Thursday, June 21, 2012

A Visit to San Antonio - Part Two

Day two of our visit to San Antonio was a very exciting day - GRADUATION DAY!!!! We boarded a bus near where they guys and gals did their Airman's run on Thursday and were transported to the parade grounds. We got an early start so that we could get good seats and we were rewarded by this beautiful sunrise on our way to the base. Once there, I got my Mom settled and then took a little self guided tour of the parade grounds. There were a lot of these big, old planes around. I guess that makes sense, this being an Air Force base, huh? :) On the back of the building sheltering all the dignitaries and special guests, this was what I found. "I am an American Airman, I am a Warrior, I have answered my Nation's call" "Integrity First, Service before Self, Excellence in all we do" The back of the grandstands were lined with all these colorful flags and plaques. Soon it was time for the graduation ceremony to begin. The Airmen marched out onto the parade grounds and lined up in formation. Each flight group was recognized and all the MTIs (Military Training Instructors) were introduced. Brandon's flight, along with his brother flight, Flight 350, were chosen to carry the American flags and all the US state flags. What an honor! Brandon carried Hawaii's flag. After hearing from a few keynote speakers, including one of the highest ranking Generals in the Air Force, the graduates were pronounced Airman Basic! No more trainees! Woohoo! They then marched around the entire parade grounds in front of all the proud family members. After reciting the Airman's creed and taking the Air Force oath, the graduation ceremony concluded with a fly over from a fighter jet. I didn't get a picture of that due to the fact that my camera is not a very high tech one and that plane flew by pretty fast! My newly graduated Airman Basic, Brandon Scott Rash!!! I love this child with all my heart and I am so very, very proud of him and all that he has accomplished these past few months! In a future post, I will share some of the fun stuff we got to do during our visit to San Antonio, so stay tuned!!
Until next time. . .

2 comments:

  1. Just AWESOME!!!! I am so enjoying these posts Donna, seems like just yesterday I was posting the same thing!I love the flag idea from each state and he makes a fine looking Airman!!!!

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  2. My son graduated basic training at Lackland AFB in 2009. It was a beautiful ceremony. I was very impressed.

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