Can I Brag A Little?

Well, tonight was graduation night of Airman Leadership School. 192 class room hours, multiple homework assignments, several speeches, a large number of classroom discussions, interactions, learning about leadership, about taking care of your people and basically how to be the best Non Commissioned Office you can be. It was... rough. So many of the nights I spent doing homework or studying and my lovely wife would watch the kids or accommodate me in some way and it's been a bit trying, but I explained to her that this is worth it. This is the first time in my career that I stood up and took control of my CAREER and it wasn't just going along with the flow, or letting others dictate MY action. I stayed up and studied harder than necessary and before the last test, I was more than happy to volunteer my time helping out in study groups all weekend.

To my wife I say thank you because without you there to help me I wouldn't have done as good as I did.

And how good did I do? Well, there are several awards you can win. You can win an academic award which is just top dog for grades only, you can win a distinguished graduate award which is for those in the top 10% of the class that not only showed great academic excellence but also leadership capabilities. You also have the leadership award which is chosen by the school Commandant, and finally the Levitow award which trumps all awards in prestige. The thing about the Levitow though is that if you win it, you can't win anything else.

I was in direct competition with someone and it was mainly out of fun, but we have a bit of a history of rivalry so it was a motivator and in the end, the first award they called was for the academic and it went to me. I was shocked because I'm pretty sure I wasn't the top as far as grades. I was pretty sure I was in second place, but hey, who am I to turn down an award? So I haul myself up to the front and get my very first plaque from the USAF and go sit back down. Oh, there were handshakes from EVERYWHERE and I even got my very first coin handed to me by a commander which was pretty freaking awesome. To get a coin given to you by a person who gets coins ISSUED to them is awesome because they have to inventory all the coins they give out and to whom it was given.

I was pretty happy. Then they called the leadership award and it went to my flight commander and she was more than deserving. She dedicated a ton of personal time to make sure that her flight was taken care of (and she brought in cookies on test days)and there was never a question of whether or not she was there coaching everyone on. The great thing is usually flight commanders don't receive awards because their performance slips because they're too busy helping out their flight members.

Next up was distinguished graduate. They said my squadron and I looked at the only other guy from my squadron there and then they called my name.

My name.

The Colonel that handed me the statue said that what I did was really impressive to her.

I believe it. I was stunned. More handshakes, one more coin. I was super happy.

Then the next DG award (class size dictates how many are given out) was given to my new buddy Sparky who deserved it very much.

Finally the Levitow was given to the Airman with whom I was competing against and before we got our diplomas, I congratulated her and said I was proud of her and she said the same to me. Our flight took ALL the awards and every recipient was sitting next to each other in class too.

But getting the awards were just a small part of the joy, honestly. I felt great that I was now validated. I could look at my supervisor and let them know that their Airman did something that was pretty cool and honestly, I couldn't have done it if I hadn't been groomed by them beforehand. And my mom and her boyfriend was there and that was cool too. I've known Mom's boyfriend since I was ten and he's always been a very strong presence in my life and I'm glad that they could have been there to see it.

Unfortunately Kim wasn't there and to be honest, I missed her very much. I recorded a speech given by a Chief about the importance of spouses, but it would have been cool for her to see me get called up to the front both times. I can't give credit to my supervisors for grooming me without giving credit to my wife for letting me be groomed. She's been more than patient with me in the AF and I only hope that the small tangible things I get can somehow make her proud enough to forget or forgive the long nights alone with the kids while I was busy writing a paper or practicing a speech.

I love you, Kim. More than any amount of words these fingers could ever type. They could pound on keyboard after broken keyboard until the fingers were mere nubs at the end of time and it would still be sorely lacking in telling you the depth and strength of my love for you.

Well, everyone, I think I've bragged enough. Thanks for your time and have a great day!

-Pappy