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24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > MrPaseo's Life Of A Modern-Day Soldier > Advanced Non-Commissioned Officer Course |
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MrPaseo Original500© Member  Peace Protector
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As many of you know, I recently embarked on a higher level of training that comes with the recent rank promotion to Sergeant First Class. Time is critical since I have been here but I will try to find time on the weekends to keep you updated on my progress. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday, 25 FEB 07: 7 hour drive from Fort Campbell, KY to Fort Gordon, GA. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Monday, 26 FEB 07: Today we spent the day in prossesing. We sat in a cold room with the smell of fuel for most of the day, this was not a good impression of the school. By the end of the day, the entire class was nauseated and frozen. They informed us there is no schedule (For the course) we will have an initial PT test on Wednesday and we will have a Calss A inspection on Friday. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tuesday, 27 FEB 07: This week we will be working the FBCB2 system, they started the class with an amazing vidio clip, I will have a copy of this by the end of the week. We have civilians teaching the class, it was very interesting and for today, just a refresher of stuff we already knew. The day ended early at about 16:30. By 2030 hrs I was in bed trying to get some rest for the PT test in the morning... it didn't work, I tossed and turned all night. We already had one guy miss muster formation (First morning accountability formation), he received a counseling, and had to write an essay (Thats all I know, there could have been more) he is out of the running for distinguished honor, or honor grad. Oh well. I have already blown the budget (two fold), usually attending a school will cause you to buy a bunch of new uniforms and stuff because they can be a little anal about things being perfect (It keeps us on our toes). I don't mind, this far in the game not many people do, they understand the way and usually just do what it takes to do what's right. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, 28 FEB 07: This morning started at about 0250, they have us living off post at a Super 8 Motel (I know right), so we need to get up early to beat the traffic. We got up extra early this morning because the PT test started at 0430 hrs. I managed: 59 Push ups: 84 points 65 Sit ups: 87 Points Ran 2 miles in 17:05: 66 Points Total: 237 of 300 (Max) Not great but I met the ANCOC standards (65% in each event). What I didn't meet is the weight standards, so I have until about 20 May to either lose another 20 lbs or another 3% body fat. Keep in mind, I already lost 20 lbs since my last deployment to Iraq (Thanks to some of the folks on this forum...and the other two). The temp hit about 75 degrees today, I have to tell you it's been nice. Last time I felt warm it was about 135-140 degrees, then we came back and jumped right into cold, sometimes as cold as about 5 degrees clearly a shocking difference of 130+ within a few months... what a shock. So the nice weather is a welcomed change. I don't expect it to stay like this to long, but it should help with the weight loss. Our current class is FBCB2, a tracking system for the battle field. I seem to be in the head of the class (First one done, then I walk around and help the other soldiers). There are about four soldiers that have never touched this system before, we had about 50 systems in Iraq so I have some training. I think I forgot to mention we have 14 soldiers in the class, one female and 13 males. We started with 13 but one guy arrived a day late due to the weather (Snowed in) they were nice enough to let him stay. So far, there has been little to no arguing, we'll see how long that lasts. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday, 1 MAR 07: First call is 0600, so, wake up 0415. After formation we marched a few blocks to an AER briefing. It seems half of our ANCOC training is to raise money for the schools fund so the post can have their Signal Ball. So far, thats all we hear about. I take over squad leader on Monday, I was called back to the academy after we were released to receive my counseling and by the time I went all the way back, the SGL left for the day. My energy is low, I cut the carbs, no starches, lots of meat and veggies. I should be able to adapt to the calorie intake after a few days, teh real test will be this weekend. During the week there is a buffet available to us so I can eat right, on the weekends, no buffet. I suppose I can find somewhere with a buffet, I think I'll stick with Subway for most of my weekend meals (They have a nice chicken Ranch wrap). Rain today, a little chilly but not to bad. We have our first long run tomorrow (The Commandants run). And to top it off, our first Class A inspection... Needless to say there keeping us very busy... something like 98 days left. Class went well today, more FBCB2, the test is on Monday but tomorrow we will do some extensive hands on. Not much to say about class, I sit in front of a