Hearing from one of my buddy's younger brothers who is class of '22 that FOW Air Out is now dead and part of Old Army lore as it is now considered to be "directly against corps values". Anybody else hearing this? Commandant care to weigh in? Air Out was one of my first, and one of my favorite, memories of my four years. Really hate to see this one go for all the future fish, even in the watered down version that it had become.

I thought the FOW airout was how they got the fish to their first Yell Practice. How is that directly against Corps values? Is the Trigon against the Corps having any type of fun at all? Or has the current Corps been pushing the boundaries until they gave the Trigon no alternative?

I should would like to hear from Gen. Ramirez on this topic.

Why don't you email the commandant directly and ask him?
You will likely get a faster response and real information.
Then bring that real information here instead of spreading rumor and speculation.

DevilD77 said:

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I thought the FOW airout was how they got the fish to their first Yell Practice. How is that directly against Corps values? Is the Trigon against the Corps having any type of fun at all? Or has the current Corps been pushing the boundaries until they gave the Trigon no alternative?

I should would like to hear from Gen. Ramirez on this topic.

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Either way, the man has totally ruined the corps. General rameriez will not be seeing a dime of donations from many of the class of 14 or younger.

Rice and Fries said:

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DevilD77 said:

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I thought the FOW airout was how they got the fish to their first Yell Practice. How is that directly against Corps values? Is the Trigon against the Corps having any type of fun at all? Or has the current Corps been pushing the boundaries until they gave the Trigon no alternative?

I should would like to hear from Gen. Ramirez on this topic.

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Either way, the man has totally ruined the corps. General rameriez will not be seeing a dime of donations from many of the class of 14 or younger.

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Rice and Fries said:

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DevilD77 said:

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I thought the FOW airout was how they got the fish to their first Yell Practice. How is that directly against Corps values? Is the Trigon against the Corps having any type of fun at all? Or has the current Corps been pushing the boundaries until they gave the Trigon no alternative?

I should would like to hear from Gen. Ramirez on this topic.

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Either way, the man has totally ruined the corps. General rameriez will not be seeing a dime of donations from many of the class of 14 or younger.

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That's what everyone said about Van Alstyne. The Commandant is never popular.

No idea if this is true, but I don't see the problem with air out. I'd give Gen Ramirez a chance to comment on it. I commissioned through OCS and they did a version of the air out with us. When we did air out in 2003 there wasn't even PT involved.

Noble07 said:

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Rice and Fries said:

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DevilD77 said:

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I thought the FOW airout was how they got the fish to their first Yell Practice. How is that directly against Corps values? Is the Trigon against the Corps having any type of fun at all? Or has the current Corps been pushing the boundaries until they gave the Trigon no alternative?

I should would like to hear from Gen. Ramirez on this topic.

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Either way, the man has totally ruined the corps. General rameriez will not be seeing a dime of donations from many of the class of 14 or younger.

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That's what everyone said about Van Alstyne. The Commandant is never popular.

No idea if this is true, but I don't see the problem with air out. I'd give Gen Ramirez a chance to comment on it. I commissioned through OCS and they did a version of the air out with us. When we did air out in 2003 there wasn't even PT involved.

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I'm class of '17 and we still didn't have PT inolved, but we did get woken up in the middle of the night when the '02 was fired and our doors were kicked in. Music was blaring, lights were flashing, and the voices of our upperclassmen were screaming. It was a total sensory overload that was then taken from the hallway to where we ran out onto the quad and to the arches for yell practice. I'm certain that's probably a watered down version of what some of you experienced, and I believe class of '18 and then on did not run from the dorms, but rather huddled around in a buddy class and walked to the arches. My understanding is that last change was done for safety reasons as somebody my year wasn't looking where he was going while still half asleep, fell, and broke their arm. Just such a bummer that future Ags won't get this experience, that to me was one of the most memorable parts of FOW.

You just described what air out was like during FOW 2000. Take a breath and relax. Everything is going to be ok. Let's see what happens.

Removed by poster.

Rice and Fries said:

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I'd certainly welcome his response.

But the man has lied to my face and as a result ruined my outfit. All for the sake of growing the corps ranks. He's chosen quantity over quality. Maybe I am off, but I know several others in the class of 12, 13, 14, 15 who share my same sentiment.

He wants a soft corps where Fish are taught that its inappropriate to run AND do push ups. He just wants charmin tissue soft.

This is the same man who said you can indeed haze yourself. Abolished campus runs in the early morning cause it was waking up the non-regs. Took away high-porting. Eliminated square meals because "fish are indeed individuals".

Gen. Betty > Gen Rameriez

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If you are going to accuse a man of Gen. Ramirez standing of lying on a public forum you had better bring some very solid evidence to back it up. I would ask you to either substantiate your claim or remove it.

The commandant does not have a responsibility to monitor and respond to this discussion board. He has in the past when certain issues were brought to his attention and he had the time to do so. We were thankful for that input but should not expect it.

He is however very accessible via email and has said so repeatedly.

CT'97 said:

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Rice and Fries said:

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I'd certainly welcome his response.

But the man has lied to my face and as a result ruined my outfit. All for the sake of growing the corps ranks. He's chosen quantity over quality. Maybe I am off, but I know several others in the class of 12, 13, 14, 15 who share my same sentiment.

He wants a soft corps where Fish are taught that its inappropriate to run AND do push ups. He just wants charmin tissue soft.

This is the same man who said you can indeed haze yourself. Abolished campus runs in the early morning cause it was waking up the non-regs. Took away high-porting. Eliminated square meals because "fish are indeed individuals".

