Zero Week - Day One

Ok, to start off, I'm going to write about week zero of BMT. This means I'm going to skip everything up to the point where I got off the plane in San Antonio, TX. Hua?

I got off the plane at San Antonio, TX. I started to realize how much more humid and hot Texas was to California. I was thinking to myself, "Oh crap, I'm going to have to run in this weather???" Fun stuff coming ahead for me. I walked into a hall that said something like "Military pickup this way -->". I followed that direction with my friends whom I flew on the plane with. We came to a hallway with a man in camo at the end of the hall. He quickly, and politely, told us to tuck in our shirts before we headed any further. Little did I know that was the last time I was going to be able to let a shirt hang loose from my body ever again. So I tucked my shirt in, and he told me to head down the hall where I met some more sergeants.

These sergeants didn't have any sense of humor whatsoever. They looked at me as if I had something majorly wrong with my face. I gave them my entry paperwork and took a seat on the floor with everyone else. We were handed a voice recorder, and all we did was took the voice recorder and stated our name. That was it. We sat there for a while longer in fear, then we were lead to get on a bus.

The bus dropped us off at the BMT Reception Center. At this point, it was about 10:00PM, so it was dark outside. We went into the reception center, filled out a time sheet of us entering the base, had to stand on a device that measured how much arch support our feet needed, got a box lunch thrown at me, picked up my satchel (a man-purse), got my parka (raincoat), and sat down with everybody else in chairs. We were then given a little briefing on what to do next, and a couple hours later, we stepped on the bus again. This is where the fun begins...

The bus started to go forward. We went into the deep depths of Lackland Air Force Base. We were stopped once to have the bus checked for terrorists and whatnot by Security Forces. Then the bus started to move again. It was about 2:30AM by the time we got this far.

5 minutes later, we came to a set of strange buildings that had staircases wrapped all around them. This is where the training happens. We came to this building, and the bus stopped. Oh crap. I saw 4 standing figures spread across the floor where we were to go. They were all wearing those famous Smokey Bear hats, just staring at the bus. One of the men came to the bus, got in, and calmly said, "Ok, I want you to grab all your luggage and follow me with a sense of urgency."

I was the first one off that bus. I picked up my luggage and followed the Training Instructor. I started to run towards the pad where I was to go.

"STOP RUNNING!!!" Was the first shout I got. "CLOSE YOUR MOUTH!!!" I was breathing from my mouth cuz I was running, so I changed both things. I started to walk quickly and closed my mouth. I then reached my spot to where I was supposed to stand.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!!! STAND AT ATTENTION! STAND STILL! HOLY CRAP STOP MOVING! DON'T YOU EVER EYEBALL MY AGAIN OR I'LL SEND YOU BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM!!!!" These were the various shouts and commands that were being given to my entire group, or "flight". I stood so incredibly still. I'm an Eagle Scout, so I know what it means to stand at attention. The others, however... not so much. They almost became deaf in the first five minutes of BMT.

The instructors became quiet. We then learned our "reporting statements" (which I still use to this day). Our reporting statement is "Sir/Ma'am, trainee (last name) reports as ordered." We were then told to shout it out 5 or so times. Every time we wish to speak to a TI, or when a TI asks you a question that requires more than a "Yes, sir", you must give your reporting statement before speaking. The first time I shouted it, I ended the reporting statement with a "sir". Not good. I was then shouted at (again) "THERE IS NO 'SIR' AT THE END OF MY REPORTING STATEMENT!!" Scared scared scared scared...

After we got our reporting statements figured out, we then had to memorize our squadron and flight number and Dorm room number. So much information to process at once! Maybe this is why I'm having such a hard time remembering my zero-week experience... it was an extreme shock to my mentalness. Holy crap.

We then took a quick tour around the squadron (which I very quickly forgot because all I was focused on is surviving the next 5 minutes). We were to stay off the cement, always stand on the black-top, rules rules rules, etc etc etc... We then headed towards our dorm and went up the stairs with a sense of urgency, of course. I was sweating my head off by the time this came around.

We got up to the dorm and I was the first one inside. We then had to pick our beds from closest to furthest. I was the closest bed to the door and the office where the MTI stayed. Great. Just what I needed when my primary mission was to stay under the rader at BMT.

The beds had a number written on them, as well as the wall lockers behind our beds. We had to point at the number on the bed, then run to the wall locker and point on the same corresponding number and point at it. We did this 5 times to ensure we knew what a number looked like.

We were then ordered to take off all our clothes and get in the shower. This must have been the most stressful shower I have ever taken in my entire life. And to top it off, we had to shave our faces. Shower and shave completely in a matter of 5 minutes. It felt like 2. There is no such thing as a private shower in BMT.

Showering with 7 other stressed males makes you wish you were somewhere else, right now. I have to say that I got an extreme amount of cuts and razor burns on my face that night. I was bleedin'. My DNA is probably still in that dorm somewhere.

After we showered and got in our night clothes, we went to bed. It was 3:00AM. I cried myself to sleep (along with everybody else in that dorm). And my prayers consisted of "Oh God oh God oh God... help me help me help me..." yeah that about sums it up. And the occasional "Let my TI have mercy on me..."

Zero week is the week in which the Air Force strips you of your "civilian" mindset and engraves in you a mindset for instantaneous response and discipline. Therefore, zero week is the most difficult and tough week out of any week.

This concludes day one.