Well...

I guess if I don't put this to paper soon I never will. Something about writing it down makes it seem like it's finally set in stone.

First things first. I will not be going to Pensacola when I graduate. As previously mentioned there were five spots available out of the twenty something people who applied. I have been told I'm the alternate. This means I managed to place sixth. Thus unless something unthinkable happens I will be heading for Randolph. This is probably going to be one of those things I'm bitter about for a while. The really stupid thing is that the previous class had the same five slots, but only three people who wanted them, so two people got stuck there. Yet six weeks later the opposite happened. You'd think they'd just wait for the next class to fill the slots, especially since the class dates for Pensacola are months away. Alas. There's always the possibility of heading over there somewhere way down the road. But for now it looks like the road is closed, and I've been diverted.

So, what am I doing now. My next destination is Randolph AFB in the city of San Antonio, Texas. I'll be training with the 562nd Training Squadron for quite a while. I have some other training mixed in beforehand, but my class date will be July 1, 2004. The expected graduation is June 30th, 2005. Then comes some follow on training after that. So needless to say, I won't be mission ready for quite some time. Prior to all that I'll be attending the Aerospace Basic Course (ASBC) right back here at Maxwell. That starts January 15th and goes about six weeks.

Right now it looks like I'm flying home on the evening of October 31st when I graduate and then spending a few days in LA. Sometime probably in the middle of the week or more likely the weekend I'll be taking my new car (2003 Altima 3.5SE for those curious) and head out to Randolph arriving probably sometime around the next Monday. I'll be there in casual status and also going through NIFT most likely (the pilot portion of training) until January, when I'll TDY back here to Maxwell for the six weeks, after which I'll return to Randolph for over a year.

From what I hear, San Antonio is a pretty nifty place to be. Sounds like the tan I've gotten here will be maintained. I'll be living on base with all the other aircrew in training, so I should meet a lot of interesting people. There are luckily a lot of pluses to the career track, although I'll it probably won't involve travelling above the speed of sound. Travel will be a lot more common, and I'll see many parts of the world. The time spent abroad will be more peaceful, and there will obviously be less chance of getting blown out of the sky. Special Ops is the only somewhat dangerous area I might end up in, but I've never minded a little action.

So the mindset at the moment. There's a big tradition with RMOs (Round Metal Objects) in the military, and we all purchased the one representing OTS. On it are the words: "For Many Are Called, Yet Few Are Chosen." They remind me that although I may not have gotten my preferred career track, there is a huge amount of people who want nothing more than to be an Air Force Officer, and haven't even been able to gain acceptance to OTS. Then there's those who want nothing more than to fly like a bird, but will never be medically qualified. It is a tremendous honor and privilege to even be wearing the flight suit of the USAF, and I should consider myself lucky to have made it this far.

I'm doing my part to protect our country and our way of life. Sometimes you just have to take what comes as it comes, and do what you can with it. Who knows, maybe the something mentioned in the title to this page is in San Antonio. Or someone, even.

Erm...

Hm, accidentally had a social life this weekend. Luckily this week looks like quite a boring set of classes, so I'll probably get a chance to blog in between. Probably. Lot to say, will eventually say it.