Completed AF Basic Training

[tony]

It was an.. unforgettable experience to say the least. I'm not back in Georgia yet, I am still in San Antonio until my training is done in May. People like to joke and call it the Chair Force but trust me a lot of things have changed over the years and the Air Force takes its mission very seriously, its an honor to be a part of such a great organization and work along side the other military branches.

I'd like to start working on my G35 but finishing college and Pilot and/or Nav school is top priority for now. Any questions about the Air Force training I can pretty much answer.. I cant tell absolutely everything but I can clear up a lot of the myths. Air Force basic training isn't as physically strenuous as the other branches may be but where it gets tough is the mental aspect of things. We have other branches on this base and I wont say anything bad about the others, I'll just say I made the right choice.

Me and my dad (he's a veteran, kind of nostalgic since my job is the same as his)



My favorite picture from the weekend, my son while we were at the position of attention during graduation.



I have pictures of our actual training but I'll have to post those up later when I have more time. (No I didnt take them, whenever we did something tactical we were filmed) I did go to the range with the M16 and M9, did the whole simulated deployment thing, tactical movements, etc etc. Anyway, I'll add more to this later.. gotta be up in 4 hours.

[81911SC]

Awesome. Congrats!
I'm interested to hear a lot so I'm in for later.

[NevrNufTorq]

congratulations man!!!! it will be an experience that you will never forget and i appreciate your service

[Firefightin_tC]

Congrats man...seriously...congrats.

[Frög]

I have questions for you buddy.. Thinking about Air Force after graduation.. Just a small thought..

Congrats!

[tony]

This is like the second day, obviously nothing tactical about this its that first hair cut. I think in Psychology this is the equivalent of erasing the identity you came in with, simple stuff. If you go into the military always remember this day because you'll never be the same again nor will the guys you came in with.

[tony]

The Gas chamber, you end up having to take your mask off and give a reporting statement then walk out. I was sick as hell and it cleared up my sinuses so I wasnt too mad.

[tony]

Basic combat training, nothing special.. the pictures make it look cooler than it really is. I wasn't 100% into it, but we have to be trained so it was better than sitting around doing nothing.

[tony]

The firing range with the M16 to get qualified. I sucked, hit 29 of 50 targets but it was 50 to qualify so.. I passed. I enjoyed the M9 more.

[tony]

Pugil sticks and BEAST week, some of you AF priors wont recognize the BEAST because its something new.. a week long simulated deployed environment. Lots of good training. We stayed in those tents all week although the AF doesn't use them any more and an attack was bound to happen any time.. and it did.

[tony]

I didnt get a whole lot of pictures of the dorm. In the picture with my son you see what is your entire living area.. a locker which is constantly inspected. All clothes must be rolled or hung up.. rolling clothes is a BITCH, takes forever.

My job was Latrine queen, so I was responsible for keeping the entire Latrine spotless (which is what I'm really checking in the picture) 60 guys in a dorm share 8 open showers, the first night is awkward but over time it becomes normal being around everyone naked.

You wll be in better shape coming out of BMT. I lost 10lbs, my buddy J in the picture lost like 25lbs.

[EJ25RUN]

great to see.

[BanginJimmy]

DAMNIT, the damn chair force got doors on the shitters. We didnt even have walls. You got to look at another guy as he squeezed one out. I am feeling kinda screwed at this point.

Did you guys actually carry around plastic rifles for training? We used the exact same rifles we used on the rifle range. We also didnt fire the M9 in bootcamp. If you ever watch that show on the Military Channel "Making Marines" they only show the glamor parts of bootcamp. They dont mention the MANY hours of BS and classes we did.


Anyways, congrats. Even if it only the Air Farce it is still a service to your country and that is not something that can be taken away.

