A Filipina in Air Force Basic Training

[JoBri 552]

But I said Air Force has to do sit ups, in one minute. And I said Army has to do sit ups for 2 minutes.

And I saw that for various levels, such as honor graduate at Air Force BMT, you have to do pull ups. No pull ups required to pass it for male OR female, but for honor graduate I see they are required. Four pull ups for males, and 2 for females.Or did they do away with that now? If so I stand corrected. My wife trained for her best, and set her sights on honor graduate, so that is what we focused on. Sorry if I confused things.

I used to be a UFPM and do fitness evals for almost everyone in my unit. One Lt was going to the Army through the "blue to green" program and had to pass an Army fit eval before his application was approved...after coordinating with the Army I tested him, and it included situps. This was a few years ago, around 2008.

No pull-ups for the AF, male or female...unless that is just a basic training thing they're doing now.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Brijo

[Kevo 74]

But I said Air Force has to do sit ups, in one minute. And I said Army has to do sit ups for 2 minutes.

And I saw that for various levels, such as honor graduate at Air Force BMT, you have to do pull ups. No pull ups required to pass it for male OR female, but for honor graduate I see they are required. Four pull ups for males, and 2 for females.Or did they do away with that now? If so I stand corrected. My wife trained for her best, and set her sights on honor graduate, so that is what we focused on. Sorry if I confused things.

Ahh.

I'm unsure about the pull-ups for BMT honor grad - I was just speaking of AF fitness evals. It wasn't a honor grad requirement when I went through but that was a few years ago (1992).

[JoBri 552]

This is what I was looking at:

Female Female Fitness RequirementsStandard

Run (1.5 miles) Push-Ups (1 minute) Sit-Ups (1 minute) Pull-Ups (no time limit)

Liberator (minimum graduation standards) 14:26 18 38 0 Thunderbolt (honor graduate minimum standards) 12:00 32 55 2

Warhawk (highest standard) 10:55 40 60 5

Realistically speaking, she just wanted to get Thunderbolt. I dont think she would be able to get the 5 pull ups for Warhawk, but I guess she could.

Sorry I cant get this chart to post right.

Edited March 27, 2013 by Brijo

[JoBri 552]

This is a good link I think for Air Force BMT Physical Fitness: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/airforcejoin/a/afbmtfinalpt.htm

[JoBri 552]

I finally got a letter from my wife today, the first letter. Only one phone call, the night of her first full day there letting me know her address. She hasnt been able to call again since March 21.

She is making a splash though, and I am very happy and pleased with her accomplishments thus far. They had the first PT (Physical Training) test, sometime on or before March 26, since that is the date of the letter. As a result of that PT test she, well...let me find her own words. "I am the PT monitor. I got the highest score during PT. I dont like being PT monitor although it's an honor. I have to monitor those who are poor runners/poor in PT."

Sooooo... I feel like the coach, and she the athlete. And as her "coach" I am very proud of what she accomplished. I mean, 39 years old, thrown in with teenagers, and she has the best score! Woo Hoo!! We started last July with me (fat and out of shape as I am) pulling our son in the wagon, and her not able to run half a mile as fast as I could. She had to walk. She couldn't do one correct push up. I showed her how to do the military push ups, the sit ups, and how to run faster, and pushed her to keep on all this time. And she kept on, and pushed herself, and didnt give up. I told her to run hills, and she ran hills. I told her to run when it was raining, and she ran when it was raining. I told her to run when she was tired from a long day's work, and she ran when she was tired from a long day's work. And she did push ups and sit ups long before I ever woke up myself each morning. And now she is the best there, and I am pretty pleased. So I think that is pretty great for a Filipina at the U. S. Air Force Basic Military Training.

Other things she mentioned.... She is glad for all the letters I am sending. Her first three days were tough.... she couldnt sleep because of the stress (for all of them), but as of the 26th of March she said she was beginning to adjust. And she wants me to pray for her "all the time".

So anyways, this is just for those who wanted to know how this particular Filipina is doing thus far in Basic Training. Will update as news comes in.

Edited April 2, 2013 by Brijo

[JoBri 552]

I think she will get Honor Graduate, the way she is the best in PT and focusing on doing so well in what she is learning. She will get a ribbon for that too, to wea on her uniform.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Great news! Next, she will be offered a full time slot in the Air Force, or once back to her AirGuard unit, selected for OCS. She'll need a waiver, for her age, but I suspect that will be coming down the line.

[JoBri 552]

She would take the OCS route and full time route, if she can get it. Will try to find out what she would have to do to get a waiver. But alternatively, she has plans to get her RN. I think she will probably have to make a choice at this point between the couple of years to get her RN or going OCS and then getting RN later. Not sue yet which she would choose if she had the options. I know she has enough education already to become an officer, with a master degree already. But she would have to get her citizenship first in order to get a secret clearance. I helped her get all the paperwork prepared ahead of time which she hand carried with her to BMT. The Air Force supposedly started in 2011 to work with a USCIS liaison in getting citizenship while at basic training, but honestly I dont put a whole lot of hope in that happening, even though it is a possibility. The Army and Navy seem much more on the ball of making that happen. I just dont hear a whole lot about it with the Air Force. And when I called personnel with the Air Force and talked with her recruiter, no one seemed to know a whole lot about it. So that didnt give me a lot of hope. Will just wait and see what happens now, I guess.

Great news! Next, she will be offered a full time slot in the Air Force, or once back to her AirGuard unit, selected for OCS. She'll need a waiver, for her age, but I suspect that will be coming down the line.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

If she becomes an RN, she might be eligible for a direct commission.

http://www.airforce.com/benefits/commissioned-officer-education/

[JoBri 552]

Let me summarize the 2nd and 3rd letter I got from my wife.

