CH-BOLC Phase 1 Day 2

Now THIS is the Army!

As promised, today was much more the kind of day in the Army everyone imagines. I got up at 4:30 again and went running. We had no PT this morning since we were going out in the field so I took the initiative to do it on my own. After showering and getting cleaned up - a task which soon proved to be a waste - I met the rest of my class for formation ... in the rain. Soon buses took us to the site of our first event for the day. A little ditty they like to call "Fit to Win". This is an obstacle course where we run over the river and through the woods but grandma's house is nowhere to be found. Instead we travel from one obstacle to another, completing them as a squad and competing against other platoons. These obstacles included things like crawling through various tubes and tunnels, climbing over walls, crawling in the dirt under barbed wire, and the like. There were a few stations we had to bypass for safety issues due to the rain, the monkey bars (or horizontal ladder) being one. As someone who broke her wrist as a child on said monkey bars, I was ok with this choice.

Since this was a timed event and took place in the rain and mud, I wasn't able to get much in the way of pics & video but I did manage to capture one video. Here it is:

Tilt your head to the right at first. Don't worry ... eventually I did remember you can't take video with the camera turned longways.

(Remember if you subscribe to this post via email, you'll need to click on the title to go to the online version so you can see the video. If you are reading this as a note on Facebook, click on "View Original Post" at the top of the comments section.)

The purple heart for the day went to one soldier who happened to be the first to crawl through one of the cement tubes (like the one pictured at the top) and was greeted by a spider ... in his mouth.

Ahhhh, Army life.

This was an exhausting morning and by midday most of my body hurt. (Note to self #1: On the days there is no PT, there is a good reason. Do not feel compelled to add in your own.) But this was the first challenge with my platoon, so I enjoyed the bonding and inclusion ... and was especially appreciative of one person on my squad who ran alongside me and encouraged me through every exhausting hurdle.

After this event, my "typical" Army day continued with exactly what you want after being in the mud and rain ... a nice, cold shower. No, this was not on purpose, I was just fortunate enough to shower in a facility which turned out not to have hot water. (Note to self #2: pick a different place to shower next time.)

The day continued with a sermon by a fellow classmate, lunch, more classroom time and death by power point, and the exciting announcement that I have weigh in tomorrow.

And there in lies my prayer request for the day. :o)