FT Jackson

Its been a busy couple of days but they're going to give me the weekend off (from Friday to Tuesday, Memorial Day is big here) so there's no harm in staying up to write a little bit, right?

The semester is over and I survived grad-week. This year's schedule gave us one morning to sleep in until 0630, an exciting change. Unfortunately, for all the cadre of Beast II (that means me) there was a 6 mile ruck march that morning. We stepped off at 0520. Joy. But the week wasn't all bad. My grades came back and I got about a 3.5 GPA. Decent. About what I was shooting for too. We'll see how that changes my class rank (or not if they don't get it out before I leave).

Graduation itself was quite disappointing. POTUS (President of the United States) was the graduation speaker and gave virtually the same speech he gave when he came before. It was just as boring this time too. What's more, he couldn't be bothered to show up on time. When I say that I don't mean he showed up 5 minutes after the ceremony started but still made it before his introduction. No. His motorcade showed up 5 minutes after his introduction and he didn't come out for 20-25 minutes after that. You know how awkward it is when you're riding in someone's car and the conversation just dies? Imagine that except that its a stadium filled to capacity with people. World's most awkward silence waiting for him to get out of his car. The announcer tried to talk to break up the silence, the band played a couple of songs, combined they both filled about 3 minutes. Dear Mr. President, I know you're not a fan of the military and it really is quite an honor for you to come speak to us but we do have lives and would appreciate not spending all of our time waiting for you (as we did this time and for 4 HOURS last time). Sincerely, Me.

I was invited to one bar-pinning ceremony that afternoon but was unable to attend. I learned afterword that it was a very formal event. LT GEN (3-star general) Franklin "Buster" Hagenbeck conducted and there was a formal meal before the actual ceremony. It would have been nice to be able to be there to give my friend a final farewell as we part ways. He will almost certainly be deployed before my next opportunity to see him (he branched infantry). Through the past couple of years he has been a strong support for me and a close friend. He'll make a wonderful officer.

My first duty for the summer is CTLT (Cadet Troop Leader Training) where we basically job shadow a lieutenant and see what we're supposed to do after we graduate. Getting here was interesting- nothing went to plan. Pretty much all I have to say about that.

Now I'm in beautiful South Carolina. FT Jackson (aka: Relaxin' Jackson) is a beautiful, thickly forested post but so hot and humid that working during the day is miserable. I got here and figured the next day was going to be a fairly relaxing one, ha! Once again while my peers slept I woke up early (0330) for a 10k (roughly, we went a bit further) ruck march. Thankfully basic training soldiers aren't in great shape. Despite my body screaming for sleep from the long night coming down here I was still able to not only complete the march but was doing laps from the front to the back of formation and then to the front again. The load was light and the pace mind numbingly slow, but somehow we still managed to almost lose half a platoon of new soldiers.

We did the night infiltration course that night. That's the one where you crawl out of a trench and across the field while drill sergeants are shooting live tracer rounds over your head. I crawled as a drill sergeant and was responsible for ensuring that nobody froze up and refused to move. Trying to get some of those privates to move out while the guns were firing was definitely a difficult experience. Imagine that, all these tough guys that aren't afraid of anything suddenly change their tune when you start shooting 7.62 rounds at them. All in all I was disappointed, not nearly as exciting as I was hoping for.

Last night I spent the night in the field with the soldiers. They have tents. And sleeping bags. So much softy gear...it could hardly be called a night in the field, more like a camping trip with an armed fire guard rather than a campfire. Still, it was good to get to know them and the drill sergeants a little better. Because they have to ensure that the privates get a certain amount of sleep every night they bedded them down at 2000 (8 pm) I went to bed at 2030-way too early. At 0230 my body was done sleeping. Ya know how much there is to do at o230? Absolutely nothing. It was a long morning.
Being called 'sir' by E-6 and E-7 drill sergeants who have been in the army for almost as long as I've been alive is quite humbling. In a staff meeting today CPT Grover (the company commander) told the cadre to give me all the courtesy and respect they would give himself or LT Holden (my sponsor). I couldn't help but wonder: Why? I'm a cadet. Someday an officer, yes, but not for a long time. Frankly, some of the more squared away privates in the company probably know as much about the army as I do. What qualifies me to be called 'sir' and have them salute? The answer is nothing, but they do it anyways. Quite unnerving really, I don't think I like it.

