LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
In pursuit of educating and training the Air Force's future second lieutenants, the University of Texas at San Antonio's Air Force ROTC Detachment 842 was recently recognized as the best large detachment.
Where the deserved accolade shines, however, is on the face of each frank, optimistic and energetic member of its diverse cadre.
Some want to be pilots, intelligence officers or medical professionals. Some are military dependents, former JROTC and prior enlisted.
Maj. Sean Bailey, an instructor with the detachment, said joining ROTC is one of many paths to becoming an officer in the Air Force, and the route each cadet takes is also different.
A former basic military training flight commander and active-duty enlisted Airman, Major Bailey said, "most people don't think (a commission is possible)," but with non-competitive scholarships such as those offered by the detachment at UTSA, it is.
"You can go to the base education office and apply for scholarships, but most are very competitive," he said. "So, they walk out the door, and over here, spend a semester with us and get on scholarship."
Scholarship candidates must pass the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test, a physical fitness test, and have a 2.5 cumulative GPA in college.
First-year cadet Arieal Davis is in what Major Bailey described as, the preliminary "you-try-us, we-try-you" evaluation period for scholarships.
She and older sister Shannon are soon to become the next generation of officers in a family of Air Force officers. Her parents are both lieutenant colonels coming up on nearly 40 years of combined service, while her two brothers both served as active-duty enlisted, seeking commissions from different universities.
The decision to join ROTC instead of using her parents' GI Bill just seemed right.
"I have a lot of friends that live the ideal college life," Cadet Davis said. "They go out, but I chose not to live like that; I'm doing something much more important."
Keeping up with grades, physical fitness and ROTC courses, the biology major said she enjoys the military lifestyle.
"I get a lot of respect from teachers and bosses, and a lot of people respect that you're wearing the uniform."
Other cadets' paths, like Davie Braxton and Stephanie Jimenez, closely resemble Major Bailey's own.
As an Airman in Lackland's 651st Munitions Squadron, Cadet Braxton wanted to move from handling and maintaining bombs to flying the planes that bear them, echoing the major's assessment - transition may not seem feasible at first.
Braxton's enlistment was coming to an end, but he said he wanted more out of the Air Force. "I wanted to expand my horizons. It seemed far out of reach to be an officer as an enlisted."
He found out about the detachment online three years ago and now awaits a decision on a piloting position, like other third-year cadets.
Cadet Jimenez, prior enlisted and a former dental technician at Lackland, developed possibilities in herself she wouldn't have thought possible.
Cadet Jimenez said she could have gone a different route, too: gotten out of the Air Force, used her GI Bill, and then become a nurse. But, then she would have missed out on being a leader.
After her sophomore year, during the 27-day field training, she found out she had what it takes to be an officer.
"I wouldn't change a thing," she said. "I used to not be so assertive, but now that I'm here, it's like, man, I can actually be a leader."
The prior enlisted Airman said detachment activities like group leadership projects allow cadets time to think and resolve problems on their own.
"We're innovators," she said. "They don't spoon feed us anything here."
Cadet Tyler Nicholson wants to be an intelligence officer: to be in the know and break things down. He found saving money with a scholarship also frees up cash from a college fund.
"I actually just got two grand to put into my car," he said.
For Cadet Brandon Cook, seeking commission over enlistment was encouraged by his father, Chief Master Sgt. Brian Cook, of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency.
Coming from an Air Force family, Cadet Cook, a former JROTC student, knew he wanted to join the service.
Being both cadet and student can be hard sometimes, waking up at 4 a.m. to travel across town to campus, but he said he's not concerned with the present: "I don't look at where I'm at right now; I look toward my future."
Like many spots on campus, daily life at the detachment is focused on tomorrow, and in this case, developing military leaders.
For more information about AFROTC Detachment 842, call 458-4624 or visit
www.det842.com.