KUDOS provides kids insight into deployment

  • Published
  • By Airman Stacy Garcia
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Edwards hosted for the first time Kids Understanding Deployment Operations -- or Operation KUDOS -- at Camp Corum and the Oasis Community Center Saturday.

Operation KUDOS gave Edwards kids, ages five to 18, an opportunity to play the role of their military parents for the day. The project was designed to give kids a better understanding of the deployment process their parents have to follow by placing them through the process themselves.

The 72 young mock deployers started the day with camouflage face painting provided by the 95th Security Forces Squadron and a briefing from Col. H. Brent Baker Sr., 95th Air Base Wing commander, who spoke about the purpose and importance of Operation KUDOS, at the Oasis Community Center.

"We wanted to bring the kids out here and make it an exciting day for them," Patty Thurgood, Airman and Family Readiness Center community readiness consultant said. "The kids run through the deployment line to get a chance to experience what their parents have gone through or experience what their parents will soon be going through."

The kids then received other briefings from base organizations about the mobility process and about safety and awareness during Operation KUDOS. Once the kids received their briefings, they stood in a mobility line to be issued squirt guns for weapons, jelly beans for immunizations and given time to speak to a base representative from the chaplain, legal and finance offices -- much like the mobility line their parents go through.

After the children were in-processed, the parents and children boarded buses to head to their deployed location called "Camp Raven," at Camp Corum.

The kids learned about self aid buddy care and how to properly wear a gas mask. The kids also donned gear worn by the fire department personnel. They learned about weapons from the 95th SFS. The kids also got a first hand look on water purification systems being used when their military parents are deployed.

Around lunch time, the kids were given a variety of Meals Ready to Eat packages that provided children a better understanding of what their parents may be eating once deployed.

While at Camp Raven, the children also experienced alarm condition exercises where they were "under attack" and had to drop to the ground or find cover.

After the children got a first-hand look at the whole deployment process, they hopped back on the buses to go to the Oasis Community Center. There, the kids found their parents waiting for them with a welcome back sign and lunch afterwards.

"I think this day was really useful for the kids," Colonel Baker said. "We wanted to try and make it fun for the kids so when they walk away from this they would have taken home a greater appreciation and understanding of what their parents really do when they deploy."

As the different AEF cycles deploy, Colonel Baker plans to have Operation KUDOS for these cycles also.

"It's been my experience that once the kids get back to the community wearing their Operation KUDOS shirt and the kids start speaking about it, we will probably have an even greater number of kids for the next KUDOS," he said.