SOUTHWEST ASIA -- This week's Rock Solid Warrior is Airman 1st Class Jason Wainer, a cyber transport systems technician, deployed from Robins Air Force Base, Ga. The Rock Solid Warrior program is a way to recognize and spotlight the Airmen of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing for their positive impact and commitment to the mission.
Why did you join?
I joined the Air Force for the education, the traveling and I have family that were in the Army and Air force.
What are your goals?
Professional goals are to complete my career development courses, Community College of the Air Force degree and then move onto getting a degree in cyber security, to become a Subject Matter Expert in all seven layers of the OSI model and to become an officer right around the staff sergeant timeline when I have completed my education. Personal goals include learning the fundamentals of budgeting and investing my money, to gain weight and lift through proper nutrition and exercising and to explore my religion more in depth.
What was your favorite part of the mission?
There were so many favorite parts of the mission. But nothing was as satisfying and rewarding as when we finally got our services 100% up and running. For the first month and a half, it was draining. When we finally got services up, that was the proudest moment in the whole deployment. I am so thankful to have such wonderful mentors, Tech. Sgt. Thomas Dunn and Tech. Sgt. Larry Aguon, who taught me along the way as we configured the network, and the lessons learned from this deployment as a whole.
Deployed unit vs. home station?
Out in Syria, I was able to apply my job skills to a real world operation. People are always yearning to train and learn about their job, go on TDYs and to ultimately deploy. I think it’s a great experience to deploy and everyone should have the honor to show the USAF what they can bring to the table.
Hobbies?
My hobbies include working out, video games, church, hiking, Magic the Gathering card game, drawing, collecting quarters and recreational reading.
What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
There were many challenges to face. Some of them were personal, like my relationship back at home, keeping up my morale, keeping in touch with my spiritual side, learning how to cooperate with joint branches of the military and trying to stay in shape. Some professional challenges included making mistakes and learning from them, having confidence in what I did and standing by it, applying leadership skills with my fellow Airmen, as well as learning how to configure devices I did not have prior experience with.