UshkaEngHonors101: Unit 5 Team Experience

Unit 5 Team Experience

In 2005, I was hand-picked to be part of a best of the best aircraft maintenance team for the Air Force. This team was formed to compete in a biennial international competition known as the Air Mobility Rodeo. The Air Mobility Rodeo brings together teams from the United States and around the world to test and improve tactics in a competitive environment. In this environment, aircraft maintenance teams are pushed to their limits and beyond to display skills and demonstrate capabilities. The mission of our team was to present as close as possible a discrepancy-free aircraft at competition. During the competition, our team was evaluated by highly trained evaluators while performing preflight inspections, post-flight inspections, refueling operations, recovery/ launch operations, and adherence to safety.

     As with any team building, I have experienced in the past, we had our ups and down, our conflicts and conflict resolutions, and our good days and bad days. Out of the 8 of us on the team, 2 members had 10 plus years on the airframe with which we were competing with. These two essentially took control of the operations but in the end they were the two who kept us from taking first place. So we had a dynamic group of people with varying personalities and experiences.  Six months out from competition, we started preparing the aircraft through daily repairs, cleaning, and cosmetic touch-ups. We created a strong bond with each; spending more time with each other than our own families.

     We as team were partially successful in completing our goal; taking second place in the competition overall. We gave a 110% but due to excessive alcohol use and some team member’s egocentric personalities, we failed to attain first place within the competition. However, we did leave with the pride of taking first place for best post-flight inspection. Our success was a direct result of our preparation, diligence, and daily training. Coming home from competition, we felt a sense of pride knowing we had given our blood, sweat, and tears to this aircraft and to each other.

Short Response 4

After finishing my degree in Aerospace Technology, I hope to go on to be employed by one of the many leaders in the aerospace world. A couple different companies include Boeing and Lockheed Martin. These companies are leaders in the aerospace industry, they are well known for their technological advances as well as the many aerospace vehicles produced annually. They have made history with the products and services they offer and the creation and use of technology. Boeing is the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Additionally, Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. As a major service provider to NASA, Boeing operates the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. The company also provides numerous military and commercial airline support services. Boeing has customers in more than 90 countries around the world.

My career goal is to have a position as an Aerospace Quality Control Inspector. Quality control inspectors in this industry work on a variety of different airframes, and program types, spanning both the civilian and military sectors. Some of the specific duties will be to inspect maintenance, adjustments, repairs, modifications and alterations made on aircraft. Examine complex avionics and aircraft electrical components for airworthiness and proper installation. Evaluate aircraft maintenance tasks for compliance with applicable aircraft technical data, commercial technical data, FAA regulations, and local procedures. I’m pursuing a career in this field because I already have 14 years’ experience as aviation technician in the U.S. Air Force. During this time I had a position as a quality assurance officer, I found being an inspector was fun and exciting. I enjoyed finding other technician’s mistakes; not because I found myself all high and mighty but to teach the individual to do the task right the next time.

Short Response 3: Successful Transitional Experience

 

“Successful Transitional Experience”

     Recently I’ve had the experience of a successful transition. My transition led me from a full-time military career transitioning back into the civilian life and then onto community college. I was in the Air Force for 14 years, during that time I went through several rituals. At the young age of 19 I was ordained into the Air Force by graduating from basic military training. This was definitely a signal of change from my old society. I grasped onto the military culture as best I could leaving old ideas, behaviors, and friends behind.

     Before separating from the Air Force every service member must go through the (TAP) Transitional Assistance Program. TAP was developed to assist in the transitioning of military personnel and family members leaving the service. My separation was not only exciting but also very stressful. I’ve had a vision for a long time of leaving the military and returning to college. Back in 2001, while still in the Air Force, I decided to enroll into a local community college. Due to the terroristic actions on September 11, I was forced to withdraw from my classes in order to keep up with the operations tempo on the War on Terror. In TAP class, I learned about the many educational benefits that have been made available for veterans. Learning about all the benefits available to me when separating made the transition that much easier.

     Separating myself from the Air Force society was a very easy transition, I was ready to go. The Air Force culture had changed and their values and views no longer aligned with my own. The separation of the military is usually celebrated through several rituals. The most common ritual is that of the retirement ceremony. The retirement ceremony is usually very formal. Separating members and officials wear their dress uniforms. The separating members are presented with a certificate honoring their service. Ceremony guests and family members listen to a summary of the life and accomplishments of the separating members, usually presented by the unit commander. The closing of the ceremony is marked by the United States Air Force Song which commemorates the Air Force and its fallen heroes.

