The Allan B. Bunce Squadron of the Arnold Air Society will be holding its first-annual networking gala from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. on Dec. 2 at Earthfoods Café in the University of Massachusetts Student Union.

The Arnold Air Society is an honor society within the Air Force ROTC organization. The society is community-service based and advocates for air power. It is a nationwide organization made up of groups at universities and the Air Force Academy, according to their website.

“[Across] the country there are different squadrons that make up Arnold Air Society,” said Jessica Joseph, sophomore psychology major and the public affairs officer of Allan B. Bunce Squadron. “Here at UMass there is the Allan B. Bunce Squadron.”

As the public affairs officer of the squadron at UMass, Joseph is responsible for finding ways to get Arnold Air Society’s name out to the public. She explained they have had some trouble publicizing this event, but is hopeful there will have a good attendance.

The UMass squadron of the Arnold Air Society has about 15 members, all of whom are Air Force ROTC cadets. The goal of the people involved in this group is to join the Air Force after college.

“It’s kind of like an extracurricular for ROTC cadets; you don’t have to do it,” Joseph said.

“We are opening up [the event] to organizations on campus who want to collaborate and swap ideas about how they run events and people who want to work together on different, bigger projects.”

Joseph added: “I’ve been trying to find different ways to get our name out there on the campus, because no one really knows us right now and we want to be able to have people know who we are and reach out to us for help. Also, just kind of spreading the mission of Arnold Air Society of helping people out.”

The gala will require semiformal attire and will include a meal, entertainment and a raffle. A $15 attendance fee will also be required of the guests.

“There will be an opportunity for our guests to sit at a table headed by a guest of honor or someone of experience in their career,” Joseph said.

Major Bradley Podliska, an ex-Benghazi investigator, experienced Intel officer and recruiting flight commander of AFROTC detachment 370 will be in attendance and give a speech about his experience in the Air Force.

“It’s a really great opportunity for professional development, us as students trying to take the next step into our career, it’s helpful to get as much experience as you can and learning from people with this amount of experience is very helpful,” Joseph said.

Political science majors and anyone who is interested in learning about the Air Force and Arnold Air Society are strongly encouraged to attend.

The Arnold Air Society also has a sister organization called Silver Wings, which is open to non-ROTC members, with a similar goal of producing effective leaders through community service and learning about the military.

This event is open to members of all on-campus organizations. The Allan B. Bunce Squadron can be reached on their Facebook page or at [email protected].

Mary Yates can be reached at [email protected]. Hayley Johnson can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @hk_johnson.