Everyone is having a hard time staying awake in class. She misses her coffee. She misses our bed. She is ready for it to end. She thinks that the MTIs (Military Training Instructors) are either "monsters or are from hell". And she is happy for all the mail me and my mom are sending to her.

That's it in a nutshell, thus far.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Let me summarize the 2nd and 3rd letter I got from my wife.

Everyone is having a hard time staying awake in class. She misses her coffee. She misses our bed. She is ready for it to end. She thinks that the MTIs (Military Training Instructors) are either "monsters or are from hell". And she is happy for all the mail me and my mom are sending to her.

That's it in a nutshell, thus far.

Sounds about right. Functioning on minimal sleep so you can catch up on stuff during lights out, then hitting the classrooms with the heat turned up plus no fresh air, everybody's eyelids get a little heavy.

Where is she at? Starting her third full week? Remind her of that. The worst is behind her.

[JoBri 552]

Y

Sounds about right. Functioning on minimal sleep so you can catch up on stuff during lights out, then hitting the classrooms with the heat turned up plus no fresh air, everybody's eyelids get a little heavy.

Where is she at? Starting her third full week? Remind her of that. The worst is behind her.

Yeh, you got it right. She is starting her 3rd full week. This week will be mainly "combat lifesaving skills". In my previous post I guess it came out as all negative. But I could "hear" in her words that she is handling it ok. Of course for EVERYONE the experience is going to be pretty crappy. That is what basic training is like. But she is handling it well. I mean, as far as what she said about the MTIs in her last letter, she said it is "part of a game". She understands that. And she told me "six more weeks and I'm done", and that was March 31, so she sees there will be an end to it. And she told me in that letter to bring make-up for her, for graduation, so that is a positive thing, actually. So, the bulk of her letter was talking about stuff like that and about our son and her love for him and me. And she just put some stuff in there about being tired and the MTIs, so I think she is doing ok. I know she is handling it ok... She is very tough. She can be hard, focused, determined, and wanting to just get down to the business of doing her best and getting through it at her very best. So she is doing fine I think. By the way, she said in that last letter she was doing EC (Entry Controller) that night. I think that is sort of like CQ in the Army? Anyways, no complaining about it from her, just a matter of fact statement. Sounds ok.

[JoBri 552]

2nd PT test and she came in ahead of all the other women again. I am proud of her.

Me, our son, and my parents will be able to stay right on the air base when she graduates, within walking distance of the parade field she graduates on.

Edited April 15, 2013 by Brijo

[JoBri 552]

I found out today my wife injured her ankle on the obstacle course, with some swelling to the ankle as well. After a couple days of it swelling worse she went on sick call to the clinic. After the fact she worried about having gone on sick call for that, worrying she wouldnt be allowed to continue and graduate on time.

Apparently the swelling has decreased significantly and she states she is "able to do everything". As long as she is careful with that ankle I dont think she has to worry. I dont believe the medical personnel would have returned her to her unit for training if she had a physical profile of such a degree that she was not able to continue training without causing further harm to herself. I think she would have been pulled from training and reassigned to the medical facility there until she healed, if it was that bad, rather than to be returned to duty.

[JoBri 552]

Well, she almost got sent to MED HOLD. It took awhile to find out all the facts because of waiting on the U.S. Postal Service and waiting for her appointments. Apparently she was doing "The Wall" on the obstacle course and came down in a pit of water. She sprained her ankle, and it swelled. She waited until 2 days after the injury, then she went to the clinic and they had her wear a brace and she had a profile.... She could walk but nothing more. A week after going to the clinic she had to go back to the clinic, and there was fear that she would get sent to MED HOLD until she healed completely. But she was returned to regular training. They only told her that for running she was to do self-paced at first. She was just so afraid to go to MED HOLD because she and some other trainees had to "escort" another trainee there, and she said it wasn't a happy place.

So now she is back on schedule. As I write this she is at BEAST week (Basic Expeditionary Airman Skills Training). It is a simulated combat deployment exercise. As of a week ago (last letter I got from her) she was struggling a little with her feelings. She feels sad every day. She is missing everything... Me, our son, home, our cat, life as it was. But after this week is over with she will be good as done. Week 7 will be a written test and the final PT test, and week 8 is graduation. She should just about be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel with just 16 days remaining now. I think when she injured her ankle the fear she would be held back there really got her down, and it is taking a little bit for her to come out of that valley. She said, looking forward to BEAST week, that she thought that sounded exciting. So even that little statement sounded some positive to me. She and I both will be very proud, I am sure, on graduation day.

I know this whole experience is a lot worse than she ever imagined it would be. I didn't want her to have to go through it, but it was her choice, and I could only support her on it. The day she was sworn in I slowed the car way down and told her I could turn the car around and we could just go home, she would never have to see those people again, and it would be ok. But she chose to go forward, and I chose with that decision to not stand in her way and only support her in whatever ways I could. I supported her in helping her get ready to go, physically, and in packing, in giving her information. With her there the only thing I could do is take the best care of our son and home as I could, and to write her every single day since she left. And I will be there to see her graduate too. And me and our son have prayed every day for her too. Usually I don't say prayers with my son at nap time, but lately our almost 3 year old son asks me at nap time to "pray for mommy" too. And we pray for her every night when I am tucking our son into bed too.

I know the letters have helped her a lot. She has become dependent on the letters each day. I think that kept her hanging in there. And I have sent pictures almost every day of our son too.

The worst is almost over...

Edited May 1, 2013 by Brijo