“Sir/Ma’am, Trainee Reyes reports as ordered.”

I left for basic military training (“BMT”) in the wee hours of August 2, 2017.  The night before I could barely sleep as I frantically got everything together.  I wasn’t going to be home for four months, but that didn’t really hit me then.  I was too anxious and excited of what I was going to soon be experiencing.  I remember going over the packing list, rearranging the contents of my duffel bag, and adding/removing items.  I finally fell asleep, only to wake up a few hours later.

Raul, my aunt, my grandmother, and a family friend dropped me off at the airport.  I remember saying goodbye to everyone at the security check point and then dashing to get in line.  In hindsight, I wish I could have hugged Raul longer.  I remember seeing his smiling face as I proceeded through the TSA line.  In that moment I wasn’t missing him yet, but I remembered that moment a lot when I was in BMT.

The next 24 hours was a whirlwind.  One second I was boarding the plane to San Antonio, the next I was on the bus to Lackland.  Prior to that myself and several other recruits waited in the USO lounge for the military training instructor (“MTI”) to pick us up.  We spent a few hours on our phones and eating snacks provided by the USO.  We traded stories on what we had heard about BMT, and a couple of airmen passing through to their next duty station shared their experiences of BMT.  Everything was relatively calm until the MTI showed up.  Once he entered, a hush came over the room and everyone proceed to pick up their bags and get ready to leave.  He wasn’t yelling yet, but I knew it was coming.  We waited at the airport for what seemed like hours until the bus pulled up.  The bus driver was friendly and encouraged us to use our phones on the bus ride to Lackland.  “You won’t get another chance for a quite awhile!” he reminded us.

We arrived at Lackland sometime after 10:00pm and in-processed for several hours.  Mostly we just stood, staring silently ahead until we were directed to another room.  Eventually we were issued our backpack initiative complete with some basic necessities and our APEX parka.  Around midnight we ate a partially thawed roast beef sandwich that came with juice and some Oreo cookies.  I instantly regretted not having had a proper meal earlier at the airport, but I had been too anxious to eat.  Finally, around 3:00am we headed to our dorms to sleep.   2.5 hours later I was greeted by the sound of reveille, and thus began my first day of BMT.

Nothing really prepares you for BMT.  Once you get there, the yelling begins.  That’s when you know stuff is about to get real.  This isn’t the movies anymore, this is real life.

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It has been quite awhile since I last posted about the Oregon Air National Guard (“ORANG”).  I am officially an enlisted member of the U.S. Armed Forces.  I did really well on the ASVAB, better than I thought I would. I think I was mostly nervous since much of the subject matter I hadn’t needed to look at since high school.  Nonetheless I did well and basically had my pick of whichever Air Force Specialty Code (“AFSC”) to choose from.

ASVAB Recap:

I studied for a few weeks before my test date.  I also signed up for websites that provided free practice tests to test my progress.  I performed better than my practice tests, so whatever that means haha.  Overall I took about 2.5 hours to complete it.  The test location happened to be at the MEPS, so it was nice to see the place before I had to come again for my physical.  The people working there were nice and even cracked a couple of jokes, which I was not expecting.  Once the test was over I called my recruiter to let him know my test results.  I already had an idea of what I wanted to do, and he began the process to have me visit the base and speak with someone in the AFSC I was interested in.

MEPS Recap:

Oh MEPS. I must say, when I arrived there bright and early at 5:30am, I was unsure of what to expect.  Right off the bat I noticed I was one of the oldest applicants there, if not the oldest.  There were also a few girls there, about five of us total.  We entered in the building around 6:05am and proceeded through in airport security like fashion.  I had thought we could bring our phones but we had to leave everything in a storage closet.  It was a very long day and at some point I thought to myself, what am I doing here?  It was also very cold and time went by so slow.  The good thing was that the girls were all friendly and we passed the time just getting to know each other.  I passed of course, and was relieved to be one step closer to enlisting.

Enlistment Ceremony:

I enlisted on August 22, 2014.  My family attended as did several of my new colleagues.  I enlisted as a Personnel Apprentice.  As I raised my hand and swore the oath to protect my country, I felt honored and proud to serve in the United States Air Force, the best air force in the world.  My whole family was super proud, and they enjoyed getting to know their way around the base.  Immediately after I enlisted I proceeded to process my paperwork, and was guided around by my sponsor.  Everything felt so new and I was just mesmerized by it all.

Fly, Fight, and Win!