01AUG00, the day I left Colorado and entered my new life at Lackland AFB! The day prior, my folks took me to the Black Eyed Pea in Colorado Springs prior to heading to the Greyhound Bus Station where I would report to MEPPS and stay one more night in Denver prior to hopping on another bus to DIA, and fly to San Antonio. That night in Denver, I was froggy enough to run about two miles from the Red Lion Inn near the old Stapleton Airport. I only stopped at two miles because I grew up around there until I was about 12 and knew the kind of gang activity the area right along the Denver/Aurora city limits had. My life consisted of a carry-on bag and my packet of information from MEPPS...31AUG00, the day I signed my contract for the Tactical Air Control Party 1C4X1 AFSC. The day I said, I'm Air Force, but I'll never live Air Force. Off to go work with the Army after my training is complete! This date is only remembered because somehow the appointment slip was saved and I put it in with my basic training flight picture (Flt 592, 323 rd TRS). It was that day I met Peacock, Heywood, Shepard, and Olivas who would be in my class (Hawk 53) at Hurlburt Field Florida. When I first enlisted in April 2000, I was going to work on COMSEC equipment as a 2E3X1, I signed up for it under the GTEP. Then we had all the 'high speed' recruiters come in. PJ/CCT, SERE Instructor, then finally the TACP... None of the others appealed to me, mainly due to the swimming requirement. TACP only required that I pass the US Army PT Test at 70% for my age bracket (18-21 category), so I raised my hand and accepted the appointment slip for the PT Test at the track in front of the 323rd TRS dorms. I took the test, and did alright on the push-ups and sit-ups, and was the first one done with the 2 mile run; however I told MSgt. Al Harris (the TACP recruiter at the time) that I would stick with my other job instead... When I was filling out my Top Secret security clearance (or maybe it was just Secret...) paper work I found out at the very end my AFSC that I signed up for ceased to exist. They sent me to the career counselors office at the time to find another job. I looked and I looked and I didn't like ANYTHING I saw. Then I remembered TACP. On my way out of the job counselors office, who should I run into other than MSgt Harris! I walked up to him, and told him what happened and that I was in! He gave me the contracting appointment slip, and from then on out, I was on my way to become a TACP.In a few days, it will be about the time I left with the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team for my first tour in Iraq. It was August 2005 that we left out of Eielson AFB to go to Kuwait to stage for the trip up north to Iraq at Camp Buehring. A few days prior to that, my mother and father sent me a prayer book for Catholic Soldiers, dated 02AUG05 in the Date Given, five years after I started Basic; an anniversary gift of my enlistment prior to heading to war. Every year I look back at August, and think about those events. Heading to Basic, heading war. Life is never the same, and Thank GOD!I can honestly say, largely due to my time in the military, I'm a self made man.