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Five-year-old boy joins operations unit at McConnell

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Abigail Klein
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  While most children are preoccupied with what presents Santa will bring, 5-year-old Joey Bacon, is wondering if he'll have to seek treatment during the holidays.

Recently diagnosed with Leukemia, the Wichita, Kan., native was selected by the 22nd Operations Support Squadron to participate in their "Pilot for a Day" program Dec. 10, 2010.

Pilot for a Day is an Air Force program that enables medically-challenged youth a chance to visit McConnell, becoming part of the team in the process. The participants are usually selected through a partnership with a community hospital.

"[This program] gives us the opportunity to sit back and reflect and see the hardships that other people go through, said Maj. Travis Edwards, 22nd Operations Support Squadron director of staff. "We see the sacrifices we as Airman make and sometimes we get beside ourselves because of this, but when you meet someone like Joey, whose fighting cancer and still finds joy, it really gives us a sense of humility and compassion."

Being part of Team McConnell meant that Joey, and five members of his family, were invited by the 22nd OSS to "fly" one of McConnell's KC-135 Stratotanker simulators, tour a KC-135 and climb the 95-foot base control tower. Joey was also given a chance to ride in a base fire truck, operating the vehicle's powerful water turret and visited the 22nd Security Forces Squadron military working dog unit.

Joey's enthusiasm was echoed through his mother, Angie, particularly when he toured one of McConnell's 63 KC-135s.

"[Joey] loves planes, every time he sees one he points it out," she said. "Joey's been hospitalized more than four times since Sept. 23; this is the best he's felt in a long time."

Joey's pilot for a day experience was one of four that McConnell has held since the program was reinstated in June 2010.

The day concluded with a ceremony where (commander's name) presented Joey with a 22nd OSS coin and a patch.

The value of McConnell Airmen participating in community programs like Pilot for a Day was meaningful for the Airmen involved.

"This is a wonderful program because it gives Team McConnell an opportunity to come together and show the community what it really takes to complete the mission," Major Edwards said. "From the flightline to security forces, everyone played a big role that day because there's more to our Air Force than flying planes.