Went to San Antonio for son%26#39;s Airforce Graduation. If you have a son or daughter in BMT and are planning on going to the graduation it will be a day you will never forget.
Thursday, April 30th - Base Liberty Only
Airman%26#39;s Coin Ceremony - Definitely try to make this if you can. This was more exciting to me than the actual graduation because it is the first time you get to see them. After the ceremony they tell you that you can go to your airman, but boy it%26#39;s tough trying to find him...they all look alike(lol). But I paid attention when they marched onto the court to where his squadron was standing so at least I had a general idea.
After the ceremony we walked to the car and just drove around the base a little bit to see it all. We stopped at the BX and walked around there a little bit and got something to eat at the food court. My son was very talkative telling us all about what he has been doing the past 8 weeks. He never complained about anything he had to do...just told us about it in a very proud way. You could tell he was proud of what he accomplished. We then decided to go bowling since he was in a bowling league before he left for basic. This was a lot of fun...and I am not a bowler(lol). After bowling it was about 6:30pm so we headed to the mini-mall(this was the pick-up and drop-off area)so he could grab a bite to eat at Burger King. He had to be back in the dorm by 8pm so we wanted to be sure he was at the mini mall by 7:30. We were always back to that mall by at least a 1/2 hour ahead of time. We werent taking any chances on him being late!
Friday,May 1st - Town Pass till 8:00pm
Graduation - We did not bother getting there at 7:30am to take a bus over to the parade field. You do not have to take a bus. Just park anywhere and then just walk over. When we got to the bleachers we thought ';Oh No, no place to sit';. But as we got closer to the back of the bleachers we could see there was plenty of places to sit. Just have to crawl up the bleachers and fit in(lol). We arrived around 8:30am. Graduation Ceremony started at 9:00am.
This is sooo neat to see!! Loved it!. Again...keep your eye one your Airman%26#39;s position on the field so you can find them afterwards. Also...there were about 10 staff sargeants getting the TI hats that day. Neat to see also.
After Graduation Ceremony we walked over to his dorm. You get to go in and see the dorms and their locker and also you can talk to their TI if you want. Our son did introduce us to his TI but we really didnt know what to say to him(lol)..so just exchanged a few words and moved on. If you meet the TI you will get to see your son or daughter give his reporting order to them and their little turn-about. So that was kind of neat. Left the base around noon and went to the hotel. Walked down to the Riverwalk for a while and then had dinner later in the day. Then back to the base around 7:00pm
Saturday, May 2nd - Town Pass till 8:00pm
We got to pick him up around 9:00am this day. He wanted to buy a lap-top and some luggage so we took him to Best Buy and Walmart. Around noon we had lunch at Ritas on the River. After that a movie at the Rivercenter Mall. Then later in the day went to Red Lobster for dinner. Back to the base by 7:00pm.
Sunday, May 3rd - Town Pass till 6:00pm
The first thing my son asked me today was to go into the mini mall and buy him some Tylenol because he wasnt feeling good. They are not allowed to buy any medicine.
He decided he wanted to bowl again.
Bowled until around 11:00am and then back to mini mall to grab some lunch. After that it was around noon and the moment I had been dreading arrived....back to airport. At this point I really wished I had a later flight than 2pm. Also, Up until now he could not take anything he bought back to the dorm with him so we had been keeping it for him. We gave him his luggage,lap-top, cell phone etc. at this time. He was free until 6:00pm. He wasnt sure what he was going to do from noon until 6:00pm. He really just wanted to go lay down and sleep but you are not allowed to sleep until lights out at 9:00pm.
We said our good-byes and arrived home around 9:00pm. At 9:30pm I got a call from him. He said ';Mom I have some bad news...they just took my temperature and it is 103 so I cant leave for tech school on Monday. Have to wait until I am better.'; He will be put in the 319th which is where all the sick people go. Tried to call him a few times today but havent reached him yet. I keep waiting for the darn phone to ring!!
crystal
Airforce BMT Graduation
WOW!!!! Thanks for sharing all the interesting events, it sounds like a lot of fun!!! Hope your son has called you by now %26amp; that He%26#39;ll be leaving for the Tech school any day.
Thanks again for sharing your precious experience with us totally enjoyed reading about it.
God Bless!!!!
Airforce BMT Graduation
Your post almost brought me to tears. Our son is in BMT right now and we have had two phone calls from him. We all miss him so much its crazy. It was nice to hear from someone who has actually experienced everything there at graduation. I had read thru the info on the Lackland site but wasn%26#39;t sure how much we were going to be there for. After reading this we will be sure to be there for everything. I had heard that when you see your airman you are not aloud to hug them is that true? Just want to be prepared BEFORE we get there! Thank you for your insite it is really appreciated.
I%26#39;m glad the info was of some help to you. It does help to know exactly what you can expect. Yes, you can hug them. I know they tell them not too many displays of affection, but hugs are ok.
As far as how much time they get: My son told me that depending on what job you had in your dorm while in basic that could affect it. You may have to finish that up before you get your liberty for the day. He said laundry was one of those jobs that could detain you for a little bit.
Boy, the time goes so fast too. Sounds like a lot of time, but it sure goes by really quick. I kept telling my son that maybe we should just go back to the hotel room so he could sleep and relax. But he didn want to do that. He said '; You guys came down here to visit me...I%26#39;m not going to sleep through it.'; Then when he called me and told me he got sick I really wished we would have done that for a littel bit!
Also, wait till you see the picture of him in his blues!!!
Let me know if you have any other question. Hopefully I will have the answer for you.
crystal
Well sure enough, our son%26#39;s on laundry duty! Oh well at least we will be prepared now. It seems like he%26#39;s been gone forever. I can%26#39;t wait to see him in his blues. Do you know do they take professional pictures before graduation? Thanks again for your help.
Crystal - I%26#39;m usually not too excited about trip reports (shhhh! don%26#39;t tell the TA geeks) but yours was not only very helpful for so many folks that come visit us, It was very touching, too.
Thanks for sharing it with us, and be sure to thank your son form me for his service. It makes me proud that there are young folks willing to sacrifice to serve their country and us.
They do take professional pics of them. I think it is around the 2nd week?? My son gave me the packet of pics when we went back to the dorm. He had them locked up in his locker. That is where I got to see him in the total blues uniform...just on the picture. When we were visiting with him he didnt ever wear the total uniform. Most dont, but some of the guys did on the last day. I figured their moms probably told them they wanted to see them in the uniform before they left(lol) For graduation they just wear the pants and short sleeve shirt, the next day he wore longs sleeves with a tie and the last day he wore a zip up blue airforce jacket. It is totally up to the airman which he wants to wear and when. So the picture in the whole uniform meant a lot to me since I didnt get to actually see him in it.
Octoboy: I will definitely thank him. That is something I forgot to mention. When we were out and about in San Antonio, people would come up to him and tap him on the shoulder and say ';Thank you for your service.'; I loved that! And I could tell it really meant a lot to him. So I started doing the same to other airmen.
Oh, and the laundry duty. Even if they are detained a little bit that one day, you can be glad for him...my son said it is one of the best jobs to have while in basic! My son had Latrine Floor...ugh! But he was funny...he was telling me all about how he bought a lint roller and that is what he used to get up all the hair and dirt from the floor(lol)And this from a kid who%26#39;s bathroom was like toxic waste site(lol)
crystal
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