Well,
I finally went and bought some tacks.
I went through all the mail I got during basic
and pinned up the pictures I got.
Now my desk looks a lot more friendly.
31 October 2005
30 October 2005
29 October 2005
Commandant's Challenge Practice
Today was practice for Commandant’s Challenge.
Comm’s Challenge is a four day event that takes place just before we lweave for Thanksgiving break.
Yesterday was field day training.
That day will consist of running all over the base from station to station completing various tasks.
I signed up for Land Navigation, but they put me on the Chemical Warfare team.
Then they took me off of that and I wasn’t on a team.
Then I got put on the Wargaming Team.
Wargaming is play computer games.
I wasn’t to thrilled about that.
Yeah, it’ll be fun,
But where’s the challenge there?
I’d rather have a field job.
Today they asked for volunteers to go to training since not all of the teams were there.
I volunteered and got put on the Combat Search and Rescue team.
I was excited about that.
I did Search and Rescue back home with Civil Air Patrol.
The only difference here is that I’d be carrying and M-16.
In the end they switched me over to Chem Warfare again.
I wasn’t to disappointed with that.
It was better than sitting on my rear playing computer games.
This is about how training went.
First they bus us to CATM where the rifle team shoots while we do the sub-event.
Our sub-event was running a course while carrying water jugs and pallets.
Running in BDUs with boots is challenging enough. Carrying five gallons of water too?
Tough stuff.
Fortunately,
All the stuff I do in Honor Guard made this all seem easy.
Are squad got the best time on record.
After that we ran two mile to the next event.
While the Combat Search and Rescue team went to do their event,
We all took a hundred question test on basic knowledge.
They’d show us a plane and ask us to give the crew, or manufacturer, or the weapons capacity.
They’d show us an Air Force Specialty Badge and ask us to name it.
Or an award and ask what it represented.
Fun stuff.
Then we ran another mile or so.
There the Tent Set Up team did their event while we did a PFT.
That consisted of Pullups, Situps, Pushups, and a 600 yard sprint.
I maxed the Pushups and Situps and did a few extra incase someone else couldn’t max.
Then we ran about a half mile to the Obstacle Course.
We had a team that ran that for time.
One of our guys ran the O-Course in 6:04.
That’s six minutes and four seconds.
The fastest anyone had heard of it being done was eight minutes.
Then we ran another half mile to Land Nav.
While that team was out in the woods finding their way,
We went to the finish point while trying to decrypt a cipher they had made.
From there we ran to Chem Warfare.
I don’t know what the sub-event was because I was in the main event.
I had never seen Chem suits before,
And they were timing us to see how long it took us to put them on.
I did well considering.
From there we ran back to CATM and got on the busses to go back to the Hill.
Comm’s Challenge is a four day event that takes place just before we lweave for Thanksgiving break.
Yesterday was field day training.
That day will consist of running all over the base from station to station completing various tasks.
I signed up for Land Navigation, but they put me on the Chemical Warfare team.
Then they took me off of that and I wasn’t on a team.
Then I got put on the Wargaming Team.
Wargaming is play computer games.
I wasn’t to thrilled about that.
Yeah, it’ll be fun,
But where’s the challenge there?
I’d rather have a field job.
Today they asked for volunteers to go to training since not all of the teams were there.
I volunteered and got put on the Combat Search and Rescue team.
I was excited about that.
I did Search and Rescue back home with Civil Air Patrol.
The only difference here is that I’d be carrying and M-16.
In the end they switched me over to Chem Warfare again.
I wasn’t to disappointed with that.
It was better than sitting on my rear playing computer games.
This is about how training went.
First they bus us to CATM where the rifle team shoots while we do the sub-event.
Our sub-event was running a course while carrying water jugs and pallets.
Running in BDUs with boots is challenging enough. Carrying five gallons of water too?
Tough stuff.
Fortunately,
All the stuff I do in Honor Guard made this all seem easy.
Are squad got the best time on record.
After that we ran two mile to the next event.
While the Combat Search and Rescue team went to do their event,
We all took a hundred question test on basic knowledge.
They’d show us a plane and ask us to give the crew, or manufacturer, or the weapons capacity.
