AFA hosts Air Power Week

U.S. Air Force Capt. John Bowman, 1st Special Operations Squadron MC-130H Combat Talon II pilot, answers questions from school-age children during a flight line tour on Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 1, 2015. Bowman and other volunteers gave approximately 130 children tours of various aircraft in support of the Month of the Military Child. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zade C. Vadnais)

AFA hosts Air Power Week

U.S. Air Force Col. Paul M. Johnson, 18th Operations Group deputy commander, gives closing remarks following a flight line tour for school-age children on Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 1, 2015. The flightline tour was the final event of the Air Force Association’s Air Power Week, a week dedicated to getting children excited about science, technology, engineering and math through basic exploration of various aircraft and their technologies. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Zade C. Vadnais)

AFA hosts Air Power Week

Published May 5, 2015
By Airman 1st Class Zade C. Vadnais
18th Wing Public Affairs

KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- The Keystone Chapter of the Air Force Association recently hosted Air Power Week in support of the Department of Defense's Month of the Military Child.

The AFA is a professional military and aerospace education association that promotes public understanding of aerospace power and the pivotal role it plays in the security of the nation. The organization also supports military families and encourages interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"We wanted to do something for Month of the Military Child," said Tech. Sgt. Juan Hernandez, AFA Keystone Chapter vice president. "We spent a whole week talking with children from after school programs around base about STEM subjects. We did a show-and-tell with different weapon parts and a pilot's helmet and we taught them about theories of flight like lift, drag and thrust using paper airplanes.

"The flight line tour was the final event of the week," Hernandez said.

Air Power Week was held in support of the Month of the Military Child, which takes place in April each year and highlights the important role the nearly 2 million military children play in the armed forces community.

"My favorite part was going on the airplanes," said Hoku Ewing, who attends Himawari school-age care. "They were really big and it was a lot of fun."

Hernandez said he felt it was important to show the children some of the things their parents may do when deployed or on temporary duty, and wanted to give them an opportunity to ask questions they don't usually get to ask.

"I hope they got something out of being visited by people who don't normally come to their centers and I hope it was fun for them," Hernandez said. "I wanted the kids to walk away from this event with a sense of being appreciated."