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It’s Beat Air Force Week!

What’s that mean?  Well, first off it means the obvious.  But when it comes to Mids, and especially plebes, the obvious is usually just the tip of the iceberg.

Think about it: plebes have to do chow calls…memorize menus…announce the meal and the time in the hall…screw it up and they’re dead.

This week chow call is simple: announce the time and shout “Beat Air Force sir!”

Upperclassman: “Plebe, what’s your alpha number?”

Plebe: “Beat Air Force sir!”

Upperclassman: “Plebe, how many days ‘tll commissioning?”

Plebe: “Beat Air Force sir!”

Mark has “Beat Air Force!” taped on the bottom of his shoes so he doesn’t have to chop in the halls.  Don’t know what chopping is?  You don’t want to…

He has “Beat Air Force!” taped to his bed so he can lay down during the day (normally a no-no).  He has “Beat Air Force!” taped to his computer so he can listen to audio (normally plebes don’t rate audio of any kind).

He and his fellow plebes have taped off a “porch” area with “Beat Air Force!” taped on the wall…the signage is made up of hundreds of tiny pieces of tape so a quick-thinking upperclassman can’t easily tear it down.  He and his company mates actually get to sit in their new porch area (also a normal no-no).  Plebes don’t rate sitting.

He’s accessing a military iTunes account with thousands of songs that he can listen to…provided “Beat Air Force!” stays on his computer.

In fact, this is a fantastic, spirit-building, fun week!  Unless…

Unless a plebe gets fooled.

Upperclassman: “Plebe!  What’s today’s top news story?”

Plebe: “It looks like politicians have agreed on a financial bailout sir!”

Upperclassman: “Wrong answer!  The correct answer is Beat Air Force!”

Then it all comes to an end…

Chopping, chow calls, day counts, no sitting, no rack time, no audio, no iTunes, no porch, no anything…back to being a lowlife plebe.  Plebes rate nothing, and oh how tough it will be to go back to nothing when they all had a taste of regular life.

So let’s think happy thoughts for them, okay?  Let’s hope that all plebes keep their heads and keep the answer simple: “Beat Air Force sir!”.

Party time!  Paris went to a classmate’s birthday party today…I was busy working on that silly video in the prior post when I heard a dog walk into my office:

Obviously she had a great time!

Speaking of great times…I was lucky enough to hit one of Cameron’s favorite barbecue joints the other night.  Lots of good, smoked food…and Cameron loves good smoked food.  This kid has been able to put back a full rack of ribs since he was three.

Cameron, I sent you a picture of dinner…and you ignored me!  Dude, were you upset?  Were you thinking I was toying with you?  Sending a picture of the most succulent, smokiest, tastiest BBQ…did I hurt your feelings?  Did your mouth water so much you couldn’t pick up the phone?  Text?

Ah well…

More soon…I promise.  Until then — Beat Air Force!

UPDATE: Everything above was written on Sunday night.  This morning (Monday), I learned of an incident on the Yard that brought many of the plebe privileges to a halt.  Some plebe got just a little too enthusiastic.

That’s the bad news.  Mark’s Company is taking the higher road.  It wasn’t some idiot in his Company that got all stupid, so while he’s back to chopping, he still retains many of his room privileges.  That’s the good news!