United States Air Force - Altus AFB, OK

This is part five of a multi-post about my career in the Air Force. Start from the beginning if you like. In part four I detailed my tech school days.

When I got to Altus AFB, I was directed to a building where they welcome new members on base. I was given lots of material to read and sign and then given a tour of the base. The base was not very large but I learned it was a training base for cargo type aircraft. They were so large you wondered how they ever got off the ground. The base had a commissary - a grocery store basically, BX (Base Exchange i think) - a merchandise store, a credit union bank, a building to change oil in your automobile if you knew how, and a bowling facility where you could purchase burgers and beer. Then there were the buildings that facilitated all the different functions for the base. The building I would be working in was near the flight line and was just North of the air traffic control building. The base operations building was next door in the same building as the command post. Lastly, I was shown the barracks, where I would be staying. There were lots of older barracks but I was put in the newer barracks on base. The new ones looked more like apartments and I would be staying on the second floor. They were about 1.3 miles from where I would be working.

When I was finished with the tour and told when and where to meet, I moved into my new one bedroom efficiency. It had a bathroom, a sink, a small refrigerator, and a living space with bunk bed. I never had a roommate though. Now most people would hang posters and put up pictures and such. I never did any of that. I guess because I never had a room of my own in my high school years. All I needed was my stereo and my large collection of rock and roll cassettes. It was just a place to sleep and relax to me. Connected to the living quarters was a place you could go to watch MTV (I mean TV) and play pool. There was one short pool table and I played on it all the time. It's interesting to me that I never was very good at the game though.

It's funny how there are some things you have never been taught or even introduced to but are very important in life. One of these things was opening a bank account and keeping it budgeted. I went to the credit union on base and opened an account with auto-deposit. Before I got to tech school I had a card they would scan when I bought something. I didn't know how much was on it, I just used it when I needed something. The credit union provided me with a new debit card and gave me materials teaching me how to budget my account. I didn't take it seriously and put the papers in a pile somewhere in my room. I eventually got into financial trouble and ended up learning the hard way how to budget my account. I did not learn to budget my money though. I remember a time when I had no money and nothing to eat. I wouldn't get another paycheck for two weeks. I don't remember what happened but I had to borrow a little money from a friend so I could purchase peanut butter and bread. Don't let this happen to you. Learn to budget your account and your spending.

In high school I was given a 1976 Cougar when I was old enough to drive. When I left for basic training, my sister was given the car. I had no car and had to walk wherever I wanted to go. Luckily it was still summer (end of July or early August). There was a guy that lived in the same barracks and we hit it off one day. His name was Ivan and he introduced me to his friends. One of his friends was John and the three of us became good friends. I find it interesting that when I started school in Emory the friends I hooked up with played Dungeons & Dragons. My new friends, Ivan and John, both played as well. It is amazing how not having friends can make your life very hard to handle but when you have them, it seems there is nothing you can't handle. I was very happy to have them. They both ended up renting a house in town (off base) and I found myself over there all the time. Before I was honorably discharged, Ivan and John didn't get along very well and things just seemed to disintegrate with all of us. If we were to ever get together again, we would pick up just like old times but for some reason we didn't stay in touch. I miss them. One day we visited a couple off the base who had pet birds and a baby. We played D&D with them and had a good time. They were going to be moving soon and offered me their car if I promised to take over the payments. It's crazy how life hands you things like that. I told them they could count on me to keep up the payments and I did. I never missed one of them and payed it off in full. It was a 1986 white 4 door Buick Skylark. I was able to take the long drive to the Lake Tawakoni area where I grew up and visit family and friends. I no longer had to walk all over the base. Life was good.

The next post will get into the actual job and I might get to that conspiracy theory I have...