Now I'm just rambling like I always do when I need to get some sleep. That being said, one last topic. Memorial day is coming up. This is a very sacred day for many people. It is a very humbling experience to be here working closely with men and women who have watched their battle buddies pay the ultimate price. What's more, we're working to train those who are volunteering to lay down their lives. I would ask that regardless of your beliefs, regardless of how you feel about the war and the military, and regardless of your traditions on this day you please respect the veterans who are paying tribute to their fallen and missing comrades and pray for our soldiers both past and present. Just as a final note I want to end this with one of my favorite quotes. There are many versions of it floating around and all are good but I think the original is the most powerful:

"It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag,
and whose coffin is draped by the flag
who allows the protester to burn the flag."
- Father Dennis Edward O'Brian, USMC

Please remember to show respect for the flag and those who do serve and have served under it.
(Thanks for the pictures Josie)

Finally Finals

My sister's blog title about how long it had been since she wrote made me realize that I am way behind on updating ya'll about my life. Since its finals week I don't really have an excuse for not writing (see TEE week). My last update was about yearling winter weekend. Not a lot has happened since then but what has happened is noteworthy.

For Spring Break I went to Washington to visit my sister and her family. My parents and brother drove up from Utah and we all spent the week hiking, going to the park, beach and just enjoying the company of each other. I actually remembered my camera one of the days so there are a few pictures of our hike.

A break for the kids on the way up.

Everyone on the way back down.

Some scenery.

Such a beautiful place.

A few weeks ago we had Spring Fest. The tradition of a holiday to celebrate the season was born last year on a rainy, cold weekend and this particular weekend was just as cold and wet (so much for a nice spring celebration). Different companies and entertainers come in and set up booths to sell their wares to the corps of cadets. The most popular booths are the massages (partly cause its a free massage, partly cause they have a heater), the Oakley trailer (hauled by the truck below) and (new this year) the Benchmade booth. I could spend a fortune on cool knives. Other cool ones included the snake guy and a game that monitors brainwave activity and moves a ball accordingly. Whoever pushes the ball into their opponent's circle wins. There was also a human statue there. He was dressed as a plastic army man and was probably one of the best human statues I've ever seen.

PVC pipe bazooka

Oakley truck

The last thing to update everyone about is a visit from Elder Holland. This past Friday Elder and Sister Holland came to West Point. Elder Holland was the guest speaker for the West Point Chaplain's "National Day of Prayer Breakfast". He addressed all who chose to attend the breakfast at 6 am. These breakfasts are built around the Army Values and this year's topic was integrity. One interesting point he made is that integrity and integer are related words and both mean whole. It is important, he stated, to be a whole person, not fractured.

Later in the day he and his wife ate lunch with the LDS cadets here. I was fortunate enough to sit next to him at this meal and the conversation was amazingly normal. Deep down we all know the brethren are just normal people but it was fun to see that first hand. I was expecting religious topics but instead he wanted to know about us, what we are doing for the summer, what life at the academy is like, etc. It was comforting to see him like that.

The final activity for the day was a fireside for the branch. We started with a brief history of the church at West Point (Brigham Young's son was the first LDS cadet and was set apart as a missionary before coming). Next we had a firstie (senior) talk about his experiences here and how it has impacted his testimony. Then a cadet choir sang "Lead Kindly Light". I was going to be a part of this choir but my ear was messed up from a bad SCUBA dive (oh yeah, I got certified since I last wrote too) and I was afraid that my voice would be too distorted in my own ear to find the pitch. Then Elder Olsen, our area seventy, bore his testimony and Elder Holland spoke. He had not topic and just stood up and said what was on his mind, which happened to be about the power of an individual. He told us a story of a young elder's quorum president from a stake in Idaho:

The stake was being dissolved and a general authority was visiting to oversee the reassignment of wards to other stakes. They were going ward by ward asking for the presiding authority from that ward to stand and receive the assignment. They got to one of the wards and nobody stood up. After a long pause this elders quorum president stood up and said "I guess I'm the only one." At this statement the visiting general authority pumped, shoved the stake president out of the way and yelled into the microphone, pointing at the man: "What did you say?!"

The entire congregation froze in stunned silence. The elders quorum president didn't know what to say. Finally, after the general authority asked his question a few more times, the young man, probably in his late 20's or early 30's stammered "I think I said I'm the only one here." "That's exactly what you said!" shouted the general authority. The elders quorum president was slightly relieved at this affirmation but still nervous about being pointed and yelled at by an authority from God.

By now the stake president still hadn't gotten up and was quite comfortable hiding under the piano and the rest of the congregation was slowly sliding under the pews to escape the wrath. The general authority shouted at him asking what that meant. The elders quorum president was lost but eventually figured out what the authority was getting at. "I guess with God one is many," he stated timidly.

"Yes, thank you. Never again say you are the only one."

Elder Holland went on to expound on that saying that rather than shyly saying "I guess I'm the only one" when the Lord calls on us, we should salute and report confidently "I'm here. I don't know about anybody else but I'm here Lord." It was a very powerful talk and he had us all rolling on the floor laughing for most of it. Pictures of day's events can be found here.