Letters...

Well, I have gotten some letters from Aaron and I thought I would share some of the stuff he wrote.  He didn't date any of them so I'm not sure the order of events, but it doesn't really matter. :)  I'm just going to share some quotes from what he said in each letter:

"I have things to do all the time.  We don't hardly get to even sit.  We wake up at 4:45 every morning and go run or do pushups and things.  Then we march and clean and fold clothes, roll socks, and march more, and get yelled at a lot...  It's pretty much the same every day but Sunday when we get to go to church.  I get to go all day on Sunday too which is awesome cuz I get away from the whole training environment."  (He also says that he knows people are praying for him because he's doing pretty well).

"Today we ran in the rain which was kinda nice.  Then we had to clean all the classrooms which is a lot of work, taking all the chairs out then putting them all back and cleaning them... and of course making sure they are completely and totally straight and lined up.  Then we took our weapons out and cleaned them and put them back together which was fun.  I got yelled at cause one of my parts broke cause one of my wingman tried to force it in and I will get yelled at again when I take it to get fixed."

"Today was Sunday so it was a good day doing chapel guide...  At church they always play "Letters from War" or "Letters from Home".  It makes airmen cry thinking about home."  (He says he's just teared up a few times).  :)

"I can't wait to be done and out of here.  We had inspections today and I passed them all so that was good.  I am really good at folding and rolling my shirts, socks, and towels.  Does that surprise you?  It kinda surprises me.  The guy who graded my drawer asked if I was OCD.  It was funny.  Earlier this week I had a flight physical for being a firefighter... not sure why, but I got to take a ten minute shower and eat oreos at lunch.  Those two things are quite the luxury here."

"My MTI (Military Training Instructor) is not good at picking leaders cause the person she put over my group is pretty dumb, but for some reason she really likes him.  It's pretty hard for me cause he will eventually be able to give us orders.  My wingman is pretty dumb too so I end up doing all my stuff plus lots of his stuff too.  I am trying to keep a good attitude though."

"Well you asked me what a day in the life of trainee Cornwall looks like?  So today we did our 2nd week PT evaluation.  I did a lot better than my first one.  I did my 1.5 mile run in 12:05, 45 push ups, and 32 situps.  I knocked 40 seconds off my run, added 20 pshups, and only 1 situp.  Then we are doing integrated base defense, learning about rifle fighting techniques, and guarding posts & stuff like that.  It's pretty fun.  Then we marched around our dorm for awhile...  I get to read my Bible occasionally and quite a bit on Sunday I am hungry for the Word."

"Today was a good day, it seems our MTI is starting to relax some, but then we start to relax and people screw up and she freaks out.  I think people are starting to figure it out.  This next week should be boring but 4th week we go to the gas chamber, the M16 range and the obstacle course.  So that should be fun."

That's it so far!  Keep praying for him...  He doesn't say much about his feelings, but I know that even though he's doing well, it is also hard for him.  Pray especially for the yelling... he doesn't handle that very well.

At the end of training his MTI will have the option to choose up to 10% of his flight to be "honor graduates" provided they fulfill certain criteria.  Honor graduates get an extra day off base the Sunday of his graduation weekend... Pray that his good attitude, hard work, and effort will stand out and pay off so that he can earn the honor of being an honor graduate! :)