Dodgeball - (Germany) Day 461

Guys from my platoon on the attack

This morning we formed up in winter PTs at Campbell gym. The normal folks did regular army PT while those of us on profile headed to the gym. I worked out on the weight machines and had a good workout.

I arrived in my office and went through my email and checked my "to do" list which has been growing as I add everything I need to get done in order to leave here. There are a ton of little things that need to be taken care of and I want to make sure they are all done in a timely manner. I headed to Subway at 1030 to pickup a couple of party platters for the chaplain's prayer breakfast. He told me I could grab a couple of sandwiches, which I did and then headed to my wife's office. We had lunch together and I hung out there for a bit just wasting a little time…well it's not a waste if I'm spending it with my wife.

I then headed over to the in and out processing center for an out-processing brief that I had scheduled. They went over a number of things such as how to clear housing and transportation, medical, and various other items. We were given a bunch of paperwork and then sent on our way. If I would have gone to this brief first, I would have known to take my motorcycle registration to transportation!

I then headed to the barber to get my head shaved. Normally this is a non-event, but this time something very wrong happened. It started off normal enough, but near the end things went off track. Instead of using a brush to get all the hair off of my neck and the back of my head, the barber leaned in and started to gently blow on me. It freaked me out! I looked in the mirror to verify that this was actually happening! I'm going to assume this must be a German thing, but I don't think I'll be heading back to that barber shop again.

The end of the day was spent watching dodge-ball. Our company was challenged by the HHD company to a dodge-ball game. Of course I couldn't play, but I decided to show up and support those that could play. I brought my camera and took a bunch of photos. Normally I wouldn't do this because it was not a mandatory event, but I've been trying to do my best and be positive. I've also wanted to make a better impression with our platoon sergeant…which it did. He thanked me for coming and shook my hand before I left. I want to stay on all the leader's good sides until I leave. I don't want any trouble, I just want everything to go smooth until I get out of here. If that means showing a positive attitude when possible and going a little out of my way, so be it.

Guys from my platoon on the attack some more

 

Guys from HHD getting ready to start

 

A guy from HHD trying not to get hit

Test Out (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 112

"Mandatory Fun" The NCOs on the right and some Charlie company
soldiers on the left playing dodge ball

This morning we woke up and had to wear our IBAs (body armor) and take our dummy rifle as well. We ended up running with the gear on and let me tell you it was pretty tough! We ran 2.3 miles and at various intervals Sergeant Kent would have us raise the dummy rifle above our heads and run for a bit, bring it down, then repeat. It sucked! I am still pretty sore from it all, I don’t even want to know what I’ll feel like tomorrow.

We went to school and reviewed for the first half of the day. We then ate lunch and came back to take the final exam. I felt like everything I learned in this class was done on my own. I couldn’t understand the instructor very well because of his accent, so I was a little nervous going in. I didn’t care what score I received just as long as I passed. I don’t want to be in this class again! I ended up scoring a 90%, the test was 20 questions and I missed 2. I didn’t have the highest score in the class (a few got 100%), but I’m very happy to put this class behind me.

The other big news today was that some people started getting their duty station assignments. I heard people getting Alaska, Korea, and Ft. Stewart here in Georgia. PFC Metal checked his at lunch and he ended up getting Ft. Stewart. Like me, the last place he wants to be is here in Georgia. I checked mine and there is nothing there! What a bummer, I want to know where I’m heading. The folks in our class that still do not know like me are pretty upset, I think the suspense is killing everyone.

After class we headed back to the company and found out that we had to attend another “mandatory fun” event. The event...dodge ball vs. the NCOs. We get told what to do all the time here, so when we are told our personal time is getting cut into, it kind of sucks. PFC Metal and I were both pretty tired and just wanted to relax. We thought for a bit about just skipping it, but if there was any accountability done we didn’t want to get into trouble and have our upcoming 4-day weekend pass taken away. So to play it safe we decided to go. We had to march back to RBK and change into PT uniforms, then march back to the Charlie gym. Once there it turned out to be fun. I didn’t get the chance to hit an NCO because they only played in a couple of games. Most of the games were just Charlie vs. Charlie.

CCNA (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 34

Today was another pretty normal day until our dinner formation. During this formation Sergeant Cujo asked who had study hall and everyone except one person did. He told that one person to round up some more people by the end of dinner and they were going to play dodge ball with the sergeants. I wish I could have played. I would have loved to nail Sergeant Cujo in the head...maybe a couple of the other time wasters too. Oh well.

Since the CCNA class is about to end I’ll post our syllabus for anyone who is interested in what was covered during this class:

Day 1

N+ Overview with TCP/IP and Basic Router Commands

Day 2

Addressing the Network – IPv4

Day 3

Communicating Over the Network

Day 4

Application Layer Functionality and Protocol

Day 5

OSI Transport Layer

Day 6

OSI Network Layer

Data Link Layer 

Day 7

OSI Physical Layer

Ethernet

Day 8

Planning and Cabling Networks

Day 9

Configuring and Testing Your Network

Day 10

Review

Written Test/ Practical Exam Test