Whew!

So I finally had some time to breathe after the beast that was Grad Week. Hello again dear readers. In case you didn't know, I finally graduated from West Point!! Wow it feels so weird being done. I don't miss the institution so much, but I really do miss my friends. My high school friends are great and all, but I've just grown up so much in the past four years that I can't really relate to them as much as I did in the past. To be honest, the thing I'm looking forward to most this summer is my road trip down the East Coast with some of my West Point friends later this summer-- that should be a blast.

So what is this new second lieutenant up to these days? Well, a whole lot of nothing really. For my first few days home, I literally did nothing but slug out as I was just way too exhausted from Grad Week to do anything. I've recently linked up with my best friend who just finished ROTC at USF and we've been going on runs together in the mornings while I do circuit workouts at home in the evening with the hopes that such workouts will put us in good shape for our respective BOLCs.

I've also met up with some old acquaintances such as one of my coworkers whom I worked with when I worked down at the pool. We actually went mini golfing today and ran into a rising cow and his parents. It was kind of neat and really shows how small the world is. I'm meeting up with her again tomorrow to go watch a movie-- anything to kill the time.

I also had dinner with my aunt and her family today and it was the first time my aunt and cousin legally bought me a beer. Still kind of weird though.

My 22nd birthday was also yesterday. It was cool for a variety of reasons:

1) I got free breakfast at Denny's
2) I'm now on the old man PT scale
3) I got to hang out with some old friends and now a Las Vegas trip next weekend is in the works.

All in all, Summer 2011should be a blast. West Point is finally over and life is seemingly finally beginning.

On Graduation Ceremony Practice

So I would've blogged yesterday May 19, 2011, but I was out with my parents all day and couldn't find the time to do so-- I'll blog now, but expect another blog later tonight too.

Yesterday we had our Graduation Ceremony Practice, which, surprisingly everyone was willing to undergo. I think my classmates and I are all getting really antsy and just want to graduate already. We practiced queuing up, taking our seats, and some people even got to practice getting their diplomas/commissioning certificate (not everyone go to do it because after the first few, you sort of got the gist of it). The most surreal part was when the Class President said "Graduating Class, DISMISSED!" and we all pretended to have thrown our hats in the air as is customary-- at that point, I realized "Oh wow, this is it!"

To close the practice, we heard General Martin Dempsey, Chief of Staff of the Army, give us a few words of encouragement about us entering into the officer corps. He showed us this cheesy video about us joining this "indestructible army," which is pretty standard Army promo material. What really got to me though was his talk on his three key tasks while serving as Chief of Staff of the Army: discipline, fitness, and trust. The first two are pretty self explanatory, but the last one got to me. He said something about how as an officer, or as a soldier in general, you have to have a lot of trust in a lot of people, whether it be your buddy next to you in a firefight, the medical folks who treat you when you're wounded, or even the support groups available in the unfortunate event something terrible happens. I really never thought about it that way, and I hope I can earn people's trust. It was kind of cool that he said he trusts us, and I hope I can live to that.

The commandant also spoke to us about how there are three types of people with jobs out there: the guys who have to do something (i.e. "I have to work a McDonald's"), the guys who are something (i.e. "I am an officer in the Army") and the guys who have the privilege of doing something (i.e. "I'm privileged to help these folks out") The comm said he fell into the middle ground as a new lieutenant, but hoped that in the future, we would all fall into the latter category, because it's not about us but about the folks we serve. I'll keep that in mind as I continue my career.

After the Graduation Ceremony Practice, I ran some errands and now I'm back. I can't believe I graduate tomorrow (tomorrow being May 21, 2011). So surreal...

Last Wednesday as a Cadet

So today is my last Wednesday as a Cadet (as I graduate and commission on Saturday). Before graduation, all of us graduating firsties have to go through a series of stations to out process of West Point, making the entire ordeal sort of like a crazy scavenger hunt. Some of the things we have to do to out process includes picking up our personnel file, our medical file, and our dental file, returning our issued cadet telephones, talking with the Department of Physical Education people to settle any money issues, talking with the computer people to get rid of no longer authorized security certificates on our computers, talking with the yearbook people to make sure our yearbook photo looks alright, and last but definitely not least, returning all of our issued stuff. The last bit is the event that's taking the longest to do, as the civilian workers get over tasked (1,000+ cadets trying to return stuff and literally only two (2) people working!) Over the summer, the civilians who issue cadets items get reinforced by teenagers who work for the summer and I can't imagine why they wouldn't do something similar to that right now; it would really help out a lot. For example, I showed up to turn in my stuff at 12:35 yesterday but didn't get helped until almost 3! Once I got up there though, I was in and out within 5 minutes tops-- just goes to show you how long the lines were you know?

