First let me apologize for not getting this out sooner. It was my intention to send out letters every few weeks to keep everyone in the loop…I have been a slacker! Some of you may be caught up on whats going on, others not so much…I’m going to give the quick and dirty to get all of you caught up to what’s happening now...
I graduated from Officer Training School (OTS) May 28th, 2010. It was 13 long w
eeks of sleepless nights, lots of yelling, lots of running, and academics/leadership studies. I felt like it was more difficult than Basic Training back in 2003. It was awesome to have so many family and friends down for the graduation. It truly meant a lot to me. Needless to say, the time did fly and before I could realize it, I had Maxwell AFB in my rear view mirror heading back to NJ.
In the middle of June, I went to my first pilot training school in Pueblo, CO called Introductory Flight Screening (IFS). It was a 4 week program which ‘screens’ pilot candidates and determines if they have the tools for success when they report to their primary flight training s
chool. It was 1 week of intense academics ranging from basic aerodynamics, military procedures, and other aviation topics. They flew you hard out there. Almost every day I flew twice, which was a lot of work. I didn’t get much sleep the night before because I was studying what I needed to know for my flights the next day. The good news about flying me twice a day was that I graduated the program a full week early. This was very special because I was able to surprise Stephanie and my family by showing up at home unexpected. It was worth all the work!
The time at home was spent reporting to McGuire AFB to take care of some admin and other duties. It was very laid back and I ended up taking many days off to enjoy almost 6 weeks of summertime in NJ.
On August 21st, I got down on one knee and asked Stephanie to marry me. It took her a few minutes to get her whits about her but she did say YES! Stephanie and her family have been nothing short of extraordinary; a true blessing which I look forward to cherishing forever. So we are super pumped and excited and look forward to having all of you at our wedding! Details to follow…
Shortly after, Stephanie and I made the long road trip to Del Rio, Texas, Home of Laughlin AFB, where I will be spending the next year of my life training for my silver wings. It was a great trip with stops in Birmingham, AL, New Orleans, LA, and Houston, TX. Del Rio tends to lack some of the creature comforts that we are used to back home. It will do and we always have San Antonio which is a few hours away.
I started pilot training on September 8th, 2010. Right away they hit you hard with academics. They range from aerodynamics, aircraft systems, survival, weather, instruments, etc.
This academic phase lasts about 6 weeks. Last week our class started Phase II, which is the flying portion. Monday I had my “dollar ride” which was very very cool. The dol
lar ride is a ‘freebie’, where all you really need to do is show up with a good attitude and be ready to fly. The pressure is off because nothing is graded on the first ride. So all I had to do was hang on and enjoy the ride. Following the dollar ride however we are expected to handle much of the flying and procedures ourselves. So there have been many sleepless nights of studying and preparing for the next day’s flights. The T-6 is a lot of fun to fly! It is a high performance aircraft that will do almost anything you ask it to. It can fly fast, go upside down to name a few. So far, the first week was full of ups and downs. You realize that there is so much information that is required of you to know. It seems that it isn’t long before you get caught up to the power curve. I feel like I discovered much about myself last week regarding dealing with stress and how to study. Hopefully it carries into the following weeks and I do well on my future flights.
