Common core...check!

Friday marked my last day of common core! This is what we call phase 0. It got everyone at a baseline for all of the standard Army briefings on everything from equal opportunity and sexual harassment to base skills in rifle marksmanship and hand-to-hand combatives.

Monday was pretty boring after combatives in the morning...we did some more combatives, which of course involved me getting guys to tap out due to loss of blood to their brain, and maybe a couple taps from me. Some of these guys have some prior experience in Jiu Jistsu, so they're a tad bit more experienced than the rest os us.

Tuesday was the worst day here so far... woke up around 2:30 to go trampling around the wilderness in the dark, and eventually daylight, to work on our land navigation skills. I attempted 7 our of 8, and found all 7 successfully. The Army saying is "you can't spell 'lost' without LT" (my abbreviated rank of lieutenant), so we tried to prove them all wrong. In my adventures however, a snake tried to bite me! I always try to come off as the tough guy, but I HATE SNAKES...much like Indiana Jones. I will mess with gardner snakes, but i'm always a little apprehensive at first. I was almost bit by a rattler snake when I was little, so I think that may have something to do with it. Story time: I was walking in some grass when I heard a slithering behind me...no rattle, so I sped up. The next thing I know, the snakes strikes the bottom of my left boot. It felt like it made me take a bigger step than I had planned. I began to run. I looked back about 3 seconds later to see it, but it was gone. My heart was racing and was glad it hit the bottom of my left boot and not the back of my right calf. It may have ruined my day. I had a dream about snakes that night, it wasn't pleasant.

Wednesday they let us sleep in a little bit, then went to the Ft. Sill Artillery Museum. Basically each Army post in known for something, or home to something, and Ft. Sill is the home of the Artillery and Artillery schools. The museum was very interesting and had very knowledgable people to lead us through the tour, but out guide was boring and it didn't help the situation that everyone was tired.

Familiarization

Thursday and Friday were IED (Improvised Explosive Devices, or simply referred to as roadside bombs) classes. We got to do simulated missions on the computers. I got to drive on each one : ) They had a steering wheel and gas pedals...It was pretty fun until it turned into our cadre being the bad guys and just killing us off. They said they wouldn't shoot us until we did something wrong...they lied. It's was still really fun, we all had a good time, but in the end received very valuable training. Friday we were taught by a retired Army soldier who had served 21 years and had survived 11 IED attacks. I guess that makes you an expert! He was very knowledgable and loved the training. I had heard a lot of it before, but his was very current and told us the new ways terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan are targeting Coalition Forces and ways we can stop it. Best class of the past three weeks.












WEEKEND! 
Saturday was a pretty relaxing day. I worked out a little in the morning, caught up on things I needed to get done during the week that I couldn't, and hung out with some of my new friends I'm making.
I went to see "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" with some of the guys and it definitely looked cooled in the previews. I don't recommend it, some of the serious moments only made me laugh. On our way out though, we nearly got ran over by these two dudes on hourses...I guess Lawton is the real "Wild, Wild West." We are realizing quickly that Lawton, OK is a breed of it's own and I've never experienced a town like it.

Sunday was a bit more exciting. I went to the Foss Lake with the cousins and their friends. I'm beginning to really enjoy this habit. It was a lot hotter today, 101 to be exact. I used sunscreen a lot, between 50 spf and 110 spf....One would think this would be sufficient. One would be wrong. I'm burnt and not loving it.

Some Giant catfish that are used to getting fed by the kids...

Week 2

What an exciting week! Lots of new experiences for me.

This week was full of early mornings and late night. It was getting old, fast. I would be up at 4:30am and wouldn't get back to my room until typically 8:00pm, with the day's temperatures averaging out in the mid-90's. Each day, we jump in the back of a LMTV (big triple axle Army vehicle to carry cargo or about 16 troops, that requires a ladder to get up in it) which usually felt like a sauna, and went to different ranges with our M4, the Army's current assault rifle of choice. Not sure what it is about those LMTV's, maybe a combination of the heat and vibrations, but it always made us fall asleep. 

Friday was qualification day. I qualified on my first try, shooting 30 out of 40 targets. 5 less than when I first qualified at basic training 3 years ago, but my top excuses are: time prep differences, wind, and (the classic) there was dirt in my eye...take your pick. Not pleased with my score, but it was just a box to check on the list towards graduation, and not evaluated for class rankings or anything. Here's a picture of the qualification range, which is the nicest range I've ever seen on an Army post: 

Last weekend, I went to my cousin's (Rodeny and Shannell)  BBQ at their house about 70 miles from Ft. Sill. Rod cooked some amazing Oklahoma grub, and Shannell and I got to reminisce about old times with another cousin, Mark Jr. 