We also had graduation parade practice today (I actually paused blogging while I went to drill, and am finishing up right now. The time is now 10:07AM). Drill, which is usually miserable in and of itself, was made even more so because of the rain, which fell hard at times. The drill leadership was also terrible, as it seemed like no one was in sync and no one really knew what to do. We ended drill practice just pissed off that we were out there for 3 hours and didn't really accomplish much. The parade field (aka The Plain) also looks like a mess right now because they decided to hold drill in the pouring rain-- with 4000+ cadets marching on wet grass, its no surprise certain areas look like swamps.

I also just got back from bringing the boxes I want to bring to Benning to the movers-- that line didn't take too long. I'm also bringing a trunk of stuff I'll need to survive the first few days at Benning with me in my car, as I'm going to drive it down to Benning this summer.

My parents also just arrived today in New York and I'll be meeting up with them later to attend the Supe's reception.

All in all, it's getting real-- Graduation is in 3 days!

"And the First Class is soo short...!"

So here we are folks: Grad Week for the Class of 2011. This last week of the semester serves as the transition phase from West Point the academic institution to Fort West Point the military training institution. As you may or may not know, West Point conducts most of its military training over the summer, and Grad Week is a time when the Summer Garrison Regiment (aka the cadets who help monitor the many different military trainings going on during the summer) settles in. Grad Week also serves as the time when the seniors (aka First Class Cadets or "firsties") start moving out of their rooms in preparation for graduation on Saturday. Most, if not all, grades have already been locked in by this time, so cadets should know if they're graduating. Somehow, I made it and will be graduating on time (finals or "TEEs" for Term End Examinations went fine for me-- nothing to write home about, though I did miscalculate what to study for on my Civil War Era America exam; who knew both essays I had to write would be on Reconstruction, a subject I glazed over while studying?)

I'm going to miss the many "And the First Class is soo short...!" quips in the Mess Hall. Every so often, the Mess Hall guy (formally known as the Brigade Adjutant) announces these little quips in addition to his normal every day announcements to remind everyone how short of a time the firsties have left until graduation. Today's was "And the First Class is so short....! (Response: How short are they!?) The First Class is so short they have fewer hours until graduation than the yuks (aka sophomores) have weeks at the academy!" It's finally all starting to set in. My parents come up Wednesday morning while my sister comes up Thursday. Only a few parades and moving out of my room separate me from graduation.

I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't a little bit anxious though. West Point flew by so fast. I hope I can do well as an officer-- only time will tell.

PS
Oh also, during Grad Week, we're waking up at 4:30AM every day to practice parading. Normally I'd be upset at this, as I hate waking up early to begin with (I normally wake up at 6:30am, so I'm up 2 hours earlier than normal), but I'm just way too excited for graduation. Only 5 days out!

"Lieutenants have two ears and one mouth for a reason"

As the school year draws to a close, more and more instructors are taking the time to impart upon us their words of wisdom before finals, and before we enter into the real army. Here's what I remember from what they said:

War and it's Theorists Instructor:
"Lieutenants have two ears and one mouth for a reason." Basically, I think he's saying for new lieutenants to absorb as much as they can and learn to do their job as best they can. I also talked to this instructor about writing a recommendation for me in order to come back to West Point to teach. Here's what he had to say:

"Citizen JEZ

I would be happy to do so.  You are exactly the type of cadet that we look

for to come back as a CPT/MAJ.  I'm excited that you are interested.

Respectfully,

Your Warfare and it's Theorists Instructor"

Pretty good praise from a lieutenant colonel right? I remember we were also talking in class about how being an instructor at West Point affects your army career and we came to the conclusion that for the most part, if you want to command a battalion one day, it may not be the best move for you. Keep in mind, however, that there have been some great general officers who have taught at West Point (notably General Petraeus and General Abizaid), but for the most part, it could kill your career as a commander and relegate you to staff jobs (for example, my Warfare and it's Theorists Instructor will be an officer on someone's Corps Staff after this semester is over). I don't know how I feel about that, but I know as a cadet, I've done much better as a staff person than as a commander. I guess we'll see how being an infantry platoon leader treats me-- I definitely do not have the knowledge yet to know if I want to be a staff officer forever, but I do want to keep my options open.

Law Instructor:

We really didn't talk too much about being an officer in my last Law class. I suppose it may be because our instructor is so young (30) and is a direct commissioned JAG officer, who has limited officer experience.

