Photo By Jet Fabara | On Aug. 28, 2024, personnel from the 560th Flying Training Squadron, 12th Operations...... read more read more
The Pilot for a Day program is usually a community outreach initiative conducted by various military bases across the U.S. that offers children with serious illnesses a day of excitement and distraction from their medical challenges by giving them an opportunity to tour military facilities, interact with service members, and engage in activities that simulate the experience of being a pilot. The 560th Flying Training Squadron has been hosting children and their families for the Pilot for a Day program at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, since 1994.
In 2023, the 560th FTS commander, Lt. Col. Paul Fulkerson, had a greater vision for the program and wanted to see it touch the lives of more children and their families by bringing the program as a roadshow to those whose conditions would not allow them to leave the hospital. On Aug. 28, 2024, the second Pilot for a Day Roadshow was coordinated with Christus Children’s Hospital of San Antonio, Texas.
“Colonel Fulkerson came up with the idea of the ‘Pilot for a Day Roadshow’ where a couple times a year the squadron would coordinate with children’s hospitals in the area, and bring ‘Pilot for a Day’ to the in-patient kids in the hospital,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Alley, 39th Flying Training Squadron T-38C instructor pilot and roadshow coordinator. “The inaugural Pilot for a Day roadshow in late 2023 was coordinated at the Methodist Children’s Hospital in San Antonio. There was no shortage of pilot volunteers to spend an afternoon visiting the kids.”
The 560th FTS along with the 12th Operations Group and 39th FTS brought helmets, G-suits, and other flight equipment to show the kids, as well as VR training goggles for them to try out. They went room to room escorted by hospital staff, visited kids and families, and handed out squadron patches, stickers, and signed aircraft lithographs to all the children.
“I, as much as the patients and families, love seeing community members come together and take time out of their busy schedules to come and pay us a visit,” said Alexis Medina, Christus Children’s child life coordinator. “The goal of our department, even non-child life specialists, is to help patients and families cope by providing normalcy during hospitalization.”
Part of the visit also involved the team of instructor pilots being part of the hospital’s closed circuit television show which involved virtual bingo that was Air Force-themed. The visit concluded with the Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph team thanking all the hospital staff and child life specialists.
“Having had the personal experience of being the parent of a young child diagnosed with terminal cancer, I’ve been in those shoes spending countless days and nights in hospitals and doctors’ offices and navigating all of the associated trials and challenges with that child. I know first-hand what these children and families are going through. I also know first-hand the impact that thoughtful acts of kindness, even from strangers, can have on these kids and families, how they can brighten a day and bring some joy during some very difficult times,” added Alley.
“Being involved in the Pilot for a Day program brings me just as much satisfaction, if not more than I get doing the coolest job in the world…flying jets. Getting to share what we do with these kids going through hard times and making them feel part of our pilot family is incredibly rewarding. I know without doubt, all my fellow pilots feel the same.”
| Date Taken: | 08.28.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.25.2024 11:12 |
| Story ID: | 481716 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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