TBOLC, Week 5

This was a fun week. It started off kind of slow, but ended well.

Monday we had our Movements Exam. The consensus is that this was the hardest one, since it spans such a huge breadth of material. In fact, our class #2 lost her position because she didn't pass (she wasn't entirely disappointed).

I got an 84%, a fairly average number. It was another one of those tests that really could have gone either way and I wouldn't have been surprised. My biggest weakness in these tests is knowing whose job it is to do what. To me they're all the positions are just words on a page, since I have no experience outside the thick walls of TRADOC.

This brings up my biggest frustration at the moment: not knowing where I'm actually going or what the heck I'll be doing, what unit I'm going to or when/where I'll be deployed. I'm trying to just take it one day at a time.

In the afternoon we visited the Transportation Museum. It was interesting in its own way, but I wouldn't bet too much on its appeal to a wider audience.

On Tuesday morning, about a quarter of the class got to have breakfast with a bunch of lieutenant colonels and discuss Army life and their experiences. I volunteered to go for a couple of reasons: 1.) I was planning to eat breakfast anyway, and 2.) They let us get out of PT.

For class, we split up and my group studied some technical systems. First, we learned how to write and read Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFID), then how to use the Army's version of a GPS, the Movement Tracking System (MTS). Though half of the computer systems were down or unavailable (something about the Army disabling all external drives), it was tolerably interesting. We had another lesson on Wednesday.

Wednesday was also cool because we got "zonked" for PT. Normally, as a "student-led" course, we alternate PT leaders every day. The leader on Wednesday, for whatever reason, decided the class needed a day off, so at the head of the formation, he said, "Zonk." That's the code for "scatter carefully so the 1st sergeant doesn't notice." I still don't know what the repercussions are going to be.

The only downside to Wednesday was that we had to go to the officer's club again. The first two weeks of the course, it was mandatory that we go for one hour, presumably to hobknob with some higher ups. The problem was that they weren't there. Last week we had to go a third time because they actually showed up. This time we had to go to sing the Transportation song. So I think we're finally done. My friend and I car-pooled and then left immediately afterward; we were in and out in 30 minutes.

Thursday was great. We had to do 10-minute presentations on a chosen topic (off a list). Rather than do a subject about which I have absolutely no clue (like how to run a range), I drew on my own expertise and did a country brief about China. It worked our really well -- I got a 97% plus a lot a praise from my peers for having made it really interesting.

My group finished at 11:00, but we had to stick around until all the other groups had finished theirs, and with some starting after lunch, it wasn't until three that we were released. I pretty much spent the three hours after lunch napping in a comfy chair in the back of the library.

Friday was another gem of a day. We were divided up into groups of five and assigned a practical exercise in the morning (due in ten days). We worked on it until noon, and with nothing else in the afternoon, there was nothing keeping us from getting the heck out of Dodge.

It's good to get a head start on the weekend.