JACKSONVILLE — One of the hangars at the Little Rock Air Force Base bustled with activity Saturday morning as families made their way through mock deployment procedures. This time, instead of the adults getting ready for service, it was the kids.
Walking up to the hangar, airmen in camouflage waved signs and greeted families. As soon as children entered the hangar, they found themselves in a deployment tent — the same kind of tent an airman would sleep in during deployment. There, they received a welcome pack and were assigned to a troop commander. They were ready for deployment.
Troop commanders had to be sure their new troops were indeed ready for deployment. The troops received their pre-deployment medications — well, Skittles posing as medications — from the medical unit. Then things started to get interesting.
The kids made their way from station to station, learning about various aspects of deployment. They sat in a Humvee, then moved on to operate bomb-squad robots. With chances to tour aircraft and try on gear, the children got a glimpse into what deployment might look like to the airmen in their lives.
Operation K.U.D.O.S. — or Kids Understanding Deployment Operations — was set up by the Base Airman and Family Readiness Center as a fun activity that could prepare children for when a parent, sibling, relative or friend is deployed.
“This is a day in honor of the Month of the Military Child, which is April,” said Kori Ramirez, community readiness consultant with the Base Airman and Family Readiness Center. “We’ve put together a mock deployment process so their kids can experience what their parents go through.”
As the occasional siren sounded from a vehicle at the security-forces setup — which also included a weapons display and a hand-combat demonstration — and water spouted from the LRAFB firetruck outside, children received their orders from their troop commanders to move from station to station to test helmets and try flotation devices. The children had a chance to meet with support agencies, such as the legal office and chaplains, just as airmen do before they are deployed.
This is the third year the Little Rock Air Force Base Airman and Family Readiness Center has held Operation K.U.D.O.S., and Ramirez said that each year, the event has grown in participation. Four hundred children participated the first year, and 700 went last year. Numbers for this year’s event were not ready at press time, but Ramirez said she anticipated more growth to be displayed by Saturday’s event.
Operation K.U.D.O.S. has always garnered a lot of positive feedback, Ramirez said, and in the three years it has taken place, her office has not received a single complaint.
“We want to educate kids about what their parents go through so that it’s not quite as scary,” Ramirez said. “They get to sit in a Humvee, which their parents would drive around in when deployed. Kids really like that because they are worried about Mommy or Daddy’s safety, and they sit in that and see how strong and well-built it is. It puts their minds at ease.”
Families across the hangar soaked in experience as airmen and spouses watched their children learn the basics of deployment.
“I’m glad we have events like this to prepare them for the inevitable,” Airman 1st Class Shawn Price said while his kids were getting their faces painted in camouflage. “It’s fun because they get to see what I do.”
Not only was the event fun for families; the airmen helping with demonstrations got into the spirit of the day as well. Children were greeted at the hangar by excited men and women holding signs, several demonstrators got their faces painted before things got started, and all involved had volunteered their Saturday to serve the Air Force children.
“It’s a 100 percent volunteer opportunity,” Ramirez said. “Of course our office is here, but all of these other offices come out to show what they do.”
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansas
online.com.