And it's quite nice outside. It snowed this past Wednesday, wasn't too windy so it never felt super cold. We had about 4 inches, but it's all gone except for the small patches remaining in the shade of buildings and trees. The mountains looked like the ski slopes full of snow, but I definitely have not been skiing in quite a while.
School is still going well, still hard as ever, but I'm dealing with it pretty well. Athletically, I'm ranked 136 out of 1309 people in my class, which isn't too bad. I would like to be higher on both athletics and academics but we'll see where these next few weeks take me.
There were 3 flyovers last weekend, all F16's. I have the video of their one by one flyover on my phone, but I haven't uploaded it yet. Track is going pretty well, we jumped for our first time just the other day, we didn't try for a bar, we just worked on the fundamentals of the take off. I can tell Scotty is a really good coach and I will learn a lot from him. This next Friday, a week from today, we're having the Halloween vault, where we're all in costumes and jump for fun. I'll make sure to get some pictures and post them up.
This past Wednesday, was our first real snow, and with that, comes the annual tradition of throwing our 'first shirt' in the snow, more commonly referred to as first shirt, first snow. The first shirt is the highest ranking Junior in every squad. Well there are about 30 freshmen, and about 80 upperclassmen, so we were out numbered almost 3 to 1. We started off by tying up one of the Juniors who we thought would give us trouble, but then the war really started. Someone blew an air horn, and every upperclassmen fell out to take us on. I was left to guard our 'prisoner' but seeing that they left me alone with him, with the door unlocked, another upperclassmen came in to his rescue.
With an unfortunate change of events and about 15 minutes of me wrestling with the both of them, trying to get to the door to unlock it and get into the hallway, they finally tied me down, pig tie style. My hands were behind me, through my belt, and my legs were tied at my ankles, both tied with straps and duct tape on top of that. They left, i jumped up, locked them out so I had a few minutes to wiggle out of the restraints. I finally got out, and joined the fight with the rest of my classmates.
The whole fiasco lasted for just over an hour and a half but was called short due to time restraints, and Taps in less than 15 minutes. The first shirt junior waved the white flag, and we got him in the snow. Long story short, 5 people were tied up, 4 bloody noses, one trip to the hospital for a major concussion, and one night of fun which I will not soon forget.
Hope all is well where ever you are, I'll be home for Thanksgiving in less than 5 weeks, which I am very excited about. Can't wait to see everyone. Take Care,
Matt
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
October is Here
And wow is it getting cold. It's about 40 outside right now, with the high on Saturday never passing 35. The game isn't until 5, and it's expected to snow... just wonderful.
Prog has come and gone, we are more than half way done with the first semester, and I am not on probation. My grades are alright, not real good, but I'm ranked 906 out of 1309, so I definitely have some work to do. However, once they calculate in my academic and military averages, I should rise on the list.
I finished my last swimming class last week with a 4:27 in the 250yard swim. I improved my time a minute and a half, I can tell I'm a much stronger swimmer because of it. Swimming is followed immediately by water survival, more commonly referred to as water haze. It's swimming class in ABU's, the cammo clothes we wear. They are extremely heavy, and swimming in these is worse than swimming in jeans and a sweatshirt. For every athletic class, everyone is allowed to attempt to validate it, by completing the tasks which everyone is tested on for their grade on the last day of class. I opted to try to validate water survival, and it paid off.
We were required to swim 25 meters completely under water, no time limit. Jump off the 5 meter platform and swim 50 meters in under 1:30, i swam 1:13. And the 10 Meter jump with a 10 meter underwater swim, without coming up for a breath. We also had to inflate our ABU's and float with them. I received an A for the class and now have my afternoon's free until track starts, no more 2 hours of swimming before track pratice.
My squad is still really relaxed about things, mostly due to the fact that the freshmen do what is expected of us and we always have a good attitude about everything. Some squads still get beat on a daily basis, but we only have 1 training session every other week.
Can't wait to come home and see everyone, less than 7 weeks, I'm excited. Hope to hear from everyone soon.
Matt
Prog has come and gone, we are more than half way done with the first semester, and I am not on probation. My grades are alright, not real good, but I'm ranked 906 out of 1309, so I definitely have some work to do. However, once they calculate in my academic and military averages, I should rise on the list.
