Photo By Master Sgt. Patrick O'Reilly | U.S. Air Force Airman Tatiana Rivera, 87th Aerial Port Squadron ramp operations...... read more read more
Since 2023, 11 445th Airlift Wing Airmen have graduated basic military training with honor graduate distinction, an award only the top 10% of trainees in a basic military training flight may earn by demonstrating excellence in all phases of academic and military training.
An estimated 150 445th AW and 665th Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing Airmen depart each year for BMT, with about a 50-50 even split between the two wings, according to Tech. Sgt. Chloe Van Hoose, 445th Force Support Squadron career development supervisor.
Data trends are beginning to show Reserve Airmen who participate in the Development and Training Flight program have better outcomes during basic military training and beyond, compared to new Airmen who do not. The nationally standardized program is exclusive to the Air Force Reserve Command, and about 40 Reserve wings across the country have a D&TF.
The wing’s program, as it exists today, began in late 2011. Master Sgt. Jason Cordle, 445th AW Resilience Integrator First Sergeant, ran the D&TF program for the past 2 1/2 years before his current position.
“It’s really about the basics,” Cordle said. “The curriculum consists of in-depth training on topics such as dress and appearance, rank recognition, customs and courtesies, and Air Force history. Those things really help the members get off to a good start when they enter the stressful environment of BMT.”
Senior Airman Salchuk Gafurov, 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron communication/navigation journeyman, participated in D&TF on unit training assembly weekends for three months before departing to BMT. During his time as a D&TF trainee, he was honest about his lack of knowledge regarding Air Force customs. He grew up in a small village in Russia, immigrating to the U.S. in his teen years.
“I just walked into a recruiter’s office and didn’t know anything about it,” Gafurov said when interviewed in June 2023. “I would like to become a pilot someday.”
Cordle told the D&TF trainees about the honor graduate ribbon, encouraging them to strive for it during BMT. Gafurov took those words to heart, and he was one of only four Airmen in his BMT flight recognized as an honor graduate.
Not everyone in Gafurov’s flight was so prepared though. According to Gafurov, one trainee in particular began to give up on his Air Force career. Gafurov and his flight’s dorm chief developed a mentorship plan, assigning the trainee to a bed next to Gafurov.
“When we got up in the morning, I’d help him so he wouldn’t be yelled at or get in trouble,” Gafurov explained.
In the end, every trainee in Gafurov’s flight graduated BMT together, and nobody in the flight was washed back to repeat training.
“As a group, as a team, as a family, we took care of each other and we got through it,” he said.
Senior Airman Ethan Perry, 445th Security Forces Squadron fire team member, attended BMT at age 18 and also earned the honor graduate ribbon.
Perry’s great-grandfather served as a tail gunner in World War II, but nobody else in his family has a military background. He said the D&TF program was “a big head start” because he already knew facing movements, reporting statements and Air Force rank before ever stepping foot on Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
For Airman Tatiana Rivera, 87th Aerial Port Squadron air freight representative, D&TF gave her a confidence boost going into BMT. She attended D&TF weekend five months in 2023, including one session when a former military training instructor visited the flight and offered an immersive preview of the BMT environment.
“Once I got [to BMT], it was immediately obvious who was a Reservist who’d been in a Development and Training Flight versus the people who didn’t get that opportunity,” Rivera said.
Because of the time she’d spent practicing drill footwork and marching in formation, she was quickly selected as an element leader. She said her MTIs often asked her to demonstrate facing movements and marching for the flight, and her wingmen would ask her for pointers and coaching.
“The [D&TF] training helped me immensely, and it was the best choice I could have made,” she said. “I could not have been more prepared.”
In tech school, Rivera was placed in another leadership role, completing more than 100 hours of community service and assisting new arrivals to the base. She began drilling with the 87th APS in spring of 2024.
Another trainee, Senior Airman Gregory Knoop, 445th AMXS communication/navigation journeyman, graduated BMT in May 2024 as an honor graduate, then earned 445th AW Airman of the Quarter later that same year.
Attending D&TF weekends prior to BMT sets future Airmen up for success, Cordle said, and the tracked outcomes of the trainees supports that notion.
“It absolutely makes a difference,” he concluded.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.29.2025 11:31 |
| Story ID: | 489770 |
| Location: | WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, OHIO, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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