336 TRS

On the next set of cadence-
Two barks and a howl-
Huh! Huh!
Awoooooooooooo!
When I say "Red," you say "Wolves"
Red!
Wolves!
Red!
Wolves!
When I say "Wolf," you say "Pack"
Wolf!
Pack!
Wolf!
Pack!
Who are we?
3-3-6!
What are we?
Red Woooooooooooolves
I said
Who? Red!
Who? Wolves!
Awoooooooooooo!
Does 3-3-6 run this Triangle?
Hell yeah, we run this Triangle!
Red Wolves run this Triangle!
Hell yeah, we run this Triangle!
From the north to the south!
Huh! Huh!
From the east to the west!
Huh! Huh!
Three-thirty-six is gonna show 'em who's the best!
Awoooooooooooo!


Red Wolves serve with honor...
...or not at all.

I had a blast, but it's nice to finally be moving on into the real Air Force.

As much as I've been talking about wanting to get out of here, now that the time has come, it's incredibly bittersweet. It's hard to say goodbye to all my friends here. We've been through a lot together, helping to push each other through some hard times. I will always hold onto a great sense of pride having been a part of the 336th.

When I passed that exam this morning and was able to put on my occupational badge, the feeling of relief was indescribable. It wasn't relief just from what I recently went through with my Security+ studies, but the burden of the entire six month training process was lifted. I feel like a different person.

Now it's time for a well-deserved break before I head to Alaska on August 16th.

This all feels very surreal right now.

I'll probably have more to say after it all sinks in, but right now I'm just going to enjoy this feeling.

I did it.

^_^|/

Perfection

Aced it.

I'm outta here.

14 hours...

I should be pretty much done with my outprocessing at around noon tomorrow.

Tonight, I'm staying up late to study.

I'm confident, but nervous.

There's a lot riding on this test.

It all comes down to this...

Get Me Out of Here!

Good grief, I can't take it any more.

All I want to do is pass my stupid test and leave.

That is all.

...

Sayu

To prove how serious I am about studying for my Security+ certification, I'm not even going to mention the fact that Sayumi Michishige (my future wife) is celebrating her twenty-first birthday today.



^__^

By the way, it looks like I'll be getting out of here on Saturday morning. My outprocessing paperwork is working itself out rather smoothly, which takes a great deal of stress off my shoulders. The thought that I'm going to be back home in five days is surreal, to say the least. I'm feeling pretty great right now, and am taking a night off from the studies in order to calm my burnt-out nerves down a bit.

Three more freakin' days...

^_^|/

Go Away

Seriously.

Leave me alone.

I'm trying to study.



^__^

One More of Each

I now have precisely one week left.

I'll wake up next Monday, finish my outprocessing, and I'll be out of here.

Also, I'm not going to make any sort of guarantees, but I'm feeling pretty good about my chances of scoring a perfect 900 on my Security+ exam.

My mood is good.

My hair was getting dangerously close to being out of regs, so I trimmed it today.

I need to iron my shirt for tomorrow.

^_^|/

Oops

So...why is my hand covering my upper lip?

Because when I was shaving earlier, I was thinking about AES256, TACACS, rootkits, Kerberos, and other fun stuff rather than thinking about shaving. Subsequently, I hacked off half of the right side of my Plus-stache. My options were either to shave the whole thing off, or even out the other side and look like Mr. Hilter. So it goes.

Fortunately, my Security+ knowledge did not disappear with it. It was fun for the week that it lasted, and there's no point in regrowing it now, so I'll just have to pass the test without it.

Oh well.

^_^|/

One Week

Next Friday evening is going to be amazing.

I'll still be in the training environment, but I'll be out of the training.

My Security+ studies are coming along nicely; I'm feeling more and more confident about passing this thing.

I'm also feeling more and more overloaded with information.

Have I mentioned that this is all almost over?

^__^

The Final Countdown

I'm going to be a nervous wreck exactly one week from now.

I test next Friday.

Wow.

It's almost over.

Five more duty days.

It's 2300 hrs and I haven't even taken my boots off.

My mind feels like mush.

Perhaps a break would do me some good.

I think I may go try to catch Lugia.

Here is me this evening:


...

Not so bad...

I'll make this quick, because I'm needing to go over another chapter this evening.

Security+ is really not that bad. All it takes is a lot of studying. A lot. But my confidence level is very high right now, and will only get higher as I put more hours into the material.

I've been freaking out lately about my outprocessing, but even that seems to be going fairly well. I'm not nearly as behind on my stuff as I thought I was, and even though I may be here for a few more days than I had hoped, I'm okay with that.

As far as my Security Plus-stache goes:



I can't wait to get rid of this thing, and it's not really even there yet.

But I suppose it's a fitting representation of my growing knowledge of Security+...

...or something.

Back to the books!

^_^|/

Security+

I graduated on Thursday.

And now...



This is not going to be fun.

By the way, I've started growing my Security Plus-stache. It's kind of a newly developing tradition around here for S+ students to grow a mustache, and even though I think I look downright silly with one, I figured 'what the heck.'

I test in eleven days (eight duty days, plus a three-day weekend). I have set aside my DS, my DVDs, my drawing paper, my Stepmania, my friends, and even my...

...I just can't bring myself to say it...

...and even my J-pop.

Ouch.

It's important right now to have a singular focus, and while I do tend to use my J-pop as a source of stress relief and mood-alteration, for the next eleven days, I feel that I need to set it all aside. I plan on watching RIVER later this evening, then leaving it all alone until I pass my certification. Much like when I returned from basic training, getting back into that world will feel kind of like a reward for passing by final exam.

I was thinking recently that it hasn't even been a year since I first set foot in my recruiter's office. What a long way I've come since then. It's exciting to realize that this whole military training experience will be over in eleven days. Then things can get back to something resembling "normal."

I walked out of my home 168 days ago, and every day since then has been extraordinarily stressful. I can't even tell you how many times I've just wanted to give up. The thing that keeps me going, and what gets me through every moment of every day is the absolute undoubting certainty that I am where I'm supposed to be. I've mentioned before that God's hand has been in this journey from the very beginning. I've survived some very difficult times; I've literally seen miracles. No matter what, He never ceases to remind me that He is here, and that He'll get me through it all. If I was in this alone, I would have collapsed under the pressure a long time ago. From a spiritual perspective, I really understand things so much better than I ever have before. When all of this is said and done, and I've settled in up in Alaska, I hope to gather my thoughts on this journey a bit more, because there really is so much to tell.

So, am I worried about Security+? No. Not, at least, in the sense that I don't think I'm going to pass. I know I'm going to pass, but the whole thing is so nerve-wracking.

But by digging in for the next ten days, and pouring over this material, I hope to go into the testing room with confidence that I can score a perfect 900. Then I'm out of here, and I don't have to worry about it any more.

I may try to update my blog here, if just to post photos of my Plus-stache progress, but I won't be online a whole lot. Maybe fifteen minutes a day. As far as this coming weekend is concerned, I will be studying during all three days, with an occasional break. But even then, I won't be doing any major Internet surfing, because I know that it'll be hard to pull myself away from it. The keyword of basic training was DISCIPLINE. Time to put it into effect.

And here we go...