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Project 1: Draft 3

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I am up at 5 AM. Who wants to wake up that early? Trust me, it is not by choice. I am involved with the Air Force ROTC program at FSU, and we are required to attend Physical Training sessions at the Mike Long Track. The Air Force gave me a scholarship, so if I do not feel motivated to get out of bed, I think about how horrible it would be to take out student loans. Despite not wanting to be exercising at 5:45 AM, I have had some memorable experiences at physical training. During one of the physical training sessions last semester, I did relays with my ROTC group, Victor flight.

There are about 150 cadets in Air Force Detachment 145 at FSU. To have better structure, the detachment is split into groups of about 20 people, known as flights. Occasionally, there would be team building activities at physical training to instill a sense of esprit de corps within the flights. On one particular brisk morning in November, I participated in esprit de corps with Victor flight. All of us were bundled up in our ridiculous blue parachute pants and jackets, wanting physical training to start so we could warm up. Victor flight was commanded by a serious guy who didn’t quite know how to take a joke. The problem with this was that all our flight did was goof around and make jokes. For example, each flight had to create a Jody, which is basically just a chant. We took jabs at the other flights in our Jody, and joked about how we were all sexier than them. Part of our Jody went like this:

“Spicy, we’re oh so spicy. Who’s that? Over there?”

“With that stare? I think they like us. They think we’re sexy. It must be Whiskey.”

“Is that Yankee? You guys are babies...GO CURL UP WITH A BLANKIE!”

Victor flight was also fond of another chant about Chuck Norris. The Chuck Norris chant went like this:

“I see the bearded ninja

Alone upon the hill-ll

His name is Chuck Norris

And kill I know he will-ll

Chuck Norrrrissss

Chuck, Chuck, Chuck, he’s the man!

Round houuuuuuuse kick!

Now Chuck’s not a surgeon,

But he knows some tricks

The quickest way to a man’s heart

Is with Chuck Norris’ fists

If you get out of line, Chuck will put you in your place

The power of a roundhouse kick

Can be seen from outer space

If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you

If you can not see him, he’s probably right behind you

Don’t break the law in Texas, you’ll put yourself in danger

Chuck Norris’ twin brother is Walker Texas Ranger

He doesn’t have a chin, but should still be feared

Legend tells of a third fist, behind the magnificent beard.

On this particularly brisk morning, the flights also had to do another relay around the track. For this particular exercise, we had to run around the track, and when our commander yelled “Hit it!” we dropped to the ground and did push ups. Honestly, it is discouraging to see how challenging it is for the majority of the girls in ROTC to do push ups. I am one of those people who can barely do 10 reps before I have to sacrifice proper push up form. Even though my push up game is weak, I kick everybody’s ass in running. I would be lying if I said I do not feel proud of myself when I see panic cross across the guys’ faces as I lap them around the track. In high school and middle school, I took running seriously and I always wanted to be the best, regardless of whichever gender I was competing against. Since I started running in middle school, I have experienced sexism from male runners. Many boys seem to be in denial and shock that a girl is able to run faster than them. A few funny remarks I’ve heard have been “You take really big steps when you run, that’s why you’re faster.” Keep in mind that when I was in middle school, I was definitely under 5 feet tall, thus I probably tooks much smaller steps than my peers (how does that make sense?). One of my guy friends from middle school even told me “No guy is going to want to date a girl that is faster than him. You should let him win.” Finally, after all those lonely years in elementary school, I now understand why I was single! I’m just too fast.

Only 33 percent of the Air Force ROTC program consists of females, so we all stick together and try to beat the boys. In ROTC, it’s nice to have other girls that are determined to push their limits and motivate other girls to keep up (and beat) the guys. One girl in particular in my flight was basically superwoman. She could do more than 60 push ups per minute, with proper form. She was also able to do about the same amount of sit ups, and she could run a mile in less than 6 and a half minutes. I like to believe that the girls in ROTC are fighting sexism by gradually tearing down the egos of chauvinistic males, one lap, or push up, at a time. At the end of physical training that morning, the entire detachment and I ran in formation around campus. To keep the detachment motivated, we recited chants, otherwise known as Jodies. The commander of the detachment would yell out different chants that we would respond to. One of my favorite Jodies, which was popular in the detachment as well, went like this:

Detachment: “U” Commander: “I can’t hear you!” Detachment: “S” Commander: “A little bit louder now!” Detachment: “Air, U.S. Air Force, United States Air Force, we like it here, we love it here, we finally found a home.” Commander: “A what?” Detachment: “A home! A home away from home! Hooah!”

After we do complete campus runs, it is common for us to do planks. I have been doing planks since the start of school in August, yet I still struggle to not give up and lay on the ground. If other cadets attempt to rest their legs, the commander adds 30 more seconds to our planks. While we plank, we recite the Airman’s creed. The Airman’s creed is as follows:

I am an American Airman. I am a Warrior. I have answered my nation’s call. I am an American Airman. My mission is to fly, fight, and win. I am faithful to a proud heritage, a tradition of honor, and a legacy of valor. I am an American Airman, guardian of freedom and justice, my nation’s sword and shield, its sentry and avenger. I defend my country with my life. I am an American Airman. Wingman, leader, warrior. I will never leave an Airman behind, I will never falter, and I will not fail.

I believe that the Airman’s creed highlights the ideal situation of the Air Force. Currently, it seems like the Air Force, and the military in general, has a long path ahead of them in terms of gender equality. Sexism is more common than people would like to believe, especially in the military, where only about 15 percent of its members are female. The concept is fairly simple. Women in the Air Force desire to be seen as equals to men, not inferior defenseless weaklings that need to be protected. We are not just women; we are airmen.


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