Cadets from the Wylie East High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC ) watch a video history presentation prior to the start of their tour Feb. 8, 2012. After a video presentation about the base and a welcome from a panel of active-duty Airmen, the 90 cadets and two tour buses departed for tours of both operational units and technical training destinations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Dan Hawkins)
Cadets from the Wylie East High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC ) sit in the cockpit of a C-130 during their tour Feb. 8, 2012. After a video presentation about the base and a welcome from a panel of active-duty Airmen, the 90 cadets and two tour buses visited both operational units and technical training destinations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Dan Hawkins)
Cadets from the Wylie East High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC ) learn about jet propulsion training at the 361st Training Squadron during their tour of Sheppard AFB Feb. 8, 2012. After a video presentation about the base and a welcome from a panel of active-duty Airmen, the 90 cadets and two tour buses visited both operational units and technical training destinations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Dan Hawkins)
Cadets from the Wylie East High School Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC ) get welcomed to the base during their tour of Sheppard AFB Feb. 8, 2012. After a video presentation about the base and a welcome from a panel of active-duty Airmen, the 90 cadets and two tour buses visited both operational units and technical training destinations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Dan Hawkins)
2/9/2012 - SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Cadets from the Wylie East Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) program paid a visit to Sheppard on Feb. 8 for a tour of the base.
After a video presentation about the base and a welcome from a panel of active-duty Airmen, the 90 cadets and two tour buses departed on the tour. Stops included both operational units and technical training destinations such as the Fire Department and the 361st Training Squadron's Jet Propulsion technical training building.
Air Force Retired Lt. Col. Harry Wilbanks, Senior Aerospace Science Instructor at Wylie East High School, said visiting the base is an important piece of the cadets' experience while in the JROTC program.
"It's a great opportunity to see what's out there," said Wilbanks. "To get out here and be able to understand integrity and teamwork and they can see how it happens on a base....you can't put a measuring stick on it."
Getting a chance to interact with the Airmen of Team Sheppard is an eye-opening and much-anticipated experience for the ROTC cadets.
"I just like meeting the people of the Air Force," Cadet Alexander Kown said. "Everybody's new, everybody's different, everybody has a cool different story. I love asking people why they joined the military. There's always cool things you can learn."
Seeing the Air Force up close and personal brings the future into clear focus for many of the cadets.
"It makes it all real," Cadet Brianna Figuly said, 16 years old and a junior at Wylie East High School. "Actually seeing what people do gives you a real vision of what you want to be."
There was one stop on the tour that might have been the most anticipated among the cadets - the dining facility.
"The food here is awesome," Kown said. "Not that I don't love the tours, but there is nothing like sitting down to a nice meal."
