EOBC 2 weeks down
10 FEB 2002
Well, tomorrow starts week three. Only 15 weeks left!
Hopefully the time will fly. I don't know how long I
can stand getting up at 04:30. And for those of you who
wrote and said "It'll be good for you!" Don't make me
hurt you. I know where y'all live. :)
Getting up at 04:30 is not good for anyone. In my opinion,
one should never awaken before the roosters. That's nature's
alarm clock. If God had intended for us to get up at that
hour, He'd have made the sun come up earlier!
Well, I know that you were waiting with baited breath to hear
the results of my PT test..... I PASSED! I don't know
the exact score, but I know that I made at least 70/100 in
all three events (push-up, sit-up, and 2-mail run). The
minimum is a 60 in each event. The battalion commander
informed us that the goal for the battalion is 270. So I
have some work to catch up to that one, but at least I'm not
on the bad, bad, bad remedial PT crew. I was so happy,
I celebrated by killing 1/2 pint of Ben & Jerry's Chubby
Hubby. I know, I know, a little counterproductive. But I
needed to let loose. I also went dancing that evening.
My best friend from High School once told me that I looked
like an epileptic chicken when I dance. When I was in Germany
I was taking dance pointers from some friends who said that
I needed just to pretend that I was stoned. So now I think
I look like a stoned epileptic chicken! Oh well. I had fun.
Tomorrow is exam #1: Risk management and Training. I don't
do well on these types of tests. I think mainly because it's
not a test of whether you have the CONCEPT of what you are
learning, but rather, whether you can MEMORIZE the definition
of this... and the three types of that... that's why I went
into engineering.
The Army's version of risk management is to classify every
activity into two categories and then look up on a matrix
whether that is a High, Medium, Low, or negligible risk activity.
Then depending on who you are, you need to get approval from
someone higher than you to conduct that activity.
The matrix is based on the likelihood of something bad happening,
and the severity of the bad thing. So, if the activity you want
to perform has a risk of someone dying, and if it is highly likely
that someone will fall victim to that event.... then that is
considered a high-risk activity and some General would have to
approve the activity. Pretty much rocket science.
Several people answered the question of how many lbs of sand are
in the concrete mix. If you figured out that it was 33 lbs of
sand.... then you too could be an Army engineer! I'll include
a question off of my exam tomorrow on my next update.
Well, I made my first (and hopefully last) screw-up of EOBC. I
was late to class the day of the PT test. Since we had a PT test
that day, we were allowed to sleep in 1/2 hour extra. Well I
set my alarm wrong, and the next thing you know, I wake up with
two minutes before I am supposed to be somewhere..... there isn't
much that can equal the panic that goes through your head when
you know you are going to be late to a formation. So, I will
be getting up at 03:30 this coming Saturday to help some drill
sergeants run a PT exam for basic trainees. Ouch! Well, I
suppose that it's just punishment.
Yesterday I got my HIV test back in the mail. Now I have
papers! I wasn't really concerned. But it's nice that
Uncle Sam does his part in helping control the spread of HIV.
Well, now that I have all of the paperwork in..... time to
do my taxes! Now that I have a house, I will need to itemize.
Wish me luck.
OK, enuff for this week.
respectfully yours,
LT Nick Kliewer
P.S. If some of you didn't catch it the first time. My
address is:
LT Nicholas C Kliewer
BLDG 3211 Morelli Heights ROOM 211
Ft. Leonard Wood, MO 65473-8840
Phone: 573-329-3704 x4218