Part 2

My 6 weeks of basic training would have been ordinary for an ordinary person, but I was, and am, for that matter, far from ordinary. I took at that whole experience and treated it as if it were a play that I was starring in. In a way, it was. It was another one of those extraordinary things that my Higher Power was doing to bring me to where I am today, relatively happy, remember?

Basic training was intense and hot. I had never experienced anything even close to that! They must have been kidding. Me? Joanne, run around a hot concrete track in 90+ degree Texas heat and no shade to be found. Not I! Some days I would, and some days I wouldn't. On the days that I wouldn't, I would fake fainting right there on the track so that I could be taken back inside of the barracks where it was air conditioned. It was too hot, and I didn't see the point. Boy, was I full of myself, and I was in for a reality check! I was not prepared physically, mentally or emotionally for what was about to happen.

To look at me, I was a fine specimen of young womanhood. I could not have weighed more than 110 pounds, no inclination toward athleticism, and happy about it. It made me sweat, and was therefore, deemed unnecessary by me! Perfectly proportioned back then: Approximately 34-24-36, light chocolate brown complexion, shoulder-lenght black hair that I chose to wear in an afro. All that said, I was put together well, and had no problem getting my way (most of the time). Well, Uncle Sam took this "project chick" and beat the literal "hell" out of her. I had two female drill seargeants, and they were no joke. It was like somebody sent a note ahead of me and told them to hassle me until I broke. Life in the dormitory was not a strange way to live for me. I grew up sharing a bedroom with my 2 sisters. This was just a multiplication of that. For the most part, I got along well with my fellow airmen. That is, of course, until one of us messed something up and the whole flight (title for a group of female Air Force basic trainees) got into trouble. A couple of times it was me; usually, my mouth. I hadn't learned yet to shut up all the way. After the initial shock of being there wore off, things leveled out. I started feeling a sense of pride and honor within myself that I had never experienced before. The uniformity of the drills, the expectation of passing inspection, the learned appreciation and respect for the authority were some of the things that helped to develop character traits in me that would certainly aid me in the years to follow. The thing that I learned really well was when and where NOT to cut the fool. Even with that learned, I still managed to get into trouble! One instance, when I voiced some smart-mouthed opinion about something, I ended up scrubbing the pigeon poop off of the outside pillars with a toothbrush and a bucket of water! And just when it seemed as if I would make it through Basic without being court-martialed, 11 days from graduating from the most grueling 6 weeks of my life, I got into the worse trouble of all.