Loadmaster spends a day on "the farm"

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Daniel McKittrick
  • 97 AMW/PA
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Normally, Tech. Sgt. Mark Hafer, a C-17 Loadmaster, is in the back of a C-17 aircraft airdropping heavy platforms to the drop zone below. Today, he finds himself on the ground watching a three hundred thousand dollar cotton picker go down a row of cotton... he's taking part in the annual Altus Farm City Tour. 

"I've been coming to Altus on temporary duty since 1997 and have lived here since 2004," states Sergeant Hafer,"for a city guy to see what farmers do daily, it's fascinating". 

About 150 Altus Air Force Base airmen, civil service and family members were fascinated as they loaded three tour buses and headed out to the local farms to see the day to day operations of Oklahoma's agriculture industry. The tour began at a cotton field where tourists watched a cotton picker machine gather the white stuff and then package it into huge modules that look like oversized loaves of bread. From there the tour went to the cotton gin and saw how the cotton is loaded into the gin, separated from the seeds and bailed. 

"They're using every part of the plant, not wasting anything" said Sergeant Hafer as he learned the cotton seed is also sold to make oil. "I have a lot of respect for these guys, they work long hours and their job has a world scale impact." 

The tour made its way to a peanut processing warehouse and then to the local rodeo grounds where participants mounted tractors and, under the guidance of seasoned drivers, took them for a spin. 

"Meeting different folks and getting to know them and then seeing them out at a local ball game is what makes this tour fun for me," said Bob Mills, volunteer tour guide and 20 year Chamber of Commerce member, and farmer. 

After taking his own lap around the grounds, Hafer said, "Who else in the Air Force gets the opportunity to get close to the community like this?" "They're passionate folks about what they do and that's a good thing." 

The tour concluded with a catered lunch in the Altus Community Center for everyone involved. "This kind of thing takes me back to grade school where we learned about farming. It's so impressive how efficient these guys are in what they do. It gives me a good feeling" said Sergeant Hafer. "Farming is incredible" he concluded. 

So the next time Hafer is watching his pallet drop from the back of a C-17 to the fields below, he can look at those fields with a newfound appreciation and amazement. 

On Nov. 14, it will be the Air Force's turn to show local farmer's what it is like to fly in a C-17 or KC-135 jet.