Halfway!!

Hey everyone!

So I am now halfway through OCS and well on my way to becoming a United States Marine Corps Officer.

The way I look at it though, I only have 4 weeks left, because if you make it through 9, you've made it through 10 unless something absolutely crazy happens.

This past week was relatively low key. On Tuesday, we did the Combat Course, which involves running through multiple obstacles with your fireteam. Going across a rope bridge, going up and repelling down a wall, walking aross logs, crawling through muddy water, going completely under water going underneath logs, floating through a culvert on your back (yes, completely submerged...the famous Quigley), running through more water and mud, scaling a cliff with a rope, repelling back down the opposite side, going over some more walls, crawling on your back in muddy trenches covered with barbed wire, jumping into more water chest high, and finally doing a patrol in that same water. It was pretty exhausting, especially when you do it with your war gear on (canteens and harness), rifle, and kevlar helmet. I definetely enjoyed it though.

Yesterday we did the Tarzan Course, aka the high ropes course. One must complete different ways to cross ropes, each time getting progressively higher as you move along. The highest point was probably a good 40 feet up in the air. The course ended by going down this zipline. It was a pretty fun day. We were suppose to do the Confidence Course but we got rained out.

This week is going to be a busy one. We have the Endurance Course which is a 3-mile long course with a bunch of obstacles along the way. We will be staying out in the field again because we will be doing our night land navigation test. Slightly worried because I only got 2 of 4 correct during the practice, and the real course is much bigger. Then the next day we will be doing what they call FEX, which is where we start to learn how direct a squad, which consists of 3 fireteams of 4, and one squad leader. Busy week, but like I have said before, they seem to be flying by very fast.

Thanks to everyone for the comments. I would write more but I have to checkout of the hotel. I'll come up with something more creative next week. Until then, take care everyone!!