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Cadets contribute to Global Strike mission

  • Published
  • By Kate Blais
  • Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Air Force Global Strike Command recently hosted three cadets from the U.S. Air Force Academy for a five-week Cadet Summer Research Program.

Each summer, through the Cadet Summer Research Program, approximately 190 selected cadets spend five weeks at various Air Force, Department of Defense and other research facilities around the world, according to an Academy academic fact sheet.

Going into their final year at the Academy, Cadets Justin Blott, Olivia McQuilkin and Micah Winkley spent five weeks at AFGSC directorates getting hands-on, operational experience.

"In a little less than a year they'll be second lieutenants in the Air Force," said Lt. Col. Craig Narasaki, AFGSC Headquarters squadron commander and deputy director of staff, who also oversaw the cadet program here.

"Just the notion of bringing folks that are not commissioned yet to an A-staff and exposing them to how it's structured and how we relate to each other is an experience most people don't get until they're field grade officers, so I think it'll give them an edge."

The intent of the program was to give each cadet a chance to contribute to the mission, while developing them professionally.

"They're contributing to the mission but they're also learning how to be professional military officers while they're here in an environment that is outside of the Air Force Academy," continued Narasaki.

McQuilkin, who is a foreign area studies major, was assigned to the command's history office and was able to impact its mission by creating an electronic version of an informational database.

"This is a massive database of information concerning Strategic Air Command and Global Strike Command (1946 - Present) -- information that the historian's office can use to answer inquiries quickly on many subjects," said Bruce Stewart, AFGSC History Office senior historian and functional manager. "This project will provide dividends to the office for years to come."

Both Blott, an economics major, and Winkley, a foreign area studies major, worked in the Science and Technology directorate researching topics such as game theory and deterrence models and applying what they learned to produce their final research papers.

"I combined nuclear deterrence theories with some game theory models and applied them to past war games data to see if these theories of models actually showed up," Blott said. "I wanted to gain more knowledge about game theory because one of the classes I'll take next semester is game theory, so I was hoping to learn some new stuff here so I could apply it to my class."

Winkley said he also gained more knowledge, including policy that has shaped nuclear power.

"You can teach things to death in a classroom," said Narasaki, "but there's nothing better than actually coming out and getting the experience."

Each directorate will write an evaluation on the cadets' performances and provide that feedback to leadership at the Academy, said Narasaki.

The cadets will get 10 days of leave upon completion of the program before returning to Colorado Springs, Colo., for their final year at the Academy.

"It was definitely a good experience, I liked working and contributing to something," mentioned McQuilkin. "At the Academy you're just doing school work, so it's nice to do work and know someone benefits from it."