News

From teacher, to cop, back to teacher - life of a Reservist

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nicole Celestine
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Cops use sirens, tickets, and sometimes Tasers. Teachers use eraser boards, cool stickers, and sometimes detention. What do these jobs have in common? Apart from having tools that grab your attention, they have people who approach their jobs with open minds and the flexibility to deal with any situation that comes their way. Just ask Tech.  Sgt. Vanessa Walsh with the 446th Security Forces Squadron here who is a 6th-grade teacher in the Bethel School District. 

As a security forces Reservist, Walsh protects the people, facilities and equipment at the 446th Airlift Wing here and other units around the country. She joined the Reserve 13 years ago for job security and to accomplish her career goals. As a teacher, she protects her kids by arming them with knowledge. 

"Teaching is possibly the best job," said Sergeant Walsh, her eyes beaming. "You get to laugh every day and think about someone else's life and not your own. I love kids and love watching them grow. You develop a bond with them and they learn to trust you. The kids become your own." 

Sergeant Walsh, who has been teaching at the district for almost two years, said she performs the duties of each job with a high level of expertise and professionalism. In each job, she must be flexible when dealing with a variety of people with different personalities, temperaments and cultural backgrounds. She particularly enjoys teaching because she gets to interact directly with the children, receiving constant reinforcement from them and from other teachers. 

She chose security forces as her military career field because she has family who were civilian police officers and, from listening to their experiences, she became familiar with the demands of the job. 

Being in the Reserve has broadened her perspective on life and helps her focus on her priorities, always keeping what's important in mind, she said. Wearing the uniform helps her to look at the whole picture and see how her actions, as a security forces Reservist and teacher, affect those placed in her care. 

"She's a pretty competent member of this unit," said Tech. Sgt. Ric Shumate, 446th SFS. "She made it through the Raven School, a two-week, hands-on course that teaches how to provide aircrew and aircraft security in foreign countries that have inadequate or no airfield facility, juggling her time and other commitments, with no problems." 

Sergeant Walsh put her Raven School training to good use when she spent four months in Curacao, providing security to aircrew and aircraft at Curacao International Airport, Netherlands Antilles, a foreign country that didn't have adequate airfield facilities. 

A wife and mother of two, Sergeant Walsh said her military experiences has also deepened her love for children and her passion to teach. 

"The Reserve opened my eyes to what poverty looks like," said Sergeant Walsh, her voice lowering as she spoke. "Seeing where kids in poverty live, how they live and where they grow up, made me appreciate what I have. I just want to take all those kids home and take of them myself." 

According to Sergeant Shumate, changes inherent in the military, including temporary duty assignments, deployments, and working at various locations around the world have helped Sergeant Walsh become more tolerant of different cultures. This characteristic makes it easy for her to adapt a variety of teaching methods to meet the needs of her students. 

"Because what we do in the security forces squadron requires us to focus more intently than in other jobs, Sergeant Walsh is very confident in her knowledge, training, and skills as a security forces Reservist," said Sergeant Shumate. 

According to Sergeant Shumate, Sergeant Walsh's military qualifications include her being the only security forces Reservist qualified to train other cops how to use the ASP Tactical Baton, a type of collapsible baton. He believes Sergeant Walsh's confidence in her duties as a military cop make applying her teaching skills effortless. 

"She's got to be confident to teach the kids in her civilian job," said Sergeant Shumate 

As Sergeant Walsh sits cross-legged on the 446th SFS training room floor during a recent unit training assembly, she concentrates on finding a bulletproof vest that fits her athletic frame. Before the bell rings for the beginning of school Monday morning, she would have given the same undivided attention to developing a week's worth of lesson plans for the 29 children in her care.