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62 Airmen Sworn-in at Selfridge

  • Published
  • By TSgt. Dan Heaton
  • 127th Public Affairs
Selfridge Air National Guard Base --  America's newest Airmen were sworn into the U.S. Air Force Saturday, swearing to defend the nation against all enemies and to uphold the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution. 

Sixty-two young men and women from the Detroit area took the enlistment oath at Selfridge Air National Guard Base Saturday, Aug. 22, as part of the base's air show and open house. The enlistment oath was administered by Lt. Col. Greg Thomas, commander and team leader of the Thunderbirds, the Air Force's famed aerial demonstration team. 

"I wanted to serve my country and what could be better than this?" said Dan Mejia, 23, of Milford, Mich. 

Mejia was scheduled to leave home for Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, Sept. 8. The other enlistees have BMT start dates ranging between late August and early February, said Master Sgt. Wendy Born, recruiting flight chief for six recruiting offices in Detroit and the Motor City's northern suburbs. 

"What a fantastic opportunity for our new Airmen and their families," said Born, who is primarily based at a recruiting office in Utica, Mich. "I am extremely pleased to welcome them into our Air Force." 

Mejia said he is slated to be an explosive ordinance disposal technician in the Air Force.
"I am ready to go," Meija said. "I'm anxious to get started." 

Chief Master Sgt. Dave Kendall, superintendent of the Michigan district for the Air Force recruiting service, praised the work being done by Born and the other recruiters in Michigan. Born's region is at about 115 percent of its recruiting quota for the year. 

The 62 new recruits represent Airmen who will work in a wide range of career fields for the Air Force, Born said, including six individuals who are slated to attend specialized training to become pararescue personnel or other Special Forces operators. 

Robert Brown, 19, said he attended a year of college, but said he felt like service in the Air Force would be the right fit for him. He is signed up to be a linguistics specialist, working with a still-to-be-determined foreign language in the intelligence field. 

"I want to serve in the Air Force and hopefully that can lead to future service with the CIA, FBI or some other agency," Brown said. 

The 2009 Selfridge Air Show & Open House, Aug. 22-23, attracted more than 175,000 people on to the base and thousands of others off the base who watched the Thunderbirds and other military aircraft, warbirds and civilian performers in the sky over the base. On Saturday, the crowd at show center welcomed the new Airmen with applause at the conclusion of their enlistment oath.