VANDENBERG WAS AWESOME!

Friday, June 24, 2005...11:50

Well...I'm once again in the airport! Only now I'm on my way home...and it's been a very long day so far. Three of the cadets had a 6:50 am flight and most of the rest of us had a 10:12 so we all went to the airport at 5:30 in the morning and (so that we didn't have to wait around in the tinny-tinny Santa Maria Airport) we all ended up getting on the early flight to Las Angeles. Now I've been in LA for four hours hanging out with some of the other cadets until just recently, when we all separated to go to our perspective flights. At any rate...

I had a *great* time at Vandenberg, Air Force Base!!! We were so busy all week long that we all felt like we were there for weeks, as opposed to the three days that it was...but in a really, really good way. I absolutely loved it!

Monday I met one of the cadets in the airport (Danny), he was wandering around on his phone and I noticed his AFROTC t-shirt and introduced myself to him. We had the same flight and ended up at the air port in Santa Maria a few hours before the next flight and met up with the other two cadets on our same flight and we all had lunch with Captain Rowlison (the Captain from the ROTC Detachment at Hawaii--if Justice reads this: I gave him your name and he will be looking you up because I love you that much ;) ). Captain was really great, the whole trip he was quite relaxed and helpful, he also told us many stories and was quite funny, and helped us really relax so that we could actually enjoy the trip and have a lot of fun. After lunch us cadets waited outside (Santa Maria is a *very* small airport) and I ended up getting a bit of sun...ok, I got sun-burned! It's been a long time sense I've been sun-burned, but oh well; it's pretty much gone now...more brown is all that's left. Later we went to the base and got out hotel rooms, that's right we got hotel rooms! All by our selves! After that we went to Breakers, a cafeteria type dining hall that let us eat for free, and then we went back to our rooms and hung out for while, even played a little cards. It was really nice that we all got along very well, right from the start.

Tuesday I started the day at 5:15 in the morning (ICK)...We were all staying in the same area, so we met up at 6:15 out front and headed over to Breakers for breakfast. After that we had a morning of briefings. First an introduction to ASSIST (don't ask me what it means) and welcome to Vandenberg kinda thing as we sat in the back of the van because Captain Rowlison couldn't get the gas pump to work (it was natural gas) and then the guy who knows what he's doing couldn't get it to work, so we had to get regular gas and Captain had to learn how to switch from natural to normal and all that stuff, but it was no big deal because he just told us everything that he was going to tell us, with a little more humor and a little less PowerPoint. After that we made our way to Lt Webb's office and she took us on a tour of north base that ended at the museum where we got to see the original test firing slick (launch site). There we saw one of the old rockets (without a tip) that was never fired (and never will be). It was really cool! Then it was time for lunch (it seems like we did a whole lot of eating all week long) and after that we had some more introductory briefings: safety, command at the base, and "Top 3" (an association with members of the top three ranks in the enlisted side of the house). After that we had a PT Scavenger Hunt were we had to explore the base and find 10-12 things that were on the list. And with that we had dinner and were done for the day. That's right--it was a short, but busy day. Well, at least that was the end of the military day. After dinner the Captain took us out to see a movie...we actually saw two different movies...but he drove us out there. I ended up seeing Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and I really liked it. I thought that it was surprisingly humorous and really enjoyed all of the high-action and shooting. :)

Wednesday started the same way, early morning...breakfast...and off for more briefings. This time they were our first "career" briefings. The first one was in the Civil Engineering department and it was quite interesting. I found out a lot of information about the department and it sounded really cool, I've never thought about that kinda stuff, exactly, but I donno, it sounded really interesting. I don't know how much I would really want to do it, but it did sound cool, I donno...Thus started the confusion that was the rest of my week. Then there was the Comm. Squadron, everything from internet controls (everything that IS&T does at MIT), through other normal comm. stuff, to the super-duper video/picture facilities that they have at Vandenberg to document (with extreme accuracy and detail) the missile launches. All of this was really interesting and I think that I could have a lot of fun doing the kinda stuff that we were shown. However I've heard that Comm. (for an officer) is just a lot of paperwork (really cool stuff, and great for the enlisted, but not many officers so they get stuck doing all/mostly paperwork), and it was true, I didn't see very many officers and the ones I did see were under a pile of paperwork (now don't get me wrong, I know that being an officer will include quite a bit of paperwork, I just don't want it all to be the boring paperwork). After visiting Comm. we were supposed to go out to one of the missile launch facilities, you know where the guys sit for 24 hours at a time and watch the status of the missiles and then, if the time comes to launch them, actually turn the key and send it on it's way...however, they had it on their schedule for Thursday and weren't around when we were there. So, we waited for about half an hour and then Captain Rowlison decided to take us out for a short little drive along the coast. It was disappointing that we couldn't see down in the hole, but it was nice to see the coast and it was really pretty. Then it came time to eat, again (they sure did feed us well). After lunch we went to see the security/cop squadron--that was quite interesting and a lot different from the other squadrons, I mean, it started out a lot less relaxed, but I guess that's what you get from a guy that deals mostly with the 19-24 year olds with guns who've gotten into trouble. He finally did relax, when he took us into the back room to show us all the guns that they have...It was SO cool! (even though a couple of the guys acted the over-protective-think-I've-never-seen-a-gun-up-close-much-less-shot-one-before part, cute, but kinda insulting). After that it was off to PT (where I did a little weight-lifting followed by a lot of swimming...the pool was great!) and then dinner. After dinner some of the guys went off to watch the basketball game (yeah, the one that wasn't on Wednesday, but Thursday), so Anna (the other girl, who's actually from Northeastern...near Boston--her Detachment is the Boston University one) and I went back to our rooms (we were staying across from each other) and got ready for bed, watched a movie on TV, and went to bed.

