Senior Eli Fuller went to Offutt Air Force Base back in early January. While there, recruiters described many different jobs that they needed people for. Fuller had a few in mind until they brought up one more position that he knew immediately was a perfect opportunity.
“I’m going to be an airborne systems engineer,” Fuller said. “Basically, I’ll be like the IT guy in a plane.”
He will watch all the different computers and systems on the plane, and if any of them have issues, then he will be tasked with fixing them.
Not long after leaving Offutt, he received a call that would eventually change everything.
“While out eating at Stella’s, my phone just randomly started ringing,” Fuller said. “They called me saying that I could take the job, and so I sat there and considered it for a couple of minutes and then said I would take it.”
Fuller walked back in to his parents very excited.
“After the phone call he came back inside and was excited.” said Eli’s mother, Tiffany Fuller. “He told us he qualified for the position. We talked about the other job opportunities, but the Airborne Systems Engineer seemed to be his favorite option.”
Fuller went back to Offutt that Sunday, two days later, and signed papers, confirming that he was taking the job with the Air National Guard and what that would bring.
It isn’t as simple as taking the job and working; rather, he has about two years before actually working the job. Over the next two years, he will have on-and-off training to complete to be fully prepared. The first part of training that Fuller has to do is basic, which is completed by everyone joining a military position.
“So I’m going to have to go to basic training, which is like eight weeks,” he said. “And then I’ll have my tech school, which is basically my training for my job, college if you will, but it’s only for three months.”
Finally, the last thing he will have to complete is SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape). SERE training is often one of the most feared parts of training that some have to do when joining the military. Unfortunately, Fuller is part of that group.
“SERE training actually sounds terrifying; they send you out into the forest to survive and avoid the people after you,” Fuller said. “Eventually, once they get you, they simulate you being captured by the enemy, they shine bright lights in your face, play loud music not allowing you to sleep to see once you’re sleep deprived if you give anything up.”
SERE training lasts three weeks. In the first week, recruits get trained to survive out in the forest and not give up any information. Then, in the second and third weeks, they put that training into practice.
Once he completes that training, Fuller will be fully cleared to be able to finally start working his job as an airbone systems engineer. To maintain the job, he must work drill weekends every month and a two-week active duty period in the summer.
“I have to work one weekend a month, they call it a drill weekend,” Fuller said, “Two weeks in the summer of like active duty, if you will.”
That isn’t the only work he has to do though. If the military wants intelligence on a certain country, they will send Fuller along with a crew to fly over for reconnaissance, as that is what the plane he is working on is for. During those periods, he will be gone for extended amounts of time, the longest being 120 days, before they have to send him back.
“In this whole process, we have felt God’s handiwork and trust that this is the right path for him,” Mrs. Fuller said, “We are excited for his next chapter!”
