Munitions Airman chosen for recruiting magazine

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kali L. Gradishar
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  At 16 years old, Darron Kain knew he was destined to join the Air Force. He wanted to do something important with his life, support his country and make his parents proud. One month out of high school, at 17 years old, he raised his right hand to recite the oath of enlistment.

Almost four years later, the Stockton, Calif., native is a senior airman working as a munitions inspector in the 92nd Maintenance Squadron at Fairchild. Working with explosives and inspecting assets to ensure they are serviceable, Airman Kain is the face behind the shop that keeps missions at Fairchild running as they should.

Because of his experience in the career field, his face will be one that is seen nation wide as he will be featured in the Air Force Recruiting Service's Technology Education Magazine, a recruiting tool sent to approximately 30,000 high school auto, metal and wood shop teachers throughout the country. The magazine will present some of the Air Force's hard-to-fill career fields, to include munitions inspector.

"Being a munitions inspector, I deal with the Air Force's explosive assets everyday... it all goes through me to make sure it is serviceable and safe to use," said Airman Kain.

The eight weeks in training in technical school at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, provided Airman Kain with the basic knowledge of the job to include different functions within the career field, munitions control, inspection and deliver, and missile maintenance. He returned to Sheppard AFB later in his career for a three-week course to become a munitions inspector, his current position at Fairchild.

Since he first joined, Airman Kain has acquired a wealth of knowledge, but only one word sums it all up - responsibility, he said. "My time in the Air Force has taught me valuable lessons on how to be a great leader, supervisor and friend that I know I will be able to carry on and pass to others when I decide to leave the military."

"I enjoy the camaraderie in the career field," said Airman Kain. "The shop here is small and close-knit, so we do things together all the time. And we have a lot of leadership support."

He has deployed once, to Balad Air Base, Iraq. There from September 2006 to February 2007, the munitions inspector learned a lot from his deployment.

"I was deployed as a force protection escort, so I dealt with host nationals and foreign nationals on a daily basis," he said. "The language barrier was hard to get around but you start catching onto their language."

He also had the opportunity to see Canada, Germany, Turkey and Qatar, places he said he probably wouldn't have seen if he didn't join the Air Force.

His current plan for the future is to retire from the Air Force after 20 years of service or more.

"I can't imagine myself doing anything else right now. I have pride in what I do... I am in the Air Force 24 hours a day, seven days a week," said Airman Kain. "but in the meantime, I plan on staying in school and getting my degree in education to become a teacher when my Air Force career is over."