     My transition to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will begin next spring. Embry-Riddle is a coeducational university serving culturally diverse students. Transitioning to this university should be fairly simple socially. I will be separating from CCBC after only being a student here for a short amount of time, so I believe leaving will be quite exciting as I face harder challenges. One of the challenges will be transitioning to living on campus. I will try to immerse myself into the wide array of activities and clubs. I believe this will make the transition more pleasant through being more involved.

Unit 2 Childhood Ad/Tootsie Roll Pop

"The Original Tootsie Roll Pop"

    In 1970, Tootsie Roll Industries produced the famous and iconic children’s animated commercial, “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?” , this catch phrase has made famous the world’s number #1- selling candy-filled lollipop. This ad was marketed toward candy eating children through animals and a young wondering boy. The ad uses the appeal that you will be rewarded only once you lick or bite your way through the hard candy coating to expose the Tootsie Roll center. In the television ad, a boy poses the question to four animated characters; a cow, a cool but clever fox with sunglasses, an aging turtle and finally the wisest of all the animals, Mr. Owl wearing his professor’s cap and studious looking glasses. Each one of the first three animals tells the boy to ask the next “wiser” animal, explaining that they’d bite a Tootsie Pop every time they lick one. Eventually, he asks Mr. Owl, who starts licking it, counts one, two, then three licks before crunching down to reach the embedded Tootsie Roll prize. The commercial ends with the line "The World May Never Know."

 Many have tried, and failed, to lick their way to the center of the Tootsie Pop. The temptation to bite and reach the embedded Tootsie Roll prize has proven too great. The television ad above and the print ads below are realistic because you will be rewarded with a chewy, Tootsie Roll center. It was the first lollipop providing an embedded candy “prize.” The marketers of Tootsie Roll Industries want children to believe simply that if you buy this candy that there will be this grand adventure or game along with a great reward of chewy chocolate candy.

Rumors and Culture

There is a legend associated with the wrapper of Tootsie Pop lollipops. The rumor is that if you come across a wrapper with a picture of a boy in an Indian costume shooting an arrow at a star, and you send that wrapper to the company that makes Tootsie Pops, you will receive either a free lollipop or a case of lollipops. The company maintains there was never any sort of official promotion or contest associated with Tootsie Pop wrappers. For many years the company responded to kids who wrote in to claim their free Tootsie Pop with an apologetic letter, but since 1982 they’ve also enclosed a short work of fiction called “The Legend of the Indian Wrapper.” In this short letter, it tells of a man "long, long ago, when all lollipops were made alike," who wanted to make a new kind of sucker with something special inside. But he couldn't figure out how. Well, one day the man awoke "to find a grand Indian chief smiling at him. The chief told the man that he would help him make a lollipop with a chewy candy center, if the man promised the chief that he would never, ever, stop making them for people. The man promised. ... The 'Indian Wrapper' is supposedly a sign that the grand chief has personally checked that particular lollipop for the chewy candy center."

Reference:http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/business/a/tootsie_pop.htm

Unit 1 Short Response

My full name is Richard Ushka. My first name Richard was given to me by my mother Barbara and my father Arthur. It is derived from Germanic elements ric "power or rule" and hard "brave hardy" these combination of elements create the meaning "brave power". The name is used in English, French, German, Czech, Dutch, and ancient Germanic languages. It's most notable use in history was by three kings of England including Richard I the Lionheart, leader of the Third Crusade in the 12th century. The name Richard at the time of my birth was ranked #20 overall in popularity and held it's highest ranking from 1930 to 1947 at #5. My mother's side of the family descends from England and felt that it would be a good strong name for me in contrast to my Russian last name, Ushka.

My last name Ushka is Russian in origin and its literal translation to English is "little ear". It is pronounced oo sh kh ah. The suffix ushka is frequently used in Russian to denote a diminutive and endearing form of a name .e.g. a liberal interpretation of the term matryoshka could be taken to mean "little mother". So my name when broken down into there respective meanings are quite contradictory; Richard meaning "Brave Power" and Ushka "little ear" or as a suffix to denote diminutive or little.

I really like my name, especially my last name because anyone with the same last name as me is more than likely related to me. As far as nicknames, I grew up often being called by my last name or different interpretations of my last name like "Ooshk", "Ooshie", "Ooshkey", and of course one of my favorites "the Russian". Of course sometimes I would get the occasional derogatory comments about being a communist but it was always within the boundaries of being humorous.

Unit 0 test

The hurt locker