Class of 2009 Parents … this Spirit Mission was all about you!

From the first parents to walk into the vast and echoing Arnold Hall yesterday, till when we closed the doors behind us, those of us privileged enough to be with the 2009 cadets knew we had every one of our Parent Spirit Mission contributors with us.
We knew you were hoping your cadets would feel those arms reach out and embrace them … and feel them they did!

Approximately 1000 cadets streamed into the auditorium, tossing packs and slouching into chairs while gabbing with friends. They acted just like typical college students—albeit in uniforms. All your parent volunteers and others gathered behind the stage curtains in anticipation. The auditorium thundered with voices, until the 2009 class officers called the cadets to order and Wing Commander Gray strode out onto the stage. Your cadets sat up and the auditorium fell silent. Commander Gray, an inspiring, and frankly, commanding presence for a college senior, gave a briefing about what it means to be a 3-degree. Then he announced that your parents club would be making a presentation. You could hear the wave of voices spike again, and we knew they unsure of what was to come.

Vivian Eickholt, a 2009 parent from Pueblo,, Chaplain Woodbury, Captain Hall, and I walked out. You could see that more than a few cadets were startled. Vivian jumped right in and gave a ripping good (and short) explanation of how the 2009 Parent Spirit Mission came to be. Within her introduction, she named various states from which the six main organizers hailed, and the cadets cheered for home states mentioned—we can all vouch for the fact that Texas and California either raise a LOT of cadets, or at least cadets with loud voices! But most poignant was when Vivian spoke of the foreign countries, such as American Samoa, Iraq, Korea, Germany, and others, from which parent donations had arrived. The shouts and whoops grew even louder! Clearly, though thousands of miles might separate our families, “separation” is only a geographical term for our cadets.

We all chucked, both in front of and behind the curtain, when the cadets wrangled en masse to reply appropriately when Commander Gray or Vivian Eickholt said “2009.” As most of you know, their tradition is to shout a reply of “Our Time!” Well, now that Hubert Zemke has been named the new class exemplar (ask your cadets about that one) the “Our Time” was overlaid with “Zemke,” or “Hub.” It was hilarious to listen to them try to outdo each other. Time will tell what they choose as a class, but we were left with the impression that the new call will be “Hub!”

Next up, Vivian announced your donation of $2009 to the Dennis P. Rando Cadet Humanitarian Fund, and to the applause of the cadets I was privileged to hand Chaplain Woodbury our check for $2009. He was utterly delighted to receive it and asked that we thank each and every one of you for opening your hearts to cadets in need. He said the fund is absolutely needed and valued and drawn upon over and over again. We thanked him for allowing us to make this donation in the name of our cadet class. The cadets loved it!

Then Vivian announced that you parents had also provided the Critical Care Staff at Penrose Hospital two meals in thanks for caring for injured 3-degree, Tom Avolio, in the name of 2009. Cadets nodded and clapped, and it was clear they connected with this in a concrete way, given many of them know Tom and the rest know of him.

Then the sweet event began. Our large and enthusiastic parent distribution group fanned out into the auditorium, baskets and carts loaded down with the silver M&Ms in their shiny silver tins. There were looks of surprise and many big smiles by the recipients and the parents. Some cadets popped the lids and started pouring them into their mouths. Others took their time, looked closer and realized—even in the dim light of the auditorium—that the candy was stamped with 09-Our Time. That slowed the rate of consumption just a tick and you could see them pondering whether to consume or conserve!

The cadets behaved admirably. They took only one per customer as advised and many concerned cadets waited till the distribution was complete, then ran to the stage to ask for a tin for friends sitting CQ back at their squadrons. As you know by now, that was managed by email and hopefully, by Friday, all missing 4-degrees will have their M&Ms in hand.

From start to finish, the Class of 2009 Parent Spirit Mission has been about everyone opening their minds and hearts to accomplish something new. Our Mission angel, Captain Deana Hall, said yesterday, “This will turn into an annual event. This will go on and on for years to come!” Our Chaplain Woodbury echoed that by saying how important the Rando Fund is to the kids at USAFA. It is a resource they can pull from when they need it most. He noted that our cadets have already benefited from the Fund. We as a class hope that this spirit of giving will continue and that this mission will challenge others to do more in the years ahead. What started as a light-hearted idea to bring a needed pat on the back to our cadets for a successful Doolie year grew into something far more. Much like Recognition, this first-ever parent spirit mission has cemented this class of parents into a cohesive unit. We are no longer strangers. This wasn’t about being helicopter parents, it was about unifying a set of families into a integrated unit—and as extensions of the military family, that is what we have … each other! I’m guessing we all know now that if needed, most every parent with a cadet in this USAFA Class of 2009 could be called on to help any cadet or cadet family.

The organizers of this task took on a big job and handled it with amazing efficiency and grace. Just as did the parents who took time off work and drove to Colorado Springs for ten minutes of handing out candy. Just as did every person who wrote a little (or sometimes large) check and mailed it in so their cadets and others would have that tin of candy and “get” that congratulatory message from home. Just as did the Mars Corporation when they gave us a huge discount on shipping the candy. Just as did the powers that be at USAFA who opened the door just a tiny bit so that we 2009 parents could charge through and show them who we are … and show them what the cadets of the Class of 2009 are capable of.

Congratulations Parents of the Class of 2009 … you and your cadets ROCK!