33rd FTS supports Career Day

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Nicole Poff
  • Public Affairs
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  "We've Been Waiting For You" is the theme of the Air Force's most recent advertising campaign, which focuses on the interests and talents of young adults being fulfilled in a future career in the Air Force.
Chisholm Middle School helped match these interests in a similar way during its Career Day Feb. 3, where students got the opportunity to shadow a certain profession after watching individual career presentations.
Capt. Joshua Rogers, 33rd Flying Training Squadron instructor pilot, was one of the eight presenters asked to discuss their career fields with the eighth graders. The other speakers included a lawyer, doctor, engineer, police officer, photographer, biologist and nurse.
Captain Rogers talked to four groups of students about his responsibilities as an instructor pilot, what to expect at pilot training and some of his previous assignments. He also talked about salaries, benefits and the path they should take to get to pilot training.
"Do your best in school," Captain Rogers said. "I know you are tired of hearing that, but no matter what you want to do, as long as you get good grades and you're motivated, then you're going to be able to ensure you get what you want."
The students were administered two tests to help assess their personal interests and align them with a specific career field. The Explore Test, the younger sibling to the American College Test, scored students' strengths and weaknesses in English, math, reading and science. The Kuder Test, a test that helped match interests to one of 16 career clusters, was also taken. Students had to choose a career to shadow based on the results of the two tests.
Five students were able to shadow five instructor pilots here after their interests matched the government and public administration career cluster from the Kuder Test, which highlights many opportunities they may enjoy within the Armed Forces.
"My test results said I could go to the hospital or to the base, so I picked the base," said Dakota Martin, one of the five attending eighth graders.
The five young men visited the flight rooms, suited up in G-suits, visited the aircraft on the flightline, went to aerospace physiology and finished off their day with a flight in a T-37 simulator.
The students showed a lot of interest and enthusiasm for the military career path at the end of their visit.
"I've always wanted to be a pilot, but now I'm like ... yeah, I'm going to do this," said Ben Tyson, one of the eighth graders and son of Lt. Col. Thomas Tyson, 33rd FTS director of operations.
Good, because the Air Force will be waiting for you.