Military dependants "deploy" to Skoshi Warrior

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mike Tateishi
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  "Are you ready to deploy?" called out an upbeat female voice as children varying in age from toddlers to teens entered the Airman and Family Readiness Center to participate in Skoshi Warrior Sept. 26. 

"They see their parents leaving, but they never get to experience ," said Tech. Sgt. Ray Brooks, a readiness NCO with the AFRC. "We just wanted to bring that to them." 

And bring it to them is exactly what they did, and what I'd hoped for when I signed my children up to attend. In addition to covering this story, I brought my son, Ian, and daughter, Erica, out to the event. Deploying in a few months myself, I wanted my kids to have an idea of what I'll soon be going through. 

At a makeshift setup resembling the likes of the logistics readiness squadron's mobility section, the AFRC staff processed one child after another, issuing them dog tags with their name embossed on one tag and "Skoshi Warrior" on the other. Children received a camouflage t-shirt and cap, as well as a backpack complete with a water bottle and other items they would need for their day in the field. 

As my kids headed out the door for their four-hour deployment, a voiced called, "Make sure you have a copy of your orders!" 

I looked down at Ian's orders and, sure enough,  they looked almost identical to the deployment orders I recently received. Sergeant Brooks said the AFRC wanted to make Skoshi Warrior as realistic as possible so the kids could walk away with an experience similar to what their parents go through. 

"My youngest thinks that whenever I go away or deploy, that I'm always on an air plane," said Tech. Sgt. Alisha Williams, an intelligence analyst with the 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron, who brought her 4- and 6-year old to the event. "They don't understand that I actually get off the airplane and work when I leave." 

For my children, this was a unique opportunity to see not only the preparation for a deployment, but, as I ran around trying to snap photos and conduct interviews, the kind of work I'll be doing as a combat cameraman in Afghanistan. 

Children spent roughly 15 minutes at each of the 13 stations. At one, immunizations technicians used the stick end of lollipops to administer the kids' shots; at another, dental technicians handed out toothbrushes; the 33rd Rescue Squadron allowed kids to suit up in their helmets and life support gear. There was even an obstacle course complete with low-crawl, barrier hurdles and a tire run. Everyone seemed to know how to keep the program interesting for kids, even the ones with the shortest attention spans. 

Who would have thought a guy wearing chemical warfare protective gear would have been interesting to elementary school children? 

"Things that I didn't even think the children were going to have fun with - they actually loved every bit of it," said Capt. Jackie Morales of the 18th Force Support Squadron, who just returned from a deployment in May.

"We worked the deployment around the fun," said Sergeant Brooks. "We did a lot of work to make the program both fun and educational." 

Captain Morales said her children, Trinity and Phoenix, who attend Bob Hope Primary School, can now make some connections between the pictures they saw of mommy while she was deployed and the hardware they saw at Skoshi Warrior. Hopefully their Skoshi Warrior experience will be fresh in their minds when it's dad's turn to deploy early next year.