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Our last cadet just returned from sunny Lackland AFB near San Antonio TX - our "Gateway to the AF". Intended to be a tough training camp, they are challenged 18 hours per day - no time off. Why not go to River Falls Wisconsin where it's cool? Because San Antonio is where our enlisted recruits go through their basic training. At Lackland AFB, our future officers can see their future "troops" and see how serious and motivated our enlisted corps is. I was a field-training commander last year for 600 cadets in the heat of August - and I could always point to our new recruits busting their gut on the track or learning to march smartly. I'd ask our college students: "what do you think they expect your training to be like?" And the universal response was "it should be harder and more challenging" - and we made it that way.
But while the enlisted training focuses on compliance, the officer training focuses on teamwork, solving time pressure problems as a group, and learning to think about others and the team welfare before themselves. When they tire on a hot run, that's not the time to think about being sore, hot, and tired - that's the trigger to think of your mate who had an injury on the assault course or think about sharing your canteen with someone else in need. We train our officers to take responsibility for mission accomplishment and the well being of their troops.
Feedback? Our officer candidates who were prior enlisted say their officer training was MUCH HARDER. It was mentally harder, making decisions (and mistakes) for others and having to live with the choices. But we saw teams develop, and folks who wouldn't share anything on day one were some of the most self-less and best teammates when camp ended. I call that success!
Completing AF summer camp isn't the last step to commissioning. Far from it. Passing field training is a requirement to move up from the freshman/sophomore introductory General Military Cadet training up to the leadership training in Professional Officer Corps Instruction. They set up and run the Cadet Wing and all the professional, charitable, fitness & fun activities.
We've been busy recruiting and we have the biggest freshman class in 6 years. But we're also adding transfers to sophomore, junior, and senior class too. AF ROTC has added many scholarship opportunities such as EXPRESS, STAR, SOAR, OYCP to name just a few.
Many may think this variety of scholarships and later entry points are synonymous with a decline or watering down of officer quality. WRONG!! Just the opposite is true. In order to get quality, we have to have more entry opportunities - can't be glued to just one fishing spot. Rather than just letting freshmen into the corps, now we can also recruit students already succeeding at college or transferring from junior colleges with 2 years under their belt and a stronger sense of direction on where they're going. So don't let the different incentives mislead you about the direction of our US Air Force - we will continue our commitment to quality leaders and quality leadership to our troops.
Fall is fun in starting new things. We have a great cadet orientation planned, looking to show off our facility improvements and self-help efforts on Parent's Day, and having fun and worthwhile cadet training activities. We're looking for some Air Power over the football stadium this fall. The 190th Refueling Wing from Topeka will flyover on 15 Sep - Band Day. We're finalizing details for A-10s from Whiteman for the UCLA game on 8 Sep. And if Congress lets the B-1s continue to fly in the new fiscal year, the Wing Commander in Wichita plans an impressive fly-over for homecoming on 13 October. We're getting great cooperation from the Athletic Department this year - should be a great kickoff to a great football season with some nationally ranked opponents. (Good luck Terry Allen!) I am looking forward to seeing you at our next TROA meeting and continuing the terrific tradition of inviting our great Jayhawk cadets.
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