My name is Kaia Richmond, and I am currently an AS200 in the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I am from Langley, Washington and was recruited to do cross country and track at Concordia University, Nebraska out of high school. I joined ROTC a few weeks into the spring semester of last year during my track season at Concordia. Doing my first semester of ROTC as a student-athlete and crosstown cadet was challenging. However, by working with the Wing, Cadre, and my coaches, I was able to balance my practice schedule and track meets with PMT events while also commuting from Seward to Lincoln about three times a week. In doing this, I was able to decide that I wanted to continue to grow as a leader and pursue ROTC.
This past fall, I transferred to UNL to be more involved in ROTC and other opportunities provided by UNL and in Lincoln. I decided to transfer because of the opportunities and experiences that are available through ROTC like base visits and weekly Special Warfare workouts. I am also currently a member of Pershing Rifles and got to experience NATCON this year where I met a lot of other Companies from around the country and learned a lot about how Pershing Rifles works at a national level. I also work at the Lincoln Running Company and am involved doing local 5Ks, 10Ks and half marathons.
One of my favorite memories of ROTC so far is being selected for the You Can Fly (YCF) scholarship this past fall. YCF provides over $3000 to take flying lessons at the local Fixed Base Operator. This opportunity allowed me to gain experience flying Cessna 172s. Being able to have this opportunity gave me an interest in flying and I hope to go up for a pilot slot when I graduate and commission in two years. Another one of my favorite memories is going on base visits to McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas and taking a KC-135 to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma.
