Rough week.... 3 of 55

This week was full of highs and lows.

The low of the week was me failing my first test here at pilot training.  I got an 83% on a test and a passing grade is 85%.  Sooo...... I had a retake the next morning with all new questions and I got a 97%.  Dammit man......  Why couldn't I do that in the first place.  I was bummed out for a while because of that.

The next day after that we got a "tour of the plane that we will be flying.  IT IS AWESOME!!!

On Saturday we had to come to work.  It was kind of like a "career day".  A bunch of different airplanes flew in and their pilots were there trying to "sell" their planes/jobs on all of us.  We got to see just one of them fly though (a C-17).  That plane is HUGE! Its hard to believe that there is a bigger plane than that one in our inventory (C-5 Galaxy).  The coolest plane there was planes from our special ops guys.  I wanna go special ops.  Their mission is so cool!  Their planes aren't supersonic, they are not "invisible", they aren't what you would think of when you think of a military aircraft.  But it's the mission that sells me on the planes!

Anyway.  It was a nice day because wives were invited to check out the planes and the missions.  Its good that the Air Force includes wives/spouses in stuff like that.  It's important to include Kristen in all of my decisions because they really are OUR decisions.  And the plane that I get to fly ultimately will dictate where we will live in the world, and my deployment schedule.  Ahhhhhhghh..... AF life is fun.

Last night we also had our OGtoberfest.  It's like Octoberfest, except the OG (Ops Group commander) threw/put it on....hence.... OG-toberfest. $20 for all the German food you can eat and five drink tickets (I had 11 Haha).  They had a DJ and a polka band there.  My class, 11-01, had a great time!

We brought Dallas also.  She might look scared in the picture....., but she had a great time.

Class 11-01 Wife's Day - At The Squadron!!!

Hi Everyone!!!

So this is my first time blogging and I’m excited to share with you guys what I’ve been doing here in Del Rio!!! I've been looking for jobs, but I haven’t found anything that interests me just yet. I’m usually busy during the day working out, playing and going on long walks with Dallas, cooking, shopping, etc. With or without Coy in the house I’m managing quite well and have not found myself bored yet : )

Last week, me and some of the wives had the opportunity to tour the squadron building where our husbands will be having class and spending most of their time during phase 2 of pilot training. Coy was a bit jealous because we got to hang out in the 85th squadron bar….students can’t go in there….the bar, beers on tap, and mugs to drink out of are for IP (Instructor Pilot) use ONLY!!!...and visiting headquarters for wives!

After getting to know more about the 8 wives I’ll be spending a lot of time with, we headed over to the T-6 simulators!!! Boy was that an experience! And you should thank “you know who” that I’m not a pilot!!! These simulators were so awesome – $2 and $4 million dollars each – it’s a shame I crashed as many times as I did! I posted a couple You Tube videos for you to see me as a T-6 pilot!! (To view, click on the pics located on the right side of our web page.) One video is me having a crazy take off and the other is me flying under the bridge at Lake Amistad….it’s a bumpy ride and very funny to watch! Coy was also pretty jealous (along with the other husbands) because we were able to fly the sims before they did! It’s great to be an Air Force wife : )

After our sim time we toured the entire building. The walls were cluttered with years and years of class pictures and the halls reeked of smelly student pilots. (I’m not complaining – to me, it’s the smell of freedom : ) As I walked around I thought of how proud I was to be an American, and how privileged I felt to be so welcomed in the same area where the world’s greatest pilots go through the most intricate training. I also saw the classroom where Coy will spend long hours in and as we left the building I thought to myself how his picture will also be hung on the walls in that same building one day.

After our tour through the squadron building we walked onto the flight line and got a closer look of the T-6 Texan….that was so neat! Planes taking off and landing pretty close by, T-1’s off to the right, T-38’s to the left…..it was so cool to see them all up close!

After lunch, we had the opportunity to meet everyone in charge of all the students at Laughlin. It’s so funny how the students are so scared of the Colonel (second in charge) and Lt. Colonels! They’re all really nice guys! They told us we can go to their offices and talk to them if we ever needed, despite of what our husbands tell us!! We also made friends with their wives! Good times at the 85th squadron bar – where Coy can’t go (yet)!!!

It was so nice to finally meet the other wives! They're all very nice and I'm sure we'll become good friends through this journey. We're actually in the process of planning fund raisers to have parties and things like that for the 11-01 class.

I’m convinced Coy and my time in Del Rio will be an adventure we’ll never forget.

Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog! Enjoy the pics from wife's day and the videos of me flying in the sim!

Love & miss you all,
Kristen
xoxoxo

2 of 54

So this week wrapped up my aerospace phys stuff. And although it was pretty damn cool..., I'm glad that it is over.

