Not a whole lot today.
For our PT we did just over 4 mile run, but they combined a slower group with ours so it was dreadfully slow which means I will move up next time and that may hurt me for a while. After the run we did lower body and abs for about 1/2 hr then ran into the chow hall.
We had more classes on Operations Orders and Troop Leading Procedures. For part of one exercise our platoon was tasked with obtaining an article of clothing from the commanding General for Ft. Benning. Somehow amazingly a couple people ended up with it.
We are approaching Senior phase and I will be the Platoon Sgt. for next week so we are already preparing for the ceremony and I'm getting some short briefings from the current Plt. Sgt.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Back At It
Well it's time to get back to work and get this done!
Saturday morning was fun, we did the downing mile. A mile long course (through the mud) with a bunch of obstacles on it. Everything from wire to crawl under (through the mud), to walls that we would climb over (and land in the mud on the other side). All this was done with the team while carrying 2x 5 gallon water containers, and 3 boxes of MRE's. I didn't think I would get clean after all that. I smelled the mud untill noon today (I think it got up my nose a bit).
I have heard we have it a bit easier this cycle in this particular company because we are part of a pilot program. They are giving us more freedom and responsiblity right off the bat. I guess they may have found out that some of the new lt's would get out and do crazy things because they were comming out of a strict but sheltered enviroment.
This next week is full of a lot of class work so as long as everyone stays awake we will be doing fine. We also have a diagnostic APFT at the end of the week, I will be curious to see if I have improved or gone down in fitness level.
I have also given up on the wireless I paid $50 a month for here and am back to using my phone to connect, the one here is having so many problems I will be asking for a refund.
Saturday morning was fun, we did the downing mile. A mile long course (through the mud) with a bunch of obstacles on it. Everything from wire to crawl under (through the mud), to walls that we would climb over (and land in the mud on the other side). All this was done with the team while carrying 2x 5 gallon water containers, and 3 boxes of MRE's. I didn't think I would get clean after all that. I smelled the mud untill noon today (I think it got up my nose a bit).
I have heard we have it a bit easier this cycle in this particular company because we are part of a pilot program. They are giving us more freedom and responsiblity right off the bat. I guess they may have found out that some of the new lt's would get out and do crazy things because they were comming out of a strict but sheltered enviroment.
This next week is full of a lot of class work so as long as everyone stays awake we will be doing fine. We also have a diagnostic APFT at the end of the week, I will be curious to see if I have improved or gone down in fitness level.
I have also given up on the wireless I paid $50 a month for here and am back to using my phone to connect, the one here is having so many problems I will be asking for a refund.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Day by Day
It's amazing how quickly time flies when you take it one day at a time. After next week we enter "Senior Phase" where we get many more privileges, such as cell phone usage in the barracks and other nice things like that.
Yesterday we did a 7 mile ruck march. We used more gear this time than previously. It seems like anything past 5-6 miles starts to become work....and anything over 10 is uncomfortable....while 15+ is just miserable. At least this time we had someone in leadership who made a point to check out everyones feet afterward and he sent a few to sick call the next morning for blisters and pulled muscles. Many of those are the same people who had issues with the PT test when they arrived. So there's more to it than just passing the test, it also shows that you are in shape enough to get through the class without greater injury. The rest of the day was more classes....nothing terribly exciting.
This morning we did some Medicine Ball exercises for PT and then we loaded up on buses to move out and do a "Recon" of an area that we are to defend on paper. This is all part of the classes on Operations and troop leading procedures. Unfortunately there was heavy rain all last night and the buses were sliding on the dirt roads getting out there. When we disembarked it really started to pore down. We walked about 2km to the point where we were to do the exercise and they called it off due to lightning and the fact that if we waited much longer the buses would not be able to make it back. We did not quit because it was wet and cold, but merely out of safety concerns. So after wasting the morning we were back in classes the rest of the day.
Tomorrow morning we are doing another obstacle course, this should be fun since it will be filled with mud. In this course we are going through in teams of 8-10 so it is another one where the leaders will be judged on their abilities.
