Moving on. . .

Today I checked out of Alpha Company of the 187th Medical Battalion at Fort Sam Houston. Tomorrow morning bright and early, I fly east towards my new duty station and residence- Fort Bragg, NC. North Carolina is one of the few states I've not been to so I'm pretty excited about this new adventure. This time last year, I was still getting settled into my new apartment on Coronado and anxiously anticipating warm Southern California weather. Wow, how life can change in 12 short months!

In the midst of packing up and checking out, I had the privilege of presenting to the young officers going through the Army Graduate Program in Nutrition here at AMEDD. It's always fun when you're asked to do a presentation on something your passionate about and to pass on some "words of wisdom" to folks coming up in our field. I got so fired up from getting THEM fired up about the role of performance nutrition in the military that I have a renewed sense of mission as I head to Ft Bragg!

One of the other cool things we got to do this week was go on tours of a couple of facilities here on post built especially for Wounded Warriors and Warriors in Transition (terms used to describe Soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan as they recover back here in the States). The Soldier and Family Assistance Center (SFAC) had some of the most state-of-the-arts entertainment technology I've ever seen as well as a huge fully stocked, wheelchair accessible kitchen for families and Soldiers to cook for themselves and others. I also went on another tour of the Center for the Intrepid (CFI) this week. I was equally as impressed by this center specializing in advanced rehab of amputees and burn patient veterans as I was the first time I visited it back in October for Ann's retirement. It's humbling to be around so many folks dedicated to helping these Soldiers adjust to their new bodies and lives and advance towards a new norm. I had to smile as I gazed upon the numerous pictures of Soldiers participating in various sports. I recognized many Paralympic events and wondered how many of these Warriors would some day find themselves competing in a sport they had never even participated in before.

As for off-post excursions, I didn't get out a whole lot other than when Pam & Ski and the kids came to visit me. I made it out to the River Walk a few times and saw some movies at the local theaters but didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing or going out. Since food is one of my passions, I did eat out way more than I needed to though! One of my favorite spots was the Canyon Cafe at the Quarry Market. The Black & Bleu Quesadilla accompanied by their signature Top Shelf margarita was my meal selection more than once during my stay here!

Another favorite that was much closer to base was Siam Bangkok Thai Cuisine right out the gate by Kim's Alterations. This quaint little establishment doesn't need any type of advertisement since word of mouth packs the place most nights. It's owned by the husband & wife team of Kent & Cynthia who make you feel at home every time you come in. My favorites on the menu are the Tom Kha Gai soup and Pad Thai. I ate there probably a half dozen times but never took a picture of the food because it was so tasty that I was usually half way through the meal before I remembered I had my camera on me! The portion sizes are HUGE with great presentation. Unfortunately, the only picture I have to post is of the Pad Thai leftovers that I took home and ate tonight for dinner!

As I finish up OBLC I tried to think if there were any nuggets I should pass on to future course students looking for information to prepare them for the training. I think the week by week posts give a pretty good sense of what the training and schedule is like. One important suggestion I have about logistics though is to BRING A VEHICLE! With only a motorcycle that had to be shipped ahead due to time constraints, I didn't have a vehicle to bring anyway, but I can tell you that not having a vehicle was a major drawback. I'm a walker and am not daunted by a mile or two trek to a destination, but I usually didn't have enough time to make it to where I needed to be on foot. The bus system isn't great, so bumming rides or constantly hailing a taxi becomes the norm. I spent a lot of money on rental cars that's not reimbursable, so if you have a vehicle and are able to drive it here, I suggest you do so.

OK, that's it for OBLC training. I'll be busy getting a thorough passdown and looking for a place to live the first week I'm at Ft Bragg, so not sure how much posting I'll be doing at first. Stay tuned though, I'll catch everyone up as soon as I can!

OBLC- Weeks 7 & 8

Yesterday I graduated from OBLC (Officer Basic Leaders Course). I still have another week to go of Dietitian-specific training, but the basic Army skills portion is done. It seems like just yesterday I was scrambling to pack up my apartment in San Diego and finish up projects with the USOC so I could come out here to San Antonio to start training. With the blur of last weeks' classroom instruction & this weeks' graduation, time seems to be in fast forward!

I tend to only make it home to see my family about once or twice a year, so my parents took advantage of my close proximity to Louisiana and drove out here for my graduation. The ceremony itself was short and anti-climatic. We wore ACUs (essentially a working uniform) instead of our dress Blues which we wore the day before for an inspection. Undeterred by the lack of emphasis, my parents maintained the streak of attending all my important graduations (Navy boot camp, undergraduate and masters degrees). It was great to spend a little time with them before I head out to Ft Bragg next week. In the pic above in ACUs is myself and Goguen in front of the AMEDD school static display after the graduation ceremony.

I thought this side by side comparison of me from my "boot camps" would provide a chuckle for those of you who have known me through the years. The one on the right is of me as an E-1 in my whites during a liberty pass at the end of Navy boot camp in 1989. The one of me as an O-3 in my Army dress blues is of me during the OBLC inspection in 2009- twenty years later! I was way skinnier from the smoking & drinking back then, but I am much healthier now! I remember asking Mama Babin (my maternal grandmother) once before I left for boot camp if she felt old. Of course, to a 19 or 20 year old, 60-something seemed ancient. I'll never forget her smiling and relating to me that although her body had aged, she still thought of herself in her mind as being my age. Although 41 is not old, I'm just now starting to appreciate the truth in that statement all those years ago. I may look different, feel different and have experienced so many different things since that picture of me on the right was taken, but I still think of myself as being that age. To be sure, I have days where I feel the weight of my age physically or the weight of my experiences emotionally, but for the most part, I'm still the same! I'll continue to move toward the next big adventure!!

