So, we left off at the end of the medical exam. Well, I processed out of there, and went and met with my liaison. He was somehow surprised I finished before the 3 guys. Maybe because there was a whopping total of 3 females, and a bajillion males. Anyway. He had to pull up some files to go back over, and I had to verify, of course. Then, we made my contract! This consisted of making a list of jobs (Max of 10), and picking an Aptitude Area. As with anything, more is better! Try to pick the max total of jobs. But, don't list something you don't want! You may just end up with it! When doing this, your liaison will present you with a list of alllll the jobs you qualify for. Mine was roughly 5 pages. When picking your aptitude area, look and see what category most of the jobs you listed fall under. Or (if you want something quickly), ask which Aptitude Area your squadron gets the most of. That'll really help. I was torn between General and Administrative. I ended up picking Gen, because it's apparently rather difficult to get Admin, considering there's only about 5 jobs or so total.
So my list was made, my contract was drawn up, and that meant lunch time! They had announced over the intercom it was ready, about 20 minutes before I left his office. Make sure you eat at this point! It had been roughly 7 hours that I had been awake, and hadn't eaten. I demolished my sandwich. Anyway, I ate lunch, went back to my liaison, and he sent me to the control desk to find out where to go next. I went and did another interview with a DoD employee, then was fingerprinted. This is tricky, as your fingers can't be wet, this includes sweaty!! Mine didn't take nearly as long as some, maybe 10 minutes. She printed off some copies, told me to take them to my liaison and say I was ready to swear in! When I went back to his office, I was pleastanly surprised to see my recruiter there!! We instantly started talking about that I made weight and all that good stuff. I handed over my prints to my liaison, and he told me to sit in the waiting area.
Of course, I figured since I hadn't waited long all day, it'd be the same process. WRONG. I waited for close to 2ish hours before I was able to swear in! They had to assemble a group of people, and I was farther ahead than those left that hadn't sworn in. I was bored out of my mind! And the exhaustion was getting to me! I had been so full of nerves/excitement up until that point, I wasn't tired. But it was getting close to 1500, and I'd been up roughly 12 hours with about 3.5 hours of sleep the night before. Finally I heard them call my name, along with 7 others. We were escorted back to the ceremony room, where a civilian instructed us on what to do. Luckily, I thought, my recruiter had already shown me how to stand at attention, rest and parade rest. This differs slightly branch to branch. The way I was taught, the AF rests their hands above their tailbone, while Marines for example, rest theirs on the small of their back. She corrected me, though. Oh, well. She explained a few more things, then the 8 of us (only one of my AF guys was with me! One was DQ'd and John was still waiting to be finger printed) patiently waited for the officer to come in. He was an Army Colonel, I believe. And he was so very nice, and inspirational. He gave us a fantastic speech about the Military, and then thanked us at the end. That was an awesome feeling; the first time I was thanked for my service, that I hadn't even provided yet! Anyway, we raised our right hands and repeated after the officer.
That was such a rush, such an indescribable feeling. I knew in that moment that I wasn't "signing my life away", I was willingly giving it to a greater cause; something bigger than all of us. I knew I was making the right choice, and was implementing what I was born to do. When you take the Oath of Enlistment for the first time, you'll understand why I can't elaborate. It's like explaining why you love your children. You get choked up, emotional, and know that it's just.....right. That particular feeling there, will override all negative feelings you have when you get to BMT. It will give you strength when you think you have none left, it will give you courage, faith, and so much more. It gives you life. I've been a completely different person since that day, only a short 6 days ago. But my life was eternally changed, and I couldn't be more thrilled.
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