220

Well, I did something I never thought I'd actually do. I busted out a personal best 3-mile run *ON* my PFT. I ran a 22:06...giving me 75 points on my run. I also have now officially maxed out my crunches (100 crunches in 2 minutes...adding another 100 points). Unfortunately, my pull-ups stand at 9. One more would have given me a 225...a first class Marine PFT. This is something I would have never guessed I could do. I remember coveting a second class PFT score (175). My first official PFT was a 193. A 32 point jump is significant.

I do have to give credit where it is due. I have to say that the Lord helped me on this one. Around the 2-mile mark, I didn't feel very good. I was pushing extra hard, my feet felt like lead, and my stomach was starting to feel nausea. Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable sound of jets overhead. Looking for the source, I was surprised to see the St. Louis Air National Guard doing formation runs in their F-15...Eagles. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head...eagles...on wings of eagles. A snippet of a Bible verse was circulating in my brain. It gave me what felt like a warm chill that spilled over me (okay, so maybe it was my body switching to my fat stores, but the timing was impecable). I started to push a little harder. And harder...and harder. I cranked around the corner and hit the final straight. When it was over, I had dropped my personal best time by nearly 10 seconds.

In addition to the physical testing, I also took the ASTB (Aviation Selection Test Battery). A three-hour test that consists of 6 sections: Math Knowledge, Reading Comprehension, Mechanical Knowledge, Spacial Awareness, Aviation & Nautical Knowledge, and Aviation Supplement.

Math Knowledge, Reading Comp, and Mechanical Knowledge are pretty standard ASVAB fare stepped up a few grade levels. I think I did ok. A couple problems stumped me, but not too many. Mechanical Knowledge has a few more pressure questions than I was prepared for...so there's some educated guesses there.

Spacial Awareness gives you a "view" out the front of a plane and you must pick the image of the aircraft that most likely represents that attitude (the direction, tilt, angle for you non-avaition buffs). This I found pretty easy...my Microsoft Flight Simulator time paid off.

Aviation & Nautical knowledge is exactly that. Growing up in the avaition world pays off here.

The aviation supplement is interesting because it mixes several of the above sections and jams them together. Add a short time limit (35 questions, 25 minutes), and it bumps up the stress. I think I did ok...I reread several questions, and caught a mistake.

I'm just hoping for a 6 or better (it's out of 9). Monday, I'll find out if I can contract for NFO (Naval Flight Officer)...but we'll see.

Cliff Notes: I'm super motivated!