Thursday once again started the same way...up early and out the door to get some food. This day, however, we didn't start the day with any briefings, we got to shadow different officers for a couple hours and see what they do. One of the other guys, Danny, and I got to shadow one of the intel guys, but we couldn't get the clearance to actually go up to his office so we sat in the Starbucks (one without the real Starbucks menus so there was nothing there for me) and talked about the intelligence field. It was all really interesting, and I think that (despite the possibility of being behind a desk most of the day) it would be really cool to work in that field, but then again, I donno that it's really something that I would like to do...more confusion...but anyway. Because we still had some more time after we asked all of our questions (mostly me cause Danny didn't have any interest in Intel--he wants to be a pilot or missiler) we went for a ride out to south base to see some of the Titian Missile Launch facilities and the old Shuttle Launch sight that never got used because that mission was scrubbed after the Challenger crash back in the day. At any rate, THOSE THINGS ARE HUGE!! It was so cool! We were only across the parking lot, but still, they were huge! Awesomeness! Oh yeah, when we got out to Slick 6 (the one where they were planning on launching the shuttle) the little light next to the gas gauge turned on, and we discovered that we had "0 miles to empty" (according to the little miles-to-empty-gauge that this officer had on his jeep). We almost made it back to the main part of the base (where we were supposed to end up), but not quite...we were going up this really long, kinda steep hill when it started to give out, but thankfully we were able to make it to the top and then push it out of the road. He was really embarrassed, but Captain Rowlison came to our rescue and took us to where we were headed, the Space and Missile School. Every person in the military who goes into Space and Missiles starts their career at Vandenberg, where they will learn everything that they need to know about this career field. It was really interesting, we got to see the training room where they teach the missilers how to use all the equipment, and there was even time for us to "launch a missile"--a couple of the guys got to sit in the chairs and actually turn the keys in practice launch. It was really interesting to see it (even if it was just a mock up) and learn the protocol before we launch a missile. After that we headed by the BX (big store...I guess it's comparable to the on base Mall-Wart) and the AF clothing store (the one place where you can buy all your military uniform needs), so that we could pick up a few Air Force labeled things and or other needs. After that we headed over to the Officer's Club for lunch (the only meal I paid for) and a game of Crud (the traditional Air Force game). It was a lot of fun, and I think I understand it now, it's quite complicated, but I might try to teach it to the guys so that I can get some practice in...maybe internet search for rules so that I don't forget anything. At any rate, after that we were supposed to go on a helicopter ride (the only thing besides missiles that flies out there in Vandenberg), however because there were a few change of command ceremonies coming up, we couldn't go up. So, to make it up to us, Captain Rowlison took us out to South Base (not quite as far as Danny and I went earlier) to the beach. That was really nice, seeing all these southern guys shocked by the freezing water of the Pacific Ocean. We even buried one of the guys up to his knees, that was fun...anyway, after that we went back to the main base, where our hotel was, and got ready for dinner--a BBQ! One of the guys offered to BBQ for us and Captain Rowlison jumped at the chance (he'd offered the first two weeks, but they didn't want to). He went out and bought us hamburger mean, hot dogs, and steak (and all the fixins)...then we BBQ'ed up a storm, it was so good! That night dinner lasted so late (and we had to get up so early) that when dinner was done we all headed straight for our rooms, packed up, and went to bed.

And that's where I started this post, kinda...Friday we met up outside of our rooms at 4:30 in the morning (we had to check out of the rooms and then drive all the way out to Santa Maria).

However, sense I started this it's been a few days...I typed a little waiting for my plane, a little on the plain, and a little Saturday......

LOST TRAIN OF THOUGHT: I just felt an earthquake! We kinda heard it coming, a slight rumbling and I thought 'oh no, is Dad still on the ruff...wait, the house is shaking...is this an earthquake?!?!' In all actuality, the ground wasn't shaking, but we could hear it and it shook our house! There had to be a big earthquake somewhere for us to feel it...wow!

Anyway, back to what I was saying...When I got off my plane, my bags weren’t at the baggage claim and we had to go over to the office and see if they were there. Come to find out, my bags made it on the earlier flight from LA and beat me to Sacramento by nearly four hours. After that, Mom and I went out to lunch in old Sacramento at Joe's Crab Shack. We both ate too much and ruined our dinner, but it sure was good! I had crab...it's still one of my favorite foods! I'm kinda sad that I never made it out for good sea food in Boston (ok, around Boston) when I was there (well, besides the awesome sushi)...quite a few of the people I go out with don't like sea food, very sad for me, but oh well...I'll just have to find someone who will take me out for some good crab sometime.

So there it was...VANDENBERG WAS AWESOME!!