Gulfport Biloxi Branch: Fill & Download for Free

The Air Force values quality of life a lot ( the other branches make fun of us but is mostly jealousy….I have been told).When I came in I went to Gulfport MS to train for my job 3e3x1 (while all the jobs in AF Civil Engineering have their technical school at Sheppard AFB in Whichitta Falls TX, we Structures were stuck at the Naval Construction Battalion Center, in the above mentioned MS town).The dormitory (Air Force lingo for barracks) for all students regardless branch, was this 5 story dual wing building with a floor assigned for all the of each branch ( Bldg 315, we had the 4th floor for the USAF) and all the females regardless of branch were on the second floor. The building was newer compared to the rest of the base to be honest but we would sleep in open bays with 12x12 cubicles, each cubicle occupied by 4 students, never less. The navy Dfac ( Af term for chow/mess hall, dining facility) was really old, they only served ice cream on Wednesday and the food wasn’t that great ( I honestly didn’t care since I grew up poor and food is food….I do like ice cream only be able to eat it once a week was turn off lol).Now on the other side, before I arrived at the navy base I was stationed at Keesler AFB Biloxi MS just the town next door ( for my original tech school from which I washed out and got sent to “hell”). And while KAFB was also old, they had ice cream in the dfac everyday, i has my own room and only shared it with one person, full size desk and my own window to look outside.The Air Force then started remodeling and updating facilities, the newer dorms would have two people per suite and they would share a bathroom that would be located between the bedrooms, giving total privacy to each person. Shortly before I graduated tech school the AF dropped paper and started building an AF dormitory that met the condition of an Air Force dormitory ( I didn’t get to live in it, but my dorm at Malstrom AFB MT was a new design and was awesome.Anyways, the Air Force values quality of life a lot because, if the airmen are healthy, their family taken care of then the mission can be completed well because we are focused on our job since we have peace of mind.My navy dorm desk/locker that needed to be locked at any time I wasn’t using it.(yes you can see other people over and under the wall partitions).My Air Force desk, under the loft bed with my own window.PS. Looking up some info I found the Navy remodeled the barrack and now they have rooms and only 2 people per room which is good.

This from a 3E3X1 STRUCTURAL point of view. I came in 99 and after basic I went to Kessler AFB, Biloxi MS for tech school (Visual Imaging and Detection Systems, my ASVAB scores were high in electronics) the course was 1.5 years long with the first year at KAFB and the rest in Ft Meade. Half way thru the basic electrical course I washed out, ( loiliness and a little depression, and didn't take thinsg very seriously.) So I got given the option of reclassification and pick another job ( FYI washing out of a job disqualifies you for any other job in that field, so my high point in electronic were useless), but the needs of the Air Force outweighs (remember that) my desires, so instead of getting the computers job I wanted I ended up transfered to the Naval Construction Battalion Center (NCBC) in Gulfport, MS home to the Seabees.While every other specialty of USAF Civil Engineering goes to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls,for tech school, we Structure do our 6 mo course at the Navy base. Back then we all live in one building, with one floor for the Army ( soldiers in the carpentry MLS go there to for builder school) , one floor for the USAF, one floor for all the females (regardless branch) and the rest for the Navy. That was for fresh recruit, prior service student had their own lodging somewhere else. We used to live in cubicles of 4 me, 8 cubicles in a bays, two bays per floor, ( at some point I was student leader for my whole bay) with each man one locked/desk that needed to be secured if you were even just outside your cubicle. Before I graduated the Air Force started building dormitories for airmen that met the USAF quality of life.Anyway, your come in as a smurf of the bus (or from a taxi cab in my case) and settle in. Your time in tech school is broken up in phases, Phase 1, you are restricted to the base and a 9pm curfew. There is quiet hours after 2100hrs .Phase 2 , you can go of base, or any where outside building ground but you had to wear you light service dress, even if it was to the gym, you would go to the gym in blues and change into sport gear there. There still curfew.Phase 3 (most of the time in tech school) there was no clothing restriction and a later curfew.Phase 4 the curfew is gone and you are probably a month or two out to graduate.Then there is Phase 5, which was rare and only people reclassified into the course, AND managed to keep their previous tech school phase would be in. This meant freedom and not having to march to class with the rest of the unit or even drive to class, pretty much you know your own.A day in tech school would consist in formation and marching to class and from at the end of the day. For lunch the whole unit would march to chow but we could march back on our own as long as it was a decent size element/platoon of people ready to head back. Some day we had PT formation so we would get up earlier than usual. On Saturday and Sunday , a student leader and some “volunteers” would do weekend duty, two people would keep accountability of peole and the curfew while the students leader (green rope most of the time) would supervise and lead the floor upkeep. Each Bay had its own tv/break room and we would hand out . The females would come up to watch movies but they needed to be announced before coming in. There was study hour at 7pm, mandatory for those who failed a test in class and needed remedial training. I your were lucky to have a car and we're allowed to go off base, you would go to Kessler ando eat “real” food at the Dinning Facility and enjoy a piece of USAF quality of life and avoid the “bad” navy food. ( that was ice cream for dessert everyday if you wanted as the navy only served ice cream on Wednesdays) We were also subjective to punishment like any other regular Air Force member, and we would have to do CC (correctional custody ) at Kessler.Academically speaking, my tech school consisted in two section, Builder school and unique school.Buider school we would learn math and calculation, framing, sheetrock mudding, masonry, door/window hanging and an overview of timber bridge construction ( and by overview I mean the instructor showing us a timber bridge that was on site and saying “this is a timber bridge, there are many like it but this one is ours. Look at it for a few minutes and then forget about it because the Air Force is not doing that anymore, but I have to show you” ). The builder school is mixed with Army and Navy students and once they are done they are gone. We Air Force move on to Unique.Unique is the term for the Air Force only class ( the navy had their own unique course of the same thing we would learn after all its their base). Here we w I understand train in two weeks long (average) block classes, Block 1, Block 2 etc ( can't remember how many block off the top of my head, I know I failed one block, but I retested and passed in time to stay with my class on move on) . Each block consists of something, sheet metal fabrication, tig/mig/stick welding, mostly everything metal working.Once you graduate you pack your bags and take a taxi or the student leader will take you to the airport and send you off..Training doesn't stop once you graduate, when you get to your first duty station you have to do OJT and complete your CDC’s (career development courses), 3 set, self paced training (with a deadline) with a mandatory test at the end of each set.This was back in the bottom half of 99, some thing mI got have changed by now.