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THE DROPZONE

Iraqi Convicts Riot,

Escape Prison;

12 Killed pg. 7

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Table of Contents

Introducing Cadet Riddle

- Page 4

Iraqi Convicts Riot,

Escape Prison

- Page 7

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Table of Contents

Introducing Cadet Rogers

- Page 12

Did The AFROTC

Meet My Expectations?

- Page 14

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Cadet Riddle was born on the

Eglin AFB in Florida on Janu-

ary 25th , but she considers

Norfolk, UK to be her

hometown as she spent most

of my childhood in England

investigating old ruins of cas-

tles and pretending to be a

knight from the Middle-Ages.

When not in school, she lives

in Oak Ridge, NC just outside of Greensboro with her parents,

younger brother Christopher, sister Katlin, and the family dog

Harley. She currently attends College of Charleston and majors

in International Studies with a Europe concentration and she is

minoring in Russian Studies. She plans to graduate May 2014

with a solid grasp of the Russian language.

As far as hobbies are concerned she loves to travel. She

started traveling when she was a kid and her list of places to

visit continues to grow as she gets older. She has traveled most

of Europe, and in 2011 she visited Russia for the first time and

studied at Mordovian State University located in the city of Sa-

ransk (the capital of the Republic of Mordovia). She also visit-

ed Kazan and St. Petersburg and plans to visit again as soon as

she can. She also loves to read books. “I could sit for hours

(and I have) reading novel after novel. When I moved over the

summer, I finally counted how many I had in my room. The to-

tal was close to three-hundred and that’s not including all the

books on my Kindle. Let’s just say the movers were not

amused,” said Cadet Riddle.

Introducing

Cadet Riddle

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Her father retired from the Air Force after 25 years of ser-

vice and her younger brother, Christopher, is currently at Lack-

land AFB in TX for Basic Training. Many of her family on her

mother’s side were service members in various British branches

as well. Most of her ‘adopted’ family is or were in the military.

Also, almost all of her friends are too.

She joined AFROTC because she could not see herself

joining any other branch, but she also wanted a college experi-

ence. Detachment 772 filled all of her requirements; it allowed

her to have that college experience but also gave her time to

figure out if she wanted to commit to the military or choose a

different path. At the moment she has no plans to make the mil-

itary her long term career, although it is an option. For the mo-

ment, she is hoping after her commitment to return to Russia to

study at a university and continue her language learning. If she

does decide to make the Air Force her career, she would like to

be a Regional Affairs Strategist within

the International Affairs Specialist pro-

gram (specifically dealing with Russia

if possible). RAS officers attend the

Naval Postgraduate School and the De-

fense Language Institute and graduate

with a regional, international-affairs

type master's degree and foreign lan-

guage capability tied to their region of

study.

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Iraqi Convicts Riot,

Escape Prison;

12 Killed

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— Prisoners seized weapons and set

off hours-long clashes with security

guards at a prison in Saddam Hussein’s hometown

that left 12 dead, including 10 guards, before dozens

of inmates managed to escape from the facility, Ira-

qi officials said Friday.

Many of those who escaped from the prison in

Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, were al-Qaida

suspects, said a provincial spokesman. He could not

say whether the terror group was behind the prison

break.

The violence erupted Thursday night, said Mo-

hammed al-Assi, the spokesman for Salahuddin

province, where Tikrit is located. Several inmates

broke into the prison storeroom and grabbed weap-

ons kept there, overpowering the guards, he said.

The prisoners then engaged in an hours-long

gun battle with the security troops inside the facility

before breaking out of the prison on Friday morn-

ing. Security troops later regained control of the

prison, al-Assi said. (Continue to page 8.)

BAGHDAD

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Iraqi police man a checkpoint set-up in the

center of Tikrit (AFP/File, Mahmud Saleh)

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Following the prison break, a curfew was im-

posed in Tikrit, he added.

“Everything is under control now. Our security

forces are chasing the escaped prisoners and have

already recaptured some,” al-Assi told The Associ-

ated Press in a telephone interview.

A provincial health official, Raed Ibrahim, con-

firmed that 12 people died in the violence — 10

prison guards and two inmates. He said 32 people

were wounded in the clashes.

Qutaiba al-Jubouri, a lawmaker from the prov-

ince, said a total of 81 inmates, including some who

had been sentenced to death, managed to escape but

that 36 of them were quickly recaptured.

“This is a regrettable security breach,” said al-

Jubouri, adding that an investigation will follow,

“starting with the commanders of the security forc-

es” at the prison.

