BRADLEY AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Conn. (June 3, 2017) – Boy scouts from Troop 240 of East Lyme, Connecticut, toured Bradley June 3, 2017, after one of the scouts seeking leadership credentials reached out to the base.
“Each of the scouts had a leader’s project that they needed to coordinate to meet one of the ranks and one of the scouts, Chris, decided that he wanted to take a tour of the base,” said Rebecca Miller, committee chair of Troop 240 and mother of scout Joshua Miller. “He reached out to Master Sgt. Weissgarber and, from there, we were able to coordinate a visit.”
During the tour, the troop first visited with Airmen from the 103rd Maintenance Group, where they were shown aircraft engines and a flight simulator.
Next, the troop was brought out onto the flight line, where they were allowed inside a C-130 to see the cargo area and the cockpit.
“One of the things that a scout had commented to me on the way over here was that he was impressed by the size of the C-130,” said Miller. “The fact that you can fit a whole vehicle inside of the back of the plane is really impressive.”
After exploring the aircraft, the boys were brought to the fire department and the aerial port to learn about different missions and operations across the base.
Finally, they had an opportunity to meet with Airmen from the 103rd Security Forces
Squadron for hands-off weapons training.
Miller said that this was the first time most of the boys had ever been on a military base, and that it may have sparked an interest in the military for some of the scouts.
“We have one scout who had expressed an interest in aviation and I believe he’ll probably pursue that badge, and we’ll do everything we can to facilitate,” said Miller.
In order to obtain the aviation badge, Miller said the scouts have to be able to recognize different parts of the aircraft, recognize what many gauges in the cockpit measure, and be able to run through a pre-flight checklist.
Additionally, the aviation badge requires the troops to visit an establishment that houses aircraft. Their trip to Bradley qualified as one of those visits, so the whole troop is one step closer to their aviation badges.
There is no saying what the scouts of Troop 240 will do with the knowledge they gathered today, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them working as maintainers, pilots, or firemen on base a few years down the road.