On April 8th 2014, Kendall Ives left for Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. She had trained for nearly two years, entered the (DEP) delayed entry program a year prior, and visited the recruiting center weekly. When she left she had one goal...to become an Airman.
Basic Military Training (BMT) for Air Force is approximately nine weeks long. It starts in zero-week where you are processed into the United States Air Force. The first three weeks, a trainee goes through a deliberate process of being broken down from a civilian, to someone who learns to operate as an important part of a unit.
The new Air Force is equal parts physical training, mental conditioning, and learning survival skills, to be able to operate in combat. To that end the Air Force has, obstacle courses, intense physical training, and the "Beast". It is a week-long exercise designed to put in to practice, all you have learned in training. Kendall's flight developed from a group of young individuals into a cohesive and effective team...they were awarded the honor of being named a warrior flight.
Sending your son or daughter to BMT is a difficult thing, for both you, and your loved one...but it is rewarding to see how they change from the experience. Kendall was always a joy...but when we met after BMT...she had changed into a more confident, disciplined, and caring person. It was a week of very special moments. Seeing her with her flight members in the Airman's run...fit, proud, and part of the team, it was incredible, and a little emotional. Her graduation was really something special. Field maneuvers, precise marching, and the recitation of their creed and oath, were moments I will never forget.
BMT is nine weeks of hard work, shaping and molding, discipline and training, and young people growing into a calling larger than a job. What does it take to become an Airman...a big heart and the desire to do big things. Congratulations Airman...well done!
