Annapolis the Movie

So...
I went to see Annapolis the Movie with me family.

The trailer was nothing like the movie.
It made it look like,
"Macho Navy is the toughest Service Academy"All of us up here know that West point is tougher than that Naval Academy.And I talked to a West Point exchange student who said that we have it tougher up here.Wow!
So I was looking forward to coming back and saying,“Non of the Service Academies do that,And most certainty Navy.”(Dad, I don’t want any of those comments I know you’re thinking ofGet your own blog.)The only thing I saw that would never happen is the pushup in the rain and running around campus with logs.

The trailer was a little misleading in its numbers too.
It said “Over 50,000 student applied to this Academy”
The uncut line from the movie said “Over 50,000 students inquired about applying to this Academy.”

From the trailer,
I expected to see a movie showing how tough the Naval Academy was.
It’s just a boxing movie.
On a side not…
The Naval Academy likes to brag about their Boxing program.
But we always beat them.
This year I think it was 8-3

Other than that,
It was a good movie,
Aside from the fact that it’s Navy.

I thought one part was rather humorous.
(Because it was true)
The main character packs his back and reports in the first day.
The guy checking bags at in-processing digs around,
Pulls out a toothbrush,
Tosses the bag in a bin,
Hands him the toothbrush and says,
“Welcome to the Navy.”


I thought the leadership philosophy was very good.
It shows this one upperclassman how had been in the marines before going to the academy.
He was always pushing the main character,
Trying to make him a better leader.
He succeeded in the end.

Also, the body bag statement was thought provoking.
“If you become officers,
This is where they’re going to put your mistakes.”

Family

My family went skiing all last week and came to visit me on the way back.

I knew this would happen,
They picked me up an hour late.
I had told them to meet me at Arnold Hall at 1800 (6:00pm).
They thought I meant the Field House,
A ten minute walk away.
By the time they got Security Forces to tell them where they were soused to be,
It was an hour later.
It was probably my fault.
I should have know they would have gone there.
And I should have given them a map

Any way,
I still had fun.
We went to TGI Fridays for dinner.
I got somewhat caught up on all that is happening back home.
At dinner,
My dad gave me the Christmas present that he’d been working on.


It took him about a month to build,
So it hadn’t been ready at Christmas.
Trevor and Mr. Stephens helped immensely on this project,
Big thanks to them for all the time they put into this.

After dinner,
We went to see one of the first showings of Annapolis.
(For those of you how don’t know,
The movie Annapolis is about the Naval Academy)
That deserves it’s own post

Overall,
It was a good evening.
I got back at 0100 (1:00am)

First Snow, First Shirt.

Ok...
So maybe the snow isn't that bad.
There's a tradition up here call First Snow First Shirt.
(For those of you who don't know,
The First Shirt is a nickname for the First Sergeant.
He's the #2 guy in the squadron.)
The way it works,
The first snow of the semester,
All of the 4 Degrees attack the First Shirt and take him outside and make his life miserable.
This proved rather difficult.
Our First Shirt for this semester is a football player.
Big guy.
So...
After we got him to the ground,
About 20 of us just sat on him.
While the rest of us duct taped him.
Fifteen minutes and two roles of duct tape later...(He broke the first wrapping)
We carried him down the stairs to go outside.
As we're carrying him he yells,
"You're all restricted this weekend!”
(That means we can’t leave base,
We’d be stuck here)
To which I reply,
“Who cares?
It’s a Silver Weekend!”
(Silver weekend mean training,
So we can’t sign out anyway.)
“Then you’re all restricted next weekend too!”
Yeah right

This tradition is actually forbidden.

Does it look like we care?

Snow

When I went to Vector this morning,
It was cloudy and cold.
I didn’t think anything about it.
When I left,
The place was covered in snow.
I mean thick snow too.
And it was still snowing.
I didn’t mind much,
Except for the fact that I wasn’t dressed for it.
And I had a nice walk to get to class.
So I got snow down my shirt and in my ear.Not cool.

COLD!

VECTOR

Vector is a leadership course that all the fourth classmen go through.
That was really cool.
I learned two very important things there.
1.
You can either be a thermometer or a thermostat.
You can tell everyone about how streaming hot it is or how freezing cold it is,
Or you can do something about it.
2.
There are two types of people in the world.
Those who wake up and say, "Good morning, God!"
And Those who wake up and say, "Good God! It's Morning!"

HOOAH!!!

Good stuff
www.HOOAHBar.com

Stickers and Pictures

All right guys,
Here's the deal,
My bulletin board and laptop are looking very boring.
The laptop looks too plain.
There are no stickers on it.
Everyone else has all sorts of pictures of friends on their bulletin boards.
I have some stuff up there. but not much.
(And I know that's not because I don't have any friends)
So...
If you find a cool sticker or picture of yourself (or other people) send it on over.
(My family can give you my address)
And I'll put it up so I can show everyone and say,
"guess who this is."
Or,
"Do you know what sticker that is from?"
Then I can prove that I had a life before they took it away before Basic.

The Stars

So...
we're at OCF and the verse that talks about how we will be given all authority comes up.
Col. Wade, the guy leading the discussion, says,
"How much authority does that mean? As much as a Colenel?"
Some one shouts,
"More than a One-Star"
Some one else says,
"God has more power than a Six-Star"
Someone else,
"What are you talking about? God MADE all the stars."
Everyone,
"Ahhhhhhh..."
nice play on words there.

