Why I hate Cadet leadership. So we just got back from the FTX and we were doing this obstacle course where you have to use your leadership skills to get through puzzles (over bridges and stuff). on the hardest one where you have to get this ladder from a platform with a curved edge to a wall. While trying to get 15 people across this, we were told to all brainstorm to figure out a way across. I'd just been yelled at about going through my chain of command so I talked to my team leader so he could communicate to my squad leader (in a round about and stupid way) that someone needed to tie the rope far rung of the ladder and then tie the shorter rope to the two sides of the ladder rung closest to us so that we could hold the ladder securely while it was lowered and people crossed the ladder.
One of the other MS2s overheard my comments and asked me to speak up and clarify so we could try it. Out of nowhere, a 4 (student leadership), berated me for yelling at a 3 and telling him what to do. I was pretty ticked because the 4 had no idea what was going and and I'm a 2 so we're the same rank. The 4 gave the stupid leadership cop-out of "I don't care. Just do it." I replied that I was until he decided to waste my time by interrupting what we're doing. Because of his interruption we lost a good amount of time and my idea worked we were the only ones to get anyone across the obstacle. I often get in trouble for the fact that I respect good leaders, when you are not a good leader I tend to try to help, if you're rude about the suggestions I give then I really won't respect you.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Opposition Force
Waiting behind the edge of the ridge, checking my equipment hushed voices alert me to the approach of the enemy. The plan is simple Boice my counterpart will provide a distraction and draw a portion of the squad with him and I will rise up and shoot as many as possible. Shouts initiate the ambush as the squad reacts to the appearance of a masked gunman. Taking my cue I rise up slowly and see where they are positioned taking aim I open fire as unwitting cadets drop not knowing what hit them. With half of the squad destroyed silently I make my way around out of sight to a new firing position. The other half of the squad unaware that there security element was destroyed secures the now downed Boice as once more I rise up begin to fire. Cadets scatter like leaves on the wind as pellets pepper them, seeing there confusion and tired of my charade I rise up and charge what's left of the squad and run through the group shooting indiscriminately as they try to react to my deadly fire. Pellets suddenly hit me from behind falling I turn to see my arch enemy stands above me.
"Dang it Bro you killed me!" My twin standing above me smirks and tells me that he had known I would do something crazy and had hung back to see what I was doing seeing me he had followed me and ended my rampage.
Evaluative Conclusion
I guess I'm supposed to evaluate what I thought of this blog. Just so I can get this off my chest I don't like blogging. I don't like sharing my thoughts or feelings with people that I don't know well. If anything it has shown me that I do need to keep a journal for posterity reasons, if I make it to that point. I may continue to use this as a means of keeping personal history but I'm not going to leave it for anyone to see. In the course of this semester I've learned to appreciate the differing skills used in rhetorical writing by utilizing pathos, logos, and ethos; thesis statements; and completing the various assignments. Pathos, logos, and ethos are tools that helped me to reason more logically and in a more concise manner. Thesis statements enabled me to present my ideas in a way that others can follow and benefit from. The assignments we completed gave the opportunity to practice the skills I've been learning and to hone in on my strengths while improving my weaknesses. In short, I became a better writer.
Day in the Life
My day at Basic Training
0530 Wake up
0600 First formation for PT
0630 Physical training begins
0730 PT ends
0800 Chow
0900 Classes begin
1130 Lunch
1230 Classes
1630 Dinner
1530 Classes
1900 Stand in formation for hour for unknown reason
2100 Prepare for lights out
2200 Lights out
Day after day the schedule is the same, it gets to the point that every thing comes automatically and you're no longer required to think. Physical training is ridiculously easy because every one has to do the same amount of repetitions and we all have to run at the same speed too slow. Classes involve a dark room with slides that are full of useless information that has no bearing on what will happen to you, and by the time you're done with school everything is changed so your information is outdated. Eating begins to become monotonous and meals slur together so everything tastes the same. Formation is called sometimes then forgotten by the cadre so we are left standing outside for long periods of time just because. Lights out is a welcome relief unless you have guard duty so you don't get three hours a night. The only redemption comes from the fact that you will spend weeks in the field with even less food and sleep walking for miles with a heavy rucksack on and talk to people that treat you badly, but hey that's what we all sign up for! It all goes back to that mental strength the army is trying to cultivate in all of us we all need to be helped and guided to be strong no matter what so we push on. Every day.
Death by PowerPoint
If there is one thing that is the most horrible part of the military it was the implementation of PowerPoint the the brief. Many hours have been spent struggling against boredom and sleep deprivation just so that we could pretend to be interested as someone drones on reading the slides as they apear on the wall of the dark room. To those who use it effectively the PowerPoint is a great asset to their presentation others are just a waste of time.
The World is a Different Place
I was talking to my room mate the other night and our conversation drifted into his favorite game called Modern Warfare 2. He is a much better player than I am and spends more time playing which is fine, anyway one part he didn't under stand was when one of the main characters launches a nuke to stop the Russian invasion. My room mate wanted to know if he did it on purpose, I responded in the affirmative. I explained that an invading force is in constant need of resupply, men, ammunition, fuel, and air support. Mean while a defending force doesn't have the same amount of need. With established bases and support basically right behind them they just need to stand their ground. The explosion shut down power and disrupted communications so the complexity of the offensive fell apart when they no longer could talk to each other. I had to laugh at the fact that I understood applicable reasons why his plan would work instead of just accepting things at face value. The world is a different place when you understand the logistics required to run a huge operation.
What's it like?
People often ask what the army is like. I'm not always sure which part they are talking about. Part of being in the army is sitting around doing paper work and struggling to stay awake during briefings. The other part is the opposite if you can imagine late nights early mornings, crappy food and living conditions, being dirty stinky and having to sleep outside. I think those of us who join the military are a little nuts, like Boy Scouts who haven't grown up yet the only difference is we have cooler stuff, and it's slightly more dangerous.
Being in the army is hard, and I love every minute of it.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)