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10-year-old steps out during Pilot for a Day

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Alexis Siekert
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, REPUBLIC OF KOREA --  Children around base see people in uniform every day, yet rarely get to don one themselves. Dressed in a custom flight suit, a lucky elementary school student took his first steps as a pilot June 6.

Through the Pilot for a Day Program, Noah Catman, 10-year-old Osan American Elementary School student, was given the chance to experience a day in the life of an Osan fighter pilot.

Noah toured the fighter squadrons, visited the air traffic control tower, radar approach control (RAPCON) facility, fire station and flight simulators before finally climbing into the cockpits of an A-10 Thunderbolt and an F-16 Fighting Falcon.

"When I started at the Air Force Academy, we had a program for children through the Make a Wish Foundation called Cadet for a Day," said Capt. Erik Gonsalves, 25th Fighter Squadron pilot and co-founder of the program here. "So when I arrived here I wanted to do the same kind of thing. By coordinating with the Osan American Elementary School, we were able to start up our program."

Whereas similar stateside programs are typically for terminally ill children, this program is unique as an incentive program for students.

"We hope that through this program they have more motivation in school," said Darryle Albert, Osan Elementary School information specialist. "We have an awesome partnership with the pilots. They make it exciting for the kids to do well in school and the teachers report that when the kids come back to class, they can't stop talking about all they saw and learned."

Pilot for a Day compliments the Department of Defense Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education and Outreach Strategic Plan, explained Albert. The briefers are all from STEM-based career fields and they all make mention of the importance of school throughout the day showing the importance of doing well so they may have the opportunity to be pilots or air traffic controllers, for example, when they grow up.

"I love the excitement the child gains throughout the day," Gonsalves laughed. "When they start out they're shy, but by the end of the day the kids are shooting off questions and you can see their level of excitement go up."

Students selected for the program are required to fill out a worksheet with what they already know and what they want to learn before they go out. After the day is completed, the students go back to school to fill out what they've learned and share it with their fellow students. All reports of the effectiveness of the program have been positive, Gonsalves said.

"It was really cool," Noah said. "My friends are going to be jealous."