Photo by Sarah Merly
Key Points
- Operation: Shockwave, a U.S. Air Force recruitment trailer with 3D and 4D effects, attracted hundreds of Wekiva High School students at a Wednesday event.
- The trailer showcased various Air Force and Space Force missions to highlight diverse career fields beyond piloting.
- Wekiva plans to launch an AFJROTC simulator program in January with support from Lockheed Martin and First Landings Aviation.
Operation: Shockwave, a U.S. Air Force recruitment trailer, arrived at Wekiva High School for a one-day event Wednesday morning, drawing hundreds of students.
“Everyone who’s come off has been super excited and said it was a great time in there,” said Jason Corry, Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps and aerospace science instructor at Wekiva. “Being able to have big things like this that the Air Force puts a lot of money into as a recruiting tool — to get it at a high school event is pretty awesome.”
The trailer offered two theaters with three rows of three chairs each, with the screen in front of each theater displaying a six-minute 3D film. The seats moved in sync with the action onscreen and were accompanied by 4D effects such as fog and wind. Each minute of the film corresponded to a U.S. Air Force or U.S. Space Force mission, including “satellite launch,” “wildfire support,” “special warfare,” and more.
AFJROTC senior instructor and retired Col. Scott Stewart said the Air Force called Wekiva around 45 days before to ask if the school would be willing to host another trailer.
“The last time when they had their trailer here, they told me they had their best recruitment numbers ever for a one-day event, so that —and it’s about numbers, right? Numbers basically are dollar signs in the aspect of ‘Was it worth it for the Air Force to bring this asset here?’” Stewart said.
The Air Force last brought a simulator to Wekiva in October 2025, which offered hands-on simulations of rewiring landing gear, testing an F-35 engine, air refueling and flying through canyons. That simulator drew 358 students, while Wednesday’s trailer drew 522 students by approximately 12:30 p.m., according to Stewart.
Stewart said he appreciated the length of the Operation: Shockwave trailer’s activities relative to those from the October 2025 event.
“It gives a really quick snapshot of key career fields inside the Air Force, because it’s more than just a pilot,” he said. “It shows security forces, special forces, firefighting, satellites, rocketry — it shows the different jobs and qualities that the Air Force has inside.”
Operation: Shockwave arrived at Wekiva a few months before Stewart aims to launch Wekiva’s AFJROTC simulator program in January. The simulator program will be composed of two Advanced Aviation Training Device simulators and has received financial support from Lockheed Martin, Foundation for Orange County Public Schools, and Orange County Public Schools. First Landings Aviation is set toprovide instructional support when the program launches.
“Lots of [students] want to do it,” Stewart said. “As I try to control expectations for them, I say, ‘It’s only going to be two people come January, and that’s it’… The sergeant and I will hand-select those two, because we have to build the program.”
Stewart said the parts for the simulator program arrived late in the 2025-26 school year; as of Wednesday afternoon, the simulators arewell on the way toward completion, thanks to Wekiva High School’s CyberPatriot team.
“I think it’s a very positive tool, and it’s going over extremely well with [the] administration team,” he said. “They understand we’re trying to show these kids that there’s more to life than their diploma, and also trying to give them knowledge about something other than your high school diploma.”