Meeting the Vice Wing Commander

Transcription

1 -Meeting Cadet Sisto -Major Stallworth -Wing Staff -February Events -Cadets of the Month -Honor/Warrior Flight -FTP Journey -Commander s Cup -Scholarship Recipients -Mystery Cadet -Monthly Collage Air Force ROTC Detachment 158, Maple Drive, CWY 407, Tampa, FL w w w. u s f. e d u / a f r o t c INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Meeting the Vice Wing Commander My nametag says Sisto, and that s Italian for I love bread, pastas, and Air Force ROTC. Hello and thank you for reading about me! Life outside ROTC consists of snowboarding when I can get back home to Colorado, playing guitar when I m not reading a book, and flying privately when I can find the money. I am privileged to serve as the Vice Wing Commander (CW/CV) and Joint Student Liaison (JSL) within the Detachment. As Vice Commander, it s my responsibility to represent the Wing Commander at all times. It s also my duty to oversee the Commander s Action Group (CAG), which focuses primarily on fundraising to pay for events like Military Ball, budgeting money to each of the groups, organizing color guards for special events, and managing award programs like Honor Flight and Warrior Flight. The CAG staff this semester is incredible! I see great things happen every day behind the scenes that keep the Wing running. This semester, we held Commander s Cup with the help of the JSL s from each branch. The joint activities will continue soon with Relay for Life! Mark April 13/14 th on your calendars if you are interested, and visit RelayFor- Life.org for more info. My goal as the Air Force JSL is to provide quality opportunities for cadets to develop joint relationships with all branches Cadre Corner with Major Stallworth relationships that will help you here at Det 158, and on active duty. A senior once told me, while I was an AS100, that the freshman year in ROTC was the best year to have fun in the program. Well, they were wrong! The longer I stay in ROTC, the more exciting it becomes! I encourage every cadet to take advantage of each opportunity for training and leade r s h i p while you can, bec a u s e four years will be over before you know it! Cadet Sisto Page 1 As many of you may know, this will be my final semester in AFROTC. As you near the end of a successful term, I would like to leave you with some parting thoughts. You have had a phenomenal year of training. This semester alone you all have had over 40 hours of leadership, developmental and physical training. Think about it that s over 2,400 jam-packed minutes of briefings, GLPs, drill, blood, sweat, tears (and in some cases, vomit) all before most people even have their first classes of the day. It takes a special person to complete the workload you all take on weekly. Be proud, and make your sacrifices count! Take advantage of every opportunity to learn. Everything you have been through up until now was designed to make you a better leader. If you are graduating this summer, GREAT! You will soon have the daunting and rewarding privilege to lead the finest Airmen in the World. It is not easy, but if you apply all you have learned during your time in the program, you will be wellequipped for the task. Rising 400s, be ready to lead the Wing with even more fervor than your predecessors. For those in FTP, despite what you may feel, field training is not the end of the road. There is still MUCH more work to be done. Embrace the opportunity to guide the IMT cadets. If you will be completing your first year or first semester, congratulations! It will soon be your time to shine. You all will be expected to lead the new AS100 faces joining the program next Fall. No longer will you have the option to hide out in the shadows. An estimated new students will be looking to you as the role model of what an Air Force ROTC cadet should be do not disappoint! Your time will be here before you know it. It has been an honor to be around such a quality bunch of young men and women who have decided to be part of something larger than themselves. I look forward to seeing each and every one of you become stellar officers in the World s Greatest Air Force within the not so distant future!

