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Jason is currently out of the office.
He will be until 02-APR-2006.
He will reply to comments at that time.

Hopeless

For those of you who frequent my blog,
You may recall I posted on a classmate who had no class.
He sent a class wide E-Mail to try to get a date to the Air Force Ball.
http://theearthcanbemoved.blogspot.com/2005/09/e-mail.html

Apparently there have been other cadets who didn’t have a clue.
We learned in CompSci today about being careful what you write in an E-Mail.
Because it may come back to bite you.
There was a cadet who called himself “The Alaskan Assassin”.
The name by it self shows he has no self respect.
(What possessed him to take such a name is beyond me)
You can read about him here.
http://www.usafatoday.com/Folklore/modules/news/article.php?storyid=131
Do be warned.
This site is run by Grads,
Not all of whom have the greatest of vocabulary.

I only hope when (read “if”) I ever fall head over heals for a girl,
That I have a little more class than that.

Angela

For those of you who didn’t know,
Angela is (was) my Palm Pilot.
She passed away about 2320 20-MAR-2006.
She was murdered by a fellow cadet,
Who didn’t notice her next to me while I was sleeping.
After duct taping me to my bed,
He poured several gallons of water on me.
Angela was unable to escape.
She will always be missed and never forgotten.

Recognition

Recognition was tough.
But it was worth it.

They made the biggest blunder in all our training.
They accidentally sent us the OPORD (Operation Order).
So I memorized.
The schedules,
The procedures,
Everything.
Then I got an E-Mail saying to delete it.
Ok, I already know everything.
Score.

They did take our watches and the power supplies for our computers.
But we beat the system.
I arranged for me parents to call the Charge of Quarters desk just down the hall 30 min before reveille.
Turns out someone picked up both times.
I slept through it too.
Fortunately I’m accustomed to getting up early.
So I got up on my own.

We kicked off the event with a Flag ceremony.
After that we marched to dinner.
And then went watch the Basketball game.

That was kind of a bummer.
I was looking forward to going and watching the game,
But it was an away game.
So they set up projectors in the basketball arena,
And we watched it on TV.

Then they herded us all into one section of the gym,
And gave us the initial briefing.
Then they ran us back to our squadron areas and beat us.
Really beat us.
That was the worst beating I’ve been through.
EVER.

Then we went to bed.
Yeah right.
We spent the night getting ready for next day.
Shining boots,
Ironing uniforms,
And cleaning the room.

They woke us up at 0530.
Basic Style.
Fortunately,
I woke up five minutes before they woke us up.
So I was dressed and ready to go.

Then they beat us.
Not as bad as the night before.
But still bad.
Then we ran to breakfast.

After breakfast we went to the “Chutes and Ladders” course.
Just like the board game,
But they beat you at every square.
You get to ladders by answering knowledge questions.

After that we had a “Combat Nap”.
Whatever.
I stayed up cleaning and getting uniforms ready.

Then they beat us some more and we ran to lunch.
After lunch we went to the “Assault Course”.
The worst course that they have here.
We survived.

After that was the “Leadership Reaction Course”.
That was fun.
Not as physical.
They broke us up into teams and gave us a task to complete.
With a time limit.
The idea was to see how we react under pressure.

Then our squadron upperclassmen beat us some more.
Then we ran to dinner.
After dinner, we went to hear a guest speaker.
He was really good.

Then we had “Theme Rooms”.
I won’t explain what that was.
I don’t want to ruin that for anyone else who might go through here later.
If you want to know about it,
Ask me when I get home.

Then we went to sleep again.
Again, Yeah right.
Cleaned, Ironed, and Shined again.

Got woken up again Basic style again.
Once again,
Was up a few minutes early.
So I was ready to go.
Got beat again.
Ran to Breakfast.

Then we “Academy Tour Course”.
That consisted of getting beat while learning about the history of USAFA.
Good stuff.

Then we did SAMI prep.
But every five minutes they took us in the hall to beat us.
So we didn’t get much time to clean.

Turns out it wasn’t a SAMI.
It was a SLAMI.
They tore our room apart.
My roommate got it worse than I did.
Every thing of his was on the floor.
The only things of mine was my mattress and a few clothes.
So just for the heck of it,
After they left,
(Since I knew from the OPORD they would clean it up for us)
I ran to my closet and threw everything that was left out.
Shirts,
Pants,
Shoes,
Everything.
All to the middle of the floor.
That felt so good.
Wonderful Stress relief.

After that we ran to lunch.
Then we had the “Run to the Rock”.
The Firsties ran us to A huge rock a few miles away.
Once there, we had to find our squadron “Charge”.
It’s a big railroad tie with ropes.
We carried that back to the Terrazo.
We took of our camo tops to reveal out class shirt we made.
None of the upperclassmen knew about it.
It had a picture of the Prop and Wings,
And said “Earned, not Issued”.
Kind of a slap in the face to ’07 and ’08.

After we got back,
We went to our rooms to change into Service Dress.
Our rooms had been cleaned up by the two and three degrees.

Then we had the Prop and Wings Ceremony.
I won’t talk about this one so as not to ruin it for anyone else.
Again, if you won’t be going to USAFA,
Feel free to ask me about it.