Not sure how next week will flow with the move, but I'll post when I can. Have a great week!!

The Ski family!

I set the stage for this long holiday weekend to be one of relaxation. After weapon turn-in and arriving back in my room on Thursday, I immediately got online and cashed in some Hilton Honors points and reserved a room here in San Antonio to get away for an evening. By 9:00 pm, I was relaxing in a whirlpool bath in my deluxe suite eating a slice of pecan pie and sipping a glass of Cabernet wine from room service! I know, I know, the field wasn't exactly arduous, but I felt like pampering myself! I enjoyed a late checkout Friday afternoon and lazed around in bed watching movies and then getting a message.

Yesterday afternoon, I hooked up with Pam & Ski and family. Although we've kept in touch with each other through annual Christmas letters, I hadn't actually seen them in 15 years! Through Facebook, we realized that we were only a few hours from each other, so Pam & Ski loaded up their two kids, Adam & Anna and headed towards San Antonio. After giving them horrible directions to the base (I guess land nav didn't really cure my terrible sense of direction after all!), they finally found me and we all headed to the Riverwalk for dinner.

Pam & Ski met in VP-17 back in Hawaii and got married after they got out of the Navy. They have two wonderful kids who have definitely inherited both of their playful personalities. After dinner at the Riverwalk, we hung out reminiscing about our old Navy days and even texted a few former shipmates that we keep in touch with who couldn't believe that we were all together again! We laughed and caught up on each other's lives until we finally got tired and called it an evening.

This morning, the Ski family picked me up for breakfast and a day of sightseeing. We started off at the Natural Bridge Caverns north of San Antonio. Although I had been through underground caverns before, I like this one because it wasn't cold! With 99% humidity, the dense air was actually much warmer below ground than the air above! We descended around 180 feet amongst huge stalagmites and stalactites. Because the caverns remain sealed by climate proof doors, the caverns remain "alive" and are still forming the grotesquely shaped rock formations. I'm always fascinated by unique construction methods of mother nature!

From the caverns, we headed back south towards downtown San Antonio and had lunch at the Buckhorn Museum & Saloon. This unique establishment has been in continuous operation since 1881. Apparently, the impressive collection of horned animal busts began back in the 1880s when a stuffed animal head could be traded for shots of whiskey or beer! As you can see in the pic of the saloon, there have been a lot of thirsty hunters over the years! Being the animal-rights activist of the family, Anna preferred a tour of the Texas Rangers Museum over that of the Museum of Horns, Fins & Feathers!

It's been a while since I've posted a food picture, so I thought a pic of my purely Texas lunch would be a fitting one for today's post! The BBQ brisket was super tender and went well with my Shiner Bock beer. Although the sausage & coleslaw left a bit to be desired, the chunky potato salad was pretty good. The Haagen Dazs Belgium chocolate milk shake obtained down the street from the Alamo that followed wasn't half bad either!

Tomorrow is another day off so I'll do some reading and catch up on paperwork before classes crank off again on Tuesday. Hope everyone had as a great a weekend as I did and that treasured friendships will pop up unexpectedly in your life too!

OBLC- Week 6

FTX-3 (3rd week of Field Training Exercise) was a short one. With Friday as a training holiday and Monday President's Day, we only stayed in the field for 4 days in order to accommodate the 4 day weekend. How's that for a work to rest ratio?!

This last FTX week, AMEDD (Army Medical Department) skills week put everything we learned up to now to test in a simulated war scenario. As a Dietitian who has specialized outside of the clinical realm for the whole of my career, it's been an adjustment to think of myself as a medical health care provider instead of simply a performance-enhancer specialist. Every time I shout our class motto, "Train to Save" as we're called to attention in formations, I am reminded that I am now part of a team who's primary mission is to save lives on the battlefield.

There are various levels of medical care provided to Soldiers during engagement. Although the lines blur and don't follow such a well-defined linear pattern in today's modern battlefield, the basic concept is the same. Level 5 is the one most folks are familiar with and think of when they hear about casualties of U.S. Soldiers. It's the huge medical facilities found here in the States like Walter Reed Medical Center in DC and Brook Army Medical Center here in San Antonio. Level 4 are places like Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. This is where Soldiers are evacuated from the theater of operations and receive definitive medical care in a permanent facility. But what happens to them in-theater?

It's easier to go backwards from here. The Soldiers on the "front lines" have combat medics embedded with them. For my Navy friends out there, a medic is the Army's version of a corpsman. Like independent-duty Navy corpsman, these Soldiers are not only skilled as First Responders, but also provide the day to day care required to maintain the health of their troops through preventative medicine. Like the Navy corpsman, they are usually called "Doc" even though they aren't Physicians. The immediate care that they provide at the point of injury is known as Level 1 care. The medics are supported by Battalion Aid Stations. The mission of the Battalion Aid Station is primarily to collect the battalion's sick & wounded, stabilize the patient's condition, and provide emergency medical evacuation to a combat support hospital or other facility. The Battalion Aid Station can be split into two functional units that can operate independently for up to 24 hours- a FAS (Forward Aid Station) and a MAS (Main Aid Station). For our exercise, I was assigned to a FAS. In this pic, you can see the "wounded" that we collected and were getting ready for evacuation. Click on the pic to see how we identified the "gunshots to the buttocks" injury!

