Group engineer reunites with AFJROTC commander

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
  • 931st Air Refueling Group Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Lt. Col. James Wohlwend took one look at William Souder's master sergeant stripes and started to feel old.

Then Sergeant Souder pulled out his Derby High School senior yearbook. 

"Now I feel really old," Colonel Wohlwend said, looking at pictures of himself and Sergeant Souder from 17 years ago.

Colonel Wohlwend was Sergeant Souder's Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps commander when Sergeant Souder graduated high school in 1991. The two reunited on Oct. 30 when a group of Colonel Wohlwend's cadets visited McConnell Air Force Base.

Sergeant Souder has been in the Air Force Reserve since he graduated. He was part of the 921st Civil Engineer Squadron at McConnell before it was reassigned in 1995 to the newly-established 931st Air Refueling Group. He is now 931st CES' Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning supervisor.

After 17 years of commanding Kansas' biggest AFJROTC program, Colonel Wohlwend couldn't remember much about the shenanigans of William Souder the high school senior. The colonel was a brand new commander at Derby when Sergeant Souder entered 12th grade. "(Heck), I can barely remember that first year," Colonel Wohlwend joked.

But Sergeant Souder remembered his new commander setting a different classroom tone than Colonel Wohlwend's more laid back predecessor.

"He was new and he wanted to assert himself," Sergeant Souder said, "and I respected that."

Another instructor, no longer at Derby, fit well into the colonel's leadership style. The cadets always knew the other instructor was coming because he was a former boot camp instructor who wore taps on his shoes.

"Between him and Colonel Wohlwend," Sergeant Souder said, "there was a lot of studying, a lot of discipline and a lot of hard work."

AFJROTC laid the foundation for his Air Force success, Sergeant Souder added. The 931st commander, Col. Edsel A. "Archie" Frye Jr., noticed Sergeant Souder's crisp drill movements during a recent CES retirement ceremony. His drill skills were honed as an AFJROTC cadet at Derby High School, he later told Colonel Frye. That's when Colonel Frye asked Sergeant Souder to speak to the cadets about his Air Force journey.

It was not the first time since his graduation that Sergeant Souder had seen his former AFJROTC commander. They last met four years ago at an AFJROTC ball when Sergeant Souder's nieces were cadets at Derby. He recommended the program to his nieces, Sergeant Souder said, largely because of the man running it.

"(Colonel Wohlwend) is a great commander," Sergeant Souder said. "He really is top notch."

Chances are it won't be long before the CES sergeant sees his former teacher again. The 931st is in the beginning stages of forming a closer relationship with Derby's AFJROTC program, located in Derby, Kan., less than 10 miles from McConnell.

There are plans for more of Colonel Wohlwend's many cadets to visit the 931st later in the school year.