ENJJPT (Pilot Training) Graduation

A couple weeks after drop night (where Dan found out what jet he'll be flying for his career), Dan accomplished a huge dream! He graduated from Air Force Pilot Training and pinned on his shiny new wings! He is officially an Air Force pilot! I couldn't be more proud of him and all the hard work he has put in over the last many, many years to reach this goal.

His flight from class 17-06 (L Flight) is pictured below - he's right in the middle!

Dan also received an award at graduation that was a surprise to us all - the Officership Excellence Award from the Military Officers Association of America! He is a true leader and is always putting others before himself to help them when they need it. I am so proud of him for receiving this!

ENJJPT Drop Night Recap AKA My Husband is a Stud!

We found out on Friday night what Lieutenant Lovemuffin will be flying for his Air Force career, and he was selected to fly the F-22 Raptor! Pretty badass. If you remember my last post about drop night looming over us, you'll recall that the F-22 was at the top of his list, so we are definitely pleased. (There's a video of the moment we found at at the very end of this post - check it out!)

We'll be moving to sunny Florida... Tyndall Air Force Base in Panama City, to be exact. We don't have dates yet, but we're assuming we'll head that way sometime this fall. He still has three weeks of UPT left, followed by another trip to the Centrifuge in San Antonio, a few months of IFF (Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals) here at Sheppard, and then SERE (survival training) up in Washington state all before we can head that way. We're hoping to get there and get settled before Baby Cookie #2 makes his or her appearance, but we'll see what happens.

Here's the video! This video is VERY dark (sorry!), but turn up the volume - it shows the moment Dan caught the inflatable shark and found out what plane he was assigned to! The person who jumps up to the left is me... hahaha! I shot out of my seat when he yelled, "RAPTOR!!!" Such an amazing, fun night last night for ENJJPT Class 17-06's Drop Night! A moment we will NEVER forget! (PS - their class is called SharkNATO, hence the inflatable sharks and Hawaiian themed shirts!)

Drop Night is Coming!

Drop night is QUICKLY approaching, and I just wanted to write about it and what it means to us.

First and foremost, it is set for Friday, June 2nd, 2017 at 7:00PM for Dan's class at ENJJPT.

What is drop night? I get asked this question ALL. THE. TIME. Drop night is when the student pilots from one class (my husband is at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) at Sheppard Air Force Base, but there are three other Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) bases too - Vance AFB, Laughlin AFB, and Columbus AFB) find out IN FRONT OF EVERYONE what plane they will be flying for their Air Force career.

Dan is specifically in class 17-06, but there is a drop night every six weeks here at Sheppard. The dates vary with the other three UPT bases, but drop nights happen at regular intervals.

How are the student pilots selected for their aircraft assignments? I also hear this one a lot. The student pilots are ranked within their flights and their classes (each class has two flights) based on several factors from their training, check rides, etc. throughout the year-long program. They also get to submit a "dream sheet", where they rank each and every aircraft the Air Force has to offer, starting with their top choice and going all the way to last place. Based on their ranking AND what they hope the fly, the people who choose just kind of go down the list.

What does Dan hope to fly? This is probably the most frequent question I get from family and friends - ALL THE TIME! While he certainly has preferences (and I'll get to those), he has longed to be an Air Force pilot for so long that he will just be happy to get paid to fly anything! He's not one of those people (and oh do they exist!) who will be super upset and unable to function if he doesn't get one of his top choices. But, hey, Air Force Gods... it wouldn't hurt to give him one anyway! ;-) Dan's top three planes on his dream sheet are the F-35, F-22, and F-15E. We really struggled to place those in any kind of order, though, so if he gets ANY of those top three, it'll be like winning the jackpot! His next three are the F-16, A-10, and F-15C, which would still be cool but aren't AS desirable. Then, he skips down to the heavies - or cargo planes - C-130, C-17, C-21, C-5, etc. After the heavies come the bombers and finally FAIPing, which is what we absolutely do NOT want (staying here at Sheppard and him being an instructor pilot - he's already a 1st Lieutenant, prior enlisted, and pretty old for the average student pilot), so we're hoping to avoid this step, but each drop has at least one and sometimes two in the mix... so we know it's still a possibility.