I'm still waiting to see which branch I will get, I'd really like to know so I can concentrate in a certain area and perhaps make some plans past the next 60 days.
Yesterday we did a 7 mile ruck march. We used more gear this time than previously. It seems like anything past 5-6 miles starts to become work....and anything over 10 is uncomfortable....while 15+ is just miserable. At least this time we had someone in leadership who made a point to check out everyones feet afterward and he sent a few to sick call the next morning for blisters and pulled muscles. Many of those are the same people who had issues with the PT test when they arrived. So there's more to it than just passing the test, it also shows that you are in shape enough to get through the class without greater injury. The rest of the day was more classes....nothing terribly exciting.
This morning we did some Medicine Ball exercises for PT and then we loaded up on buses to move out and do a "Recon" of an area that we are to defend on paper. This is all part of the classes on Operations and troop leading procedures. Unfortunately there was heavy rain all last night and the buses were sliding on the dirt roads getting out there. When we disembarked it really started to pore down. We walked about 2km to the point where we were to do the exercise and they called it off due to lightning and the fact that if we waited much longer the buses would not be able to make it back. We did not quit because it was wet and cold, but merely out of safety concerns. So after wasting the morning we were back in classes the rest of the day.
Tomorrow morning we are doing another obstacle course, this should be fun since it will be filled with mud. In this course we are going through in teams of 8-10 so it is another one where the leaders will be judged on their abilities.
I'm still waiting to see which branch I will get, I'd really like to know so I can concentrate in a certain area and perhaps make some plans past the next 60 days.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Moving on
This class is going by quickly.
I think it might help when we have a nice 4 day weekend to help move things along.
This morning we did a 5.5 mile run, it was a moderate/slow pace but some nice hills we went up and down. We had plenty of time at the bottom of the hill to do some push-ups and pull-ups too.
The rest of the day was filled with a short test on Methods of Offense and Defense then classes on map symbolgy (more complicated than one might think when we're talking military symbols), and a class on Operations planning which turned out to be horrible since the speaker didn't seem prepared and I couldn't even hear him over 1/2 the time. It may seem worse than it was since the previous teachers have been quite good and well prepared.
We wasted 1/2 the evening preparing for a ruck march tomorrow. Evidently the cadre was not satisfied with our spacing and how we tactically got off and back onto the road at rest points last time so we rehearsed for about 1 hour. There seems to be many things here that will eat up your free time, what little exists.
Tomorrow morning we have a 7 mile ruck march, this one includes the IBE (bullet proof vest) so it adds about 35lbs to the load. After that on Monday we have a 4 mile release run. This means there are very few major events left to complete. We will have a 10 mile ruck, a PT test, and a 5 mile release run, then pass some classes and that's it. I guess they don't want to waste much time training you if you cannot pass some of the more simple introductory events.
Well time to go and look at the lunar eclipse before bedtime, 3:45am comes awfully early here in Ft. Benning.
I think it might help when we have a nice 4 day weekend to help move things along.
This morning we did a 5.5 mile run, it was a moderate/slow pace but some nice hills we went up and down. We had plenty of time at the bottom of the hill to do some push-ups and pull-ups too.
The rest of the day was filled with a short test on Methods of Offense and Defense then classes on map symbolgy (more complicated than one might think when we're talking military symbols), and a class on Operations planning which turned out to be horrible since the speaker didn't seem prepared and I couldn't even hear him over 1/2 the time. It may seem worse than it was since the previous teachers have been quite good and well prepared.
We wasted 1/2 the evening preparing for a ruck march tomorrow. Evidently the cadre was not satisfied with our spacing and how we tactically got off and back onto the road at rest points last time so we rehearsed for about 1 hour. There seems to be many things here that will eat up your free time, what little exists.
