Another Letter From Nate

Mom!

I freakin’ LOVE you! Thank you so much for the letter. When I first got the letter, I first thought it was from Dad & you just sent it off for him. So to my great delight, I smiled really big when I actually got to open it & saw it was really from you!

It has been wicked tough here. We have the 2 hardest TI’s on base by far. There are a bunch of different squadrons here on base. Each squadron has anywhere from 12 to 20 flights. Each flight can have a max of 60 trainees, but that’s rare. It’s usually around the lower 50’s to start. Some trainees get medically discharged or recycled for bad behavior. We started with 59 & we’ve had 2 med discharged & 1 recycle. The recycle totally deserved it too. As a flight, we’re about 90% great, but that 10% that sucks, really hurts.

Tonight is the first night in 2 WEEKS that we’ve earned time to write letters. And it’s because some childish, selfish trainees think only of themselves & do what they want & get in trouble & we all suffer. I hope about 3 more get recycled. 2 of them shouldn’t even be in the Air Force & 1 is a lazy pile of crap. I still try to be nice to them, but day in & day out they prove they don’t belong here. I called out the lazy one & he’s still just as lazy. He has an excuse for EVERYTHING! And it makes me SO MAD! Now I know how Dad felt raising me! But I only get 8 1/2 weeks of it. He’s had 23 years. ANYWAY…that was a long explanation for where I’m going with this. Back to our TI’s.

Most flights aren’t nearly as disciplined as we are. We form up to any other flight & make them look like fools. We’re dead silent, we stand strait, we are all aligned, we don’t move. We look sharp. But it’s still not good enough for our TI’s! We can’t talk EVER. We can’t ever sit down when we’re in the dorm. If someone farts, we all get in the “day room” (25 ft x 25 ft), all 55 of us, & do push ups & sit ups & squat jumps to cadence. It sucks. Most flights have had about 5-7 phone calls by now. We have had 2! And it’s all because of those lazy losers. I think you get the picture…

Mom, you asked a few questions & I’m glad cuz’ I usually don’t know what to say (like I’ve gotten to write much lately…). A typical day is like this: get up at 0445 hrs. If it’s a typical day, we do push ups, sit ups & about 10 other exercises for at least 30 minutes. If it’s a run day, we pace run (run behind a TI at a certain pace. It’s a light jog really) for 15 minutes, self pace (run as fast as you can) for another 15 minutes, then we do 30 second sprints, with 30 second walking breaks between (we do 7 sprints). Then we either march directly back & go to chow or back up to the dorm & shower & shave in 7 minutes (55 guys, 8 shower heads, 7 minutes…). Then we get about 10-15 minutes to get dressed & finish the beds (2 minutes to get dressed, the rest to make PERFECT beds).

Then it depends on the day as to what come next. If we have nothing planned that day (classes) then we just clip strings, roll socks, practice marching, clean the dorm. Some classes are wicked boring. Like basic leadership & relations/media. But then there’s wicked awesome ones like CATM (combat arms) where you take apart real M16A2’s and put them back together & go to the range & fire them & take ‘em apart again & clean them. You get about 20 practice shots, the 50 for the qualification. You have to get at least 43 on target to get marksman, which is an actual ribbon for your dress blues. I wanted to get it because I know Dad shot perfect at his. I got 37, which was ok. I was bummed, but you can get the marksman ribbon at anytime in your career, so I’ll just get it later.

Then there’s the chemical warfare class. You get in MOPP gear (gas proof suits) & go into the gas chamber. You do some jumping jacks, walk around, all with tear gas filling the room. Then you line up, & take off your hood (but the mask is still on). You feel this tingle all over your head & neck. You know what’s coming. then one by one you take off the mask, hold it to your chest, such in a DEEP breath & give a reporting statement (Sir, trainee Johnson reports as ordered). I got to the word “trainee” & started coughing. I got all of it out, though. Then you walk slowly out of the room. If you don’t do it exactly like that, they make you stay in there, mask off, while the next group goes! It was amazing that something could do that to a human! It’s so bad! I was gasping for air & you have to blink to get the bad air out & good air in. But it was impossible for me to blink! It’s like my eyes were refusing to listen! But it wears off after about a minute. I will say though, that it is scary to have gone through that & then realize that North Korea is getting feisty & they are probably the next war, & they LOVE chemical weapons. Uh oh…good thing I’m getting trained!

So, back to a normal day! We have lunch around 1200-1400 hrs. It’s cool if you’re at CATM or the gas chamber or obstacle course cuz you get MRE’s for lunch! Plus BEAST is next week & we get to eat MRE’s every day. BEAST is glorified camping where you show all the stuff you’ve learned. It’s to simulate being deployed. I actually LOVE MRE’s! I don’t know if you remember, Mom, but I remember always wanting to eat the MRE’s in the scary closet in Cove. Still love ‘em!

Then more classes, or something like marching, or dorm clean up, or punishment for sucking that morning. Then dinner anywhere from 1730-1900 hrs. Then “Airmen’s time” which is where we sit down as a group with our MTI’s & talk about things & get our mail. It’s less formal, slightly, SLIGHTLY more laid back. Then details (clean latrine, day room, hall, align beds [my job]) shower, dust downs [wipe everything with a cloth & getting all the dust]) & then lights out. Then we wake up 6 hours later (if we weren’t up all night trying to get our wall lockers in order, which we always are). No relax time. No TV. NO music (except for when I sing, which as anytime I can).

I’m really worried about Gran Ruth. Hopefully I’ll get to call y’all soon & hear what’s up. If not, please write & tell me. I pray for her a lot. Also, I bet Dad was really angry & frustrated about the Eagle Scout thing. I asked my recruiter about it multiple times & he said it didn’t matter because I singed for 6 years. But he lied, cuz I should be getting paid more. A whole pay grade more (like $300 a month). He just didn’t want to do the paper work. Sorry, Dad.

There’s so much to write but no time! I’m writing this last part with my flashlight. Today was exciting! This morning I was the escort for a zero weeker (brand new trainee) to the hospital. He was doing his initial PT eval & passed out & face planted because of dehydration. It was awesome & very scary to see someone like that. I didn’t see the face plant, but when I got there he couldn’t open his eyes, he couldn’t talk, & his legs were shaking violently. They put an IV in him & he took 4 bags! It was weird though to be at a hospital, especially the ER, without Dad there. But I got to go get food at the chow hall (once I found it in that maze of hallways!) and it was really good to get some real food & take some time to eat it!

I’m wicked excited for y’all to come. Evan wants to meet y’all & I want you to meet him & I wanna meet his family. Long story short, we wanna do something together one of the days we have town pass. There’s a Sea World here & they have a “once a year military gets in free” deal, so I’d like to go one of the days. But I’ll write Evan’s mom’s # down so y’all (Dad) can talk to her & see if that’s somethin y’all wanna do.

Anyway, I love you so much! I think about you a lot too. I can’t wait for you to see me in my dress blues, marching, standing at attention. I know you’ll love it. I feel like I’ve changed, too. Like I work harder. We’ll see though. I CAN’T WAIT! It’s like I was meant to wear this uniform.

I LOVE YOU!
LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!

~Nate