Graduated! (And also Survival school)

I haven't updated in a while. I've since finished the mission familiarization block of training, sat around for a few weeks, and then graduated from Air Force pilot training. Matt and Chuck flew down in Chuck's plane, going through all the legwork to get prior permission.  Alida flew down commercially.   It was a fun time, especially with them down here. I would say that graduation was the biggest day of my life so far.  It was without a doubt the most amazing year of my life, and in addition to the shiny new wings on my chest, I'll also have great friends forever because of it. 

The day after graduation I drove home, taking a stray kitten I found on base with me (they started trying to trap the stray cats- and there is no animal shelter in Del Rio, so you can probably figure out what they were going to do with the ones they caught. 

The last phase of training, mission familiarization, was real fun. We flew simulated aerial refueling with another T-1, and also formation low level simulated air drops. Flying 20 feet behind another T-1 simulating aerial refueling, or flying 270 mph at 500 feet with another T-1 a few hundred feet away was awesome. It was definitely a great way to finish pilot training. 

As I write this I am at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, WA. I am here for survival school (called SERE; survival evasion, resistance and escape) and also water survival. I completed water suvival today (that was only two days) and combat survival training, or SERE. SERE is 19 days straight, with no weekends off. People who are at high risk of becoming isolated are required to go (which is pretty much anyone who flies on a plane for their job).  It was an experience to say the least. The first week was wilderness survival and evasion academics. The next six days were in the field in the Kaniksu national forest, and the last 7 days were back at Fairchild for resistance training. Wilderness survival was fun. We got to live in the woods with minimal food and learn how to survive in both permissive and non-permissive (someone is trying to find you) situations. The last two days we were on our own and had to evade from aggressors and get rescued. After wilderness survival we were bussed back to base and were promptly subjected interrogated without any resistance training. I won't go into details about any of it, but it did not go well for anyone- and it's not supposed to. They want you to see how bad you will do without proper training.  Had it not been for this I would not have paid as close attention in resistance training acedmics in the days that were to follow. We learned how to handle different circumstances of being detained.  After resistance academics we had an undisclosed period of time back in the "resistance training lab," a night off, then a few more hours in the lab the next day. 

I can't provide details but if I ever need to use that training I will be very happy that I have it. In our initial capture we had no training on how to handle interrogations and it was all too easy to be tricked into making propaganda. Sure, we all knew what the code of conduct says, but it has a lot more meaning to us now and if I ever find myself as an isolated person i am confident that the training would keep me alive and also allow me to return with honor. 

Next stop is Lackland AFB in San Antonio where I will learn to fly the C-5.