05 May
2004- just before commissioning
28 Jun
2004- just before active duty
22 Sep 2004- working at the Gym (my truck too!)
All the information that I’ve put on this website is not yet fully accurate. It is March and I said that I am a 2004 Graduate and Commissionee of AFROTC Detachment 160 and the University of Georgia. Well, it will be true in a matter of 5 weeks or so and I’m getting a head start on this project. I’ve seen it done before, students going through pilot training have done journals online so that their friends and family can stay updated on what’s going on in my life while I’m at training. Life is going to get very hectic soon and I may not have time to share with everyone exactly what I’m going through or experience. This way, everyone can stay updated and I only have to say it once. I think it’s a cool idea and I hope that I will have the resources, time, and the will to see it through. I know it will be of benefit to anyone who cares to take the time and read my entries and it will surely be of benefit to me by saving some time. But most of all it will keep my friends and loved ones informed and give me something to look back on. I hope you all can enjoy this project as I get it started and on it’s way to completion. The journal’s last entry is one that I have looked forward to almost since I could talk. It will be the day I get my wings. I can’t wait to get this journey started and look forward to the challenges it will offer. I am glad that through this tool, you all will get a chance to go through this journey with me.
I love you all,
Troy M. Bagley
Well, I’m three days from graduating and commissioning. I can’t wait. Since my last journal entry I’ve learned a few things about my new assignment. I will be going to Columbus AFB, Mississippi. I am to report 1 June 04. Weird thing is though, I don’t start training until 4 Nov 04. I’ll be on what’s called casual status until then. I’ll be attached to the Operations Support Squadron, meaning I’ll be doing odd jobs (who knows what, I’ll let you know when I do). I have to call or report to my supervisor before 9 a.m. every morning to see what work needs to be done. I am then supposed to complete any assigned task for the day. I will be working pretty much a 9-5 job. I will have the weekends off usually. If I want to leave town for the weekend, though, I have to clear it with my supervisor. There is a great website that explains all of this. http://www.columbus.af.mil/oss/transit.htm This hyperlink is on the Columbus AFB website. There is a section that tells all about the SUPT program. It is where I’m getting all my information for now. It is really helpful. Right now it is the only information I have that I will need to in-process to the base. I’m not sure if any of the info might interest any of you, but there is a lot of it there so look around. Well, I have a final in the morning and I can’t really think of anything else I wanted to write for this entry.
Until later, God bless.
Troy Bagley
I am now, despite my last entry, three days from active duty. Due to some sort of error, I was told that I would be reporting to Columbus June 1. In reality, I was never supposed to report before July 1. So I was given another month. I guess I really had it all along but I just didn’t know it. Well, I am a Second Lieutenant now and have been finished with school for about a month and a half. I have enjoyed myself and gotten to do many things I would not have had time to do had I already been on active duty. I am ready though. Not that I’m really excited about it or anything, I just need to start getting paid. Another little twist to my story is that I was told about the beginning of this month that I would be attending Air & Space Basic Course, the first level of Professional Military Education for all new second lieutenants, rather than going to Columbus to begin with. Well, the next week I went to pick up my orders and found that I had been taken off the list and put on a stand-by list. For now, I’m still going to Columbus on Thursday. So I guess that’s probably a taste of what it will be like in the real Air Force before I even get there. It didn’t really bother me though. As long as I get to wherever I’m supposed to be and they start paying me, we’ll all be happy. I’ve got two and a half more days of freedom. I’m going to try and enjoy them as best I can. I probably won’t sleep to well; the movers came today and took the furniture out of my room. (I’m typing on the floor right now J) Oh well, at my next entry I’ll be actually in the Air Force getting paid and I’ll let ya’ll know what its like living there, working, and whatever else goes on. I hope this project is working out well. If you like it let me know. If you have any suggestions or improvements in mind send me an e-mail. Ask some questions that I haven’t answered or just say hi. Anyhow, got to go. Love you all. Take care.