I finished my last swimming class last week with a 4:27 in the 250yard swim. I improved my time a minute and a half, I can tell I'm a much stronger swimmer because of it. Swimming is followed immediately by water survival, more commonly referred to as water haze. It's swimming class in ABU's, the cammo clothes we wear. They are extremely heavy, and swimming in these is worse than swimming in jeans and a sweatshirt. For every athletic class, everyone is allowed to attempt to validate it, by completing the tasks which everyone is tested on for their grade on the last day of class. I opted to try to validate water survival, and it paid off.
We were required to swim 25 meters completely under water, no time limit. Jump off the 5 meter platform and swim 50 meters in under 1:30, i swam 1:13. And the 10 Meter jump with a 10 meter underwater swim, without coming up for a breath. We also had to inflate our ABU's and float with them. I received an A for the class and now have my afternoon's free until track starts, no more 2 hours of swimming before track pratice.
My squad is still really relaxed about things, mostly due to the fact that the freshmen do what is expected of us and we always have a good attitude about everything. Some squads still get beat on a daily basis, but we only have 1 training session every other week.
Can't wait to come home and see everyone, less than 7 weeks, I'm excited. Hope to hear from everyone soon.
Matt
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Falcon Heritage Week
Falcon Heritage is Homecoming for certain classes where they come back and talk to the Cadets about life in the Air Force. One guy that talked to us, a Major, spoke of his time as a tanker pilot. He had some cool stories I'm not really allowed to release, but overall, the stories were typical war stories, where we all found it amazing that someone in our spot just 15 years ago could go and do such great things. Along with Alumni talking to us, flyovers have been non stop.
Monday there were 2 A10’s that flew over during french. I didn't see them, but they shook the building. Tuesday there was a C130 during lunch, didn't see that one either. Thursday during practice 3 f16’s were in close formation at about 150 feet,they flew over the dorms and went into full afterburners straight up for about 15 seconds, into an inverted s, then a 180 roll, then took off. Most impressive thing I've seen live. Friday around 11 in the morning, 4 f15’s close formation low, like 200 feet slowly passed over the school, going into the missing man formation, with one flying straight up until we lost site of it. The others stayed low until couldn’t see them anymore. Around an hour later during lunch, an A10, P51, and an F15 flew over in formation. Didn't see those but could feel them. About a half hour later, a C-17 made 2 low passes, not very loud, but cool too see. About 5 still on Friday, 2 F-15's with an F-22 few by low and fast. Pretty cool to see the F22 up close.
Saturday, today was the football game. We played San Diego State and won 26-9 I believe. Pretty boring game, no real action. The flyover was first a huge C-5, biggest plane made, over 250 feet long, it doesn't look like it could fly(it's the fat one in the picture). Later, the same P51 A10 and F15 combo flew over, showing the progression of flight for the US. The P51, more commonly referred to as the Mustang, was a WWII fighter, with the A-10 and F15 both coming out during Vietnam, both quite powerful aircraft. Attached is the video of the flyover, they were too high, not great that great of a video.
Jumping is still nonexistent, but the training is going really well. We're running a lot, and doing different sprint and pole vault run drills. We'll start really jumping in about 3 weeks. Prog, grade progression, is here next week, and good news, unlike a lot of people I know, I will not be on restriction and will still have my weekend's open. School is getting harder, but I'm really trying to stay on top of everything whenever I have the chance.
We had our first snow Monday, none of it really stuck down here, but the mountain was a nice blanket of white for a few days. The wind gusted to over 50 sometimes, and had a windchill reading of below 20*. However, just 3 days later, it was 70 and sunny, the weather is quite strange here. Only 8 weeks until I come back for Thanksgiving, can't wait to be home. Hope all is well with everyone. Take Care. -Matt
Monday there were 2 A10’s that flew over during french. I didn't see them, but they shook the building. Tuesday there was a C130 during lunch, didn't see that one either. Thursday during practice 3 f16’s were in close formation at about 150 feet,they flew over the dorms and went into full afterburners straight up for about 15 seconds, into an inverted s, then a 180 roll, then took off. Most impressive thing I've seen live. Friday around 11 in the morning, 4 f15’s close formation low, like 200 feet slowly passed over the school, going into the missing man formation, with one flying straight up until we lost site of it. The others stayed low until couldn’t see them anymore. Around an hour later during lunch, an A10, P51, and an F15 flew over in formation. Didn't see those but could feel them. About a half hour later, a C-17 made 2 low passes, not very loud, but cool too see. About 5 still on Friday, 2 F-15's with an F-22 few by low and fast. Pretty cool to see the F22 up close.
