Academy of Military Science

    AMS is a course for people wanting to become commissioned officers in the USAF.  The only attendants are members of the Air National Guard and the Air Force Reserves.  It is a 6 week program that the only thing I can compare it to is boot camp and college mixed together.  It was like boot camp in the sense that we had to march around, deal with room inspections, do physical training, and everything else that involves military training.  It was also like college because we would sit through hours of classes on management, leadership, military history, and doctrine.  Also we would have to write memos, give presentations, and take tests over the material that was covered in class which were all graded.  AMS is located at McGhee-Tyson ANGB in Knoxville, TN.  It was definitely an experience I wasn't expecting to go through by listening to all my buddies that graduated from AMS years ago (thanks for all the great advice Adam).  I'm not going to cover week by week just some of the highlights.  So here are some of the experiences I had while at AMS.

Week 1

Let the mind games begin!  The first couple of weeks are basically that no matter what you do or what decisions you make you're going to be wrong and then have to face the consequences.  The hardest part is trying to keep your mouth shut and not wanting to throw the bullshit flag.  But I kept my mouth shut and dealt with the B.S. This is when the standards are set and you are expected to meet them and they are strictly enforced.  Every morning we would have room inspections that were impossible to pass.  No matter what, the dorm rooms were trashed and the Faculty Advisors (FAs) would "feel dirty" from walking into your room and complain that they "need to take a shower because your room is disgustingly filthy" or something along those lines.  This is what the living setups were like.

For the first 14 days we had to carry around this little blue book called The Patriot Handbook. We had to keep the book at eye level when reading it and we had to read it whenever we weren't doing anything productive. In this book was daily knowledge we had to learn and retain.  After the second day we were quizzed by the FAs while waiting outside in formation to go to class or eat or whatever.  Not knowing the questions also brought on consequences as you can see.

The FAs are the ones dressed in blue that look a little angry that we don't know what the tenets of air power are at the time.  But I'm sure we'll know the answer after some pushups.

The same stuff goes on for about 3 weeks:  get up really early, get yelled at, try to stay awake in class, study, go do PT, etc.  Eventually fun things start happening.  First thing was the Leadership Evaluation Course (LEC) which is an obstacle course that involves group problem solving.  It was the first event where we could try to apply all the things we've been taught in class.

LEC

Later in the week after the LEC is the ropes course.  That was actually a good time, I just wished they had more high rise activities.

Ropes Course

A little confidence check of our harnesses before the fun begins
	Balance beam 50ft up in the air

Patriot Challenge

During the 4th week the Student Wing will go on a "deployment."  It was better than staying in class or in the dorms and an excuse to go run around in the woods.

In the fifth week after returning from Patriot Challenge, the next thing we could look forward to was the Dining In.  The Dining Ins are an Air Force tradition that reinforce comradary and espirit de corps. 

Dining In

Put on your Sunday best and have a good time.	The Grog Bowls are reserved for those who cannot follow the rules of the mess.  You have your choice of "leaded" or "unleaded."

During the last week all we did was take a final test over the classes we've attended, one final physical fitness test, and spent the rest of the week practicing the graduation parade ceremony.  Which ironically we didn't do at my  graduation because it was rained out. 

Graduation

General Cotney presenting me with my commisioning certificate