The next level of care is level 2 which is the first level of resucitative care. Level 2 consists of highly mobile forward surgical teams that directly support the gunslingers in the field. Level 3 is known as a CSH (Combat Support Hospital, pronounced "cash"). CSH is a modernized version of MASH (yes, like the TV show!). The Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals of yesterday could provide intensive surgical capabilities but was not equipped for primary care capabilities (e.g. internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, etc.) required by today's battlefield environment. Today's CSH is a mobile 200+ bed hospital that can do all that as a single unit or can be broken down into smaller forward deployed units. This pic of me is as a casualty at Level 2 with two nurses attending to my "shrapnel to the abdomen" wounds as I awaited a simulated helicopter medivac (Medical Evacuation).

At first I was pretty disappointed when 5 minutes into the start of the "war" one of the cadre handed me a small card that contained a description of my injury and told me to lay down on the ground. I soon recognized what a great learning experience this was for someone who's normal working environment has not been clinical care based. The blur of Powerpoint slides from the first 3 weeks of this course started to make sense as I was loaded onto a litter and taken through the various steps of care. I'm a hands-on learner, so the whole week proved to be highly beneficial in my learning process.

Well, that was it for our field training, next week we'll be back in the classroom. I hope that my attempts to decipher all the Army acronyms and describe the training I'm receiving help you to visualize what this experience is like. I'm still giddy about being back in the military and am enjoying the learning process. I'm hopeful that my new found ability to exercise patience beyond any level I've been able to achieve in the past will stick with me as I move on in my Army career!

OBLC- Week 5

Our second week in the field was much less physical than the first. Instead of navigating around the field and negotiating the confidence course, we spent more time in the FOB and preparing for practical tests. Counting the reservist augmentation, our company is about 280 strong. Although there are personalities representing the whole spectrum living in close proximity, there hasn't been a whole lot of drama. There's been more down-time compared to last week, so folks are really getting the chance to get to know each other and learn from each others' backgrounds and experiences.

Two of the tasks to be tested out on at the end of the week included disassembly, reassembly & functional check of the M16 rifle in 4 minutes and of the M9 9mm handgun in 3 minutes. Most of us were able to do it with time to spare and those who weren't able to were given extra instruction until they could. As you can see in this pic of study time in our tent, everyone was determined to meet the final requirements.

The day to day operation of the FOB is maintained by various work details which rotate through the six platoons that make up the company (I'm in 2nd platoon). It's a little amusing that the only 2 RDs (Registered Dietitians) in the whole company are both in 2nd platoon. The person with me on KP duty (Kitchen Patrol) in this pic is the other RD, CPT Dunn. KP duty is actually pretty easy since we don't actually cook the food, we just serve it (it's brought in pre-made from DFAC [post Dining Facility]). The food doesn't exactly follow the performance-based menu we serve at the USOC, but is really good hot chow for the field!

Included in the weeks' training schedule was CBRNE (Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear, Explosive Incidents). Back during my military days the first time around, it was just known as NBC (Nuclear, Biological & Chemical), but the prevalent use of improvised explosive devices has obviously changed all that. One thing that hasn't changed, however is the donning of the various levels of MOPP (Mission-Oriented Protective Posture). You see me here in the highest posture level holding my weapon. It includes a very thick protective hooded coat, pants, overboots, gloves & gas mask all worn over the ACU uniform and boots. The last time I had worn this gear was on a flight line in August in Gulfport, MS during a two-week annual drill for the Louisiana Air National Guard. The few minutes we spent in this suit here in cool temperatures was actually quite pleasant compared to performing aircraft maintenance while wearing it for a couple of hours in the extreme heat & humidity of the Gulf Coast in summertime.

For the third time in my life I went through the "gas chamber." I sympathized with the new Soldiers who had never gone through it before and were getting all worked up over the unknown. Of course, some of the cadre and other students seem to revel in telling stories that raised the anxiety level of these first-timers! My memory proved accurate as the experience turned out to be unpleasant but tolerable. The whole point to being exposed to chemical agents with the protective mask both on, then off is for the Soldiers to gain confidence that the mask will protect them during an attack.

There's a lot of tears and snot flowing as you exit the building with arms out to the side to allow the wind to clear the gas from your face and clothing. It burns the eyes and throat quite a bit, but a few minutes of walking around brings it down to a tolerable level pretty quickly. As I was exiting the building unable to see my surroundings through the tears and snot, I heard one of my battle buddies yell "Daigle, this is the first time during this whole course I've seen you without a smile on your face!" This comment of course immediately put a smile back on my face!!

One of the other cool things we got to learn was clearing houses. The feces would really have to be hitting the fan if me as an RD were clearing houses, but I was grateful for the experience for 2 reasons. First of all, you just never know. Second, it gives us medical providers a small glimpse as to what the infantry soldiers are going through. As we stumbled over each other through the exercise, I gained a whole new appreciation for the Soldiers who train these moves on a regular basis and are able to move fluidly as a team with little to no verbal communication. My awkward attempts with my team resulted in shooting 2 bad guys and a hostage. Hmm, need to work on my target identification I guess! Playing one of the bad guys afterwards was a lot of fun though!

That pretty much sums up FTX-2. Next week will be our last week in the field and we'll have to put everything we learned into action during the week long training operation. I'm looking forward to the challenge of our final week in the field.

OBLC- Week 4

What a great week!!! Monday morning bright and early we started FTX-1 (first week of Field Training Exercise). We drew M16 rifles from the armory during the early morning hours, then loaded buses and headed towards our home for the week- Fort Bullis. The FOB (Field Operating Base) at Fort Bullis is a training replica of a typical FOB (Forward Operating Base) found in the Army. In the FOB, we lived in 30 man/woman tents and learned basic Army skills. No showers, but we had porta-pots and a small personal hygiene area where the guys could shave and everyone could brush their teeth.

