ANG Student Flight Drill 3

This drill weekend's Student Flight was a success. How do I know? Because I can hardly move today—I'm so sore—in a good way, of course. After all the push-ups, PT, marching and running, the soreness brings on a feeling of accomplishment. And just imagine—that was only two days... I can't wait to go down to Basic Training and experience the full 60-days & all the intensity it will bring.

Student Flight was a bit different this time around. I was in a student leadership position, so there was a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. Some of it was great—it was awesome to be a leader and to be able to see orders fulfilled & the trainees come together to work as one—and some of it was not so great, as I was the first person to get in trouble if any of my trainees (or myself, for that matter) made a mistake. I feel like I held that weight pretty well... and it gave me the tiniest glimpse into what holding a leadership position at Basic Training is going to look like. Notice I say "tiniest"—and that's because it's true. I know that Student Flight and what we experience is absolutely nothing like what we'll experience at BMT, but it is at least helping prepare me.

Honestly, I can't say enough about Student Flight and how awesome it is. I love everything we're learning and the discipline we've started to show. The relationships I'm forming with my future trainees who I may never have gotten to know without Student Flight has been invaluable. We are all coming from so many different walks of life, yet at Student Flight, we are all the same. It doesn't matter what our age is, our AFSC, our backgrounds or what the future holds... we are all trainees who are preparing for BMT and learning to be as one. It's a very, very neat experience that I'll never get to have after I leave for Basic, so I'm taking in every minute.

Student Flight is helping me prepare to be that "American Airman" that I keep hearing so much about. And let me tell you what... it's awesome.

PS // I wrote more about my overall Student Flight experience at Aim High Erin's blog. Her blog has been my biggest resource for learning about BMT & readying myself as a future Airman. If you're joining the Air Force, Air Guard or AF Reserves, her blog will be an undeniably helpful tool as you prepare to leave for training.

See my other Air National Guard Student Flight experiences here: UTA 1 │ UTA 2 │ UTA 3 │ UTA 4 │ UTA 5