After that we went to dinner.
Dinner was ok.
We had Hamsters
I thought they’d serve something a little nicer since it was a semi formal dinner to celebrate the culmination of a major training event.

Over all…
It was one of the best experiences of my life.
I’m surprised at how far I made it.

Privilages

Since we finished Recognition.
We get some "privilages"
Here's what the Commandant said.

For the Class of 2009, you have earned your prop and wings and an increase in privileges. At the recommendation of AFCW and 34 TRG Commanders, the following privileges, to be used in accordance with AFCWMAN 36-3501, The Cadet Sight Picture, are effective immediately for all fourth-class cadets. Standard rules/exceptions may still apply to cadets on probation or not "in good standing."

1. Authorization of civilian clothes
2. Full use of unit SARs and resources
3. Wear of issued backpack over both shoulders
4. No weekly knowledge evaluations
5. Use of stereos
6. "At Rest" in all areas/rooms in AMI
7. Use of dormitory elevators
8. Use of patent leather shoes

Recognition

I am alive.

Here It Comes

BRING IT ON!!!

Recognition

Word is they are going to confiscate all devices of communication and all mechanisms for calculating time sometime this afternoon.
That means laptops, cell phones, even Angela.
(Those of you who know her will be laughing now)
I will have no form of Communication with the outside world until Saturday evening at the soonest.

This is going to be like all six weeks of Basic packed into 60 hours.
Rest assured I will probably be in pain just about all of that time.
However,
Also no that I go into it knowing that I will come out alive and successful in the end.
Not because of anything in me though.

Pray for my health and attitude.
That I would do well,
And that others would wonder how.

Know that I will come out alive.
That is the only guarantee.

Recognition

This will be my last post until after recognition.
please pray for me.
pray that I am able to survive.
This is supposed to be the most difficult part of the academy.

A Prayer for Recognition

Lord God Almighty,
I lift up the coming weekend to you.
I pray that you would give me the ability to succeed and excel.
It says in your word that
We also rejoice in our sufferings,
Because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
Perseverance, character.
I thank You that You have put me in such a position to develop character.
I am awed that You would give me an opportunity to become a leader of character for You.
I’ve been told that we should pray that You make my back stronger as opposed to my load lighter.
I pray for supernatural strength.
I pray that I would endure this weekend,
Not for myself,
But for You.
I ask that you would work through me,
So I can work for You.
I pray that while working for You,
Others would see.
They would see the power you give me.
And that I would be able to explain that I am able to do these things and persevere,
Not because of my own strength,
But because of Your power that flows through me.
I pray that as they see You working through me.
They would be drawn to You.
In the name of Your saving Son
Amen

Half Empty? Or Half Full?

I caught myself singing while walking to class yesterday.
(Silently of coarse,
The Upperclassmen would beat me if it was out loud.
Whether that’s because we’re not supposed to talk on the Terrazzo,
Or because I can’t sing,
I don’t know)

Then I thought,
Why am I singing?
I’m supposed to be miserable.
I have to go to class on Saturday,
I just got finished with a horrible week of exams, and homework,
Recognition is next week,
And I’m still a fourth classmen,
So I’m not even human yet.

Then I realized oh yeah,
That horrible week.
I just finished going through a valley,
So of coarse I’d be at the mountain top.

Then I though,
Wait,
Aren’t you supposed to hit the mountain top and then the valley?
Yeah,
That’s how people look at the cycle,
But not me.
The cycle starts at the bottom,
And then goes up.
So it’s always getting better.

Then I thought,
So does that make me a glass have empty or half full type of person.

Then I got the greatest realization yet.
In Psalm 23:5 it doesn’t say anything about half of a glass.
It says my cup overflows.
MY cup.
I claim that.

HOOAH!!!

One More Roll

by Commander Gerald Coffee, Hanoi, 1968

We toast our faithful comrades
Now fallen from the sky
And gently caught by God's own hand
To be with Him on high.

To dwell among the soaring clouds
They knew so well before
From dawn patrol and victory roll
at Heaven's very door

And as we fly among them there
We're sure to hear their plea
"Take care me friend, Watch your six
And do one more roll... Just for me"

I Must Be At USAFA 2

Yet another E-Mail from our wonderful Training Officer.

Bulldawgs,

The team handball team beat the Stalags 11 to 9. It was down to our second shootout, but thanks to C4C Casey “Cool-hand” Hawkins, C4C Steve Miller “Band”, and C4C Tyler “Skinny-Man” Clark, our squadron won the day. As a reward for the outstanding performance of these individuals, the fourth class cadets are at rest from 2030 to 2040. There’s more where that came from…

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Very Respectfully,

C1C XXXX XXXXXX
Training Officer
CS-13
United States Air Force Academy

We're moving up.
We get ten minutes this time!

Wedia

If you liked the first Wedia video,
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3443941836961546081&q=air+force+academy
You'll like his going away video.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3910163035286447322&q=air+force+academy

13th Day

Ok,
All I've gotten so far is two pictures.
I'll go ahead and tell you and I'll post later if I get more.

