Air Force Lessons: Associate Dean takes summer trip to a base to learn about Air Force ROTC

David Francko pushes the lever forward and the F-15 moves down the runway.

He lifts the plane off the ground and clears the runway.

He stalls the plane in 15 seconds and it crashes.

Lucky for him, and the United States Air Force, he was only flying a simulator.

Francko, associate dean of the College of Arts and Science, made a trip to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida last August, along with 19 other educators from around the country, as part of the Air Force Distinguished Educator Program.

The program sends educators to Tyndall, which is used for cadet Field Training, to help the educators better understand Air Force ROTC.

"It's to get folks from academia to an air force base to see what we do and [(the educators) get to network with colleagues from other universities," said Col. Kimble Stohry, commander of Air Force ROTC Detachment 640 of Miami.

Francko went to Tyndall with certain ideas about the Air Force but left with a newfound understanding and respect.

"I knew I'd learn some things but I was very surprised how much I learned," Francko said. "I didn't know what the modern service was all about because unless you're involved in it and see what they do, you really don't know. I very much now understand and admire the stuff these cadets go through. It is a very rigorous program and you have to be really good to get through."

Francko experienced physical and leadership training and mission simulation. He met Gen. John Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff, and saw an FA-22 Raptor, the Air Force's new stealth fighter.

"The Air Force shows (the educators) snap shots of the 30-day field training the cadets are going through," Stohry said.

Air Force ROTC cadets go through field training between their sophomore and junior years of college.

"They can put (cadets) under some controlled stress in that environment that I can't do here," Stohry said. "They have a combination of drill and ceremony, physical, leadership and academic training in an environment where they have to perform certain tasks in a certain amount of time to a certain level of proficiency."

If cadets earn a satisfactory, excellent or outstanding rating they pass the field training and are allowed to enter the final two years of concentrated training.

Last summer, 30 Miami cadets went to Tyndall and 28 passed. According to Stohry, more than 30 percent of Miami's cadets earned top awards.

Miami's ROTC detachment was given an outstanding rating with no defects, the highest possible, during a recent Headquarters Air Education and Training Command inspection. The Air Force looks at all aspects of the detachment - from scholarships to training - every three years.

The educators were able to have lunch with cadets so they could discuss what exactly the cadets were going through during Field Training. Francko was seated with two Miami students.

"It was a lot of fun to have lunch with students in our detachment," Francko said. "It brought the experience closer to home. I asked them if they were enjoying their experience, what are the hard things, what surprised them most. I got a better appreciation of what they were going though."

Francko and the other educators followed military time. They began their days at 0630 and by 0800 on day one by observing physical training. Francko participated in some obstacle course tasks.

  "I thought that having rigorous training, physical as well as mental, was to weed people out," Francko said. "I thought it was hazing for its own benefit and if you're not tough enough to take it, then the Air Force didn't want you. The real reason they do it is to immerse their cadets in a situation where they are forced to recognize that they are part of a team and their success depends on the team."

Francko recalled a physical problem-solving drill the educators observed in which cadets were given a task to complete. The cadets failed to complete the mission and in the debriefing afterwards, officers helped them determine what went wrong.

"One of the things they emphasized to the students was they need to use all the members to their best abilities," Francko said. "Everything was a teaching experience so I got a real appreciation for them as educators."

Stohry said during Field Training, each cadet spends some time as a group leader and as a regular group member.

"Group leaders get feedback from team members and chain of command," Stohry said. "It's to see how do you work as part of the team and how do you work as a team leader. Cadets go through all the different positions so they can learn the whole thing over a 30-day time."

Francko and his fellow educators were able to participate in a problem-solving session. The educators were given the same scenario and information as the cadets.

"It was really intriguing," Francko said. "We were given some information but we didn't have all of the information to make a completely informed decision. The idea was, seldom do you have all the information to make a perfect decision, yet a decision still has to be made."

A tour and officer inspection of the dormitories gave Francko a glimpse of the military's discipline - the cadets socks had to be arranged, beds made and uniforms hung a certain way.

"I didn't know why they were so obsessive about details," Francko said. "If they are trained in the small details so it becomes ingrained that details matter, when they are faced with life and death situations when details matter, they will make the right decisions. I thought it was discipline for discipline's sake but it's not."

Miami sends an educator to Tyndall every two to three years due to the Air Force's rotation among schools. There are 144 Air Force ROTC detachments in the United States and 37 in Miami's region, the Northeast.

Stohry said he tries to choose someone who has influence in the university or someone who is antagonistic toward the military. Francko became associate dean in 2004.

Francko said the trip has affected his job, which involves working with all of the college's programs.

"The trip helped me to appreciate how/ what the Air Force does (and how it) relates to what the university does," Francko said. "It helps me work with both (Air Force and Navy) ROTC detachments when working with budget, personnel and space issues. It's easier to interact with them because I now know exactly what they are doing and what their mission is."

Read more of Kevin Chlum's articles:

NROTC Story