Air Force ROTC Detachment 158, 12303 Maple Drive, CWY 407, Tampa, FL 33620 -8475
www.usf.edu/afrotc 813-974-3367
Inside This Issue
Page:
1 -Commander’s Corner
-Veteran’s Day
2 –Living Learning Community
3 –Veteran’s Day Cont’d
-Cadet Corner
4 -Cadet Corner Cont’d
5 -Cadet Corner Cont’d
-GMC Take Over
6 –Cadet of the Month
-GMC Take Over Cont’d
After spending almost three years in our AFROTC program, I took an
opportunity the other day to reflect on my reasons for joining the world’s
greatest Air Force. I set out on this journey three years ago based off of a
childhood dream of simply flying something loud, shiny and fast. Little did I
know of the unique opportunities and personal challenges that I would
experience throughout my time here. As I advanced in my leadership
development I also developed a greater understanding for what an Air Force
officer truly represents. Long gone is the notion of joining the Air Force just to
be a pilot (or Combat Systems Officer in my case). I now have a maturing
realization of the awesome responsibility that every officer bears, which is to
complete the mission while providing for your people at an even greater level
than what is considered your best. This develops the notion of what “A Privilege
to Serve” truly means. There are Airmen (Soldiers, Sailors and Marines) who are
separated from their family and risk never returning
working long hours,
home and they do so of their own free will with only
other people’s safety on their minds. It should be
humbling to us all to even consider being associated
with these individuals, let alone lead them. We must
earn that honor of leading those men and women
through hard work, humility, determination and
sacrifice. Like I said last week in Leadership Lab, “We
are here to push each other and ourselves past what we
think is our best” because those individuals sacrificing
more than we know right now, deserve more than our
best, they deserve an Air Force officer.
This past week was a very important military
holiday: Veteran’s Day. This day, which falls on
the eleventh of November every year, marks the
end of the Second World War, and is used to pay
homage and respect to all veterans, past and
present. It is a day of remembrance for all
prisoners of war and personnel missing in action,
as well.
Something new on the USF campus
this year is the ROTC Living Learning
Community (LLC). It is a section of oncampus housing set aside for ROTC cadets
and midshipmen started by Commander
Sarao, vice-director of the JMLC. While it
was originally planned to be the first two
floors of resident hall Maple A on the USF
campus, there were only enough applicants
to fill the first floor. Everything in the
LLC has been great, and all of us living in
it have become almost like a second family.
We do a lot of things outside of class
together, and generally hang out with each
other. Though it may not seem like it at
first, we do not just talk about ROTC or the
military; we tend to stick to more civilian
topics, like our favorite TV shows and the
like.
We tend to have our own events like family dinners on Sundays or movie nights. For movie nights, it just depends on
whether everyone wants to sit in the common area (which we refer to as the living room) and watch a movie, or if it is a
Saturday night; my roommate Mark, floor mates Nick and James, and I sit in my room and watch a movie marathon.
We also get visits from people like Commander Sarao and Major General Visot. Commander Sarao also sets up
events for us like the recent visit to MacDill Air Force Base on Friday 28, October 2011. The cadets and midshipmen of
the ROTC LLC, and a handful of Air Force cadets, went on a tour of the USSOCOM (US Special Operations
Command) headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base. I was lucky enough to be a part of this tour, and it was a
worthwhile experience. Unfortunately, we did not get to see much of the building because of the sensitive nature of
special operations For the most part, we were in a briefing room, with US Army Colonel Tim Nye, director of Special
Operations Public Affairs, who gave us a presentation about special operations. While we did not get to see a lot of the
complex, it was still a great experience. We learned a lot about SOCOM functions and the Special Forces community as
a whole. After the briefing with Colonel Nye, we left the complex and moved on to one of the rigger sheds, near the
airfield. Here, we met some US Army riggers and learned about what their job entails. A Rigger is someone who sets up
and packs parachutes, and they walked us through the entire process. Cadet Cross got the chance to wear and deploy a
full parachute setup. After that, the Soldiers showed us the maintenance room and told us how parachutes are repaired.
To round off the whole trip, Cadet Campbell got to experience their parachute simulator. For this, he was hooked up to a
rig with a parachute setup on his back, and was hung by wires. He had a virtual reality-type headset on hooked up to a
screen for everyone to watch his performance. When it came time to pull the cord, the rig actually dropped Cadet
Campbell down into a standing position, like he had actually deployed a parachute. All in all, it was an amazing
experience and I am glad I had the opportunity to be a part of it. I would like to thank Commander Sarao for setting this
up, and for inviting everyone who went on the trip.
This year, like previous years, the Wing participated in a parade for Veteran’s Day. It occurred at the James A.
Haley VA (Veteran’s Affairs) Hospital on the Friday morning. Cadet Campbell organized the Wing’s participation this
year. As well as the parade, the University of South Florida had a special event on Tuesday, 8 November 2011for their
Veteran’s Week. This event featured SOCOM parachutists U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Keith Walter, the
jumpmaster for the event, and U.S. Army Green Beret Sergeant First Class Brian Webb to start off. A Joint Color Guard
featuring the flags of the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy presenting the colors for the National Anthem
followed the jump. The keynote speaker at this event was General Lloyd W. Newton, whom Major Stallworth, Cadet
Cannon, and Cadet Dzyndra got the opportunity to meet. As well as the Joint Color Guard and the parade, the
Detachment 158 Color Guard performed at Palm Harbor Middle School on Friday, for both of their Veteran’s Day
ceremonies. The turnout was big with about 1,000 people or more in attendance. Among the crowds were many
veterans from all the branches and their keynote speaker was a retired U.S. Army Colonel. It was a great event, and I am
honored to have been a part of both the Joint Color Guard at USF and the Detachment 158 Color Guard at Palm Harbor
Middle School.
