Time to Think

Recently I have had a lot of time to ponder. It is interesting how one minute you cannot think because life is coming at all angles and the next you are debating if there is anything you can do.

Last week I was on the adventure of a lifetime. I had prepared for months, purchased over $1500 in equipment, and finalized all the details so I could fall of the face of the earth for over two months. I was going to U.S. Army Ranger School.

The morning had finally arrived and my roommates Brian, Mike, and Mike headed down the road to start the suffering. The first 24 hours will tell you how any experience will eventually turn out. It will come in hints whether or not what you are about to do is worthwhile. Whether or not what you are about to do is something that can be accomplished. In my first 24 hours at Ranger school I felt completely lost but completely at ease at the same time. The Instructors were constantly yelling, we were required to run everywhere, and no one seemed to know what to do. However, I felt like it was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I passed the PT test with relative ease. We went to the Combat Water Survival Assessment and I actually enjoyed the cold water because it was starting to get muggy. Even when our instructor yelled at me for calling the Assessment a "Test" (even though that is what every instructional document around has called it) I smiled and continued on.

It wasn't until the afternoon on that Monday that our chief instructor called a roster and told about 200 of us to report to HQ because we had to see the Battalion Commander. We were being administratively dropped because they had allowed 540 students into a course that could only hold 300 at maximum. A few of my buddies got to stay. I didn't. It wasn't failure. But it wasn't success. I had told myself I wasn't leaving until I had my tab.

It is funny how the world works. The best laid plans...

Now instead of having no time, I am inundated with so much time it is hard to comprehend. Luckily, we are being put to work. We have been told that we will be put into Air Assault School (a course I have been trying to get for sometime that teaches you how to assault from helicopters) . So life is not all bad, not all good. Right now I am just trying to focus on this thing called "patience". I am fairly certain it is an old french word that is meant to describe a slow, debilitating pain that has plagued mankind throughout the ages.

So we had a long and final Field Training Exercise to complete IBOLC. These are the three "old guys" from our platoon Roseberger, Vaughn and Shandy. They are the model that no matter how old, you can still act like you are seven and put on face paint and act goofy.

Of course when we are out in the field it decides to snow. In Georgia. It never snows in GA. Of course it put everything in a tailspin. We eventually had to be evacuated for a day so the snow could blow over. The important thing is we attempted to complete a 10,000 point game of rummy. We only got to 7,800 pts.

So we finally graduated. This is my good buddy Drew Sorge before the graduation ceremony.

Dad, Cordy, and Vince came down to see the graduation. Unfortunately, my name was the only one skipped as I walked across the stage. No harm no foul however, because no one was filming.
In celebration I headed up to Raleigh to celebrate St. Patties. Despite heavy rain all weekend, I got to have the best weekend of fake golf, ACC tourney, and a night on the town. The only thing I have to look forward to is Ranger school starting this Sunday. See you in 2 months!