I leave for Air Force basic training on March 20th

[Eric]

I get to leave a few weeks before my original ship out date of April 10th. I am also not going to be doing an intelligence job like I originally wanted, but something else that I was interested in; here's what I'm signing up for:


Bomber Avionics Systems Apprentice

JOB DESCRIPTION: You will be trained to operate B-1B aircraft electronics to check the operational condition of the systems used to navigate the bomber to a target area, release the weapons, and navigate to a recovery point. These systems include the inertial navigation and doppler radar for navigation and the radar which provides ground maps of the terrain below and in front of the aircraft necessary for bombing and low level flight. Isolates faults in these systems, removes and replaces defective units, and performs systems checkouts.

TRAINING: After completion of BMT, 14 weeks at Lackland AFB, TX, and 11-16 weeks at Sheppard AFB, TX.

CIVILIAN RELATED JOBS: Electronic Technician

[carneman]

I'm glad you still get to do something you wanted to, and from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for you service.

[K. Ayato]

Good luck!

[Destroyer2000]

Yes. Good luck, and thank you for your service.

[JesusFreak84]

Very cool!

I actually have a friend at school going into the Air Force as soon as he gets his BA this May. I forget his exact title, but it involves languages and computers.

[Yeshua-Knight]

from the bottom of my heart i wish you the best eric, i say this because my dear friend and fellow member of caa who is also in the air force (sifu_calanor) leaves for the sandy lands of iraq in a day or so

[Eric]

Very cool!

I actually have a friend at school going into the Air Force as soon as he gets his BA this May. I forget his exact title, but it involves languages and computers.

That would be a cryptologic linguist apprentice. It's one of the few jobs the Air Force is offering a signing bonus for currently] or that you have better than 20/400 uncorrected vision [and my eyesight is worse than that]), but I'd just have to take some English test, which I could've easily passed, but I wasn't really interested in that job anyways. The other jobs they are offering signing bonuses for are combat control apprentice ($10,000 for a four-year enlistment), tactical air command and control apprentice ($6,000 for a four-year deployment)--both of those are special forces--and explosive ordnance disposal apprentice ($10,000 for a four-year enlistment). So if your friend is really interested in the field he's going into, then he's getting a pretty good deal.

[JesusFreak84]

That would be a cryptologic linguist apprentice.

Yeah! That's it! He did so well on his entrance exam thingers that he was guarneteed any job in the Air Force that he wanted, also. The kid's a sponge for languages (including Japanese ).

[mitsuki lover]

Good luck and take care.
Btw:Is it me or do we seem to have an certain inporportion of members joining the military going into the AF?Not that I have anything against the AF as two of my cousins served in it and I have a nephew who was in the AF
JROTC in High School in North Pole,Alaska(his father retired from the AF).
But I was just curious if anyone going into the military has thought about
joining the Army?

[Hakaii]

Hooah, Eric, Hooah!

Ok, that out of the way, did you have any issues with any of the physical requirements needed to enlist? Last time I talked to a recruiter, he told me to lose weight and then come back. 'course that was 30lbs ago but I think I still have a bit to go before boot camp. Long story short, what did you do to prepare for bootcamp? Any suggestions?

But good luck Eric. You Rock!

[Eric]

Air Force weight chart

I am 6' tall (72 inches), so my max weight is 202 pounds, and when I first contacted my recruiter about a month and a half ago, I weighed 218 pounds; now I weight 190 pounds and I can probably lose another 5 or more pounds before I leave. The main thing to do when losing weight is to watch your meal portions (also cut out most, if not all, sweets other than fruit)--eat plenty of vegetables and meat, with some dairy stuff and less starchy foods than people normally eat (like the equivalent of 2-3 pieces of bread per day) and a few pieces of fruit (no juice, though, because it's insanely high in sugar). One particular diet I used for a week so I could lose weight fast enough to go the MEPS earlier than normal consisted of:

breakfast
1 piece of toast w/peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 banana or grapefruit

lunch
1 small can of tuna
1/2 cup of cottage cheese
1 piece of bread
carrots/green beans/some other vegetable

supper
1 small can of tuna
1 cup of cottage cheese
1 piece of bread
carrots/green beans/some other vegetable
1 piece of fruit (I usually just had an apple)

Believe it or not, you actually get plenty full from eating all that even though it doesn't seem like much. Doing that diet was pretty easy for me since I'm not a picky eater and I don't mind eating the same thing for many days in a row (I ate basically the same exact lunch every day in high school, so I'm used to it). But normally, if you don't want to do something like that, you can just have your normal meals, but cut your regular portions in half across the board (especially starchy foods).

