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...sort of. I finished Basic Training on May 9 and reported to Officer Candidate School (OCS) the next day. I got to see Carson, Eden, Ted and my mom so that was great, but I only got to see them for about 24 hours. I will not put up a whole bunch about Basic since my sister was kind enough to email letters from me. If you have questions, ask 'em. I can only get online on Sundays right now (today is the exception because of the Memorial Day holiday).
OCS has been much more difficult than I expected. Right now I am 88th out of about 150. This has been a huge blow to my ego. I certainly expected that I would be in the top 10%, not struggling to crack into the top 50%. The big issue is that my ranking affects what branch of the Army I might serve in...we will be choosing our branches in rank order.
For those completely in the dark about what I am talking about, the branches I am considering are:
Military Intelligence Adjudant General
Engineering Quartermaster
Signal Ordnance
Military Police Transportation
Here are some pictures that I took the last few days of Basic Training...
This is me and my bunk mate SPC Friday and our actual bunk. She is also from Delaware. 
"Buddy" my M16-A2 and I standing at attention. 
A morning march...we marched and stood in formation for endless hours. 
But there were fun times too. We are laughing and joking in the barracks in this photo. My mom and Ted took more photos at graduation and family day than I did, but here are my two favorites:
Carson gives his signature wink and thumbs up from the sunroof of "FireBat" (the VW has a name). 
Eden is as tall as this soldier. I will try to do the best I can at keeping up. I am physically exhaused and in a lot of pain all the time, but I do think it will all be worth it. If nothing else, I have gone from a size 8/10 to a size 4. I'm still about 12 lbs over my maximum skating weight, but I assure you, most of that is muscle. Those are excellent results for only 10 weeks. So far the PT at OCS makes what I did at Basic look like a joke.
- Location:Ft. Benning, GA
- Mood:
In Pain - Music:The Army Song
This morning I went running with my trainer. I am really proud of myself because I finished the whole two miles. That's the first time I have run that far. I did it in 22:00. That is not a particularly good time, but it is not totally horrible. It would be 58 points. That is good enough graduate from Basic Training, but not good enough to start Officer Candidate School (I need 60 points which would be 21:42). My goal is to be able to do the run in 18:06 which is 85 points.
The best way to look at it is like a standard grading system. 85 points is like a solid "B". If you know me, you know that I don't like to be anywhere below a "B" in anything. I would like to be at that point before I start OCS. I do not know how realistic it is for me to shave 4 minutes off my run by then. I used to be a really fast runner, but never at a distance.
So now that I said what my results were, I would like to express other mitigating factors. One factor is that it was not on a track, but rather a trail with rocks and tree roots, mud pits and wet leaves. Another is that the course is not perfectly flat. We ran at Vrelo Bosne which is a really beautiful park. The third factor is that this is Sarajevo. Sarajevo is 1708 feet above sea level. Ft. Benning Georgia is only 310 feet above sea level. And last, because of the terrain, I didn't have the best form because I couldn't run with my head up. I would also like to complain for my Florida relatives that it was only 40 degrees Fahrenheit, a warm day in NY, I know, but quite cold for me.
After I ran the two miles I had to do two sets each of 15 push-ups, 15 bent-over rows, 15 bicep curls, and 15 dips, then we turned around and "jogged" back. Jogging at my trainers pace honestly felt no different than running. I should have timed myself.
- Mood:
thirsty