Air Force cheerleaders, dancers leading the way in leadership
4/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Cheerleading
By Marcus Rodriguez
Air Force Athletic Media Relations
For over 60 years the Air Force Academy has played an integral role in forging our nation's military leaders. Air Force cadets are chosen from the top tier of their peers, and are required to complete a rigorous academic schedule along with the demands of military training. Day after day, week after week, and year after year, cadets must prove their merit before they can earn the coveted butter bar of a commissioned Air Force officer.
In addition to their daily academic and military schedules, being an intercollegiate athlete adds another dimension. Intercollegiate athletes must complete all the same requirements while also competing at a very high level in their respective sport. The time demands required of an intercollegiate athlete at a service academy are astronomical.
Then there are others who strive for something even greater. It's difficult for an intercollegiate athlete hold one of the seven senior leadership positions in the cadet wing.
Right now, there are three.
These three cadets, all females on the cheer and dance team, make up nearly half of the wing's leadership. This group accepted the monumental challenge of being a cadet, an athlete and a leader among leaders in the cadet wing.
These cadets will make countless self-sacrifices for the opportunity to lead their peers. They must find balance between the demanding roles of academics, athletics and military leadership. With daily practices and intercollegiate events on evenings and weekends, time is at a premium for these cadets.
"My current responsibilities are to develop and implement plans, programs, and policies to support the commandant's goals," says Cadet Wing Commander C1C (senior) Sophia Vasiliadis. "I am responsible for helping develop my subordinate commanders so that they lead their units to the best of their abilities, ultimately bettering the cadet wing and the institution."
The wing commander is the chief position of the seven cadet leadership roles and oversees the cadet wing. Working side by side with the wing commander is vital role of the director of operations.
"I am responsible for the day-to-day procedures of the wing. I focus on running the wing from a very operational and tasking perspective" stated Wing Director of Operations, C1C Kayla Vildosola.
C1C Courtney Dearth is the third member of the leadership trio, serving as the first group commander and the dance team captain.
"As cadet group commander, I lead about 1,000 cadets," said Dearth. "I directly oversee 10 cadet squadron commanders who are charged with leading the 10 squadrons. It is my job to oversee the entire group and make sure we get things accomplished, sent down through the chain of command and lead our own group to success."
The exceptional few that are privileged to serve as wing leadership take on the colossal responsibility and make tremendous personal sacrifice to do so.
"To be completely honest, this feels like a 24/7 job," Vasiliadis said. "There's always something to do so it sometimes feels like nothing ever gets accomplished. I definitely know that isn't the case, but because of all of the unexpected challenges and opportunities that arise, I always have something to be working on."
"I don't know for sure how much time it takes me to accomplish everything, but I know it takes a lot of it," proclaims Dearth. "I usually spend about 18 hours a day working on school and on my military duties, which is nice because 20-hour days were not uncommon during the (athletic) seasons."
Albeit these cadets have risen to the challenge, the roles of wing leadership could not be accomplished without a little help from wing staff cadets and fellow teammates.
"My teammates were extremely understanding of how busy I was and they stepped up when the staff and team needed them to," claims Dearth. "Our underclassmen on the dance team started stepping up more to choreograph dances. This was awesome to see because I am confident that we are leaving the team in good hands."
"I was very lucky to have a support system outside of the people that I worked with," stated Vasiliadis. "Dance also kept me healthy because it forced me to work out and keep myself healthy. Dance allowed me to clear my head by doing something completely separate from my job that I loved to do."
With all the demands required of a cadet-athlete, adding a major leadership position to an already full plate seems overwhelming.
"I wanted to serve as a leader in the wing just like every other person that applied," said Vildosola "if you are not willing to sacrifice, don't apply."
"I knew I could learn from experience and take the opportunity to make our institution better through working with and developing others," Vasiliadis said.
"There is a sense of pride when it comes to leading the wing, and with only 23% female student body, it's extremely humbling having a large representation at the top. I hope this semester's leadership shows we can do our jobs exceptionally well," Dearth proclaimed.
From the high academic demands, the nights and weekends of being an intercollegiate athlete and the countless hours spent leading the Cadet Wing, these cadets have proven they have what it takes to be leaders of character for the Air Force when they throw their hats in the air at Falcon Stadium in May.
