Photo By Lindsay Riddick-Liu | U.S. Air Force Major Michael Burns from 314th Air Refueling Squadron prepares a KC-135...... read more read more
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - As a young Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet, Major Michael Burns had no idea that one day he would be the Pilot flying his former cadet group CA-954 on an orientation flight over northern California in a KC-135 Stratotanker.
But that’s just what he was doing Apr. 29, 2025. Along with fourteen Whitney High School students from Rocklin, CA. was a special guest on his flight, Retired Air Force Master Sergeant Darlene Romero. Major Burns’ former JROTC Instructor.
As she watched her former student, now U.S. Air Force Pilot, she beamed with pride. MSgt Romero was an Aerospace Science Instructor at the high school that Maj Burns attended, she opened the CA-954 JROTC group in 1995. She met him as a freshman in 1998, watched him rise through the ranks, graduate, go on to college and eventually become a pilot.
She explained what it meant to her to be on the flight, “this is full circle, it’s exciting. I’m thrilled actually and I told him that when he invited me to come on the flight.”
Maj Burns echoed that excitement as he reflected on his time as a cadet in the 954th, “It certainly felt like a full circle moment, because I had experienced the exact same thing as a cadet in the CA-954th while aboard my dad’s Coast Guard C-130 roughly 27 years ago as part of an orientation flight. To be the one piloting the aircraft this time around with the group of cadets being from the same unit, especially with my favorite teacher aboard will be a memory that I’ll cherish for life.”
The mission of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) is to create citizens of character dedicated to serving their community. The Program strives to create quality individuals with military discipline as well as strong leadership skills.
Retired Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Terry Barber is the current Instructor of the JROTC Aerospace Studies Program at Whitney High School. He says that Major Burns is proof that the program works. Having alumni in the U.S. Air Force accomplishing the mission speaks volumes to what the program is all about.
| Date Taken: | 05.01.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2025 23:47 |
| Story ID: | 496779 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, JROTC Flight Comes Full Circle for 314 ARS Pilot, by Lindsay Riddick-Liu, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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