Heads up - AF getting ready for big deployment out of MacDill

[DoYouEverWonder]

Children get taste of their parents' military life

A mock deployment at MacDill aims to ease the minds of 125 youngsters as their moms and dads get ready to leave again.

By ELISABETH DYER, Times Staff Writer
Published April 12, 2006

MacDILL - They were 125 strong, marching four abreast at MacDill Air Force Base on Tuesday, chanting "We are the Air Force, mighty, mighty Air Force."

Small, they were, for recruits, just 9 and 10 years old, invited to a mock deployment so they could get a taste of the military life their parents know. They ate Meals Ready to Eat and actually liked them. They tried on gas masks, rode real stretchers and checked out weapons.

"My mama wouldn't like this," said one boy, before he picked up a grenade launcher. Another kid said his mom was a spy. A third said he didn't have a mom.

The staged event Tuesday morning was the second such outing for the 6th Air Mobility Wing Family Support Center.

"We're coming up on a pretty big deployment," said Master Sgt. John Close, who oversees the program. "A lot of their parents are going to be gone."

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/04/12/Tampabay/Children_get_taste_of.shtml


"We rode real stretchers" -

This is insane.

[darkmaestro019]

1. ....terrifying.....

I just woke up and I dreamed jets were screaming by overhead for what seemed like all night. This was the first link here on Latest when I came in.


:hide:


It's too early to drink, but not too early to need one...

[wakeme2008]

2. What "pretty big deployment" -- getting ready for Iran?????????????

:grr:

[HereSince1628]

11. The 6th at MacDill is about in-flight refueling, yes?

Seems like if you are about to fly a bunch of heavies into harms way you just might want some extra in-flight refueling capacity.

[wakeme2008]

12. Bingo we have a winner...

:grr:

[HereSince1628]

13. Of course it's hard to know, the AF is using reservists for that mission

in Iraq, too. Taken by itself it could simply be a normal rotation.

But then again...

[bdamomma]

14. Very true

are we going to exhibit that soon?

[TAPat]

3. Get 'em while they're young...

more cannon fodder for the war machine. :(

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. We need to be calling Congress about this crap

We can not allow them to get away with starting WWIII.

[Minnesota Libra]

5. Do I hear talk of "war with Iran" in the air?? nt

[Kutjara]

6. I just googled MacDill...

...and it seems its principal mission is inflight refuelling. Sounds like some of our big jets are going to be travelling a long distance and need to pick up gas on the way.

[xchrom]

7. more scary than bombing iran are the statements of these kids.

[Missy M]

8. This is reprehensible....

the military and our government brainwashing children. One child picking up a grenade launcher and another looking through a rifle. I can't believe they are glamorizing war and we have people screaming about what children see on TV, movies or the internet. These same people should be worried about this, not TV etc.

[DoYouEverWonder]

9. It's really is appalling

How is this supposed to make them more comfortable about their parents leaving? I wonder if they had 'push the wheelchair' practice or 'change the IV' contests?

[CornField]

10. Whoa... and I don't even let mine buy/touch water pistols...

I still have this thing about weapons and kids not mixing. I don't buy toy weapons of any sort. I guess I figure they are being desensitized enough to violence and I don't want to add to that belief that weapons are things they should be touching, pointing at one another, or playing with.

Given that, I'm not sure what I would do if a military person offered to let my children fondle a grenade launcher. (Well, I'm not sure what I'd do after I vomited.)

[WilliamPitt]

15. Before everyone (who isn't a military expert) flips out,

consider the possibility that this is a regular rotation of forces; the folks in Iraq get to come home for a while, and the folks at home go over there for a while. There are always training ops before a rotation.

I'm no military expert, but there is nothing here that screams IRAN.