12 April 2011

            We all know how much I love the APFT (sarcasm doesn’t come across well in type).  However, the only thing I love better than a regular APFT is an APFT in the cold rain.  That’s exactly what we were gifted with this morning.  In all fairness, the rain only affected the first round of push-ups, as the cadre moved the graders under the cover of the long field house that sits on the edge of the Park.  By the time we got around to the run, the rain had stopped, and the only negative effect was a slick path.

            Overall, I was pretty disappointed with my performance this time around.  My allergies have been attacking me in full force, and I made the mistake of taking some medicine before it prior to the APFT.  It’s no excuse, but I found out the hard way that “non-drowsy” on a box of medicine doesn’t necessarily mean what it implies.  I managed to slightly improve on push-ups, but lost 3 or 4 sit-ups, and ran quite a bit slower (came in around 13:02). 

(You cruel, cruel mistress.)

I realize this is nothing to complain about, but it bugs me to set a standard previously, and not at least meet it.  Medicine, allergies, etc. or not, there’s no excuse-I’ll have to improve next time (the airborne OML APFT).

     I also want to take a minute to talk up the rest of my class.  After this APFT, we have only 2 or 3 people that are still failing the test, and all are only failing by the slightest margin (and have improved substantially since Ft. Lee).  Our class’ average PT score is around 256, which is pretty awesome if you’re experienced with APFT scoring for large groups of varying PT skill levels.  It’s a testament to the hard work of the entire class, and the commitment to fitness everyone has shown.

     The morning was split between a pair of practical classes that related to two upcoming assignments.  The first was a 2-hour workshop on how to use the computer program DL Wills.  I was surprised at how many people in the class had prior experience with the program, since I’d never used it in my life.  We walked through the process of setting up several different portions of a will.

     Unfortunately, the professor is a huge Star Trek fan, which meant that I was forced to do a will involving characters that are all far outclassed by Star Wars characters.  In the end, the program was actually incredibly useful, and I left wanting to learn more (unfortunately, we couldn’t all be on the computers at once, as the computer lab only has a limited number of stations).  1/3 of our grade in LA comes from a will we’ll be drafting on DL wills, so it’s going to be essential that I figure this stuff out.

(A will...for a Star Trek character?...Admiral Ackbar says 'IT'S A...sad application and use of my skills.'  It also may be a trap.)

The second half of the morning was another written advocacy workshop, which primarily focused on the process of drafting our reprimand rebuttal letter.  A 2-hour class on child support took up the afternoon, which will be another big area of the exam on Thursday (and another large chunk of our future practice in this area).