6 Days and a Wakeup!

Theres only one week left. Commissioning and graduation is next Tuesday morning at 8 am. I mentioned in an earlier post, the one discussing the Commander's Run, Prop & Wings Ceremony, and Phase 2, that I got back to the room and found something under my flight cap. I said I would share what it was inthe future. Below is a picture of it. It's an engraved Second Lieutenant bar; something we will pin on in a week. 

 I have three guests attending graduation; My father, grandfather, and fraternity brother Lieutenant Drew Moyer, USN. They are coming into town on Monday, the day before graduation. Dining Out is that night. Thats a formal dinner held at a hotel downtown that is a military tradition. Its the first (and probably second to last time) I'll have to wear mess dress, which is the military equivalent to a tuxedo. It should be a fun event, even boisterous at times, that celebrates our time at OTS. 

Getting back to graduation, Drew said if I ever got commissioned, he would attend. Im holding him to that. He will administer the oath of office, which signifies, among other things, direct authority from the president. It has to be administerd by an officer, active or retired. My father and grandfather will then pin 2d Lt rank on me. Later in the morning there will be a graduation parade on the parade field (which we have like 8 hours of practice for this week), and then I'll get the hell out of Alabama.