An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Article Display

CGOC gives cadets insight on career day

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Alexis McGee
  • Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. --  Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Company Grade Officers' Council members visited Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 490 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology Feb. 24 for cadet career day.

The 13 company grade officers who visited the detachment at the university in Newark, N.J., met with more than 50 cadets to tell them about Air Force careers.

"It is important for the cadets to meet with the CGOs in particular because we give them the new-officer perspective," said 1st Lt. Sybil Taunton, U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center public affairs officer. "This facilitates a better understanding for what it's like to transition to active duty."

The company grade officers rotated through small groups of cadets to discuss respective jobs and provide advice to the cadets regarding future Air Force careers.

The cadets asked questions during the brief meetings ranging from the difficulty of transitioning to active duty to how to handle getting assignments they didn't request.

"If you make the best of an assignment, it will be a good experience," said Taunton. "It's up to you to decide whether your assignment is good or bad."

The cadet who organized the event, Fritzgerald Cadet, kept the event on track by alerting the officers when it was time to switch tables and talk to the next group of cadets.

"We really appreciate the officers coming because a lot of the cadets don't know much about the Air Force outside ROTC," said Cadet, a native of West Orange, N.J., who hopes to be a civil engineer in the Air Force. "We don't understand the day-to-day operations of the Air Force so having the officers speak with us was a blessing."

Cadet leader, Ednalee Serrano took part in the event watching the younger cadets get their Air Force questions answered and fulfilling the role of photographer during the day.

"There have been many times when  our cadets ask us questions and we don't know the answers," said Serrano, a Newark native. "It was great to have officers here to help answer the questions we don't know the answers to."

The officers did more than just provide answers to questions; they also educated the future Air Force officers on unfamiliar jobs to promote interest in different career fields.

"Our discussions with the cadets helped open their eyes to more careers and opportunities than they are taught in their ROTC classes," said Taunton.

The cadets gave the officers ROTC pens, footballs and mugs at the end of the event in appreciation for the officers' attendance.