2nd Lt. Bagley
(I like how that sounds J)
Wow, the only thing I can say is read this one closely, it might get confusing. When I wrote my last entry I had no idea the things I’d be in for. The best I can say is that it has been quite a ride. I’ve enjoyed all of it, but man has it been crazy. I’ll try to tell all the important stuff, but it could get a little hairy. First things first- I got to Columbus AFB the day I was supposed to. I was only authorized one day of travel so I couldn’t get there before 1400 (2:00 p.m.). There wasn’t much I had time to do that day except get a hotel room at the base in and in-process to the orderly room at the squadron that I’m attached to. This was July 1 and I was told that in light of the weekend that Friday and the following Monday would be down days, meaning no one would be there for me to do the rest of my in-processing. So I went home. The next morning, after being on active duty for only one day I went home to enjoy the weekend with my parents and Michelle. We had a great time and shot off a lot of fireworks. I returned to the base Monday evening ready to get things done the next day. I reported in to the orderly room and then set off on my way to take care of the laundry list of things I had to do. Later that day I got a call saying that I needed to come back in. I did and found out that I had the rest of the day and the next morning to in-process. After that I was to report to Maxwell AFB, AL for Air & Space Basic Course. At this time I still wasn’t on the pay roll and about everything I owned was in a U-haul trailer that had to be returned that day. This was at about 3:00 that afternoon. The rest of the day was spent getting a storage space for all my stuff, returning the U-haul trailer and trying to get things ready to leave the next morning for Maxwell. I got everything done and was feeling pretty good about everything. I remembered that I needed to change my oil in light of all the driving I’d done and would be doing so I went to the auto shop on base and had them change it. My car broke down on the lift at the auto shop. It needed a new starter and solenoid. It was already closing time by the time I got the parts though, so they couldn’t fix it until the next morning. So now, when I need it the most, my car breaks down and I’m without a car for the rest of the evening and morning. Well, the next morning I got my pay situation straightened out at the financial briefing and my car was ready as soon as I got out of the briefing. As soon as I got everything ready and got my orders I was on my way to Maxwell AFB, AL. A stressful two days to say the least. I’ve been at Maxwell since then and have been enjoying every bit of it. I finally have all corners squared away and can relax knowing everything is fine and that I’ve been PAID!!!! Yep, got my first pay check and it was a big one. So things are going great and I’m enjoying being at school at Maxwell. I’m there for four more weeks and then its back to Columbus for casual duty and then pilot training in November. Next entry I’ll write about the things I’ve been doing at ASBC (Air & Space Basic Course). I’ve done some pretty cool stuff, a lot of boring stuff, and met some really great people. Sorry for the length of this one but like I said it was a lot to tell. Stay in touch. I haven’t been able to check my e-mail lately but I should have that fixed soon. Thanks for reading.
I love you all.
