The Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) took a trip to Altus Air Force Base in Oklahoma to tour equipment and explore the duties of an airman on Friday, March 23.

“(The purpose) was to let students know what other career paths are out there and what it’s like to be a member of the Air Force,” Colonel Terry Webster said. “A base shows the students what every available job there is.”

The students met at the school and left in charter buses at 7:30 a.m.

“It was hard waking up that early but it was worth it because I knew how much fun we were going to have and that we (would) learn a lot,” senior Jose Rosado said.

Airmen at the base demonstrated parachutes and survival vests to the tour group.

“My favorite moment was when they strapped a cadet in a harness,” freshman Alina Anwar said. “They have to go through a lot to maintain their equipment. For example, their parachutes require a lot of packing and they can’t use the same parachute twice. “

The cafeteria was opened up, allowing students to try food made at the base.

“We were given the chance to try the same type of food soldiers at Altus ate,” Rosado said. “It wasn’t what I expected and was actually fresh and really good compared to the stuff they show you on TV.”

While at the base, cadets learned how the Armed Forces work as a team to accomplish specific tasks.

“We basically learned how people work together and what goes into an air base,” Anwar said. “Other militaries do some stuff differently while the Air Force has different departments for each job.”

For Colonel Webster, the trip was a tour down memory lane he said.

“It was kind of like reliving the past,” he said. “All of that stuff and the equipment issued I have used in the past as a C-130 Navigator and I was familiar with. I enjoyed watching the cadets try on the equipment and learn something new, especially them trying the food and their reactions knowing it was the same thing I went through.”