International Relations Instructor:

Funny thing, my International Relations Instructor really only told us to spend the time and write a good note to put inside of our hats, so when the little kids grab our hats after the hat toss on graduation day, the kids will be happy. He also said to put in $20 in there, since that'll be chump change to us pretty soon, but it'll really brighten the kid's day. I plan on putting in one $20 bill, a dime, and a penny, totaling $20.11, my class year. Maybe I'll buy my tossing hat (I want to keep the hat I've used as a cadet) later today and work on my note this afternoon...

Officership Instructor:

As you probably already know, I didn't have the best MX400 experience. I didn't see very much of my MX teacher, and frankly, would not trust his advice on how to become an officer. I wrote him as scathing of a review as I could while still being professional-- future classes should not have an instructor like him teaching them how to become officers. It is a disservice to everyone.

History of Civil War America Instructor:

"Your brain is not a vessel to be filled, but a flame to be kindled." On the last day of my Civil War class, while talking about Reconstruction, we started to talk about the education system. Somehow, we started discussing how to promote education within a community, especially for under-performing students. Such is a problem in my hometown, resulting in it being seen as not a nice place to live, especially with all the violence going on nowadays. It was brought up that smoking used to be popular, but through concentrated efforts over time, it became more difficult to smoke and thus smoking isn't as prevalent. Likewise, such a strategy can be used to promote education, but how to execute it is another story. I'll keep that discussion in mind, as I do want to return home someday and maybe help out in city government to clean up my hometown. There are good people that live there, but it seems like it's fallen apart in the past couple of years.

Oh, on an unrelated note, if you didn't know, I was the swim coach for the company's intramural swim team. From the begining of the season, I really didn't care if we went to Brigade championships-- I just wanted people to have fun and get a decent work out out of it all, as intramurals have an awful reputation of being a waste of time. Well, as it turns out, our company DID get to go to Brigade championships. Our Cinderella story did not end on the best of notes however (we came in fourth out of four in the championships), but what really got me was a note a swimmer sent me later that evening:

"Thanks, Coach.  Solid work.

Very Respectfully,

Sarcastic Cadet on Swim Team"

I always thought that this guy didn't like me because he was pretty sarcastic during the entire season. However, I really like how he referred to me as Coach. I didn't refer to myself as Coach during the season (I was always just ______, my real name), so I guess that was kind of cool. Would've been kind of cool if we had won Brigades, but it happens sometimes. Perhaps next year we will-- we've laid a solid foundation this year, so hopefully swimmers in the Class of 2012 will step up and win Brigades next year.

Lastly, I defended my thesis today and got a B+ on the thesis paper itself and an A- on my defense. I couldn't have done it without the morale support of the five people who sat behind me. You all know who you are, and thanks for being there!

And that's it-- that's the last of my undergraduate classes. All I have left are finals, a week of prades and moving out and then life truly begins.

The Future

Today we had a briefing from IBOLC (Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course), RTB (Ranger Training Battalion) and Office of the Chief of Infantry representatives and they laid out what was in store for us in the coming months. Basically, I need to get in the best shape of my life this summer if I truly wish to succeed in Ranger School. I'm pretty excited about it all, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. However, I already know some of my weaknesses (land navigation in particular), so I'm going to spend as much time as I can this summer practicing it. My roommate here at West Point is also pretty good at land navigation and did a great job teaching it to Yearlings when he was a Buckner Squad Leader, and we've planned to spend some free time here practicing. Hopefully, I'll do well in The Future.

Also, I submitted my thesis yesterday with little problems. I actually ran into my thesis adviser in the hallway, so I was able to submit my thesis in person to him. He looked it over and seemed pretty cool with it all, but we'll see how the defense goes-- my thesis defense is scheduled for May 6, 2011 at 2:00pm. The end is near.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

Perhaps the death of Osama Bin Laden will give this nation that peace it so longs for-- only time will tell.

It's May 2011

Today is May 1, 2011. I say again, 2011. That means graduation is 20 days away. Who would've thought that this time would finally come? I can still remember back in July 2007 thinking that May 2011 was light years away-- and now it's finally here.

Tomorrow I start my last week of undergraduate education. There's not much left in this school year in terms of actual learning though. Some highlights of this week include submitting my senior thesis and this Model UN thing we're doing in my International Relations class. We're basically pretending we're the UN Security Council discussing Libya. I get to play South Africa, so you can imagine that I'll be bringing in a soccer ball and a vuvuzela to our little mock UN cession tomorrow. Overall, it should be fun.

I also defend my thesis on Friday May 6, 2011. I still don't have any idea on what to call it, so if you have any suggestions for me, feel free to post: my senior thesis topic is the American Airborne on Sicily during WWII.

Wow-- it's already May 2011. Just wow.