Young Tiger is now AB Tiger, Young! "Sir, Trainee Tiger Reports as Ordered!"

A cancellation came up a few days ago for programming school, so Young Tiger headed off to basic training at Lackland AFB this week. It was your typical snafu – plans changed four times before he finally got on a plane (none of it his doing, I hasten to add, although I’m sure his TI neither knows nor cares, just that he was a day late :D). Got the requisite one-minute phone call this morning (we knew it had to be him, or else someone had died – calling at 7:30 on a Sunday morning!) giving us his alphabet soup of an address. I asked him if he’s doing fine and he replied, “I hope so! Gotta go!” So who knows. But he sounded better than I thought he would, with which slim evidence I’m currently consoling myself.

(Speaking of Alphabet Soup, Papa Tiger reports that he had a fellow trainee in his basic training years ago who was known to all and sundry the whole time they were in basic as “Trainee Alphabet Soup” because his name was so long and unpronounceable. Of course, Papa Tiger also arrived at basic training a day late and blind drunk, courtesy of airline delays causing them to open the bar, so he’s a fine one to talk!)

Anybody got any great “I survived basic training and he can, too” stories to share? Tales of your evil TI? (We have a friend who’s a retired Navy officer who still breathes fire at the mention of his gunny sergeant standing on the roof of the three-story building, directing all the officer candidates’ PT with hand signals…hee!) Any boot camp humor – or painful experience – will be welcomed!

That is so odd. My daughter’s boyfriend just finished basic training at Lackland last week. She went down with his family to his graduation and spent a week in the area.

He told me on the phone that he didn’t think that he was going to make it at times, but looking back on it, it went quickly and he said it was weird seeing the new guys coming in and thinking about how he felt in their position.
My daughter brought back a ton of pictures and you would not believe the change in him in 6 weeks. He looked much older, more mature, bulked up. It was incredible. She said he stood much straighter and was different, but in a good way. Now that he’s out of basic, he can call her, he has a regular job type schedule, comforts in his room, etc. It’s not so bad after the first 6 weeks he said. Best of luck to your son! Tell him to just keep focusing on the end, it WILL be over and then it will seem like just a quick dream (or nightmare!) As I keep telling my daughter, keep ypur eye on the prize. This is the best thing for her boyfriend. He didn’t have enough money or parental support to get additional education after high school and had a hard time finding a decent job. He knew if he wanted to get somewhere in his life that this would give him the chance to do it. And this is a kid who did not do well with authority in school (not a big trouble maker or anything, though), was into just hanging out and not really into school, although he did graduate. He was not the sort of kid you would expect to go into the military. He earned one helluva a lot of respect from me and her father when he made the decision to go in.

Thanks for the encouragement, Salem. My fondest hope is that Young Tiger will develop the discipline in the military that he lacked during his brief and abortive college career – the classic example of a kid who’s very bright and never had to study in high school, so ended up having zero study habits to help him deal with college. He’s going to be doing exactly what he was going to study in college, only getting paid for it, so this was really the best option for him.

My biggest concern is that up till now, he’s been a physical slug. And they’ve recently tightened up the physical standards. If he can make those, I really think he’s going to do well. He tends to be very compliant and obedient to authority – his big sister and great-grandmother trained him well! – so he shouldn’t be one to make waves.

Hey Mama, don’t worry. AB Tiger will do just fine. Granted it isn’t a kindergarten class, but hell I survived . . .

Does he know what AFSC [sub]more alphabet soup for you[/sub] he’ll be? Does he know what kind of job he wants?

In any case, tell him “Good Luck” for me!

Tripler
Civil Engineer, USAF, 819 RED HORSE

He’s going to be a 3C 032, if I remember correctly – computer programming. He’s got the guaranteed job type of entry, since the tech school he qualified for only educates them for that one MSC.

After basic, he’ll be going to programming school at Keesler for 14 weeks, which is great since we only live 1-1/2 hours from Biloxi so can get over to visit him occasionally before he ships off for who knows where. Whether he wants to see us or not. :smiley:

Actually, for pay purposes, he’s an AB, but he is a Trainee until week 6, counting Zero Week.

Zero Week…what an enjoyable experience that is. It’s a combination of good ol’ humiliation and disorientation, with a dose of condescention. You wear your civvies all week, you don’t get a haircut so you look like a total tool every morning with your wild man hair, and you don’t know squat so you’re getting ripped end to end on a regular basis. Good times.

My MTIs were TSgt Chapman, who always had a dip in and called everyone “Sunshine” and was an extraordinary hardcase, SSgt Booker, who called everyone “Goofy” but was fairly lenient, SSgt Nelson, who was black and female and never, EVER let my flight forget either of those facts, SSgt Gilliam, who was someone you would take lightly because he didn’t look like a TI, but you would only do it once, and SSgt Massey, bar none THE finest airman I have ever seen.

BMT seems hard at first, but don’t be at all surprised if he ends up enjoying it. I loved it so much by the end that I set MTI as a career goal if I ever go active (the position is off limits to ANG).

Tell that Rainbow that I wish him the best of luck, and he has my respect and admiration for doing what he’s doing. In only six weeks he’ll be done, and if he’s anything like me he’ll never be happier. :slight_smile:

SrA David Cartwright, 193 SOW PA ANG

Being Young Tiger’s older sister, I’ll chime in with a thank you! It will be fascinating to see a bed that he actually made and clothes that he actually folded, come graduation. :slight_smile:

Thanks, Airman Doors. Actually, I only called him AB Tiger, Young because that’s what his mailing address is. I’m sure that right now, being called anything as pleasant as “Trainee” is a luxury he dearly longs for. :slight_smile:

He was also well and truly counseled about not sticking out before he went, especially by his recruiter (who’s actually a really cool guy, unlike one Marine recruiter I could mention who stalked Young Tiger for a year). So he went off to basic with a fresh haircut – not military length, but at least short and neat. And nice conservative Rainbow clothes. And heartfelt advice from a young airman who was “assisting” the recruiter for a couple of weeks to “Whatever you do, don’t look at the girls!!”

I’ll be interested to hear what he gets yelled at about, however. At least it’ll probably be different topics than my traditional ones. :smiley:

Actually, Trainee is about the worst thing they can call him. This is the kindler, gentler Air Force. No personal name calling, no slapping, none of that stuff you see in the movies. Just “dummy” and “goofy” and stuff like that.

He’ll be yelled at for turning the wrong direction, for eyeballing the MTIs, for not having enough polish on his boots, for not making his bed well enough, etc. Nothing he will do will be right for the first few weeks, and then maybe not even then. But it’s worth it. Every bit of it.

My nephew, let’s call him The Waster, is in basic training right now. His mother spoiled him to the point where he could do NOTHING at age 19 other than party. Sadly, his mother and protector passed away this year, tragically early. The Waster had few options. I’m hoping he’ll get through boot and emerge on the other side with at least the ability to form a cohesive sentence and make a bed. That would be a wonderful start.

I went though it. It wasn’t fun, but it was highly instructive.
I really wonder if it was wise to abandon the draft. But that’s another topic altogether…

  • PW

It IS possible to have fun in Basic. In fact, I spent most of my time there laughing my head off.

Just tell him: Take KP whenever you can get it. That’s the only time you’ll ever have the chance to just sit down and eat a meal while BS’ing with your buddies.

Paging Simetra. . .

Tripler
I think he’s down there. If not, pretty darn close. . .