Tomorrow morning we have a 7 mile ruck march, this one includes the IBE (bullet proof vest) so it adds about 35lbs to the load. After that on Monday we have a 4 mile release run. This means there are very few major events left to complete. We will have a 10 mile ruck, a PT test, and a 5 mile release run, then pass some classes and that's it. I guess they don't want to waste much time training you if you cannot pass some of the more simple introductory events.
Well time to go and look at the lunar eclipse before bedtime, 3:45am comes awfully early here in Ft. Benning.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Late Update
This is coming in a bit later than I would like, but for a good reason. We have been on a 4-day weekend. I got to see my wife and son for a few days. We got a hotel in downtown Columbus for a couple of nights. It's not that bad an area, as long as you don't get out of the historic district or the college area.
Friday we had a release run in the morning. What this is.....they march us to an area, then we are released to run 3 miles at our own pace. The only caveat is you cannot stop running. They were nice to us and marched us to the area instead of running there, although we did run on the way back. I was able to complete it at a moderate pace, I still need to drop a minute or so off my run time to really boost my PT score though.
One thing about PT here, it does not seemed really aimed at improving but more at testing. For a company that is known for running we only really run 2-3 times a week at most. I think the main thing that will help me is if I lose about 20lbs all together, running with this much extra weight on my legs is just asking for an injury. I guess I will wait and see if I notice any improvement in a couple weeks when we have our second PT test.
After the release run on Friday morning we had classes all day. They were classes on Tactics (or TicTacs as the dyslexic man would say). Pretty simple stuff, and it's odd but with years of playing computer games I can recognize the same tactics that were used by successful teams in a game. There is a lot of information to imbibe for these classes. I don't imagine it will be too difficult to meet the minimum standard but to be in that top percentage or to score perfectly is going to take some work.
To help me I did pick up a $30 printer from the PX (post exchange, like a Walmart with no tax). All the classes have Powerpoint slides posted ahead of time and we have been printing them in the computer lab, but now that everyone wants to it is causing quite a backlog and they are constantly out of paper. I imagine it is only a matter of time before they they restrict the printing of the slides off on that printer.
If you come to the area I would recommend the Marriott downtown, they have a nice military discount that brings the price down to $84, it's next to the riverwalk, the university, and the other downtown attractions. Plus they have a coffee shop right in the Hotel.
Friday we had a release run in the morning. What this is.....they march us to an area, then we are released to run 3 miles at our own pace. The only caveat is you cannot stop running. They were nice to us and marched us to the area instead of running there, although we did run on the way back. I was able to complete it at a moderate pace, I still need to drop a minute or so off my run time to really boost my PT score though.
One thing about PT here, it does not seemed really aimed at improving but more at testing. For a company that is known for running we only really run 2-3 times a week at most. I think the main thing that will help me is if I lose about 20lbs all together, running with this much extra weight on my legs is just asking for an injury. I guess I will wait and see if I notice any improvement in a couple weeks when we have our second PT test.
After the release run on Friday morning we had classes all day. They were classes on Tactics (or TicTacs as the dyslexic man would say). Pretty simple stuff, and it's odd but with years of playing computer games I can recognize the same tactics that were used by successful teams in a game. There is a lot of information to imbibe for these classes. I don't imagine it will be too difficult to meet the minimum standard but to be in that top percentage or to score perfectly is going to take some work.
To help me I did pick up a $30 printer from the PX (post exchange, like a Walmart with no tax). All the classes have Powerpoint slides posted ahead of time and we have been printing them in the computer lab, but now that everyone wants to it is causing quite a backlog and they are constantly out of paper. I imagine it is only a matter of time before they they restrict the printing of the slides off on that printer.
If you come to the area I would recommend the Marriott downtown, they have a nice military discount that brings the price down to $84, it's next to the riverwalk, the university, and the other downtown attractions. Plus they have a coffee shop right in the Hotel.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Good day
Today was a good day.
For morning PT we did some student led stuff.....not really exciting to me but better than sitting around for sure.
The rest of the morning we had a test on ethics, military justice, and leadership. I ended up missing 3 out of 40 on the test which wasn't the best, but in the upper 50% for sure. I really need to study more for that stuff.