[tony]

Anyways, congrats. Even if it only the Air Farce it is still a service to your country and that is not something that can be taken away.

lol I laughed at that part, yeah we had the dummy M16's, I wouldn't trust a lot of these idiots with a real one 24/7. We have some Marines here on base and to be honest I wouldn't begin to touch their training, I have nothing but respect for what they do.

[bafbrian]

lol I laughed at that part, yeah we had the dummy M16's, I wouldn't trust a lot of these idiots with a real one 24/7. We have some Marines here on base and to be honest I wouldn't begin to touch their training, I have nothing but respect for what they do.

You looking into becoming an officer, if so, I can answer some of you questions about being an officer in general. If want to know about being a AF officer, my gf has an uncle who is a Colonel in the AF RAFB.

[green91]

Awesome thread. If I hadn't made some financial obligations for myself before I realized what i wanted to do, id probably be in the air force. Definitely a nice look into basic training.

[soul]

congrats man, i leave for usmc basic in a month n half.

[tron]

awww shit!....i cant wait for sept 1st. i get shipped to basic. i need a change and a challenge

how many miles a day did you have to run?

[JDMJAYDC2]

signing up in sept i cant wait army here i come

[leobond001]

congrats man. hopefully i'll be off for navy basic at the end of may.

[JDMJAYDC2]

i had no idea so many ppl were joining up we need to all have a large meet or something at wild wings

[tony]

awww shit!....i cant wait for sept 1st. i get shipped to basic. i need a change and a challenge

how many miles a day did you have to run?

Its not a matter of how far you run, but you have to continuously run for 35 minutes+ without stopping or you WILL be sorry. For the evaluation you have to run a mile and a half in under 11:47 but shoot for less than 9:30.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays you will run. Tuesdays thursdays and Saturdays you will do pushups, situps, and it is tough.

[tron]

Its not a matter of how far you run, but you have to continuously run for 35 minutes+ without stopping or you WILL be sorry. For the evaluation you have to run a mile and a half in under 11:47 but shoot for less than 9:30.

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays you will run. Tuesdays thursdays and Saturdays you will do pushups, situps, and it is tough.

sounds like fun lol jk. im good on the running my time is under 9min. how many push ups. do they just make you do them until you break

thanks for answering my questions man

and another thing im going is for avionics. is there a way i can find out how long training for that is going to be?

[tony]

sounds like fun lol jk. im good on the running my time is under 9min. how many push ups. do they just make you do them until you break

thanks for answering my questions man

and another thing im going is for avionics. is there a way i can find out how long training for that is going to be?

Pushups, over 60 in a minute but situps is what fails people believe it or not.. more than 55 in 1 minute. I did 80 pushups, 62 situps and a run time of 10:58.

As for avionics, 6 months of training.

[chubbieboi]

congrats man, whats ur Afsc?

[tron]

Pushups, over 60 in a minute but situps is what fails people believe it or not.. more than 55 in 1 minute. I did 80 pushups, 62 situps and a run time of 10:58.

As for avionics, 6 months of training.

hmmm it seems they increased the push ups i thought it was 50, well at least i know now. thanks sir

[tony]

hmmm it seems they increased the push ups i thought it was 50, well at least i know now. thanks sir

50 to pass, but you dont want to just pass. Aim for 65 pushups, 70 situps and under 9:30 run.

[BanginJimmy]

AVI can be anywhere from 6 months to over a year depending on what you are doing. Com/Nav will be the longest school, much shorter for radar and such.

[tron]

50 to pass, but you dont want to just pass. Aim for 65 pushups, 70 situps and under 9:30 run.

yea i know. i was gonna do spec ops since i qualified for SERE, PJ, and CCT. so i've been training for that but now i think im gonna do avionics then spec ops. what do you think?

[BanginJimmy]

lol I laughed at that part, yeah we had the dummy M16's, I wouldn't trust a lot of these idiots with a real one 24/7. We have some Marines here on base and to be honest I wouldn't begin to touch their training, I have nothing but respect for what they do.

What base were you on for basic? I am guessing that the Marines that were there were there for school?

