5 April 2011

            PT resumed its regular schedule this morning, and for airborne, it meant reacquainting ourselves with a dear, old friend: CrossFit.  We ran through a basic circuit training workout today, in which you’d do 20 pull ups, 30 push ups, 40 sit ups, and 50 squats (in ACUs/boots).   We repeated those sets 5 times (a few got as many as 7 sets in), and it was enough to have me bent over grabbing for my camelback by the end.  Add in a little rain and mud (from a night of storms), and it made for a lovely morning (albeit one that permanently doomed a set of ACUs to be for PT/field training only).

(Oh, how I love you...)

(You may not have known, but the CrossFit board of directors [responsible for designing all the workouts] is actually a famous bunch:)

(Scar (CEO) - Rose to this position despite pushing for integration of a workout that 'shaped your core' by having you get trampled by wildebeest.)

(Staypuft (CFO) - See what happens when you tell him you don't want to do another pull up.)

(Cruella DeVille (COO) - She's not really responsible for any exhausting workout design, she just enjoys snuffing out puppies.)

[Note: My comments on CrossFit and it's "board of directors" are in complete jest and not meant to represent any actual harsh feelings or negative implications towards the company.]

            Class began with two more hours on operational law funding, and our focus today was on specific funding packages for certain activities in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Since I threw a bone to the humanitarian funding side of the course yesterday, today’s credit goes to the combat funding. Given the evolving nature of our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, this portion of the law has changed substantially.  The funding provisions reflect the increased attention given to our operations in Afghanistan, and it was amazing to see how much has changed in funding for operations in Iraq over the last three years alone.

            Even though this is the last full day of fiscal law, we still had a quiz on the op funding II class, which was followed by a seminar that didn’t last quite as long as the others.  We finished class with a final block on fiscal law research, which was about as thrilling as it sounds.  In all seriousness, it was actually pretty essential, given that the focus of the instruction is primarily on teaching us where to find the answers, rather than on expecting us to know the answer to everything.

            During the afternoon mail call, I got a pretty big letter in the mail (at least it was big to me).  I mentioned in a post way back from early March that you’ll prepare and send off a letter introducing yourself to your SJA.  These letters are actually sent out, and each SJA responds to every letter.  Mine came today, and contained news about my upcoming job once I reach Ft. Stewart. 

            Without dragging out the suspense I’m sure has been built (sarcasm, anyone?), my career at Ft. Stewart and the 3^rd Infantry Division will begin as a legal assistance attorney.  Even though a huge majority of new JAs begin their career as legal assistance attorneys, nothing is certain until the SJA makes the assignment. 

(No jokes acceptable here.  Rock of the Marne.)

      I’m extremely excited about the job, and I can assure you that there’s 0 sarcasm there. The chance to directly interact with soldiers in need is one of the primary motivators there.  One of the biggest attractions to the branch for me was the possibility of someday being the soldier with the answer to a question that may be the most important thing going on in a soldier’s life.  Having the chance to be a positive force for a soldier in a time of need is something I’ve been looking forward to for a long time, and I’m glad there’s now an official start date for that chance.

       Since the fiscal law exam is tomorrow, the department held a review session (mandatory) at the end of the class day.  I have to give them quite a bit of credit for doing it in a fun way: a game of jeopardy, which pitted 1^st Platoon against 2^nd Platoon, against the class leadership.  I can’t say that the review was comprehensive, or that it was 100% effective in reinforcing points, but it was a nice change of pace (even though class leadership lost miserably, even with help from the faculty).