Well, here is the update from the phone call yesterday :D
Nathan called at about 3:45 our time, and we proceeded to talk for two hours!!! Here is what we talked about, based on the notes I took…so there isn’t really any logical order to it ;-)
He said he doesn’t get to check mail every day, but that he doesn’t have to do any push-ups in order to receive his mail (we had heard that he would have to).
His flight commander won the award of best flight officer for the 1st portion of BCT (out of the 40 flights!). Barbarians (another squadron) won the field day, but Aggressors (Nathan’s squadron) won one of the runs.
The basics have their weight checked each week. Nathan has been losing weight, so he’s on a supplement that sounds similar to Ensure or something like that. He said it’s hard because they only have 25 minutes to eat, and he can’t seem to eat fast enough. Also, he’s in the “high risk” category (to lose weight) since he’s over six feet tall. Thankfully, he was able to eat both lunch and dinner on his own time yesterday, so he ate slowly and enjoyed it J
We asked him a bit about the 4th of July, and he said it was funny while they were watching fireworks because there was a big storm going on with thunder and lightning too. Also, the basics were outside watching the show, and some civilians that were there were trying to throw the basics candy. The cadre were yelling at the civilians and trying to enforce the no contact and no candy rule.
A bit about the organizational scheme of BCT: There are 10 squadrons, which have about 120 basics each (Nathan is in Aggressors). Each squadron then has four flights, each flight with 30 basics (Nathan is in flight A). Each flight is then divided into four elements. Nathan said there were seven in his element. He’s the element leader, which isn’t really a leadership position – it just means that he sets the pace when they are marching and such for the other basics in his element.
The whole flight in the same dorm area (but girls are separate from guys), so Justin (Nathan’s roommate during BCT – it could change for the academic year) is also in flight A. They are on the top floor, so any time the basics go to their rooms Nathan has to go up six flights of stairs. He said that’s when he notices the altitude (they’re at 7200 feet) the most, but it’s getting better.
We talked some about
Nathan said that he and Justin are the opposite in some ways…Nathan really enjoys the military side, but finds the physical requirements challenging sometimes, while Justin is the opposite. Nathan is a perfectionist, Justin just wants to get things done quickly.
Then we asked about how he’d done at the SAMIs (Saturday Morning Inspections – see my post on July 2nd). He said the SAMIs are done randomly in a squadron – so his room has only been inspected once and he got an 80 or 85 out of 100. The cadre member who inspected them asked them if they were from the Prep School – which infers that they did a really good job! :D
Nathan said he has four sets of ABUs (the camo uniform they usually wear) and that it’s a kind of material that doesn’t have to be ironed – which is wonderful! They don’t have to shine their boots either.
Since July 1st he’s had a cough…but the people who check on the basics every evening (medical care cadre) didn’t think it was a big enough deal to take him to a doctor or anything. On In-Processing Day the basics were issued some over-the-counter remedies for congestion, sore throats, etc, so Nathan’s just been self-treating with those.
He said the worst part was having to do PT in the hallways – like flutter kicks or push-ups. He said it just gets to a point where he feels like he can’t do any more, but the cadre make him do more…or something like that. Thankfully he hasn’t “gotten in trouble” a lot. He said some people get “called out” a lot for not marching properly, but he doesn’t have a problem with that. Sometimes he doesn’t get out into the hallway fast enough in the mornings, or forgets something (like tucking his shoe laces into his boots). But he said he has a good reputation with the cadre – they know that he’ll stick with the rules.
Thankfully he said he hasn’t had any problem with blisters from his new boots or from the running shoes! (He had a lot of blisters from his running shoes here at home).
He said in the mornings at PT they switch off – one day they’ll do calisthenics type stuff (Push-ups, flutter kicks, diamond push-ups, pyramid push-ups), and then the next day they’ll do running stuff.
He said the best thing about BCT is sleep and time. ;-) Taps are usually played at 10:00 pm, but he often stays up later than that because that’s the only chance he has to get things done. He doesn’t know what time he actually goes to bed because the basics can’t even have watches! If they ask what time it is or something like that, the cadre just tell them “don’t worry about it!” The basics never know what the schedule is either – they’re just told what they’re going to do next.
