Where it's always in season: Military highlights of St. Petersburg

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shawn Rhodes
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. --  There's little doubt that Tampa is a military-friendly town. However, many are unaware that the sandy beaches and busy communities of St. Petersburg across the bay are home to men and women who serve their country. With approximately 50 reserve members of the 927th Air Refueling Wing living in, among, and with this community that is 'always in season.' For that reason, the 927th brought its commanders to St. Petersburg to tour three of their sites that have particular relevance to the wing and the military. The group's first visit was to the Florida Holocaust Museum, a 27,000 square-foot space that features multiple rotating exhibitions on the history and results of the holocaust. The group was led on a guided tour of the facility so they could learn its history, role in the St. Petersburg community, and the work it requires to operate.

The museum's main theme is what happens when people don't speak out. This is very pertinent to the 927th ARW, as all members of the wing are required to complete Bystander Intervention Training. Intervention training teaches Airmen how to speak out to protect themselves, their wingmen and their loved ones.

"When we look at the holocaust, we see it was the normal people who didn't react to what was happening," said Col. Dave Pavey, commander of the 927th ARW. "This museum underscores the importance of our own intervention training."

From there, the group moved to the National Aviation Academy in Clearwater, Fla., a short drive from St. Petersburg. The facility is a globally recognized training academy and regularly certifies its graduates with the Federal Aviation Administration. What makes it important to the 927th ARW is its students and teacher population - a large number of them are military veterans.

"At least 50 percent of my instructors here are retired military," said George Nelson, senior vice president of the academy's Tampa Bay location.

The academy encourages people with military experience to attend in order to receive the federal certifications needed to take their experience working on military aircraft into the commercial industry and a civilian career.

"They (Veterans) are a gold mine," said Angie Capriotti, the director of career services with the academy. "I can't encourage military guys enough to enroll. We need them, and with certification we have a 100 percent placement rate."

Many reservists in the 927th are highly-trained aircraft technicians, but lack the civilian credentials to put their skills to work for them when they are not serving their country. The 927th ARW and the academy hope to be able to work together to remedy that.

"Most of our technicians have established residence in the area," said Lt. Col. Dorneen Shipp, commander of the 927th maintenance Squadron. "We have skilled technicians who may be waiting tables 28 days a month. This program could work for them."

Once the group had completed a tour of the academy's newly-renovated classrooms, they were off to their final destination, the Armed Forces History Museum in Largo, Fla. The 50,000 square-foot museum features displays on every American conflict from World War I to the present. The group received a tour of the facility, which houses one of the largest collections of military memorabilia and normally takes visitors 2 hours to complete.

"An enourmous amount of private resources have been poured intot his facility," Pavey said about the museum. "The contributions of the military are reflected in the greater Tampa Bay region's support of all the military branches here."