No matte what the outcome, we are just excited to KNOW so we can start planning our next move! That's right - whatever plane he is assigned also tells us what specific base we will be moving to! We won't know EXACTLY when, but we'll have a pretty good idea, and the planner in me is just dying to start looking at houses, activities for Annabelle, an OB and hospital for Baby Cookie #2, etc. I NEED TO KNOW.

This journey really has been a long time coming. When I met Dan in 2008, he was already in the Air National Guard and pursuing a degree in Aviation. He had always dreamed of flying in the Air Force, but that didn't seem like a reality until he was accepted into the Air Force Academy shortly after we started dating in 2009 and went active duty. Basically, our entire relationship has been focused on this one long-term dream and goal. He has poured every little bit of himself into being the best cadet, then officer, then Master's student, and now student pilot that he could possibly be in order to achieve his dreams. No matter what aircraft he is assigned to, we know it will be the right fit for our family because you just don't work this hard for nothing. It's all coming to fruition NEXT WEEK, He will still have three more weeks of pilot training after drop night before graduation, but I can already tell those three weeks are going to be so amazing because we'll KNOW everything we need to know. No more guessing. No more fretting.

This studly husband of mine has worked his tail off for NO JOKE eight years to achieve the goal of becoming a pilot in the world's greatest Air Force. And here we are... about to watch an absolute DREAM COME TRUE. (I'm not proud or anything... ;-) )

Please pray, send good wishes, positive thoughts, crossed fingers, etc. our way next week, as I know we will both be an anxious, nervous wreck!

Dan's T-38 Solo Flight at ENJJPT

Last August (which feels like an eternity ago, to be honest), I blogged about Dan's solo flight in the T-6. He has now soloed in the T-38 and is well on his way to completely pilot training at ENJJPT (Euro-Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training) at Sheppard Air Force Base. He's such a stud, and I am SO proud of him. He is putting in a lot of hard work and long days, but it's all for the best for him and our family, and one day, when this is all over with, it will be worth it!

Unfortunately for his solo, no one was available to take Annabelle and me out to the flight line like we were able to for his T-6 solo. Everyone was busy flying at the same time that day, so it just didn't work out. But I made sure he snapped a photo afterward anyway!

The T-38 is a lot faster (and more fun, according to Dan) than the T-6. He has been having a blast flying it. Since his solo, he has also passed his first check ride! More to come, though!

Pilot training certainly isn't for the faint of heart. And I can definitely see why there are so few married student pilots and even fewer with children. Dan is gone ALL DAY five days a week. He gets to see Annabelle for about an hour a day ON GOOD DAYS. We're sacrificing so much time with him right now, and the single parenting gig isn't easy. BUT we try to make up for it on the weekends. Annie is SO excited when she gets to see him and play with him.

Drop night is quickly approaching, though, and that will bring an end to this crazy season... as least for a while. (B Course or whatever follow-on assignment he gets based on his assigned plane will be just as crazy, but we'll hopefully have a short break in between!)

Since many people have asked what drop night is, I'll give a quick run-down. Basically, all of the student pilots in one class (about 25) will receive their assignments (aka what plane they'll be flying for their Air Force careers, along with their first base) in a public setting on base on a Friday night. Drop nights happen every six weeks at Sheppard, and they're SO much fun. One at a time, the student pilots take turns standing up in front of everyone and learning their entire future right along with the hundred of people filling the room. It's exhilarating, nerve-racking, and crazy all at once. There's free beer involved and lots of screaming! It's a really fun tradition... but just know that my own husband is the one in the hot seat, I'm going to be one big ball of nerves. He has just under 11 weeks to go until it's his drop night! Only one more takes place before his. AAHHHH!

Dan's T-6 Solo Flight at ENJJPT

Just a couple weeks ago, I shared about Dan's T-6 Dollar Ride, where he flew with an IP (instructor pilot) for the first time at ENJJPT (Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training). Well, he's been flying nearly daily since then, and last week, they trusted him to take this $4+ million dollar plane up in the air all by himself!

Annabelle and I were so fortunate to be able to head to the airfield to watch the big event - major thanks to a friend who is a few classes ahead of Dan who escorted us out there and explained everything to me all morning.

I hope we are also able to watch his first solo flight in the T-38 when he transitions to that jet in January or February.

