Warrior Stories

Senior Airman Andrew Blasiman, 100th Communications, talks about his deployment to Forward Operating Base Maholic, Kandahar, Afghanistan, at a "Warrior stories" event Feb. 4 at the Galaxy Club. Airman Blasiman deployed with the Army, and said he got to sleep on a plywood bed, adding that made them some of the lucky ones. He deployed as a special forces deployable node technician, and said he came under rocket fire the minute he stepped off the plane at his deployed location. (U.S. Air Force photo/Karen Abeyasekere)

Warrior Stories

Master Sgt. Hayden Pickett, 100th Communications Squadron first sergeant, talks about three of her deployments during the "Warrior stories" event Feb. 4 at the Galaxy Club. Sergeant Pickett was the first sergeant for security forces at Balad, Iraq, and also Manas, Kyrgystan. She also deployed to Budapest, Hungary, for a month. (U.S. Air Force photo by Karen Abeyasekere)

Warrior Stories

Col. Jeffery Bateman, 100th Mission Support Group commander, shares stories about his deployment to Al-Udeid Air Base, Southwest Asia, in 2001. As the security forces commander (and tent city mayor) he was on the initial team that built, from scratch, what later became known as Camp Andy, named after a member from the civil engineer squadron who was killed in a heavy equipment accident. Colonel Bateman said everyone built tents. "No matter what your (Air force Specialty Code), when you'd done your job for the day, you built tents," he said. (U.S. Air Force photo by Karen Abeyasekere)

'Warrior stories' provides opportunity to share deployment tales, experiences

Published Feb. 4, 2010
By Karen Abeyasekere
100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

RAF MILDENHALL, England -- "Warrior stories" returned Feb. 4, when three of Team Mildenhall's military members shared their deployment experience with others.

Senior Airman Andrew Blasiman, 100th Communications Squadron; Master Sgt. Hayden Pickett, 100th CS, and Col. Jeffrey Bateman, 100th Mission Support Group, shared photos and stories from their deployments during this month's event . Future warrior story meetings will be held monthly at the Galaxy Club.

The stories ranged from working with the Army to being a first sergeant of deployed security forces members to being in charge of building a base from the ground up.

"What's really phenomenal about this is that it gets us to see as a team exactly what Mildenhall does, and what they do downrange," said Senior Master Sgt. Angela Yoho, 100th Air Refueling Wing Safety Office, and wing staff agencies superintendent, who is also one of the organizers of the event.

"People get to see what others are taking from here and how they're executing it downrange. Some things, such as Third Country National duty, may have negative connotations - but if folks come here and see and hear what other people have gone through and what it's really like, it might not be as bad as they're expecting," she said.

The session lasts about an hour, and during that time three people share their deployment experiences.

Anyone wanting to share their own personal warrior story should contact either their squadron first sergeant, Sergeant Pickett at DSN 238-2399 or Sergeant Yoho at DSN 238-2649. They will help put slides together with photos from the deployment to help provide a good visual story to share with everyone.