21 April 2011

            Student-led PT in the airborne group continued today, and I jumped on the chance to design a session, along with a classmate.  He was a football coach before coming here, and had been itching to implement some of them on our group.  We modified one of his workouts known as “the compass,” which involved four exercise stations set out like the points of a compass on one of the soccer fields at the Park.  Students performed a minute worth of each exercise, and then sprinted between each station.  The sprints increased with each rotation, increasing from ¼ of the field all the way up to a lap and a half sprint by the fourth rotation.

         I immediately regretted going along with a workout I’d never done before as soon as we got around to the second full sprint.  Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun stepping back into leadership shoes, and the workout ended up being a pretty good smoking all around.  This was our last PT session before we enter OML week on Monday, which will determine who gets a slot for airborne school.

            The fact that PT was held today represented the crushing of a dream that quite a few classmates had.  A rumor that PT was going to be cancelled spread like wildfire yesterday.  I spent a large chunk of the day deflecting people who approached me demanding to know an answer, while also trying to stamp out the rumor.  My point was that it’s no good to get your hopes up without any sort of confirmation, only to have it stamped out. 

(Loose lips also happen to sink the hopes of large numbers of spoiled LTs.)

            If you find yourself in any level of class leadership, this is bound to happen at multiple points.  Too often, the class hears what it wants to hear, and quickly latches on to the smallest bit of potential good news.  Before you know it, the class has assumed the rumor is 150% true, and then gets bent out of shape when they find out otherwise.  Today was no different, despite my best efforts.

            The morning class session was split between 2 two-hour blocks.  The first was on the Geneva Conventions’ protection of wounded and sick armed forces.  The class was taught by a Navy Lt Commander, and once again showcased TJAGLCS’ outstanding multi-service faculty.  In fact, the op law section is more mixed than any other we’ve had so far, with Army, Navy, and Air Force instructors.  The second class was on the Geneva Conventions’ rules regarding the treatment of POWs.

            I ended up finding the information pretty engaging, and it definitely has major implications, given our current missions.  Once again, the afternoon was comprised of a two-hour seminar.  Thankfully there aren’t any quizzes, like in fiscal law, and the sessions go pretty fast.

            As our time here winds down, we’re rapidly approaching our dining in.  I’ll talk more about what that is as we get closer, but a portion of the event is dedicated to funny skits, which are put on by sections of the class.  I volunteered to head the class leadership’s skit, which we’ve decided to do as a movie.  That choice kept me a while after class today as we met to work on principal photography.  It’s too early to tell whether it’ll be any good, but my overall plan is to avoid actually having to do anything other than hit ‘play’ the night of the dining in.

(Dear George Lucas, As a big fan of yours, I'm sorry that my final product for the dining in is going to inevitably humiliate filmmakers everywhere.  Sincerely, LT Harper)