Loy School teachers treated to Malmstrom experience

  • Published
  • By Valerie Mullett
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Wednesday marked the official first day of the 2011-2012 school year for many in the Great Falls community. Loy Elementary School, home to the majority of the children who live on Malmstrom Air Force Base, was no exception.

However, this year, the faculty greeted their students with a greater understanding of their military dependent status than they have had in years past, thanks to an orientation tour they experienced the day prior.

" I thought it would be a great idea to give the faculty some insight into how the children that we teach each day live and what their parents do as military members," said Teresa Sprague, Loy School principal.

Sprague had initially visualized a meet-and-greet with parents followed by a windshield tour of the base, but former Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Anthony Cotton, extended the invitation for a full-blown base tour, which she accepted.

Approximately 30 teachers boarded buses from the school to make their journey Aug. 30. The first stop was at the headquarters building 500 for a wing mission briefing. This gave the teachers an overview of the building blocks that make up the wing and the importance each one plays in establishing the whole.

Following the mission briefing, the larger group broke off into three smaller groups and each would receive a personalized tour of the missile procedures trainer, the T-9 missile maintenance trainer, and the tactical response forces' shoot house and armory.

At the MPT, missileers explained how they train and get certified to pull a 24-hour alert in the missile complex they let the teachers have a try on the console.

At the T-9, the faculty got to see what the maintainers do when they deploy to perform maintenance on an ICBM.

The TRF shoot house gave the staff members a chance to witness Malmstrom elite security forces training for their real-world missions.

"The Airmen here have been very professional and very accommodating," said Jeanne Bily, a 5th grade Loy Elementary School teacher. "They have given us very useful insight that we can take back to the school. We're also better equipped to be compassionate and understanding by knowing what these families are going through on a daily or weekly basis, or when they face a deployment."

Not only did the teachers learn from their Malmstrom exposure, but the tour guides did as well.

"It was nice to have the teachers from Loy come and see our mission and to be able to give them an appreciation of what their students' parents do on a day-to-day basis," said Staff Sgt. Isaiah Miller, 341st Maintenance Operations Squadron