Volume XIII, Issue 4

Page 5

Air Force News

COL Mike Lee, USAF

 

     Plenty going on in the AFROTC Det at KU, even though we're into the home stretch for the Academic Year. Eight cadets will commission by the end of the summer, 16 will head for field training, and another 8 will attend summer programs offered across the country. In addition 3 of 5 members of the Det staff will also go to Field Training as part of the training cadre. One other active duty military member of our staff, Maj. Ardi Cecil, will PCS.

     The Jayhawks from Det 280 will kick 8 cadets out of the nest and into the air this summer. Five will go to pilot training, one to Edwards AFB as an aeronautical engineer, one to Ramstein as a mobility specialist, and one will eventually go to navigator training. They're all walking around with their heads in the clouds logging flying time without leaving the ground! I won't say good-bye to them yet or we'll never get them down, but you can rest assured, they will honorably and dutifully carry on the tradition of excellent American officership you established for them to follow.

     Field Training separates the airmen from the boys and girls, and our 16 candidates have been working at preparing since January. Our cadets will attend camps in Florida, Texas and South Dakota in the warmest part of the summer, and although they preferred Texas and Florida for Spring Break, many are wishing for the cool night air of South Dakota for training. Most will attend 4-week camps, but those who came to us in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th years will go for 6 weeks.

 

      An additional 8 cadets were hand-picked for soaring (sail planes at the AF Academy), free fall parachuting, or Operation AF (live and work at an AF base). One civil engineering major will work as an intern with military engineers somewhere in CONUS.

     We enjoyed our annual Dining-In and special guest speaker Col (Brig Gen select) Doug Raaberg, commander of the only B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber wing (Whiteman AFB, MO) in the world. We're looking forward to the Joint Commissioning Ceremony on 19 May, and our special awards ceremony on 6 May. We invite all of you to both of these events.

     Maj. Cecil will leave for Maxwell AFB this summer. Our only PhD, she's been key to getting many things done at the University. She's also been the drive behind recruiting that resulted in a 40-50% increase in Det size over the past two years. Maj. Cecil will leave some big shoes to fill (no offense Ardi), but we already have a Jayhawk alum lined up to slowly fill the leather.

     We anticipate another 10-15% increase in numbers next year. MOAA support here in Lawrence is key to that growth, and we thank you for the continuous excellent support.

Col. Mike Lee

 
Proper Rules of Etiquette (continued):

1. Listen politely while this person explains their views. Strike up a conversation if necessary and look very interested in their ideas. They will tell you how revenge is immoral, and that by attacking the people who did this to us, we Will only bring on more violence. They will probably use many arguments, ranging from political to religious to humanitarian.

2. In the middle of their remarks, without any warning, punch them in the nose.

3. When the person gets up off of the ground, they Will be very angry and they may try to hit you, so be careful.

 4. Very quickly and calmly remind the person that violence only brings about more violence and remind them of their stand on this matter. Tell them if they are really committed to a nonviolent approach to undeserved attacks, they Will turn the other cheek and negotiate a solution. Tell them they must lead by example if they really believe what they are saying.

5. Most of them will think for a moment and then agree that you are correct.

6. As soon as they do that, hit them again. Only this time hit them much harder. Square in the nose.

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