I Love Starbucks

Hey all,

One of my fellow flight members dropped me and my roomate at a Starbucks for a few hours. It feels great to spend some time connecting with the rest of the world. Being trapped on base feels like you're trapped on a deserted island. No TV, no news. It's amazing how much you miss those little things. Although being without them has really enabled my flight to bond and establish a real sense of family.

So, this week started a little slow but it picked up at the end with the LRC (see previous post). LRC was essentially a bunch of puzzles that required physical solutions. Problem solving is fun...more fun when you bring in the physical element. It is always fun to show off your agility...did I mention I'm agile...not to be conceited, but I am. LRC was a blast.

Let me just say thanks to everyone who has emailed me or posted a comment on the blog. It feels really good to hear from you.

Here are a couple of quick pics.

This is my Flight. Echo Flight is our name.
We are one of two flights that make up the
Guardian squadron.


This is me and a couple of my fellow flight
members in one of the dorm rooms


Sean

A Change of Pace

Sean has had a change of pace for the end of this week. Thursday they attended a lecture given by the Air Force Surgeon General, then Thursday and Friday afternoon the officers have Leadership Reaction Courses. These are a series of obstacle courses where each flight (team) has to accomplish a mission. On each mission, flight members are assigned different responsibilities like flight safety or communications. The difficulty of the missions is so great that most flights only complete one out of six missions successfully. There are a total of 12-14 obstacles in all. Sean says it is extremely challenging, but fun!

Almost Half-Way There!

Sean is doing very well at COT now. He just took the first of two tests they have to take and pass to graduate. He only missed 2 questions, so passed with flying colors! He has also been able to get himself and his Flight (team) set up with network and email accounts.

This past weekend, Sean's Flight got to go to Outback Steakhouse and enjoy an evening of good old fun. Sean said he got to pull out his sense of humor and everyone just got to be themselves, which was wonderful. A break from the serious routine is always welcome!

The two major events coming up for Sean are his second test that he has to pass to graduate and his Flight's 2-Day mission starting February 6. Their graduation ceremony is the morning of February 10. I will not be able to go, but that is what we decided would be best since the movers will be packing our stuff, so it's OK. We're both just looking forward to getting on with our move and new life.

Sean will be flying home on the evening of February 10. We're almost half-way through the time until he comes home! When Sean arrives, the movers will have already come and gone, so there won't be a whole lot to do to wrap up. Then it's on to Texas!

Sean's First Week at COT

Sean's first week at COT started out sort of stressful - everything was a new experience and a learning process. Wednesday was the first full day and started off with 1 hour of physical training in the rain, then classes all day and meetings in the evening, followed by homework and uniform ironing until around midnight. After that first day, Sean figured it couldn't get too much worse, so started feeling more positive about things on Thursday.

Later in the week, everyone was assigned to "Flights" (teams of 15) which will work together to prepare for their 2-day/2 night mission that starts February 6. Sean's Flight is called the Guardians and Sean has been assigned the Computer Officer of his Flight. This means he is responsible for setting up all of his flightmates on the computer network, assigning them passwords, email accounts etc. Although working with computers is something Sean is very good at, this task has been frustrating because the base is currently having computer problems which are preventing people from getting online.

On Saturday, Sean and his roomate Nelson went to the base store to buy a few items, including detergent so they could do their laundry. Saturday night, Sean and a whole bunch of others went to the Officers Club to eat and watch the Broncos game. Sean and I talked at least 3 times that day, mostly during the game because he was so excited. Sunday was a big study day because, although they are off on MLK Day, they still have to go in for a test.

Although the schedule continues to be grueling, with very little free-time, Sean has been able to establish a routine and has started to adjust. I am so proud of Sean and how well he has been able to adapt to his new situation! I have enjoyed talking to him every day to hear what is new.

If any of you would like to send him a card or something, his address at COT is:

2LT Nicholas Bancroft (06-02)
550 E. Maxwell Blvd. #9000
Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-5000

How We are All Doing

Sean is feeling very tired and overwhelmed after yesterday. He could probably use some prayer. There are so many new things for him right now - new info & culture, getting up very early, lots of physical activity. Our recruiter told him he would feel this way though and that it would get better after a week or 2.

I am doing well and making a lot of progress with organizing our stuff for the big move. I keep over-doing though with moving heavy items and my lower back keeps going out. I've got a chiropractor appointment for Fri so should be better after that and then I'll just have to be more careful.

Mom and dad are keeping busy. They just got new garage doors and mom is making a list of what to do with the new space they'll have once we move. I officially gave them Buddy the dog on Monday. We can't take him because he just wouldn't do well in an apartment. He now lives, sleeps and eats with them, which is a relief to me because I find him sort of irritating sometimes.