SOS part 1

The last five weeks, as usual, have flown by. However, the difference was I spent these attending a class called Squadron Officer School (SOS) at Maxwell Air Force Base. It is here Air Force officers are taught the tenants of Air Force doctrine and allowed to practice their leadership skills amongst peers (not a common opportunity). So, it’s a mix of classroom lectures, mass lectures, team building and problem solving, and, of course, athletic events. The following two posts are a compilation of the images and stories I thought you may enjoy viewing/reading.
I believe these were made on the second day. They are from our flight room. There were about 500 students total, divided among 36 flights that make up four student squadrons. Our flight had 14 members. This is Jeff and Eddie as they listening attentively. 🙂

Jeff’s expression really summed up what we all felt … it was going to be a tough five weeks.

Greg was our teambuilder, so he had the task of setting up our social events.

Glen’s expression here perhaps summed up the whole course.

On the first Friday, most of the students and instructors got together for a social event at the officer’s club. As you might expect, there was the friendly mock combat going on. This time in the form of pugil stick fights.

After the club, most of the flight headed out to hang out together. I thought this image of Greg was noteworthy just for his expression. 🙂

The next week, we had the opportunity to try our hand at the unique sport called Flickerball. I know you’ve probably never heard of it. I believe it’s an Air Force specific sport that was invented at or for the Academy. However, it’s used at SOS as a field leadership event. So, the idea is to see how well your team works on the athletic field as well as the classroom.

The idea is to take this small rubber ball (it used to be played with a football) and pass it to your teammates. It’s like ultimate Frisbee in that: you can’t let it drop, otherwise possession changes to the other team.
However, there are three referees who are there to enforce the multitudinous rules. Personally, I think there are so many rules just to take all athleticism out of the game, but that’s just my opinion. Most of the refs were very enthusiastic as they called the game. You can see that their uniforms are also very distinctive.

Once your team gets close to the end line, the idea is to throw the ball and hit the center net. If you do, your team scores 2 points. However, even if you just hit the orange edge, it’s a one-point score.

Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, if you don’t correctly follow all the rules, you’ll end up letting the other team take a technical foul shot. In all likelihood, each team will probably end up taking one to a bunch of tech foul shots. So, if you have a good tech foul shooter, you will probably score often (and consequently win as well).

There are three matches total in the course. After the first two (we had won both), my flight was actually tied for the lead among all 36 flights, since we had won by fairly large margins. In the championship match, we met Tom’s flight, which was also undefeated. This is Tom as he warmed up. Anna was the photographer for these flickerball images.

The ball is put into play with a jump ball.

Tom and Glen on the field.

Here I am with the outstretched arms. I was attempting to block the pass (unsuccessfully by the looks of it).

When the referees had to confer for a violation call, the teams had a chance to regroup in a mini-timeout. We liked the balance and symmetry in this picture.
Flickerball is a non-contact sport (in fact if you even inadvertently touch another player, you are sent to the penalty box), Tom’s team played very aggressive defense.


So close…

Unfortunately, my flight didn’t win the last match, but we did end up in 6th place overall. I have to say though, I wasn’t sorry to finish flickerball. Let’s just say, it’s not my favorite sport.
On the next post, I will get into more of the teambuilding part of SOS. I really enjoyed that part.
Until then…
–Jim