They had us get our gold bars pinned on in the classroom rather than out on the parade field. Here is the picture of mom doing so. I am certain that being at San Antonio again, nearly thirty years after she and dad were there brought back a flood of memories for her.
Our flight commander gave us the oath of office:
"I, (officer trainee), having been appointed a second lieutenant, United States Air Force, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God."
Twice during OTS, homosexuality came up. Once, during the first weeks with my first flight, we were each sent to the head Chaplain of the base for an orientation. Whether he realized that I was gay or not, or if it were merely part of his usual speech to each individual trainee, he mentioned that you only discuss certain issues with a Chaplain and those remarks would remain confidential. Most importantly he mentioned homosexuality. If you told anyone else, it would not be confidential, and you would get in trouble.
A few years later when I was teaching at the Academy and my friend Mike Durr was at OTS as a flight commander, I visited him and his family there. One cadet, under suspicion for homosexuality, and having just been commissioned, was forced to wait at OTS until the investigation concluded.
The second instance of the mention of homosexuality occurred a few days after I left the FSP program. A 1st lieutenant or junior captain was working on a psychological study regarding why some trainees failed FSP. So, I was called into his office and interviewed. At one point in the conversation, and I could see this question coming, he asked if I had ever had any homosexual relations. He did not ask if I were a homosexual. So, I was able to reply that I had not. He noted my reaction to the question and asked, "You seemed surprised by that question." I cooly responded, "I was surprised that you asked that question. I haven't had any but the question surprised me." He seemed to smile to himself, appeared to write something down, and then continued onto a different line of questions.
I never heard any more about his study. And I doubt if he was able to come to any consistent conclusions regarding why some trainees flunk out of FSP and others do not. Knowing gay pilots over the years, even gay Air Force pilots, that certainly does not provide any kind of impediment to succeeding at pilot training, obviously.
Regarding this day, we put our shoulder boards back on over our new gold bars. It was only after the parade and commissioning ceremony would those boards finally come off. Many more people were there to see the ceremonies at the parade ground than could have fit into our classrooms, so they wanted to preserve the illusion that those at the parade grounds were witnessing our official swearing in.
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