You also need to have a regular eating schedule:

breakfast before 10 a.m.
lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
supper from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
and don't eat anything after 8 p.m.

If you miss a meal (like if you wake up after 10 a.m.), then skip it and wait for the next one.

Always exercise before eating breakfast to jumpstart your metabolism (you do this in basic training, so get used to it). Be sure to stretch for 5-10 minutes before you start. I do 200 jumping jacks (take 1 or 2 short breaks in between if you need to) and as many sit-ups and push-ups as I can. For pushups, start out by doing 25 girl push-ups (where you're on your knees) to get your arms warmed up, and then do as many normal ones as you can. For sit-ups, cross your arms in front of you (don't put them behind your head because you'll mess up your neck), and go up until you can touch your legs with your elbows. You don't have to touch your knees, just your legs.

Running/jogging is also a must, although I probably haven't done as much of that as I should. Just remember to pace yourself; start off by walking quickly (fast enough to feel the burn), then jog for a while until you start getting tired, then go back to fast walking, and just go back and forth for as long as you can (45 minutes at the least). Bring along an mp3 player to make it easier.

If you have a set of straight stairs in or outside your house, you can use those; do 3 sets of running quickly up and down 5 times.

If you have access to a gym or other exercise equipment, spend your time on exercise bikes (preferably the ones that have the handlebars you can move back and forth in a rowing action, because this more than doubles the amount of calories you burn compared to a normal bike), treadmills (always use a 5 or more degree incline), and elliptical trainers.

Before you go to bed, do some more jumping jacks, sit-ups, and push-ups to get your metabolism up again so you burn more calories while you're sleeping.

Depending on how much you eat, you can easily lose about 1 pound every day that you do all that.


Another thing that will really help you is by checking out everything on http://www.airforce.com, particularly the section about enlisted basic training, where they go over what you do each week. In the Tools & Tips section, you will need to memorize the three core values of the Air Force (Integrity first, Service before self, Excellence in all we do) and the ranks/insignias for enlisted and officers. It will also show the proper way to salute. Knowing those things will help keep you from getting yelled at too much.

As for what you need to bring, this is all that's really necessary:

3 changes of clothes (shirts/jeans; nothing that's offensive, showy, or really beat up--the plainer, the better)
5 pairs of underwear and socks
toothbrush, toothbrush container, 3 oz. tube of toothpaste
3 oz. bottle of shampoo, conditioner, body wash
Social Security card, driver's license, photo I.D.
shower shoes/flip flops
address book or piece of paper with addresses on it so you can write to your family

The containers of shampoo etc. have to be no more than 3 oz. because of the new regulations for commercial air travel to prevent containers of liquid/gel/aerosol explosives from getting on the plane.

Everything else you will be able to buy once you get there; during orientation, you will get a gift card for $250 to buy all the things you need from the base exchange store.


Salute EVERYONE that is not a trainee when you're in basic training. The other person will return the salute, and when they start lowering their arm, you have to lower your arm and make sure that your arm reaches your side FIRST, otherwise you might get yelled at.

Always do what you are told to do, and do not try to correct the instructors like if they say you did something that you didn't. Making excuses will only make you have to do extra work. Just answer with:

"YES, SIR!"
"NO, SIR!"
"NO EXCUSE, SIR!"

Obviously, replace "sir" with "ma'am" if it's a female instructor.

The training instructors are very meticulous about dorm inspections. You'll have to do things like have your beds exactly two feet apart, hangars exactly one inch apart, all your clothes hanging up have to be buttoned/zipped.....


That's about all the advice I can think of for now. Hope it helps.

[mitsuki lover]

Are you getting nervous yet?

[Eric]

Not at all; I just really can't wait to leave.

[mitsuki lover]

You are a better man than me.If it were me I'd be up all night sweating and vomiting and pacing the floor worrying if I could make the grade or not.Then again,except for the vomiting part,that's about how I always react to something new.

[Eric]

When you say "something new," do you mean just stuff like major life changes? Or does it happen for more things than that?

[Eric]

Just wanted to let everyone know that this is my last post here for now until much later this year. Once I get my computer defragmented, I'm going to pack it up.