Face of Defense: Pilot for a Day

169th Fighter Wing

McENTIRE JOINT NATIONAL GUARD BASE, S.C., August 24, 2015 — Six-year-old Declan Alexander was recently honored as a Swamp Fox Pilot for a Day by the 169th Fighter Wing here, receiving a hero's welcome from the moment he arrived on base.

Declan and his father Brian Alexander were guests of the South Carolina Air National Guard Aug. 15, as part of the Pilot for a Day program, which allows children with disadvantages or debilitating illnesses to experience the life of a fighter pilot.

"Pilot for a Day allows us to reach out to the community, make community bonds and make a difference in someone's life," said 1st Lt. Cody May, a fighter pilot assigned to the 157th Fighter Squadron and Declan's host for the day.

The tour, led by May, began with Declan receiving a custom pilot’s flight suit from the aircrew flight equipment shop. He was later escorted to the end of the runway to watch F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft land and was greeted with thumbs-up and well wishes from the airmen he met on base.

Lifetime Memories

"It is hard to express how cool it is to have everyone take time out of their day to set all this up and show us around and create lasting memories," Brian Alexander said. "It really is an amazing experience. There really are not words to express how much of a big deal this is for him and for us."

Declan displayed a big smile while sitting in the cockpit of an F-16 bearing his name on the side. He also enjoyed spraying the water cannon from McEntire's largest fire truck while touring the fire department, Brian Alexander said.

"Getting to ride in a fire truck and getting to sit in a fighter jet are two things you don't ever get to do," he said. "Those were definitely a ton of fun and put a smile on his face."

The Pilot for a Day program helps a child and the child's family to gain a memory of a lifetime, and is just as important to the Swamp Fox family who welcomed the young hero.

May said the most important part of the Pilot for a Day program is it has the ability to take a family's mind off of an illness by allowing them to experience something that very few people will ever get to experience.

"I really enjoyed being able to make a difference in someone's life," he added.

The 169th Fighter Wing has supported the Pilot for a Day program for nearly two decades.

South Carolina Air National Guard welcomes special guest

by Airman 1st Class Ashleigh S. Pavelek
169th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

8/19/2015 - MCENTIRE JOINT NATIONAL GUARD BASE, S.C. -- Six-year-old Declan Alexander was honored as a Swamp Fox Pilot for a Day, receiving a hero's welcome from the moment he arrived here on base August 15.

Declan and his father Brian Alexander, were guests of the South Carolina Air National Guard as part of the Pilot for a Day program, which allows children with disadvantages or debilitating illnesses to experience the life of a Swamp Fox fighter pilot for a day.

"Pilot for a Day allows us to reach out to the community, make community bonds and make a difference in someone's life," said 1st Lt. Cody May, a fighter pilot assigned to the 157th Fighter Squadron and Declan's host for the day.

The tour, led by May, began at Base Operations where Declan received a custom Swamp Fox pilot's flight suit from the aircrew flight equipment shop. He was later escorted to the end of the runway to watch F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft land and was greeted with 'thumbs up' and well wishes from the Airmen he met on base.

"It is hard to express how cool it is to have everyone take time out of their day to set all this up and show us around and create lasting memories," said Declan's father, Brian Alexander.  "It really is an amazing experience. There really are not words to express how much of a big deal this is for him and for us."

Declan displayed a big smile while sitting in the cockpit of an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft bearing his name on the side.  He also enjoyed spraying the water cannon from McEntire's largest fire truck provided by the 169th Civil Engineer Squadron while touring the fire department, said his father.

"Getting to ride in a fire truck and getting to sit in a fighter jet are two things you don't ever get to do," Alexander said. "Those were definitely a ton of fun and put a smile on his face."

The Pilot for a Day program helps a child and the child's family to gain a memory of a lifetime, and is just as important to the Swamp Fox family who welcomed the young hero.

May said the most important part of the Pilot for a Day program is it has the ability to take a family's mind off of an illness by allowing them to experience something that very few people will ever get to experience.

"I really enjoyed being able to make a difference in someone's life," said May.

The 169th Fighter Wing has supported the Pilot for a Day program for nearly two decades.

SCANG Chaplains attend multi-national event in Colombia

by Tech. Sgt. Jorge Intriago
169th Fighter Wing/Public Affairs

7/31/2015 - MCENTIRE JOINT NATIONAL GUARD BASE, S.C. -- South Carolina Air National Guard Chaplain, Lt. Col. Brian Bohlman and Master Sgt. Charles Williams, noncommissioned officer in charge for the SCANG Chaplain Corps, attended a three day symposium in Bogota, Colombia, discussing how religion matters to military commanders, service members and their families, July 13-16.

The symposium united representatives from 12 different countries from the Caribbean, North, South and Central America, gaining an increased awareness on the role religion can play in a service member's life, the role of the chaplain in a military context and the ability of religion to influence individual and institutions toward peaceful coexistence.

This U.S. Southern Command Senior Religious Leader Symposium was hosted by Monsignor Fabio Suescun Mutis, Archbishop for the Colombian Military in cooperation with the USSOUTHCOM Religious Affairs Office.

"Making that initial connection with the religious leaders was important to me, I don't think the priests were aware of our State Partnership Program with the Republic of Colombia," said Bohlman. "I've been wanting to do something with the State Partnership Program and it [the symposium] was just perfect."

Bohlman and Williams were able to hear what other countries are doing with their chaplain programs. One program that stood out to them was the Dominican Republic chaplains' participation in crisis response and are very involved in their country's support during natural disasters.

"I discussed the importance of taking care of oneself following a crisis in order to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue," said Bohlman. "I also explained how the National Guard trains chaplains and chaplain assistants in spiritual resiliency and traumatic event management to help individuals recover following a traumatic event."

It was discovered during conversations, that the countries involved share similar social issues like suicide, domestic violence and alcoholism among their ranks.

"It brought a lot of conversation between the countries on what programs were in place to help the service members and their families. We were able to talk about how our Strong Bonds program and the chaplain's assistant are tools to help in these issues," said Williams.  "I was the only National Guard chaplain assistant there, for them to see that Chaplain Bohlman and I could work together as a team even though I'm Catholic and he is Protestant, intrigued them on what we do as a team and they wanted to find out how we made this work."

The trip was also used as an opportunity to mentor and encourage new chaplains in their military roles to support the service member. This allowed for camaraderie and fellowship around meals which those in attendance said it felt like God's family at large and was a neat experience.

"It was good for us as a Religious Support Team, Chaplain Bohlman's role as the wing chaplain and my role as NCOIC is more administrative here. This gave us an opportunity to grow together as an RST and to foster a relationship between the country of Colombia and the United States," said Williams.

In a Colombia which is 90 percent Catholic, integration of religion in the military creates a broader dialogue on how it can be used to leverage it as a force for good.

"We believe the language of healing, hope and forgiveness is a religious language and we believe that religion, along with diplomacy together, can help bring about peace," said Bohlman.