Sunday, April 24, 2011

End of Week 5: CBRNE Exam, Preparing for FTX, APFT

Week 5 is complete.

Monday started out with PT at 0520.  We did a 3 mile run at a 9 min mile pace (in the 16-18 minute ability group).  After PT was classes.  I went volunteered at did the 1st class presentation.  It was nice to get it out of the way.  For the presentation you can pick any military subject and you have to present on it for 7 to 10 minutes using PowerPoint.

Tuesday again started out with PT at 0520.  This was a light day of PT. It included a mile run and push-ups and sit-ups.  Not much to discuss but more classes.

Wednesday started off with PT at 0520.  We did another 3 mile run.  After classes we went to the electronic firing range.  This was pretty cool.  It simulates shooting just like at the real range.  After getting the hang of it I was able to hit 36 out of 40 for expert.

No PT on Thursday due to the APFT on Friday.  Today was just more classes and class presentations.

Friday we had the APFT at 0450.  Good news is I passed!  I am glad that is over with.   Next up was the CBRNE exam.  This is really easy.  It is open book and open notes (the only test that is this way).  We won't know the results until Monday but I am sure I passed (70% or greater is passing).  After lunch we had a final exam review (Monday is our final exam).  The review doesn't really help much.  Just make sure you read and remember the ELO's on every presentation and you will be fine.  In the afternoon we went to AMEDD Regimental night.  This is basically a chance for you to meet people in your AOC and at bases you will be stationed at.  For reservist/guard this is a real waste of time. For active duty it made a little more sense.  After the event we headed out for the weekend.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

End of Week 4: Mid-Terms

Week 4 is in the books.  

Monday we had morning PT at 0520.  This day consisted of classes all day.  I can't wait for the FTX to get a change of pace.

Tuesday there was no PT for direct commissions since they had a mini SRP (blood draw and immunizations).  We got there at 0650. The network was down (hurry up and wait) so we didn't finish this until 1230.   We had a finance meeting in the afternoon (basically felt like a sales pitch for this financial advisor) and a mid-term review which was worthless.

Wednesday we had no PT.  We had our land navigation class in the morning and were released at 1050 (other platoons weren't so lucky).  This was nice because it gave our platoon a bunch of time to study for the mid-term. A doctor in our platoon put together a really good study guide for our platoon.  It saved all of us a bunch of time and let us begin the memorization game earlier.

Thursday started with PT at 0520.  We ran for 3 miles and then did seven minutes of push-ups/sit-ups without any breaks.  After PT we had our mid-term exams.  No one in our platoon failed, but there were several failures from other platoons.  You have to get at least 70% on the exam to pass.  If you fail, you will have one more retest at the end of BOLC.  You have to pass the test to graduate.  Once the exams were over, it was back to death by PowerPoint.  We finished up the day at about 1800.

Friday was basically a day off due to the battle of the flowers.  It was a perfect day for a little R&R.

This weekend a bunch of us are going to Big Lou's to enjoy a 42" pizza (as featured on man vs food).   Next week includes last week of classes (YES!!!), CBRNE exam, record APFT and final exam review.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

End of Week 3: Class Time

Been busy this week so it has been hard to find a time to blog.

This week continued PT and class time.  We had a lighter week of PT due to the record APFT on Friday.  The typical PT days were 0520 to 1700.  The other days are 0650 to 1700.   When you hear 0650 everybody is like "We get to sleep in!", sad huh.

Monday was JAG all day.  Learning the basic of UCMJ.  The speaker was a LTC who was the advisor to the General.  He did a good job keeping a boring subject interesting.

Tuesday we broke into our platoons and began classes just with your platoons.  We got to meet several of our civilian instructors (the same ones who will be with us at Camp Bullis in a couple weeks).  It was more PowerPoints, but the teaching was better so it wasn't terrible.  This continued all week.

On Friday was the record APFT.  The best part was that we had 2 hours of downtime after the test.  It was nice to relax for once.   We finished up the week with more class time.

This weekend will consist of studying for the mid-term exam next week and preparing a 10 to 20 minute class presentation.  Then back at on Monday at 0420 for a blood draw.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

End of Week 2: CBRNE Training

Week 2 is in the books.  We had no PT this morning.  About 1/3 of us had to go to dental at 0550, while the rest had to be at Blesse auditorium at 0650.

I had to go to dental.  It was painless for me since I already had a dental exam by the Army before I got there.  All they had to do was enter in my CAC and I was done.  I then headed back to the Blesse right before the start of CBRNE training.

The slides started at 0700 and didn't end until 1500 with only a 1 hour break in between.  To say this is dry is an understatement.  Probably 1/3 of the class was standing up at the back of the room (which is allowed) towards the end.  Some were doing pushups, while others doing situps (again which is allowed).  We were allowed to have computers to type notes.

After we finished with the training, we then had our student 1SG talk to us.  It seems as though several squad leaders weren't telling the truth about people being present and people were playing games on their laptops.   Needless to say the Cadre wasn't pleased.  You would think people would know better. After a quick chewing out, we then had our safety brief by the CO.

Now we are off for the weekend.  Time to sleep and rest up for Monday.