On Wednesday we had our parachute demos. IT WAS HOT. They have this big contraption that holds you like a parachute. You jump off and land. You have to do six successful landings. Then you have to be drug in the dirt to simulate being pulled by the chute after landing and you have to unlock from it. It was A LOT of fun. But dirty. The picture is of me after all of this. I was a hot sweaty mess!

On Thursday we went in the altitude chamber for a "ride". I was in the first group. They sealed off the chamber and took us to 6,000ft and then right back down. That was just to see if we had anyone in the chamber with any kind of sinus problems. Because if you had a pain in your sinuses then..., by time we get up to 25,000ft your nose would probably explode. Seriously. So we were all OK. Once down from 6,000ft we had to breathe 100% oxygen for 30 minutes before we could go up to 25,000ft. It's supposed to get all of the nitrogen out of your blood or something like that. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic in the chamber and was having difficulty breathing (due to me being scared). Haha. So, when they came over the comm and asked if everyone was doing OK.., and to give them a thumbs up, I didn't. They immediatelly came over to me and asked me what was wrong. I told them I feel like a wuss but I was having trouble breathing in there. Haha. They took me out of the chamber and I listened and watched from the outside during that "flight". Oh well. I ended up going in the third group and everything was fine. We went up to 25,000ft and took off our oxygen masks. This demonstration is to let us know what our body would feel like if we didn't have enough oxygen in the cockpit while flying anywhere above 10,000ft. My symptoms were tingly hands and stomach, rapid heartbeat, and confussion. It was fun. Then we turned out all of the lights and did it in the dark. It was a really good demonstration and I can easily understand why a lot of plane crashes happen now.

The picture of the chamber is from the outside looking in. I'm not in there.

On Friday we had our final Aerospace Phys test. It was only 25 questions long. Which is really scary. Anything below an 85% is a fail. Any three fails during this year and I'm kicked out of pilot training. So I could only miss three questions on this test, four would fail. I ended up missing one, 96%. Damn it. I studied. I knew all that crap. I'm so mad for missing one.

There are 14 written tests during UPT. I NEED to do as best as I can to stratify myself amongst the other students here so that I can control my own destiny. In the last class that graduated the top student missed three questions the whole time he was here. Wow. I missed a total of three already and I'm two weeks into it. Haha.

Last night our neighbors had a late night BBQ at their place. It was nice and a lot of my classmates showed up too. Life is good over here. Nice weather, nice people. Can't ask for too much more. Thanks life.

This next week I have my first simulator ride on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I have another test. Wish me luck. Say some prayers for me.

Week 1 of 54

What an awesome week!

We spent this first week in Aerospace Phys learning what our body will do and what it should act like with G's, less oxygen, and stuff like that. We also learned a little about how to eject and how to survive if our plane goes down. It is kinda just death by power point, but it was all interesting and some stuff is hands on (like the flares). I had my first test this week also. I got a 93% on it. That might sound good..., but I NEED 100% on every test to ensure that I get to fly what I want to fly. I'm a little upset with myself, but I know that I can do better.

This weekend Kristen and I decided to make a patio..... Wow.., that was A LOT of work! Pictures to come soon on that.

This week I have a weight lifting test. I have to do well on it if I want to fly "pointy jets" (fighters or bombers). So wish me luck....if that's what I decide I want to do. Also, on Thursday I will be going "up" in the altitude chamber to see what different altitudes feels like.

Pilot training is here!!!

Last weekend a friend, Whit, that I met at ASBC was at training in San Antonio and came down to Del Rio for the weekend for some fun. We rented a boat at Lake Amistad for the first time. It was awesome!!! We rented a ski boat. It came with life jackets and skis or a wake board. We choose the wake board. I never got up on it, but Whit did. I cut my big toe on the propeller. All in all pretty good for me considering that I have a total of 0 time as the PIC (pilot in charge) of a boat. Haha.

This week was filled with anxiety for the first day of pilot training. We oficially started on Friday. But we had a meeting on Wednesday and then we had a physical, again, on Thursday. I did well on it..., but they are always scary. I have 33 people in my class. During the physical 2 of them found out that they need glasses... what? How could we have all taken this same exact physical like 4 times now..., and all of the sudden these 2 need glasses? Whatever. I should just count my blessings that I an healthy.

I could hardly go to sleep on Thursday night. I have been studying for weeks getting prepared for this first day. I was expecting to get "yelled at" and told how difficult this will be for us. The old "look at the person to the right, now look to the person to the left, one of those two will not be here in a year", but none of that! It was a LONG boring day filled with briefings. And a short lunch. Oh well, I guess next week is when they'll turn it on for us. By the way, we took a quiz..., I never got my grade back..., but I KNOW..., I got 100% correct.

We had a little unwinding last night. We had our first class party. It was a mexican and cowboy themed party. But we didn't dress up for it. It was a blast. We got to know a lot of the guys in my class, and Kristen was able to meet some of the wives too.

It looks like its on now! Lots of studying, learning, and fun ahead of us in the future...