The weather was amazing for the first day and a half- low to mid-70s and clear skies. With such a strong aversion to cold weather, I was thankful for the happy weather! My luck ran out in the middle of day 2 however as a cold front rolled in and the sky started spitting icy raindrops on us as we stood around outside and learned how to assemble & disassemble M16 rifles and 9mm handguns. With a windchill in the 20s, I was amazed at my ability to remain positive and focused on the tasks at hand. Could it be a sign of maturity?! Nah, I think it's just that I like guns!

The sky finally cleared and we were left with cold, but dry days for the remainder of our time in the field. The first pic is of me at the top of a ridge after successfully finding my third point with only a compass, map & protractor during the land nav (navigation) test. As most of you know, I usually am unable to find my way out of even a parking lot, so I was a little concerned about my ability to pass land navigation. After a couple of hours of quality instruction though, I felt like I finally understood land nav and was absolutely giddy at my ability to "find myself" three times in the allotted time! I was starting to feel less apprehensive about the night land navigation test coming up at the end of the week.

Although I haven't been able to do it much since high school, I love to shoot and was excited about getting to fire the M16 and 9mm handgun during the week. Since I shot small bore .22 rifles on a team in high school, I always considered myself more of a rifle than handgun girl. My qualification time at both ranges proved me wrong however as I managed to qualify with the 9mm and not the M16. With so little hands on time before actually shooting though, I feel like a quality day at the range practicing would boost my rifle score significantly. No worries, it was fun to get to shoot and the experience served its purpose as weapon familiarization. I was disappointed that we couldn't spend more time shooting though.

It's no secret that I'm a chow hound! I love to eat! Hell, food is my chosen profession!!! While out in the field, we were served hot breakfast and dinner and only had to eat MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) once a day for lunch. If this is the Army's idea of roughing it, I'm in the right place!!! And man, have MREs come a long way since my time in the desert in the early 90s! They now have dozens of options and actually have heating packs in them so you can have a hot meal. These meals-in-a-bag are actually pretty tasty!

We learned lots of stuff during the week that I won't go into here. No need to tell the world what we're learning here other than the basics! Thursday night culminated into the night land navigation test. This group pic is of our platoon getting fired up before the night nav brief- you can see all the dust in the air from so many boots on the ground in the FOB! We were paired up and sent out into the dark, cold night to find 3 out of 4 points in the allotted time. I was nervous, but feeling pretty confident after my success during the day portion of land nav. After plotting our points and coming up with a game plan, my assigned partner and I headed into the dark, moonless night. An hour later, we found ourselves circling what we were confident were the coordinates we were supposed to be at looking for the marker. Another 20 Soldiers converged on our spot looking for the same marker to no avail. I was confident that we were within 10 meters of the location but was frustratingly unable to prove our location. With time clicking away, we replotted a course to our next location (the course is self-correcting so we were able to verify our current location) and moved on to our next destination. As I was on the ground working my map and protractor, I heard a familiar Cajun accent from over my shoulder. One of the other teams looking for the same point as us just happened to be from Louisiana! It's amazing how the only 3 Cajuns in the whole Company ended up stumbling upon each other in the middle of Texas woodlands! We joined forces and moved out towards our next common point.

As the night progressed, we ran into other teams who confirmed our suspicions- there was a disconnect between our score cards and the destination markers. I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to verify my navigation skills, but the clear night and camaraderie seemed to dampen my frustration and made me appreciate the moment. Although I was freezing, it was a clear, beautiful night out in mother nature with a bunch of like-minded folks. The sky was chock full of stars and the certainty that all of humanity was under the same sky this night. For some reason, I was on point and shooting our azimuths to the next destinations for the rest of the night. At one point during the night, one of my fellow Cajuns shouted out to his partner in the dark "Can you believe we're being led through the woods by a Dietitian from Houma?!" Our evening wasn't a success on paper, but I was immensely satisfied with the knowledge that I always knew where we were. Even though the markers weren't where they were supposed to be, I was able to verify that we were always withing 10-20 meters of our destination. At no time did I not know where we were on the map or in which direction to head to get us back to the the FOB- it was a great, new feeling for me! Unfortunately, the evening didn't turn out so well for everyone. One Soldier had to be medevaced off the course with a broken leg and there were several twisted ankles during the night.

Overall, life in the FOB was pretty cushy. My battle-buddy, Goguen is in the picture with me. She too is former enlisted (Army though) and shares my upbeat attitude about the whole experience. Although we went without showers for 4 days, baby wipes are pretty efficient at keeping a 25-30 woman tent from reeking! I was grateful for my short hair as I watched other women struggling to manage their longer tresses. Between rolling around on the ground during combatives (hand to hand combat) and tromping through the woods, it was hard to keep dirt and critters from making a home on our scalps! Although a good taste of field life, 4 days in the field was in no way a hardship!

Our last day in the field ended with a fun day! We went out to the obstacle course and learned how to low & high crawl and did some 3-4 second rushes. Although we only did a short round of rushes, it was good for us to get a small taste of what the infantry guys are subjected to. This drill starts off in a prone shooting position wearing an LBE (Load Bearing Equipment). The LBE is basically a web belt with suspenders upon which you can attach a couple of canteens of water, a couple of pouches for ammo, a first aid kit and miscellaneous other equipment. Between the LBE, Kevlar helmet and our weapon, we weighed an extra 20 pounds or so. Upon a whistle blow by one of the instructors, you jump up from the prone firing position and run to gain as much ground as you can ("I'm up!") until the next whistle blow ("He sees me, I'm down") at which time you throw yourself onto the ground back into a prone firing position. I say "throw", but obviously you don't want to trash your knees, so you break the fall with the butt of your weapon. It looks so easy, but it gets harder and harder to pop up with any quickness after only a few down-and-ups!

