I arrived at Maxwell AFB on Monday, January 11, 2010 to begin Commissioned Officer Training (COT). I didn't have much of an idea of what to expect. What little I did know came from various Blogs I had read and from a friend of mine who had attended COT in October of last year. Nothing I read or heard could have prepared me for what I was about to experience.
Fortunately, I was not alone. One of my law school friends was with me. We had both been assigned to the same COT class and since he flew in to Montgomery after I arrived, I volunteered to pick him up at the airport. We were both filled with a nervous anxiety as we drove up to the gate and handed the security guard our orders and driver licenses. After we were allowed on base, and after a few wrong turns, we arrived at the COT student dorms where we would spend the next five weeks.
With our bags in hand we walked cautiously towards the dorm building, unsure of what lie ahead. What we found was a patio full of suitcases to which, as instructed to do by some fellow students, we added our own. As we following signs leading us around the building and toward the main entrance we met up with a very serious Air Force Training Instructor ("TI") who served us our first helping of Air Force "indoctrination" (a term used frequently to ensure us that the treatment we were receiving had a purpose).
The TI's instructions, which he yelled with the conviction of one trying to convey a message of life-or-death importance, went something like this:
"Line up in two columns, front to back. Stand up straight, head forward, eyes straight, hands at your sides. When you go inside you will answer all questions beginning with the word Sir or Ma'am and you will not speak unless spoken to. Have a pen and your orders out and available."
To fully understand my experience at COT, you must focus primarily on the position at which we were told to stand by the TI. That is basically how I spend the entire five weeks: Back straight, heals together and toes apart at a 45 degree angle, head and eyes forward, hands at my side in a tight-cupped position. This is called standing at attention. There were some derivations of this position as will be explained below, but that about sums up my posture during my duration at COT.
It is amazing how easy it is to completely forget such simple instructions when people all around are getting yelled at. My biggest mistake during in-processing was to answer questions "Sir, yes, sir" instead of just "Sir, yes," as I had been instructed.
After the surprisingly difficult gauntlet of turning in paperwork and signing my name on various documents, I was finally told to go to my room.
Our beds. Mine is the one on the right.
Our desks. Mine is the one on the left.
The next five weeks were spent being indoctrinated into the Air Force. Specifically, we were taught what it means to be an officer and how to act as such. Even though I have only been in the Air Force for about three months, as a First Lieutenant, I already out rank a little over 80% of the entire Air Force. That means that I am expected to act in such a way as to be an example to those who I outrank. One of the main focuses at COT is leadership. We were taught various leadership techniques and were put through leadership exercises to apply what we had learned.
ScheduleThe schedule at COT was fairly demanding. The typical day's schedule was as follows:
0430 - Wake up
0515-0615 - Physical Training
0615-0700 - Shower and Change
0700-0800 - Breakfast
0800-1200 - Class
1200-1300 - Lunch
1300-1800 - Class
1800-1900 - Dinner
1900-2330 - Study and Personal Time
2330 - Lights out
Some of these categories need to be explained in a little more detail.
MealsMeals weren't really an hour long as our schedule would suggest. After going through a cafeteria-style line (standing at attention without talking and side-stepping through the line) and getting our food, we were given exactly 20 minutes from the time we sat down at our table until we were supposed to leave the Chow Hall. For the first four weeks we at "tight meals." This meant that we could only sit on the front two-thirds of the chair, back straight, heals together, feet at a 45 degree angle. If you had to bend forward to eat, you were to bend only at the waist and then return to an upright position as soon as possible. Additionally, you were not allowed to speak at all during the meal.
ClassesOur class time was actually fairly interesting. We learned a lot about what it means to be an officer and various leadership styles to use to motivate those we are over. Additionally, we had some classes on Air Force history. Besides the sometimes never-ending days in the lecture hall, I enjoyed the classes.
Our classes were one of two types: Lecture or Flight Room. Lecture classes were when the entire COT class (about 120 students) met together in one big auditorium. Flight Room classes were when each Flight (12-13 students) met in a smaller room to have more interactive instruction from our Flight Commander. Each Flight stayed together throughout COT and would compete against other Flight in various activities and competitions.
Physical Training (PT)
For PT we would usually march out to an old air strip, put a stinky old mat on the ground and then proceed to do every variation of push-up and sit-up known to man. Additionally, PT often involved some running. This was all focused on helping us to pass our PT Test which every member of the Air Force has to take twice a year. The PT test measures how many push-ups and sit-ups you can do in one minute, how fast you can run a mile and a half, and finally, your waist circumference. I was pretty amazed at how much I was able to improve during the 5-week course. In the end, I passed the test.
Although challenging, the most difficult part of PT had to have been the freezing temperatures in which we did it. Lucky for me, I happened to come to Alabama for one of the coldest winters on record.
Here are some pictures showing some of the other things we did during COT:
This is our Flight classroom where we spent a lot of time together.
We had Picture day and had individual and Flight pictures in our Service Dress.
Here we are doing a low crawl while dragging a stretcher as part of the Air Expeditionary Force training.
Finally after about four weeks we were able to get off base and go out to dinner. Here is part of my flight enjoying some delicious Teppanyaki.
This is part of a obstacle course we did. I am crawling on the left side in the back. I was spitting dirt out of my mouth for a couple days after this.
Here is our last day of PT during COT. We went on a run around the base and did different physical challenges upon arriving at some of the historic sites on Maxwell. In this picture we are standing below a replica of the Wright Bros' first plane. We had to do four 120 foot sprints in memory of the first flight which went 120 feet. I know it's hard to see, but I'm right in the middle standing under the plane. Pretty cool reflective belt eh?
On the Wednesday before graduation there was a "Dining Out" (The term used for a fancy military dinner). Holly, the kids, and Holly's mom arrived shortly before the dinner so the kids stayed at the hotel with Nana and I got to spend the evening with my beautiful wife.
I was very fortunate to have quite a few family members make it down for graduation. Here I am with my dad and my son following the graduation. It just so happened that we got a freak snow storm that day and the outside activities were all canceled.
Here I am in the cockpit ready to go off into the wild blue yonder.
Here I am with Lts Dilworth and Mumford in front of the "little" gun on the AC-130U. This is a 25mm 5-barrel Equalizer Gatling Gun. This little fella can shoot about 3,600-4,200 rounds per minute.
But the AC-130U has some bigger stuff if the 25mm doesn't get the bad guys' attention. Maybe dropping some 40 mm rounds at 80-100 rounds per minute might work.
If the bad guys need a little more persuasion, this 105mm round comin' at them from the M102 Howitzer on the AC-130U should do the trick. Although this gun can fire at a rate of about 10 rounds per minute, I would imagine that after one of these bad boys knocking on your door, you wouldn't need much more persuading.
The valiant crew of the AC-130 U standing on the tailgate.
Our second trip during JASOC was to Washington D.C. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera in Alabama and wasn't able to take any pictures. However, I am hoping to get a few pictures from the trip and will post those as soon as I get them.
