Well, this is it. Tomorrow morning, at 11:00, yours truly is headed off to Basic Training for the United States Air Force.
The upshot of this is that it’s one hell of an opportunity. I’ll be going into the Linguistics program, which means two years of intense language training (most likely Chinese or Korean) at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, followed by a two-year tour of duty that will probably land me in Hawaii or Japan. At the end of it all, I’ll have finished a Bachelor’s in foreign culture, and I’ll be able to effectively pimp my mad linguistic skillz to corporations worldwide. I have a friend who’s currently a student at DLI (and he’s the registrar’s assistant, in charge of all incoming Airmen :D), and he’s having the time of his life. I fully intend to do the same.*
The downside, of course, is that you fine folks won’t get to hear from me for the next couple months, as I undergo six and a half weeks of getting the crap kicked out of me. It’ll be hard for you, I know. My witty, erudite observations have long served as reinforcement to the framework of ideas that support the SDMB’s existence, and it may seem as though two months without my insights will leave an insurmountable gap in the entirety of the board’s culture.
Or maybe you just won’t have anybody to make Tears For Fears references at you. Same thing. Whatever the case, ta-ta for now, and I’ll see ya in July. Wish me luck!
*Speaking of which, if any Mid-CA-based Dopers would care to meet up when I arrive and show me the lay of the land and wotnot, that’d be great too. Just leave a message with your name and number, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. BEEP! (Failing that, just send me an email. That’ll work too.)
Good luck and here’s to a speedy return! It sounds like a terrific opportunity.
From myself and Bluesman, Welcome to our Air Force, Roland Orzabal! Bluesman and I both started our AF careers as Linguists, and let me tell you, your time at Monterey will be one you will remember for the rest of your life. As proof, let me just note that one of the results of our sojourn at DLI graduates from high school in two weeks.
And, from Bluesman, “Welcome to the profession of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood of Arms. When you graduate, you and I will be brothers. But just remember, I am a big Sergeant Brother, and you are a little Airman Brother.”
I’m going to miss reading you here, and I look forward to your return.
Good luck in Basic!
I already said this, but good luck!
Maybe I’ll have gotten all those songs out of my head by July.
Are you going to be a ground linguist or an airborne linguist?
If airborne, there’s a pipeline for aircrew. I’m still in it, so if you have any questions (what’s after basic, what survival school is like etc), I probally would be able to answer them.
Best of luck, and it will suck, but in between the suckiness, there will be good memories.
Good luck and godspeed, Roland.
Best of luck to you, and thanks (in advance) for your service.
Regards,
Shodan
Ground. With my eyesight, they won’t let me within 100 yards of an aircrew, and despite the fact that it’s correctable to 20/20, I had to get a waiver from the SG board before I could even enlist. Hopefully LASIK will fix that little snag for my second enlistment (should I have one), but in the meantime, ground it is.
From my current understanding of things, the only possible duty stations for ground linguists trained in Category IV languages (and excluding Japanese, which seems to be officers-only) are Hawaii, Japan, D.C., and somewhere in Georgia. All are perfectly fine by me; Japan would be cool and I could learn Japanese on my own time, Hawaii is, well, Hawaii, and D.C. or Georgia would put me within driving distance of friends and family…so I’m not too heartbroken about the flight DQ.
Best wishes. Enjoy your basic.
Good luck, and God bless.
Thank you for your service.
Good luck! Wishing you a safe return!
As long as he’s cunning…
Good luck, Roland. I may not agree with your taste in music, but I’ll defend you to your death the right to have them.
…wait, that didn’t come out right…
We’ll smoke a kipper for you, Ace.
Good luck!
Thanks and good luck.
We’ll leave the light on for ya!
I made this thread last summer, it may be of some help.
Good luck. We’ll miss you.
Yeah
So whats the deal with you , obviously you survived Basic , did you get that slot on the spectre ?
Declan
No, I’m not going to be on the Spectre. Survived Basic, barely. By the second day, I was my TI’s special project. Made it through Survival School. I passed my Basic Aerial Gunner course with a 94% average. I start my mission qualification course (where I actually get to fly and shoot. And, more importantly, I start getting flight pay) on tuesday.
I got my first choice, Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. I’m going to be on the HH-60. That helicopter’s main mission is CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue), and it also puts in and brings out special forces units.
Good luck. I hope everything goes well! 