Although pretty bruised up from our day of drills and obstacle course (AKA in the PC world as a Confidence Course), I had a BLAST!!!! I struggled with the obstacles that involved rope climbs (I haven't figured out the technique of using my feet for leverage with the rope yet), I was able to successfully navigate the other obstacles. This obstacle in the picture is a "reverse ladder." You climb up the back side of it, flip yourself over the top rung, then go down face first using your arm & shoulder muscles to work your way down the rungs. As you can see from the smile on my face, this was great fun!

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and this course was a great way to expose ourselves to both. If you click on the picture of the obstacle course to see it up close, you can see that some of the obstacles are quite high. We had a few folks who weren't so comfortable with heights. Also, many of them required a fair amount of upper body strength which obviously, not everyone had. The whole experience was a great team-builder as we all pulled together to help each Soldier face his/her weaknesses, including our own.

With a great week behind us, we have the weekend off (I'm embarrassed to say that actually) before going back out to the field on Monday. After hot showers and meals, everyone is plowing through mounds of dirty laundry and required reading in this down-time. I hope that this post helps everyone to envision what the training is like. Although a challenge for the folks who have never been exposed to camping or the great outdoors, to say that this is arduous would be a stretch! More than once during the week, one of the instructors would catch me grinning from ear to ear and want to know what my problem was. Unable to conceal my happiness over this career choice I would simply respond with one of my favorite Navy sayings. . . "I'm just full of joy, Sir, full of joy!"

If you're interested in seeing more pictures of FTX-1, go to these links:

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013407&l=07b76&id=1454935642

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2013408&l=b01ac&id=1454935642

OBLC- Week 3

Time is flying by here in San Antonio! I can't believe the 3rd week of training is already over!! Week 3 was more didactic training in the classrooms. We learned about a variety of topics that we will put into practical application out in the field. Basic Army skills mixed in with issues relevant to the current world situation rounded out the questions included on our mid-term exam on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, another 100+ reserve soldiers were integrated into our company to take part in the field exercises. Just like the folks that have been here for 3 weeks now, this group of reservists represent all of the medical corps you see depicted in this picture of the wall from one of our lecture auditoriums. The emblem with the "S" superimposed over the caduceus (medical emblem) represents the Medical Specialist Corp, the Corp under which I fall as a Dietitian.

A lot has changed in the military since my first go round. The integration of reservists into the active duty component's training is a huge one. Having all the paperwork online is another one. Seeing all-civilian staff at the galley, oops I mean DFAC (Dining Facility) is another strange sight to me. Funny, the food hasn't changed much though! Thankfully, a lot is still the same though and feels quite familiar. The black & white regulations and always having a resource to reference for information suits my personality well.

With the mid-term behind us and lots of new knowledge in our brains to turn into practical application, most of us are pretty excited to trade in the classroom environment for the "field" tomorrow. My roommate Alex is packing up her gear in this picture so that we can do the bag-drag tonight. We'll be out at Camp Bullis for the next three weeks learning to shoot, land navigation and other fun stuff. I'm hoping that my map & compass skills have miraculously improved from the miserable attempts of my past!

Although I'm thrilled to finally get to do some of the field stuff that I felt like I missed out on during my previous service stints, I'm a little disappointed that training stops during the weekends! With so many people stressing out about not being able to shower for 5 days (actually only 4 since we can shower before we leave on Monday and when we get back on Friday), I have to wonder if anyone in America actually goes camping anymore. . .

Until next weekend, send me a good sense of direction for those of you who have it and some of your good sense of humor for those of you who don't!!!

OBLC- Week 2

Week 2 of OBLC wasn't much different from the first, we're still sitting through numerous Power Point presentations and doing administrative things. I find the information interesting though, so the hours of presentations haven't been bad really. I continue to be amused yet taken aback by some of my classmates' lack of punctuality. I'm not sure what they thought the Army would be like, but some of the new officers don't seem to understand that not being in the designated place at the designated time is not an option! So far there hasn't been much consequence for the tardiness, but we'll see what week 3 brings.

In the midst of all these presentations, one of the assignments was for us to present to our classmates and instructors. I haven't always been so comfortable in front of an audience, but I'm thankful for all the experience I gained at the USOC getting up in front of groups of people to present information. It's gotten easier and easier over the years to the point that I actually enjoy presenting now. Of course, it helps to have an audience that wants the information you're putting out!

PT has picked up a little bit, but still manageable. The company was split into ability groups based on 2-mile run times. I'm at the slower end of the range for my ability group, so I'm expecting my run time to get better over the next few weeks!

Every year my birthday falls on a 3-day weekend (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day). While here at OBLC, it's a 4-day weekend!! Unbelievable! I had originally submitted a request to go all the way to Louisiana for the weekend, but after a little more consideration, I decided I had too much reading to do and errands to run to make the 8-hour drive each way. Since it's on the way of my originally planned trip and only 3 hours away, I met my brother Dwayne and his girlfriend Jada in Houston. After hearing about her great beach house in Galveston for the last couple of years, I finally got to see it for myself! It's a great retreat in a city that is making a steady recovery from the devastation of the last Gulf Coast hurricane. We celebrated my birthday at a wonderful seafood restaurant called Willie G's. A Blood Mary cocktail left a bit to be desired, but the mixed grill entree of crab cake, broiled shrimp over a creamy risotto and grilled Mahi Mahi that followed made up for the lackluster predinner drink. We laughed and visited our way through the delicious dinner- a great way to spend my birthday!

