Air Force First Sergeant Academy Experience

Thus far in my Air Force career, becoming a First Sergeant has been the most rewarding position I have ever held. I found out at the beginning of November that I would be heading off to Alabama to go in residence at the First Sergeant Academy (FSA) which I was very ecstatic to finally have a date and be going to officially become a first sergeant after serving as the acting FS in LRS for almost a year. I was pumped to get there and learn what I felt like I was missing to be the most affective shirt I could be. Covid obviously delayed my start date and it made me a bit nervous about traveling to a "red" state, but I was sure they would be taking every precaution to ensure we were as safe as possible. I hopped on a plane early on a Sunday morning in the snow and arrived in Alabama by afternoon. 

Week one was "room Zoom" classes, we attended our normal classes with our instructor and also had some great visitors from all over the Air Force presenting about various resources, programs, and instruction for the AF.  The Gunter Annex was decent, it's an extremely small base, but has a shopette and commissary along with two fitness centers, and of course the Gunter Bowl. The commissary was always picked over, they were out or bare shelf of many things, but I was able to find what I needed and fed myself out of my hotel room the entire time. The dining facility is located directly across from the FSA complex and serves 3 square meals/day. The shopette offered lunch items such as fresh made wraps and deli type meals along with Starbucks coffee, so if you are looking for something else- I was told this was good. On Friday of week 1, we had a Covid test and found out on Sunday that none of us were positive and could begin in person learning that upcoming week! Week one we were not authorized to go the gym so I began running and was running 6-8 miles per day which was really great. With the base being so small though, I ended up becoming VERY familiar with all of it. 

Week two was a mix of in-person and "room Zoom" classes, which was fine by me. I got to sit in my room with my snacks on hand and with no mask on so it wasn't all that terrible. We were also allowed to leave base to visit Maxwell's resources down the way.... for about a day and a half. The local area numbers increased so the school house decided it best to keep us restricted to Gunter for the duration of our time there. We were not authorized to order food from off base or curbside (believe me, we tried). But, again- I was fine with eating my hotel room grub. I also didn't have a vehicle so I would have been dependent on someone else taking me over to Maxwell anyway. Speaking of hotel room grub, the hotel rooms have a very decent sized fridge, a microwave, and a very small kitchenette type set up. Where there is a will, there is a way and I made it work. If you are interested in seeing how I packed to travel and what foods I went with to cook in my hotel room, click here . We met with Chief Bass via Zoom which was awesome and also had to turn in our AF biographies for a grade. We were given the go ahead to visit the gym & 2 other guys in my flight started coming with me to the gym at 5am every morning- it was glorious! We began counseling sessions this week and it really helped point out people's weaknesses along with their strengths. 

Week three, I was getting a bit bored. We had a Monday holiday (MLK day) and therefore had a 3 day weekend which was great, but felt almost like a waste of time. We were mostly in person this week and were very busy. We started our fitness challenges this week and they were decent, I train the way they created these and have a pretty great cardiovascular endurance base so I wasn't whopped by these, but my counterparts struggled. There are very few things I don't like about the military, but every time I attend a school it's something that I simply can't escape. The military breads competition and I hate competition so when I get faced with this- I simply stop caring and sort of tune it out. It doesn't interest me one bit, I want all of us to do well and help each other get there if need be. That's not "the way" though - hahaha. So be prepared for that if you are planning to attend. We also had an AF memo due this week in which we were graded and the fitness challenges were only lasted a little over an hour in the Gunter Bowl. 

Week 4 (final week- thank goodness!!!!) was full of busy presentations, our teach backs and also the flight formations. You present on a resiliency topic that you have learned already and everyone takes turns teaching each one. As for the flight formations, you control your flight, form them up and present to the instructor, then dismiss them. Then you are the guide-on and have to present and order arms and go through the process with everyone in the flight. This week was a long one for me. I was studying for my RD exam the entire time I was at the academy- well when I had the time. I was getting nervous because I had wanted to take the exam once I returned the first week and didn't expect to be as busy as I was there. The weather was decent, pretty chilly and the rooms were WARM when it was in the 70's- they hadn't turned on the ac so many people slept with their doors and windows open. I would hope that you can keep those rooms cool in the Alabama summers. We also had our graduation run, which I would say was about maybe a mile and a half...at a slow place. We sang jodies and did our chant, when we returned to the parade field area we were then coined as First Sergeants. All and all, this was a great experience. I got to hone in on my counseling techniques and learned some great ways to talk to troops and assist them in what they need in that moment. I enjoyed myself and think it was a wonderful experience. I got to meet some amazing people and came home with 11 long-distanced friends. And if you learn anything in the AF it is that it is small and you WILL end up seeing folks again. Thanks for reading all, let me know if you have any questions below!