Air Force Years

       Joined the United States Air Force December 1980. I went into Boot Camp 17, March 1981 at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

I was just 19 years old the day I went in. I remember being so excited when I got on the Plane and headed to Texas. We had problems with the plane and missed our connecting flight. It was in the wee hours of the next morning by the time we flew into to Texas. There were a couple of NCO's waiting for us, they gave us instructions about our luggage and then to get on the bus. I was so tired. All I wanted was to go to sleep but that would not come for a long time. I was still excited but scared as I entered the bus. We were all sitting quietly watching the road go by as we were bussed to Lackland. I remember the looks on peoples faces, some happy and excited like me, some looked scared to death. We all had one thing in common, we did not know what was coming next.

The bus driver yelled out "Here we are. Good luck to you all and God Speed." We all looked up as the bus driver opened the door. In walked the gate guard and he smiled at all of us and said "Welcome, enjoy the ride" with that he was out the door and the bus went through the gates. It took another 5 minutes before he parked the bus and opened the door.

Hell just began.....

All of a sudden a big burly man with a smokey the bear hat starts yelling get off the bus, move it now! get out of this F**ing bus! He looked mean and nasty. I remember thinking what the hell did I just do? I scrambled to my feet and attempted to run but I tripped and fell. Wrong thing to do. He grabbed a hold on me and just started yelling at me about being a klutz and how I was going to die out her and my momma was not going to see me. I was shaking by the time I made out of the bus. There were a whole bunch of men and woman yelling at us. Go here you maggot, drop that you no good piece of Sh*t. We all scrambling around trying as best we could to do everything they wanted. No matter what we did, we did it wrong and that brought more wrath from them. It was a total nightmare. They managed to get us lined up boys on one side girls on the other. Then they had us stand at attention for what seemed like hours. If you flinched they would come up on you and start screaming. I remember it got quiet all of a sudden. I kept my eyes forward as I was instructed. This idiot had the gumption to yell out "When do we get a smoke break?" That started them up all over again. This time they were yelling and pushing and picking people up and throwing them around. It got quiet again and out walks this Captain. He yells out so we all can hear a welcome and our instructions for processing into the base.

Finally, after two hours we were split up into squadrons and marched as best we could to our dorms. That was the only time they were nice to us as the others were still asleep. We had to put our luggage in the day room and then they assigned us our bunks. We had to stand at attention by our racks for about 5 minutes. Then in a whisper and with sarcasm the instructor said "Hit your bunks ladies and no funny stuff. It will be a looooonnng day tomorrow so get some sleep." He laughed and he was gone.

I looked at my watch it was 3:30 am. My mind was whirling. I was thinking about my pregnant wife back home in California. I was thinking of my parents. I knew if my fathers made it through basic I was going to make it. I just kept saying I will make it. I had a hard time falling asleep.

It seemed no sooner than I fell asleep the lights came on, the recording of the bugle started blaring and then the two drill instructors who were assigned to us started yelling and banging on garbage cans "get up you dorks, get up." They would grab the bunks and throw us out of bed if we stayed in them or hesitated. We all managed to get out of the dorm in fast order and made it down stairs were we stood at attention for the opening of the day. We saluted the flag when it was raised, we got our daily instructions then it was PT time. We did a lot of exercises, push ups, sit ups running in place etc. Then it was instructions for chow.

Breakfast consisted of runny scrambled eggs, limp bacon, or burnt sausage, hash browns, fresh fruit, and choice of drinks. We could have any drink we wanted but we had to drink 4 glasses of water before we touched our food or any other drink. This would be the beginning of our daily routine.

At chow we would have to stand at attention at the table until all four chairs were filled then we would have to sit down in unison and then give a prayer or atleast sit there while the others said their prayers. Then we drank our water then ate. Here was the catch. Once we saw our Drill instructor (D I) and then latter or dorm chief get up that was it we had to go. It did not matter if you were the last guy to sit down and just started drinking your watter, you had to get up and leave your food there.

After chow we went back out side and formed up and waited for more instructions. Those that smoked were able to leave formation and go to the smoking area and smoke one cig while the rest of us had to stand at attention. There were a lot of kids that started smoking just so they could get a break.

We were marched to a building were we stood in line yet again to get our heads shaved. There was one guy who had a big thick afro so the barber thought it would be funny and he shaved down the middle of his head. The photographers loved this and took lots of pictures of him. He took it in stride and smiled. Then it was off to get our uniforms. Before that time they called us rainbows as we had all sorts of colors on. When we got our uniforms we were called pickles. At that time we did not have camouflaged uniforms.

The art of Marching...

