Saturday, June 29, 2019

...San Antonio...Day FIVE...

...we were able to pick up our Airman at 0800 and he had "Town Pass" again...
...but we actually did a little bit more "sightseeing" on base...
...it was just fun walking around looking at all the interesting planes...
...reading all of the placards...
...and marveling at how big all the aircraft are...
...a lot of them have these plaques with a story...
...then we drove back across base to see the Airman's Museum...we're learning our way around pretty well...
...it was pretty typical of this type of museum...
...with little vignettes set up depicting different things in an Airman's life...
...you could see into the cockpit of this cutaway...
...the gateway...
...the women's uniform display was really interesting...I loved the seersucker dresses...they look pretty cool and comfy...and the men's display used to have shorts as an option...I know our Airman wishes they still had them...haha...
...the 1970s exhibit shows a recruit getting a haircut...and he had really long hair...funny...
...this present day exhibit shows the dormitory...Our Airman said it's pretty accurate except they no longer have bunkbeds...the towel and the shoes lined up were accurate though...and he explained that it's actually someone's 'duty' to take a "boot board" and go through the dorm and make sure everyone's boots are perfectly in line...
...then we headed back to the Airbnb to do whatever Our Airman wanted to do...which was basically nothing...here he is calling his Grandma's...sweet...

~Have a lovely day!

Friday, June 28, 2019

...San Antonio...Day FOUR...

...we were up before dawn again...but not as early this time...we arrived at the parade grounds at 7 AM (0700) for the 9 Am graduation ceremony...
...we found seats where our Airman told us to sit...and patiently waited...
...there was not a lot going on...just waiting...
...but promptly at 9...the 50 state flags were marched onto the field...
...followed by the band...
...I've marked our Airman again...so you can find him...
...everyone is in place...
...the band marches forward to lead the parade...
...past the video production crew...BMT is quite the production...lots of photos, dvd's, cd's, shirts, flags, notebooks...and many other things for sale...we bought the dvd...of course...
...anyone with a free hand salutes the dignitaries...
...a good photo of Our Airman...
...and another one...
...the band turns and marches back to center field...
...to play the national anthem...
...all the Airmen say the Oath in unison...
...and then they're released for the final tapout...
...standing at attention...waiting to be tapped...
...the Man did the tapout this time...it's tradition for the wife/fiancé/husband to do the first tapout...and the parents to do the second...
...probably one of my favorite photos EVER...
...so then we did a little more sightseeing right around the parade field...lots of familiar airplanes...
...this pretty memorial...
...to the recipients of the Medal of Honor...
...and the Military Working Dog Teams Monument...
...then we headed back over to the Airman's dorm for the Open House...
...in the stairwell...
...on the Airman's floor...
...the hallway...
...they call their bathrooms latrines...which I thought was funny for a building...that's what we always called them when we were camping with the Girl Scouts...but I hadn't heard the word used in a long time...
...there was this ginormous flag in the center of the dormitory...4 stories tall...crazy...
...then we just headed home...as the Airmen have "Town Pass" for the rest of the day...

...Our Airman said he just wanted to sit around...watch TV...and eat junk food...so...I set the table...and we waited on our UberEats driver to bring our Panda Express supper...it was fun...
...The Airman got a first look at his photos...
...then we celebrated the Airman's birthday…so much fun...

~Have a lovely day!

Thursday, June 27, 2019

...San Antonio...Day THREE...

...so the day we had all been waiting for 8 1/2 weeks finally arrived...the day we would get to see our Airman...so we were up and on base well before daylight...
...we got into the queue with all of the other family members of airmen...
...there was so much excitement in the air...really...
...on the way up the ramp we passed our Airman's flight commanders photos...
...and then we made it into the auditorium...and got pretty good seats...they kept warning us that once all the seats were filled they would be closing the doors and there was no standing room only area...it was crowded and there was a lot of chatter...but they showed a video while we waited and it was fun looking for our Airman in the images...
...then we made our way outside and everyone got out their posters and banners and lined the track for the Airman's Run...
...and then they finally came into view...
...Our Airman's flight emerges...their colours are green and grey...so each airman is wearing either a green or a grey 321 Warthogs shirt...
...I just thought this was a neat photo captured as the flag went by...I didn't even realize it until we were reviewing the photos...
...here comes flight 321...
...they really do all look so much alike...it's hard to pick out your airman...
...so I've marked Our Airman here...and they are all singing (shouting) a chant/song...
...they ran past us in a flash...and our Airman later said that this was the easiest run of the entire 8 weeks...
...next we chose seats in the stand based on facebook posts about where the band would be...and they were right...the band queued up right beside us...
...I've marked our Airman again so you can find him...
...here he is listening to instructions...
...and standing at attention...
...they march onto the field...
...you can see him again here...third row back second one in...
...all 679 Airmen on the field to receive their coins...
...the coin ceremony begins...
...there were speeches and songs...and then the band marches off the field...
...you can see our Airman again here as they make the turn...
...then they are released for "tap-out"...the Airman stands at attention until some family member comes and taps him...
...the Airman's Wife did the tap-out...
...so much joy!...
...the Airmen had "base liberty" for the rest of the day...so we just spent that with Our Airman...touring around the base...
...still in sightseeing mode...
...and so...so happy to be reunited...
...all too soon it was time to drop him off at his dorm...

~Have a lovely day!