We arrived and headed inside to his flight room, and we had to wait to make sure winds were low enough for them to let Dan solo. He was already out with his IP flying, so I couldn't talk to him and was so nervous we wouldn't get to see him solo. (We had a really rough night the night before Annabelle couldn't sleep from her teething pain and late nap, so I was up with her for quite a bit of the night and ended up with significantly less sleep than normal... I would normally cancel all plans for the day and just chill around the house with her after a night like that, but we just couldn't miss this!)

When Dan's friend was sure he would be able to solo, he took us outside, and we took  the shuttle out to the flight line and found the plane Dan was flying in the hangar. He looked thrilled to get to go out on his own, and it was amazing seeing him in his element. It was neat seeing him taxi out all on his own, and Annabelle was the most adorable waving at his plane as he left the hangar. Heart. Melted.

Annabelle's shirt says, "Dad is my wingman" - she knows she's the real boss around here. And that's sweat on her, not pee. She was in the Ergo for a long time in the Texas heat and humidity, so homegirl was pretty hot. She did great overall, though, and she looked adorable as always in her Baby Banz ear protection. (Not an affiliate link - I just really love these, and they're perfect for stadiums, air shows, Space A flights, etc.) 

After he landed, we were able to take some pictures with him, and the one with us up on the wing and Dan still in the cockpit is probably my new favorite family photo. 

I was able to get a few more pictures of him with the plane and then with his IP (who recently finished IP training, so Dan was his very first solo student - how cool is that?!) 

And after all of that, Dan was tossed into the dunk tank by some of his classmates. The tradition is that you get chased down and tossed into the water after your initial solo in an aircraft, but if you're able to make it all the way back to the flight room undetected, everyone owes you beer. This moment was kind of anti-climactic because Dan WAS able to make it back to his flight room because SO MANY STUDENTS were soloing that morning, so no one was able to catch him... but I was disappointed, so I told everyone in the flight room that they needed to toss him in anyway because that's what kind of mean wife I am... and because I carried an extra pair of his heavy boots to him to change into when he forgot his that morning, and I'll be darned if that was for nothing while also juggling an almost one-year-old and all of her stuff as well. 

I'm SO glad he was thrown in the dunk tank because I got some pretty great action shots that he will love looking back on.

His class is called Shark-NATO... they all have different names, and they will have a patch for their flight suits that match the theme. It's cheesy, but it's sort of clever, and it's fun. That's why there are sharks in the dunk tank. There are students from Italy and Germany (as well as several others from the USA) in Dan's class, and it is SO cool to me.

Have you ever watched your spouse do something super cool?

The Falls in Wichita Falls, TX

Something we love doing when we move to new places is checking out what the new digs has to offer that's different from everywhere else!

I know Wichita Falls itself has the word 'falls' in the name, but all I knew about this place was that it had recently been through a pretty bad drought. I had no idea there was actually a waterfall here.

Sure, it's manmade... but it's really neat! It's not running all the time, but luckily, we caught it on a perfect evening! You can see the falls from the highway, so after we finished dinner at the Club on base one Friday evening, we headed down there for a family walk. We had a lot of fun and even walked up the path to the top!

I'm glad we found something cool we can take visitors to see! Fun fact: Niagara Falls actually donated this, and we just went there in January!

Do you have a place you take visitors?

We Found Out Where We're Going -- Our First PCS!

Last night, Dan received his FIRST BASE assignment... it's where we will head after his graduation / our wedding this summer!

He has officially been chosen to complete Euro Nato Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas!!!

I have literally NEVER even stepped foot in Texas before... not even for a layover at an airport. It's going to be an entirely new world for me, but thankfully, it's on the Northern side of Texas, so that's still considered the Midwest, right? ;) 

Wichita Falls is the bright green star! I'm so excited that we'll be close to Dallas and Oklahoma City. That will be so much fun! 

While we're there (for a little over a year), Dan will be training in the T-38, which is a fighter trainer. It does not guarantee that he will drop fighters at the end of pilot training, but it helps, and it will be an amazing experience for him. He had the opportunity to fly in one this past semester for one of his classes when they traveled to Edwards AFB in California, and he fell in love with it. 

Has anyone reading this been stationed at Sheppard before? We are SO thrilled that we got our number one choice because I know that certainly doesn't happen often in the military. 

• Where is the best place you've ever lived?
• Where is the worst place you've ever lived?
• Do you ENJOY moving, or do you hate it?