White, blue and gold...
Tech. Sgt. April Tarbill and Senior Airman Bob Fourman, both flight attendants with the 73rd Airlift Squadron, 932nd Airlift Wing, speak to other Air Force Airmen about opportunities in the Air Force Reserve Command flight attendant program. Behind them is the C-40C plane painted white, blue and gold.
The flight attendants meet a wide variety of people. "They love this job and work hard, but enjoy worldwide travel, and we are now requested by name by higher level Department of Defense leaders," said Col. Tom Kirkendall, the 932nd Operations Group commander. It takes a special person to make service for high-level passengers -- to include the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the First Lady of the United States, the secretary of State, secretary of the Interior, the CIA director and the speaker of the House, just to name a few. Tech. Sgt. Elizabeth Wszalek just celebrated her one year anniversary as a 932nd AW flight attendant. She didn't always have food preparation skills. "I used to do the bare minimum cooking at home and was an experimental salad girl in high school. I then transferred from the Mission Support Flight and went to flight attendant training, and now I cook all the time. "The biggest challenge for me is making contact with the head of the VIP party we are dealing with to make sure they select the menu items in a timely manner so we (flight attendants) can grocery shop for the mission. This involves mission prep, checking ice requirements at each stop, getting enough pillows and blankets, and checking air stairs availability. We do a lot more than basic airline attendants. We even load luggage, cook full meals and are responsible for emergency procedures," she said.