Anyone with BAC experiences

My DS was just selected to attended the airborne course this May 8th! We are a good 12 hours away from Ft Benning. Do a lot of families attend the graduation? I am trying to decide if we should be planning to attend or not. He's a freshmen army ROTC (MS1) so a little shocked and surprised he's getting to go already.

Kcbea said:

My DS was just selected to attended the airborne course this May 8th! We are a good 12 hours away from Ft Benning. Do a lot of families attend the graduation? I am trying to decide if we should be planning to attend or not. He's a freshmen army ROTC (MS1) so a little shocked and surprised he's getting to go already.

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I went to airborne school in the summer as the “old man” in the class. I don’t recall a lot of parents there for the cadets at graduation. Seems like the people who showed up for graduation were coming in from the local area.

It’s hard to plan graduation for airborne school because the date can change significantly. Basically, graduation will be the day after the last jump - whenever the instructors can get that in. If they get in the last jump in the morning, the graduation may be later in the afternoon if weather has been messing with the jump schedule during the 3rd week.

Tell your DS to always remember to keep his feet and knees together.

GoCubbies said:

Kcbea said:

My DS was just selected to attended the airborne course this May 8th! We are a good 12 hours away from Ft Benning. Do a lot of families attend the graduation? I am trying to decide if we should be planning to attend or not. He's a freshmen army ROTC (MS1) so a little shocked and surprised he's getting to go already.

Click to expand...

I went to airborne school in the summer as the “old man” in the class. I don’t recall a lot of parents there for the cadets at graduation. Seems like the people who showed up for graduation were coming in from the local area.

It’s hard to plan graduation for airborne school because the date can change significantly. Basically, graduation will be the day after the last jump - whenever the instructors can get that in. If they get in the last jump in the morning, the graduation may be later in the afternoon if weather has been messing with the jump schedule during the 3rd week.

Tell your DS to always remember to keep his feet and knees together.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

Congratulations on your son getting selected for Airborne School. Not too many MS1s get to go, and it will be a great experience for him.

On Tuesday of Jump Week (the third week of school) I found out that because of lousy weather only one jump had occurred the first two days. So my wife somewhat grudgingly let me fly down to Ft. Benning as a birthday present early Wednesday morning. I not only attended my son's Airborne graduation, but got to see four of his five jumps at Fryar Field, the landing site. (Cramming the jumps into the later part of the week is not typical). On one of those days between jumps I got to hang out with him at lunch and share his MRE. We planned to have dinner on my birthday, but my son and some of the other AROTC cadets were assigned chores which lasted late into the evening.

There were a number of parents and families at the jumps and at graduation, though the majority were local. If you do get to witness the jumps, you won't know which parachute is your son's, but it is nevertheless a wonderful sight to behold. The Army puts an effort into the graduation ceremony (not as elaborate as Ranger School graduation), which lasted a little over an hour and was fun. Some people consider graduation from Airborne to be a big deal. A cadre member of my son's battalion drove ten hours each way to (illegally) pin blood wings on him.

P.S. Some parts of Airborne School will be greater than others. One of the lesser great experiences was being crammed into a shed while in harness waiting futilely for low clouds to clear, watching an endless loop of Saving Private Ryan.

Kcbea said:

My DS was just selected to attended the airborne course this May 8th! We are a good 12 hours away from Ft Benning. Do a lot of families attend the graduation? I am trying to decide if we should be planning to attend or not. He's a freshmen army ROTC (MS1) so a little shocked and surprised he's getting to go already.

Click to expand...

I went through Airborne school last summer. There was not a whole lot of families there from what I remember. If you are able to make the drive I would certainly do it. It will be a great memory for both of you!