Graduation Parade

Friday morning wasn’t as early as the past 2 had been; we left the hotel at 6:45AM to get to the base by 7AM. We parked behind the retreat pad where all the buses were lined up. You have to get on a bus and ride it over to the parade grounds. We didn’t have to wait in line or anything; it was a quick and easy bus ride over. Once we got to the parade grounds, we found a seat and just waited for the ceremony to begin. There’s a lot of “hurry up and wait” throughout the entire weekend. The airmen are so far away during the ceremony that it doesn’t really matter where you sit. There are no good or bad seats from my prospective. Toward the end of the ceremony, the entire airman do a parade march, where they come closer to the stands you’re sitting in parade by them. That was pretty cool. They ended the ceremony by taking their oath of enlistment and stating the Airmen’s Creed. After that it was time for another tap out hug! This time I let Chad’s parents tap him out but I still got my hug after them!

We rode the bus back to the area where our cars were parked and then we went to the Mini Mall and BX. Chad thought we could go see his dorm room at 11AM, so we showed up at his squadron about 10:50. Well turns out, the open dorms ended at 11AM, so we had to quickly go check it out. I wish I would have had more time to just observe the place that he spent the past 8 weeks in but I still got to see where he slept and his locker, so that was pretty cool. After Chad was dismissed, we were able to take him off base. As we were driving off base, my Mom said she felt like she was sneaking a prisoner out since he hadn’t been allowed off base before that point!

Chad got to have a town pass on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so that was super nice! We got to see a little bit of San Antonio and also just relax in the hotel room. I know Chad liked his town liberty because he didn’t feel like he was being constantly watched so he could be a little bit more at ease, which made me feel better. It was an amazing weekend that I will never forget. It was sad to have to leave Texas and go back to Michigan knowing that he wasn’t going to be coming home with me. He had to leave Monday morning at 3:45AM to head to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX to start Tech School!