Thanks for checking in!

I started this blog to keep in touch with my family and friends during my time attending Commissioned Officer Training (COT) and the Judge Advocate Staff Officer Course (JASOC) at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. Now I'm done with training and back in the "real" world, but I'll keep updating this blog with any interesting developments from my JAG career.






Saturday, January 29, 2011

Courtesy of the Red White and Blue (The Angry American)

One thing that I've learned quickly in my time here at COT is that the Air Force loves PowerPoint presentations.  I mean they LOVE them.  Every single class, whether taught to the 15 people in our flight or to the entire 133-member class, is built around a PowerPoint presentation.  They all stick to a basic structure - introduction slide, overview/summary slide, body slides, recap/summary slide, and a final slide that says "Questions?"  But there are some differences.  Some instructors spice up their slides with great or interesting quotations, others use pictures.  Some use silly sounds at transitions - or loud ones that jolt the tired post-lunch crowd awake.  Others use movie or tv clips, which actually are pretty effective at illustrating the leadership and teamwork principles we've been studying (or illustrating the lack thereof).  So far I've seen clips from Remember the Titans, Crimson Tide, Behind Enemy Lines, The Office, Talladega Nights and Star Trek (the original series).  That's just off the top of my head.  But there is another category of video that is in pretty heavy rotation here at COT:  videos showing how awesome the Air Force is.  The clear favorite in this category is the video below, which I've seen at least three times in three different classes.  Be forewarned:  if you do not like violently patriotic country songs, musically synchronized bombs exploding, cartoon illustrations of bald eagles and the statue of liberty beating up terrorists, puppy dogs and flags, you're going to hate this. (UPDATE - May 2016: It looks like the old video I posted here was removed from YouTube, so I have substituted a different video that is about 73% as awesome as the old one. Sorry, but it's the best I can do!)

2 comments:

  1. Love your blog! This video doesn't work can you provide a new link?
    I'm a nurse looking into the Air Force. What kinds of material do they teach in the classes?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment! It looks like the old video was removed from YouTube, unfortunately. As for the course material during COT, there are really three focuses: Air Force history, officership/leadership, and military strategy. Good luck to you and feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions.

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