Saturday, today was the football game. We played San Diego State and won 26-9 I believe. Pretty boring game, no real action. The flyover was first a huge C-5, biggest plane made, over 250 feet long, it doesn't look like it could fly(it's the fat one in the picture). Later, the same P51 A10 and F15 combo flew over, showing the progression of flight for the US. The P51, more commonly referred to as the Mustang, was a WWII fighter, with the A-10 and F15 both coming out during Vietnam, both quite powerful aircraft. Attached is the video of the flyover, they were too high, not great that great of a video.
Jumping is still nonexistent, but the training is going really well. We're running a lot, and doing different sprint and pole vault run drills. We'll start really jumping in about 3 weeks. Prog, grade progression, is here next week, and good news, unlike a lot of people I know, I will not be on restriction and will still have my weekend's open. School is getting harder, but I'm really trying to stay on top of everything whenever I have the chance.
We had our first snow Monday, none of it really stuck down here, but the mountain was a nice blanket of white for a few days. The wind gusted to over 50 sometimes, and had a windchill reading of below 20*. However, just 3 days later, it was 70 and sunny, the weather is quite strange here. Only 8 weeks until I come back for Thanksgiving, can't wait to be home. Hope all is well with everyone. Take Care. -Matt
Monday, September 14, 2009
Been Busy
Well I haven't posted in a few weeks and my fans are getting upset, sorry Mom... But I'm back, and wow I've been busy. My birthday came and went, thank you to everyone who sent me Happy Birthday wishes, I had a great one. I received a shout out from the Squadron First Officer in formation. I had an amazing cake waiting for me in Arnold Hall courtesies of my parents, thank you :) and I had many cards and wishes waiting for me in my mail box. Just 4 days later, Parent's weekend started. Best weekend at the Academy so far, it was great to get out and just relax.
I met my parents early Friday morning, and showed them around the academic building a little before my first class. We went to engineering, followed by the parade, boring. At least I thought it was, but of course I was the one in full service dress standing at attention for over an hour. To make the parade more interesting however, about 15 freshman from my squad went down to the parade field with 12 cans of spray paint, to make a little banner, ▲TII, our squad nickname, delta tau deuce. We took about 2 hours in the middle of the night to make it look as good as possible. We had a full sketch and even come stencils to make sure it looked top notch, we think it did. We also received praise all of the way up the chain of command, into the Permanent party including various officers. The Parade carried on, only a few people passed out from the heat, but much less than everyone was predicting. I then met my parents on the field, and together we walked up to the dining hall, Mitchell Hall. We had make your own sandwiches, with sun chips, and an apple pie, a disappointing meal, other than the pie.
I then showed my parents around the Chapel, and Arnold Hall. We sat in the air conditioned lecture hall, while we watched a video from Basic, the good ol' times. After a little relaxation we were off to my French class. Another hour passed, and school was done for the day, we walked around the gym, hall of fame, and then we hauled my new TV and printer up the hill.
My first real meal off base was TGI fridays, which was pretty good, cant go wrong with a hamburger. We also at ate Fantastic Daves, a BBQ restaurant, along with Qdoba which is better than Chipole. We went to the Air Force football game Saturday, and spent that night at the theaters watching Inglorious Basterds. We drove though Garden of the Gods and took a little walk in the giant rock garden. The weekend came to a quick end, and I was stuck in my room, studying for my first Math Test.
