Operation Heroes

Saturday the base had a mock deployment for all the kids on base. They each got bright yellow shirts, dog tags, finger printed, and a deployment folder. The 'deployers' were to report to the base theater for a pre-deployment briefing. The 'troops' were deploying to Al FUNdeid. There where 4 chalks;
Chalk 1: Deployment line- briefing from Safety, Finance, Public Health, and the Chaplain.
Chalk 2: Chemical Warfare Gear, flight gear, EOD, and crafts.
Chalk 3: SFS weapons display, EOD robot, ambulance, ejection seat.
Chalk 4: K-loader, fire trucks, Humvee, POL truck, bomb loaders, dummy bombs, B-52s and helicopters.

We started off the day with the pre-deployment briefing, then we were all transported by bus to Dock 9 (AKA Al FUNdeid.) The kids really enjoyed the EOD equipment where we saw the EOD robot do a few things. Kylee climbed into an Ambulance and even looked through a M-16!! She also was brave enough to put on a helicopter helmet. They kids both went into a Humvee and climbed into the top where the guns were. They were super excited to do that, and I was pretty jealous. We went outside and climbed into the firetruck and helicopters. They kids even got onto of a bomb. They enjoyed the B-52, snow removal equipment (we will see those on the roads soon I'm sure), and also liked the fuel truck for the bombers.

Then we went though the deployment line where they had their list checked off to make sure they had everything in order for deployment. They even received their 'shots'. Last we went through the 'airport' and into another building where they had a few crafts to do. The kids colored a 'hankie' and a pillow case. The hankie is now Kylee's blankie. Kylee got her face painted like a warrior. Wyatt wanted it done too, but when he sat in the chair and the first shirt said something to him he got scared.

Last we took another bus to the welcome home party at one of the parks on base. It was supposed to be a parade, but they dropped us off at the wrong location. The kids didn't mind though. They had free food, games, and bouncy castles.

It was a really long day for all of us but had lots of fun. The point of Operation Heroes was to help kids understand what their mommy's and daddy's do. Kylee and Wyatt are both too young to really understand, but they still had a blast looking at things and trying to things.

This base might be in the middle of nowhere and really really cold in the Winter, but it has so much to offer for kids. I think they do an awesome job thinking of things to keep the kids busy. We want to move so badly so we can be closer to home, but I don't think any other base can top what Minot AFB does for the kids.

You can go look at the pictures on flickr of our day.