A Freind Sent Me This

So after our sunburns have faded and the memories of our winter break have been reduced to pictures we’ve pinned on our desk boards, and once again we’ve exchanged t-shirts and swim suits for flight suits and camouflage, there still remains the question that every cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs has asked themselves at some point: Why did we come back? Why, after spending two weeks with our family would we return to one of the most demanding lifestyles in the country? After listening to our ‘friends’ who are home from State or Ivy League schools chock full of wisdom about how our war in Iraq is unjust and unworldly, why would we return? And after watching the news and reading the papers which only seem to condemn the military’s every mistake and shadow every victory, why would we continue to think it is worth the sacrifice of a normal college life?
Is it because the institution to which we belong is tuition-free? Anyone who claims this has forgotten that we will, by the time we graduate, repay the U.S. taxpayer many times over in blood, sweat, and tears. Is it because the schooling we are receiving is one of the best undergraduate educations in the country? While the quality of the education is second to none, anyone who provides this as a main reason has lost sight of the awesome responsibility that awaits those who are tough enough to graduate and become commissioned officers in the U.S. Air Force.
I come back to the Academy because I want to have the training necessary so that one day I’ll have the incredible responsibility of leading the sons and daughters of America in combat. These men and women will never ask about my Academy grade point average, their only concern will be that I have the ability to lead them expertly – I will be humbled to earn their respect.
I come back to the Academy because I want to be the commander who saves lives by negotiating with Arab leaders… in their own language. I come back to the Academy because, if called upon, I want to be the pilot who flies half way around the world with three mid-air refuelings to send a bomb from 30,000 feet into a basement housing the enemy… though a ventilation shaft two feet wide. For becoming an officer in today’s modern Air Force is so much more than just command; it is being a diplomat, a strategist, a communicator, a moral compass, but always a warrior first.
I come back to the Air Force Academy because right now the United States is fighting a global war that is an ‘away game’ in Iraq – taking the fight to the terrorists. And weather or not we think the terrorists were in Iraq before our invasion, they are unquestionably there now. And if there is any doubt as to whether this is a global war, just ask the people in Amman, in London, in Madrid, in Casablanca, in Riyadh, and in Bali. This war must remain an away game because we have seen what happens when it becomes a home game… I come back to the Academy because I want to be a part of that fight. I come back to the Academy because I don’t want my vacationing family to board a bus in Paris that gets blown away by someone who thinks that it would be a good idea to convert the Western world to Islam. I come back to the Academy because I don’t want the woman I love to be the one who dials her last frantic cell phone call while huddled in the back of an airliner with a hundred other people seconds away from slamming into the Capitol building. I come back to the Academy because during my freshman year of high school I sat in a geometry class and watched nineteen terrorists change the course of history live on television. For the first time, every class currently at a U.S. Service Academy made the decision to join after the 2001 terror attacks. Some have said that the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan only created more terrorists… I say that the attacks of September 11th, 2001 created an untold more number of American soldiers; I go to school with 4,000 of them. – And that’s worth missing a few frat parties.

Digital Camera

I finally got a digital camera.
My room mates sold me his for less than half it's retail price.
It's a nice on too.
http://www.ispan.com.tw/products.asp

It's 5 Meag Pixels and takes SD Cards.

You might be a Cadet if...

Some of these were sent to me,
Some I came up with,

You might be a Cadet if...
You march to lunch.
You can guess how many shirt garters someone is wearing just by looking at their shirt.
You weekends are color coded
You get excited when they allow you to go out on your weekend.
Never make any plans for the weekend because now your pass is revoked.
They monitor the number of knick-knacks on your desk.
Who says knick-knacks? well obviously we do.
The odds are good, but the goods are odd.
You can tell the temperature of the room by the solidity of shoepolish
Your idea of fun is Empire Earth.
You are forced to learn all about Empire Earth.
You get your uderwear issued
Your rifles dont work..
You have to clean your rifles so they would theoretically work.
You aren't allowed to use a cell phone unless you are standing still
You carry your backpack in your hand

Back to the Hill

WaHoo...
I’m back At USAFA.
Situation as normal.
Miserable.
Yeah life is gonna get really rough over the next semester.
Our new Superintendent and Commandant are grads.
And they’re very old school types.
I thought I hated my life last semester?
Just kill me now.

P.S. – Just so non of you freak out, I do plan on sticking out.

New Years

New Years was fun.
I went to a party with some friends and played a bunch of cool games.
Like Apples To Apples and Snorta.
So,
My friend’s little sister is asking “Can we play Apples To Apples?”
And I say “Bananas”
She says “No, Apples To Apples”
“Oranges”
Apples To Apples!”
“Watermelon”
She got tired of that after a while and went to the kitchen to ask the people there.
“Do you guys want to play Apples To Apples?”
So I sneak up behind here and whisper in her ear…
“Bananas”
She just about jumped out of her skin.
Then she goes into the garage and asks those people.
“Do you guys want to play Apples To Apples?”
Once again,
I sneak up behind here and whisper in her ear…
“Bananas”
Same reaction.
It was actually quite funny.
It got even more amusing as the evening progressed.
After a while one of the dads asked if I wanted to go with him and his son to another party for a Air Soft war.
I went and shot a few people.
I didn’t get the adrenaline I was expecting.
I guess after the stuff we do at USAFA,
Nothing really does it but the real thing.
Anyway,
The people I came with still wanted to play,
So I took off and ran back to the other party.
Showed up there and played a few more games.
And now it’s 2006.
Woo Hoo…
One more semester of the Fourth Class year.