So I read through the last blog post last night to look for questions and I couldn't believe the amount of typos, so I apologize for that ahead of time, with the limited time afforded to write I guess I don't edit nearly as well as I should.

Regardless, this last week went as quickly as the last, probably because we got to play with weapons the vast majority of the time. Monday started with regular PT, minute on minute off workout with some running involved, nothing too difficult. We then drew our M16s ad headed to the classrooms to finish up "zeroing" our CCOs with our barrel bore lights. After that was completed and we reviewed further safety and technique issues, the entire class headed to the "zeroing" range just across the street. The "zeroing" process is really simple on paper, but it can take some time in practice. You first have to "cluster" which means you have to shoot five rounds within a 4 cm circle so that the cadre knows your technique is solid and you're holding the rifle the same way each time you shoot, that you're breathing is correct and that you're not "jerking" the trigger. Once you've clustered, then you begin to zero on an actual target. The CCO (Close Combat Optics) is a scope that creates a small yellow/red dot within it (the dot is not projected out of the scope, it is only visible to the shooter through the scope) and the task of zeroing is to get the rounds fired to actually hit where the dot is placed on the target. This means you aim the dot at the same point, and fire five rounds, hopefully each round strikes the target in a similar place which means you've clustered well. You then find the center of the cluster, and adjust your scope so that the center of your next cluster would impact the target where the CCO's dot is actually placed. This process can be frustrating because it is wrought with human error during the firing process, so for many of us, it took quite a long time. It took nearly 7 hours for the entire class to "zero" their weapons, and by the end of the day (which was hot, and you spent most of the time in the sun) the class was ready to return to the barracks.

Tuesday morning started with a circuit style PT created by BBB (Cadre put her in charge of the workout, and if you actually put in the effort, it was a good workout.) After a quick shower, which actually became an issue this week because our old antiquated barracks had an near complete shut down in the plumbing, so there were only three showers in our barracks for 90 men. However, the Cadre allowed us to use the showers in the building next door so that alleviated much of the issue. After showering and hygiene we headed out to the LOMAH range (Location Of Miss And Hit), which is an awesome range that uses microphones placed at the base of each target to triangulate where a fired round either impacts the target or misses it, as long as the round passed within 6 feet of the target. The class started by finalizing their "zeros" using the awesome computer images. Once that was completed we were allowed to practice shooting from one of three basic positions; prone supported (i.e. you have a sand bag you place the weapon on when firing, by far the easiest and most stable), prone UNsupported (no sand bag, just your hand and elbow), and kneeling (by far the most difficult and unstable. After getting 40 rounds between the three positions, we then got to do a mock qualification; 40 rounds fired at 40 pop-up targets at varying distances. To qualify in the Army, you have to hit 23 out of 40, and depending on the distance from the shooter the targets only stay up for 3-8 seconds, the furthest target being 300 meters and the closest at 50 meters. This whole process from start to finish took nearly 7 hours as well, and we finished earlier then expected. So we got back to the barracks where we had hot chow delivered to us, we cleaned our weapons (which is a pain in the you-know-what), and we were released for the day.

Wednesday morning we were given PT off and were told to report ready to qualify. When we formed up, we drew our weapons again and marched over to the qualification range. Those of us heading out of the country for our duty stations were allowed to shoot first because we had all kinds of stuff we had to take care of to get our travel plans and medical files up-to-date. Most of us qualified on our first try and we were released to take care of everything. The rest of the class remained at the range until everyone (or nearly everyone) was able to qualify. Those of us who were released were sent off to try and maneuver through the Army trails of paper. The only thing I have to say for those who are going to Korea or Europe for their duty stations is KEEP every piece of paper you've ever accumulated when it comes to your medical history (shots, physicals, ear and eye exams) and stay on top of everything that your orders tell you that you need to have. Put all of that paper in one locations and make sure you continue to keep it close to you and up-to-date, because the Army is notoriously slow at updating their new digital files, and it can be VERY frustrating and particularly when you're getting another set of inoculations that you received three months before at Ft. Lee. Well, by the end of the day, the Korea group had completed about 1/3 of what it needed to when we returned to the qualification range and found that the class was nearly done. We marched back to the barracks and were released, another hot day in son for most of the class.