This past week has been packed with different tests and reviews, but school is still going pretty well. The work load is piling up, but everything here is still pretty good. Our whole squad passed our knowledge tests today, which means it will be a good week. Track is going well, and the cold is coming. It never hit 50* here this past Saturday. I'm excited for the snow, but I'm not excited for the 10 degree temperatures that come with it. I hope everyone is doing well, I get to come home in 71 short days, but who's counting. Can't wait to hear from everyone. Have a great day,
Matt
I met my parents early Friday morning, and showed them around the academic building a little before my first class. We went to engineering, followed by the parade, boring. At least I thought it was, but of course I was the one in full service dress standing at attention for over an hour. To make the parade more interesting however, about 15 freshman from my squad went down to the parade field with 12 cans of spray paint, to make a little banner, ▲TII, our squad nickname, delta tau deuce. We took about 2 hours in the middle of the night to make it look as good as possible. We had a full sketch and even come stencils to make sure it looked top notch, we think it did. We also received praise all of the way up the chain of command, into the Permanent party including various officers. The Parade carried on, only a few people passed out from the heat, but much less than everyone was predicting. I then met my parents on the field, and together we walked up to the dining hall, Mitchell Hall. We had make your own sandwiches, with sun chips, and an apple pie, a disappointing meal, other than the pie.
I then showed my parents around the Chapel, and Arnold Hall. We sat in the air conditioned lecture hall, while we watched a video from Basic, the good ol' times. After a little relaxation we were off to my French class. Another hour passed, and school was done for the day, we walked around the gym, hall of fame, and then we hauled my new TV and printer up the hill.
My first real meal off base was TGI fridays, which was pretty good, cant go wrong with a hamburger. We also at ate Fantastic Daves, a BBQ restaurant, along with Qdoba which is better than Chipole. We went to the Air Force football game Saturday, and spent that night at the theaters watching Inglorious Basterds. We drove though Garden of the Gods and took a little walk in the giant rock garden. The weekend came to a quick end, and I was stuck in my room, studying for my first Math Test.
This past week has been packed with different tests and reviews, but school is still going pretty well. The work load is piling up, but everything here is still pretty good. Our whole squad passed our knowledge tests today, which means it will be a good week. Track is going well, and the cold is coming. It never hit 50* here this past Saturday. I'm excited for the snow, but I'm not excited for the 10 degree temperatures that come with it. I hope everyone is doing well, I get to come home in 71 short days, but who's counting. Can't wait to hear from everyone. Have a great day,
Matt
The preliminary drawings
The ▲TII on the field
The Falcon in the stands
The Terrazzo at its finest
Our Trip to Garden of the Gods
My nametag over my locker for Track
A cool double rainbow from this week
The Giant Rainbow, end to end
F15 Fly over at the game
A great sunset to a great weekend 
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Life Goes On
One more week down, one week closer to parents weekend. I'm getting excited to see my parents and to get off campus. Eating some real food, at an actual restraunt will be nice. I can't wait for my first hamburger. School here is about the same, a lot of work, but overall it's going pretty well. My english and Engineering classes are the msot fun, with French still being the hardest. I am however, starting to pick up on it.
My squad is still finding fun things to do. Last night we had a waterballoon launcher, didn't hit anyone, but we nailed some windows. Mighty Mach One got pretty mad, and 6 or 7 upperclassmen came up to talk to us. Oops. There's not much you can do for fun around here, so we make our own. We were going to set up a carrier landing last night, but decided not to. A carrier landing is when you soak the halls in soapy water, and turn the halls into a giant slip-n-slide.
My phone was finally taken away yesterday morning :( We were the only squad with them, but not anylonger. Our AOC, Air Officer in Command, is Major Sebren. He is in charge of Deuce, and has the final word on everything we do. This one freshman sent him an emial with his blackberry, and whenever an email is sent from a blackberry, it says just that, sent from blackberry. Major Sebren asked him why he has his phone, and he said that we all have them. Well within 12 hours, we all had our phones taken away. Everyone's mad at the kid, but he just has to be smarter than that.
That's about all that's new here. I'm enjoying the 80 degrees here, considering it's over 100 back at home. Glad I'm not living in that heat. Well I hope everyone is doing great, and thanks for all of the comments. It's good to hear from everyone.
