Graduation! Part 1

Its official!  Matt is a USAF fighter pilot!!  Friday morning, Matt graduated from undergraduate pilot training and received his wings!!  Many family members were unable to make the long journey to Enid and they were all greatly missed!! We know everyone wanted to be here to celebrate this huge accomplishment of Matts- therefore I will be posting multiple blog posts to share photos/videos!!!  Matts parents, Melissa, My mom and John, Mallory, Erin, David, and Mackenzie were all able to make it for the big day!

We started the day with a breakfast/briefing in Matts flight room.  The flight commander, Captain Barnett, spoke to all the families about the training process, explained what all the students have been through, and emphasized on the accomplishments of each of the students have achieved.

Here is a picture of the T-38 guys during the breakfast

After the breakfast, we presented Matt with his graduation gift.  It is an aviators watch with all the bells and whistles!  He was so excited about it!!

We then reported to the Auditorium for graduation!   It was a very nice ceremony in a very small auditorium:)  One of the guys father-in-law, who is a three star General stationed in Germany, was the guest speaker for the Graduation.   Overall, the ceremony was good and rather inspiring!  We are very lucky to live in such a wonderful country and to have such wonderful men/women who serve to protect us!

Here is Matt standing in the receiving line.

Joe pinning the wings on Matt

Two pilots from Matts Unit in Fort Smith flew in to see Matt graduate.  

Joe, Mary Jo, Emilee, Matt, and Melissa

Mallory, David, Erin, Mackenzie, Emilee, Matt, Nancy, John

We then toured the flight line, watched the A-10 warthogs from Fort Smith take off, and checked out the T-38 jet that Matt has been training on!  Here are a few more pictures from the day:

A-10's Taxing off

The Hogue's with Matt by the T-38

We also played in the simulators and attended a formal dinner that evening.  So we have several additional pictures from more of the events to share soon but this is all for now!   I plan to post those here in the next few days!! Hope you enjoyed what I have posted so far :)  We are all so proud of Matt and his accomplishments!!!