Hi Y'all

I am here in Wichita Falls Texas.  Sheppard AFB.  HSA school.  I found the Starbucks.  Things are good.  I have been here for just over a week now, and the class is going well.  There are even a few other officers that were in COT with me that are now here and I am getting to know better.  We have a relativley small class (34 folks or so) compared to some of the other HAS classes, but I prefer that anyway. 

PT here (Physical Training) is better than it was at COT.  Instead of getting up at 0400 for it, we get up at 0500.  Amazing how relative time becomes, ain't it?  PT consists of a 30 minute run and 3 games of competitive volleyball.  I only played volleyball once in my life.  I was stationed in Germany at the time, and about 38 seconds into the game, someone served a ball and it hit me in the face and broke my nose.  And my glasses.  I haven't played since.  So, I was a little nervous about the whole volleyball thing, but I played and even scored a few points during serves. 

My Florida blood is not used to the cool nights and even cooler mornings here.  As the month rolls on and we get closer to winter, I am actually feeling cool most of the time.  I don't like cold.  Never have, not likely to ever will.  But, that is ok.  I have a coat.  And a sweater.  And socks.  So again, life is good. 

I am meeting some nice people in class, and since the entire MSC (Medical Service Corps) is pretty small, we will all likely run into each other again in the future.  We all eat together in the evenings and sometimes during lunch.  The days are a bit shorter, but the workload (and information for class) is more extensive.  But so far I have been doing well, and even enjoying myself.  After all, I found the local Starbucks. 

*whew*

COT is finally over!  Life is good!  And, I am down to 102 pounds, which by itself is reason enough to be happy.  However, I graduated from COT and things are really good.  I am on my way to Sheppard AFB in Texas, and after leaving Montgomery Alabama yesterday, (just in time as it turns out, they were SLAMMED by hurricaine Ivan mere hours after i got out of there) I am now in Shreveport Louisiana.  I figured i would stop by my new base, Barksdale, where I will be stationed come December and check things out.  I am encouraged.  There are a lot of growing areas, and some decent areas to live as well.  I found the Target and the Starbucks so I could be very happy with that.  

Sleeping in a real bed, in a real room felt very good last night.  And the pedicure I had today felt even better.  My muscles are still sore from the events of the past weeks to include our field exercise and Confidence Course (obstacle course), but I shant let myself go!  I will do more pushups and situps this evening so I don't loose my stride.  I will take off from here tomorrow morning for my drive to Wichita Falls, Texas.  Which is only about 6 hours from where I am now. 

Graduation day was really spectacular.  The only unfortunate thing was that because of the storm, they were closing the airports and the interstates, and many of my classmates family memebers were not able to make it to graduation.  Either way, we graduated that afternoon in a fairly simple ceremony, during which I found out that my flight was HONOR FLIGHT (because Alpha flight RULES), and that evening we had our formal Dining Out.  It was great to see everyone in their Mess Dress uniforms.  Even the FTO's (Flight Training Officers) were there and looking good.

I am only one day post graduation and already the memories are fading.  But I know that overall, I had a good time, I got a lot out of it, and I came in contact with some really great people, that I know I will miss, and hope to see again eventually during my Air Force career.