They’d show us an Air Force Specialty Badge and ask us to name it.
Or an award and ask what it represented.
Fun stuff.
Then we ran another mile or so.
There the Tent Set Up team did their event while we did a PFT.
That consisted of Pullups, Situps, Pushups, and a 600 yard sprint.
I maxed the Pushups and Situps and did a few extra incase someone else couldn’t max.
Then we ran about a half mile to the Obstacle Course.
We had a team that ran that for time.
One of our guys ran the O-Course in 6:04.
That’s six minutes and four seconds.
The fastest anyone had heard of it being done was eight minutes.
Then we ran another half mile to Land Nav.
While that team was out in the woods finding their way,
We went to the finish point while trying to decrypt a cipher they had made.
From there we ran to Chem Warfare.
I don’t know what the sub-event was because I was in the main event.
I had never seen Chem suits before,
And they were timing us to see how long it took us to put them on.
I did well considering.
From there we ran back to CATM and got on the busses to go back to the Hill.
24 October 2005
Bomb Scare
Last night I was in my room and I kept hearing Announcments over the base announcment system. It was very garbled,
but I could just make out the words "Sijan" and "Evacuate"
I figured if it was important they would broadcast through the hallway speakers.
It was a bomb scare.
They evacuated all of Sijan Hall for an hour and a half.
Fortunately I life in Vandenburg Hall,
So it didn’t affect me.
There was suspicious package found inside.
This what happened.
A fourth classmen was putting his paintball stuff in the storage room.
On the way, he set the package down and forgot about it.
Regulations say that to put something in storage it must have your last name and class on it.
Cadet Fourth Class is abbreviated C4C,
Which looks suspiciously close to C4.
To top it of,
The cadets last name is Boom.
So the box had “C4C BOOM” written all over it.
but I could just make out the words "Sijan" and "Evacuate"
I figured if it was important they would broadcast through the hallway speakers.
It was a bomb scare.
They evacuated all of Sijan Hall for an hour and a half.
Fortunately I life in Vandenburg Hall,
So it didn’t affect me.
There was suspicious package found inside.
This what happened.
A fourth classmen was putting his paintball stuff in the storage room.
On the way, he set the package down and forgot about it.
Regulations say that to put something in storage it must have your last name and class on it.
Cadet Fourth Class is abbreviated C4C,
Which looks suspiciously close to C4.
To top it of,
The cadets last name is Boom.
So the box had “C4C BOOM” written all over it.
23 October 2005
31 days
There is one month left before Thanksgiving leave.
31 day until I can set foot on Texan soil again.
Exactly one month from now,
I will be boarding the plane that will take me home.
Then I get four days at home.
Four short days,
And then I’m back up here.
Oh well…
31 day until I can set foot on Texan soil again.
Exactly one month from now,
I will be boarding the plane that will take me home.
Then I get four days at home.
Four short days,
And then I’m back up here.
Oh well…
19 October 2005
Noon Meal Formation
In case you haven't heard,
We march to just about every Noon Meal (Lunch).
This gets most annoying,
Because most of my squad "bounces" when they march.
When you walk normally,
Your head bobs up and down.
They also sway from side to side.
Being in Honor Guard has beaten this out of me.
So I don’t march like that anymore.
So I’m in the middle of this formation moving in a straight line while everything around me goes up and down,
Left and right,
In unison together.
This usually has the effect of making me sick be the middle of the march.
This is great right before lunch.
Maybe that’s why I haven’t been eating much.
We march to just about every Noon Meal (Lunch).
This gets most annoying,
Because most of my squad "bounces" when they march.
When you walk normally,
Your head bobs up and down.
They also sway from side to side.
Being in Honor Guard has beaten this out of me.
So I don’t march like that anymore.
So I’m in the middle of this formation moving in a straight line while everything around me goes up and down,
Left and right,
In unison together.
This usually has the effect of making me sick be the middle of the march.
This is great right before lunch.
Maybe that’s why I haven’t been eating much.
17 October 2005
USAFA Humor
This is one of the things that is going to make coming home for breaks difficult.
Because of what we’ve been through up here,
Our senses of humor are different.
For example…
This evening at OCF,
Somebody says, “I wonder what Heaven will be like?”
