UPT Week 1

And so it begins!

Here's your "first day of school" picture Mom!

Well, it actually began two weeks ago when our class had its first official meeting at none other than the Flight Doc’s office. We were poked, hearing tested, eye tested, foot printed and then sent on our way with a bag full of sleeping pills.  The pills are known as ground trials, which we were instructed to test now, before we hit the flight line, so we know what works and what doesn’t for future use.  In all I can tell you I slept more that following weekend than I have in a while thanks to the Air Force!

My class is a diverse bunch of awesome individuals.  Most of us are Air Force with at least 10 being USAFA grads. However, we also have 4 Navy guys & 2 Marines, with at least 3 of them being from the Naval Academy, 2 exchange students from Saudi Arabia, 2 Guard pilots and we range anywhere from Lts to Capt in rank. In total we have 26 people, 3 of which are female. As I said before, we’re a diverse bunch.

Our first official day of pilot training was Wednesday the 25^th; however we actually began on Monday (day -1) with death by PowerPoint. It was a typical day of meet and greet briefings with all the base leadership as well as a layout of expectations. Day 0 was supposed to be a similar day, however the Air Force’s AETC commander decided to have a down day in response to the increase in suicides; so we had “Resiliency Day,” which was pretty much another day of briefings and PowerPoint, just about a subject other than UPT. Day 1 took on all the things that were supposed to get accomplished on Day 0, such as pictures in Service Dress for our commanders, more briefings, publications issue and page counts. However, since it was the official start day of training we got to begin our day with a PT test. By the end of the day we had worn 3 different uniforms and were all exhausted! 

Time to hit the books!

 By far the coolest thing about beginning pilot training was getting my helmet, mask, G suit and harness.  I grew up trying on my Dad’s helmet and it’s so cool to now have one of my own! Since the helmet is fitted specifically to our heads we get to keep it, no matter what airplane we end up flying. That’s an awesome souvenir! However, we did get briefed that we’re not allowed to paint or sticker our helmets, so I guess I’ll have to wait to put lightning bolts down the sides until after I graduate =)



We’re currently in the Aerospace Physiology block and have already had our first 2 test in it.  We’ll continue with Aerospace Phys through this week, ending it with a flight in the altitude chamber.  We also had our Fighter Aircrew Conditioning Test (FACT) on Friday which is a test mainly made up of weightlifting different percentages of our body weight.  For men it’s not too difficult; however all the girls had been warned to train for it because you have to pass it if you want to fly fighters. Well after training and a ton of protein shakes, I put that test behind me when I scored in the outstanding category. It was a great way to start the weekend and was a weight lifted off my shoulders… get it?

Last week was very busy and emotionally stressful, and truthfully I don’t think it has set in that I actually have started UPT yet.  I know that there will be good days and bad day, heck I’ve already had them in just this past week.  But I have faith that God will lead me through this journey and use me as an instrument in his plan.  I’m so thankful for all the support that friends and family have provide me with; it truthfully is an amazing blessing to know that there are people out there who are watching and care. The person that I have to thank the most though is my husband. Without Greg I don’t think I could get through this next year.  He already has been an amazing partner and supporter to me and I’m so thankful for him.  

The flowers that I came home to, that my mom and Greg bought for me on my first official day of UPT.  I am truly blessed!