Marine training is the exact same training as everyone else, but turned up a notch or 2. You do your 1.5 mile run, Marines do 3. You have a 2 week basic, Marines have 3 months.

Side note:
I still look through my bootcamp 'yearbook' from time to time and wonder how I made it through. In my more emotional times, it damn near brings a tear to my eyes when I think back and remember getting my Eagle, Globe and Anchor standing on top of the Reaper.

[tony]

Chubbie: My AFSC is 2T2X1, Air Transportation. My recruiter lied to me.. seriously I thought I was going to be a loadmaster.

yea i know. i was gonna do spec ops since i qualified for SERE, PJ, and CCT. so i've been training for that but now i think im gonna do avionics then spec ops. what do you think?

SERE and PJ's are right across the way from my training squadron.. those guys are serious, theres like a 78% fail rate over there. I forget what the physical qualifications are but you definitely have to be toward the top of your class. I'd say it depends on who you are, understand the risk of SERE, PJ and CCT.. it takes a special kind of person that is dedicated and basically ready to put your life on the line on a consistent basis.

If thats not you, go avionics. I have a son and soon a family, I'm actually considering an application to a special ops unit as a Nav but I dont know if I can deal with the Ops Tempo, my family is a priority to me. Its all about what you want out of life.

[tony]

What base were you on for basic? I am guessing that the Marines that were there were there for school?

Marine training is the exact same training as everyone else, but turned up a notch or 2. You do your 1.5 mile run, Marines do 3. You have a 2 week basic, Marines have 3 months.

Side note:
I still look through my bootcamp 'yearbook' from time to time and wonder how I made it through. In my more emotional times, it damn near brings a tear to my eyes when I think back and remember getting my Eagle, Globe and Anchor standing on top of the Reaper.

I'm at Lackland, I think they're here for school, we have the Navy and Marines but I havent seen Army around.

[BobbyFresco]

Congrats on your accomplishements and thanks for your service.

[tron]

SERE and PJ's are right across the way from my training squadron.. those guys are serious, theres like a 78% fail rate over there. I forget what the physical qualifications are but you definitely have to be toward the top of your class. I'd say it depends on who you are, understand the risk of SERE, PJ and CCT.. it takes a special kind of person that is dedicated and basically ready to put your life on the line on a consistent basis.

If thats not you, go avionics. I have a son and soon a family, I'm actually considering an application to a special ops unit as a Nav but I dont know if I can deal with the Ops Tempo, my family is a priority to me. Its all about what you want out of life.

this i know sir and i have accepted it and right now i turn 19 in couple days and its not like i plan to settle down anytime soon but the fact that im going in straight out of high school and so young is why im doing avionics 1st then make my decision on spec ops later
thanks for you advice man!

[chubbieboi]

Chubbie: My AFSC is 2T2X1, Air Transportation. My recruiter lied to me.. seriously I thought I was going to be a loadmaster.

damn man, loadmaster is a good job. Air Trans is okay (you be loading a lot of shit onto the planes and hours are vary when it comes to deployment, but on regular basis all you do it chill and relaxed). I'm myself is Supply. I was there at Lackland for 2 months for my tech school last year.

[CopyRight]

bwahahahahahaha.....I'm sorry but I gotta do that.


Not knocking you Tony, but I'm still gonna call it the "chair force"

from all the pics you took and shared, AF Basic training is still VERY posh and comfortable.
my reasoning....
-you qualified/fired under a shaded cover.
-You had internet during basic, most likely phone privileges too
-they call it the "beast" but look at your FOB, you had yellow metal gates protecting it
-You have single beds, not even bunks
-you are covered from head to toe in chem suit, so you never even felt the effects of CS on your skin


Before everyone is so quick to jump and ask dumb questions and try and belittle me....

yes I am in the Army.

Yes, I have been in more than one day.

I actually leave for Afghanistan in 22 days.

my MP re-class was probably harder than AF Basic.

