenges we face this year, preparation as we gain knowledge to be great leaders, working together as a team, and learning from our mistakes and improving from them is essential to our success.
Daniel J. Steitz, C/3C, AFROTC
As always, the FTP cadets are challenged to step up, lead, and learn from our mistakes, and this week was no different. We trained for open rank inspections, where we will be executing these in just a couple of weeks leading as the key staff. The knowledge we take in from every LLAB is essential to our preparation and success for Field Training. Each week, the challenges we face become increasingly more difficult and the FTP as a whole become a stronger and unified team. We have a true sense of team as we progress through the semester facing these challenges. Each FTP cadet wants the other to succeed and we are at each other’s side to motivate, push, and learn to show the best of our abilities and Excellence in All We Do. Next week, the FTP will be tested as we fill the major job positions in AEF 2, and we will face obstacles only teamwork and good leadership will be able to overcome. For any challenges we face this year, preparation as we gain knowledge to be great leaders, working together as a team, and learning from our mistakes and improving from them is essential to our success.
Daniel J. Steitz, C/3C, AFROTC
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Transition from IMT to FTP
Moving from IMT to FTP marks a significant transition within Air Force ROTC. An IMT cadet's main responsibility is personal leadership, molding him or herself into the best member of a team while carrying out the orders of their team leaders to the best of their ability. However, their is a marked change in emphasis this year, we are no longer expected to simply sit back, observe, and learn from those above us, we are now expected to take on the responsibilities of leadership and learn through doing.
FTP (Field Training Preparation) year is meant to do just what its name implies, prepare cadets to undergo the rigors of field training. However, this explanation belies the true intention of this years training, to press FTP cadets into situations they do not feel fully prepared to address, forcing them to dynamically adapt and by doing so expand beyond their own boundaries of leadership and personal ability. Throughout this year we will be asked to not only increase our knowledge of important Air Force structure, codes of conduct, customs, courtesies, and regulations; we will be asked to further internalize what it is we are undertaking as members of the United States Air Force. This year truly represents the core of what the Air Force is, men and women thrust into situations that cannot be addressed simply through preparation and knowledge, but that require the dedication of a motivated team able to adapt and overcome through combined effort.
We all fully understand that the tasks that lie before us are not meant to be met as individuals. If there is one thing that we must all take away from this years training, it is that to overcome adversity we have to come together as a team. In every challenge we undertake, the emphasis lies on the point that we rise and we fall as a team, not as individuals. If we allow one person to fall to the side, it is the failure of everyone, not just that individual. This is pointed out repeatedly, through AEF (Air Expeditionary Force) training which requires constant accountability for every team member, and through FTP PT sessions, which are focused on group runs forcing every individual to put their strength towards a common goal. In everything we do this year, our constant focus must always be on the support of our fellow cadets, because our unity is our strength.
Regardless of the challenges that await us this year, the FTP class is fully confident in our ability to come together as a team and accomplish any goal. We know what is at stake, we know what we are preparing for, we know that Field Training is the culmination of all our efforts to this point, and that it will throw countless obstacles in our path. We will do everything in our ability this year to prepare ourselves in every way possible for this summer, and as a team we will not fail.
THOMAS J. SPEARING, C/3C, AFROTC
FTP (Field Training Preparation) year is meant to do just what its name implies, prepare cadets to undergo the rigors of field training. However, this explanation belies the true intention of this years training, to press FTP cadets into situations they do not feel fully prepared to address, forcing them to dynamically adapt and by doing so expand beyond their own boundaries of leadership and personal ability. Throughout this year we will be asked to not only increase our knowledge of important Air Force structure, codes of conduct, customs, courtesies, and regulations; we will be asked to further internalize what it is we are undertaking as members of the United States Air Force. This year truly represents the core of what the Air Force is, men and women thrust into situations that cannot be addressed simply through preparation and knowledge, but that require the dedication of a motivated team able to adapt and overcome through combined effort.
We all fully understand that the tasks that lie before us are not meant to be met as individuals. If there is one thing that we must all take away from this years training, it is that to overcome adversity we have to come together as a team. In every challenge we undertake, the emphasis lies on the point that we rise and we fall as a team, not as individuals. If we allow one person to fall to the side, it is the failure of everyone, not just that individual. This is pointed out repeatedly, through AEF (Air Expeditionary Force) training which requires constant accountability for every team member, and through FTP PT sessions, which are focused on group runs forcing every individual to put their strength towards a common goal. In everything we do this year, our constant focus must always be on the support of our fellow cadets, because our unity is our strength.
Regardless of the challenges that await us this year, the FTP class is fully confident in our ability to come together as a team and accomplish any goal. We know what is at stake, we know what we are preparing for, we know that Field Training is the culmination of all our efforts to this point, and that it will throw countless obstacles in our path. We will do everything in our ability this year to prepare ourselves in every way possible for this summer, and as a team we will not fail.
THOMAS J. SPEARING, C/3C, AFROTC
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