Mark Jr., Shannell, and Mark Jr's kiddos

This weekend, I met up with Shannell and Rodney at Ft. Cobb State Park to jump on the boat. The weather here can be unpredictable, and as you can see below, can be VERY different on each side of the road. As we're rolling, you can see lightning flashes nearby...not the most settling thing. We don't stop, and neither do the other 50 boats, so I guess it's normal around here.

 They brought me a "tube," in case it was too rough to knee board (It was too rough, but we did it anyway). This isn't your typical tube...this is something you float down the Willamette on. It had 8 points where rope went through, attached to the tow rope with a stainless-steel carabiner. I had my doubts, but it worked! As you can see below, I'm leaning a bit too far...This tube isn't very forgiving, and about 1 second later, I leaned over too far and drank some dirty Oklahoma lake water.

The lightning was right behind me and a little more off to the right.

Ok, I may have led you astray...The week wasn't that exciting. The weekdays were very repetitive and fatiguing. Weekends were way better, and that's where the new experiences come into play. I do however love the sunsets and sunrises here in OK. This place smells funny, it seeps out of the ground when it rains, but there is some beauty out here, but the beautiful colors at the beginning and end of the day makes it worth it. Here are a couple examples: 

Sunrise just outside Sentinel

The camera doesn't do it justice

Walking up stairs...

As I was walking up three flights of stairs to my room in this "lovely" building called Allin Hall:

                             This is Aultmann Hall, but it's next door, looks just as bad, but without the giant overhang

I realized I do this physically twice a day, but metaphorically all day. 

I climb a set of stairs to get to our main briefing room. Metaphorically, however, during the briefings I "climb stairs"fight to stay awake during the many hours of briefings. 

Even today in combatives training. At the end we "rolled around" which I swear is just so the instructors can laugh at 104 Lieutenants trying to use the moves we were JUST taught. It consisted of a lot of choke holds and arm submissions. I got to choke a few, but I definitely also received some choke holds, which aren't fun. While I was getting choked, I felt like I was climbing stairs to stay conscious before I passed out due to lack of blood flow to my brain. 

I see this as the case for when the real class starts. I'm in the platoon with the 17 marine officers who train "with us". In reality, us 10 Army officers in 3rd platoon are getting taught by the Marine's instructor. The Marines ALWAYS get better grades and have higher standards for passing their class. This will come in handy since failing their class with a score of 79, will pass my school's standards of a 70. 

My faith, always climbing stairs. Sometimes it's literally to climbing stairs in the building at Grace City to listen to Trim Shady share Jesus in a real and practical way, or for Zauner, Jack-daddy, or even Jessie lead me in Worship through AMAZING music. I'll climb those stairs for them any day! For me, often times it's metaphorically, climbing stairs to hang out with Jesus...sometimes those stairs can be the toughest.

Whether it's literally or metaphorically, just climb some stairs with me. This is just life right? Always climbing stairs...sometimes it feels like an escalator...but is it worth it? I'd rather climb the stairs and finish with my head held high, than have a machine get me to the top instead. Check out this video to see an example of why stairs are FUN!!!! : )

                                   

                    Do me a favor, and climb some stairs!!!!!

                                  there's plenty of room ; )

Don't be the 99%

You know you're NOT from Oklahoma when...

I've only been here 3 days, however I've noticed there are several things that are different than from beautiful Corvallis, Or. Similar to Jeff Foxworthy's Red-Neck Test, I've assembled some proof to know I'm not from here. You know you're not from OK when:

1. For some reason, the daycare just off post on the main road named their business "creepers and crawlers" and tinted their windows. It's like they purposefully made the place super sketch so they can ensure no one would mistakenly drop their kids off at the meth manufacturing facility. It's a great business front for a drug lab. There will be a picture in a follow up.
2. I quickly understood that the concernedly large average size of people off post is (not proven, but most likely) directly proportional to the amount of restaurants that have the word "chicken" in their name. Did I mention they offer a cheap lunch AND dinner buffet?
3. The temperature outside feels about 15 degrees hotter than it really is. Can't wait for it to be 100+ for 8 weeks straight like last summer!
4. Parking in the shade is more important than closest to the door.
        OK- reduces car temp upon return to vehicle
        OR- reduces how much rain you soaked up to and from
5. I'm Not sure how it can be 101 and have T-Storms...at the SAME TIME (tomorrow's forecast).
6. They play NASCAR on the radio and comes in crystal clear on several channels!!! Mr. Gatimu would love it here! They barely broadcast that craziness on TV in Corvallis, which is fine with me.

What did I learn from the past three days? I definitely don't want to spend much more time here than I have to. 

Bad news: 

I have family here...you know, the kind you rarely talk to, except for holidays, cause they're so "different", ya, those. I'm sure they think I'm pretty "different" too. 

Good news:

I still love them and they told me they're proud of the red-neck-ness, so I'm excited to explore what they mean. On saturday, I'll get to learn the ways of the red-neck BBQ and a boat trip...if I'm lucky it will include more.