Well - James has officially graduated from his F-16 training here at Luke AFB! I can't believe how fast time has flown. It feels like we were just getting settled, and now he's finished! We've arrived at the beginning of the end. All of the fun activities we packed into graduation weekend were a fitting conclusion to the program, though. We were glad that James' parents, Bob and Nancy, could be here to help us celebrate!
On the morning of the graduation ceremony and banquet, all of the wives of the instructor pilots put together a big breakfast buffet for all of the student pilots and their families at the squadron. After we ate and mingled, our squadron commander got up and said a word of welcome and allowed each of the guys to introduce their guests. Then he gave a brief history of our squadron beginning back in WWII. It's incredible to think that we have been a part of a squadron that has such a long and illustrious history! At the end of the briefing, a few awards were given out to the guys who were the best in their Air-to-Air and Air-to-Ground phases of training. James did not receive any awards that weekend, but we are proud of him regardless!
After the breakfast and briefing, we all broke up and went off to various activities that were going on around the base. Some people took their families to see the flight simulators, while others took tours of the tower and saw how they handle air traffic control for the base. I, however, had the privilege of taking part in one of the most fun AF traditions for wives - the spouse taxi.
Every once in a while, they organize a day where spouses get to dress up in a flight suit and get into one of the planes and taxi at a high rate of speed down the runway. There have been one or two other opportunities for me to do something like this since we've been married. However, we always passed because it probably would not be good for my back. This time I really didn't want to be left out, so we worked it out so that I could still get all dressed up and take pictures by the plane without having to actually ride in the plane. So, I was issued my own tiny flight suit and got to borrow James' patches, helmet and harness, and had fun posing by a stationary plane while the other ladies took their rides.
That afternoon was pretty stressful because James and I ended up needing to stay on base and help set up all of the audio/video equipment in the hangar where they were holding the banquet that night. Since I took the pictures and put together the slideshow, I guess the people organizing it expected that we had all of the technological aspects of the night figured out - which, of course, we didn't. SO we had to spend several hours making phone calls, as well as several trips back and forth from the house, squadron, and hangar just to get everything working the way we needed it to. Really, everything for this graduation was thoroughly disorganized, so it's a wonder that the night went as well as it did. Thankfully, through some solid team work, we got everything set and ready to go about an hour and a half before people were going to start arriving. I very much appreciated the fact that the MC made a point of thanking James and myself for our hard work during his acknowledgements at the banquet.
The hangar was a very cool venue for the dinner. When we arrived, they had the back doors open to the flight line, which was lit up with one of our spectacular Arizona sunsets. They had some displays by the base security and firefighters set up that people could check out during the happy hour before dinner. We mainly enjoyed meeting up with friends and getting to know some of their parents better while we waited.
We were seated at a table with one of James' favorite IP's and his wife, as well as one of the cooler academic instructors. We very much enjoyed talking to them about moving over-seas over dinner. It was great to hear everyone be so encouraging and excited about what James has accomplished here, and all of the great things we will get to do at our first assignment.
One of my favorite parts of the ceremony was watching the video slideshow I put together for the class. I incorporated pictures and video that the guys had taken during their training, as well as pictures of our families and all of the fun and exciting things we have gotten to do while here in Arizona. There were many pictures in front of the Grand Canyon and other AZ landmarks, as well as some lifetime landmarks like weddings and a new baby. Everyone was very impressed with the way I cut it all together, so that was a nice little ego boost for me while we were all so focused on the guys. O=^)
After dinner, there was a brief speech by our guest of honor - Major General Lawrence D. Johnston. He is a highly decorated retired General with some crazy stories to tell about his time in combat. His speech was short and entertaining, which many of us enjoyed, but I don't really feel that what he said had much substance to it. It was clear he wasn't very prepared, and just wanted to get up there and say something memorable to the pilots and their families. What he said to the guys was actually pretty cool. He pointed out that, in the grand scope of human history, we have only been flying for a very short period of time, and the way things are headed, there may not be manned fighter planes for very much longer. So, they should be thankful and very proud that they are able to be a part of the peak of air combat. However, all he really said to the families is that we should be comforted because there is some kind of "magic" out there that will keep our guys safe. That would have been a great point if he had left it at a "higher power" - but he repeatedly attributed it to magic, which I found disappointing. Oh well. Cest la vie.
After the ceremony was over, we were able to go around and take pictures with friends and family before heading out. By that time it was fairly late, so James parents headed back to their room, and we followed the rest of the people from our class to the after party at a local sports bar. We were pretty worn out, so we just ordered some food and hung out with our closer friends until we went home and crashed around midnight. Over all, it was a good day, and all of the hassle of the afternoon was worth it to make the evening go well for everyone.
The next day, we decided to take a long drive up north through Prescott and Sedona with Bob and Nancy. The area up there is beautiful - with all kinds of stunning rock formations. The scenery up there is what you normally associate with Arizona. Unfortunately, it started raining when we finally got to Sedona where the scenery is the most breathtaking, so I don't have any great pictures from up there. But below are a couple from a scenic-over look where we stopped on our way through the Verde Valley. I think Bob very much enjoyed getting to drive around and explore while still visiting with us. =^)
When we arrived in Sedona, we found a fun restaurant where we ate a late lunch/early dinner. Then we wandered around in a local art gallery and drove around to see some of the near-by parks and attractions before heading home. James and I are glad that we were able to finally get up there to see Sedona, and are thankful that Bob and Nancy provided the motivation necessary to get us up there! Now we've seen almost everything that we wanted to see here in Arizona and are one step closer to being ready to move on.
1 comment:
Congrats to James for graduation! Enjoy your time out there in AZ! It looks beautiful. Would rather be there right now instead of near Chicago, cold weather and all!
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