Women in Aviation event gives Charleston girls hands-on look at careers

by Michael Dukes
315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

5/1/2014 - JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Eighth and ninth-grade girls from Charleston area schools visited April 29 to learn about jobs in aviation as part of the Annual Women in Aviation Career Day.

"The 315AW WIA career day is designed to give insight and open young women's minds to career options they may have not previously considered in and around aviation," said Lt. Col. Deborah Rieflin, 315th Airlift Wing chief of aircrew training.

Power went out throughout the base just as Col. Scott Sauter, 315th Airlift Wing commander, prepared to take the stage at Yonkie auditorium to welcome the nearly 90 girls to the special event.  Without hesitation, Rieflin asked someone to bring flashlights, because the show would go on. With the theatrical glow of flashlights, Rieflin introduced the wing commander.

"I guarantee you are not half as excited as we are to have you here," Sauter told the girls after welcoming them to Joint Base Charleston and apologizing for the power outage.
Then he waved his hand acknowledging the career day organizers. "These are some award winning folks who you'll meet today. You're getting the tour from the best of the best at what they do."

"It's not just about flying planes," Sauter told them. "But generating them and supporting the folks that work with them."

"I think this program is incredible and I'm so very impressed with what the members of the 315th have accomplished," Col. Caroline Evernham, 315th Operations Group commander, said after the event. "It's very important for our young women to understand what they can achieve if they choose to. "

Evernham, a more than 30 year Air Force Veteran and the 315th OG's first women commander, warmly welcome the young ladies before announcing the names of the 2014 Joint Base Charleston Women in Aviation Essay contest.

This year's winners were:

1st - Tatyana Cummings, Cane Bay High School

2nd - Kristen Weeks Fort Dorchester high School

3rd - Timara Mickens Cane Bay High School

 

Next, Maj Christina Liegl, 701st Airlift Squadron, Chief Master Sgt. Deborah Cole, 38th Aerial Port Squadron, and 2nd Lt. Kierstin Flores, 315th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron each told the girls how their careers in aviation have gone so far. They included everything from joining the Air Force, to education, family, the various jobs they've had and promotions they've earned.

"I thought today was awesome!" said Briana Rice, of Ashley Ridge High School . "I liked seeing the pilot and learned what I'd like to do. I definitely want to go to the Air Force when I get older."

The group also visited the flight line where they toured a C-17 aircraft. Outside the aircraft they spoke with maintenance specialists and got an up close look inside one of the plane's four behemoth engines.

In the belly of the plane they saw a Humvee chained to the floor near the main ramp. Toward the front of the cargo bay the girls were captivated as they stood in front of a medical evacuation station display complete with life support equipment and a first aid mannequin resting on a litter. Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron members told them about their unique mission and described how war wounded were evacuated sometimes within a day or two from the battlefield to a regional medical center or back to the United States.
Event organizers set up career tables in the Viper hanger (which is also where the mini C-17 lives)

Reagan Hill, Ashley Ridge High School said the day was a great experience. " I learned about different jobs - everything at the Air Force you can go into, whether it's something you thought about like medical fields. It gives you a lot of options."

Each girl received a commemorative JBC Women in Aviation T-shirt and free lunch made possible by various fund raising events the WIA committee held throughout the past year.

"By seeing and hearing from women in aviation related careers these young women have an opportunity that many of us did not: up close and personal examples of women who are engaged in successful careers in aviation and achieving fulfillment in all aspects of life" Rieflin said. "They learn that it is possible to balance family, personal and professional goals. That exposure is key because that knowledge is empowering. We hope that this career day experience aids them in finding a direction that makes sense to them."

"It's great that these girls got to see the paths that different women have taken to achieve their goals - that they can have an exciting career, and also marriage, children, etc - that they are not mutually exclusive," Evernham added. "Whether these girls choose aviation in some form or not is not important. That they had their eyes opened to incredible opportunities is very important. My hat is off to the planners!"

"This has to be the best day so far," said Alexandra Barter of Summerville High School. "I've learned a lot and experienced a lot of people along with how many opportunities are here and I have to say I encourage people to come here. You'll have a good time."

The career day was part of the efforts of Women in Aviation, an international group that encourages women to seek career opportunities in aviation. According to a 2008 statistic from the Federal Aviation Administration, of the nearly 700,000 active pilots in the United States, less than six percent are women and women account for only 2.13 percent of the more than 540,000 non-pilot aviation jobs in America.