Last week, I was able to go to my brother’s basic training graduation with the Air Force. All Air Force basic training is at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Each week they have a group graduating. Basic Training or BMT is 7.5 weeks. Nathan arrived BMT on September 12th. They have a class graduate every Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday was the Airmen’s Run and Coin Ceremony. The Airmen’s Run was at 7:30am and the first time we were able to see Nathan. He is in a flight of around 50 men and women. For the run, they jogged through the arena twice and were chanting. The song from the movie Rocky was playing. There was a lot of cheering because everyone was excited to see their loved ones for the first time in several weeks. Later that morning was the Coin Ceremony. This is the time when they are no longer a trainee and become an Airman. This ceremony made many people cry. The Air Force band played the National Anthem. The song Proud to be an American played when they received their Airman’s coin. After a closing prayer it was the best time of the day. It was time to “Tap Out” your Airman. My parents tapped Nathan out and I took pictures and video. We were all crying! Nathan was then able to spend the rest of the day with us and be back to the base by 8pm. The next day was the graduation ceremony. This was at the parade grounds. 631 Airmen were graduating. It started with a prayer and then two World War II planes flew overhead welcoming the Airmen to their graduation. The National Anthem played and special visitors were announced. Each flight marched past the stands. The Cornel gave a beautiful speech to the Airmen and their families. Everyone began crying again. Soon it was time to Tap Out your Airmen. I was able to tap out Nathan for this. I had to tease him a bit and tell him “I’m not touching you”. He stayed in salute until I tapped his shoulder. I didn’t make him wait long and hugged him. It was a great two days and the ceremonies were very special. I am very proud of Nathan.