SERE is a school, not anything life endangering . It def does suck. Army, Navy, Marines goto the same course at Ft Bragg which was just about 3 1/2 weeks. Once you pass the course, you are never to speak of what you endured or what the school/course consisted of. If you want a wake up call on what truly sucks in life, then give this one a shot...

PJ's and CCT's do not put their life consistently on the line. No special operations do...they train, and have plenty of intel, much more that a conventional unit, and then they train, train, train. For all special operation units, it is not their goal to go in and fight, but rather do their mission and get in and out without too large of a footprint, minus tactical demolitions


Tony. Congrats man. Not trying to knock you at all. Glad you wanted to serve your country.

btw, in the one pic you said you were at "attention"? you had your arms behind your back it looks like? bc all other services consider that "parade rest" or "at ease" just wondering....

[CopyRight]

btw, I trained a bunch of AF and Navy guys at Ft Riley at ETT/CA.

ETT = Embedded Training Team
CA = Combat Advisor

Do they actually teach anything about basic combat tactics? such as formations, movement to contact, fob security?

I ask bc the guys I had were pretty much clueless to anything I was saying and we had to stop training and them a quick class on it. Quite a few of them said they had not seen a weapon or held one since basic and these guys had about 2-3yrs service in them already.

if you get a chance or they let you, be on the lookout to goto ETT/CA out at Ft Riley, it's a good course and you will get alot out of it bc you will work alongside with Navy and Army learning some language, counterinsurgency, advising, etc..

[tony]

bwahahahahahaha.....I'm sorry but I gotta do that.


Not knocking you Tony, but I'm still gonna call it the "chair force"

from all the pics you took and shared, AF Basic training is still VERY posh and comfortable.
my reasoning....
-you qualified/fired under a shaded cover.
-You had internet during basic, most likely phone privileges too
-they call it the "beast" but look at your FOB, you had yellow metal gates protecting it
-You have single beds, not even bunks
-you are covered from head to toe in chem suit, so you never even felt the effects of CS on your skin


Before everyone is so quick to jump and ask dumb questions and try and belittle me....

yes I am in the Army.

Yes, I have been in more than one day.

I actually leave for Afghanistan in 22 days.

my MP re-class was probably harder than AF Basic.

SERE is a school, not anything life endangering . It def does suck. Army, Navy, Marines goto the same course at Ft Bragg which was just about 3 1/2 weeks. Once you pass the course, you are never to speak of what you endured or what the school/course consisted of. If you want a wake up call on what truly sucks in life, then give this one a shot...

PJ's and CCT's do not put their life consistently on the line. No special operations do...they train, and have plenty of intel, much more that a conventional unit, and then they train, train, train. For all special operation units, it is not their goal to go in and fight, but rather do their mission and get in and out without too large of a footprint, minus tactical demolitions


Tony. Congrats man. Not trying to knock you at all. Glad you wanted to serve your country.

btw, in the one pic you said you were at "attention"? you had your arms behind your back it looks like? bc all other services consider that "parade rest" or "at ease" just wondering....

No offense taken at all, I'm not oblivious to the Air Force propaganda, BEAST (Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training) doesn't compare to what the other branches train for but then again thats not a major part of our mission.

The internet from basic came from base liberty and going to the Rec, most units get none. My T.I was lenient on that.. no reflection on the entire process just an exception to the rule. BTW we did have bunks, I was lucky enough to go without one and in the gas chamber we took the tops off of the chem suits to experience the gas.

My understanding of PJ's and CC's is that they generally go with Army and/or Marine units so whatever you see they experience as well. The only PJ's I've met were assholes so far so I'm not 100% on the process.

[AirMax95]

Congrats! I opted out of my desire to go AF.

Press on and upwards!

[92mr2T]

you have to sleep outside in a tent for a week? You get to fight with those things too? 50 pushups? Things sure have changed from 1998!