2 Meeting Wing Staff Cadet Corson is the Mission Support Group Commander this semester. She and her staff plan on creating many fun events for the Wing this semester, including opportunities to participate in intramural sports, tutoring, and community service. Another important mission in this group falls under the director of personnel, who keeps track of everyone's attendance for required training. Cadet Corson s goal is to boost the morale of the Wing this semester with outstanding special events and to keep everyone accountable for showing up to required training. Cadet Corson not only has many plans for the Wing this semester but also many plans following her graduation this May. Upon commencement, she will become a Force Support Officer and will be stationed at Hanscom AFB in Boston, Massachusetts! She is excited to get started with her active duty career and looks forward to experiencing the adventures the Air Force has in store for her. Cadet Corson has put in a lot of hard work to get to this point in her academic and ROTC career, and has had many great times along the way! Cadet Corson Cadet Jose Alejo is this semester's Operations Group Commander. His main priority is to outline the entire semester alongside each individual trainer to ensure the Wing is meeting required objectives. He and his staff then further breakdown future outlines on a weekly basis to come up with everything seen at LLAB and PT. Cadet Alejo values the assistance from all of his staff in creating "stellar" training every week. He is doing his best to fulfill all of the mandatory objectives so that the Wing can have a little The Blizzard Social was very successful this semester. We had a great turnout from the Wing and everybody was able to enjoy a free Blizzard! Events like these are important to the Wing because it gives cadets a chance to relax and get to know fellow cadets in a more casual environment. These socials build camaraderie and morale throughout the entire Detachment. Page 2 BLIZZARD SOCIAL fun towards the end of the semester! Though we have all come a long way, he strives to remind us all it is important to continue to try your hardest and not to let your foot off the gas pedal half way through the semester. Outside of ROTC, Cadet Alejo is a fan of the Call of Duty series and an even bigger fan of soccer. He religiously follows La Liga from Spain, the Barclay's Premier League, and many other leagues worldwide. He is a pilot select, majoring in Environmental Science and Policy with plans on graduating in the Fall of Cadet ARNOLD AIR SOCIETY February presented many opportunities to Arnold Air Society. Members were able to participate in a number of events ranging from socials, community service events, and fundraising. They hosted a s u c c e s s f u l Chili s fundraiser; where many people came out and enjoyed a delicious meal alongside fellow cadets, all while helping support Arnold Air Society. They were also given the opportunity to work jointly with other volunteers to remodel a church into a youth community center. It s events such as these, that makes Arnold Air Society such a distinguished organization! Alejo looks towards his family when the going gets tough, but remembers that his main goal is to become an Air Force officer! He also wants to encourage all of GMC to find a Cadet Alejo mentor and use POC as a resource in becoming successful! COMMUNITY SERVICE On February 25th twelve Cadets took part in a volunteering project to remodel a church into a community youth center. These volunteers took time out of their weekend to complete tasks ranging from cleaning to painting. The volunteers impressed the event coordinators with their professionalism, work ethic, and motivation. These cadets not only helped improve the community but they also positively represented Det 158.

3 CADETS OF THE MONTH Page 3 This month there were ten Cadets that displayed outstanding qualities allowing them to be nominated for Cadet of the Month. Cadet Ostoski, Cadet Wilson, Cadet Carr, and Cadet Marrero were nominated for IMT, Cadet Monge and Cadet Duerr for FTP, and Cadet Inness, Cadet Tracey, Cadet White and Cadet Woodard for POC. While all cadets were well qualified, there were three Cadets that stood above everybody else: Cadet Carr, Cadet Monge and Cadet White. Below these three outstanding Cadets share what they believe led to their success this month. Cadet Carr I have to say I was shocked that I won Cadet of the Month. I was going up against two [sic] other amazing cadets that deserved it just as much as I did. But I believe I won this honor because of the positive attitude I have brought to every event I partake in and always performing acts of wingmenship. Cadet Monge I am thankful to my Flight Commander C/Torres, for giving me the opportunity to be recognized. One aspect that contributes significantly is getting involved; volunteer, participate, and/or join any program, event, or team that you can. The best advice I can give is to never give up; and remember, to be a good leader you must first learn to be a good follower. Cadet White Cadet White showed an exceptional amount of hard work and dedication to the wing this month. He did an outstanding job in organizing our team for Commander s Cup and participating in multiple events. He also taught Bravo Flight that when goals are set you can easily succeed, and with this lesson he guided them towards achieving Honor Flight. HONOR FLIGHT HONOR FLIGHT With the guidance of Cadet White and the commitment of his troops, Bravo Flight exceeded expectations to win Honor Flight. According to Cadet White, The big thing we did was start off the semester by coming up with three overall flight goals outlining what we wanted to accomplish for the semester. Honor Flight was one of those. What helped us as the semester went on, was talking about these goals. After we had everything figured out, the only thing left to do was put in the work and show up to the events that earn Honor Flight points! It was pretty cool seeing such a small flight having the ability to stand out and make a name for themselves. I guess the big piece of advice I'd give would be to always have short and long term goals. Both as a flight and as a person. Setting goals was the key to Bravo Flight's success and is a simple approach in achieving success. WARRIOR FLIGHT WARRIOR FLIGHT This month Alpha flight was awarded Warrior Flight. Their hard work and dedication to become unified is something the entire wing can learn from. Here are a few words of advice from the Alpha Flight Commander, Cadet Mobley: I believe Alpha flight s success was in large part indebted to our pride, confidence, and desire to be the best. Our achievement in earning Warrior Flight can also be credited to our warm up tradition before physical training every morning, in which we form up as a flight and run our warm up lap together while singing Jodie s. As Alpha flight s commander, I introduced this practice for two main reasons; to boost our morale and to set our flight apart from others, giving us a sense of identity and pride...at the risk of sounding arrogant, I must admit, I was dealt a handful of Aces. Utilize Cadet Mobley s advice and try to grow as a flight this semester.

