29 August 2008
first few weeks of UPT
So the first two weeks of UPT are officially over. We have finished Aerospace physiology and Systems 1 and we have started systems 2. I have taken three tests and so far i have managed to not miss a single question. There is a lot of material that they are forcing down our throats, but things are not so bad....yet. Once we hit the flight line things will get a lot faster. This is pretty much our only chance to try and get a good base of knowledge before we have to start drinking from a fire hydrant. I am really excited to get closer to getting on the flight line because that just means that we get to fly again. Well, thats all for now...two more tests this week. woo hoo!
24 August 2008
These are just a few pics of what we have been up to for the last few months or so.
This is us at Fay Bainbridge state park on our honeymoon.
This is me showing Rachael how to use a water filter on our backcountry canoe trip.
This is Molly the water dog relaxing with a little breeze created by our super fast paddling. 
Finally started
After many years of waiting, I have finally started UPT. We started on the 14th of August with some basic intro stuff and then we moved on to Aerospace Physiology for the last week and one day. Phase 1(the first six weeks) is dedicated to academics and getting to know your flight. We are doing pretty well with that aspect. We have had people over several times, including the entire flight last weekend. The info that we are learning in class is pretty basic, but it is still pretty useful. We spent a day just doing classroom lectures on what to expect from our oxygen system, ejection seat, and parachute. We got to go on a "chamber flight" where they put us in a pressure chamber and took us up to 35,000 feet. Then we had to take off our masks so that we could learn what our symptoms of hypoxia were, in case it ever happens in the aircraft. We also spent half a day learning how to land with our parachutes. That was fun, but it was pretty embarrassing doing PT in our flight suits out in the middle of the base.
Our class has some pretty interesting dynamics. We are pretty well spread across the age and background spectrum. We range from 23 to 30, 10 married, 4 guard, 2 reserves, 1/3 ROTC, 1/3 AFA, and 1/3 OTS and AMS. We also have two international students from Japan. It is pretty interesting getting to see the backgrounds where everyone is coming from. Rachael and I are meeting and getting to hang out with some pretty interesting people.
This coming week we are starting the rest of our academic program. We are getting into T-6A systems and some other basic lessons about the aircraft. We also spend a lot of the time getting the traditional "hazes". We have to put the flags out in the morning, keep the POW/MIA table looking nice, drive people out on the flight line, serve beer at the graduating class's assignment night, and a lot of other little stuff. But all said, it is really not that bad. We only have to do this kind of stuff for 2 more weeks, and then we have another class come in and take over the work.
We hit the flight line in about 5 weeks and that is when the stuff is really going to get difficult.
Our class has some pretty interesting dynamics. We are pretty well spread across the age and background spectrum. We range from 23 to 30, 10 married, 4 guard, 2 reserves, 1/3 ROTC, 1/3 AFA, and 1/3 OTS and AMS. We also have two international students from Japan. It is pretty interesting getting to see the backgrounds where everyone is coming from. Rachael and I are meeting and getting to hang out with some pretty interesting people.
This coming week we are starting the rest of our academic program. We are getting into T-6A systems and some other basic lessons about the aircraft. We also spend a lot of the time getting the traditional "hazes". We have to put the flags out in the morning, keep the POW/MIA table looking nice, drive people out on the flight line, serve beer at the graduating class's assignment night, and a lot of other little stuff. But all said, it is really not that bad. We only have to do this kind of stuff for 2 more weeks, and then we have another class come in and take over the work.
We hit the flight line in about 5 weeks and that is when the stuff is really going to get difficult.
12 August 2008
Columbus
We finally made it to Columbus, Mississippi, found a house, got our furniture and are settling down from a crazy crazy month. Rick is estatic to be starting Undergraduate Pilot Training after almost 9 months as a casual LT (in other words: coffee maker and secretary). He's been reporting in for almost two weeks now but is usally home in an hour or two. It's been really nice to have him home helping get settled.
We found a house on base but it took a week until we were able to move in. It's decent for base housing. Three bedrooms, 1.5 bath, hardwood floors (just ignore the fact that there is probably 50 years of wax and polish on them and they've never been stripped). We're most excited about the fact we now have a dishwasher and central heat and air. The ghetto house in Altus didn't have either. I also am able to put the dryer inside the house. Another big bonus.
They moved our furniture in a week after we got the house so we spent a few days sleeping on an air mattress with two lawn chairs and a rubbermaid box for a dining set. I'm learning a lot on this move and the next one will definitely go smoother. As much as we'll be moving in the next two years, I'm sure I'll become an expert. We're still working on unpacking. Most of the problem is that we have an extreme amount of junk and random pieces of furniture that don't really go together. No surprise there since it is all from college or family members. We'll get there eventually. We did buy a dining set and received it today. Rick looked at me and said, "You're an actual wife now." I think it just hit him that we since we had nice furniture (one piece of nice furniture) we were actually married. It is an awesome table though. Counter hieght with a butterfly leaf so we can sit 6 or 8. It does have white cushions though. We'll have to be careful.
We also bought a patio set on clearance to go with our Christmas grill. (Thanks, Kathi!!) Hopefully, we'll have his training class over this weekend now that we have places for people to sit and eat.
Once we get the house settled I'm going to get more serious about this job hunt. Actually I'll probably go and apply to be a sub tomorrow. Just bite the bullet. It's going to be difficult to get up in the morning after such a long vacation. But, hey, somebody has to bring home the bacon!;)
We found a house on base but it took a week until we were able to move in. It's decent for base housing. Three bedrooms, 1.5 bath, hardwood floors (just ignore the fact that there is probably 50 years of wax and polish on them and they've never been stripped). We're most excited about the fact we now have a dishwasher and central heat and air. The ghetto house in Altus didn't have either. I also am able to put the dryer inside the house. Another big bonus.
They moved our furniture in a week after we got the house so we spent a few days sleeping on an air mattress with two lawn chairs and a rubbermaid box for a dining set. I'm learning a lot on this move and the next one will definitely go smoother. As much as we'll be moving in the next two years, I'm sure I'll become an expert. We're still working on unpacking. Most of the problem is that we have an extreme amount of junk and random pieces of furniture that don't really go together. No surprise there since it is all from college or family members. We'll get there eventually. We did buy a dining set and received it today. Rick looked at me and said, "You're an actual wife now." I think it just hit him that we since we had nice furniture (one piece of nice furniture) we were actually married. It is an awesome table though. Counter hieght with a butterfly leaf so we can sit 6 or 8. It does have white cushions though. We'll have to be careful.
We also bought a patio set on clearance to go with our Christmas grill. (Thanks, Kathi!!) Hopefully, we'll have his training class over this weekend now that we have places for people to sit and eat.
Once we get the house settled I'm going to get more serious about this job hunt. Actually I'll probably go and apply to be a sub tomorrow. Just bite the bullet. It's going to be difficult to get up in the morning after such a long vacation. But, hey, somebody has to bring home the bacon!;)
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