News

Warrior Stories provides forum for Airmen to share experiences

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Hayden Pickett
  • 100th Civil Engineer Squadron First Sergeant
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Should we wait until we are in our rocking chairs to talk of our glory days? Most certainly not! 

Since January 2007 more than 3,000 Airmen from Team Mildenhall have deployed, but what do we know of their experiences? Who is making an impact to help rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, support and train Iraqi Police Forces, and provide support to Air Force strike force missions against enemy forces and locations? 

Some of the very same people you work with, the ones you pass by at the commissary or wait in line with at the Shoppette or the Daily Grind. Our very own Airmen have carried the torch to the fight and simply put, there's a story to tell. 

Warrior Stories is a monthly initiative to allow our deployers to come back and share their experiences from their own perspective. May 13 marked the wing's first presentation where three civil engineers briefed. 

More than 50 Team Mildenhall Airmen brought their club lunch upstairs at noon to hear what the deployers had to say. 

First, Senior Airman Jacob Tilton spoke of his journey as a "Dirt Boy" complete with a light-hearted, three- minute video and jokingly compared the heat in Qatar to "standing in front of a hot oven and having sand thrown at you." 

Next, firefighter Tech. Sgt. Joshua Trundle shared his fire team's mission at Balad Air Base; he discussed their immense responsibilities and the team's successful record. He spoke of how the team responded to an IED explosion outside the wire that engulfed a 5-ton truck. 

Once the flames were extinguished, the team provided protective fire streams on the smoking vehicle while Sergeant Trundle "safed" and removed the 50-caliber turret machine gun from the top of the truck. 

The last story was shared by Capt. Matt Lapham who presented information and pictures pertaining to his Afghanistan adventure including the challenges of working with foreigners, the language barriers and some of the creative procuring practices they had. 

Those stories are the just the beginning, and we're hoping to add to them and accomplish a few things with this forum. One purpose of the stories is to develop our future deployers, giving them an idea of what to expect at different locations. 

Also the hope is to gain a cross flow of information and respect in regards to the different career fields serving. There are many pieces of the puzzle that have to come together to make any operation a success. 

And lastly, this provides an opportunity for our deployers to thump their chests a bit about their team's accomplishments. 

Each month, deployers from three different organizations will come share a 10-15 minute presentation about their deployment. If interested in sharing your story, contact your First Sergeant for available dates. 

Editor's note: The next  Warrior Stories lunch will be held June 18 at the Galaxy Club. The event is open to everyone -- just bring your club food upstairs if you wish to eat, and be in place by noon for the presentation (no outside food, please).