(no subject)
Hello, my long-neglected LJ friends!
I am amazingly excited to have ready access to a computer, finally. I don't have my own yet, but there's a library five mintues walk from the dorm (only since I'm on an Army post I guess it's barracks) and that's good enough for me. So, a quick recap of my life since January.
Basic sucked, as can be expected. My run time for a mile and half started out at 17.00 or something crazy, but I got it down to 12.45 by graduation, and I was down toward 12.00 except now I haven't worked out in a while, which I will explain. I hated my dorm chief because she was a pompous redneck bitch, but I'll never have to see her again because she's working on F-16s, where she will basically be a riviter. Good work, smart guy.
After BMT, I trecked from Lackland to... the Medina annex of Lackland, a whole half a mile away. I did the Enlisted Aircrew Undergraduate Course, which I was nervous about but which turned out to be a big joke. The stated aim of this class was to wash out people who wouldn't be good aircrew. Check. The squadron started getting really strict and dicky when I left, so it was a good time to get out.
About a month ago I left Medina for Fairchild AFB, Washington to go to SERE school. That's Survival Evasion Resistance Escape, and it's basically exactly what it sounds like. We got to go to the mountains and ruck around with 50 pounds on our back going up stupid steep inclines through shit most people take pains to avoid. But we did some really cool stuff, like basic parachuting skills (ie, how to fall, how to release the chute when you're being dragged, etc), vector in a helicopter to our position, evade, etc. We went to Resistance Training next, which academically was the most interesting stuff I've ever learned and physically/emotionally the hardest thing I've ever done. It's a baptism by fire sort of thing, but I can honstly say I've never been so proud of myself and I will never look at a POW/MIA flag the same way again. Ever. Here's something that's not sensitive that I can tell you- they did a study on cortizol (stress hormones)in SERE grads and found that people coming out of the course I did have higher cortizol levels than Navy pilots after their first landing on an aircraft carrier.
Now I'm at the Presidio of Monterey waiting to start my language class. I will be learning Sorani, a Kurdish language. It's bascially brand new; I'll be the second class to go through and the first is like a month ahead. I'm pretty pumped, but it's hard going from FAFB where we got treated like permenant party (ie, we could do pretty much whatever we wanted as long as we didn't get arrested) back to a tech school where you're treated like a high school kid. Oh well. I'll be here for a year, so if you're ever out this way, give me a call!
For now, I'm going to make my way outside of the gate so I can smoke (yet another annoyance- why won't they let me indulge my bad habit in peace?!), and then report to my room for my mandatory iron and shine time, which usually only first and second phase have to do, but everyone does when they first arrive. (I'm like two weeks away from fourth phase, which is the highest one.)
I can't decide if I'm going to maintain this or not. It seems like a security risk, but then again, as long as I talk around things, I think I'll be all right. We'll see. I can't possibly catch up on five months worth of entries, but I hope you're all doing well!
xoxo
PS, I'm not spellchecking. Some linguist, eh?
I am amazingly excited to have ready access to a computer, finally. I don't have my own yet, but there's a library five mintues walk from the dorm (only since I'm on an Army post I guess it's barracks) and that's good enough for me. So, a quick recap of my life since January.
Basic sucked, as can be expected. My run time for a mile and half started out at 17.00 or something crazy, but I got it down to 12.45 by graduation, and I was down toward 12.00 except now I haven't worked out in a while, which I will explain. I hated my dorm chief because she was a pompous redneck bitch, but I'll never have to see her again because she's working on F-16s, where she will basically be a riviter. Good work, smart guy.
After BMT, I trecked from Lackland to... the Medina annex of Lackland, a whole half a mile away. I did the Enlisted Aircrew Undergraduate Course, which I was nervous about but which turned out to be a big joke. The stated aim of this class was to wash out people who wouldn't be good aircrew. Check. The squadron started getting really strict and dicky when I left, so it was a good time to get out.
About a month ago I left Medina for Fairchild AFB, Washington to go to SERE school. That's Survival Evasion Resistance Escape, and it's basically exactly what it sounds like. We got to go to the mountains and ruck around with 50 pounds on our back going up stupid steep inclines through shit most people take pains to avoid. But we did some really cool stuff, like basic parachuting skills (ie, how to fall, how to release the chute when you're being dragged, etc), vector in a helicopter to our position, evade, etc. We went to Resistance Training next, which academically was the most interesting stuff I've ever learned and physically/emotionally the hardest thing I've ever done. It's a baptism by fire sort of thing, but I can honstly say I've never been so proud of myself and I will never look at a POW/MIA flag the same way again. Ever. Here's something that's not sensitive that I can tell you- they did a study on cortizol (stress hormones)in SERE grads and found that people coming out of the course I did have higher cortizol levels than Navy pilots after their first landing on an aircraft carrier.
Now I'm at the Presidio of Monterey waiting to start my language class. I will be learning Sorani, a Kurdish language. It's bascially brand new; I'll be the second class to go through and the first is like a month ahead. I'm pretty pumped, but it's hard going from FAFB where we got treated like permenant party (ie, we could do pretty much whatever we wanted as long as we didn't get arrested) back to a tech school where you're treated like a high school kid. Oh well. I'll be here for a year, so if you're ever out this way, give me a call!
For now, I'm going to make my way outside of the gate so I can smoke (yet another annoyance- why won't they let me indulge my bad habit in peace?!), and then report to my room for my mandatory iron and shine time, which usually only first and second phase have to do, but everyone does when they first arrive. (I'm like two weeks away from fourth phase, which is the highest one.)
I can't decide if I'm going to maintain this or not. It seems like a security risk, but then again, as long as I talk around things, I think I'll be all right. We'll see. I can't possibly catch up on five months worth of entries, but I hope you're all doing well!
xoxo
PS, I'm not spellchecking. Some linguist, eh?