Officer Training School: 1 Week Down, 4 More to Go

I did get a chance to talk with Joe a bit more this weekend. He sounds tired and a little overwhelmed with the amount of work, but says that he is learning tons. Above is a picture of the OTS sign at Maxwell AFB. He described to me their typical day, which lasts around 18 hours. They rise at about 4:30 AM, march off to Physical Training (PT), return to the dorms for a shower, march to the cafeteria for breakfast, spend 4 hours in class or training, lunch, 5 more hours of class or training, dinner, and so on until about 9:00 pm. Then there is homework, laundry, tending to their uniforms, etc.

He told me that almost all the meals are "tight" meals. This means they must eat at the modified position of attention, and be completely silent. Apparently, he has developed the reputation for being the quickest eater in the class (I'm so proud!) They only get 5 minutes or so to eat, and the only items that must be finished are 3 full glasses of water. I'm not sure I could finish 3 glasses of water in 5 minutes, let alone eat a full meal. I'm glad Joe's speed-eating has come in handy for something other than being the first to get a second helping at home. :) He did say that the food is not good, so maybe it's a positive thing he has to shovel it in quick, as he doesn't get a chance to "savor" the taste.

Joe did also explain a little more about the structure of COT. His OTS Class, Commissioned Officer Training (COT) 10-03 (third class of 2010), is divided into Flights (15 people) and given a designation based on the NATO Phonetic Alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu. He is in the Juliet Flight, and I'm not sure what their mascot is (if they have one).

COT is composed of medical professionals, attorneys (JAG Corps), and chaplains. The medical professionals consist of: Medical Service Corps (MSC) MBAs or Masters in Finance who are the hospital administrators, Nurse Corps (NC), and Biomedical Service Corps (BSC) who are the MDs, DOs, PhDs, DPharms that are medical practitioners. Joe's Flight has two JAGs, including himself. The other JAG happens to be his roommate.

Many in his COT Class were civilians that were directly commissioned as officers due to advanced education/experience, but there are a fair number that were prior-enlisted before receiving their commission. He says that the prior-enlisted are an invaluable resource, as they provide guidance in terms of learning to adapt to the Air Force culture. Below is a picture he sent me last night - he doesn't look miserable, right?