My name is Olivia Fortin and I am from Castle Rock, Colorado. I am a rising senior (AS400) and major in Criminology/Criminal Justice. This semester I am the Morale, Wellness, & Recreation Squadron Commander and I will be going into Security Forces once I commission.
This summer I had the opportunity to complete AM-490 at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). The program is 2 weeks at USAFA, where you are trained to complete 5 solo freefall jumps. After 3 days of ground training, it was time to stand in the door of the aircraft and jump out completely solo. The jump process includes 10 seconds of freefall before you pull your parachute.
This was one of the most terrifying and amazing feelings in the entire world. My favorite part was getting to experience 10 seconds of complete freefall where you just float through the air looking at the mountains. I highly recommend this opportunity to any rising AS400/AS200. There is no better way to confront fear then look it in the face and jump into it.
While I was at USAFA I had the opportunity to meet and live with the USAFA cadets. This was a very eye-opening experience because I was able to see the insides of being a cadet at USAFA. As someone that knew very little about the academy before going there, I enjoyed learning about their lifestyle. Along with this, while I was at AM-490, I was able to see a lot of Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas. We went indoor skydiving (definitely not as cool as the real thing!), tried so many different restaurants, and celebrated our jump wings with Wings 4 Wings, which included binge eating about 100 buffalo wings while bonding with everyone from my jump team.
