58th SOW hosts Bring Your Kids to Work Day

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Kirtland's 58th Special Operations Wing held its annual Bring Your Kids to Work Day on April 23.

The event allows those who work at the wing members to show off the 58th's aircraft, tools, equipment and facilities to their families.

They saw aircraft like the HH-60 helicopter, the C-130J airplane and the CV-22 tilt-rotor in action. Kids could go up and touch some of the wing's other everyday equipment, like rifles, parachute packs, helmets and aircraft- mounted guns.

Dog handlers from the 377th Security Forces Group showed off how their dogs can take down a "perp." The 377th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Flight showed off some disarmed munitions and two of its robots. And New Mexico National Guard's 210th Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers allowed children to check out their construction equipment.

58th SOW Commander Col. Dagvin Anderson, who brought his daughters to the event, said it is a good way for his Airmen's children to understand what their parents do when they go off to work.

"It's a great opportunity for our families to come out and see what their moms and dads do all day," he said. "Our families make sacrifices for us to serve, and it's great for parents to show off what they do."

Anderson's eldest daughter, Hala, agreed.

"It's great to see all this cool stuff and see what he does," she said.

Senior Airman Jamie Beyer, a member of the 58th Maintenance Group, brought two of her three children to the event. She said the event was especially interesting for her four-year-old daughter.

"She had a lot of questions about the aircraft," Beyer said. "She also was asking why they wear certain outfits (flight suits) around the aircraft." The flight suits aren't just for looks, she explained to her daughter. They're required by regulation. Beyer said she liked giving her daughter a peek into her world at work.

"They wonder why we leave them every day," she said. "But when they come out here, they get excited."