I am officially finishing up my first week here in the Public Affairs Office. I survived!

Plus, I got to do all kinds of cool stuff this week:

On Tuesday, I jumped right in with the Pointer View, the post newspaper, staff while they were proofreading the latest issue.  I was amazed to see the paper after it had been passed the whole way around the office.  Everyone seemed to find one error, and the paper came out looking pretty perfect.  It’s amazing what teamwork can accomplish! 

That afternoon I observed SPC Corneiro while she taped her stand ups for The Point, the news show covering cadet activities and achievements.  You can check the show out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-c-1BTK9Mg or by checking out the West Point Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWestPointChannel.  Enjoy!

Seeing as I am not a USMA Cadet, I had never been to Miche Stadium before.  Thus, I went with Mr. Tombrello and Ms. Brinkerhoff to the Graduation Stadium Walk Thru IPR.  This year, the field will be set up in a different manner to facilitate better media coverage, so the battalion staff did a walk thru to understand the changes that will be made this year. 

Wednesday was a rainy, dreary day so we spent most of it in the office working on pulling together a camera kit for me to use, and learning more about the office.  I met with MAJ Sowers to keep him updated on how my projects were going (blogging, PT log, Supe’s retirement, etc).  I experienced the joy of Grant Hall… overpriced, mediocre cadet and staff restaurant. 

Thursday brought more meetings… Welcome to the Army J  The first meeting I attended was the R-Day (Reception Day for the class of 2014) IPR to the Commandant.  For those of you who don’t know, BG Rapp is the Commandant of USMA; therefore he is in charge of cadet’s military development.  He oversees this, as well as many other training ventures and leads from the front with dignity and humor.  R-Day has happened for 200 years, and each year he strives to make it run smoother and be as beneficial to cadets and cadre alike.  In his own words, “There is never a horse too dead to beat.” 

I spent time with the Pointer View staff doing a walk-thru of the Alumni Review (the Corp of Cadets parade for Alumni classes that come back) and the wreath laying ceremony at COL Thayer’s statue.  Positions for superior photography were theorized and assigned, as well as assigning what specific photographs need to be taken. 

That night I covered the photography with Eric of the woman’s softball team in their game against Colgate.  Did you know that softball only has seven innings?  It does!  I took more than 75 photos and I’m excited to see how they turned out!

This brings us to today, Friday.  This morning I had a Command Brief from LTC Tribus about the history and logistics of West Point. 

Fun Facts that I learned this morning:

-USMA is USA’s first school of engineering

-West Point is named so because it is the most western point of the “S” bend used as a fortification sight to prevent the British from traveling up the Hudson and cutting supply and communication from northern and southern colonies. 

-Above mentioned fortification was a 100 ton chain floated on logs that was designed to act as a barrier to enemy ships. 

-Much like ROTC, USMA has three focuses of curriculum:  Academic, Physical, and Military.  LTC Tribus described that their ranking system is very similar to that of ROTC’s OML (order of merit list… a ranking system off all the cadets in the program on those three levels).

This afternoon, we will partake in a conference call with the White House to solidify the media plan for the Commander in Chief.