Kids love to fly

  • Published
  • By Jessica Daurizio
  • 307th Bomb Wing Public Affairs Office
Barksdale AFB, La. --  The 343rd Bomb Squadron partnered with the 343rd Chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) hosted over 200 children and their parents at the Young Eagles event on April 12 at the Shreveport Downtown Airport.

"We have no relation to each other except that we share the same name and we both owe our existence to aviation," said Lt. Col. Robert Burgess, 343 BS commander. "We plan to build on that relationship." Each year, the EAA provides free introductory flights to children ages 8-18 years old from the local community.

"It is a grass roots effort to expose children to airports and flying so they will have knowledge of general aviation with the hope that they may someday choose a career related to civilian or military aviation," said Burgess. This particular weekend eighty one Young Eagles took to the skies with local pilots that donated their time, aircraft, and fuel to provide a unique experience to the youth of our community.
There were seven members of the 343rd Bomb Squadron that assisted by providing services ranging from ground assistants to pilots with aircraft.

"Ever since the Aero Club closed at Barksdale in 2006, there has been a void in terms of general aviation opportunities for the people of Barksdale," said Burgess. The EAA provides the unique opportunity to educate the local community about aviation at its most basic level and many in the 343 BS eagerly volunteered their time and efforts to this cause. The children were exposed to all aspects of general aviation from learning parts of airplanes to hearing air traffic controller's direct aircraft around the sky.

Some of the children exclaimed that this was the first time for them to fly and it was better than they thought it would be. "It was so much fun," said Brianna Long, one of the Young Eagles.

"Seeing children's faces light up as the aircraft left the ground was an amazing experience," said Burgess. "The children took it all in with big smiles and had a memorable experience."

"It was an excellent opportunity, not only for the Young Eagles children getting to fly, but for the EAA teaming up with Barksdale AFB and the 343rd BS to showcase our organizations and be accessible for interaction with the community, something not generally easy to come by," said 2nd Lt. Edward Rowe." The future of aviation on all levels begins with these children and their caring, motivational families."

According to George Carroll, the 343rd EAA Chapter President, this one of the largest and most successful Young Eagles events in the nation thanks to the 343 BS and he is looking forward to partnering with the 343rd in future endeavors.