computer all day and tap at the keys  Tomorrow's first call is 0430, that means I get up at 0315... _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Friday, 2 MAR 07: We started the day with a 3.2 mile run... or should I say death run!!! The hills were so steep they were handing out ropes to climb to the top...lol, well, not that steep but it was so bad that many people were walking up the hill because they could not run. There was a General in the front so I figured this was going to be an easy run... boy was I wrong. I fell back... me and about 100 other people (Not exagerating here, there was at least 100 other folks that fell out) I managed to catch back up after the hills (Yes, hills). After the run we had 75 minutes to get ready for the Class A inspection. I forgot my flash for my Air Assault wings but they didn't notice ;) We stayed in class A's all day, I think thats the first time in about 10 years I wore the class A uniform all day. Another simple day, we were given a PE that should have taken three hours to complete, I came the closest and managed to get a 93% some didn't finish half of it. We test out on on Monday for this class. I assume 1st Squad leader on Monday and I get to give PT (I think it's evaluated... who knows) I will be doing a 3.2 mile run... to easy. Next weekend I volunteer to go to a Basket ball game in Atlanta to raise money for the school. I had to buy black pants and a white shirt (More money) but it should be interesting as I have NEVER been to a basket ball game. I hope to get some pictures. I'm going to look through the Platoon sergeants book this week to try to figure out what our class requirements will be. We know there are a few events that we need to do but we have no idea when they are due or how we are going to do them. For example: 1. Class project: This is usually something we construct as a class. I guess we could buy something like a Microwave and donate it to the school (Students) or something. 2. Two fund raisers: I'm not sure what the requirements are. We talked about just all putting in 50 bucks each. That would raise 700 dollars A lot easier than a car wash of which will most likely be our second fund raiser (Maybe both).3. Community work: Not sure what this is, but we need to do something for the community. In BNCOC we did something for the old folks home, someone mentioned they fixed up a battered womans home... who knows, we havn't talked about it yet. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Saturday, 3 MAR 07: Our first day off I didn't even get out of bed until 1100 hours. One of the guys called to see if I wanted to go check out the town. While I was getting ready another guy called so the three of us went out on the town (More money).We ended eating at McD's, then off to Walmart to buy the black pants and white shirt. We then went to see Reno 911 (Not that great) and we ended up at Outback for some dinner (Supper to you notherners). Tomorrow, I'm going to prep for the week, do some laundry, maybe a ruck march. More tomorrow. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday, 4 MAR 07: I spent half of Sunday out Cacheing, check out the pictures here: http://www.24hourforums.com/view_topic.php?id=7830&forum_id=23 The rest of the day was preparing for the next week. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Monday, 5 MAR 07: I instructed PT this morning, the first in the class. I did pretty good, at least my classmates told me so. We conducted a 3 mile run on Barton Field. We went to class and did the hands on part of the class this morning. I managed a 95% (Due to an error of the teacher, but I'm happy with the 95%). During lunch I did a 2.23 mile ruck/run in ACU's and sneakers. I need to up my cardo and lunch is another opportunity. In the afternoon we took part two of the FBCB2 test (The written test), I'm not sure how I did on that one but I think pretty good. I finished the day with a 3 mile run/ruck (About 29 minutes). The objective is slow and steady. It felt pretty good, we'll see how tomorrow goes. I did a total of about 8 miles today (A little more actually). Tomorrow were doing muscle failure I believe... We had combatives scheduled but they canceled it due to to many BNCOC students getting hurt. At this point, I'm not even sure what class were starting tomorrow... this is how much notice we get. Again, no outline of the classes we will be attending. I also assumed 1st Squad leader today, the task is one week long, we should have the opportunity to do squad leader twice and Platoon sergeant once. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tuesday, 6 MAR 07: The day started with a little tension. I'm not sure what started it but it came out in formation this morning. I was hoping it would take a couple weeks for the animosity to start but what can I expect the day after our first test. I almost forgot that aspect. Basically the people that did bad on the test become jealous and start trouble... again, I was hoping to avoid this being I am in a Senior Non-Com school buy hey, it's human nature. So, we started the day with some light Muscle Failure which I have to tell you is a nice change from doing PT with the Infantry. At the unit there all about breaking you off, here, they do it right, it's conditioning PT to maintain what you got... Hopefully the extra PT I'm doing in the evening will pay off. After the Muscle failure we went on a self paced two mile run (A release run they call it). We started networking stuff today, this is the stuff I had touble on in BNCOC, the bad part is, where I had the class for a week in BNCOC, I have it three weeks here... Here we go. For some reason I took the information in quickly this morning, I memorized everything during lunch he told us this morning... Hopefully the next three weeks go that easy. After class we came together as a group and decided on the class skit that we must do. I'm not sure if you all know this yet but each class must come up with a short skit. There is about 9 classes so this should be an interesting day. I forget what it's called but it is some sort of Organizational day, some time in the near future. There hitting us up for money again. They offered a buy out on the 1SG run. Basically we pay five dollars and we do not have to participate in the 1SG run. Were waiting to see of there is other incentives such as late call on that day (Basically you skip PT all together). We then went to a brief for the Basketball event this weekend. There is three games instead of two (There going to work us like race horses!) there ended up being three soldiers in my class that volenteared, again the Academy receives the money for the work we do. I'll get a free night in Atlanta (I have never been there save a drive through the city) and I will get to go to my first ever basketball game (Well one that is not high school level). So I'll get to do two new things and it will make the academy some money and really that's what ANCOC is all about right  I finished the day with a 3 mile Ruck Run. I have been trying to help another soldier with her run/weight control (I know that sounds funny comming from me) Basically on the PT test she was the last one running, and she was running out of time. I had just finished my run and sat down for about 30 second... When she came by I started running with her to motivate her a bit... Well she mad the run... by 1 second. She passed. Now were trying to improve. There is four of us trying to do better, four of us that are out there in the evenings doing what we know must be done to do what is right. One guy is 47 years old (lol, I know right) he has a walking profile, so he walks in the evenings, the rest of us run. I put the ruck on to slow myself down so I can run at SSG Johnsons pace and we can finish about the same time. Tomorrow looks like a 3 mile run in the morning and our class has Staff Duty tomorrow night... keep in mind we can not miss any classes so were going to do 2 hour shifts so we can all be in class the next day. Oh I got the results of yesterday afternoons test, I received a 90%, so thats (95% for the morning test and 90% for the eveningtest). _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, 7 MAR 07: We started the day with a short run, due to time management our 3 miler was cut short to about 2 miles. Thankfully for once I'm not the slow person in the Platoon. The same networking class for most of the day. We practiced the skit after we were released for the day and we were off by 1630. Afterwards I had an hour and 15 minutes Staff Duty NCO. Basically we need to cover the phones and make sure a few details are complete. This duty interfered with my evening PT so the total run today is a mear 2 miles. After class I went for some supper and went back to the room. It seems like as soon as I get there I want to sleep so I quickly prepare my equipment and clothing for the next day and call the wife and kid when I lay down. Time is usually a big part of military schools. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday, 8 MAR 07: It's Moms birthay... Happy birthday Mom. She's turning 34 today I'm also very excited to learn my sister joined the boards and she will be reading about my adventure. I wish I would have started this 15 years ago... the stories you would see.No PT this morning, Thursdays there is no PT scheduled, but we do in ranks inspections. I plan on hitting the pavement hard this afternoon because the gave us the opportunity to buy out of the run and first formation tomorrow... I paid my five bucks (Again, it's all about the money).At 1600 today we have a formation to show the 1SG our skit, if he likes it we will get the props ready and practice it till we have it down. I plan on getting it on video, maybe Frank can help me upload it (Somehow, I have no web space other than this place). I've been noticing some attitude, and a few opinions have been thrown around. It's expected, unwanted, but expected, you know human nature. So far it's deffinantly better than BNCOC. I havn't had any problems yet, time will fix that...lol. I give up Squad leader tomorrow (DAMN) but in the future I will have the opportunity to be the second squad leader and the Platoon Sergeant (That's where I want to be) I'm most comfortable in the head position. