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In August 2016 Kirkland arrived to Altus Air Force Base as a contracting specialist in the 97th Contracting Flight. “For my day-to-day, I administer contracts for the base,” said Kirkland. “Right now I’m working commodities and service contracts. My big project is the base laundry contract. I like what I’m doing; it’s a good job.”
“Lt. Kirkland has been a wonderful asset to our team. He is always willing to help out his teammates and excels in taking on any responsibilities I may have for him,” said Lori Clinton, 97th CONF base support element chief. “Lt. Kirkland embodies the Air Force core values and adds a pleasant disposition and demeanor to our team.”
Though he likes and is good at his job, it is quite a different role than his initial goal for joining the military.
“Early in high school I decided I wanted to do aerospace engineering and I was told the U.S. Naval Academy was the best place to go for that,” said Kirkland. “I applied and ended up being recruited for baseball. I was at a camp for the USNA and the USAFA was out there as well and they ended up recruiting me too.”
After touring the USNA in Annapolis, M several times, Kirkland’s excitement grew, but once the USAFA recruited him, the tides began to change. “I always wanted to go the Navy, but once I toured the USAFA campus, my mind was made up,” he said. “I loved it immediately; it’s such a great campus. It took one tour and I was sold.”
One day when playing baseball at the USAFA his freshman year, Kirkland tore a hip flexor. “I couldn’t play for a long time; I came back and tore it again,” he said. “I took the semester off and started playing rugby my sophomore year. A bunch of guys from my squadron played and they talked me into it.”
Kirkland had played many sports in high school, including football, but rugby was new to him. He ended up playing multiple positions for the USAFA over the next three years, until he graduated in 2016.
Though nothing was set in stone, the selection process seed was planted last year at the same tournament that he will be competing in this year.
“I met the coach last year with the USAFA team. The seniors met up with him and he was interested in watching us play to see if we had what it takes to play on the U.S. Air Force team,” said Kirkland. With a spot on the team open in 2016, Kirkland was invited to join and brought the opportunity to his supervisor. “I was surprised at how open they all were to the whole thing. My leadership has been extremely supportive of me. It’s a pretty good feeling for them to be behind me on this.”
“I thought that it was a great opportunity for one of our newly assigned officers to go out into the USAF and represent the 97th CONF in a positive manner,” said Clinton.
Usually rugby consists of a 15-man team with two 40 minute halves; Kirkland and the Air Force team will be playing a condensed, seven on seven version of the game where there are seven minute half’s with seven members playing per team.
Once he was selected for the team, Kirkland set out to get in the top physical shape required to be effective on the field.
“There’s not many people to practice with here,” said Kirkland. “It’s hard to do a tackling drill by yourself, so I’ve been focusing on strength and conditioning. I lift heavy five to six times a week and do three hard sessions a week of sprints and cardio. You have to be conditioned for this because it’s seven straight minutes of sprints.”
For the USAF team to do well they must be in excellent shape, because they will be competing against some of the top international teams; a hefty challenge considering they have yet to all practice together.
“Pretty much every other team is in a consolidated area. They get to practice with each other every week and have that continuity,” said Kirkland. “The tough thing for us is we show up four days before we play and we practice and just have to learn each other, but with the athletes we have, you’d be surprised at the high level of competition.” Kirkland and his teammates will compete with elite teams from 16 nations for three days in hopes of coming out on top.
Kirkland relates the tournament and the game to his everyday life in and outside of the Air Force.
“Physically and mentally it’s challenging. It makes you appreciate how good you have it,” he said. “I know it’s just a game, but all over the world people are going through tough situations. It can help put things in perspective a bit.”
Although the game is grueling and he has suffered multiple injuries, Kirkland says it’s all worth it.
“You get nicks and dings all the time. You just press through because you worked for it and don’t want it to end,” said Kirkland. “Going out there, you’re playing for a long period of time, you’re tired and having to think and your body wants to give up. You put yourself on the line for your teammates. That’s what makes it so fun for me.
| Date Taken: | 02.13.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 02.13.2017 11:11 |
| Story ID: | 223379 |
| Location: | ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Altus Airman selected for AF Rugby team, by SrA Nathan Clark, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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