MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Several members from MacDill Air Force Base’s Aviation Inspiration Mentorship (AIM) team traveled to Puerto Rico to meet with local schools in the community to enhance their understanding of aviation careers within the Air Force, Feb. 12-14th, 2024.
“AIM is a program that does outreach for communities so that we can teach and inspire the next aviators for the Air Force,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Ashley Morgan, 91st Air Refueling Squadron pilot.
Detachment 1 of the Air Force Recruiting Service, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, developed the AIM concept to further promote the Rated Diversity Improvement. RDI is a strategy that seeks to strengthen diversity in rated career fields in the Air Force.
During the two-day trip, AIM members visited two schools and held a KC-135 Stratotanker static display event for four additional schools at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, hosting over 260 students from the surrounding communities.
“I am very appreciative to be here today,” said Senior Airman Keegan Salas, 50th ARS boom operator. “For me, it was rewarding to come back and give back to the community in which my family came from and teach them a little bit about what I do in the Air Force.”
Carlos Antonetty Feliciano, a JROTC cadet at Antilles High School in Guanynabo, Puerto Rico, explained that the experience solidified his goals of becoming a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force.
“I definitely enjoy the [KC-135] and I enjoyed seeing the boom, which hopefully I get to see from another point of view as a fighter pilot eventually,” Feliciano said. “Today really set in stone what I want to do in the future.”