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Friday, 9 MAR 07: So here is the drama that has been going down about my PCS and deployment. My current unit is scheduled to go somewhere by years end (Presumably Iraq), however, I was supposed to PCS to my new unit down at Fort Polk, LA. when I gratuate this school... Three days ago my NEW SIGO contacted me and informed me that a week and a half after I get there I would be deploying... (Presumable to Iraq). Yesterday, I was called by one of my soldiers and he tells me that the 101 is enacting the stop movement as of 1 June 07... I graduate school 5 June 07 and I'm supposed to clear post after that... They are enacting the stop movement due to the upcomming deployment... Where I will land I have no idea, all I know is I will be in Iraq by the end of the year. More on that as I know it. I'm doing better on these network classes. I have been getting 36/40 on the most recent practice tests, hopefully the test on Monday will be as easy. Were doing Networking this week, TCP/IP, and then Basic Cisco Routers after that... it's going to be a stressfull three weeks. It felt good to sleep in this morning. We suggested to the 1SG that we do the buy out every Friday (It will gross about 6000 over a 12 week period), of course for the Signal Ball comming up that we will not be here to attend. Our skit went great, they said we had the best and now were going to have to go to some Dining in and do our skit. As I said, I'm going to try to get some video of it, but I'm not sure how funny it will be to you as you don't know the people we are mocking. I'll be out of the mix for the next two days, we will be leaving early tomorrow morning to make it to Atlanta by 1000 hours at which time we will start working right away. We are scheduled to work until 1800 hours tomorrow then 0930-1630 on Sunday (Both Basketball games). I hope this is fun, they are telling us that we might meet some famous people... I wouldn't know who is who in basketball...lol. Well, we decided to go out tonight, we ended up at Hooters (First time for me), it was nice, we then went to a club and played a few games of pool (I was the DD), nothing to report, just a quiet night not with the boys. I got to bed around 0200. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Saturday, 10 MAR 07: 0600 wake up, we hit the road around 0700 hours, we had to be in Atlanta around 0930 to start working at the Georgia Dome around 1000. There were two games today so we were on our feet all day! We had one 25 minute break during the day... Thankfully my buddy and I were rovers so we did not have to stand still for 8 hours. Afterwards they were bent on going out in "Hotlanta" so we went to the hotel and got dressed for a night out on the town (Keep in mind we had 4 hours of sleep last night and we still have to work the championship game tomorrow). So we grabbed a bite to eat at KFC, then went to Target to pick up some knee pads (For tomorrows event where we had to kneel for upwards of 20 minutes on ONE knee...) Then we were supposed to meet about 15 other classmates at the "Underground". Well we got there and went through all five clubs that were there... the other class didn't show. So a quick phone call and we found them at Red Lobster... they were not going to the Underground now... We decided to just go back to the Hotel and kick back a few and call it a night. Keep in mind, I do not drink... The most I drink is a glass of wine with my wife. Beyond that, I am a VERY cheap date. They started me off with some CPT Morgans Spiced Rum and coke, then onto to a RC and Coke (That one was 9 bucks) then an Alabama Slammer... I drank all those before they finished their first beer... Needless to say, I was feeling good We went upstairs and crashed about 0200._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday, 11 MAR 07: Our final day in Atlanta we worked the championship game between Florida (Who won) and... ummm, I can't remember the other team...lol, shows you how much I know about Basketball. It was an interesting event, even though I do not spend to much time with sports, I enjoyed the game (Well what I saw of it). After the game we hot the road and made it back to Augusta in about an hour and 15.... Yes, we were flying! we got in behind a vette and it was over, 95-100 the whole way... I slept through it all though. I had a few first time things this weekend... let's see, if memory serves me correct this was my first time at: 1) Hooters 2) Wearing ankle sox 3) Sleeping in a roll out bed (There was only one kink size bed in the hotel room so I got the roll away bed). 4) My first Alabama Slammer... 5) Crystals Fast Food (I think that is what it was called, something like White Castle) I'm sure there is more but I can't remember them right now. