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***image1***Col. Don “Bits” Bacon, 435th Air Base Wing commander, visited Ramstein High School for a tour of the campus Oct. 23. As he explored the school, he had a lot of advice to give to the young men and women who might one day wish to enter the military.
“You have to get a good education and do well in school to get into the Air Force,” Colonel Bacon said. “And you also have to be physically fit. Only 40 percent of all 18- and 19-year-olds are academically and physically fit enough to get in. We do important jobs. We’ve got to have the best, and it’s important to be the best you can be.”
Colonel Bacon also warned against some common academic mistakes among high school students.
“I wish I’d taken more math classes,” said the colonel on his education. “I found out later that you need it. I had to know all different kinds of math once I got to college. In high school, I ducked it to get by.”
These tidbits are not limited for those students who are military-bound, however. To be successful in any career field, Colonel Bacon said, “You’ve got to take advantage of more education. It’s also good to study leaders you respect, find role models, and find out what made them so good. I admire people like Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower – they really inspired me to be a better person.”
Colonel Bacon also talked about the advantages that children of military members and civilians overseas, like the ones at RHS, have.
“They get to live in all kinds of different places,” he said. “My children have seen places like Bavaria, Wiesbaden, France … I grew up in the same place my entire childhood. Military kids are exposed to different things, and they learn to make friends faster because they need to.”
The colonel also met students in the RHS ROTC class. He expressed his thoughts on the program.
“I think you learn about leadership, foreign policy goals, things our government is doing. It really helps students prepare for military careers,” Colonel Bacon said.
Overall, Colonel Bacon seemed pleased with what he saw at the school.
“I’ve been to a few other schools, and this one is impressive. All the programs with high-tech cameras and video, and the great curriculum – it’s really impressive.”
