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I have been busy since my last post. In early February I had my Officer Candidate School (OCS) board and was accepted into the OCS program for the Hawaii National Guard. Later that month I began Zero Phase of OCS. Zero Phase is the Hawaii National Guard's preparatory phase for Phasese the I-III of OCS on the mainland. Hawaii's reputation is quite high among the National Guard, country wide. To date, it has had a 100% graduation rate of Officer Candidates (OCs) sent...read more
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So the 2009 Enlisted Promotion List for the Oklahoma National Guard was published... a few weeks ago, never mind the fact it was due out in Aug of 2009. And yours has come out #20 on this list, on head of my little brother who is also in my home Battery (a company size element) but being Artillery we have different words for the same meanings. So goodie me.... just bide my time, wait for the 19 other guys to either get promoted or passed over for various things, But wait... there’s more....read more
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Cause you just might get it, and all of it. So even as a young private I'd been pinning for a sweet combat patch for a while. Mind you, as I write this I'm on year 4 of 6 and have been a speclist since Oct 07. I asked and asked my unit admin to send me over as filler or something. "No, you’re too valuable here in rear." He'd keep telling me, so later that year while in my second semester of college, I get this phone call at lunch, and its my section leader, "Hey Mansell,...read more
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Looking back to my post 40 is the new 25..., implied in my tone was a new found excitement in life and what it offers. The successes that I had in OSUT fostered a renewal of confidence for me in my life and a certain amount of clarity of what I want to do with the rest of my life. The result was what I call “THE LIST.” “THE LIST” is a conglomeration of goals that I want to accomplish in my life. Because it is an extensive list I decided to add a feature to my blog...read more
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A few days ago I was chatting with one of my OSUT battle buddies who is currently in Afghanistan with the 2ID. I hadn’t spoken to him since graduating, but thanks to the technology of Facebook we were able to reconnect--even at that great distance. We chatted briefly--due to a itinerant internet connection. I had heard that the 2ID was getting hit hard, but also knew that some platoons were being hit harder than others. When I asked about his unit he told me that they had been pretty...read more
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The day I graduated from my Cavalry Scout One Station Unit Training (OSUT) at Ft. Knox marked a new beginning for me. I went into OSUT with the determination not to be the “old, fat guy who couldn’t keep up with the youngsters.” Before joining the Army, I was the stereotype of an American middle-aged man. I had a profound belly and love handles going on. Oblivious of my approach to obesity, I deluded myself into believing that playing rugby for my local club side in...read more
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As you can tell from my profile, I am a relatively recent graduate from OSUT at Ft. Knox, KY. My MOS is 19D--Cavalry Scout. I am a member of B Troop, 1/299th CAV, Hawaii Army National Guard. Let me begin by expressing my gratitude for those soldiers that have gone before me. In March 2009, I was on leave after graduating from the basic training portion of OSUT. My parents had traveled to Ft. Knox to see me graduate. We decided to stop by the Patton Museum on...read more
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