Goodfellow hosts Operation: K.I.D.S. Published May 23, 2017 By Staff Sgt. Joshua Edwards 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Members of team Goodfellow supported the base’s Operation: Kids Investigating Deployed Services beginning at the Vance Deployment Center May 20. Operation: K.I.D.S. is an annual event designed to introduce military children to deployment operations that their parents may experience. “This brings them into my world and that’s what I really like,” said Tech. Sgt. Nathanael Meagher, 17th Force Support Squadron readiness NCO. “We want them to have a positive experience, and kind of grasp the understanding of what a deployment is.” Col. Michael Downs, 17th Training Wing commander, kicked off the event with a mission brief, before the children deployed to Camp Sentinel, Goodfellow’s mock deployment area. “I’m excited to go out there and see the deployment area,” said Olivia Akkurt, Operation: K.I.D.S. deployer. “I’m really having a lot of fun here.” During the event, the deployers got a chance shoot paintballs with the 344th Military Intelligence Battalion, patrol a village with the Goodfellow Marine Corps Detachment and learn about Air Force issued weapons from the 17th Security Forces Squadron. “We want to expose them to the other branches,” Meagher said. “We do a lot of joint service stuff. We want them to be able to tell the differences in the uniforms and the branches.” This year the base opened up to local children without a Department of Defense background. “We try to get them in and blend them with military kids,” said Meagher. “We want them to have a bit of appreciation for the military and also show them that there are other job options out there than what they see here in San Angelo.” Goodfellow plans to host another Operation: K.I.D.S. in the fall of 2017.