Farnsworth Family: Strider

Showing posts with label Strider. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Top Knife... End of Summer!

While in Arizona, Strider had a 2 week operational clerkship at Luke AFB called Top Knife. This was essentially a paid vacation in his opinion. He spent time shadowing various line officers to get a better understanding of the non-medical military.

He also got to fly in simulators & puke his guts out in the back of an F-16!

It really was an experience of a lifetime for him and he even got to fly twice.

Parachute Simulator

"Bail Out" Egress Training. The ejection handle is right in front.

Suited up! His first flight was an air combat mission.

The second was a bomb run.

He reached speeds up to 750 knots (over 850 mph) and pulled 8 G's. Stride said it was incredible, comparable to the coolest roller coaster he's been on times 50. It was fun to see how excited he was about it all. I enjoyed hearing about it and especially the time we got to spend as a family after!! What a fun, but busy summer.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Summer Fun: Part 1 Stride

While the kids & I were in Utah, Strider was having all kinds of adventures at his training in Pennsylvania called Camp Kerkeshner.

Strider & his platoon leader Mitch

The barracks- where he stayed for the first week without any AC!!!

Here he & his classmates acted as patients with various injuries for the 4th year medical students. They painted them up to make it as realistic as possible.

The next week Strider started an army field training exercise run by a couple of Marines.

They slept in tents and did a lot of marching, laying on the ground providing security, and, did I mention marching?

The best part for Stride was probably getting to run up a mile long hill with a 45 pound radio on his back. It was a real blast. :)

They also did some combatives training...

Lets not forget that he got stung in the eye by a wasp & a nice gash under his chin too! Other than that he came home alright!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Strider's July

Strider is so handsome. This past July I missed him lots as he left home for Montgomery, Alabama where he attended Officer's Training School at Maxwell AFB for 5 weeks. I have included a few pictures of his crazy adventure there. He was tested mentally, physically and emotionally while learning the ins and outs of the military and what it means to be an officer. I am so proud of his accomplishments and couldn't be more happy now that we're together!

Reporting bright and early. He was up by 4:30am and
in bed by 11:30pm. They were always busy!

Strider's flight or group called Foxtrot showing their "war faces".

More craziness.

These next few pictures are of an assault or obstacle course he got to do.

Trying to catch their breath

Stay low

Covered in sand

Using his mad hops.

A lovely bruise from the course

PT Uniforms

Air Force Blues for Graduation Day

Finishing the graduation parade with their Oath of Office.

I was lucky enough to get to attend his graduation there in Alabama. I also was able to meet his flight, take a look at where he stayed and gain a little more insight into what he accomplished. He even was a Distinguished Graduate which meant he performed within the top 10% of his class. Way to go Stride!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Final Decision

This is late in posting, but I thought I'd give the update anyhow... We are officially headed to medical school in August! You might remember a while back that Strider was accepted to a school called USUHS (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences). USUHS is a military medical school located in Bethesda, Maryland near the DC area. We fly to DC in June to look for housing. Strider will join the Air Force and will attend his officer training in July in Alabama.

This will certainly be a unique experience. It's different than what I initially envisioned, but we both feel without a doubt that USUHS is where we need to be. Instead of acquiring a lot of financial debt we will have a long time commitment to fulfill instead. The military will pay for Strider's schooling as well as a yearly stipend. However, after his schooling and residency are over we will owe 7 years to the military. I think this is the part that makes me most nervous. Although, we have heard that the Air Force is the most family friendly branch of the military. Regardless of what the future holds, we look forward with faith and excitement for what lies ahead!