Capt. Tyler Wamsley, Company B, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, Kansas Army National Guard speaks to Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp students from Lee Summit, Missouri about the capabiliti...

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- On March 26, 30 Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets from Lee Summit High School visited Fort Riley and members of the Kansas Army National Guard's 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 137th Infantry Regiment, 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, at both the Douthit Gunnery Complex and Range 18 South Gunnery Complex.

The cadets had the opportunity to check out the capabilities of the M2A2 ODS-SA Operation Desert Storm-Situational Awareness Bradley Fighting Vehicle and the M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank as the Guard Soldiers prepare for an overseas deployment to Kuwait.

For Air Force Master Sgt. Todd Holbert, junior aerospace instructor, the day was about getting the cadets a chance to see the equipment being used.

"I like seeing the faces glow and seeing the expressions on their faces as they get to see and touch (the equipment)," he said. "It's just a great experience for them, just to interact with what's being demonstrated. It's just a neat thing to watch them get to experience things."

For Cadet Col. Andrew Hudson, the hands-on experience was an opportunity he said he hopes other cadets walk away with a greater understanding of the military options available.

"The most important thing I hope they take away is that this experience will either, one; help them say 'hey I have an interest in the Army,' or 'that I already had an interest in the Army and this is what I'm doing,'" he said. "I hope to take this back to the students of my high school. We have televisions all throughout the high school that we can create a slide show, it can be a recruiting (one) for us and for the National Guard or active duty."

The cadets, most born after Sept. 11, 2001, are able to take experiences given to them by the JROTC program and enhance their understanding of the world, according to Holbert.

"It's one of our points we try to get out in class," he said. 'We try to get them to understand the world with a little more depth. Probably a little more than what they get in their history class or World Civics class."

After a warm meal provided to the students, the cadets were given the opportunity to watch as members of the Guard completed a gunnery table in the Abrams with the 120mm main gun going off shaking the cadets bodies with each salvo, before they took the three-hour return trip home.