The afternoon we did what is called a Leadership Reaction Course. It is like an obstacle course but most of the obstacles are over water and some can be complicated to negotiate. This is not a test if you can get through the obstacle but a test if you can lead your team correctly. Although we did not get everyone across the obstacle for mine I scored max points for the leadership part so I was happy.
Tonight I put the finishing touches on my paper on Officership and the Constitution. I had my dad look it over and he offered a few suggestions on the wording of some points. I think it turned out pretty good for what it was supposed to be.
For morning PT we did some student led stuff.....not really exciting to me but better than sitting around for sure.
The rest of the morning we had a test on ethics, military justice, and leadership. I ended up missing 3 out of 40 on the test which wasn't the best, but in the upper 50% for sure. I really need to study more for that stuff.
The afternoon we did what is called a Leadership Reaction Course. It is like an obstacle course but most of the obstacles are over water and some can be complicated to negotiate. This is not a test if you can get through the obstacle but a test if you can lead your team correctly. Although we did not get everyone across the obstacle for mine I scored max points for the leadership part so I was happy.
Tonight I put the finishing touches on my paper on Officership and the Constitution. I had my dad look it over and he offered a few suggestions on the wording of some points. I think it turned out pretty good for what it was supposed to be.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Testing
Not much happened today.
We had a ruck march in the morning that was only 5 miles long. The only thing that is difficult on it is the speed, it's quite slow. I always found it easier to step it out than take small steps. Of course the march ends going UP cardiac hill (a nice steep hill here on Ft. Benning).
The rest of the day was filled with more classes, Military Law and Leadership. The test is tomorrow so tonight is going to be about 1 hour of intense studying at least. Talking to some of the classes that are ahead of us this is one of the tougher tests, many of the questions are quite deceptive.
Of course boredom can sometimes sets in during breaks in studying and result in pictures like the one above.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Long Break....
Actually we've been extremely busy. Sorry for the length between posts.
No one got in trouble during Super Bowl weekend, in fact we have only lost one more person all week.
Last week started off rough, the room layouts were so messed up it took them until Thursday to get one out to us. In doing so that did not leave enough time for everyone to test it out and set it up. That delay cost us our weekend, and nearly all of the evenings trying to get everything up to standards each time they released a new iteration of the layout.
Monday last week started out with a nice 2 mile run at a pace that was a bit painful, followed by sprints across a field, muscle failure on sit-ups and push-ups then a slower 2 mile run back. The rest of the day was filled with classes on ethics and call for fire (how to call in and adjust an artillery strike).
Tuesday morning we did Army Combatives for our PT. This is the Army's unarmed fighting style, it closely resembles many of the moves used in UFC (ultimate fighting championship). The rest of the day we were given small group instruction outside on basic warrior tasks, things such as first aid, proper weapon care etc.... This lasted all day and it was my first time in a while to march in a blastic vest and eat the new (to me) style of MRE's. I must say they are much improved from the last time I was in.
Wednesday started off with an early morning ruck march. It was a simple 5 mile with about 40lbs in our backpack. The rest of the day was supposed to be taken up with a continuation of the previous days classes but the lightning from the storms drove us inside to do simplified versions of the class. The policy here is rain, snow, or sun activities go on. Only if it becomes dangerous (high wind, lightning etc..) does the activity stop. We were soaked to the bone and many of us got blisters from marching in the morning followed by walking in soaked boots the rest of the day.
Thursday morning we did light PT. The rest of the morning we completed the classes we had not finished due to the inclement weather. That afternoon we took a test on the call for fire class we had. I was one of the few that scored perfectly on the test.
Friday we did a slow 4 mile run with all 3 companies to celebrate the graduation of a class ahead of us. The only problem with that many people trying to run in formation is the slinky effect it generates. The rest of the day we spent alternating being chewed out for the rooms looking jacked up and trying to fix them, followed by a class on leadership.
Saturday we had a bit of time to finish up our rooms and the commander came through and was pleased with how we had pulled together to accomplish the task.