Troy Bagley
This entry should be quite a bit shorter than the last. Not much to tell except for the things I’ve been doing here at ASBC. It’s been fun for the most part and I’ve enjoyed it. I don’t get much sleep though. The day starts pretty early. And to think, I used to dread an 8 a.m. class. I would love to start at 8 a.m. now. For instance, tomorrow I’ll be up at 0615 for pt, running, exercising, and all that stuff. Not a bad deal, but probably not something I’d be doing if I didn’t have to. So about those cool things I’ve been doing here. For one, we’ve learned a lot about our beliefs and doctrine on how to use air and space power. Most of it has been interesting but a lot of it has been stuff we’ve already learned through our commissioning source, ROTC in my case. I’ve got a great flight commander who is easy going and isn’t too hard on us. It makes for a relaxed environment and I think it works out ok. We tend to perform much better than the flights whose flight commanders are always on them and being strict. We finished third flight in the squadron the first week and second the week after that. We’re moving up, so this week we should have the top spot, maybe. That standing is determined through various challenges and competitions that we do as a flight throughout the week. There are about six hundred of us second lieutenants here at ASBC divided into six squadrons at seven flights apiece. That makes for about thirteen people per flight plus our flight commander/instructor. We’ve had some cool team challenges where we have to run around the base trying to figure out various problems and puzzles working together to get it done. We just did the obstacle course yesterday, which looks more like an elementary playground but was fun anyway. Part of the training is intro to war gaming where we learn how to put together strike packages and coordinate efforts to achieve a set of military actions on computer games. We were 50/50 on the first game but we kicked but on the second. If anyone knows what starcraft or command & conquer are like, the air force has its own version of that type game. It was a lot of fun and I came up with the winning strategy and it was a huge success. I think we were the first flight in the entire school to finish with a win so everyone felt good about that. Most of the rest of the stuff we do is all lectures and it can be pretty dry. But I’m used to it. Studying political science isn’t always the most interesting stuff. Overall I think it’s been a good experience and I hope to enjoy the few weeks I’ve got left. It’s nice being around this many of your peers before we all have to go off into the real Air Force and start our jobs. Besides all that, I finally got my internet working here and my mail has been coming so keep in touch either e-mail or the real thing. I’ll update my address on my home page so you can send me stuff if you want. We’ll I hope everyone is still reading these things and enjoying them. Let me know what you think. I’ve got to go for now but more later. I love you all. Take care.
Troy Bagley
For everyone who’s been checking my site regularly I apologize for not getting this thing updated sooner. But hey, here it is anyway. The much awaited, long anticipated 6th journal entry. There are a few good reasons I haven’t written in a while. The first of which is that there just hasn’t been much going on. I graduated from ASBC on 18 Aug and returned to Columbus the following day. I got moved into the dorms and got a temporary job working at the base gym. Most weeks are the same and there’s usually not too much to do where I work. I’m really just waiting to start training. It’s barely a month away. It’s kind of weird though. It hasn’t been on my mind as much as I thought it would be. I should be preparing more than I am and I plan to start soon. I’ve been able to see Michelle most every weekend, which has been nice. I’ve been up to Athens more than she has come here though. That hasn’t been so nice. It’s a five- hour drive each way. I won’t be able to make that trip once I start flying. I’ve been able to attend two of the football games and will attend two more. LSU is next weekend and I’m making the trip down to Jacksonville for the first time to watch the Florida game. The Florida weekend will be my last weekend of freedom since I start training on Thursday that next week. I’m going to take leave for that weekend and part of the week since I won’t be able to use any until after pilot training is over anyway. There’s not much to tell about the stuff I’ve been doing. Work at the gym is really boring. I have learned a bit of information everyone might like to know though. First, for the first six weeks of class I won’t be flying so it won’t be quite as stressful as when I start flying. I could get as much as two weeks off at Christmas. I’m not sure yet but I’ve heard anywhere between 10 days and two weeks. So I should get to see everyone and let you guys in on all the stuff I haven’t had time to put in here. Speaking of the holidays, I hate to disappoint some of you but I’m spending Thanksgiving with Michelle’s family. We wanted to do one of the Holidays together and decided that Thanksgiving would be best. The only other big news I have is that I got a new truck. I’ve saved this till last because I’ve included a link on this page with more pictures of it and the story behind buying it. If your interested you can learn all about it and see some cool pictures that I took with my digital camera. See mom, it did come in handy. I had to include that little part since this is the first thing I’ve used it for after getting it last Christmas. I plan on using it more though. I’ll put up some pictures of my dorm room and some cool things on base that ya’ll might be interested in seeing. Well that’s all I have for now. Expect maybe one more entry before training starts and then, hopefully one every week after that. It could prove a little difficult, but I’ll do my best. Anyhow, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the pictures I put up on my truck page. They sure were hard to get up there. Everyone should be very impressedJ. You know I am. I love you all, see you soon.
Troy Bagley