After graduating from the University of Nebraska at Kearney in December, Meghan Meyer of Seward started looking at graduate school.
But there was something else in the back of her mind.
“I always wanted to do the Air Force,” she said.
But that wasn’t quite in the cards. So, Meyer looked at the Air Guard in the National Guard. She decided to enlist in July and attended basic training in November.
When she decided to enlist, she said her parents, Jerry and Mary Meyer, were happy.
“My dad was ecstatic. He didn’t want me to do the army,” she said with a smile.
She was able to send a care package to her family at Christmas and wrote letters throughout basic training.
“I think about everyone who served,” she said.
As the first in her family to serve in the Air Force, she thought about the late Ralph Hansen.
“I love the National Guard,” she said in January. “I think it’s great to have and do a job. The Air Guard was a perfect fit.”
Even though she missed the holidays, including her birthday, Meyer said her time in the Guard has been good so far.
In basic training, the recruits are divided into squads. Meyer was in the 321st Squadron B 104 or band flight.
“I was hand-picked to play trumpet,” she said. “I like the band part.”
She said she was surprised to be chosen with only six years of trumpet.
Each squad has a mascot. Meyer’s squad mascot was a warthog. She was Alpha, as well, “excellence in all we do,” she said.
The squad’s motto was “lead, follow or get out of the way,” Meyer said.
The musicians also went through the regular basic training. Meyer said the deployment was like camping, sleeping on cots in tents.
“It was a good dirty,” she said with a laugh.
The food was good and included items like French toast and pancakes.
They still went through the gas chamber and did the shooting training.
“I got out of drill sometimes to do band practice,” she said.
She was able to play on a silver instrument, which was really nice, she said.
Meyer is currently stationed in Mississippi for technical school through March. She was moved to a different squadron, this one Gator which was the Warthogs’ rival during basic training, she said.
She is playing in the bugle corps and working to become a leader in the corps.
From there, she will come back to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha until May.
“I’m really enjoying it. I’m happy with my choice,” Meyer said.
Currently ranked Airman First Class, she has eight years to serve. She will also attend grad school at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and study public history.
Once she’s done with school, she’ll have to decide options for deployment.
“Active duty, anything that would rank up,” she said.
With her master’s degree, Meyer said she might look at being a curator in a museum.
Since completing basic training, she said, she feels like she has changed, adding the core values taught to her mindset and striving for excellence in everything.
“I think I have really grown as a person,” she said. “Now I’m not representing just myself. I look at my blues, and it’s not just me any more. I represent the Air Force and my last name. I love my last name a bunch.”