Sunday we were able to go around post. I tried to catch up on a bit of sleep, and got a slice of pizza at the PX.
This week so far has been the same PT, running, muscle failure, and combatives. While the days are filled with more classes on leadership and ethics.
Tomorrow in about 5 hours is another ruck march, this time my pack weighs about 50lbs...still light by the standards of what I used to carry.
I am very much looking forward to the 4 day weekend we are due coming up.
No one got in trouble during Super Bowl weekend, in fact we have only lost one more person all week.
Last week started off rough, the room layouts were so messed up it took them until Thursday to get one out to us. In doing so that did not leave enough time for everyone to test it out and set it up. That delay cost us our weekend, and nearly all of the evenings trying to get everything up to standards each time they released a new iteration of the layout.
Monday last week started out with a nice 2 mile run at a pace that was a bit painful, followed by sprints across a field, muscle failure on sit-ups and push-ups then a slower 2 mile run back. The rest of the day was filled with classes on ethics and call for fire (how to call in and adjust an artillery strike).
Tuesday morning we did Army Combatives for our PT. This is the Army's unarmed fighting style, it closely resembles many of the moves used in UFC (ultimate fighting championship). The rest of the day we were given small group instruction outside on basic warrior tasks, things such as first aid, proper weapon care etc.... This lasted all day and it was my first time in a while to march in a blastic vest and eat the new (to me) style of MRE's. I must say they are much improved from the last time I was in.
Wednesday started off with an early morning ruck march. It was a simple 5 mile with about 40lbs in our backpack. The rest of the day was supposed to be taken up with a continuation of the previous days classes but the lightning from the storms drove us inside to do simplified versions of the class. The policy here is rain, snow, or sun activities go on. Only if it becomes dangerous (high wind, lightning etc..) does the activity stop. We were soaked to the bone and many of us got blisters from marching in the morning followed by walking in soaked boots the rest of the day.
Thursday morning we did light PT. The rest of the morning we completed the classes we had not finished due to the inclement weather. That afternoon we took a test on the call for fire class we had. I was one of the few that scored perfectly on the test.
Friday we did a slow 4 mile run with all 3 companies to celebrate the graduation of a class ahead of us. The only problem with that many people trying to run in formation is the slinky effect it generates. The rest of the day we spent alternating being chewed out for the rooms looking jacked up and trying to fix them, followed by a class on leadership.
Saturday we had a bit of time to finish up our rooms and the commander came through and was pleased with how we had pulled together to accomplish the task.
Sunday we were able to go around post. I tried to catch up on a bit of sleep, and got a slice of pizza at the PX.
This week so far has been the same PT, running, muscle failure, and combatives. While the days are filled with more classes on leadership and ethics.
Tomorrow in about 5 hours is another ruck march, this time my pack weighs about 50lbs...still light by the standards of what I used to carry.
I am very much looking forward to the 4 day weekend we are due coming up.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Superbowl Night
I didn't watch it.
My wife and son came down during our pass in the afternoon so I went and had a great steak at Outback with them. It was really great to be able to spend time with them. It helps to keep me grounded and remind me why I'm doing this.
Since I went out during the afternoon I spent the evening washing uniforms and trying to get the room layout correctly. The layouts they gave us are really messed up and have a hugely inefficient use of space. There is no place to store personal items yet a majority of the drawers are less than 1/2 full. Oh well, I tried to match it as closely as possible but we'll see if they want to inspect early tomorrow...if they do I'm screwed.
We are taking side bets on how many people are going to get in trouble because of the freedom allowed tonight. I'm thinking only one at the most will do something stupid and miss formation but a bunch will have too much to drink and it will affect their performance tomorrow. We have a long run followed by bunches of potentially boring classroom stuff.
My wife and son came down during our pass in the afternoon so I went and had a great steak at Outback with them. It was really great to be able to spend time with them. It helps to keep me grounded and remind me why I'm doing this.
