Profile: Kai Reyes, cadet and student
by Emily Schmidt, posted April 25, 2008
Kai Reyes lives in two separate worlds. One of them a world of responsibility and military structure, and the other, the life of a successful, but typical, college student
A senior Air Force ROTC student, Reyes will graduate from MU this spring with a degree in history. In addition to the demands of being an ROTC cadet and handling regular academic responsibilities, Reyes is the treasurer of the Hispanic American Leadership Organization on campus.
Reyes was born in Germany and moved to the United States in 1993. He loved playing soccer, and running cross country and other track events as a kid. Reyes spent a good portion of his life in Columbia and knew he wanted to attend college, but finances were going to be a problem.
“I joined the Air Force ROTC program at MU for a lot of reasons, for the most part, my family didn’t have a lot of money, [but with the MU ROTC program] there were scholarships involved,” Reyes said. “Those were a big bonus in the Air Force. I thought of just going into the reserves, but my sister told me college was the way to go.”
A mere month away from graduation from both MU and the ROTC program, Reyes agrees it is a challenging path to follow.
“I have five older sisters, and two are in the Air Force,” he said. “I talked to them about the Air Force, and I liked what it offered. What I really liked was the job security.”
No such thing as a typical day
For Reyes, no day is typical. Of course he has his regular MU classes, but on Tuesdays, Reyes is more than an ordinary MU student. From 1 to 8:45 p.m. every Tuesday, Air Force Day is enforced, and Reyes, along with all the other AFROTC cadets, can be seen wearing his Air Force uniform around campus.
Juniors and seniors meet at 1 p.m. to plan the two-hour vocational activities for the underclassmen.
Reyes holds a position in the AFROTC training the juniors, who are in charge of training the sophomores, who, in turn, train the freshmen. It’s a chain of command; he makes sure each cadet does his or her job to make the program flow. His official title is Operation Training Squadron Commander, OTS/CC for short.
From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., the Tuesday workout takes place. It’s a simple workout the Air Force requires. To close the day, from 6 to 8:45 p.m., Reyes has his senior-level Air Force class, which prepares him to become an active-duty officer.
Then his life “flips the switch,” and he goes back to being a college student.
The best part
“The best part of being in the MU ROTC program is the culture of responsibility,” Reyes said. “You learn to become responsible, and this is hard to do in a college environment. Setting an example for the younger students is very important ... it’s that unseen responsibility. I have grown up a lot in four years.
“I want to convince people that they should do their best — make them want to do their best, not because I want them to, but because they want to,” he said. “My commander, Colonel Tulberg, calls it a self-relying achiever.”
That culture of responsibility, Reyes said, is also the hardest part of the job.
“I would say the hardest part is to stay responsible. I’m not going to be in cadet mode all the time. I’m not ‘sir’ when I’m in civies. I guess just knowing when to be a friend or be a leader.”
The pay-off
After college, Air Force ROTC students are commissioned in the Air Force at a rank of second lieutenant. Salaries range from $28,000 to as high as $55,000 after four years. The commitment time is four years.
“The money is great in the Air Force,” Reyes said. In addition to the scholarships, Reyes earns a $500 a month stipend.
“As a freshman, I signed a piece of paper — full of fine print — that was making me complete those four years in the MU ROTC program and then another four years in the Air Force after I graduated,” he said. “At the time, I didn’t know what I was doing. But now as a senior I see my friends, and they have no idea what they are going to do when they graduate.
"For me, that paper I signed as a freshman has me taken care of. I totally didn’t know what I was doing when I signed it, but now it’s paying off. The job security is great especially now with the economy going down.”
After college, Reyes will gladly serve his time in the Air Force. Because of the benefits the Air Force offers, he plans to retire from the Air Force around age 40 and move back to Germany. Someday, he also wants to teach history at a high school and coach little league soccer.
