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High school tour becomes family affair

  • Published
  • By Minnie Jones
  • 433rd Airlift Wing

Students from Lytle High School, about 30 miles from San Antonio, visited the 433rd Airlift Wing, Dec. 18, here to tour a C-5M Super Galaxy.

Brothers, Lt. Cols. Mathew with the 356th Airlift Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland and Andy Van De Walle, with the 39th Flying Training Squadron at JBSA-Randolph, both instructor pilots, greeted students just before going out to the aircraft. The tour covered the exterior of the aircraft, the cargo and troop compartments, and finally the upgraded glass cockpit.

Lorri Van De Walle, the public relations director and advanced media instructor at Lytle High School, who is also the sister of the Vande De Walle brothers, coordinated the school tour, which made it a family affair.

“This tour is a benefit to our students, because Lytle is located in a rural area of Texas,” said Lorri. “It's in a very rural area, and our kids really don't get out of Lytle much. It gives them an opportunity to look outside of Lytle, so that they can bring their success and their prosperity back to that community; and these types of tours gives them the opportunity to see what’s out beyond Lytle.”