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Monday, 12 MAR 07: We started the day with a three mile release run, I finished in about 24:01 minutes, a little improvement from the PT test. I felt pretty good for some reason. Today we have the Network test... More tonight. I managed a 98% on the test, I got one wrong (They don't tell us which ones). The day almost was an early one, we reviewed in the morning, took the test after lunch and then were released by 1400 hrs. I went and did my three mile ruck run (3M:RR) and made it back to the Motel. Before I could get out of the Paseo, they told me we all had to go back to the Academy to do our skit for the brigade CSM. So back to work we went to do our skit. We basically got out at our normal time (about 1730). A few of us ate at the coach house (I think thats what it's called), they decided to not give us TDY money but to have a buffet available to us. We don't have to eat there but they are not giving us money to eat anymore. When I went to BNCOC a few years ago we received about 4000 dollars TDY for travel and food for three months... all said and done we usually make a few hundred but that gets eaten up on the "Get ready for school" purchases we make, in the end we about break even and come out with some new gear (Clothes and stuff)... Now, they took away 90% of the TDY. The food isn't bad and I'm actually glad it's available, it makes it easy to eat the right food. After dinner (Supper to us Northern folk) I worked on my graduation paper. I got about 2:20 minutes done but the paper needs to be 3-5 minutes long so I need to add something to it. I'll probably have it complete this evening and I'll give you all a peak at it. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Tuesday, 13 MAR 07: We started the day at the usual 0500 formation which means 0350 wake up (Can you believe this). We did some light MF and a short release run, thankfully because I wasn't feeling it this morning...lol. We start a new class today, TCP/IP I believe. This week should be harder than last, and next week is rumored to be the make it or break it class (The most failures), the class next week is CISCO routers. They sprung another tasking on us yesterday, someone in our class must stand up infront of the brigade and recite a paragraph of info and dump a bottle of gin into the grog (I think that is what it's called). I need to start posting pictures... maybe this evening. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, 14 MAR 07: This morning started out on a bad foot, another soldier missed formation, this time it was the Platoon sergeant. We flexed to make things happen but that is another counseling within the platoon. The academy does not care about honest mistakes, the soldier forgot his wallet this morning and he could not get on post without his ID. We went and did some circuit training, I did my best to motivate the group by pushing myself, a few of them reacted but my shin splints kicked in because we were running on uneven ground at night and I kept pounding them. I did however keep it up long enough to get them moving and to get a great workout. I'm seeing a basic lack of D&C within the platoon, even I have trouble with cadence, I mean I can keep them in step, I'm probably the best in the class at that but the jody calls I need some work on... and I'm not the only one. I tell myself it's because were usually either training for battle or in battle and we do very little D&C (Thats marching in formation BTW) these days. So, I have the first graduation speech done, my GWOT paper will be about the fire, I have the body done I just need to clean it up... There are a few quotes in there that contain curses that I will have to edit. After that we have the dining out/in thing, and a thought paper (More on that later). One of my first questions to the leaders here was is there a schedule for the course so we know what is due and when it is due. Well we still do not have one (I'm not impressed with this school at all). On the plus side, we were told that come October, this 14 week 2 day course will be cut down to 8 weeks. That should weed out a lot of the BS. We started on TCP/IP yesterday, a lot of writing and processes to go through. I think I'm grasping it much easier this time (Last time I saw any of this stuff was BNCOC in 2002). I'm not looking forward to CISCO ROuters next week, that will be the hardest class. One day at a time, something I learned on all these deployments, get through today and we'll take on tomorrow when it arrives I have about 84 days left (From 101 days). I'm not sure where I'm at on weight but I did not make it when I arrived at the school. I have until the end of course to make weight. I came to the school at 194lbs, a week ago I was at 190. I'm going to try to lose a few lbs per week... We'll see how that goes.  So far there is little to no problems in the class (Student to student I mean) there are a few little complaints behind peoples back but not much up front. Hopefully it will hold out. I'm keeping my head low, it's amazing that I can see the difference in myself from a few years ago... Ahhh yes, we do become wiser as we age. Well, I need to get to work, more later. Lunch time we finally had a blow out. I came out of the class after everyone else and when I got out to the group I found them arguing. Oddly enough, by the end of the day, the two that were arguing... were in study hadd together like nothing ever happend (Of which I was happy to see). By the end of the day I had my homework done but I found out that there was a study hall for a few of the students that were falling behind. I went for support of those that needed help. