Field Training
Field Training is the beacon of hope to all Field Training Preparation cadets at the
end of their AS 200 year. Field Training looked much different this year with the
precautions and risk management systems put in place for the COVID-19 virus. Several
of Detachment 160’s cadets were able to attend and successfully complete Field Training
over summer 2020. One of these cadets is Cadet Captain Shannon Muzyka.
Cadet Muzyka is a Statistics Major from Marietta, Georgia. She joined Air Force ROTC her sophomore year as an AS 250. She said that before she left for Field Training, she was a little nervous because she missed all of her 100 year. Along with that, she only had half of a semester of FTP training because the University of Georgia went virtual for the second half of spring 2020 semester. Despite these setbacks, she realized at Field Training that she had no reason to worry because there’s no difference between being a 100 or a 250. Rather, it’s the time and effort that you put into your work.
Cadet Muzyka said, “The Spring 2020 FTP Trainers did an incredible job preparing me for Field Training. They did a great job preparing me for every aspect of Field Training.” She specifically mentioned Cadet Matibe’s intensity, acting as mess checker, prepared her for reporting into the DFAC. The trainers brought the dedication, perseverance, and passion that it takes to be an FTP cadet, which directly transferred into Cadet Muzyka’s successful Field Training performance.
Based on her successes attending Field Training this summer, Cadet Muzyka offers advice to the upcoming FTP cadets. She believes that it is important to take risks and to make mistakes here at the detachment, so that they can be corrected and improved upon. While Field Training requires the best of your ability, it is also important to take a step back and have fun while you are going through such a unique experience with so many other unique and knowledgeable cadets.
Throughout Field Training Cadet Muzyka specifically focused on the Major Lisa Jaster quote, “There’s no quitting. I can’t have quit in me. There was never an option to stop and quit.” With that, don’t get hung up on past mistakes, and don’t stop striving to be the best that you can be. Find one or two things every day and improve upon them whether in your personal life or here within Detachment 160.
By Cadet O’Donnell, Sep 2020