Pass and Review

I added pics to the ice skating and hot dog stand on the post below this one.

We arrived at the Airforce Academy just in time for the parent presentation. The cadet commander told us that they had woken our sons and daughters up at 5:30am every day, made them make their beds with hospital corners (45 degree angles) and collars 18” from the top. They had drilled them, marched them and made them run. They had taught them how to do things with a ‘sense of urgency’ (which when you think about how long it took for Joel to get him uniform is quite ironic.) Then we watched a video from the week. It showed them sitting in class and doing everything he said. There was teamwork and tours, volleyball and Col. Smiley (I have a pic of him later.) There was a really funny segment called, ‘Before PT everyday, every cadet must do 1 thing……WAKE UP!’ Then it showed a cadet banging on each door and yelling, ‘Let’s go, get up wake up!’ It showed how through the week they started as individuals and then became a Cadre.

We had a few minutes to spare before the ceremony and then it started. The squadrons came by in their flights. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, and the advanced flights (Purple people eaters.)

I taped different parts of the ceremony so here is the beginning, here they are on the field and more on the field, here they are before the National Anthem played. (I’ll have to you tube those, so that will be later.) Joel is in the 3rd squadron, 1st flight, last man in the front on the left before the flag bearer.

That meant that as they passed by the stands Joel was right in front of us.

Oh, my goodness, they look sharp! Sorry for the crappy, shaky video, but they were so far away I tried to zoom in a little and I had to hold it with one hand at times (so I could wipe my tears with the other hand.) After they passed they reformed and fell out according to squads. Joel looked happy to be at rest.

Here is Col. Smiley; he was used for teamwork training and as inspector of the cadets. When you moved the Col. he must never have lost his hat!

Joel told me that the ATF cadets (advanced training flight) got to jump out of a helicopter. I said (without thinking) “With parachutes?”
Joel replied, “No, mom, without parachutes that’s why they broke their arm. Of course they had parachutes!”
We wondered why we hadn’t seen any pics of it and Joel said maybe because the parents didn’t know about it beforehand. There was one cadet on crutches and 2 with arm slings………I wonder. I really hope next year he gets in a squad closer to the front of the alphabet. Being in the last squad meant that when the other cadets left and made a mess they had to clean it up. It took them and hour and a half to clean out the building to the satisfaction of the cadet commander. ‘Sense of urgency’ remember? They had them stand out in the sun and then run around the building carrying out trash and cleaning bathrooms. That’s why in this pic Joel has a bloody nose, good thing he had 2 shirts. Hannah is running towards him trying to get a hug.

Once Joel got in the car we gave him the AFA hat we bought and went over to the visitor center to buy a pennant (like the Col. suggested.)

Joel regaled us with his week. 90% was good, 10% was bad (that would be the hurrying, PT and the yelling.) He had fun on the tours and in the flight sim and he learned a lot in class. They drilled to AF standards and they did the closing ceremony practice 5 times on Thursday. He had 1 bunkmate and in his room were 1 bunk bed, 1 desk, 2 chairs and 1 closet.

Here are some of his notes: Don’t touch the desks, windows or thermostat. 2nd from the top shelf holds toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, comb and brush, shampoo and soap in that order.

Honor code: We will not lie, cheat nor steal nor tolerate anyone who does among us.

Motivation check: Motivated, dedicated ready to be educated. Cream of the crop, never gonna stop. Motivated, dedicated, ho-ahh!

After the center we went to Solo’s restaurant for a late lunch.

What better way to celebrate the end of CAP camp than by eating in a plane? It’s a KC-97 bomber that has been turned into a restaurant.

We had to split up to eat inside the plane, but why go there if you can’t eat inside?

They left the cockpit controls intact, so the kids had fun.

They had maps on the tables for decoration; it was really a cool place.

Inside the restaurant you could sit under the wing of the plane.

Here is the propeller and here is a pic of the plane and the signatures of the flight crew.

We walked around to the outside to take a few pics.

Then we headed for home. Joel did really well at camp, he spent no money (he says because they never took them to the BX, maybe that’s a good thing), he didn’t do his laundry (he says because they never had time, but he’ll have plenty of time Monday to do it at home!), he met some new friends, learned some new skills, got an appetite for the academy (woo-hoo free education!) and became part of the Cadre for 2008. He came home with a kind of year book that the cadet staff made for them, a lot of dirty laundry, a sunburn, a lot of new drill songs, and he is excited to share what he learned with his unit on Monday. He only hopes that next year he gets to be staff (so he can yell at people.) I also told him that we’d get a membership to Wings over the Rockies as a graduation present, so we might do that tomorrow.

I give you Cadet Airman Joel Foster Carberry, Golf flight squadron 3.

Psalm 62:7
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.