Heritage Tours
Here we go into another work week. Actually, it feels alot like a continuation of the last work week. First let me say a big "Thank You" to the Crosier family for the edible arrangement! Those are the first goodies we have received. Our team was very excited.
You will hopefully all be excited to know that every, single, squadron either passed through our building yesterday, or will have passed through our building by this evening. This tour started with the Class of 2020 last year and I hope it will continue to become a permanent part of BCT. We call it the Heritage Tour. It's a chance for the newest class to hear from those that have come before. In-Processing Day is such a blur for most cadets. Most barely remember it. This tour allows them to connect a bit. Hopefully they will bring you back here one day and show you what they saw.
One of my favorite parts is the Library. We have every yearbook there since the Class of 1959. This basic found his dad's cadet photo. Nice Haircut! (not the basic, the dad, lol)
Yesterday's photos of Aggressors, Cobras, Executioners & Guts are up in the BCT-1 gallery (sorted by squadron). Today it was Barbarians, Demons, Flying Tigers, & Hellcats turn. Those photos are in process and will be up later this evening.
On another note...
As you can probably guess, we get lots of questions via email and FB messenger. We try to answer every one. Sometimes there is a common theme to the questions. In that case, I try to address it here for everyone's benefit. Today's subject is mail and missing basics. By now some of you may have had letters and some may have not. Most of you have found at least a few photos of your basic, but a few have not. One thing it is important to remember is that this generation is not used to writing letters. They are used to texting and Snapchat, and Instagram. Many don't even know how to write cursive and printing long hand takes time and effort. There are no emojis. This is really old school time. Given that fact and also that some basics may have to choose whether to use their very limited free time to write or to sleep, well, they make that decision. Some write to boy or girlfriends instead of parents. When my son was a basic we received exactly two letters from him in six weeks. Here they are. Still have them. Dated the 19th and 26th of July 2004.
That was it. By the way, there was no WebGuy in 2004. Well, actually there was, but they only took about 600 photos TOTAL, so this was it for us. We were lucky. Both letters were positive. He was tired. He had lost weight, but he really liked his cadre. Some of you will get letters that aren't so positive. Some will make you proud, some will make you cry. Whatever kind of letter you get, remember that they are just snapshots in time, just like our photos are. By the time you read what they have written, or seen their expression they will have likely moved on from that moment, so stay off the rollercoaster.
I know that some of you are concerned that you haven't seen your basic with their squadrons. I know you know we are trying. That being said, each summer there are always those basics who manage to elude us. I have talked to the cadre about this in the past. I want to pass along what I learned. More often than you (or I) might think, basics can be missing from their flight's activities for many reasons. They were at another appointment, or taking a make-up test, or were sick, or had a small injury to name a few reasons that we don't always think about. I learned something else from experience. Some basics REALLY don't want their picture taken. Some really feel it is an invasion of their privacy. Last year, while one of the squadrons was in our building, I had the opportunity to take individual photos of pretty much everyone who was here. On two separate instances, I had a basic literally cover their faces when I went to take their picture. This was in a situation where they were in a relaxed environment and the cadre gave them permission to smile for the photos. I had to respect the basic's wishes. So it happens. Just wanted to pass that along.
I also was reminded that a photo is literally a snapshot in time. Look at the series of photos below taken last year.
Each is a snapshot in time. In this case they were literally taken a second apart. Each photo tells a slightly different story though. If you had only seen the photo on the left, you might reach a different conclusion about what is going on with this basic as opposed to the other two. That is exactly how it is for these young people. For the most part they are all doing really well. They are figuring it out. They have their ups and downs though. We see it all the time. So, why am I telling you this? Because this is a marathon. Try not to read too much into any one photo, or any one letter. Just like the basic in this series, the moment after those words were written, or one of our photos is taken, things can look very different.
Ok. That's Uncle WebGuy's thought for the day.
The photos are going up from this morning and afternoon. Enjoy!