Matt
My Widescreen Picture from my window
Another cool sunrise
My squad is still finding fun things to do. Last night we had a waterballoon launcher, didn't hit anyone, but we nailed some windows. Mighty Mach One got pretty mad, and 6 or 7 upperclassmen came up to talk to us. Oops. There's not much you can do for fun around here, so we make our own. We were going to set up a carrier landing last night, but decided not to. A carrier landing is when you soak the halls in soapy water, and turn the halls into a giant slip-n-slide.
My phone was finally taken away yesterday morning :( We were the only squad with them, but not anylonger. Our AOC, Air Officer in Command, is Major Sebren. He is in charge of Deuce, and has the final word on everything we do. This one freshman sent him an emial with his blackberry, and whenever an email is sent from a blackberry, it says just that, sent from blackberry. Major Sebren asked him why he has his phone, and he said that we all have them. Well within 12 hours, we all had our phones taken away. Everyone's mad at the kid, but he just has to be smarter than that.
That's about all that's new here. I'm enjoying the 80 degrees here, considering it's over 100 back at home. Glad I'm not living in that heat. Well I hope everyone is doing great, and thanks for all of the comments. It's good to hear from everyone.
Matt
My Widescreen Picture from my window
Another cool sunrise
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Week Three, Done.
Not a whole lot to say about this past week. Once again, things are pretty good for now. I'm swimming in my free time, with either the team or people in my squad, when I'm looking for something fun. I have mastered the dive off the 3 meter board, and although I want to try the platforms, 5 and 10 meter, I cant, the ladder is always locked...
School is still pretty good, with French and Math still giving me the most trouble. I've been seeking extra help, and while that does just that, the classes continue to be the burden of my day.
I have a few more pictures, mostly of my room. Thanks to everyone who reads, it means a lot.
Matt
My very dirty Closet, and yes, this is very dirty
SAMI (Saturday AM Inspection) Bed,
Perfect hospital corner and 18" fold
\
My neat and orderly desk
My beautiful view all day
My beautiful view every morning
School is still pretty good, with French and Math still giving me the most trouble. I've been seeking extra help, and while that does just that, the classes continue to be the burden of my day.
I have a few more pictures, mostly of my room. Thanks to everyone who reads, it means a lot.
Matt
My very dirty Closet, and yes, this is very dirty
SAMI (Saturday AM Inspection) Bed,
Perfect hospital corner and 18" fold
\My neat and orderly desk
My beautiful view all day
My beautiful view every morning
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Random Facts About the Academy
So many people have gone up and down the stairs, the marble has become indented.
This might be the only college where if you leave a new computer in the stairwell, it will remain there 5 days later.
Tornado warnings are bogus, but lightning warnings are real. In the past 7 years 2 people have been hit, 1 killed.
School is set up like high school, 53 minute classes with 7 minute passing periods.
Dining hall staff doesn't enjoy it when food is not eaten 'correctly'. We get in trouble for making special drinks.
Noon meal formation is lame, especially the 30 minute parade every Wednesday before lunch. Mondays and Fridays we only march to lunch, a quick 15 minute routine.
The Academy is the only place where you will get to march in a big square, for over 100 hours, if you're caught drinking under age.
1 Cheat, Lie or even attempt to steal and you're gone, Period.
That's all I have for now, and sorry, no new pictures...
This might be the only college where if you leave a new computer in the stairwell, it will remain there 5 days later.
Tornado warnings are bogus, but lightning warnings are real. In the past 7 years 2 people have been hit, 1 killed.
School is set up like high school, 53 minute classes with 7 minute passing periods.
Dining hall staff doesn't enjoy it when food is not eaten 'correctly'. We get in trouble for making special drinks.
Noon meal formation is lame, especially the 30 minute parade every Wednesday before lunch. Mondays and Fridays we only march to lunch, a quick 15 minute routine.
The Academy is the only place where you will get to march in a big square, for over 100 hours, if you're caught drinking under age.
1 Cheat, Lie or even attempt to steal and you're gone, Period.
That's all I have for now, and sorry, no new pictures...