Hello Wing! I am Cadet Blake Berner and I am one of the
Physical Fitness Officer Deputies. As PFO Deputy my
responsibilities are to arrive early and set up all materials needed
for Physical Training. For a usual PT day, I fill the water
containers so cadets may fill up their water bottles, and make sure
the medical kits are ready in case of any injuries. Around week
five, Cadet Kelly approached me and he simply asked if I would
be interested in being an assistant to the PFO.
Hello Wing! My name is Joseph Demarais and I am
your Safety Officer for this semester. I work under the
Inspector General, Cadet Pagan, and as the Safety Officer I
work to keep everyone safe during all wing activities,
including physical training. To do this, I arrive early to
physical training and evaluate the area for hazards such as
debris on the track that should be removed. If there are any
issues I will notify the wing in my safety briefing that I
read at every physical training during the personal stretch.
At the beginning of the semester I knew I wanted to
have a position in the wing. Only a few days into the
semester I received a call from Cadet Pagan. She described
the open position of Safety Officer to me and asked if I
wanted to take the position. I took the responsibility
immediately. I have had a lot of experience with common
injuries and safety precautions that should be taken during
exercises. This has given me a lot of confidence in my
duties. I would like to thank everyone for doing their part
in keeping their fellow cadets safe. Keep up the good work
and congratulations on making it this far into the semester
we only have a couple of weeks to go.
Hello Wing! I am Cadet Jacob Cannon and I am the
Operations Group Commander (OG/CC) here at Detachment
158. Operations Group is very fast-paced and exciting.
Coming into this Fall 2011 semester I incurred an area of
responsibility that included a staff of over 20 cadets, the
planning, organizing and execution of each week’s PT and
LLAB sessions, and ensuring that every cadet in our Wing
receives the appropriate training required for each Aerospace
Studies class.
Last spring when I boarded for Wing Staff, I had only
a slight idea of what was in store for me as the OG/CC.
Initial planning started at the same time summer did and it
was a leadership challenge right from the start. I have learned
a great number of leadership lessons during my time as
OG/CC and I truly have come to cherish the close working
relationship myself and my peers, Cadet Dzyndra and Cadet
McAulay, have built with cadre, especially Major Stallworth.
Week in and week out, he has given me critical feedback to
help me improve the training the Wing receives, and better
my organizational skills. I wish everyone the best of luck as
we are wrap up this semester and head into a brand new
adventure next semester which brings us all one step closer to
getting those much desired “butter bars.” HUA!?
What is this? A whole week ran by the
General Military Course (GMC) cadets? Of
course, how could I forget? GMC Take Over
Week occurs every semester and is always a great
learning experience. If you have not gotten a
position, do not feel left out as there will always be
next semester. For those who had positions, I felt
that the GMC acted swiftly and performed
excellently. If you do not believe me, I set up
interviews with our GMC Physical Fitness Officer
and Operation Group Commander for their
feedback on how they thought everything was
planned out and executed. Here is what they had to
say on the subject:
Cadet Fontenot: Wing Physical Fitness Officer
Cadet Blatt: How do you think the week went for
Physical Training (PT) and Leadership Lab?
Cadet Fontenot: Physical Training and Leadership Lab went smoothly for GMC Takeover Week. As Physical
Fitness Officer for GMC Takeover Week I got to plan and execute two PT sessions, which I felt went very well.
Leadership Lab ended up being a huge success even with some curve balls thrown in.
Cadet Blatt: What was the most difficult task to complete?
Cadet Fontenot: The most difficult task to complete was the Flight PT Challenge because so much was involved
with keeping score, proper form, and the directions that needed to be given to the wing.
Cadet Blatt: Can you see yourself using the information you learned from GMC Takeover Week in the future of
Air Force ROTC?
Cadet Fontenot: Yes I can. Keeping safety always in mind is key when planning PT sessions including PT
challenges. I also have some experience now on planning events for the Cadet Wing, which can be very helpful
when moving up to being a Professional Officer Course cadet.
Cadet Geronimo: Wing Operations Group Commander
Cadet Blatt: What was the most difficult part of your job during GMC Takeover Week?
Cadet Geronimo: Let’s see, overall was the creation of the Operations Order. Basically looking at the big picture
of the things we needed to get done and trying to get everything to fit in. A problem that was pointed out was not
being able to implement all of the Professional Officer Course cadets during the Leadership Lab.
Cadet Blatt: Though it was tough and you probably had many late nights, did you have a good time being Wing
Staff?
Cadets of the Month
POC: Cadet Sisto (left)
FTP: Cadet DeLeon (right)
IMT: Cadet Marrero (bottom)
Cadet Geronimo: I did. I really enjoyed the experience. It was a big eye opener! I
found a lot more strength in myself than I thought I had. It was a great learning
experience.
Cadet Blatt: If you could pass one bit of information off to the next cadet in your
position for next semester what would it be?
Cadet Geronimo: Learn to delegate! Do not bite off a bigger piece than you can
chew. Use your people all around you and utilize the assets you have at your
disposal.
Honestly, I could not say it better myself. These cadets gave their all and
then some. They were able to successfully produce a week full of ROTC fun and
operations that kept the Wing safe and content. To all members of GMC Wing Staff
I applaud your great efforts and thank you on behalf of the entire Public Affairs
Squadron for another exciting week of ROTC.
Public Affairs Squadron
Squadron Commander
Cadet Galen Abrams, C/Capt
Deputies
Cadet Jacob Blatt, C/3C
Cadet Leonard Polous, C/4C
Photographer
Cadet Marcos Marrero, C/4C