Air Force Basic Military Training... Again?

It’s true.  For a week in April of 2009, I was returned to Active Duty as a MSgt in the USAF to participate in a SecAF directed Push-Pull exercise at Lackland AFB.  How amazing it is to see Lackland again, after 27 years since being a boot there.

Let me say this now, and begin to eat the crow I so richly deserve.  If the state of Basic Military Training has anything to do with the future of the Air Force, then the AF is safe at last.  I am AMAZED at how much training has changed over the years and over the last 2 years in particular.  So even though we have a crop of lousy leaders right now, we’re on a WAY better track to improve from the ground up.  Be proud General Patrick, what you’re doing at BMTS is great!

I’m going to toss a bunch of pics up on the photo page so you can see some of what I speak of.

First off, the old RH&T (Recruit Housing and Training) dorms are still there, still in use and still need to be condemned.  The building that the TI’s have offices in has a 6 inch crack in the third floor from which you can see the asphalt pad underneath the building.

The best of the dorms are in use by the 6 BMT squadrons.  Some changes from my day... 27 years ago...

1 - Trainees are issued a weapon on day 1 and keep it until they are done with all combat skills training 6 weeks later.  I watched two young trainees tear down and build up an M-16 in 30 seconds.  The standard they aim for is 2 minutes.   In my day, you got your M-16 only at the firing range and only for the few hours it took to shoot the range.

2 - Trainees are NOT airman.  You cannot refer to them as Airman until they pass the BEAST, graduate and receive their Airman’s coin from their TI.  He/She is the first one that ever calls them Airman, until then they are Trainee.  At the ceremony, there are few dry eyes.

3 - Clothing issue has gone from 1 day to about 30 minutes.  RFID tags are used to keep the size info of the Trainee and control the stock of uniforms they get.  The system is AWESOME.

4 - Warrior week and the confidence course are pretty much gone.  The confidence course is more like a picnic-reward day after the BEAST.

5 - The chow hall is still many miles from anything else at Lackland.  No matter where you are, the chow hall is 2 miles away, I know, I walked it for a week.  Unfortunately, the show hall SUX these days, it was better when I was a Trainee.  (Or am I just more picky?)   Come to think of it, no matter where you need to be next, it is 2 miles away from anywhere else.  Lackland has a rip in the space-time continuum for exactly the purpose of making you walk everywhere.

6 - Some things have not changed at Lackland.  TSgt Eubanks reliably informed us that the SAME 4 gents who gave us our haircuts 30 years ago, are STILL doing it.  The clothing issue, Arnold Hall, Chapel, Reid Clinic, post office are all the SAME.  We visited most of them to in-process and she was right.  The only new thing was a new mini-BX.  The paymaster window in Arnold Hall is still there, the only change is that they do not give cash anymore.  They load the money on your USAF credit card.

7 - Basic is now 8.5 weeks, the first 6 of which are Combat Skills.  2 weeks in the trainee can do tricks with the M-16 I never even learned.  3 weeks in they are qualified for CBRNE and SABC.  (CBRNE = Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and high yield Explosive training, SABC = Self Aid and Buddy Care).  4 weeks in and they are done with Combat Skills and ready for the BEAST.

8 - Basic Expeditionary Airman Skill Training = The BEAST.  Imagine this, 110 acres at Lackland AFB (read: Hot, dry, scorpions, snakes...) - sound like anywhere we know?  Trainee’s now spend a week there, using all the skills they have learned thus far in a realistic training environment.  They get attacked on the perimeters, they have to man DFPs (Defensive Fire Positions), do SABC, play Chem warfare games and all that crap.  They start at a pre-built “camp” and mid-week they have to pack out and build a FOL (Forward Operating Location).  They march to a spot, throw down some gear and build an airbase.  All while getting shot at, gassed and generally made miserable.  On the way there, they have to deal with the DoD’s first IED walk.  After the BEAST, these kids are for REAL - finally

9 - For 6 weeks in my Basic training, they filled my head with history, protocol and military knowledge. Trainee’s today do all that in the two weeks after the BEAST.  Oh and a couple of those days are Confidence course, appointments and Basic sillyness.  Then they graduate and become Airmen in my Air Force.  God Bless ‘em all.

The one thing that did not change at Lackland AFB??  -  the MTI’s are still the best in the world, more dedicated, military and honorable than any other caste.

Do not screw with ANYONE in a Campaign Hat, EVER.

If you wanna see my crappy pictures taken with a cell phone, click on the BMTS 09 link from the Photo page, or click HERE!

It makes we want to cry... happy tears!

There are a few times in a person’s life that make you really want to cry, weep with happiness that cannot be expressed.  For me, many times, that feeling comes when you vehemently oppose or support something that eventually turns out to be right.  The people who looked at you skeptically finally turn and say, “hey, you’re right” and that’s all I need.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m right alot of the time, but when it counts, when it’s big, it makes me jump for joy.  That’s right, I’m not the guy that scored the big home run in the big game, I’m the guy that hammered that little Asian kid from Choate Academy on the debate team.  AND yeah, I owned his ASS!!!

So, I ask you to read my earlier post about my wonderful USAF and the abortion that is the F22, and then I point you here....

