Heartland of America Band, recruiter visit Millard schools

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Rachelle Blake
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
MILLARD SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL, Neb. --  The Heartland of America Band and a local U.S. Air Force recruiter teamed-up to make a special visit to Millard South High School April 14.

The event, organized by a 343rd Recruiting Squadron recruiter, took place in Millard, roughly 20 minutes northwest of Offutt Air Force Base.

"This event was requested by a local air force recruiter," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Anthony Schmaus, HOAB bassist and operations representative. "In addition to the recruiter's message about Air Force career opportunities, we were able to display, through our performance, the excellence carried out in every career field of our Air Force every day."

This was the band's fifth school visit in the past three months.

Four of the band members and recruiter, U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Byron Lawson, spent the first part of the morning with the high school's band where they answered questions and played a few songs.

"This was a great opportunity for me to bring something different to the school besides traditional recruiting," Lawson said. "It was great for the students to get involved and for them to see there are other jobs in the Air Force besides the traditional careers like security forces or my old job, aerospace flight equipment."

Following the smaller session, the full band performed for a larger audience of approximately 150 students in the school's auditorium.

"The best part of the day was being able to represent the Air Force in such a unique and positive way," said Schmaus. "This one performance might be the only time these kids will ever see a military member up close and personally, and hopefully we left a good impression that will stay with them throughout their lives."

According to one student, their goal was met.

"I thought the show was amazing," said Sara Collins, 10th grader. "You couldn't help but want to get up and clap your hands and dance. They made it so fun and upbeat; everyone was having a good time."

The band also held a similar performance at Millard West High School on April 16.

"This is our first visit to the Millard high schools in a few years," said Schmaus. "We often visit schools throughout Nebraska as part of our community outreach mission. We try to do these types of performances as often as we can to provide a positive impact on the youth in our touring area."