At about 0130 (1:30 AM),
We ran out to the Terrazzo and split up into teams.
Each team took a different plane.
I got the F-16.
We painted giant “13”s on all the tails.
This may sound like no big deal,
But anything with the planes is prohibited.
But we got paperwork signed that said it was ok.
(The Upperclassmen that signed it got in BIG trouble later)
So that was a big deal.

Painting the F-16 was a real pain.
It was below freezing and breezy that night.
So the plane was frosted.
It was really slippery.
The F-16’s Vertical Stabilizer (The part I was standing on) slopes down too.
So the was only about six inches I could stand on.
That and it was so cold I had a hard time handling the paint brush.


On top of that,
Since we are Squadron 13, Fighting Bulldawgs.
We got the Command Center to play “Who Let the Dawgs Out” instead of Revelry at 0630 (6:30 AM).
It turns out we getting beat while it was playing.
So we would bark with the music.
Good times.

Spring Break

The three weeks between today and spring break will probably be the most challenging my life has seen so far.
This next week is a six day school week.
So I’ll only get one day of weekend.
If I just chilled out during the weekend,
This wouldn’t be a problem.
I work my tail of trying to get school work done and caught up on sleep.
Then the weekend after that will be taken up with recognition.
Which is supposed to be the most physically challenging thin any of us have gone through.

So…
I’m gonna have three weeks of school,
With a one day weekend,
And more beatings than I’ve gotten all year.
This is gonna be rough.
I’d appreciate it if y’all prayed for me.
I’m gonna need every bit of it.

And if you get a chance,
Drop me an e-mail or something.
It is always encouraging to hear from people back home.

100's Night

I don't think I mentioned this before,
But the chair room wasn't the only room I helped with.
I went down to Group Staff to see what was happening down there.
A friend of mine was there too.
We were checking the area out when we noticed that the Group commander’s door was unlocked.
On the counter was some candy and a note.
The note essentially said that we could do anything we wanted to the room.
We could listen to his CDs,
Eat his food,
Just so long as his skiing equipment was usable for the next day.
We thought,
“ poor guy, no one is doing anything to his room.”

So we made a quick plan and executed.
We moved his entire room into the shower.
Every piece of clothing,
Every piece of furniture.
The only thing that was left was the sink.


I wasn’t at the Hill yesterday,
But apparently they finally announced the winning rooms.
That room won first place in “Most Likely to Make a Firstie Cry”
So we won the $100 prize with an spur of the moment idea.
Not bad,
I didn’t expect that.

As for what we did today for the 13th day,
I’ll let you know as soon as I get the pics from my classmate.

13th Day until Recognition

Tomorrow is the 13th day until Recognition.
If you recall from my previous posts,
The squadron with the number of the day does something to promote squadron pride.
They're called Spirit Missions.
We’ve got ours planned.
And it’ll be good.

What’s better is…
The Secretary of the Air Force will be here tomorrow.
(He’s the guy that put us at rest during the weekend of the Army game).
He’s the number one guy in the Air Force
The Head Honcho.
The Big Cheese.
Da Man.
So he’ll see it all.
And we’ll say,
“Yeah!
That’s Bulldawg pride.
That’s how we role.”

I’ll tell you how it goes.
I’ll try to get pics and video too.
But I’m not going to spoil the surprise now.
I’ll post them all together when I edit it all.

Altitude Chamber

I just got back from the Altitude Chamber.
They took a group of us down to Peterson Air Force Base to do it.
They put us in a room and sucked the air out of it to simulate high altitudes.
The idea was to see how we react to lack of oxygen (Hypoxia).
(Since everyone reacts differently)
Symptoms of Hypoxia include light headedness, fatigue, nausea, headache, dizziness, hot & cold flashes, euphoria, belligerence, blurred vision, numbness and tingling.
Each person gets a different set of symptoms.
Some can pass out.

So,
We got our oxygen masks and helmets and went into the chamber.
It looked like those helmets and masks that fighter pilots wear.
They decompressed the chamber to simulate 25,000 feet.
They had us take off our masks so we could get familiar with our symptoms.
It got really weird.
I passed out and they had to decompress the chamber so the medical team could get in.
Then every one got the bends and had to spend six hours in decompression.
Just Kidding.
All I got was light headedness.
It didn’t feel any different than staying awake for 48 hours.

Over all,
I had a good time.
I didn’t get high like they said I would,
But I got to spend a day away from the Academy.

I must be at USAFA

Figures this would happen.
The following is an E-Mail from our wonderful Training Officer.
(The guy incharge of beating us)

Bulldawgs,

Please congratulate your fourth class cadets and the members of your team handball team, for they beat Fightin’ Fourth both in the knowledge bowl, 130 to 95, and in handball, 5 to 4. As a reward, the fourth class cadets are at rest in the squadron from 1900 to 1905 tonight.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Very Respectfully,

C1C XXXX XXXXXX
Training Officer
CS-13
United States Air Force Academy

Esentially,
We can talk in the hallway and don't have to be at attention for 5 minutes.
Yippie...
(Can't you just taste the sarcasm?)