Friday, June 20, 2014

BMT: Retreat, Parade & Graduation

Air Force BMT Graduation Parade

After 8.5 long—and honestly enjoyable—weeks at Air Force Basic Military Training, I had finally made it to graduation day. What an honor—and what a relief. It was finally here.

Graduation weekend is divided into two parts, Retreat (which takes place on Thursday after the Airman's Run) and Parade (which is on Friday). Retreat began with the Honor Graduate Ceremony, which I was grateful to participate in. Out of 586 airman in our week's graduating class, I was chosen as part of the top 10% as an honor graduate. Honor graduate selection is based on several different factors, including final EOC (end of course) test score, PT (physical training) points, leadership points, and a personal rating and recommendation from your MTI. All points are added and compared and the top 10% are the ones that make the cut. I was very fortunate to be included in that group—and I took home a very neat coin, certificate, and uniform ribbon for my achievement.

After the Honor Graduate Ceremony, all of the flights march onto the retreat pad for the Airman's Coin Ceremony. After a few songs from the band flight (which I was in!), the MTI's give each new airman a coin in commemoration of their BMT achievements. Immediately after the Coin Ceremony, the new airmen are released to their families for base liberty for the day.

Air Force BMT Honor Graduate Ceremony
During the Honor Graduate Ceremony—I am in the middle (directly to the right of the MTI).
Air Force BMT Coin Ceremony
All of the flights assembled for the Airman's Coin Ceremony.
Air Force BMT Retreat Ceremony
With my husband and his brother, who joined my mom in traveling to Texas for my graduation.

Friday morning brings with it the Parade Ceremony. Parade is the last group activity for the flights, and is a formal ceremony to pay respect to the commanders and to signify our completion of BMT. We lucked out, we had a beautiful and not-too-hot day and the ceremony was amazing. After Parade, each flight returns to their dorms for an open house to show the families our living quarters before being released to explore San Antonio. 

Air Force BMT Graduation Parade
The playing of the National Anthem during Parade.
Air Force BMT Graduation Parade Band Flight
The band flight walking down the Bomb Run during Parade. I'm the last cymbal player next to the snare drummer.
Air Force BMT Graduation Parade
After Parade... no longer a "trainee," now I'm Airman Rowe!
Air Force BMT Graduation Parade
With my biggest supporter & best friend, my mom.
Air Force BMT Graduation Parade
One very proud Technical Sergeant husband with his new wife & Airman.

The last couple days at BMT were absolutely unforgettable. The time spent with my family, the last moments with my flight members, and the memories made really topped off my BMT sundae with a nice, juicy cherry. I have a couple more BMT posts to come—don't worry, I won't share every detail (I need to leave some element of surprise for future trainees!)—and I can't wait to share them. Stay tuned.

See my other Basic Military Training experiences here: I am an American Airman │ BMT: Retreat, Parade & Graduation │ BMT: Graduation Weekend in San Antonio │ BMT: PT & Top PT Award │ BMT: Highlights & Final Thoughts

14 comments:

Aunie said...

:) You rock that uniform! Just saying!
Fits you well.. you can see you are a proud Airman.

I love these pictures, I love your journey.
Good for you.

Aunie said...

What an honor! Congratulations on not only graduating, but being in the Honor group! You should be so proud of yourself - this is so great.

Aunie said...

That looks awesome, but I'm so excited for your post about San Antonio and what you thought about Texas! :)

Aunie said...

Aww that looks so cool! Congrats! I'm so glad you did this, you look so happy. Well probably cause it's over. Happy Friday!


xoxo Allison over at Allison's Eye

Aunie said...

Honor grad! Totally not surprised - you rock :D

Aunie said...

I still remember my BMT graduation like it was yesterday. :) Sooo happy for you, and glad to hear you had a good time! I won't lie, I hated BMT with a passion and I was so glad to leave Lackland, LOL.
Btw, did you know of a TSgt Armstrong while you were there? I'm pretty sure he's an MTI at the squadron you were in! He was my supervisor back in Germany. If not, no biggie. I was just curious! :)
I'm looking forward to reading your future posts! Congrats, again!

Aunie said...

Simply Amazing! Congrats!! Especially on being an honor grad! How awesome!!

Aunie said...

Congratulations, so amazing!

xx Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes

Aunie said...

Thank you!! Very, very proud :) And the uniform, surprisingly, is so fun... and amazingly comfortable!

Aunie said...

Thank you! I barely scraped my way into it... I was lucky! :)

Aunie said...

YES !!! That's one of the biggest reasons, but also for all the memories made while going through it :)

Aunie said...

Thanks girl! I am "honored" to be one ;)

Aunie said...

Ha, I was pretty excited to get out of there, too. I couldn't imagine if I were going straight to tech school... that would be hard but at least nice to get it over with! And no... bummer. I did not know him. That would have been crazy if I did, though!

Aunie said...

Thanks Julie!! I was very, very excited about that!

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