This week was not too hectic for Troop 35, the hectic weeks are looming on the horizon though. We are not too far away from the end and the second last week is the most stressful week at Depot.
We started this week out with every cadet's favorite exercise, the PARE. I was not looking forward to this or ever running the PARE but this is the last time that we will have to run it at Depot. Similar to the first time I ran the PARE it was a hot day, and the gym was even hotter. Troop 35 did very well with everyone passing and no one getting hurt. I ran my best time yet with a time of 3:16. There was one cadet in our troop who ran it in 2:48. Good job!! We were all relieved to see that done, there is not much testing left in fitness left only a couple of runs (1.5 and 3 mile) and the max bench press.
This week also brought us an end to our ground fighting. We had our rings in ground fighting and again Troop 35 did very well with no one getting hurt. There were some really good fights, some painful grabs, lots of hair pulling and some submissions. I did quite well in the ring, I managed to submit my opponent in 35 seconds. Some guys had their fights last for four minutes, talk about exhaustion. We are getting really close to the final PDT test, PST test #3. This test is the hardest of all the PDT tests as it incorporates everything they have taught us. One of the troops had shared our dorm with us had half of their troop fail PDT #3. Yikes!
We also had our major crimes file this week, so we had the opportunity to play cops and play victims again. I can't go into what the scenarios were but they were quite interesting. Also we had our boot lecture from our drill corporal. He showed us how to polish our high brown boots and assorted accessories. We now have to wear them 4 out of 5 days a week. This is good and bad. The good is that they look cool and the spurs make a nice little jingle when you march. The bad is they are not easy to get on or off and we have to keep them nice and polished.
We had our gravel road drive also this week, a nice change from the regular driving lessons that we get since on this drive we don't have to call in plates or be on the look out for anyone. It is a drive to help people who have never driven on gravel or in a 4X4 vehicle. We drove out to Lumsden and when it was my turn to drive I got to go off road and drive in the ditch. We went to a tiny little church and signed our name on the guest book which is a tradition with cadets. Then it was off to get some cheesecake at a little cafe in Lumsden, yummy!! Next week we do the highway drive which deals with passing and the proper turns to do on the highway.
So all in all a good week for the troop, no one hurt or leaving. Next week we have our pistol qualification in which this cadet will go for his crossed pistols. We also may have our PDT #3 test, I don't know for sure and our highway drive. Keep going 35 we are almost there!!