Graduation

We "graduated" today. Sort of. The IMT (Initial Military Training) phase of our course is complete. This phase's focus was on basic soldiering skills that every soldier needs to have regardless of MOS. They take what Basic Combat Training soldiers learn in 9 weeks and force it down our throats in 4 weeks. And trust me, we get it all (and more) with the exception of weapon training. In the past 4 weeks we've been taught:

• Day and night land navigation.
• Movement under fire.
• Combat first aid including combat casualty assessment.
• Tactical radio communications.
• Personnel recovery (what to do if you're captured).
• Drill and ceremony.
• JAG and EO briefings.
• DADT repeal briefings.
• Mobilization briefing (the ins-and-outs of being deployed)
• Team development course.
• Sexual assault and drug abuse briefings.
• CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, and Nuclear) training...aka the gas chamber.
• How to handle our Secret clearance and classified materials (all officers have Secret clearance)
• TONS of ethical training.
• Overview of important Army documents.
• Constitutional and legal basis for the Army chaplaincy.
• Master Resiliency Training
• Much, much, much, more.

The cadre at this school are top-notch. There's no way we should have been able to cover so much material in such little time so effectively...but we did. One of the key tenets of this portion of the training that I will always take with me is that officers really are held to a higher standard. It's unreal, sometimes, the standard to which we're held. It can even seem unfair. But we make decisions that directly affect the lives of soldiers and we must be of the highest moral integrity and competency. So, while this feels good, there's still more work to do. Tonight we'll drink and be merry because we go back to work  Monday. Evil doesn't sleep and neither do we. Hooah.