Two weeks down, ten to go!

This is a shadow from a bench in the atrium of the AMEDD Center & School, showing our motto.

Apparently there are a lot of princesses in San Antonio.

See?

 Princesses require lighting on the trees as well.

Went to a nice Tex-Mex place last weekend called Ácenar. 

 They had some very nice looking outdoor seating.  The restaurant is right on the river walk, so there's water right down below the veranda.

   

Inside was nice too.

The Alamo!  Smaller than you think, especially amongst the other buildings in San Antonio.  It's right downtown!

 Our class advisor wanted us all to run the 5 miles to the Alamo together (the first of what she hopes is a recurring event).  It was something I was dreading, since I've never run more than about 3 miles at any time.  And considering the whole knee surgery, stupid leg thing I've got going, I didn't think it would go well.  But I finished!  And I only stopped when the rest of the group stopped as well, so it was a big accomplishment for me!  Also, we started just after 5:30am, so it was early and around 50 degrees.  Perfect for running.  Our reward was Denny's for breakfast, with our class advisor footing the bill.  And while this was better than I thought, I'd say the Army hasn't quite made a runner out of me yet... :)

(Our class advisor is on the front left, and the two gentlemen in the back corners are two of our awesome instructors who drove the support vehicles for us this morning.)

Choi, Ramsey and I in our ASUs, or Dress Blues.  First time we wore them was for inspection this morning, just to make sure everything was in order.

Glamour Shot?

Our class for the last 2 weeks was just 24 people from all different professions, and we've been in a pre-BOLC class (Basic Officer Leader Course) offered to new officers by AMEDD (Army Medical Department).  Tomorrow we'll be joined by about another 120 or so students to do the real class, learning all kinds of Army stuff.  I think most of the new students are ROTC guys, but there are others as well.  I just got a roommate today, too.  He's from Alabama and he's got a great accent :)

Ft. Sam Houston

So, my original intent was to totally be a blogger and write all kinds of interesting stories.  But, as it turns out, I'm no more a writer today than I was when I was seven years old.  So you're gonna get some pictures and captions.  That's the best I can do.  And, since I'm not the biggest picture taker in the world, you're only gonna get a few pictures.  Deal with it. :)

 This was my first stop at Ft Sam Houston (at least I thought it was supposed to be).  The only location I could find on my orders was Building 592.  Turns out that's a hotel, and I needed to go to the AMMEDD Center & School to check in first.  Army efficiency?  What?

 These are shots of my actual room.  Turns out I pretty much live in a hotel.  Maybe crossed with a dorm room.  But theres TV, WiFi, and a refrigerator and a microwave.  There's even an iron and a hair dryer!

 Can't have too much TP, I guess.

 First time I got all gussied up in my ACUs (Army Combat Uniform).  I was probably about to head off to class.

Issuing us all our gear.

 Don't be jealous of my sexy overboots and my super-trendy-wearing-them-on-the-wrong-feet style!

 My first Army experience with MREs.  Of course, my brother and I thought we were army men growing up, so we've had them before.  :)  

 This picture is sideways.

 Fajitas.  Just like you get at Chilis!

 This is actually a cool thing.  That green envelope is a chemical heater.  You slip the foil pouch inside, then add a tiny bit of water, being careful not to overfill, then it gets really hot.  Good stuff.

This was our Land Navigation group.  Choi, Allen, Ramsey (I used to live with his brother in Seattle. Weird), Me, and Patel.  We learned to plot 8 digit coordinates on a map and then we were given a set of 7 points to plot.  Then the trick was finding them.  We did pretty well for the most part, but one time I ended up waaaay off in the bushes.  :)

 The last two points we had to wait for night time to find.  We were on top of a hill.  It was pretty.

 I didn't use any editing software.  This is really what it looked like.  I promise.

 M-16 simulators.  Pretty realistic as far as the recoil and feel of it.  They're all computerized too, so when the magazine is empty, the bolt locks open, etc.

 Learning to use the M-40 gas mask.  Getting ready to go to the gas chamber.  Get excited!

 Three tough guys.

This video is probably difficult to watch.  The camera moves around a bit.  My apologies.  Also, it's mostly kind of boring.  Oh well.  If only we had smellovision... >:)

 The M-9 simulator.  Just like the M-16 but with pistols.  Don't feel like you need to critique my stance. I'm aware of my backwards-leaning tendencies.

After learning how to disassemble and reassemble the Beretta M-9, we had a tournament to see who could do it faster.  Nadeau dropped his recoil spring on the ground, but Richmond didn't fully separate her spring from the spring guide.  You can decide who the winner is.

You can send me stuff at this address.  If you do, I promise to send you something from Texas.  It might be a rock, but it'll be a Texan rock!!