Starting a New Chapter
This week a new chapter has begun in Adam's life journey. Now 18 years old, a Cadet/Chief Master Sergeant in the Civil Air Patrol/Air Force Auxiliary, a student pilot, and a hardware store sales associate, Adam is now in the process of enlisting in the US Air Force.
Adam has had two meetings with the recruiter this week with another meeting scheduled for tomorrow. He has already submitted his 120 page application. Next week is a visit to MEPS. For those unfamiliar with military acronyms, MEPS is the Military Entrance Processing Station. He will spend a couple of busy days there on an active base for his medical exam, more interviews, a written exam and some psych and physical testing.
At this point things are progressing very quickly for Adam. This is the "hurry-up" stage which will probably last another week or so. This "hurry-up" stage is always followed by a grueling "wait" stage. This two-stage cycle will be the everyday mantra for his new career in the Air Force... hurry-up and wait.
Personally, I have a feeling that Adam's first "waiting" stage will be relatively quick. My gut feeling and experience tells me Adam will only be waiting for a matter of weeks before he ships out for active duty.
All of these meetings and all of our discussions about what to expect have been bringing back many memories from my own Air Force beginnings. Some things are very much the same, some things are vastly different. Regardless, I am vividly reliving my own experiences from 30-plus years ago and, as a result, probably bombarding Adam with far too much advice and too many stories.
The need for new recruits is far lower today than ever before which means that standards and qualifications are exceptionally high. I could write a whole article just on disqualifying traits, characteristics and experiences so I won't even get started explaining any of this here. I just want to point out that more than 90% of today's young adults seeking a career in the US Air Force are disqualified in the initial telephone interview! I love seeing new recruits held to exceptionally high standards and it is nice to see Adam striving to surpass these high standards.
Anyway, I wanted to share and include a photo of our Cadet/Chief Master Sergeant with Mom arriving at another meeting with the recruiter this evening.
NOTE: Adam was in his cadet uniform tonight because he had planned to attend his squadron's weekly meeting after our "short" meeting with the recruiter. The meeting ran very late so Adam missed his squadron meeting which was supposed to include an aerospace speech written and delivered by himself as part of earning another ribbon and earning him the opportunity to test to become a cadet officer. Of particular note here is that only 15% of cadets ever make it to the officer ranks and Adam has now earned the privilege of becoming part of that top 15%. Although Adam missed his squadron meeting, we did, however, manage to stop for dinner at The Longhorn Steakhouse on the way home... we were all starving by then!
Adam has had two meetings with the recruiter this week with another meeting scheduled for tomorrow. He has already submitted his 120 page application. Next week is a visit to MEPS. For those unfamiliar with military acronyms, MEPS is the Military Entrance Processing Station. He will spend a couple of busy days there on an active base for his medical exam, more interviews, a written exam and some psych and physical testing.
At this point things are progressing very quickly for Adam. This is the "hurry-up" stage which will probably last another week or so. This "hurry-up" stage is always followed by a grueling "wait" stage. This two-stage cycle will be the everyday mantra for his new career in the Air Force... hurry-up and wait.
All of these meetings and all of our discussions about what to expect have been bringing back many memories from my own Air Force beginnings. Some things are very much the same, some things are vastly different. Regardless, I am vividly reliving my own experiences from 30-plus years ago and, as a result, probably bombarding Adam with far too much advice and too many stories.
The need for new recruits is far lower today than ever before which means that standards and qualifications are exceptionally high. I could write a whole article just on disqualifying traits, characteristics and experiences so I won't even get started explaining any of this here. I just want to point out that more than 90% of today's young adults seeking a career in the US Air Force are disqualified in the initial telephone interview! I love seeing new recruits held to exceptionally high standards and it is nice to see Adam striving to surpass these high standards.
Anyway, I wanted to share and include a photo of our Cadet/Chief Master Sergeant with Mom arriving at another meeting with the recruiter this evening.
NOTE: Adam was in his cadet uniform tonight because he had planned to attend his squadron's weekly meeting after our "short" meeting with the recruiter. The meeting ran very late so Adam missed his squadron meeting which was supposed to include an aerospace speech written and delivered by himself as part of earning another ribbon and earning him the opportunity to test to become a cadet officer. Of particular note here is that only 15% of cadets ever make it to the officer ranks and Adam has now earned the privilege of becoming part of that top 15%. Although Adam missed his squadron meeting, we did, however, manage to stop for dinner at The Longhorn Steakhouse on the way home... we were all starving by then!
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