He said it was really annoying yesterday, because they were given their phones at the dorms, but told not to turn them on. Then they had to march to a briefing and sit “at attention” (very erect and still) for a long time waiting until all the other basics came in – and they still couldn’t use their phones L After the briefing they were allowed to use them.
He said lots of the memorizing that they are required to do right now is to know all the names, ranks, and positions of the BCT staff. They have to greet each of the cadre individually when they pass them, so if they pass three cadre in the hall, they have to say to each of them with the correct name and rank, “Good afternoon 2nd Lieutenant John P. Doe, Barbarian Squadron commander.” Mom made a comment about what a waste of time that seems, and Nathan chuckled and said “whatever they decide that we should do is the proper use of our time!”
Nathan said he’s still glad that he’s there :D
He said that the bus ride on In-Processing day was one of his favorite parts. Right before the bus arrived at the foot prints, the cadre member was giving them a spiel about how tough USAFA would be, and then the guy said something along the lines of “If you’re going to accept mediocrity, stay on my bus. If you can’t meet the physical demands, then stay on the bus,” and a couple other similar type things. Then he said “But, if you are willing to put integrity first, service before self, and strive for excellence, then get off my bus!” Then all the cadre on the bus started yelling “get off the bus! Get off the bus!” and the basics went and stood on the foot prints. Nathan said he didn’t get picked out and yelled at on the footprints, which means he was doing what he was supposed to J
About 4:30 in the morning, the cadre come and bang on the doors of the basics rooms yelling at them to get dressed and get the door open – and it’s not good if you’re in the room that’s the last to get the door open. Nathan said the mornings are COLD. They go outside before the sun comes up to do PT. He said there’s always wind – and that it feels like it’s 40 degrees.
In the evenings when they get back to their rooms they’re usually told to get out of ABUs and into “shower gear” which is the bathrobe they were issued. Then they’re only allowed two minutes in the shower. They always take a shower after PT in the morning and often another one in the evening. He said the pajamas are issued in only two sizes – XL or XXL ;-) The basics don’t have to do their own laundry – it gets done for them. But sometimes the stuff isn’t returned to the right place.
In the room, there’s only one “military drawer” that goes on display during inspections. And in that drawer, the t-shirts have to be folded to exactly 10 inches square, etc. etc.
Every week there are two chapel services – one on Friday night and one on Sunday morning. Nathan said the Friday night one is more contemporary, there’s a younger chaplain, and it’s shorter. The Sunday morning one is pretty much the style Nathan is used to, but he said sometimes the chaplain focuses more on what God can do for us rather than on God’s glory – and so Nathan’s a bit “dissatisfied” with that. He did say the chapel is well attended though.
As far as friends, Nathan said he’s definitely made some – there are a few guys he’s talked with more, but he hasn’t made a “best friend” yet. He also said that he doesn’t have much of a chance to associate with people outside of his own flight. He said that his squadron commander makes it very clear what she expects from her squadron – but that she’s also good at encouragement and motivation.
For the 2nd portion of BCT, though, they get a completely new set of cadre…so that might make it challenging.
He said he had a lot of fun at the field day yesterday morning.
Then he told us a little story from a meal recently. Nathan was sitting there minding his own business eating as fast as he could, and the cadre member at his table said “Basic Carey, you have the most perfect table protocol I have ever seen.” And so Nathan just says “thank you sir” and keeps eating. Then a cadre at another table hollers at him and says “Basic Carey!” So Nathan has to stand up and say “yes sir.” And the other cadre says “Take smaller bites!” Nathan says “yes sir” and sits down, and then the cadre at his table ‘chews him out’ for getting corrected by the other guy. So a little while later the other guy hollers “Basic Carey!” again. Nathan stands up again, and is told “take bigger bites!” And then the cadre at his table ‘chews him out’ again. Nathan was laughing when he told the story – he said they were just having fun with him. He also said that the cadre in charge of his element is always saying ridiculous stuff to the basics just to have fun.
Intramurals – Nathan said there are nine on the Aggressors volley ball team, and that they had gone undefeated until the very last day. He said four of his team mates are from his flight, and that it was nice to be able to interact with a few people from other flights. I think he said intramurals were “a blast” :D
Well, that’s about it…he got off the phone because they were offering more food and he needed to recharge his phone. He called us back about an hour and a half later, but that was only for five minutes before the basics were told to head back to their squadrons and turn in their phones.
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