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday, 15 MAR 07: No PT this morning We had an in ranks inspection (We do this every thursday). We have Staff Duty again this weekend (They almost took away the coin show I told you something always comes up) But they are allowing those that put in a pass to go on pass. I'm sure I'll have to make the hours up later... who cares so long as I can make it to the show Monday I move on post. This will be a welcomed move, if for anything I'll gt more sleep and will have better access to the gym. I went into housing yesterday and they could not tell me what room I would be staying in. They deffinantly will have a room on the 19th, but they can't tell me where or even what building... This post is not impressing me AT ALL. We started class this morning with a video clip that the instructor thought was appropriate... I beg to differ. It was a clip of the BoonDocks cartoon... A shower sceen where one of the guys drops the soap and this large black man comes up behind him and forces the guy to pick up the soap... Straight up soft core gay cartoon porn... I could not believe it. I spoke with the instructor after the class and suggest he reasseses his thought on showing that clip again. Lunch came early today, hopefully the end of the day will be early too. Dan and I plan on going to the driving range after work and hitting a few golf balls. Well we made it to the driving range, we each hit a bucket, I landed one about 230 yeards with the big dog, I was pretty happy. I did wrench my wrist about half way through but after a few swings it felt better. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Friday, 16 MAR 07: We did a last man up run this morning...in the rain. It was a nice pace done correctly, we jogged then sprint, not run then sprint like they like to do back at Campbell. We finished the 3 mile run with a 1 mile release run, I came in 4th. More TCP/IP today, slide shows and IP exercises... over and over. No problems yet, the soldiers that are falling behind we are picking up and they are getting it. I think we'll be alright as a class. Today there is something wrong with out Platoon Sergeant (One of the current fellow students holding the position). No one knows as he will not talk, but all this morning he spent out in his truck in tears. Hopefully by the end of the day he will clue us in so we know what to do and how to hendle the situation. I'm already packed for the trip up north (To the coin show in Charlotte, NC.) I'm expecting about a two hour trip. Hopefully this will be everything I hope it will be _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday 17-20 MAR 07: Well as stated I went to Charlotte, NC over the weekend, damn did I have a great time, I finally got to meet a bunch of the forum members (From the old forum), many of which I have been friends with for upwards of 8 years. We took our TCP/IP test yesterday (Monday), I received an 86 on the test... and let me tell you I was happy to get it...lol. We needed an 80 to move on. On Tuesday we start Cisco Routers (This is the hardest week). I moved on post yesterday (Thankfully) it was nerve racking trying to make it to the motel everyday and back for work (After PT). I moved into Ring Hall, I believe it was originally supposed to be officer quarters. I have my own room with a kitchenette and a bathroom... Not bad. This morning's PT was a wreck. We were supposed to do Combatives, yesterday we got the call to tell us it was changed. It seems every week we are on again for Combatives, then off again... whatever, we just flex. So the plan was to do muscle failure again (We did this yesterday) and the SGL (Small Group Leader) made a command decision and told us we were running... some people didn't like that. Whatever, the complaints are getting heavier and come more often. Speaking of which... There is another basketball game coming up, they want 100 people to go this time... the difference is, this time they offered us an option. If we get 75% of the class to participate then we do not have to do another fund raiser... meaning we will not have to waste a four day weekend doing a car wash during the masters (Golf in Augusta). So, the acting platoon sergeant made the call that the four soldiers that went last time with no incentive can sit this one out since the 1SG said we need only 75% of the platoon to go. Well wouldn't you know it, someone started crying like a freaking baby about... "If it's going to be a class project then the whole class needs to go" which is basically someone being an A hole by worrying about what others do and not worrying about himself. We have 11 more weeks of this, I'm sure it's going to get more interesting. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, Thursday 21-22 MAR 07: Cisco routers and the gym is all that has been going on in the last two days. I worked chest yeaterday and Arms today. There was no PT this morning (Thursday) and there will be no PT tomorrow morning (I paid 5 dollars to get out of PT, I told you it's all about making money). I'm planning on a road trip this weekend to Fort Bragg NC (It's about 4 hours away) Dan purchased a new truck and were going to pick it up. It's been about 12 years since I have been to Bragg so that will be interesting. We plan on staying for one night and returning on Sunday. We had a Woman's month brief today... Not really sure what it was about the Retired General (Yes Female) went on and on and all we could think about is we were missing class time to hear this... (That was the females saying this too) keep in mind the classes we are in now are the hardest in the school and they are taking away half of tomorrow and half of today, thats a whole day missed on the hardest class... go figure. I hear the Server 2003 class is hard too... So far I'm not learning any leadership, which is what I thought this school was all about... I guess I was miss informed. Oh well, check the block, concentrate on the weight and get through the school. