America's Newest Airmen Enlist at Selfridge

  • Published
  • By TSgt. Dan Heaton
  • 127th Wing Public Affairs
SELFRIDGE AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Mich. --  America's newest Airmen were sworn in at the Selfridge Air Show and Open House.

Mike and Michelle Ranck of Clarkston, Mich., were among the dozens of parents holding cameras and smiling as Lt. Col. Wade A. Mueller swore in the new enlistees at Selfridge, Aug. 20.

"This is a very, very good thing," Michelle Ranck said, moments before her son, Nicholas, 25, enlisted in the Air Force.

The 339th Recruiting Squadron arranged for 63 young men and women to take the oath to defend the nation as a member of the U.S. Air Force as part of the air show festivities.

"A ceremony like this helps to raise public awareness of who is serving our nation, people from our home towns," said Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Zahniser, a recruiter in the Detroit region. "Plus, this is really nice for the parents, many of whom don't have the opportunity to go to Lackland Air Force Base and see their Airman graduate from basic military training."

Among those enlisted were Airmen in dozens of career fields, Mueller said.

Nicholas Ranck attended college for a couple of years and decided the time was right for him to join the Air Force.

"This is going to help me pay to eventually finish my undergraduate degree," said Ranck, who is to report to Lackland in Texas for basic training in October.
Ranck is signed up to work in the aircraft maintenance field and is interested in possible training to become a survival skills specialist in the future.

"When I finish my degree, I might want to look at becoming an officer," Ranck said. "I think the Air Force is really going to open some possibilities for me."