Monday, January 13, 2014

Air Guard Student Flight Drill 2

Air National Guard Student Flight, Air Guard UTA Drill Weekend Student Flight, Idaho Air National Guard, 124 Fighter Wing

This weekend was my second UTA (Unit Training Assembly, a.k.a. drill weekend) with the Idaho Air National Guard (read about UTA 1 here). Once again, since I haven't yet received my formal training through BMT (Basic Military Training) or Tech School, I attend Student Flight, which is intended to help ready future trainees for Basic Training.

This weekend was awesome. We did push-ups, we got yelled at, we marched, we received instruction, and we got to meet several high-ranking personnel who came to speak to us. I enjoy all the learning that we do, but when we have the opportunity to listen to a Colonel or Command Chief Master Sergeant tell us about their journeys of climbing the ranks and the deployments they've been on—now that's the cool stuff.

I think my favorite part of Student Flight is the camaraderie that I'm forming with my fellow future trainees, our BIT's (Airmen who are home on a break-in-training before Tech School), and our NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge). The friendships that I'm making and experiences we're sharing are so unlike anything we'll ever have in the future, and it's neat to be making friends with airmen who are going to be stationed in squadrons all over our base. Plus, it doesn't hurt that our NCOIC is really cool. He helps us learn the ins and outs, and he may yell at us or give us a hard time, but it's all for our own good... we enjoy our time while doing it because of his positive attitude.

Overall, I look forward to each upcoming UTA more and more. I'm taking every chance I can to help expand my Air Force knowledge and make myself a better airman. In fact, I've been spending a lot of time doing it—and less time doing other things, such as (as you may have noticed)... blogging. It's fun to be so into something and so excited about all that the future holds.

See my other Air National Guard Student Flight experiences here: UTA 1 │ UTA 2 │ UTA 3UTA 4 │ UTA 5

17 comments:

Shannon Tatlock said...

I'm glad you're having so much fun! It seems you've found something you're completely passionate about. :)

Linda van den Bosch said...

Glad to hear you are having fun. I can't imagine you NOT having fun in any new adventure!

Kim said...

So exciting!! I'm glad that you are part of a good unit!! It is such a great career - my husband is a Lt. Col. and should be a full Colonel by the end of the year - it has been a great career choice for him!!

Carly Anderson said...

Can't wait to hear more about this process!


Carly
www.lipglossandcrayons.com

Joelle Duff said...

Good for you Aunie! I think it's inspirational that you've chosen to do something like this. It's exciting to hear all about it too!

Kateri Von Steal said...

Good for you Aunie.

I am so proud of you... I can't wait to read your progression on this journey.

Dina Farmer said...

Glad you had a good drill! Mine was pretty busy this weekend too! Had a lot of photos to take and spent a good amount of time on the flightline. It was a blistering hot 72 this weekend!

Emilie Bordeleau-Laroche said...

I'm glad you're having fun!

Annelise Rowe said...

That's it, 100%. I can't even explain it. It's so much of what I'm thinking about and absolutely where I feel called to be and pursue right now :)

Annelise Rowe said...

Now that's the truth. Embrace it all 100%!

Annelise Rowe said...

Good for him... what dedication! I would love to be commissioned and make rank as a Colonel some day!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Joelle :) We are all on such a different path. You keep me in line with wedding stuff :) it's fun being so different and sharing the common ground of blogging!

Annelise Rowe said...

Thanks Kat. I truly appreciate that. I might not be updating as much, but I will still be updating. It's too fun not to share.

Annelise Rowe said...

Oh, Dina you're so lucky!!! We marched outside for over an hour in 30-degree weather... and that was warm for us lately. We were all ice cubes by the time we got to go inside. So glad you had a good drill. Taking photos is the best way to spend it :)

Dina Farmer said...

I'm pretty sure it's national hate the southwest and Florida season! LOL

KC Saling said...

I'm loving your progression on your Air Guard journey! You are going to be awesome!

Annelise Rowe said...

I'm hoping so... I wish my basic training dates would come sooner. I'm ready to get it over with :)

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