Day 4

Drilled again from 0500 until 0730. Went to breakfast where I was told by a captain that he was working on getting me kosher meals. After breakfast I was forming up and didn’t salute a passing captain, who turned around and tore me a new one. I learned the first lesson of military answers. Always say loudly, “SIR, NO EXCUSES.” They NEVER want to hear “I’m sorry” (they don’t care) and they certainly don’t want to hear a reason.

Today we began the serious acedemic part of the program. We were given thousands of pages of reading material and told that we would be taught in the next 4+ weeks what they normaly teach ROTC and BOT (Basic Officer Training) in 3-6 months. We would be “drinking from a fire house,” as our Flight Commander (Flt/CC) Major Haigh likes to say.

I went to speak to the chaplain assigned to COT to discuss my issues – kosher, Shabbos, access to the RAC to daven, etc. Wonderful man.

Ate dinner, did homework, and began worrying about the PT benchmark test tomorrow…

My desk, with my government-issued laptop and my personal commissary.

 My bed (no one uses the top - it's just two to a room with two bunk beds...)

BOT cadets standing in formation.

 

BOT cadets marching in formation. We look sort of like that, but not as crisp yet, and not in our service uniforms (we wear ABUs, or fatigues).