From The Mouth Of Cadet Maas

On Saturday (July 14), we received our first real letter from Graham. We had previously received two postcards, but this letter was full of information that gave Jackie and I great comfort in how well he’s adjusting and seems to be “thriving” and not just “surviving”, which is something I attempted to instill in him before we dropped him off 17 days ago on In-Processing Day. Here are some highlights:

Graham is currently living in Vandenberg Hall for Basic Cadet Training (BCT) and then will move to Sijan Tower for the academic year, which starts August 9. Sijian Tower is directly across from the beautiful Cadet Chapel. Vandenberg and Sijan Halls are the cadet dormitories and contain living quarters, a store, postal services, barbershops, supply and counseling offices and outdoor equipment rental along with rooms for professional activities and recreational clubs.

Vandenberg Hall is the second-largest university dormitory in the country, after the United States Naval Academy’s Bancroft Hall. The dorms are named after Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, the second Air Force chief of staff, and Capt. Lance P. Sijan, the only Academy graduate to receive the Medal of Honor.

According to Graham, his room currently overlooks the gym and basketball courts from the fifth floor of Vandenburg Hall.

On our first visit to USAFA in 2013, I took this photo of Sijan Hall

Another view of Sijan Hall

Sijan Hall lies nearly straight across from the Cadet Cathedral.

As I alluded to in an earlier blog, they will be changing roommates frequently. This is the military way. It strengthens the bonds among the cadets in each squadron and doesn’t allow the basics to get too comfortable. Graham’s original roommate was Drew Martin, a lacrosse player from Long Island. His new roommate is Richard Pardey, from Queens and was born and raised in Colombia. Graham writes, “Speaking of rooms, today right after SAMI (Saturday Morning Inspection), the Cadre gave us 10 minutes to pack up all our stuff and move into another room. My roommate is now Richard Pardey, from Queens who was born in Colombia. He went to the USAFA prep school and I like him a lot. He’s nice, very motivated and has a very inspirational story about getting here from poverty. He will be a great help to me for the military stuff and more importantly, a great friend. We play soccer together and talk shop a lot.”

Graham's new roommate, Richard Pardey

I spied the two roomies at a recent outing getting uniforms.

Speaking of soccer Graham also shared, “I have had a lot of fun playing intramural soccer. I scored two goals in our last game. One of my Cadre is a super nice guy and has kind of taken me under his wing. I think because I remind him of his younger self. He is the soccer coach for intramurals.”

Graham and his IM soccer teammates

And as I said earlier, Graham seems to be thriving. He shared, “I’ve really started to settle in now. We still are given a lot to do but I’ve learned how to have a bit of a thick head and not take it too seriously. As you guys like to say, 'Water off the back of a duck'.”

Graham goes on to say, “The last few days for me have been very eventful and exciting. I took the German placement exam and was able to meet some of the German language faculty. Cadets expressed the large amount of really cool programs that are available to me in German.”

Perhaps the most impressive part of Graham’s letter was when he shared, “Yesterday, when we were doing PT, we were gathered onto the Parade Field with the entire Hellcats squadron and were told to plank for as long as possible. I was the second to last person to drop after about 20-minutes and as a reward was invited with the winner to eat at the Cadet Group Commander’s table for dinner. Even our squadron leader said he hasn’t been able to eat there. The people at the table were very gracious to us, and we were allowed to eat at ease!” 

The squadron holds 150 cadets, so Dad is very proud of Graham for doing so well in the plank-off, and even more proud he got to sit at a place of honor!

You can see Graham circled in red during the plank off. The USAFA Commandant plainly liked what she saw!

Other people have been writing Graham besides Mom and Dad! Graham writes, “Let Aunt Juanita, Uncle Mike, and Grandma know that they all have been writing very good letters.” As reminder, you can send a letter to Graham at this address. During his upcoming stint at Jack's Valley, add his squadron, Hellcats, to his address so it gets to him quicker:

Basic Cadet Graham Maas
Hellcats

PO Box 2432

USAF Academy, CO 80841

Other highlights mentioned are they are woken up each morning by the Cadre pounding on their doors at 4:30 a.m. The showers are fine and he has learned how to shower in the 90-seconds of allotted time. They are able to open windows in their room to get a breeze. [The USAFA dorms are not air conditioned, and cadets have to earn the privilege of a personal fan]. Making his bed is not fun, and the uniform clothing is ‘meh’. In the dorm room when he has free time, Graham studies, chats with friends, and sleeps. And folding his clothes into the right size and shape is kind of easy.