Vance volunteers DARE to be great

  • Published
  • By Frank McIntyre
  • 71st Flying Training Wing public affairs
VANCE AFB, Okla. --  Team Vance members took the DARE to participate in recent graduations ceremonies for 5th-grade Enid students who completed the Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

Enid Police Department DARE officer Lisa Jobes invited Vance members to participate in the graduation in appreciation for their service to the country and because of the positive role model they present.

Vance responded by providing guest speakers for the graduation ceremonies at all 11 of Enid's elementary schools, as well as more than 30 additional volunteers to assist with presenting certificates, T-shirts and congratulating the students.

Capt. Timothy Clark, 71st Flying Training Wing programming office, spoke at both the Pleasantvale-Pioneer Elementary School and Eisenhower Elementary School.

"It was a wonderful experience for me to get out and represent Vance and the Air Force in general, and it was especially rewarding because my own daughter was in the graduating class at Eisenhower," the T-6 instructor pilot said.

"I believe DARE is a great program that provides kids with very pertinent information and skills at a critical time in their lives. They are at a very influential age when they are in the 5th grade so it is the perfect time to impress upon them the dangers of drugs/alcohol and tobacco usage," Captain Klark said. "Any chance that we have to interact with children is a blessing and a responsibility as members of our Nation's Armed Forces and I'm thankful I got to share in this important day of theirs."

To earn the certificate of graduation, students complete a 10-week program focusing on responsibility and resisting peer pressure as a way of abstaining from drugs and violence. The students end the program with a pledge to remain drug and alcohol free.

Lt. Col. Neil Woods, 71st FTW chief of safety, speaking at the Monroe Elementary School ceremony, ended his remarks by telling the students why they need to remain drug-free.

"You are the future leaders of our nation and we're counting on you."