First Day of Graduation Ceremonies

I was able to (barely) fit my laptop in my carry-on, so I'm able to update on the road. It was a long flight to get here, and I had to hurry to get my rental car to make it in time for the Airman's Coin Ceremony. Thank goodness I asked several times how to get to the Interstate because there was a total of 1 sign pointing me in the right direction, but no sign to tell me where I needed to turn and nothing telling me that the road I turned on was correct for quite awhile. San Antonio roadways are not so user friendly. I also got off on the wrong exit because the Lackland AFB website says get off on exit #7, when actually they mean get off on exit #4. I figured the military knew what they were talking about when they posted directions to the base. Once I made it to base, I was even more confused about where I needed to go. EVERYTHING is brown. And there isn't a lot of signage (is San Antonio against directional assistance?), so I was driving around base with 10 minutes to go until the ceremony and praying that I didn't drive out onto an airfield or some other restricted area where I'll be immediately executed. Plus the rental car was a little nicer than my own car, so I'm stopping on a dime any time I even think about touching the brakes. I finally found someone to ask where I needed to be at, and he gave me excellent directions. I found parking fairly close, and as I was walking up, I could see that the band was standing at attention right in front of me, so I knew I was in the right place. All of the flights were introduced and then the band came in, and Anthony was right in front, so I was able to find him easily. He's definitely got the military look about him. A lot of the other guys seem so lax about how they stand, walk, or present themselves, but not him. Stiff as a board, always ready to salute the higher-ups, and pants hiked way higher than I've ever seen them. He's the same, but different. I don't know how to really describe it. I'm curious to see how he'll act once he's on leave for a couple weeks. Maybe I can convince him then that he can walk on the grass, and we won't have to take the long way around. Several times already I've lost him because he's had to stop to salute someone or I've tried to take a shortcut.

After the Coin Ceremony, we then had the Honor Grad Ceremony where he received a special coin and he'll be able to wear another ribbon tomorrow after graduation, which makes his grand total of ribbons 4, the highest amount you can get in Basic Training and his goal. He said people usually get 3 if they work hard, but they either have brains (the Honor Grads) or they can shoot well (the Marksman). He's the only one in his flight (of about 48) who got all 4, and only about 32 of 640 received Honor Grad, so he has worked very hard during the last few weeks. Unfortunately, he had his Base Liberty Pass cut short by 2 hours today. His flight decided to not bother with cleaning up their dorm properly, but even though they were the ones who did it, they received all of their time off while the Element Leaders and the Dorm Leader were punished. How that's fair I'll never understand. What do the rest of the guys care if they don't get in trouble? If they do it again, I am going to be really angry. I did not come down here for them to mess around and get Anthony in trouble. So after all the ceremonies and trips to the clothing store to get last minute things for graduation, we ended up with about an hour together. It was wonderful to see him though. I'll be able to post pictures once I get home. His hair is SO short, but at least the glasses are not so bad. Thank goodness he doesn't have to wear the BCG's!