Dwayne & Jada took off early this morning for a vacation in Mexico and left me in charge of the beach house! My roommate and I get along great, but at 41 years old and having lived alone for many years, I'm enjoying having a house to myself and a little space. I enjoyed a leisurely run along the beach and the gorgeous sunny day afterwards. I've been able to do a little studying and projects and even fit a nap in this afternoon!

I head back to San Antonio tomorrow morning and prepare for my last week of classroom instruction before our training takes us out to the field. I'm still immensely happy with my decision to return to active duty. Although I'm only taking it a day at a time, I'm finding myself more positive about life in general than I have been in a long time. So far, so good. . .

OBLC- Week 1

Yes, I'm still alive and made it through week 1!! The phrase to sum up this first week is "death by Power Point"! There are about 160 folks in OBLC Class 902. It's a mixed bag of backgrounds, but most students can be broken into one (or multiple) of a few categories. The first are "direct commissions". These are folks either right out of college or who have been practicing in their professional field for various numbers of years and who have no previous military experience. These folks literally went from a college setting or from going to an office everyday in the civilian world to putting on a uniform with a rank that requires them to be leaders in the U.S. Army. Quite the culture shock to most. Another group is people who are either in the Army Reserves, Army National Guard or who are already on active duty but just didn't have this course yet or were in ROTC in school. These folks are already familiar with Army uniforms, protocols and customs. The last group are prior service. These soldiers were previously enlisted or commissioned officers from any of the Armed Services. Some went straight from being an enlisted soldier to an officer or had left the military for the civilian work force for varying lengths of time. There are several people like me who fall into two categories- prior service and direct commission.

Ages and ranks vary greatly. The rank at which an individual is commissioned into the Army Medical Dept is based upon education, years of experience in their field and specialties. Folks right out of school or without much professional experience are brought in at the rank of 2LT (Second Lieutenant/O-1 grade) or 1LT (First Lieutenant/O-2). Advanced degrees and/or several years experience will earn you CPT bars (Captain/O-3), which is what I was brought in as. Many years experience and specialists in their professions are brought in as MAJ (Major/O-4) or LTC (Lieutenant Colonel/O-5). There's a dentist in our class brought in as a LTC. From what I've heard since getting here, the Medical Dept. is the only section of the Army who will commission civilians straight into higher ranks. Obviously, rank comes with responsibilities as well privileges so there are pitfalls to commissioning a non-militarily experienced individual into a rank that demands advanced management and leadership skills. The fact that the program continues this way and brings into the Army some of the brightest professionals in their fields however, indicate that the acquisition of specialized skills must outweigh the downside of inexperienced military officers.

AMEDD (Army Medical Department) is comprised of 6 different branches. OBLC Class 902 is made up of professionals (now officers) from each of the branches.
1) Medical Corp (Physicians)
2) Dental Corp (Dentists)
3) Veterinary Corp (Veterinarians)
4) Nurse Corp (Nurses)
5) Medical Specialist Corp (Dietitians, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists & Physician Assistants)
6) Medical Service Corp (Healthcare Administrators, Entomologists, Environmental Scientists, Microbiologists, Biochemists, Social Workers, Clinical & Research Psychologists, Pharmacists, Optometrists, Podiatrists, etc.)

As you can see, we've got quite a mixed-bag of professions covering the full spectrum of medical specialties!

One of the major concerns of the first week are uniforms. We were all sent an email with a list of minimal uniform items with which we were expected to report. Easier said than done! Now, I'm a person with approximately 11 years of experience wearing military uniforms (Navy & Air National Guard). I'm pretty confident looking up uniform regulations and making it happen, but being a direct commission certainly made it hard to comply with requirements. Coming from San Diego where there are a ton of Navy & Marine Corp bases, I was able to find many non-Army specific items, but only with the help of a military ID holder to get me on base (thanks Ed!). Those which I could not find I ordered through civilian retail websites online. Sounds like a good plan, right? It was until one of the most crucial items needed was not in stock and had to be back ordered- BOOTS! At this point you might be thinking to yourself "but Marines wear desert uniforms, why couldn't you just get them at one of the Marine bases in San Diego?" Well, although not obvious to the non-service-specific eye there are subtle differences in uniform items, specifically boots, between each service. All the tan boots that fit my feet in uniform stores throughout bases in San Diego where stamped with the USMC emblem on the side. Not so appropriate for wear in an Army uniform! Luckily, the military clothing store here at Ft Sam Houston was open last Sunday and had boots in my size, so I was able to show up Monday morning in the appropriate uniform. Anyone who has ever worn a new pair of boots can appreciate how suboptimal it is to purchase new boots the day before they are to be worn everyday! A handful of folks were not so lucky though and showed up in various degrees of uniform faux-pas or civilian clothes.

With specialty patches, rank and name tapes all velcroed into the proper positions on the ACUs, my final challenge was the beret. The Navy had gone to berets as I was getting out, so I never had to deal with them. I don't understand the military's desire to put everyone into berets since tradition had dictated that this head gear be reserved for a select group of warriors. Nonetheless, I purchased my perfectly flat, thick felt disc and struggled to make it droop over my right eye and ear like the crusty SGTs I saw around base. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you a whole course could be taught on how to shape a beret! Nothing screams "newbie" more than walking around with a pizza-man-making looking beret. In order to achieve proper fit, you have to shave (yep, with razors) as much of the felt fuzz off as possible, drench it in hot water and wear it on your head multiple times (wet). I repeated this process several times during the week but still could not achieve the proper fit and appearance. Finally, I was informed of a place off base that sold them already shaved and shaped and succumbed to this shortcut in order to get squared-away!