Since I went out during the afternoon I spent the evening washing uniforms and trying to get the room layout correctly. The layouts they gave us are really messed up and have a hugely inefficient use of space. There is no place to store personal items yet a majority of the drawers are less than 1/2 full. Oh well, I tried to match it as closely as possible but we'll see if they want to inspect early tomorrow...if they do I'm screwed.
We are taking side bets on how many people are going to get in trouble because of the freedom allowed tonight. I'm thinking only one at the most will do something stupid and miss formation but a bunch will have too much to drink and it will affect their performance tomorrow. We have a long run followed by bunches of potentially boring classroom stuff.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Offical Class
We are now officially OCS class 304-08. Today we implemented the student chain of command and uncased our colors. The objective of the classes are different than they were 5 years ago. Now they depend on many of the prior service students (those who were enlisted in the military before) to teach many of the classes and to lead us in many of the exercises. This all makes a lot of sense since we are being assessed on our leadership ability.
The day started off a bit later since we had a good turn out for the blood drive previously, and it started with chow instead of PT.
After chow we got to listen to Col. Nett, a medal of honor winner from WWII. This guy is impressive and full of great advice for new Lt. He is getting on in age and some of conversation tended to wander but he is still an impressive man even in his wheel chair. Some people just have a commanding presence that you can almost see when they walk (or wheel) into a room.
SWIMMING
We took a nice dip in a heated indoor pool today. Of course nothing is that simple though. First we got hosed down with cold water in 40 degree weather outside while in full uniform (including boots) then went inside where we got instruction on what we were expected to do. The first event was a 25m swim with full gear including a rifle, this wasn't too for me, but for those who cannot swim it was impossible. The next event was jumping from the high-dive (10m) with full equipment and rifle while blindfolded. I got a lot of snot out of my nose on that one. On the last one we jumped backwards from the edge of the pool and had to remove all the equipment while underwater, if you break the surface with any part of your body before all the equipment is off you have to go again. This was a bit more difficult since I have a tendency to float.
Finally the Commander did an end of the week assessment. It was interesting, our class is only 20% college op's (straight from college) while the rest of us are prior service. One piece of advice he did give us is that as a Lt. we are not allowed any mistakes. One minor mess up gets you noticed as a screw up, a second will generally get you put into a job where you cannot do any harm (i.e. where you are not really in charge of anyone or anything). At that point you will be stuck in those type of positions for the rest of your career, that is until you dead end. In todays army you can still stay in, but you will not ever get fast tracked to anything.
The day started off a bit later since we had a good turn out for the blood drive previously, and it started with chow instead of PT.
After chow we got to listen to Col. Nett, a medal of honor winner from WWII. This guy is impressive and full of great advice for new Lt. He is getting on in age and some of conversation tended to wander but he is still an impressive man even in his wheel chair. Some people just have a commanding presence that you can almost see when they walk (or wheel) into a room.
SWIMMING
We took a nice dip in a heated indoor pool today. Of course nothing is that simple though. First we got hosed down with cold water in 40 degree weather outside while in full uniform (including boots) then went inside where we got instruction on what we were expected to do. The first event was a 25m swim with full gear including a rifle, this wasn't too for me, but for those who cannot swim it was impossible. The next event was jumping from the high-dive (10m) with full equipment and rifle while blindfolded. I got a lot of snot out of my nose on that one. On the last one we jumped backwards from the edge of the pool and had to remove all the equipment while underwater, if you break the surface with any part of your body before all the equipment is off you have to go again. This was a bit more difficult since I have a tendency to float.
Finally the Commander did an end of the week assessment. It was interesting, our class is only 20% college op's (straight from college) while the rest of us are prior service. One piece of advice he did give us is that as a Lt. we are not allowed any mistakes. One minor mess up gets you noticed as a screw up, a second will generally get you put into a job where you cannot do any harm (i.e. where you are not really in charge of anyone or anything). At that point you will be stuck in those type of positions for the rest of your career, that is until you dead end. In todays army you can still stay in, but you will not ever get fast tracked to anything.
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