Someone else says, “Probably like the OCF Retreat.”
I say, “without an SCA.”
Someone else says, “And no Ac Pro!”
I know none of you would find any humor in this,
But we all thought it hysterical.
The OCF Retreat is like one of the biggest anti stress events this semester.
We get to go off base and just hang out with the upperclassmen.
SCAs are the paperwork we fill out to get excused from training to participate in another optional activity.
Academic Probation (Ac Pro) is when your GPA is below 2.0.
When on Ac Pro you can’t get off base without special paper work.
Another example…
At the Doolie Retreat,
A few of us were walking down the road when a class mate runs across the road and trips when he jumps over the ditch.
He hits the ground, rolls, and jumps back up.
We all start yelling at him saying stuff like,
“Do you think that was a proper Three-Point Roll?!?!”
“Basic! The third Core Value is Excellence! Do you think that was Excellence?!?!”
“Two obstacles back. GO!!!”
He Replies,
“Assault Course Sir!”
And keeps running.
Everyone is laughing now.
During Basic, One of the courses we did was the Assault Course.
Before and after every obstacle we had to do a three point roll.
It’s a way of hitting the ground and jumping back up quickly while holding an M-16.
If you mess up on anything they send you back to a previous obstacle.
(I know a guy who got sent back to the beginning three times)
On the Assault Course,
You DO NOT say “Yes sir” or “No sir”.
It is “Assault Course Sir!”
That is the answer to everything
This probably doesn’t make it any funnier for you,
But we live it, so we find it humorous.
I know I’m going to come home and someone will say something and it’ll trigger a memory from up here and I’ll start laughing.
Then everyone will stare at me and think I’m stupid.
If this happens to happen while you’re around,
I’m sorry.
I’m different know.
If you want to know why I thought it was funny,
I’ll be more than happy to explain it.
But you might not understand even then.
We are no longer human.
We are machines.
Because of what we’ve been through up here,
Our senses of humor are different.
For example…
This evening at OCF,
Somebody says, “I wonder what Heaven will be like?”
Someone else says, “Probably like the OCF Retreat.”
I say, “without an SCA.”
Someone else says, “And no Ac Pro!”
I know none of you would find any humor in this,
But we all thought it hysterical.
The OCF Retreat is like one of the biggest anti stress events this semester.
We get to go off base and just hang out with the upperclassmen.
SCAs are the paperwork we fill out to get excused from training to participate in another optional activity.
Academic Probation (Ac Pro) is when your GPA is below 2.0.
When on Ac Pro you can’t get off base without special paper work.
Another example…
At the Doolie Retreat,
A few of us were walking down the road when a class mate runs across the road and trips when he jumps over the ditch.
He hits the ground, rolls, and jumps back up.
We all start yelling at him saying stuff like,
“Do you think that was a proper Three-Point Roll?!?!”
“Basic! The third Core Value is Excellence! Do you think that was Excellence?!?!”
“Two obstacles back. GO!!!”
He Replies,
“Assault Course Sir!”
And keeps running.
Everyone is laughing now.
During Basic, One of the courses we did was the Assault Course.
Before and after every obstacle we had to do a three point roll.
It’s a way of hitting the ground and jumping back up quickly while holding an M-16.
If you mess up on anything they send you back to a previous obstacle.
(I know a guy who got sent back to the beginning three times)
On the Assault Course,
You DO NOT say “Yes sir” or “No sir”.
It is “Assault Course Sir!”
That is the answer to everything
This probably doesn’t make it any funnier for you,
But we live it, so we find it humorous.
I know I’m going to come home and someone will say something and it’ll trigger a memory from up here and I’ll start laughing.
Then everyone will stare at me and think I’m stupid.
If this happens to happen while you’re around,
I’m sorry.
I’m different know.
If you want to know why I thought it was funny,
I’ll be more than happy to explain it.
But you might not understand even then.
We are no longer human.
We are machines.
15 October 2005
Football
Well,We had an early game today.It started at 1000 instead of 1200.
This was a good game at the beginning.
But after awhile,
It was kind of boring.
It got to the point where Air Force just scored point after point.
We slaughtered them.
The final score was 42/7.