Thursday morning start with a "Battle Field" workout, in which we wore our IBA (Infantry Battle Armor?), which is our plated-vest which weighs roughly 22lbs depending on what size you have. The workout was actually a set of relays which made the time move very quickly and it needed to be cut short because Thursday morning is "Sergeant's" time which means everything opens and then closes earlier then usual, so we had to rush to the DFAC. After eating, the entire class drew weapons and prepared for an entire day of weapons maintenance, which TAKES FOREVER!!! However, those of us heading to Korea still had to finalize travel and get our "special inoculations" (i.e. smallpox, another typhoid, and anthrax). So, the group (again) spend the entire day traveling around Ft. Benning trying to find the right buildings and waiting in line to get what we needed. By 1430 I returned to the class, to start cleaning my weapon to find that most of the class hadn't completed cleaning their own, yes the process takes that long. There were a couple of people who had finished, and most were helping out their fellow classmates. I say most, because there were a couple who weren't and it was obvious and some people were NOT pleased. Basic rule of thumb, help your buddies out, particularly when you have nothing else to do... The class wasn't going anywhere for the rest of the day, so help out, if you don't, people notice and its hard to forget that kind of thing. A big thanks to Lt. Miller who did his best to help me and Lady Lucht out, but we just ran out of time. Once the weapons were returned to the armory, we were released for the day so that we could rest up for our 6-mile ruck march, beginning at 0345 the next morning.

Friday morning everyone was in formation by 0345 with our Mollie packs with 20% of our body weight packed in, our FLICK (or vest that has numerous pouches, we use them primarily to carry our canteens) and our ACHs (Advanced Combat Helmet). The entire class then drew our weapons before heading out. The march took just under two hours, and I think everyone made it under their own power, which was a big success. After chow we formed up and went to a class based on Battle Field Leadership (I can't remember the acronym at this moment). After that we had lunch and we returned to a class (on the PT Field) on IMT (Individual Movement Techniques). In this class we learned and practiced the low and high crawls as well as the 3-5 second dash. After that quick introduction, we learned how to move in squads and how to react to contact. All of this will be covered in more detail next week, which should be pretty fun and full of crawling in the mud and forest. After that, we had an early release, 1500 and we were off for the weekend.

I do have a couple of questions about Land Nav and Bifurcation to answer.

As for the Land Nav question about additional gear. You were not required to carry anything other then a water source, a compass, a map, a protractor and your score sheet. However, you could take just about anything you want. Specifically speaking to the knife, it wouldn't have been any help unless you had a giant machete, which I'm pretty sure the Cadre wouldn't approve of, besides, just use the roads. When you get to DCC, the Cadre will brief you on exactly what you need, so don't think too much about it right now, and you'll have plenty of time to run to Ranger Joe's or the PX to acquire additional goods you might need.

To the question about timing between DCC and reporting to your duty station. For those who are staying in the Continental US, I think their report dates is November 22nd (DCC ends on November 10th this year). For those of us heading outside of the Continental US, our report date is December 7th. With that said, you should be looking to report as soon as possible after DCC, because any time you use between DCC and reporting will be considered leave, and at this point you have only acquired 10 days of leave, and you don't want to blow all of that before you even report. Also, you don't want to be the last JAG to arrive from your class, I think that would reflect poorly on you, so the advice I've been given, is suck it up and report relatively quickly, unless you have an excellent reason to delay.

Lastly, there was a question two blogs ago about bifurcation/waiving DCC. Bifurcation is only for National Guard and Reserve candidates who need to return to their civilians jobs and can't take the additional 6-weeks off after the three months in C'Ville. Waiving can be achieved by either Active Duty or Guard/Reserve people, but you have to show fairly extensive prior experience. Having gone through ROTC will absolutely NOT allow you to waive DCC. The only people that were able to waive from this class had a very long history of prior service and prior positions of leadership, and they had completed other Officer Courses in the past. If you think you fit into this category, you have to apply for Waiver, and you still may not get it. There are several individuals in this class who had fairly extensive prior service as an Enlisted Soldier, who were NOT granted a Waiver, so it is in no way a guaranteed course of action.

With that, I think I'm done. I hope you enjoyed and good luck to the new class that just started...