WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- Friday, August 8 was no average day for 120 military kids on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Rather than sleeping in, going to the pool, or packing up for summer camp these kids started their day with a pre-deployment mission brief.
“Your unit has been picked to help with a humanitarian mission,” Shonte Gonzalez, 88th Force Support Squadron community readiness consultant announced to the group. “A town in the US has been damaged, and you will be responsible for cleaning up the town and helping out the local community before the departing for your deployment location.”
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These kids weren’t training for an actual deployment, instead they were participating in Operation K.U.D.O.S (Kids Understanding Deployment Operations). For a few hours they got a peek into the experience their parents have as they prepare for a deployment.
Designed for ages 4-12 years old, Operation K.U.D.O.S. provides an age-appropriate interpretation of pre-mobilization and mission preparedness. The intent is to help children work through questions about deployments by engaging in a simulated deployment process.
Following their mission brief, participants rotated through six stations where they were engaged in hands-on activities to learn about medical response, explosive ordnance disposal, security forces operations, a physical fitness obstacle course, fire department activities, and a bounce house to simulate aircraft evacuation. Participants also saw a Military Working Dog demonstration and enjoyed lunch provided by Wounded Warrior Project. With their official deployment preparation complete, they exited the hangar and boarded a C-17 Globemaster III where they received a tour of the flight deck by members of the 445th Airlift Wing. All of the kids received completion certificates at the end of the event.
“We’ve been to a couple of them [at different bases] and this one was pretty intense” said Air Force Materiel Command’s Command First Sergeant, Chief Master Sgt. Keelye Coffin, whose boys Jase and Justus participated. “It was very realistic of what we go through, or as close to it as it can be.” Both Jase and Justus agreed that their favorite parts of the day were seeing the display vehicles and getting to go aboard the C-17.
As the summer winds down and kids look towards going back to school in the upcoming weeks. Master Sergeant Bradley Blair, 88th Force Support Squadron’s Military and Family Readiness senior non-commissioned officer, shared what he hopes parents and kids took away from the event.
If the kids walk away saying, ‘I had a really great time, I got to go and see the airplane and see what my mom or dad did,’ and the parents go through the information fair and connect with the Exceptional Family Member Program, mental health services or other information booths to gain access to resources they didn’t they didn’t know were available, that would be a success,” he said.