8 April 2011

            Today began with a renuion of the airborne PT group and an old friend: O-Hill.  The workout design was to go on an extended run at a moderate pace, but to do ‘one-up’ runs the entire way.  For those unfamiliar, a ‘one up’ run is simply where the last people in line sprint to the front each time ‘go’ is yelled.  As we left the grounds of TJAGLCS, I mentioned that it would be funny if we the formation magically ended up at O-Hill and did sprints up and down it.

            I should’ve known better.  We ended up doing two total laps of sprints around O-Hill (I was smart enough to not say anything about a possible second lap).  In all fairness, I had a lot of fun with the group today.  Exhaustion aside, we have become really tight knit over the last couple months, even though our only time together is for an hour in the mornings. 

     If you’re scratching your head about the title of the post, it came from some of the peanut gallery comments made during the run.  The group found a way to cheer each person on as they sprinted, which made the whole thing much easier.  On the way back in, one of the fastest members of the group had been consistently burning everyone on his sprints.  The next time he passed me, I yelled out that if he hit 88 miles per hour, he’d go back in time.

("Doc, you made a time machine?!....Out of a Dickinson?!?")

If you haven’t seen Back to the Future, there’s not much I can do for you.

(You haven't seen it?  For once, Doc Brown is speechless.  Not even a "Great scott!!")

     Legal assistance rolled on today, beginning with an exhilirating two hour block of estate planning.  Given how in depth my law school class was on this area, it feels like we’re flying through at mach speed.  We’ve covered a lot of advanced trust planning concepts (as well as others, such as advanced medical directives, living wills, etc), but I suppose the takeaway is to just know where to find the answers.

(The super laser of information put out in class today...)

(...and it's effect on my brain...)

     The second half of the morning revolved around the Anti-Discrimination Reemployment Act (USERRA), and was taught by an Army Reserve faculty member. This topic has huge impact for both components, but definitely hit home for the Reservists and Guardsmen in the class.  The Act provides a litany of protections for reserve component soldiers who are mobilized or deploy, and then have to come back to work. 

     Although I knew generally about some basic protections, like the fact that an employer is heavily restricted in its ability to terminate a soldier’s employment, I didn’t realize there were other more advanced protections, such as ensuring that a soldier isn’t handicapped in terms of seniority or promotions, simply because of being called to serve.  Ultimately, I came away from the class with a much bigger appreciation for the efforts that have been made to acknowledge the reality of our current operations, and how they interplay with soldier’s lives outside the service.

The afternoon saw two more hours of estate planning.  Given how many soldiers are in need of services in this area on a regular basis, it was definitely a little easier to pay attention, even though it’s about as exciting as watching a race between two amoebas.