Saturday, August 15, 2009
All is well in Colorado
My first full week of school has finished, and all is going pretty well. The schedule is broken up like high school block days, with M days and T days, no relation to Monday or Tuesday however. On M days, I have periods 1-4, to completely fill the time slot between breakfast and lunch, and T days I only go 2 and 4, and have some time between to work and study in the library. Meals are still good, and being allowed to sit at rest in the morning when Mighty Mach One at the table next to me is at attention makes it all the better.
We will have noon meal formation, marching, every Monday and Friday before lunch. Every Wednesday we have a parade, which is about 30 minutes of boring standing at attention. Our squad is pretty lenient about our ‘military bearing’ at events like that, but it’s still pretty lame being out there in formation.
Last Saturday morning we climbed to the top of Eagle’s Peak, the peak right behind the academy. It was a 2 hour adventure up, and about an hour down. It is over a 2000 foot ascent, and the view from the top is quite something. I’d like to do it for sunrise sometime, but we’ll see if that happens.
Other than that, not much has happened around here. I still have my phone, and as I am seeing, my squad is one of the most lenient around, which makes my life much easier. Deuce is a good squad, and I’m happy with everything here, for now at least.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Week One
Week one, wow what a rush. Everything is in full swing, with classes being even harder than I thought they’d be. English has no papers to turn in, everything is online, and there isn’t a final in there which is going to be pretty nice. Math, Calc I looks to be challenging, as we already have homework and are in full swing from day one. My computer science class is going to be very interesting and she seems like a really good teacher, she reminds me of Ms. Dankert, nice but strict and serious about learning. French will be interesting. I see some of the same root words as I did in Spanish, but the pronunciation is so different, I can already see some problems arising with that class.
My last class is an introduction to Air Force Engineering class, which seems pretty laid back and fun. We’re going to build rockets, gliders, and mini bridges to show our understanding for different aspects of engineering. This class covers most of the types of engineering including, Aero, Space, Civil, Mechanical and Electrical. While it may be very challenging at times, I see this class being the most interesting and the most fun. I’m sure this will help me chose my major whether it a type of engineering, or a fuzzy major like Econ.
Overall, life here is pretty hectic, with the running on the terrazzo, greeting everyone along the way, and the mandatory calling of the minutes in the morning. Freshman have to wake up around 6 to take out the trash and clean the hallways all before falling out at 6:45 to yell how much time is left until the morning meal. We also call what the meals are, and we are tested on knowledge. We have our first official knowledge test this Monday, where we will be required to know facts on the A-10, the KC-10, different quotes and the group staff list.
Meals are getting a little better as I am at ease for the morning meal, which means no longer do I have to stare at the eagle, and am now allowed to use my full chair to sit, including the back rest. Lunch and dinner I am eating at the Pole Vaulter’s table, consisting of 4 freshman, 1 sophomore and 3 seniors. Cadet Col. Marshall Wills is a senior, who sits at my table. He was in charge of all of basic training, and was the one guy you didn’t want to come in contact with. Now that we’re out of basic, he is the nicest most funny guy here. He still wears his rank on his clothes and can still boss anyone around, but for the pole vaulters, we’re not allowed to call him sir or even by his last name. It’s all first name basis.
The team should be pretty fun, and it’s what’s going to keep me sane. We played volleyball Saturday for over 2 hours as a team, and after that, I can tell that track time is fun time, that everyone wants it to be a ‘hang out spot’ per say. While I am only better than 3 of the roughly 11 pole vaulters, I can tell I am respected and liked, even after just a few days. The whole track team is real nice, and no one wants to ever be greeted as sir or ma’am. When we’re down on the track, the military life doesn’t follow.
While I’m bummed to be in school already, I am thankful to be out of basic and into what the Academy really has to offer. School will be tough this year, but I’m going to take advantage of all of the different extra instruction sessions ever teacher has, and will use everything I have to keep my grades up. My goal is a 3.0 first semester, which is going to be difficult, but I know with some hard work and good time management I will be able to do what I need to, to achieve just that.
After now being in the school year for a week, I can tell things will be stressful, things will be hard, but best of all, it looks like I should have some fun this year.
This might be my longest post on here, but I will continue to post weekly. Ask any questions and I will get back to you.
Thanks guys, Love you all
Matt
Just one of the many cool sites from my window
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