Our week of paperwork, classroom instruction and uniform experiences ended with an APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) early Friday morning. The tests of push-ups, sit-ups and 2-mile run are scored and recorded in your service record. Successful completion of OBLC is contingent upon passing height-weight/body fat standards and scoring a minimum score on the APFT. Click here to see the standards. A maximum score is 300 with a possible 100 points in each event (push-ups, sit-ups, 2 mile-run) and are age & gender specific. A score of 60 in each event is considered minimal scores required to pass. As you can imagine with a group of people coming right out of the civilian world, there were quite a few new officers who did not meet the minimum standard and will be participating in "special populations" physical training 5 days per week at 5:30 am. Although I didn't achieve the 300 I was shooting for, I was pleased with my score for the most part and will try to improve it on the exit APFT in Feb.

Words of wisdom for future OBLC participants:

• push your recruiter to sponsor you for an AKO account BEFORE you get here
• have name tapes made BEFORE you get here. You can obtain most uniform items once you get here, but name tapes must be custom made and take time (order online).
• have a full PT uniform BEFORE you get here. The military clothing store here on base was out of most sizes and many folks had to PT in random civilian workout attire (a definite no-go)
• have every piece (and MULTIPLE COPIES of) ALL the paperwork you were told to bring (orders, oath of office, birth certificates, marriage licenses, adoption papers, DD-214 discharge papers, direct deposit authorization, etc.) Did I mention to have MULTIPLE COPIES???!!!! Do not show up to any session with only one copy (especially not just the original).
• if you are fortunate enough to live near an Army base or university with an ROTC program, get someone to help you put an ACU uniform together and show you how to wear it. There's something to be said for putting on the uniform and being looked over by an experienced eye in order to get familiar with proper wear and feel comfortable in it. You should look proud to be wearing it, not intimidated or unsure.
• show up in shape! The instructors can appreciate the fact that you are coming straight from civilianhood, but you WILL NOT pass OBLC and move on to your first duty station until you are able to meet minimum body fat and physical fitness standards. Don't just assume you can meet the standards. Many people were caught off guard because their home bathroom scale told them they were a certain bodyfat or because they could do so many push-ups or sit-ups the "normal way". There is a specific way the push-ups and sit-ups must be performed or else they do not count so look up the proper procedures on the internet and make sure you can do them (e.g. fingers interlocked behind head and all the way up in 2 minutes for sit ups, NO "girl" push-ups on knees, elbows much break horizontal plane in 2 minutes, the run was on a 1/2 mile track and not a 1/4 mile track, etc.)
• bring a positive attitude! The military will not do things the way you might have done them in the civilian world. There's a lot of "hurry up and wait" that will happen. Get used to it, this will continue throughout your military career. Complaining doesn't help anyone and only spreads negativity. Remember that you VOLUNTEERED to come here for whatever reason, so stay positive and don't become the cancer of bad attitude in the group. Sage advice my dad gave me before I left for Navy boot camp 20 years ago still applies- the military has been doing this for a couple of hundred years before you got here, so don't automatically assume you could do it all better!
  

That's all I have for now. I'm laying low for my day off (can you believe there's a day off in any military "basic" training?!!!) and catching up on things that fell by the wayside during my relocation and job transition. As hectic & chaotic as this whole process has been, I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. As I was making my way to formation one morning this week, I was overcome with an absolute sense of joy and the thought that I was exactly where I wanted to be at that moment- in a uniform and preparing to make a contribution to something so much bigger than myself. HOOAH!

OBLC

I don't really have time for a full-blown post, but to appease everyone's requests to see me in ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) I'm posting the only pic so far! My room mate Alex took this pic of me at the end of Day 1. And yes, I chopped my hair back down to the way I wore it in the days of when I had to accommodate flight-line cranials and flight helmets!

The first couple of days have pretty much been paperwork, orientation and a little drill & ceremony (formations & marching). We got tested for height & weight standards this morning and will take the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) on Friday morning.

I'll keep ya'll in suspense a little until I'm able to post more this weekend. Have a great week as my blood takes on a green tint (don't worry Navy buddies, I'll always be blue at heart!)!!!

20 years and 20 pounds later!

Sorry that I don't have any pics yet, but just wanted to let everyone know that I made it to San Antonio and am checked in for OBLC. That's "Officer Basic Leadership Course" for the non-Army types! I say that tongue in cheek because all the Army's acronyms are completely different from the Navy's, so I'm pretty illiterate when it comes to this new language myself! But pay attention, because I'll explain an acronym once and then you'll be on your own for future posts!!!

I arrived and checked into the base and was assigned a room. Here's the first difference between enlisted basic training (AKA boot camp) and officer training: I have only 1 roommate in a small suite with a kitchenette and it's own bathroom! Compared to the 74 women in bunk beds in one large room and another large room with a bunch of shower heads sticking out of the wall, this is a massive improvement! I couldn't help but marvel at the strange twists and turns in my life as I realized that this year marks the 20th anniversary of me going into Navy boot camp in Orlando, Florida (Company K131, 1989)! It was so long ago that the base hasn't existed in over a decade and that all my shipmates are now retired or retiring! It's also worth noting that on August 21, 1989 when I arrived for boot camp, I weighed about 120 pounds (versus 142 today), smoked like a dragon (1 pack of Winston or Marlboro reds per day) and drank & cursed like a sailor even before I was one!!! I don't think any of my family or friends thought that I'd actually make it through training back then.

