Hooah
M. and I recently returned from Fort Knox, KY. I was asked by the Nowhere College ROTC guy (who, it turns out, the Army refers to amusingly as a "PMS" or Professor of Military Science) to go as an educational observer of the Cadet Command's LTC.
Warning...as this post concerns the Army, there are going to be lots of acronyms. I'll try to explain them as I go.
LTC stands for Leaders' Training Course. It's what Sophomores do in the summer after they decide to do ROTC but missed the first two years. They haven't signed any contracts yet, so it's a sort of kinder, gentler, Disneyfied version of the Army. It involves lots of shouting "hooah," which can be an affirmative, an interrogative, or just a bellow. It seems to be an all-purpose word for the Army, like "Smurf" was for the Smurfs.
Anyway, there was lots of participation. We did the FLRC (Field Leader Reaction Course), which involves commanding a squad through various battlefield-type obstacles. Here's me trying to get across a gator pit. And here's M after having been hoisted atop an 8-foot fence.
Also we did stream crossing, climbed 50-foot climbing walls, flipped capsized Zodiac boats, and ate MREs (Meal, Ready-to-eat). That particular TLA (three-letter acronym) is especially silly, since it also relies on the military's tendency to comma-ize, everything. For example, one doesn't wear a camouflage cap, one wears a "Cap, Camouflage."
This course, in addition to teaching orienteering skills and battling acrophobia, is meant to instill Army values, which, it turns out, are a pretty respectable ethical code regardless of how anti-killing one is, and I'm pretty anti-killing. I got a chance to talk to lots of Army people and to realize that like any institution, it's made up of really diverse people. I met a Captain, a guy so buff that his arms barely fit into his uniform sleeves, who is firmly against the war and the president's policies, a political progressive who's valiantly doing the job he's sworn to do to the best of his abilities. This is a guy who would be a mechanic in Rhode Island instead of a professional with a dual degree in Poli Sci and History if it weren't for the Army. So I'm pretty anti-war still, even more anti-Bush (now that I've had a chance to see who he's sacrificing), but not anti-military. Hooray for perspective-expansion, I say, even if it means swallowing a little pride and reconsidering my attitudes.
So overall it was PFH (an M coinage: pretty fuckin' hooah). I got to meet good people, jump off a 3-meter diving board blindfolded with a rifle, and help try to fish a tick out of M's ear. A good weekend, all things considered.
Warning...as this post concerns the Army, there are going to be lots of acronyms. I'll try to explain them as I go.
LTC stands for Leaders' Training Course. It's what Sophomores do in the summer after they decide to do ROTC but missed the first two years. They haven't signed any contracts yet, so it's a sort of kinder, gentler, Disneyfied version of the Army. It involves lots of shouting "hooah," which can be an affirmative, an interrogative, or just a bellow. It seems to be an all-purpose word for the Army, like "Smurf" was for the Smurfs.
Anyway, there was lots of participation. We did the FLRC (Field Leader Reaction Course), which involves commanding a squad through various battlefield-type obstacles. Here's me trying to get across a gator pit. And here's M after having been hoisted atop an 8-foot fence.
Also we did stream crossing, climbed 50-foot climbing walls, flipped capsized Zodiac boats, and ate MREs (Meal, Ready-to-eat). That particular TLA (three-letter acronym) is especially silly, since it also relies on the military's tendency to comma-ize, everything. For example, one doesn't wear a camouflage cap, one wears a "Cap, Camouflage."
This course, in addition to teaching orienteering skills and battling acrophobia, is meant to instill Army values, which, it turns out, are a pretty respectable ethical code regardless of how anti-killing one is, and I'm pretty anti-killing. I got a chance to talk to lots of Army people and to realize that like any institution, it's made up of really diverse people. I met a Captain, a guy so buff that his arms barely fit into his uniform sleeves, who is firmly against the war and the president's policies, a political progressive who's valiantly doing the job he's sworn to do to the best of his abilities. This is a guy who would be a mechanic in Rhode Island instead of a professional with a dual degree in Poli Sci and History if it weren't for the Army. So I'm pretty anti-war still, even more anti-Bush (now that I've had a chance to see who he's sacrificing), but not anti-military. Hooray for perspective-expansion, I say, even if it means swallowing a little pride and reconsidering my attitudes.
So overall it was PFH (an M coinage: pretty fuckin' hooah). I got to meet good people, jump off a 3-meter diving board blindfolded with a rifle, and help try to fish a tick out of M's ear. A good weekend, all things considered.
posted by James at 9:05 AM
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