K.U.D.O.S. to Team Pete

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amber Grimm
  • 21st Space Wing Public Affairs
PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --  The 21st Force Support Squadron hosted a special children's event at the Capt. David Lyon Memorial Park, Apr. 2, 2016.

K.U.D.O.S or Kids Understanding Deployment Operations was a chance for the children of military members to gain an understanding of what their parents go through before deployments, with a little bit of fun thrown in.

"The kids went through three phases during the event," said Staff Sgt. Justin McMahon, 21st Security Forces Squadron. "First phase was the pre-deployment portion, the children were assigned their flight commanders and left their parents behind."

The flights, Ironman, Sentinels, Broncos, Rangers, Reapers, and others enjoyed a quick breakfast before receiving a short mission brief from Col. Douglas Schiess, 21st Space Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Idalia Peele, 21st Space Wing command chief, before starting through the processing line. In the line each child received their immunizations (jelly beans), were thumb printed, signed a legal document naming someone else to take care of their chores, and received honorary Airman dog tags.

During this phase the children were also trained in basic facing movements, and how to march and salute before being marched back to their waiting parents.

"The parents got to watch their children marching with pride," said McMahon, who was the Reaper Flight commander for the event. "The flights aligned themselves in front of the parents and gave a salute to honor their sacrifice and service."

After a quick lunch the children rejoined their flights to run an obstacle course and visit different stations set up by various career fields. Security Forces taught the children to shoot rubber band guns and had a Military Working Dog demonstration. Gear and suits were available to try on at the Fire Protection, Medical, Bioenvironmental, Emergency Management and Explosive Ordnance Disposal stations as well.

"The entire day was a huge success and the kids all had smiles the entire time," said McMahon. "I feel they learned a lot about what their military family members experience during deployments and hope it will help them if their parents get deployed in the future."

 

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