Nostalgia

I wrote the following about this time last year. Scott had just joined CAP, and I saved these thoughts under the title of "first impressions." Kind of fun to look back on. Even if you don't know any of these people, impressions are amusing things. And it is amazing how wrong one can be. Or, in the case of the following, how ridiculously accurate.

Call-signs according to me:
Corey – “Bogerding” (present day note: long story, inside joke...my sister will get it)
Kler -- “the Chief”
Cadet Saavedra – “has hair”
Goodall – “the singing cadet”
Kennedy – “the one I haven’t met yet”
Capt. Ammann – “the laid back senior member” or “Santa Clause”
Lt Saavedra – “the intense senior member”
Mahalik and Tavan – “the other BTF cadets”
Murphy has always been Murphy
Ellis – “Hollywood” (named for non-reg sunglasses)

Notes about Sq. 144:
Everyone is addressed by their last name.
No one laughs at Capt. Ammann’s jokes.
They are better at drilling than organizing test taking.
C/2dLt Connolly is much more intense at CAP than at school functions. (Dual personalities are apparently a common denominator of cadets)
They have very comfortable chairs.
“October Sky” counts as aerospace education (it has something to do with rockets).
The whole thing is very formal. Uniforms, drill, chain of command; it’s like they’re already in the military.
They call their hats “covers”.
“144, hoorah”
Cadence is always called with a southern accent.
The air force is better at being military than it is at distributing quality uniforms.
Part of PT exercises is ‘bellowing’
Mrs. Murphy is very entertaining when sleep deprived.
Capt. Ammann would win any and every beauty contest.
Ramos looks just like Scott
Murphy looks like she’s 20 yrs old. (she’s 15)