Let me just say I was not the best at walking before I went in so I was just as bad at marching. I was horrible. There were many a time my DI would pick me up slam me to the ground and start kicking me telling me I would not make it. I mean I would go left when we were to go right, I would always be out of step. I was a mess. There is a position called guideon. For some odd reason they decided to make me the guideon. What a huge mistake that was. I was able to do the flag correctly when the commands were given but once again I would be out of step or go the wrong way. There was one time we were going to a training or something and I was just going my merry way. I noticed I did not hear any commands, nor did I hear the taps of my DI, I swallowed hard and knowing I shouldn't I looked back, My whole squadron was standing at attention and my DI was heading my way. He yelled "did I tell you to stop yet Root?! did I say halt you maggot?! Forward March!!!!" So I took another breath knowing I was in some deep doo doo, I started marching. By that time my DI, caught up to me and he was red in the face screaming at me how my poor momma would not see her son because he was going to kill me etc. Anyway he was so close behind me I could feel his breath. We went by a tree. I did not see this tree but the branch caught the flag pole and the pole went flying out of my hand and smacked him right in the face. Now I knew, I was dead. He called out HALT you Mother F**er HALT!!! I stood there at attention waiting for the end. He calmly asked me if I liked him. I said yes sir! He asked me if I wanted to drive him to an early grave. When I said no sir I do not want to see you dead, he smiled and said good. He took the guideon pole and had me run back to the squad and take my place and he presented the pole to someone new.

Everything in order....

As most of you know we all had lockers. We had to have everything in order socks here, underwear there, towel hanging on our bunk, shave equipment in this drawer. Uniforms hung at certain inches apart. I believe it had to be 1 and 3/4" apart. Our underwear had to be so starched that when they would pick them up for inspection they could not bend in any way. The T-shirts had to be turned a certain way, the shorts had to be another. If you did not have them right they would fling them in the air yelling demerit. Now I was so nervous that I would fail this part that I was always going in and looking to make sure. Well, I would turn them around when I put them back in so I was getting demerits left and right. One day, as usual I was standing at attention next to my locker while I was being inspected. Once again my underwear was facing the wrong way. He started flinging them, one pair of undershorts flew up and landed on my ear. So there I am standing at attention with a pair of undershorts hanging on my ear. My fellow airmen were trying there best to not laugh, snickers would escape their mouths, our DI would look up and of course they would hold their breaths and not smile or move a muscle. Finally after cussing me out, our DI turned to give me final instructions but when he saw me there, he fell to my bunk laughing his face off. He managed to pull himself together pretty quickly. He started screaming at me about being stupid because I did not remove them. Of course when you are at attention, you do not move a muscle. So I could not remove them until told to do so. But this was another excuse to yell and show who was boss.

Cheating....

We had ways of cheating. I know to this day the DI's knew about it but for some reason they left us be. As stated above we had to have our underwear starched so much. They would be so uncomfortable. We purchase extra underwear on our days to the BX. We would put these in our dirty clothes bag separated by a towel. We had only so many minutes to get dressed and get down stairs in the morning. So we would wake each other up early and we would wait. Some of my comrades would sneak up and put one piece of their uniform on. Of course they would get caught and there would be hell to pay. There were other ways of cheating too. I just do not remember how.

Fire Drills.....

Fire drills were always fun... NOT! One or both of our DI's would come in and either yell FIRE!! or whisper fire, fire. As soon as we heard it we had to drop what we were doing and yell fire and run downstairs and form up away from the dorm. One day as we stood at attention our DI opened up the door and yelled at us we better not move. He went back inside and we could hear his taps as he walked across the floor all of a sudden we could hear CRASH, BANG, more taps across the floor and more crashing and banging. Then it went quiet. He appeared by the door again and yelled down get your sorry a**es in here. MOVE IT!! We went flying into the dorm. When we made it through the door we saw everything thrown around, we saw lockers tipped over, bunks torn apart, clothes everywhere. As we stood there dumbfounded he yelled at us to get into the day room. We ran in and sat at attention. He came in smiling, "Laddies! listen up, as you all know there is a critter that lives in texas called armadillos. I will be damned, Some how one of them came in here. I want you all to know I tried hard to catch the F**er. But I was not able to. I am sorry. Now you faggots have 15 minutes to get this dorm in order or else there will be hell to pay."

We did the best we could do but as you can guess, we failed. We spent the next several hours doing PT, running back upstairs trying to put everything back in order by the next time frame and failed and running downstairs to do more PT. It took all day and most of the night to get the dorm the way it needed to be. We were so exhausted when we finished. I think we all slept well that night.

Mail Call.....

We all lived off of mail. Our families and friends would send us mail to encourage us. It was a game to get your mail. We would be sitting on the floor in the day room at attention. The DI would yell out our name and we would yell out "Here sir!" Without looking up he would fling it across the room always on the opposite side you were sitting on. Then as quiet as church mice we passed it to the right person. If our families would send packages the DI's mood would be fun. That usually meant FOOD. If it was then the DI's always got to partake first. What ever was left we would have to share with everyone else first before we were able to have it. Our families would soon send in extra. Then after all the mail would be passed out they would ask who did not get any. When you raised your hand they would say "Looks like no one loves you today. But I do, now give me 50 push up to pay me back for that love" So you would assume the position and they would say begin. and away you would count "sir one sir" and so on till you got to 50. When you reached 50 you would holler out "sir request permission to assume the position of attention sir!" If you were lucky which most were not, they would say you may. Most of the time they would say stand fast. or walk out of the room for awhile leaving you there. Our arms would be like jello but we would hold fast until given permission.

