Greetings from New Canaan, CT (for the last time until Christmas Leave),
On the eve of my morning flight to more training out at Ft. Lewis, WA, it has struck me that these are my last few hours in Connecticut until I return from my semester in Brazil. Hmm.......it seems like we never have quite enough time to do all that we want to when we finally get some time to ourselves. The last 3 days have been nice but far too short my my liking. Quite a nice break to spend some time with friends and family, though.
I will be out of phone and internet access while I am training at Ft. Lewis so my next correspondence will likely be over a month from now. Enjoy your summers (summer details for you cadets and summer jobs for you civilians, and being a total bum if you're Kyle Gerardi) and stay tuned for news and shenanigans from my upcoming adventures in Brazil!
Portuguese word of the day is, "Desculpe!" Which means "Sorry!" As in, "Sorry for not writing more."
See you all soon enough!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Ft. Benning Georgia
Greetings from the South!,
I'm here in scenic Georgia on CTLT and boy is it HOT! Hard to believe I've been here for almost 2 full weeks already but time flies when you're busy. CTLT stands for "Cadet Troop Leader Training" and gives cadets a chance to get away from West Point and experience what real units are doing in their daily routines.
I am attached to 198th Infantry Training Brigade which runs basic training for all future infantrymen. Almost 20,000 soldiers are processed through the 198th every year and the men of Alpha Company, First Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment (my unit) are no exception. They are roughly 3 weeks into their 14 week basic training experience and are training hard. I have been participating in much of their training to include to CS gas chamber, the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST Range, an electronic simulation of marksmanship training) as well as land navigation and their early morning physical training as well.
I have about a week and a half left here, a few days off at home for some much needed rest and relaxation and then LDAC with some fellow West Point cadets and many more of our ROTC counterparts (more to follow on that later!). Following that, I'm off to Brazil! Only 43 more days!
Portuguese word of the day is "foto". It means "photo". A little bit of a cop out, yes, but check out "meus fotos" (my photos) from the Toby Keith concert I saw down here at Fort Benning. They're up on Facebook!
Gotta run, until next time!
I'm here in scenic Georgia on CTLT and boy is it HOT! Hard to believe I've been here for almost 2 full weeks already but time flies when you're busy. CTLT stands for "Cadet Troop Leader Training" and gives cadets a chance to get away from West Point and experience what real units are doing in their daily routines.
I am attached to 198th Infantry Training Brigade which runs basic training for all future infantrymen. Almost 20,000 soldiers are processed through the 198th every year and the men of Alpha Company, First Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment (my unit) are no exception. They are roughly 3 weeks into their 14 week basic training experience and are training hard. I have been participating in much of their training to include to CS gas chamber, the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST Range, an electronic simulation of marksmanship training) as well as land navigation and their early morning physical training as well.
I have about a week and a half left here, a few days off at home for some much needed rest and relaxation and then LDAC with some fellow West Point cadets and many more of our ROTC counterparts (more to follow on that later!). Following that, I'm off to Brazil! Only 43 more days!
Portuguese word of the day is "foto". It means "photo". A little bit of a cop out, yes, but check out "meus fotos" (my photos) from the Toby Keith concert I saw down here at Fort Benning. They're up on Facebook!
Gotta run, until next time!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Almost DONE!
There are officially 0 and a butt days until graduation and graduation leave for the class of 2011. Finally! It seems like this year has taken forever but summer is finally here. I'm off to CTLT in Ft. Benning, GA and then LDAC in Ft. Lewis, WA before I head on down to Brazil for the semester. Very excited, to say the least!
I'm off to bed so that I can parade at my very best tomorrow for the graduating Firsties. The portuguese word of the day is "oculos de sol" which means sunglasses. On to the beach!
I'm off to bed so that I can parade at my very best tomorrow for the graduating Firsties. The portuguese word of the day is "oculos de sol" which means sunglasses. On to the beach!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Countdown! 20 Days 'til Graduation!
Só dias vinte mais! ("Only twenty more days" in Portuguese)
As the year winds down, I find myself preparing for summer training and leave and doing less and less classroom oriented work. With TEEs or Term End Exams looming, I need to study hard and finish this semester strong!
I have created a "Brazilian Radio" station on my Pandora account and been watching Globo (a Portuguese television network) on Vbrick a little more, recently. I can't really understand much, but I catch the odd word here and there. Diving into an entirely portuguese speaking culture should be interesting.
5 days 'til Friday, 11 days until TEE Leave and the 3rd Annual Rosie Classic, 20 days until Graduation, 22 days until CTLT, 51 days until LDAC, 79 days until Brazil, and 223 days until Army beats the hell out of Navy in football!
Portuguese word of the day is, "cachorrinho" which means "puppy". Can't wait to see my dog Max in 11 days!
As the year winds down, I find myself preparing for summer training and leave and doing less and less classroom oriented work. With TEEs or Term End Exams looming, I need to study hard and finish this semester strong!
I have created a "Brazilian Radio" station on my Pandora account and been watching Globo (a Portuguese television network) on Vbrick a little more, recently. I can't really understand much, but I catch the odd word here and there. Diving into an entirely portuguese speaking culture should be interesting.
5 days 'til Friday, 11 days until TEE Leave and the 3rd Annual Rosie Classic, 20 days until Graduation, 22 days until CTLT, 51 days until LDAC, 79 days until Brazil, and 223 days until Army beats the hell out of Navy in football!
Portuguese word of the day is, "cachorrinho" which means "puppy". Can't wait to see my dog Max in 11 days!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)