The US Air Force has conducted an activity introducing children to pre-deployment mission briefs in an actual military setting at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
About 120 military children participated in Operation Kids Understanding Deployment Operations (KUDOS), a program designed to give kids ages 4 to 12 a first-hand look at what their parents experience before leaving for missions.
The program combines age-appropriate instruction with interactive simulations to help children understand the associated mobilization processes.
KUDOS participants rotated through multiple stations that centered on lessons in medical response, explosive ordnance disposal, security operations, physical fitness, fire department procedures, and aircraft evacuation via a bounce house platform.
The groups also watched a military working dog demonstration and received a meal prepared by the Wounded Warrior Project, a Florida-based nonprofit providing physical, mental, educational, and developmental support services for American servicemembers and veterans.
The event concluded with a tour of a C-17 Globemaster III flight deck led by members of the 445th Airlift Wing, a reserve unit responsible for airborne logistics between bases, and each child accepted a completion certificate.
Reinforcing Community Ties
US Air Force Materiel Command Chief Master Sgt. Keelye Coffin, whose children participated, said the KUDOS event at Wright-Patterson “was pretty intense.”
“It was very realistic of what we go through, or as close to it as it can be.”
Master Sgt. Bradley Blair, senior non-commissioned officer for Military and Family Readiness with the 88th Force Support Squadron and KUDOS lead organizer, said the program assists children to better understand deployments and strengthens family ties to the military community.
“If the kids walk away saying, ‘I had a really great time, I got to go and see the airplane and see what my mom or dad did,’ and the parents go through the information fair and connect with the Exceptional Family Member Program, mental health services or other information booths to gain access to resources they didn’t they didn’t know were available, that would be a success,” Blair explained.
