Air Force warlord, cow farmer prepares for ORI, Canfield Fair

Published Aug. 28, 2012
By Tech. Sgt. Brenda Haines
910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- A C-130H Hercules aircraft slices through the air over northeastern Ohio. From the flight deck windows, pilots can see several cows on the ground below them that seem to look up as the plane makes its decent toward Youngstown Air Reserve Station. Landing gear springs into place and the cargo aircraft gracefully grazes the ground. The engines roar loudly as it taxis down the runway where the awaiting ground crews execute razor-sharp skills in preparation for the incoming plane.

Several miles from the air station, a man is outside carrying a bowl of food to his awaiting cows. The cows, clean and well-groomed, greet the flightsuit-clad man as if they were dogs that were happy to see their owner after being left home alone all day. The gentle, blue-eyed pilot pats a young calf on her head and she nudges him gently with her nose.

This Citizen Airman, Lt. Col. Thomas "Bart" Elsea, warlord for the Operational Readiness Inspection (ORI) at the 910th Airlift Wing here, starts his day by preparing his show cows for their upcoming competition at the 2012 Canfield Fair, Aug. 29 to Sept. 3.
"My son got involved with showing when he was in 4-H and it went from there," Elsea said. "We basically raise dairy cows for show and we've been doing it for about ten years now."

Elsea, a resident of Fowler and a native of Circleville, travels all over the country -- from the upcoming local fair in Canfield to the nationals in Louisville, Ky. -- with his award-winning jersey cows.

"We'll be showing at the Canfield Fair," he said. "That's our district show. The state is broken up into districts and the largest district show in the state is the Canfield Fair."

Elsea enlisted in the Air Force in 1982 and his career led him to a commission and he joined YARS in 1994. As the current director of operations, he is in charge of coordinating and preparing the wing for the ORI in 2013. The experience he gained being in charge of operations helped Elsea prepare for his role in coordinating show cows.

"There's a lot of preparation that's done in order to get these animals ready for the show," Elsea said. "We will cut all the hair prior to the show and then, believe it or not, use hairspray to hold the strip of hair [along the cow's back] in place. They get their feet trimmed and then we'll also paint their nails black."

The real purpose of the shows is to help improve the genetic line of each breed of cow, according to Elsea. He primarily shows jersey cows, one of the oldest dairy breeds that originated on the island of Jersey, a small British island in the English Channel off the coast of France.

"The shows are kind-of a marketing tool because other farms will come and see the genetics and quality that we have and they may want," he said. "The things that they look at are the characteristics that will make a strong, healthy animal. They'll look at their legs, back, their conditioning and weight."

Elsea owns two breeds of cows that live at four farms, but keeps his calves and heifers (non-lactating females) at his home.

"There's reasons for having different animals at different farms," Elsea said. "I keep them [heifers] here until they actually calf [produce offspring]. Once they calf, I'll take them out to a farm in Salem where we milk for two years; they have a really good farm and good genetics. They milk them there and then when they calf, we'll bring those calves back here [Fowler residence]. We'll raise them until they have their first calf and then we'll send them back out there [Salem]."

All of the steps it takes to keep Elsea's cows winning shows resembles the steps it takes for a wing to complete a successful ORI.

"The show process goes from districts to state to national competitions and the ORI steps are RAV-1 and RAV-2 to ORE to ORI," he said. "With hard work, streamlined coordination and dedication, both the cows and the wing will receive high marks."

Elsea closes the gate to his barn, removes his galoshes and slips into his green Air Force boots. Although his day started much earlier with caring for his cows, he will continue his day by joining his fellow Airmen at YARS and contributing to ORI preparation and the overall Air Force mission of fly, fight and win.