4 Journey to Field Training When discussing just how much FTP Cadets have matured Cadet Cannon mentions, "Before your ROTC careers many of you probably could not tell the time of day to someone without a cell phone". Between investing in a watch and "waking up at 0500 on a weekly basis, simply to work out and go to class, FTP Cadets have established discipline, character, and a wellrounded nature in their time spent in ROTC", Cadet Cannon has observed. Though many subtle changes have been taking place in the lives of FTP Cadets outside of ROTC, it's the major improvements made within ROTC that have been noticed. Cadet Beightel states, "Together this class has transformed from individuals to a team and/or 'squadron'". FTP Cadets are no longer thinking about "the now," yet instead are planning days ahead of time which Cadet Beightel can see in their performance and effort put into each PT and LLAB. Many of these improvements can be seen on the drill pad, notices Cadet Cannon, "When entering ROTC none of you knew how to march as a flight now it seems to come with ease, and even more, you're marching in squadrons!" With Enrollment Allocations being announced within the next month, it is easy to lose sight of all of these remarkable improvements made in and out of ROTC that will forever change each and every FTP Cadet. Cadet Steven's reminds all FTP Cadets that, "For those who earn EAs; it is only the beginning. Use the allocation to find new motivation and drive to continue to perform and improve yourselves. For those who do not receive EAs; it is also only the beginning. You will all be successful in whatever you decide to do, commissioning through ROTC is only one of many career paths. Use what you have learned in ROTC and apply it to your lives; personal and professional. All of you are leaders and all of you can make a difference. Also remember, 'You are not finished when you are defeated; you are finished when you quit.' So, whatever your ROTC journey leads to, continue to work hard and grow as leaders of character." Congratulations on enduring the challenges ROTC has presented thus far and keep up the hard work, though as Cadet Stevens mentioned this is only the beginning! 2012 COMMANDER S CUP Commander's Cup presented a lot of fun for many Veteran participants, including Cadet Dzyndra and Cadet McAulay, and also many newer participants from the AS100 and AS200 classes. Although Air Force did not win the overall event, there were many individual and team accomplishments, one of which was football. What was interesting is that Commander's Cup has traditionally consisted of a football tournament, but the Army Battalion put a little bit of a spin on the event this year. The army added multiple track events, a ruck march, and a tug -of-war tournament to Commander's Cup this year. The reception to the changes were positive overall, and all branches had a chance to network in a joint environment, which was the overall goal of the tournament. Cadet White also wants to thank all of those that came out, including not only those that competed, but also those who came out to support the detachment. Along with his thanks, Cadet White also wants to challenge all up and coming cadets to win the cup back next year! Page 4

5 February Scholarship Winners TYPE 1 SCHOLARSHIP Type 1 scholarship recipients fulfilled requirements which included a high GPA and SAT scores, passing the PFA, and are typically awarded to students with technical majors. This scholarship pays college tuition in full, most lab fees, and $900/year for books. TYPE 2 SCHOLARSHIP Type 2 Scholarship Recipients fulfilled requirements which included a high GPA and SAT scores, passing the PFA, and are typically awarded to students with a technical major. This scholarship pays college tuition and most lab fees with some restrictions and, $900/year for books. ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP Cadet Santiago and Cadet Mobley both received an academic leadership scholarship by writing a memo stating why they believed they are active leaders. Page 5

6 MYSTERY CADET We all have jobs, hobbies, and interests other then ROTC. The real question is how well do you know your fellow cadets outside of ROTC? Each month one POC member will be chosen as Mystery Cadet. If you think you have discovered who the Mystery Cadet is you can Cadet Wilson at with your guess. If you are the first Cadet to guess correctly you will receive a prize! The winner and Mystery Cadet will be revealed in next month s edition. Here are a few clues to get you started! I Study Professional Aeronautics I own a yellow lab I ve played paintball with professional players I ve worked in a nuclear pharmacy I have never seen snow! I was once rescued from a stuck elevator I participated in a full scale S.W.A.T exercise I personally know a movie star I played the tuba in a band on stage in Carnegie hall I Experienced an aircraft inflight emergency in which the plane had to turn around and land after dumping fuel! Last months Mystery Cadet was. Congratulations to Cadet Duerr for being the first Cadet to correctly guess the Mystery Cadet. She will be receiving a special award for actively participating in the Mystery Cadet section! GLIMPSE OF FEBRUARY Page 6