‘Operation Spirit’ helps children understand deployment

  • Published
  • By Heidi Hunt
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  The Airman & Family Readiness Center is hosting the seventh annual Operation Spirit for school-aged children, grades K-12, April 21.

"Operation Spirit, a mock deployment, increases the understanding of what the child's parent(s) experiences during deployments and increases a sense of safety and security while helping to decrease the negative stressors associated with a deployment," said Master Sgt. Robyn Johnson, 509th Force Support Squadron readiness NCO and event organizer."

Each child will be recalled at 8 a.m. to building 705 and will receive military orders, photo ID, a T-shirt and dog tags with their name on it. After inprocessing, they will receive a mission and weather brief, and learn more about what they will be doing for the remainder of the day.

"Following the briefings, the children will then process through the deployment line," Johnson said. "Then each participant will be taken to the flightline to view a host of aircraft and board a C-130 Hercules to receive a briefing from the crewmembers."

After the children eat lunch they will attend an awards ceremony at "tent city", where they will view equipment from different agencies and watch a demonstration from the K-9 unit.


While children do not sign up for the challenges of the military lifestyle, they are right there with their parent(s) making sacrifices every day, according to Johnson.

"Children are dealing with long and repeated separations from their parent(s)," she said. "They are dealing with the happy but disruptive time when their parent(s) leave, come home and have to regain the family normalcy. Children make sacrifices because the life of a military child has its challenges."

Last year's participant, Coreyonte, 11, son of Shannon and Tech. Sgt. Daryl Scott, 509th Logistics Readiness Squadron, said, "Operation Spirit was so fun, now I know what daddy has to do. I felt like I was really in the Air Force."


This event is a "force multiplier" and another valuable tool to support our children during family separations, according to Johnson.

"It is also truly a wing effort and all the volunteers involved are instrumental in the success," Johnson said.

The A&FRC is scheduled to register children from 4-6 p.m. March 16 & 20 and noon to 4 p.m. March 17. In order to be eligible, parent(s) must be assigned to Whiteman AFB and children must be in grades K-12. Children under age 12 must be accompanied by an adult at registration. For more information or to sign up, or to volunteer call 660-687-7132.