March 2012 - 104th Fighter Wing, Massachusetts Air National Guard

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MARCH 2012AIRSCOOPNew recruiting office … new rewards programBy Master Sgt. Ernie Smith, MA ANG RecruiterPAGE 12On Feb. 14, the Massachusetts AirNational Guard Recruiting Team helda grand opening for their new office at843 Worcester Street in Springfield,Mass. Maj. Gen. L. Scott Rice and Col.Robert T. Brooks cut the ceremonialribbon as unit members, local media,and civilian guests looked on. As withall projects this was no overnight processand several sites and solutionswere thoroughly considered. The ArmyCorps of Engineers provided severaldesigns and invaluable input. Afterseveral months of work and preparation,the team moved from their oldlocation in West Springfield, Mass. to acustom constructed office that the AirNational Guard will use as their modelfor other storefronts nationwide. Asyou can see in the pictures, there is avery strong branding theme that willserve to make us more recognizable.The National Guard Bureau isstriving to create many more storefrontoffices like this one nationwide in a bidto make our ―brand‖ not just muchmore recognizable, but to also get recruitersout into the community wherewe can interact with the public andcreate awareness. For far too long…since the late 1940‘s … we have beenthe best kept secret in the military.This is a huge step in changing that.Many of the people we work with todaynever even heard of the Air NationalGuard when they first signed up with amilitary component. Ask one of thepeople you work with who was on activeduty or in the Reserve. It‘s quitelikely they never heard of us beforethey joined that other branch. It‘s atheme we, as recruiters, hear quiteoften. Given the currentfederal budgetsituation, we cannotrely on traditionaladvertising such ascommercials, billboards,and radio ormore current solutionslike internetads, advertising drivenapps or commerciallygleaned leadgeneration. Longstory short…they areexpensive.As we do live in anera where budgetconstraints are abundant,we have to find more viable solutionsto be recognized and the nationalpush for more offices like this is one ofthem. Myself, Tech. Sgt.Gabriel Kushin and Tech.Sgt. Heather Cekovskyare more than happy withour new office environmentand have alreadynoticed an uptick in leads.We weren‘t even movingour furniture in before wehad our first walk in customer.Of course, wecannot just rely on this tofulfill the MA ANG‘smanning needs whichleads me into the otherpart of this article.As it has always been … our mostimportant recruiters are you. As muchas we interact with the communityaround us we cannot hope to do so asmuch as each person who is on theBarneStormers team. This being said,there is a new Air National Guard ReferralRewards Program. This is opennot only to guardsmen and retirees,but also to technician and AGR‘s! TheAir Guard always needs new recruitsand you find them better than anyoneelse. There are many promotionalitems you can earn for your referralsand the more that enlist, the betterthey get. From backpacks to iPad‘syour referral for someone who enlistswill reward you for doing what you arealready doing … talking about whatyou do.The website to sign up iswww.refer2ANG.com and I highly encourageyou to sign up at your earliestopportunity. You never know whenyou will meet that person who will beinterested joining our team.
MARCH 2012AIRSCOOPRobots Invade BarnesBy Capt. Mary Harrington, 104th FW Public AffairsPAGE 13On the morning of Feb. 18, eight104th FW kids witnessed an invasionof robots to Barnes Air National GuardBase, Mass. A first time event for the104th FW, the robotic invasion wasactually a workshop that gave militarykids, ranging in ages from 11 to 16, theopportunity to assemble, program andrace their individually created robots.Offered by Ms. Gretchen May, 4-HYouth Development Educator at theUniversity of Massachusetts, and organizedby Sandy Wakefield, Airmen andFamily Program Manager, the roboticsinstruction was given by volunteermembers of the Pioneer Valley Robotics4-H Club. The 4-H Robotics Clubvolunteers were kids, also ranging inage from about 11 to 16, led by theirclub leader Brian Lucia.The militarykids‘morningbegan with ademonstrationby MasterSgt. GregPauli, 104thFW ExplosiveOrdinanceDisposal(EOD).Assembledinside thePioneerNCO Club, Pauli gave the kids‘ handsontime with an Air Force robot - theEOD‘s Remote Operated Neutralization(RONS) system. Used for a varietyof different potentially hazardousenvironments, RONS replaces a robotfor a person in the presence of lifethreateningsituations, such as chemicalthreats and explosive devices.Although RONS is a somewhatoutdated 1980‘s vintage robot (and duefor retirement),itwas personallyused byPauli inIraq in early2000. Itweighs over600pounds,stands fivefeet high and about three feet wide.For the robotics class, Pauli made theextra effort of replacing a metal platewith glass, so the kids could see the―brain‖ of the robot, including the PCboard, mechanical/electronic servosand relays. Pauli gave all the kids anopportunity to use the switchbox tocontrol the robot; RONS can move 360degrees and can pickup munitions thatweigh up to 120 pounds.Newer generations of RONSinclude the F6 Robot, Talon Robot,Pacbot Robot; each of these is considerablymore advanced, ―lighter, smaller,fast more capable robots,‖ said Pauli.―I wanted to show the kids our robotRONS, because I knew the kids wouldfind it interesting and RONS wouldhelp them think about their futures.Robotics knowledge bridges to diverseprofessions – such as machining, programmingand troubleshooting.‖ Paulihas saved many lives in combat in hisEOD role and is humbly the recipientof two Bronze Stars for his heroism.After meeting RONS, the militarykids moved on to create their own robots,made from kits donated by Lego.Called the NXT, the Lego robots arebuilt with Lego Technic parts.The NXT is a powerful roboticsplatform and has unlimited possibilities.The 'brick,' a microprocessorthat is programmed with thecomputer, uses sensors and motorsto interact with the physicalworld. These computers have severalprogramming environmentsof varying difficulties; and bothvisual and code languages.―The kids seemed to have a wonderfultime with the robots,‖ said SandraWakefield. ―The class was just longenough to give the kids a good taste ofrobot engineering…leaving them witha thirst to learn more.‖ The kids spentabout two hours assembling the robotsand about fifteen minutes racing them.―The day was a big hit,‖ said Wakefield,―thanks to Gretchen May, MasterSgt. Pauli, Brian Lucia and the 4-Hvolunteers.‖ For more information onthe 4-H Club and Robotics Club, visithttp://www.pioneervalleyrobotics.com/March 25th at the NCO Club1pm, all families welcomeRSVP’s requiredContact the Airmen & Family Readiness Office at(413) 568-9151 x6981183
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March 2012 - 104th Fighter Wing, Massachusetts Air National Guard

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