This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 6, 2011 - Kids often fantasize about being in combat or a war zone. On a recent week day, some got to train with automatic weapons while simulating medical emergencies on the battlefield.
"This is the exact training that we use, and the weapons are the exact same weapons that we train with," said Sgt. Mike Raymond of 126th Airlift Refueling Wing.
Raymond was talking about "Kids on Guard Day" at Scott Air Force Base, an annual event to help teach children of 126th Refueling Wing what their parents do.
"There are seven flight categories, each one based on different age groups," said Travis Barker, airman and family readiness manager.
Each group received special T-shirts with a bright color designating its category.
Several kids can be seen inside the offices of the wing, repairing and bandaging "injured" dummies. Some are lying in stretchers being wrapped by their friends who carrying them off.
At the simulated medical emergency station, medical technicians teach kids the right and wrong ways of handling patients. The medical training that National Guard members have is important to aiding those in need and for their safety.
Sgt. Lisa Oliver, a medical technician, thinks the model dummies will teach kids good life lessons about how their parents treat patients.
"We have several dummies with cuts and abrasions. One of our dummies has guts coming out of it. It's important for this day to teach kids useful life materials," said Oliver.
Barker says that the hands-on medical visit, along with others, started as just a take-your-kids-to-work day. "Over the years, it has grown up into an all-day event. We basically set up activity centers for children that deal with different organizations of the refueling wing such as medical, aircraft and the tower."
The 126th is a National Guard wing. Although it is on Scott Air Force Base, its duties are separate from those who are full time Air Force members.
Master Sgt. Ken Stephens said the 126th Refueling Wing transferred to Scott from Chicago's O'Hare Airport. "I've been here since 1999, and some of our members still drive down from Chicago on the weekends to do their service," said Stephens.
As its name indicates, one part of the wing's mission is to help provide fuel for aircraft during combat.
"We help refuel other planes in mid-air. A guy sits toward the back of a plane with a flying boom" that holds a tube, Stephens said, explaining that they link the tube to another plane flying in mid-air.
"This really helps the military save on time, money, and it keeps fighters up in the air," said Stephens.
At Kids on Guard Day, parents showed their children the massive hanger where they help take care of KC-135 Stratotanker, a massive military cargo airplane.
Some kids got a chance to sit on the sidewalls, while putting on the military style seatbelts. Others sat in the cockpit.
The giant vessel brought to mind a James Bond movie. It can carry up to 83,000 pounds of ammunition and cargo.
"We are the maintenance guys who work on the plane; I mean we're pretty self sufficient with our own machine shops and tools," said Stephens.
While one group of children plays with stethoscopes and refueling tubes, another is honking horns and trying on fire-fighter jackets.
Several large trucks and a red fire engine lined up outside headquarters where kids could explore the vehicles inside and out.
Stephens says his wing helps with the fire department that is run through the 183rd Fighter Wing Unit at Abraham Lincoln Capitol Airport in Springfield, Ill.
One of the ways the 126th helps other communities is to reach out in times of crisis such as the recent Mississippi River floods.
Many local firefighters volunteer to work with the unit at Scott, for the experience and access to resources they would not normally see.
In a simulated drill zone, the instructor blasts a siren while kids duck underneath desks, wearing cold war style gas masks. The sergeant asks the kids where to go after they hear sirens, and they run to a makeshift bunker surrounded by traffic cones.
The kids training goes beyond one day. "Our kids our growing up with your kids, we even go to the same schools and churches," said Stephens. "We're really a part of the neighborhood; we really like to make an impact on the local community around us."
Stephens also hopes the program will continue to help kids know what their parents do when being transferred overseas, "What's important about this day is that, even in the war zone, we're always training exactly like this."
Ray Carter, a student at Purdue University, is a Beacon intern.