18 April 2011

              TJAGLCS took part in a special event today: the Panorama Farms Run.  It takes place on a family-owned farm about 10 minutes from the school in a completely picturesque area.  The family that owns the farm is kind enough to let our massive group come out, wake them up far before any normal person should be awake, and run all over their property.

            As I mentioned before, the run includes the OBC class, grad course, NCO Academy, staff and faculty, as well as members of the National Ground Intelligence Center.  Several family members also came out to run with us as well.  After listening to a brief welcome speech from the Commandant of TJAGLCS, we took off in one big formation, and kept it that way for about a mile.  Each group was led by its guidon, and called cadence, making for a pretty inspiring scene.

            We were released to run at our own pace at the one-mile mark, and the paces varied pretty widely.  Most people took the opportunity to run with friends, although several rabbits broke out ahead of the main pack.  One in particular was the wife of one of my classmates, who absolutely smoked the rest of us.  This isn’t too surprising, as she was a Division I runner in college, but nonetheless, she blew away the rest of the pack in impressive fashion.

            We wrapped up with a final talk by the General, and a big thank you to the family for their kindness.  It was a great morning that left everyone a lot more motivated.  Our motivation got an extra kick by not having to be at class until 1020, which most people used for a little extra sleep.

            Our first (and only) class of the morning was an hour block on estates, which piled a little extra information needed for the wills assignment that’s due tomorrow.  After getting a long lunch, which many used to finish off their assignments, we had a 2-hour block on officer evaluation reports.  I’ll be the first to admit that it was a little hard to pay attention, given the tempo of the day.  Nevertheless, the class links up directly to a seminar we have tomorrow afternoon, and it’s critical information for the near future.