Military Monday: Training

The theme today is about training... so here are my experiences with the trainings Brig has had to do. (He did ROTC and then commissioned as an officer in the Air Force.)

First, for him, was field training.

This took place after his second year in AFROTC. I guess you could say this is like their "boot camp." It was about a month long down at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Brig went from mid-May to mid-June, so although they had a couple black flag days, it wasn't as bad as it gets during the summer. He was very grateful for that, as most red-headed-and-fair-skinned people can probably understand.

I actually had no contact with him during this whole time. We weren't even "officially" dating when he left for this. We had gone on our second 1st date a week before he left. (I say second because there was a year and a half lapse between our first and second.)

After that date I was really liking Brig a lot and was so bummed that he was gone. But it was actually a really good thing because I'm an analyzer, and having him gone and not taking me on more dates gave me time to actually realize that I did want to date him. Perfect timing.

The morning of the day Brig was coming home (yes, I had been counting down) I received a text message from him at like... 4:30 or something my time. He claims that he sent that text even before he called his mom. :)

The second training that my husband participated in was after he commissioned. We were already up here in AK at the Elmendorf Air Force Base. He works as a Civil Engineer for the air force so this training related to that. Other officers will go to a different training depending on what their "job" is in the military.

There was a two week course at the beginning called 481 and then 101 was the training that followed that and went the rest of the time.

Luckily, I got to go with him. This training was in Ohio at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. We had to pay out of pocket for my ticket to Ohio up front, but we got reimbursed for that.

Eventually.

The training was about 2 months long, but I only stayed for the first month. I could have stayed the whole time, but I didn't really want to deliver my baby in Ohio.

During this training Brig was in class all day Mon-Fri. That left a lot of down time for me to fill. My advice: Get a hobby.

My time filler was crocheting. I did a couple other Christmas related projects as well, but this was what helped me keep my sanity. It would have been awesome if I had gotten to know the other spouses that were there as well right at the beginning. I didn't meet them until the week before I left. Lame!

The weather was gorgeous when we were there so I went on a lot of walks during the day too.

Some of the other cadets that were with Brig at the USU ROTC are stationed out at Wright-Patt right now so we spent some time with them. Here are a couple photos of when we got together.

During that last month of his training when Brig was still in Ohio and I was in AK we talked every night on the phone, and video chatted when we could. There weren't any strict rules about that at this training. My mom-in-law and mom both came up for a little bit as well. Having visitors definitely helped pass the time.

So now we're on to Brig's third training assignment. This one was ASBC, which stands for Air and Space Basic Course. This training was required for all new officers in the Air Force. They just did away with it this year. They added some of the previous curriculum and such to SOS, which is Squadron Officer School. SOS is now mandatory for all Air Force Officers when they reach the rank of Captain. You can read more about that here if you want.

I got to go with Brig to this training as well. We left at the beginning of February and were there until April 1st. Although the area was not as pleasing as Ohio, I enjoyed my time more during this training. They had a spouses organization that got all of the spouses connected right at the beginning. It was so much fun being able to get to know other Air Force wives/husbands. They put all of the "accompanied" Lieutenants in a flight together, which made socializing quite nice.

One of the weekends we were there we headed down to Florida to meet up with another ROTC friend stationed at Hurlburt Field which is also right next to Eglin Air Force Base. We went down with the Averetts (more ROTC friends) that were at ASBC with us.

[I'm hoping we can visit Vandenberg in CA while a bunch more ROTC friends are still there!]

Here is a picture of Brig (and Andy) after one of his Icarus matches. Such a fun sport. The easiest way I can explain it is dodgeball on steroids, Air Force style.

And here we are as a family in front of the Wright Flyer after ASBC graduation. No surprise to those who know him, Brig received the honor of distinguished graduate at ASBC.

And that is all the training we've experienced so far, with many more adventures to come in the future...