Team Osan Spotlight: Airman 1st Class Mark Folkers

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OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  

Name: A1C Mark Folkers

Unit:  694th Intelligence Support Squadron

Job title: Client Systems Technician

Job description and its impact on the overall mission: Troubleshoot and repair mission systems to prevent mission downtime. Upgrade current systems to increase productivity.

Time in the military: 2 years, 2 months

Time at Osan: 1 year, 7 months

DEROS: August 2015

Family: 1 brother (Andy), who lives in Minnesota. Both parents live in small town in Iowa.

Hometown: Alta Vista, Iowa

Hobbies: Golf, softball, baseball and League of Legends.

Why did you join the military? To be part of an organization that has a good purpose and is meaningful to me. I wanted to be helpful to our country.

Where do you see yourself in 10 or 20 years? I plan to learn as much as I can on my way through the ranks and hope to someday make a great Command Chief. I want to have one great idea to better the Air Force before I leave.

What do you do for fun here?  Golf, when I have the time. Play ping pong in the dorms. Play poker Saturdays at the E-Club. Seoul. Enjoying local establishments in the Songtan area on weekends.

What's your favorite Air Force memory or story? Lights out in basic training. Other bay comes in and takes element leaders blanket to other bay. He goes to get it and comes back with his blanket only to find that his bed is no longer there.

What accomplishment are you most proud of? Winning the district championship in high school baseball. We were facing one of the hardest teams in the state and I pitched over 150 pitches and we won in extra innings.

Who are your role models and why? My dad. He is the hardest working person I know and would be willing to help anyone who needed it. R.A Dickey, pitcher for the Blue Jays. He struggled to become professional and dedicated his time to learn a new pitch to be able to make the majors.