He added that special forces were sent to Tikrit

from Baghdad to put down the rioting.

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Another lawmaker, Hakim al-Zamili, said the in-

mates burned all the prison records, which will compli-

cate efforts to track down those who escaped.

Prison breaks are common in Iraq and are an embar-

rassment to the country’s Shiite-led government.

A relative of former Basra governor, Mohammed al-Wailie, kisses his poster dur-

ing his funeral in Basra, 340 miles (547 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq,

Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Gunmen shot dead the former governor, Mohammed al-

Wailie, as he was driving his car in the city center, the police said. (AP Photo/

Nabil al-Jurani)

Associated Press Writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed

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Cadet Rogers is a

Junior at the College of

Charleston. He graduat-

ed High School in Glen-

pool, Oklahoma at Glen-

pool High School. He

has gained two years of

education at Trident

Technical College in

North Charleston, South Carolina . In the fall of 2012 he trans-

ferred to the College of Charleston where he plans to receive he

Bachelors Degree in Mathematics. During this same time he al-

so enrolled into the Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps

(AFROTC) at Charleston Southern University. Cadet Rogers

plans to graduate college and commission as a Second Lieuten-

ant in the United States Air Force in May 2014.

Cadet Rogers has many people in his family that are in the

military. His father is retired Master Sergeant Roy C. Rogers

III. MSgt Rogers has spent 20 years of service in the United

States Air Force. During this time he received two Bronze Stars

and many other military decorations. His mother is Angela M.

Rogers. She lives in Oklahoma and works at Don Carlton

Hyundai. His step-mother is Master Sergeant Debra J. Rogers.

MSgt Rogers is one of the members of Detachment 772’s Ca-

dre. She has been an enlisted member of the United States Air

Force for over 19 years. In February of 2013 she will be retir-

ing. His sister is a Senior Airman in the Air National Guard lo-

cated in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Introducing

Cadet Rogers

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Cadet Rogers enjoys many different activities. In High

School Cadet Rogers was on the wrestling and baseball teams.

His senior year he took fourth in the state at his weight class of

160 lbs. Since High School Cadet Rogers now enjoys working

out and running to stay in-shape. He also plays basketball and

racquetball to stay involved in sports.

Cadet Rogers joined the AFROTC to be able to commis-

sion as an officer in the USAF. There are many reasons why he

chose this route. First it is a guaranteed job after college. The

military gives great benefits to their people. Joining as an of-

ficer also means that he will have his Bachelors Degree for

when he completes his service in the military. Most important

of all is to serve his country.

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The question, “does the

AFROTC meet your expecta-

tions?,” has been brought up

numerous times throughout

Leadership Lab and Field

Training Prep. I believe the

AFROTC program has well

exceeded my expectations, but

not regarding the class; more in regards of myself. When

I joined the AFROTC program I was essentially going in

blind because I did not take any ROTC classes in high

school and the military history in my family is very lim-

ited. After talking to a few Cadets the past couple of se-

mesters during recruiting events I decided to see if the

military lifestyle was for me.

I grew up in a household where strictness and having

a lot of responsibility were not a big deal. There were

high expectations but as long as I got them done in a rea-

sonable amount of time then that was fine. I did not have

any bills to pay for either. Before I joined the AFROTC

program I just let life take me wherever it wanted to. I

knew the AFROTC was going to add some more respon-

sibilities academicly and physical wise, but I was not

aware that it would affect my personality and lifestyle as

much it did.

Cadet Fox

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After joining the AFROTC, I began to take on more

adult/leadership roles. I offered to pay for some of my

bills and decided to model myself as someone who stood

out and wanted to become someone of a significance. I

started to make other minor changes as in keeping my

living space cleaner and doing my homework earlier than

I normally would. A bigger change that I took upon my-

self was to take care of my body better. Before AFROTC

I was a slouch and hardly did anything physical. Now, I

am working out on a regular basis and eating healthier.

The AFROTC program did not just meet my expec-

tations, it exceeded them by a milestone. I thank the Ca-

dre and my fellow cadets in being supportive and making

my experience in the program a very enjoyable one. I be-

gan the program unsure if I was wanting to pursue a ca-

reer in the military, but now I am striving to be all I can

be to go beyond expectations and be the best Airman I

can be. AIM HIGH! FLY-FIGHT-WIN!

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“There are no secrets to

success. It is the result of

preparation, hard work,

and learning from failure.”

-Colin Powell