Save the Pitiful F-22

That’s right, even the damn USAF, the organization that is RE-ACTIVATING me in April of ’09, see’s that the F-22 is a lost cause, an anachronism of an earlier time and a piece of crap that we can do without.  When I say piece of crap, please understand that I mean, the world’s most advanced, America’s most perfect fighter ever invented, piece of crap.

It’s a toy, invented for big boys with REALLY big egos and really little dicks.  It solves a problem that the United States has not faced in 45 years, and that is lack of air superiority.  And please do not give me your BULLSHIT about trying to stay ahead of the world.  the ONLY competition we have is the EU and generally speaking, they are pussy’s.  12 guys with F-4 Phantoms could eliminate France and the Brits would never mess with us anyhow.  Do NOT tell me what a threat China is with their vaunted air force.  The numbers you are using to scare me are pre-Viet Nam and I’m not that stupid.

So... to wrap this up, thank you, Mark, for turning me on to that Hufpost and making my day!

Pres. Obama - PLEASE kill all future orders for F-22 Rapacioushitmonsters and keep my Air Force alive!!!  I have faith in you!!!!

15 Days and Counting...

George “Adolph” Bush

U.S. Dictator

2000-2008

As adept as his namesake in making people forget he was either evil or stupid, Bush advanced a 21st century version of fascism that remains with us to this day.
Future wikipedia entry.

We made it...  Only a shade over a fortnight to go and we’re free.   Yes, I said Free.  I meant it too.  I am somewhat convinced that for the last 4 years we have been in a dictatorship.  Oh sure, we had elections and the Senate met and the House debated, but they damn sure didn’t do much to stop him.

Problem with democrats - no balls.  And I don’t just poke fun at Pelosi... She quite possibly has a bigger set than Reid.  Now really guys, how hard, with all the lies and the demonstrated contempt for the constitution, would it have been to tie this asswipe up in impeachment proceedings for 2 years?  I know Reid wouldn’t touch that with a 10’ pole, but for NOBODY to do it?  Eeegads.

So we let this Fascist issue executive orders that abrogated and in some cases, violated the constitution and USC with impunity.  We let him suspend habeas corpus at will and get away with it.  I’m all for prosecuting terrorists, don’t get me wrong, but lets at least prove, or try to prove, or have a SHRED of evidence that they might have done something wrong?  I really don’t like the idea “rounding up the usual suspects” and throwing them into Gitmo.  I may just be one of those “usual suspects” one day, and i’d like my rights intact please.  This ignorant bastard has set precedences now that may actually tie up the courts for ages.

Anyone recall the Patriot Act?  For the love of god, doesn’t ANYONE remember National Socialist Germany in the 1930’s?  They had laws just like that, you know, just to make sure we didn’t let any JEWS have any rights.  This time we just re-wrote them and stuffed “Islamic” in the place of “Juden”.   Wanna have some fun?  Send and e-mail that has the following words... P.RES.I.DE.NT, Moto.rc.ade and B0m-b. in it.  Yes, you’re little e-mail will make it all the way to Langley, Virginia where some overworked analyst will look at it to see if it constitutes a real threat to the Presidential motorcade.  All without any effort on the part of local police, the FBI or the CIA.  That’s right, you have no say in the matter, because your e-mails are not private anymore.  Nor are your cell phone calls in certain areas.  Feel good? I hope so.

So, is the new administration going to set things right?  I hope so, but it will be a long process.  You see, the Shrub set up a pretty neat process in place to make sure this control doesn’t go away.  It strikes to the core of our being and some of our basic political policies.

Problem with Republicans - All balls, too little brains...

See, if you take any of these draconian measures and put them on trial, you’re just not patriotic and probably in league with the terrorists.  Remember, these things protected for the last 5-7 years from any more attacks, and if you start messing with them, you’re doomed.  Everyone knows we’re destined for more attacks at some point, and if any of the Patriot Act or other executive orders have been backed off, well, that will be what did it.  (Remember, everyone, no matter how god-like and noble, has to get re-elected.)

So, in a very neat package, Cheney and other horsemen of the Apocalypse  have pretty much guaranteed we’re stuck with this bullshit for a long time to come.  The FISA courts will be busy and Gitmo will be a busy place for ages (Well, the location might change for PR purposes, but someplace like it will be hopping.)

Dipshit says he will accept the judgement of history.  All the losers say that.  The only reason they say that is because they cannot point to anything they did that they can stand on, morally and righteously, and say “I did this for my country”.  As hard as I try, I cannot think of anything that might vindicate this asshole from the judgement as a liar and murderer.  You went to war, knowing you were doing it for your own jollies and to serve your own misbegotten sense of purpose.  Against the advice and judgement of others, you sent our military into another viet-nam.  I say screw history, why not accept the judgement of a jury of your peers, after being found guilty of lying to the American people, taking the country to war on false pretenses, sending troops to die in foreign soil for no reason and forgetting who the real terrorist bad-guy was.

The problem in Germany in the 1930’s was nobody stood up and said this was wrong.  Our problem is we took 5 years to realize it, and then three years of twaddling before we did anything, and in our system, how much can we really fix?