Edwards AFB News

Cadets get taste of life at Edwards

  • Published
  • By Rebecca Amber
  • Staff writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Operation Air Force gives Air Force ROTC and Air Force Academy cadets an opportunity to experience the life ahead of them. On June 2, the first of two groups of cadets arrived at Edwards for a two-week stay in the high desert. During their trip, they visited the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, the combined test forces, the Air Force Research Laboratory Detachment 7, the 412th Force Support Squadron, the 412th Maintenance Group and much more.

"They're the future leaders of the Air Force and this trip is a tool for them to understand what their future roles and responsibilities will be," said Capt. Greg Thomas, 412th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Falcon Aircraft Maintenance officer in charge. "They haven't selected their job yet, so this is a good gauge to see what exactly that job does."

The program sends cadets to a wide variety of bases with different missions.

"Edwards is unique, so the mission is going to be a very different experience than what any of their other classmates go to at any other bases," said Thomas.

Cadet Jacob Cook is a computer science major at the Air Force Academy and has been given the opportunity to be the cadet-in-charge for this visit. Along with all of the Air Force Academy cadets, Cook is in the summer of his junior year and Operation Air Force is a requirement for graduation.

Cook shared that he particularly enjoyed visiting TPS because he hopes to someday be a pilot and possibly a test pilot.

Cadet Courtney Conway is going into her sophomore year at Mississippi State University. As a member of the Air Force ROTC, she hopes for a place in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

"We're here to experience what the Air Force life is like; kind of a means to help us know what we're getting ourselves into, why we were contracted in the first place," said Conway.

"Being at Edwards, I've experience a lot that I haven't seen before. There's Columbus Air Force Base near Mississippi State and it's nothing like Edwards. This is the desert and the Test Pilot School, I think, is really cool."

Operation Air Force was created in 2004 following a mandate from the Secretary of the Air Force and the Chief of Staff to the Air Force. The program is designed to create a clearer picture of the roles and responsibilities of an officer prior to being commissioned into the United States Air Force.