As you may or may not know,
We four degrees do as many of pushups as points we have every time a touch down is scored.
I was sitting with my Honor Guard team and towards the end one of them started yelling something about mercy.
I guess he was tired of doing pushups.
We were in an area where we couldn’t get to the field to do our pushups.
So we had four guys hold another in the air and he did them there.
The rest of us did them in the stands inverted.
That was fun.
This was a good game at the beginning.
But after awhile,
It was kind of boring.
It got to the point where Air Force just scored point after point.
We slaughtered them.
The final score was 42/7.
As you may or may not know,
We four degrees do as many of pushups as points we have every time a touch down is scored.
I was sitting with my Honor Guard team and towards the end one of them started yelling something about mercy.
I guess he was tired of doing pushups.
We were in an area where we couldn’t get to the field to do our pushups.
So we had four guys hold another in the air and he did them there.
The rest of us did them in the stands inverted.
That was fun.
13 October 2005
BCT Yearbook
Well...
We finally got our BCT "yearbooks" in.
They look really dorky.
The cover is a stupid cartoon that some upper classman did during class.
It’s a cartoon of what looks like GI Joe and GI Jane.
And their uniforms are messed up.
I doubt the editing team spent much time getting this ready.
It’s more of a story book with lots of pictures.
With all the camera men that were running around,
I’d think they’d have a better selection of pictures.
We’ve already seen all of these before in other publications.
On top of that,
The captions are really lame.
They detract from the already substandard pictures.
I wonder how much was deducted from my paycheck for this lovely fire starter?
We finally got our BCT "yearbooks" in.
They look really dorky.
The cover is a stupid cartoon that some upper classman did during class.
It’s a cartoon of what looks like GI Joe and GI Jane.
And their uniforms are messed up.
I doubt the editing team spent much time getting this ready.
It’s more of a story book with lots of pictures.
With all the camera men that were running around,
I’d think they’d have a better selection of pictures.
We’ve already seen all of these before in other publications.
On top of that,
The captions are really lame.
They detract from the already substandard pictures.
I wonder how much was deducted from my paycheck for this lovely fire starter?
10 October 2005
I Hate This Place!!!
It's snowing.
It's been snowing for the past twenty-four hours.
And it’s predicted that it’ll snow through the night and into tomorrow.I miss those hundred degree days back in Texas.
For all of you reading this,
I know your thinking,
“Wow! Snow! Did you make a snow ball?”
No!
There’s a foot of the stuff on the ground!
This isn’t like the snow we get in Texas.
And this is only the first snow of the year.
I’m told this is light too.
BTW I don’t really hate this place.
I just hate the weather.
Think warm thoughts.
It's been snowing for the past twenty-four hours.
And it’s predicted that it’ll snow through the night and into tomorrow.I miss those hundred degree days back in Texas.
For all of you reading this,
I know your thinking,
“Wow! Snow! Did you make a snow ball?”
No!
There’s a foot of the stuff on the ground!
This isn’t like the snow we get in Texas.
And this is only the first snow of the year.
I’m told this is light too.
BTW I don’t really hate this place.
I just hate the weather.
Think warm thoughts.
07 October 2005
It's Cold Up Here
It's freezing up here.
I woke up and was running some errands.
I had to get my parade uniform altered a special way.
I have to have special stripes on it.
As I was running the strips,
I slipped a couple of times.
I didn’t think much of this at first.
They usually water the lawn at night.
I thought it was just wet.
Then I noticed all the ice on the strips.
Yeah!
It’s cold.
The computer said it was 23 degrees Fahrenheit.
I woke up and was running some errands.
I had to get my parade uniform altered a special way.
I have to have special stripes on it.
As I was running the strips,
I slipped a couple of times.
I didn’t think much of this at first.
They usually water the lawn at night.
I thought it was just wet.
Then I noticed all the ice on the strips.
Yeah!
It’s cold.
The computer said it was 23 degrees Fahrenheit.
06 October 2005
SINK NAVY!!!
For those of you who don't know...
This weekend is the Air Force vs. Navy football game.
Also…
There is something in the military called interservice rivalry.
For those of you who don’t understand what I’m talking about I won’t bore you with the details.
It is sufficient to say that we enjoy poking fun at each other.
