Hello all, just checking in after a busy week.  Week three was much like week two: lots of classes, some light PT, and some hearty meals.  Monday was a four mile run with the Movement Center of Excellence (about a thousand of us, the center includes OCS, infantry and armor basic leadership courses, and the NCO academy); it was about as slow as you would expect a run with a thousand people would be, but it was fun jogging around the base and calling cadence with the company. Friday morning we had our second foot march, a six mile ruck march at a 17:20 pace; I put my ballistic plates in my ruck to add a little bit of weight (about 55-60lbs on my back altogether) and to get myself ready for some of the harder ruck marches.  I almost immediately regretted this, of course, but a little extra soreness for a few days is worth the experience and strength that I've gained in the process.  For instance, I learned that I don't know how to wear a ruck very well and that I need to stretch before the next march!
After our morning runs/marches/PT we have been having classes, history in the morning and miscellaneous classes in the afternoon (personnel management/supply/intelligence order plans). History class is pretty intense; going through every major military engagement that the United States has taken part in, about a college semester worth of information, in two weeks is pretty tough. Luckily we're given plenty of time to study in our free time and being part of a study group helps too.  While the information in the other classes we take either aren't testable or the tests are meant to be easy, but history the class is meant to be rough and plenty of people are recycled when they end up failing it.
Today was a blast: we did the Leaders Reaction Course (this video shows a few of the obstacles) which tests our ability to plan, pass on information, and lead/supervise, or what the Army calls Troop Leading Procedures.  We did the obstacles by squad with each obstacle being lead by a different member of the squad. I was nervous going in because we were being graded on our leadership ability, and anything we get graded on here either hurts or helps us on the Order of Merit List. Anything that goes towards your OML here is a pretty big deal because how well you do on the OML decides the order in which you can choose your job since there are only a small number of spots available for the more desirable jobs (For example, there are 80 active duty members in my company and there will probably only be 4-6 spots for Military Intelligence, a highly desired branch). Luckily I ended up doing very well on my obstacle, mainly because it was one of the easier ones and my squad is extremely high speed, but regardless it was still fun to do well. Even better, I learned some more about my leadership: I recognized that I may not be the greatest puzzle solver on the spot, but I am great at delegating, listening, and motivating, and acting. OCS is all about recognizing your strengths and weaknesses as a leader so it's great to know what I need to work on!
Miss all of you, hope your weekends are going great, have a wonderful Fathers Day tomorrow!