Lets see...whats happened since I last wrote....well first things first there was halloween....yes I did dress up....as a US Army Officer......there was a 5k Halloween "Fun" Run that I participated in.....the next day was of course my 24th birthday....scary to think about that.....I'm getting old!! go ahead and roll your eyes mom!
On the 9th of November I participated in a Veterans Day Duathlon (the first set of pictures) consisting of a 5k run followed by a 13k bike and finishing up with a 3k run....in total it took me an hour and eleven minutes to complete....just 4 minutes from placing/medaling.....and since i didn't train at all for it, i thought it was pretty decent finish time. The feeling I had in my legs after the 13k ride was incredibly weird....as if they were mad at me for putting them through this. Anyway, there were some snags along the way....the bike i borrowed from the Rec Center.....it was a 21 speed mountain bike that wouldn't go past 14th gear......it had a semi flat front tire AND i couldnt adjust the seat so I was chewing on my knees the whole ride....so i wasnt really able to maintain a decent speed....but it was fun....i finished it and Im thinking about doing the Triathlon in the spring.....we'll see.
I was promoted on the 26th to 1st Leuitenent....had a small ceremony with a few NCOs and Officers that I wanted present....it was good....I was promoted by LTC Powers who said the following before he pinned my new rank on me:"The TOC (Tactical Operations Center) is the nerve center of the Batallion. Everything and anything is handled by it. Without a solid group of personnel manning the TOC, the rest of us out here would struggle. The ability to handle stress and having the knowledge to quickly and critically think issues through that arise on a day to day basis is key to the success of us all. I have only been with the unit for 5 months and when I first heard that a 2LT was going to be running the TOC, I was a little worried as it is a position held by a Captain. But since it was on the recommendation of the outgoing Batallion Commander, LTC Shun, I went with it and within the first two days we were here, I saw that it was the right decision, that he was up for the challenge, the task at hand and the right choice for the job. Today, I have the privliage to promote 2LT Nichols to 1LT, however if it was up to me, I'd pin Captain on him since he deserves it."
It was nice to hear that he had confidence in what I was doing and said so not just to me but to everyone present (my bosses, other high ranking officers etc). So now I no longer dawn the rank of a gold bar but a black bar.....and since I didnt have the pin on rank for my hat, we improvised and used a sharpie to color it in....Cpt Destremps, my Day Battle Capt counterpart, wound up and gave me a solid punch to the chest (its tradition to punch a newly promoted individual in the chest as it is where rank is displayed on our uniforms...not sure where it started....but its just one of those traditions)...problem was my dogtags hang to about that spot so when i pulled them out, they were bent, he was proud of that.....hurt just a bit too...i included a few photos from my ceremony.
So thats a peek into what i've been up to these last few weeks......hope everyone had a great thanksgiving, too bad the Lions didnt show up to play a decent football game eh? Oh well. Hope everyone's well.
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