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Friday, 23 March 2007: This Cisco router stuff is whooping my butt I have the hands on down (That counts for 60% of the grade on Monday. I have a study sheet of 45 questions for the hands on and Dan and I will be studying this week end when we run up to Fort Bragg to pick up his new truck. We attended the mandatory fun day today. Basically we paid $6 bucks to attend the mandatory function (Tactical Dining-In) and we spent about 4.5 hours there. I can't say it was all that bad, but again, I think this week we would have been better off in class, we'll see on Monday. I'm not sure if I'll be going out tonight, they fed us Chilly Mac (Yuck) at the dining in so I'm covered on the food. A few of the guys mentioned something about going to the local (On post) Pub for a few games of pool. We'll see. I have staff duty tomorrow morning at about 1000 hrs so I'll watch what I drink tonight if I do go out... I would not mind a Morgans and Coke right about now. We should hit the road tomorrow about noonish, I'll be back on Sunday, we plan on hitting the driving range again Sunday evening. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday 24-27 MAR 07: Time to play catch up again. The weekend went as planned, Dan got his new truck, I call it his BFT (Big F***ing Truck) it's huge and very nice. We made it back on Sunday early enough to hit a bag of balls at the driving range. We got enough studying in as on Monday I made a 92 on the test. Today was an interesting day, our new acting Platoon sergeant (Student in our class) has a big head about him and he keeps using the phrase "Your acting like a bunch of Privates". Now, I know we tend to have a little fun, but that is just insulting to a SFC with 15 years in so I decided to voice my opinion. Needless to say he didn't like what I had to say and within a minute or two he was telling me were going to take it to the SGL (The guy grading us). I all of about laughed at him, he's aSergeant First Class and within a minute of having a heated discussion, he wanted to go running to daddy... Unbelieveable. Anyway, so I went to the remedial PT session this after noon (We ran for about 30 minutes, the "Extra" PT is a joke here, almost worthless) and at the end of the session, the SGL (Female SFC) comes over to me and says, "What's your name", so I spell my name and she says, "Your not on my list, why are you here" so I'm like because I know I should be here. She's like were you here yesterday? So I'm like yes, she's like well why didn't you sound off when I asked if you were'nt on my list? I'm like ask them (And I pointed back at the rest of the people doing the PT) she's like you wern't here (Lots of attitude) so I was like, Ok, I wasn't here with a smirk on my face because truthfully she's such an ass it was funny, it's like she is a drill sergeant in basic training treating us like a bunch of privates, so I thought it was funny, well she didn't think so. So she says I need to go see the branch chief (The 1SG) because I did PT and didn't tell her I was there... I still don't understand what the hell her problem is... _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, 28 MAR 07: This photo was taken today:  Same stuff different day, we did a three mile run this morning, some school inbetween, some muscle failure in the PM (About 88 degrees out when we did it so it was nice and hot). I'm lost in class...lol, as usual, but we de a good review on Fridays and everything comes together on the third and fourth day of the week, then I'm good on test day (Most of us are like that). I almost forgot, a new class started Monday and today I saw a soldier that I recognized but could not place him... Well, he walked up to me this afternoon and it turns out we were room mates in AIT... 14.5 years ago... It's a small freaking world I tell ya _____________________________________________________ Saturday, 31 MAR 07: Talk about a small world, today I was approached by a man that claimed to be my drill sergeant back in 1992. He tells me he has been retired for 9 years already... I didn't reccognize him at all. Oh well. This week went as usual, death by power point we call it. The instructor is very cool, some of them can be anal, but this one is layed back. We test out of (ummmm, what are we doing this week?) well, we test out on Monday afternoon. Maybe I should study this weekend... maybe not. I went out Cacheing this morning, I am 0 for 3 After I arrived at the first one I realized I hadn't read up on it, turns out it was gone and two people already reported it. It was in a parking lot with lots of people around so I didn't even check to see if it was still there. I went to the second one and it was close to a house that had two children playing in the yard, as soon as I got out of my vehicle I saw the mom come running