Last Sunday (July 13) was a day off from Basic Cadet Training (BCT) for the incoming cadets at the Air Force Academy. Called Doolie Day Out, it marks the halfway point in BCT, and gives the cadets a chance to get away for a few hours, meet their sponsor families, and call home before they dive back into it.

In addition to my son, Susan and I are also sponsoring 3 other cadets. All of them, along with 12 other cadets, went to the New Mexico Military Institute together last year on Air Force scholarships.

And so it came to pass that I found myself at about 8:30 Sunday morning pulling up to a parking lot full of cadets. I spotted Dan first. We were both grinning like idiots. Quickly the rest appeared. They were all grinning like idiots, too.

With military precision they loaded up and I heard "Dad, we have an extra cadet with us. Get us out of here."

It turns out some discreet inquiries had been made and I now had 5 cadets for the day. Woo Hoo!

Twenty minutes later and we were back to The Homestead. I took a group picture. They looked good. Five minutes after that and they were out of their uniforms and in their PT's, which is basically shorts and T-shirts.

The rest of the day went by way too quickly. Everyone made calls home, and we ate a lunch of burgers and watermelon. For a few short hours they were a group of 19-year-old young men hanging out together.

I don't know how the other cadets are handling BCT, but this group is doing fine. They went through it all last year at NMMI. It was fun to hear their stories and ask them questions. I think pretty much all of them took short naps at one point or another.

Way too soon and it was time to head back. With the donning of their uniforms I could see the transformation back to cadets. They looked sharp.

And then it was back to the Academy, and just like that they were gone. Susan and I went to our favorite Mexican joint to relax and have a margarita together.

What's it like being a sponsor to this group? Awesome. I think it is easy for those not acquainted with the lifestyle to lump all these kids together. The uniforms and the haircuts make it difficult at times for even parents to pick out their kids.

Once you get to know them, though, you really start to see the individuals. What a great group of young men. I feel really honored to be a small part of what they are going through.

Another 3 weeks and I'll be able to visit with them at the Academy. I can't wait. Woo Hoo!