Fast forward to today, I meet my new roommate at check-in and we help each other with the bag-drag up to our room. She's a freshly graduated nurse, early 20s and is super-excited about being here. Although she is much more responsible and level-headed than I was when I joined the military, she still reminds me a lot of myself- somewhat spontaneous, adventurous and has a positive, can-do outlook. We seem to be a good match so far; we'll see how long she can put up with being roommates with a relatively old lady though!

That's it for tonight. Training doesn't start until Monday, so I probably won't have much to post about until later in the week, but stay tuned. . .

You never know who you're gonna meet...

Two years ago, I made a trip to Hawaii with my sister for a vacation/professional conference. I'm always amused with the civilian perspective of the military community. Upon hearing that I had spent some time in the Navy, a nutrition colleague at the conference stated "Oh, you must know Ann then. She's in the Army too." In the non-military affiliated mind, all branch's of the military (Army, Navy, Air Force, etc) as well as all divisions (aviation, infantry, medical, etc) are all the same and everyone must know everyone! It was no use trying to explain that I probably didn't know her since I was Navy, enlisted and aviation while Ann was Army, officer and medical! Later during the day, the same colleague introduced us and Ann & I ended up hitting it off instantly. Our paths have continually crossed as colleagues and good friends in the two years since.

A few months ago when Ann invited me to her retirement down in San Antonio, I instantly said "yes" and booked a ticket. If her friends and family were anywhere near as full of life and had as much as a flare for finding adventure as Ann, I knew this was going to be a great celebration! I was certainly not disappointed!

It didn't take long for me to remember why I loved the Navy community so much; Ann's group of friends at AMEDD (Army Medical Dept) were tight knit and obviously respected and enjoyed each other's company. In the first picture is Ann with one of her friends who retired at the same time as her. Both Colonels, Maria closed the chapter on over 24 years in the Army while Ann finished up with nearly 26 years. They ended their Army Dietitian careers right where they started them with internships over two decades ago- at Ft Sam Houston. In a tremendous testament to the bond of military friendships and to Ann's sincere spirit, one of her classmates from her internship, Stephanie flew from Seattle with her husband Keith to help her close this chapter of her life.

Watching the faces of the 11 patriots lined up that morning to close the Army chapters of their lives, I marveled at the spectrum of emotions. At one end of the spectrum were the somber-faced and downright looking scared witless to the other end who could hardly suppress their smiles and readiness to move on to the next phases of their lives. Ann certainly fell into the jubilant category! At the "beret burning" later that evening though, she explained that it wasn't because she disliked the Army that she was happy to be moving on, but rather it was the excitement of the next adventure that was making her giddy about stepping out of the uniform for the last time. As you can tell from this picture of Ann with her sister Pat, civilian attire suits her just as well as Army green!!

The days leading up to the retirement ceremony on Thursday were filled with both local and out-of-town friends and family. On Wednesday, I was informed that I may want to wear comfortable shoes since we were "walking for food." Five miles of walking later, we arrived at a great little bakery for breakfast! The next 48 hours were filled with visiting, eating, drinking and celebration. The ceremony was succinct and professional whereas the private reception for Ann that followed was lively and informal. It was clear from the number of people who attended as well as from the words that were spoken that Ann was not only well-liked by those with which she served, but she also made a significant impact on the lives she touched. The festivities culminated in a get together at her friend Lise's house (also my gracious B&B hostess!). In the last pic is Ann (standing in black), her internship friend Stephanie, her sister-ish from Oregon Mary Lynn with her husband Sigfreid and Lise.

I arrived back into San Diego in time to catch a cab from the airport to Whit & Kathie's house for a Halloween get-together. I think I'll be in town for the next 2-3 weeks, so I'll keep ya'll posted on any local adventures. . .

Down in Texas!

Finally, something fun to post about! Last week I got out of Colorado before the snow started falling again and went down to Austin, TX for a conference. I arrived in time for a couple of days of 80 degree temps before the cold front moved in and dropped the temp about 20 degrees for my last few days in Texas.

I took a day of personal time to take a look around Austin since I had never been there before. The city itself has some great eateries and sculptures along the river. Austin is also known for it's Blues music scene. I didn't get to go out at night and listen to any Blues, but I did happen across this memorial to Stevie Ray Vaughn that was kinda cool.

Austin also has all these awesome guitars scattered around downtown and along the river. They are painted up all different and are pretty unique. I was trying to take my friends back to a great little Italian gelato place I had found and kept saying "it's by the guitar sculpture" before I realized the guitars were everywhere! No fear, we still found the gelato shop (you know I can always find good food!).


On my little sightseeing excursion, I went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I had to call my mom while I was walking around the gardens because I knew she would've loved to see it. The bluebonnets and tons of other wildflowers were in bloom. I must've walked around for 3-4 hours before I finally drove down to San Antonio where I was to give a presentation at Fort Sam Houston.

The presentation for the Army RDs went well and I really enjoyed being back on a military base (I know, I'm such a geek!). During the conference in Hawaii last year, I was randomly introduced to a woman named Ann. Someone heard that I was in the Navy and said "hey, do you know Ann, she's in the military too, in the Army I think." It's so funny how civilians think that everyone who's in, or ever been in, the military must know each other! Anyway, from this random meeting I was invited to come down and speak to a class of students going through an Army M.S./ Dietetic internship program. I now have a new friend and a great collaboration between our organizations. Ann was a gracious host and I had a great time meeeting her team of staff and students.
It was a good conference and I got to spend time with shakers and movers of the Sport Nutrition world. As you can see from this picture of Susie, Peggy, me, Ann and Nanna, we also fit in some eatin!

Hopefully the weather will straighten up and fly right pretty soon so I'll have something to post more often. So watch the weather and tune in when the weather looks nice!