Field Training is 28 days from arrival to departure. Your cadet will be in a very stressful environment and will most likely not have time to write you, though every letter s/he gets will be read and reread daily. It's HOT in Alabama. They will sweat and drink and sweat and drink. Every morning they get up at 0400 to the sound of Reville - you know, the annoying trumpet song. They have to spring out of bed, not stretch and roll out at a leisurely pace. They sleep in their workout clothes which get washed about once every other week. And church - church is going to be a tropical oasis in the middle of Mars.
They'll have roommates...
Be put into a flight - and have to compete against each otherAnd they'll come out with lots of friends that you'll see again during your Air Force career. The food is actually pretty good if they can taste it - s/he has 10 minutes to eat each full-size meal. They'll eat around 3,000 calories a day and still manage to lose weight (Mitch and I both lost 15 lbs in 4 weeks - yikes!).
Your cadet will have around 4-6 hours of classroom instruction a day in an air-conditioned room. Which usually will make them sleepy. They won't sleep well for the first few days and their bodies kind of freak out. Some cadets stopped having bowel movements (sorry if that is TMI, but it's dangerous. We had one cadet sent home because of that problem) and some wake up in the middle of the night with leg tremors they can't control.
Their room is very naked and very rigid. I don't remember the last time I slept in a bunk bed before Field Training.
Thin little sheets and you had to kick out your folded corners every night - annoying
Physical Training is rough the first few days because you're exhausted. Just because you're in bed by 9 doesn't mean you slept well. Remember the leg tremors? Started around 2 in the morning and ended around 3 or 3:30. Up at 4. You take a physical fitness test around day 4, just when you're starting to recover and adjust. Warrior Day is full of physical training. You do a 3 mile run at least once a week. Those were nice. We got to run around the base and on the golf course. Very pretty.
Your cadets will go about a mile or mile and a half out into Maxwell's inner area where there is a bare-base camp with old Army tents and rocky gravel ground called Blue Thunder. They get trained in combatives and run the infamous obstacle course among other things.
After that, your cadets go to Mississippi for hands on training in the field. This is where is gets fun. Again, they sleep in army tents in a simulated bare-base camp. They get two hot meals a day, lunch is an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). They're actually pretty good except for the omelet. Ugh. Of course, they'll probably be hungry enough that it really doesn't matter what it tastes like.
After that week, it's back to Maxwell and the last few days before graduation. At this time, Field Training is kind of fun. All that they have left is the crucible (which they may or may not do anymore - I've heard mixed stories). Ours was a 6 mile run with motivational stops along the way. At least we were in our PTs. I had to do a 6 mile run in full BDUs a couple weeks earlier. Not fun.
After the crucible, they've pretty much made it through field training. They'll sit through the last classes, practice for graduation and, on the last morning, when they wake up to leave, (if they have cool CTAs), they'll wake up to MUSIC! Not Reville! WOOT! The graduation ceremony is pretty much like our pass and review that we have at the detachment every semester - down to the music. The very last morning, they've packed the night before and spent time taking pictures, exchanging contact info with their buddies and now they're so ready to leave. They're bussed back to the airport and spend some time waiting for their flights and finally come back home.
YAY! 4 weeks isn't so bad, right? And being at home doesn't sound like such a bad place to be, huh? :)
Your cadet will have around 4-6 hours of classroom instruction a day in an air-conditioned room. Which usually will make them sleepy. They won't sleep well for the first few days and their bodies kind of freak out. Some cadets stopped having bowel movements (sorry if that is TMI, but it's dangerous. We had one cadet sent home because of that problem) and some wake up in the middle of the night with leg tremors they can't control.
Their room is very naked and very rigid. I don't remember the last time I slept in a bunk bed before Field Training.
Thin little sheets and you had to kick out your folded corners every night - annoyingPhysical Training is rough the first few days because you're exhausted. Just because you're in bed by 9 doesn't mean you slept well. Remember the leg tremors? Started around 2 in the morning and ended around 3 or 3:30. Up at 4. You take a physical fitness test around day 4, just when you're starting to recover and adjust. Warrior Day is full of physical training. You do a 3 mile run at least once a week. Those were nice. We got to run around the base and on the golf course. Very pretty.
Your cadets will go about a mile or mile and a half out into Maxwell's inner area where there is a bare-base camp with old Army tents and rocky gravel ground called Blue Thunder. They get trained in combatives and run the infamous obstacle course among other things.
After that, your cadets go to Mississippi for hands on training in the field. This is where is gets fun. Again, they sleep in army tents in a simulated bare-base camp. They get two hot meals a day, lunch is an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). They're actually pretty good except for the omelet. Ugh. Of course, they'll probably be hungry enough that it really doesn't matter what it tastes like.
After that week, it's back to Maxwell and the last few days before graduation. At this time, Field Training is kind of fun. All that they have left is the crucible (which they may or may not do anymore - I've heard mixed stories). Ours was a 6 mile run with motivational stops along the way. At least we were in our PTs. I had to do a 6 mile run in full BDUs a couple weeks earlier. Not fun.
After the crucible, they've pretty much made it through field training. They'll sit through the last classes, practice for graduation and, on the last morning, when they wake up to leave, (if they have cool CTAs), they'll wake up to MUSIC! Not Reville! WOOT! The graduation ceremony is pretty much like our pass and review that we have at the detachment every semester - down to the music. The very last morning, they've packed the night before and spent time taking pictures, exchanging contact info with their buddies and now they're so ready to leave. They're bussed back to the airport and spend some time waiting for their flights and finally come back home.
YAY! 4 weeks isn't so bad, right? And being at home doesn't sound like such a bad place to be, huh? :)
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