Rising Stars Shine at MacDill

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Jaclyn M. Cordero
  • 6th Maintenance Operations Squadron
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  On March 19 the 6/927th Maintenance Group hosted 39 children from Gibsonton Elementary School as part of the annual Rising Star mentoring program.

Upon their arrival to MacDill AFB, they were greeted by 6th Maintenance Group Commander, Col. James Howe. He expressed his pride in the students and gave them a quick overview of what to expect on their tour. Excited about being on a military base, most for the first time, the children had numerous questions for the colonel about airplanes, squadron patches, and the events of the day.

Their tour started when the 6th Security Forces Squadron, K-9 unit, treated the students to a military working dog demonstration lead by Tech. Sgt. Thomas Lowande. After the K-9 demonstration, Tech. Sgt. Richard Golen from the 6th Civil Engineer Squadron performed a small fire drill demo, complete with full fire fighting gear and a base fire truck. Students were then split into several groups to take a tour on one of MacDill's KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. Capt. Christopher Callahan and Staff Sgt. Jon Adams of the 91st Air Refueling Squadron and Senior Master Sgt. Greg Kuhn from the 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron led the tour and answered all the questions from the children.

After the demonstrations and tours, the students became MacDill VIPs, eating lunch with Colonel Howe. During lunch, the students enjoyed the Joint Communication Support Element static line parachute team demonstration, a heritage fly-by, and multiple AirFest aircraft departing and arriving to the base. The event culminated when Colonel Howe presented each student with a certificate making them "Honorary Crew Chiefs" of the 6/27th Maintenance Group.

The Rising Star program started 10 years ago. In the Fall of 1999, Mr. James Johnson, Rising Star co-founder, was introduced to then 6th Logistics Group Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Craig O'Neal at a leadership course. After discussion, both selected Gibsonton Elementary School as a class project for their course. It was then the Rising Star program was born.

A "Rising Star" student is selected because he or she has overcome tremendous challenges, but continues to excel academically. One student from each of the pre-kindergarten through 5th grade classes is chosen. Attendance and positive attitudes also play a part in the selection.

According to Mr. Johnson, Colonel Howe has been a friend and mentor to the students for the past two years and stated, "These visits would not be possible without the continued support of the Maintenance Group."

Along with Colonel Howe, this year's event would not have been a success were it not for the leadership and coordination of Mrs. Donna Eads of the 6th Maintenance Group staff and Master Sgt. Arturo Ocampo and Staff Sgt. Alberto Narvaez from the 6th Maintenance Operations Squadron.