It's a rough welcome for AFA newcomers

"Why are your legs shaking?" the drill instructor yelled at a cadet who'd held that title for less than five minutes.

The query could have been aimed at the whole row of cadets, fresh off a bus to start basic training at the Air Force Academy on Thursday.

It took just minutes for that confident and proud group of high school graduates to melt into "doolies" - scared teenagers in a strange world, terrorized by instructors a few years their senior who will run their lives for the next five weeks.

"The emotions that go on this first day show it's a pretty harsh transition," said Senior Cadet Marshall Wills, who is overseeing the latest crop of freshmen. "We're going to break them down and then build them up."

The 1,350 freshmen began gathering at the academy before 7 a.m. for last good-byes from loved ones.

The class of 2013 worked hard to earn entrance to the academy.

Picked from nearly 10,000 applicants, they averaged a 3.86 GPA in high school and scored an average of 1,294 on the SAT.

"It's a proud day and a sad day of mixed emotions," Karin Chun said as she watched her son Andre board a bus that would take him on the short trip to basic training. "I'm so proud of him."

Like many of his classmates, Andrew Leighner has been dreaming of the academy since he was a high school freshman. He wants to fly fighters and saw the academy as the most direct path to the cockpit.

Son of a retired Air Force nurse, Leighner figured he was prepared for what the next five weeks will bring.

But there's little that can prepare doolies for the onslaught they face in their first minutes at the academy.

Any misstep Thursday could draw loud correction from instructors. Egregious conduct, like the new cadet whose legs were shaking, drew as many as half a dozen instructors, all yelling commands in a cacophony that seemed to further bewilder the doolies.

The point of the exercise, instructors explained, is that the academy expects perfection in its 4,000 cadets, no matter how inexperienced they might be.

"One day your choices will determine whether people live or die," Senior Cadet James Sewell yelled at a busload of freshmen.

But there is a measure of mercy among the senior cadets. Just three years ago they were getting off the bus to face the storm of basic training.

"No matter who tells you that you can't do it, stick with it," Senior Cadet Jared Jaime encouraged a half-dozen doolies who were awkwardly adjusting their newly issued camouflage uniforms.

Later, out of earshot from the newcomers, he said, "I remember what that first day was like.

"But tomorrow, it's game-on."