FIRST TIME I REALLY FELT LIKE A GROWN UP

When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?

The day I joined the U.S. Air Force on 1 Feb. 1973 and was bused to Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, to begin Basic Training.

The hardest part of completing Basic Training was I not only had to do exercises in formation at 0500 hours every morning, but also how to march in formation, how to properly do (facing) changes on command, how to properly make a salute, maintain my personal locker, clothes locker, and upon Revelry, quickly make my bunk bed, ready for inspection by my MTI (Military Training Instructor), with all my military shoes polished daily and arranged at the right side of my bunk bed, ready for inspection.

Upon graduating from Basic Training, I knew that I was now a grown up and had the confidence and maturity that to achieve and accomplish anything that I wanted to do.

Before Basic Training, I was unsure of myself and wondered if I could survive as a grown up in society.