out there (I was in the woods behind the house) she didn't say anything when she saw me taking pictures of the grave stones (A soldier from the 1700's). With them watching me (I don't blame them at all, it's a bad place for a cache) I didn't try to locate the cache and I moved on. The third one was a coin based cache, I was eager to find this one, when I got there, the GQ's brought me to the middle of a parking lot... the clue said it was buried... I looked around and it wasn't anywhere I could see. There was a piece of stone missing that could have contained the cache... needless to say, I did not find it. I then got a call from a couple of my class mates and they wanted me to go Bowling. Well, I didn't have my shoes so I told them to go on without me. I was going to go hit a few golf balls but diverted to wash the pollen off the Paseo and found myself infront of the bowling alley... So I went inside. I ended up playing one game before we left. I then went grocery shopping and now I'm home. Who knows what is going on tonight, I'll probably just sit in with Morgan and have a mellow night. On Friday there was a branch chief run, well our platoon has duty platoon this week so we were able to get out of the run (We did road guard, phone watch, water boy... stuff like that) well, when one of the SGL's seen our extra PT people on this duty she wasn't happy. She said we needed to do PT twice a day, thats the whole idea of the program... well, the PT session came around in the afternoon and the SGL (A different one) showed up and told us to go home (Without doing PT) it seems she had other stuff to do. Whatever. The Basketball fund raiser is off, it seems someone called the Inspector General on the Branch Chief. Something about they can not force us to raise money for a function that we will have nothing to do with... I don't know I just heard what people are talking about and our SGL came to us and told us that we do not have to do the mission and we will not receive credit if we did. Whatever. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sunday, Monday, 1-2 April 2007: They got us on the front gate yesterday. When we came through in Dan's new truck the guard at the gate looked down at the bottom of Dan's truck and said, "Did you hit something"... "You have a fuel leak"... Dan about flipped out of the truck... as he leaned down the guard said, "April Fools"... We had a laugh but Dan said his heart was racing... it was pretty funny. I had a quiet day yesterday (Sunday), spent most of it indoors, you know laundry, GWOT paper which ended up being 19 pages long. Dan and I ended up at Hooters for supper, there wings were not that good yesterday. It's the week of the Master in Augusta and Hooters usually has celebrities around this time but we didn't see anyone special (Except the hooters girls ;) ). Well we test out today, I found out we are doing Microsoft Server 2003. The instructor is supposed to do a great review this morning and we test this afternoon. We'll see how that goes. More later. 4 April 2007: Just a quick post to add this picture from last night.  __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17 April 2007: It's been a few days since my last post, we have been a little busy, nothing to much though. As when I kept a journal in Iraq, the days got stale and it was the same thing day in and day out. I tested out with a 92 and a 96 in the last class, we have been doing Timms this past week and we test out on Thursday. There is about 50 days left to the school then back to Campbell. As I'm sure many of you know, I was informed that I was stop movement personel, which means I am not moving to Polk. I will still be deploying with the 101st though. I am the Platoon Sergeant this week, till Monday. I picked it up on Monday. We have a class project this weekend (Saturday) so I'll probably get some pics of that. All in all, I'm doing well, PT twice a day and just basically getting through the course. It's more of a check the block at this point. I'm not trying to hard to make honor grad as I have been pulled from that list due to my weight (Once again holding me back....no pun intended)
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newbiecollector Pioneer100© Member  You can't fake real
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Hang in there ray and the best of luck! You the man 
 Enjoy the pleasure of life Wayne |
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mrspaseo Original500© Member 
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I like hearing about your day whether it's good or bad. Hopefully time will go by quickly. 
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24HourNut Administrator  Body pillows rock!
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Thanks for posting this Ray! Mrspaseo, you're a Saint!!
The best human beings start good new topics and vote on the better posts. |
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mrspaseo Original500© Member
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Thank you..
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mrspaseo Original500© Member
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Keep the info flowing Honey.
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