Gen. Betty > Gen Rameriez

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If you are going to accuse a man of Gen. Ramirez standing of lying on a public forum you had better bring some very solid evidence to back it up. I would ask you to either substantiate your claim or remove it.

The commandant does not have a responsibility to monitor and respond to this discussion board. He has in the past when certain issues were brought to his attention and he had the time to do so. We were thankful for that input but should not expect it.

He is however very accessible via email and has said so repeatedly.

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Exactly. Name another University senior leader who has been as responsive on public forums like this one.

Would one of you "old Army" people please give me the details on what an Air Out is. Thanks in advance.

aggiejim70 said:

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Would one of you "old Army" people please give me the details on what an Air Out is. Thanks in advance.

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As defined in the book "Aggies, y'all caught that dam ol rat yet?" by Joseph Rollins, '38; Airing out was a fall sport where Sophomores (p-heads) targeted fish at late hours of the evening.

At that time the fish door was jerked open with a wild-eyed sophomore yelling to "Air out fish!" It was punctuated with the snapping of Sam Browne belts!

In the movie "We've never been licked" (1943) we see fish Craig and his old lady Aired Out and they fell out for Yell Practice.

In 1983-87 Air out occurred during FOW when fish were in bed, and then they weren't! P-heads slamming doors and trash cans to motivate the fish to fall out quickly onto the quad, where a yell practice took place.

Thanks. I guess that was a tradition on hiatus during the sixties.

aggiejim70 said:

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Thanks. I guess that was a tradition on hiatus during the sixties.

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70's, too. Never heard of it.

Well, it didn't take long for someone to notify me about a supposed "dumpster fire" on the Military Board of Tex Ags! As I have in the past, I will try my best to give you "the rest of the story" and hopefully bring some clarity to all of this.

"Air Out" as many of us remember it, is STILL a part of FOW - and will be again this year. The only change we made to it was we now call it "Fish Yell Practice." Same time at night, same format, same place, same tradition - just a different name. And yes, our intent is to have Coach Jimbo Fisher attend and address all the fish, as he has done the past 2 years.

So I hope this clears things up for all. We will STILL have "Air Out" during FOW, but it just has a different name this year. Everything else remains the same. By the way, this is one of my favorite events of the school year, and is still one of the most anticipated events during FOW.

For what its birth, if Rice and Fries would like to call me or come see me and enlighten me on just what exactly I "lied to his face" about, I'd be glad to accommodate him. Thats far more professional and mature than making accusations on TexAgs where my guess is he thought I wouldn't read it or respond. I'd be happy to invite him to our Corps runs at 6 am in the morning around the campus, followed by PT on the Quad where push-ups are a 'staple" exercise of the cadets, and see if he can keep up with our "soft Corps." My staff and I are out there with them - I hope he joins us to see first hand just how wrong his accusations are. My number is (979)845-2811 if you'd like to call, Rice. Or e-mail me at jramirez@corps.tamu.edu. I'll be standing by, but won't hold my breath.

Thanks to all of you for your love and support of our Corps! Gig 'em! And Stay safe!

Email sent and I'll give you a call later this afternoon.

Thank you sir, for taking the time to address the "issue". Glad to hear that it's sticking around. Any particular reasoning behind the name change though?

I look forward to the discussion, Rice.

Your recollection is FAR different from mine - and my staffs - wrt SQ-23. Just so you know, SQ-23 is a "regular" Air Force outfit in 3rd Wing (not a Transfer Outfit), and is a damn good outfit. They have done well over the past several years, and I am proud of the cadets and the way they have excelled. You don't have to agree - just giving you the facts, with no emotion.

Again, I look forward to the discussion.

Nothing like making a bunch of claims and **** talking to walk it back to "removed by poster".

To be fair to Rice, he DID e-mail me - something very few do when I offer them the opportunity to do so on these threads.

He was professional and mature in his e-mail, and clearly laid out for me why he felt the way he did about his old outfit, and decisions that were made about that outfit in the past. He also apologized to me about his comments on this thread.

I greatly appreciated Rice's willingness to reach out to me, and responded to his e-mail with my own personal recollections of what happened, and why, as well as an update on the current state of his old outfit, and how I would welcome him coming to speak to the current cadets about his pride in his old outfit. I hope he takes me up on the offer.

I say this because Rice deserves a lot of credit for having the courage to e-mail me and explain himself in a mature, professional manner. No hiding behind a screen name and a keyboard - he gave me his name up front, and owned what he had said, but also was willing to explain why he was so upset - in a manner that was free of emotion and extremely professional. And I gladly responded. I was proud of him for doing so, and hope he feels the same way.

Just wanted to set the record straight for Rice and Fries. He "manned up" today, and I appreciate what he did.

As said above, "Air out" was Very Old Army, but disappeared for a while. For that matter, FOW is relatively new, at least as the organized event it is now. My recollection is that we showed up a few days early, and each outfit did their own thing to try to get cadets ready for the school year.

Shall we also talk about the "Old Army Tradition" of Ring Dunking, which also didn't exist in my day?

Air Out isn't the same anymore because there is no doubt that every fish knows about it because of the internet.

Noble07 said:

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Air Out isn't the same anymore because there is no doubt that every fish knows about it because of the internet.

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I knew that it was coming beforehand, and my cadre still caught me by surprise. Regardless of whether you know ahead of time or not, it's still a fun memory that everybody who went through fish year can go back and reminisce upon. And FWIW, I'm still hearing that cadet leadership was told yell practice with Jimbo and all that is still happening, but the kicking in doors, the lights, the loud music, the screaming, the part that everybody remembers as "air out" is no more. My reading comprehension might be broken, but he doesn't directly address that part as staying the same, just yell practice staying the same.