The day time stood still.....

In one of the first days they were teaching us to salute. This consisted of them getting in our faces and yelling salute. We would salute and of course we would not do it right so they would yell and scream and make us do it again and again. When It was my turn I stood there at attention waiting for the command. I had decided I would give the crispest, most stunning salute I could. The DI stared at me "You think you can do this punk?!" I yelled back "Sir yes Sir!" He got even closer to my face and said "oh I have a cocky one here. Salute you dummy!" So, I brought my right arm away from my side, kept it at a 45 degree angle like instructed, so far so good. Then with a quick jerk I brought my hand across my face and I guess I put too much umph in it because my hand went past my face and hit my DI's Smokey the Bear Hat which flew off of his head. He was red in seconds. He pushed me back and I stepped on the brim of the hat. Now, the smokey bear hats are a privilege to wear. They have to earn them. They have to take good care of them. So here I am a nobody just not only knocked off the hat but stepped on it. You can imagine the hell I went through. I could hear everyone say under their breaths "oh S**t". I was told to stand at attention and for what seemed like days he commenced to yell, punch, kick, spit, swore, when he was tired of that he invited other DIs to come join in on the "fun." In a matter of seconds I was surrounded by DIs both male and female. They were screaming, yelling, insulting, demanding answers to their questions. I tried as I might to answer. If I said sir instead of maam I was pushed and shoved, yelled some more. Same thing if I said maam instead of sir. I just kept my eyes forward and stiff as a board. When they would shove me or pushed me back I would snap back to attention fast. My DI excused everyone to the dorm and I stood there at attention with a pack of wolves around me. I saw out the corner of my eye one of my buddies shake his head. I must of dropped and did 150 push ups before it was over. I know it was light out when it started. By the time I was released it was dark and it was time for chow. I was an instant hero to my buddies. They kept saying "Root how did you survive man?" "Root you are amazing, I could not of endured that." "Root I thought you were a dead man when that hat flew off." "Root good job." Others would look at me and laugh and shake their heads.

We have names.....

It came time to get our name tags. It was a huge ceremony to get them. Once you received your name you were somebody. They started to treat us much better. They gave us a speech on how we can honor our names or dishonor our names. How we represent our forefathers and future generations. Then we stood up and snapped to attention. They read off the last names, we would in military stature would step out of formation and do all the moves just right and march up to our DIs. He would extend his hand shake it and say congratulations keep it going. He handed us our name tape and the name tag that goes on our blues. I remember the tears that came down my face. I could not stop them. I was so proud. I looked at how the lettering spelled out R O O T. I thought to myself, my child will be proud of me. I just need to make it through. I thought of my mother and the stories she told of our families who went into the military and how honored she was to know them. I looked around and I did not see one dry eye that day. It is my humble opinion that we walked taller, and with pride and purpose from that day forward.

Graduation Day...

We did it!! We had made it through the hell. We had broken just like they wanted and we were built up to be lean mean fighting machines. We just had to get through graduation ceremonies. We were formed up and marched to the PT field. There in front of family and friends we marched as one. The narrator would call out our flight number as we marched by. The audience would clap. The general all decked out was saluting us and gave us a wink as we all marched by.

We marched back to our dorm and was released were we packed to go to our different schools and get ready. Some left within an hour, others like me had to wait most of the day. We all shared hugs and congratulations and laughed about some of the funny stuff, some of the stuff we got away with. Of course the day I knocked off the hat was the most talked about. When it was my turn to get on the bus, my DI called me into his office. I was at attention, he said Root at ease. He said "Root, you made it. You did good. Do you know why I rode you so hard? Do you know why I was so mean and nasty to you? It is because I knew you were going to make it. I did not want you to puke out. I wanted to see you succeed. I did not want you to give up on yourself. I knew the harder I pushed the more determined you were to make it. I knew you and a few others were special. I want you to go away and know you endured. I know Root you can do anything if you put your mind to it. I want you to go forth and be an example to those you come in contact with. I want you to do just as good in the school you are assinged to. Get out there and show them just how great the US Air Force can be." With that he gave me a huge hug. And then he snapped back to DI mode and said "get the hell out of my office!" With that I was free. This guy was unbearable. And here I was walking out his door sad. I was going to miss him. I was going to miss his guidence. It was so wierd how I was feeling at that moment. I had a bright future ahead of me.

I don't want you to think by this writing that it was all bad. I had some fond memories as well. As a matter of fact I have shared some of them in this writing. Basic training was an adventure and I am so glad I made it. I did take what I learned and applied it throughout the 23 1/2 years of my Air Force career. I apply most of it in my daily life as well. I am so grateful that I was able to serve our country and help protect our freedoms.

I intend to write more and share my memories of tech school at Lowry AFB in Denver Colorado as well as memories from my whole carrier.