Navy, however, went a little too far this time though.
They have several exchange students who are over here for the semester.
On of them lives here with the Bulldogs.
They painted our beautiful F-4 Phantom II Blue.
This is not just any F-4 either.
It was flown by Captain Steve Ritchie (a grad of the class of 1964) in the Korean war and made six MIG kills.
And they painted it!
We are in the process of full retaliation.
We doolies managed to get into the room of the midshipman that lives with us.
We took all his uniform and spread them out.
All that he has now is his running suit.
We have plans for this weekend to.
Since it is an away game,
He’ll be leaving to go to Annapolis to watch it with the other midshipman.
We plan to fill his drawers with water and put gold fish in them.
I think a battle ship on the bottom wouldn’t be out of place either.
This weekend is the Air Force vs. Navy football game.
Also…
There is something in the military called interservice rivalry.
For those of you who don’t understand what I’m talking about I won’t bore you with the details.
It is sufficient to say that we enjoy poking fun at each other.
Navy, however, went a little too far this time though.
They have several exchange students who are over here for the semester.
On of them lives here with the Bulldogs.
They painted our beautiful F-4 Phantom II Blue.
This is not just any F-4 either.
It was flown by Captain Steve Ritchie (a grad of the class of 1964) in the Korean war and made six MIG kills.
And they painted it!
We are in the process of full retaliation.We doolies managed to get into the room of the midshipman that lives with us.
We took all his uniform and spread them out.
All that he has now is his running suit.
We have plans for this weekend to.Since it is an away game,
He’ll be leaving to go to Annapolis to watch it with the other midshipman.
We plan to fill his drawers with water and put gold fish in them.
I think a battle ship on the bottom wouldn’t be out of place either.
03 October 2005
The Fish
I just got back from the Officer Christian Fellowship meeting.
The guy that was teaching started with a really good analogy.
He had a gold fish in a blender.
The idea was to see how much people would go through to save the fish.
Some one snuck behind him and unplugged the blender while he wasn’t watching.
So when he lifted the fish in the container and pushed the button,
Nothing happened.
He says, “Oh! It’s unplugged.”
Set he sets the fish back down and plugs the blender in.
He forgot one minor detail though.
The puree button was still pushed in.
The girls there went hysterical.
That was not supposed to happen.
So the fish is no more.
The idea is that they were that passionate about saving the 26 cent fish,
So why aren’t we that passionate about witnessing to other people?
The guy that was teaching started with a really good analogy.
He had a gold fish in a blender.
The idea was to see how much people would go through to save the fish.
Some one snuck behind him and unplugged the blender while he wasn’t watching.
So when he lifted the fish in the container and pushed the button,
Nothing happened.
He says, “Oh! It’s unplugged.”
Set he sets the fish back down and plugs the blender in.
He forgot one minor detail though.
The puree button was still pushed in.
The girls there went hysterical.
That was not supposed to happen.
So the fish is no more.
The idea is that they were that passionate about saving the 26 cent fish,
So why aren’t we that passionate about witnessing to other people?
02 October 2005
Doolie Retreat
This weekend was the Doolie Retreat. The chaplains bussed us to some local camp where we did a bunch of Bible studies. Because it was an optional event, The chaplains weren’t limited to the normal rules that they are here at the academy. Because of this the preaching was actually really good. I learned a lot.
I would have never thought that a girl could be so distracting,
Especially at an event like this.
This girl was very distracting.
She was an Honor Guard Cadre.
(No, not that kind of distracting…)
I was always worried she was watching me to make sure I did everything perfectly.
She would always seem to appear out of nowhere and then disappear.
Then I’d go crazy,
“where is she?!?!”
“She’s got to be hidden somewhere watching me.”
Yeah,
This was a little distracting.
I would have never thought that a girl could be so distracting,
Especially at an event like this.
This girl was very distracting.
She was an Honor Guard Cadre.
(No, not that kind of distracting…)
I was always worried she was watching me to make sure I did everything perfectly.
She would always seem to appear out of nowhere and then disappear.
Then I’d go crazy,
“where is she?!?!”
“She’s got to be hidden somewhere watching me.”
Yeah,
This was a little distracting.
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