Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph –
The Randolph Elementary School gymnasium reverberated with
the shouts of enthusiastic students the morning of May 18 as they readied for a
special event that gave them a glimpse into the working lives of their
active-duty parents.
By the time the morning was over, the event had proven to be
entertaining as well as educational.
Operation FLAGS, which stands for Families Learning About
Global Support, comprised seven stations that showed some 300 third-, fourth-
and fifth-graders what their active-duty parents go through when they are
deployed to a faraway land – from in-processing to their welcome home.
“Operation FLAGS gives kids the opportunity to experience
the deployment cycle while making it fun for them,” said Master Sgt. Joe
Ugarte, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Military & Family Readiness Center
NCO in charge. “They also learn about the partners active-duty members work
with on deployment. We want the children to know what their parents are doing
when they are deployed.”
Col. Michael Gimbrone, 502nd Security Forces and Logistics
Support Group commander, set the tone at the event’s first station when his
“mission brief” raised the excitement level for the fifth-grade students who
filed into the gym for the first of three Operation FLAGS sessions. Third- and
fourth-graders attended later sessions.
Gimbrone told students that learning what their parents
experience when they deploy will give their additional responsibilities at home
more resonance.
“It’s important for you to understand as well that when you
have a parent who is gone, you may have to do more around the house – maybe a
few more chores, a little bit of yardwork, help out with your younger brothers
and sisters, set the table, clean the dishes and other things that you might
have to do,” he said. “Many of you do those things every day, but maybe you
have to do a little bit more of it when your mom or dad is deployed. So today
you’re going to have a little bit of a better understanding about why that is.”
After gearing up at Operation FLAGS’ second station with a
helmet and airman battle uniform top, students split into squads and rotated
around five more stations to experience the diversity of a deployment.
With more than 100 volunteer Airmen and civilians from JBSA
organizations providing instruction and encouragement, students witnessed
demonstrations that showcased the work of military working dog teams,
firefighters and explosive ordnance disposal units as well as countermeasures
used against chemical warfare.
In addition to JBSA-Randolph M&FRC staff members and
Randolph Elementary School teachers, volunteers came from the 502nd Logistics
Readiness Squadron, 502nd Security Forces Squadron and 502nd Civil Engineer
Squadron. Col. Michael Snell, 12th Flying Training Wing vice commander, and Lt.
Col. Amy Glisson, 802nd Force Support Squadron commander, followed Gimbrone in
presenting opening comments to third- and fourth-graders.
Kelly Moon, a Randolph Elementary School parent whose
husband, Col. Tim Owens, Air Education and Training Command deputy director of
intelligence, operations and nuclear integration, has experienced deployment
and said many people have no idea what duties military members perform each
day. She said Operation FLAGS gives students a frame of reference.
“It’s hard to explain what a military member does on a daily
basis,” she said. “It’s not easy to understand. This depicts what they do every
day.”
One of her children, fifth-grader Cooper Moon-Owens, was
impressed by the tasks performed by active-duty members – and the pressures
they face. Among those tasks was using robotic devices in explosive ordnance
disposal.
“It would be scary to do that,” he said. “The concentration
you need is essential to keep the bomb from going off.”
Cooper said military members downrange are often required to
make fast decisions when their lives are in danger.
Allana Hemenway, Randolph
Elementary School principal, said Operation FLAGS is a great opportunity for
children to see what their parents may encounter when they are deployed.
“It’s all done in a fun, loving, caring way, and there’s
excitement in the air,” she said. “The kids can be apprehensive at first, but
then they really start enjoying it.”