Cadets get upclose view of Aviano, 8th ASOS

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Lindsey Maurice
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  Imagine a 3:45 a.m. show time in order to undergo a four-hour climb through muddy terrain, loose rock, waist-high brush, fallen tree limbs and a little bit of leftover winter snow in the heart of the mountains with 80 pounds of equipment strapped to your back - all to find the perfect observation point.

It's at this observation point that your mission is just getting started. From here, you have the perfect overview of your team's downed helicopter and the ability to call in close air support while your team is being rescued.

This is the scenario four Air Force Academy cadets were able to experience as they shadowed Airmen of the 8th Air Support Operations Squadron as part of the cadets' Operation Air Force visit here May 28 to June 18.

Operation Air Force is a three-week program designed to give cadets the opportunity to experience first-hand everything an operational Air Force base has to offer, according to the program Web site. Cadets are immersed into the Air Force way of life on an Air Force base through tours, receiving hands-on experience, and by shadowing Air Force personnel in a variety of career fields.

"This program is extremely important to the professional development of the cadets, who will have to decide within the next year to year and a half what career field they want to be in when they graduate from the Academy," said Maj. Ben Aronhime, 31st Fighter Wing Operation Air Force program liaison. "Although many of the cadets go to the Academy with a career field in mind, this program allows them to see first-hand what they will actually be doing as a newly commissioned officer."

The cadets were among the first of three Operation Air Force groups to visit the base this summer, said the major. By the end of July, about 35 cadets should experience life at Aviano.

During the cadets visit, they shadowed flight medicine, aerospace physiology, military personnel services, finance, communications, life support, office of special investigations, maintenance, airfield operations, the air control tower, radar approach control, fire department, 603rd Air Control Squadron, the 510th and 555th Fighter Squadrons and the 8th ASOS. The cadets also received F-16 familiarization flights and simulator rides and experienced a tour and familiarization flight on a C-130.

"Hopefully the cadets gained an understanding and appreciation for the importance of every job across the wing toward the accomplishment of the mission," said Major Aronhime. "Most of the cadets get to see the mission up close via the F-16 familiarization program, where they follow the fighter pilots through the entire process of a training mission from pre-mission planning to the brief, flight and debrief. They learn that if all of the other base agencies they visited in the weeks prior to the flight didn't do their job, the flight would never get off the ground. Regardless of what career field they end up in, this is the lesson we want them to get from the Ops AF program."

The major added that the cadets experience with the 8th ASOS was an important and unique aspect of their visit.

"The cadets met some of the real heroes of Operation Iraqi and Enduring Freedom by visiting the 8th ASOS," he said. "Many of the joint terminal attack controllers have been to Iraq and Afghanistan while the cadets have been at the Academy. They got to shadow the JTACs out in the field during local training sorties and gained an appreciation for the work the JTACs do to call in airstrikes. The cadets may someday be flying combat aircraft with one of these JTACs providing the attack clearance."

Before going out on the JTAC training exercise, the cadets had the opportunity to undergo a physical training session with 8th ASOS Airmen and were given a mission briefing of what the career field entails the day prior. This was especially important as the JTAC career field recently opened its doors to the officer ranks.

"Operation Air Force was great for us because we had a chance to give the cadets exposure to a new career opportunity," said Staff Sgt. Gregory Predmore of the 8th ASOS. "I think having career officers in TACP is long overdue. Ten years from now, being in the TACP career field is going to be a totally different experience."

During the cadets' day-long exercise with the TACPs, the group met up at the unit at 3:45 a.m. for an hour and a half drive up to the mountains. From there, the scenario unfolded that there was a downed helicopter and they had to navigate their way through the mountains to a good observation point to conduct a CAS mission with the resident F-16 unit (510th FS).

After some basic instruction, the cadets each took turns navigating the group through the woods to their predetermined observation point. Once there, the cadets assisted and observed as Sergeant Predmore and Senior Airman Luke Brackett, also of the 8th ASOS, set up their equipment and conducted the CAS mission - picking out possible targets, pulling grids and keeping track of the area.

"Even though it was only one day, they got to see a lot of the skills they will have to be experts in once they come into the job," said Sergeant Predmore. "Operation Air Force was important to us because I think for the most part the Air Force sees TACPs as a bunch of guys who jump out of planes and hang out with the Army. However, there is really much more to it than that. Now when cadets are looking into what line of work they're going to go into after graduation they will know first-hand what TACP is really about. It's much more than putting a bunch of weight on their backs and hiking. It involves keeping track of where the target area is or where they're going to go, where all the other friendly elements are or are going, which aircraft are in the airspace and their position, along with being experts in all the equipment that helps them execute these actions."

All of the cadets agreed that their TACP experience was one they will never forget.

"JTAC is a career field I'm interested in and I thought this was a good opportunity to come out and see what it's all about," said U.S. Air Force Academy cadet John Ashley. "Trekking through the mountains was quite an adventure and we were able to learn a lot about the JTAC career field from basic land navigation skills to setting up the CAS."

Cadet Ashley added that he enjoyed the entire Operation Air Force experience and said it is of real value to all cadets.

"Operation Air Force helps us to be able to see what an operational Air Force Base is like," he said. "At the Academy, you go to school and get to see that side of the Air Force, but at the bases, we get to actually see what's going on in the real Air Force and how we're going to be employed as well as what will be expected of as once we graduate from the Academy."

Major Aronhime added that by the cadets going overseas to Aviano, they were able to gain an even more unique Operation Air Force experience that others would not.

"They cadets actually went to Rome last weekend and saw Venice, so hopefully they see that it isn't all work all of the time and that a career in the Air Force can also provide some incredible opportunities on the social side," he said. "The cadets have also seen the importance of working with NATO allies by being here and interacting with the Italian Air Force."

The next group of Operation Air Force cadets is scheduled to visit the base later this month.