It's been quite busy lately. Saturday I drove up to Washington D.C. with a couple other LTs from my class. We went and saw all the monuments and memorials (well, the big ones), and we hit the Botanical Garden, the Capitol, and the Air and Space Museum. It was nice to see it all, but there wasn't much else to do. This weekend I'll be preparing for a week in the field which will start on next Monday and run through Sunday. We are training on the tactics and techniques that are currently used in Iraq and Afghanistan, so I guess it is pretty valuable stuff. The training is hard and physically demanding, but it is very rewarding to do it well and know that I will be able to protect myself over there. The support from home is refreshing and I am growing to appreciate how big a job my soldiers will be doing over there. I guess it is really amazing that I'll be going to war with soldiers from 18 up to 63 years old, and I will be the second in command of all of them. I hope they understand how important they are in the big picture, and how much love and support they have at home.

We went down to Virginia Beach again this weekend. We met up with LT Wu and LT Llanes (the other 2 LTs from my company) and went down on Saturday afternoon. LT Wu and Llanes are at Fort Lee for Quartermaster OBC. Next weekend LT Sanchez and I will drive up to Richmond and meet them up there and go look around for interesting stuff to see. Not much else is going on aside from constant hurricanes (we get rain about 3 days after FL gets nailed). It's still warm, but it will probably get cold in the next couple weeks. Hope everyone is well at home.

We finally got out of the classroom and conducted some hands-on training in our fourth week of training at OBC. Hurricane Frances, which slammed Florida, finally gave us some rains today, but it wasn't really all that bad despite the fact that we were outside. There were a lot of spiders where we were, and there are some pretty wicked spiders in the area (to include Black Widows and Brown Recluses).
The road trip over the weekend didnt happen since I got sick on Saturday. It wasnt too bad though since I got a lot of sleep and rest that I needed. The other 2 LTs from my company arrived at Fort Lee for their Quartermaster OBC and will graduate the same time we do. We may go hook up with them next weekend since its only about an hour and a half.

Officer Classes (the stuff they dont tell you about)
Well, I had the absolutely least enjoyable couple hours of my entire Army and schooling career today. It was Dr. Washburn's class on Mortuary Affairs and Letters of Condolence. Dr. Washburn is a retired enlisted soldier who fought in Vietnam. His descriptions were more than enough to turn the stomach, and according to him it looks like a picnic compared to the actual thing. The letters were difficult to sit through too, especially when he related his personal experiences. The good news is that I learned a lot and with a little luck and a lot of hard work on my part I wont have to ever put the learning to work.
In other news we are starting to plan our Dining In event, which is a huge party. I previously covered the composition of the grog, and now I'm trying to head the Grog Comittee or else be Mr. Vice (he's the stud at a Dining In, basically he runs the party).
We have our first academic test this Thursday, but it is all easy material so I'll study for half an hour and ace it ;) Lt Sanchez and I may go up to D.C. and Gettysburg for this coming (4-day) weekend. I'll make sure to take a lot of pics and post some. Hopefully everyone is doing well at home, I miss you all.

Ok, so I'm breaking with my schedule and posting early, mostly because some interesting things have happened. Firstly, my photos on the main page are kinda screwy. I'm working with Rikio to get them fixed ASAP, but for now you will see the pics that he got to work. Fortunately one of them (photo 7) is the deer on the battlefield at Yorktown. Proof! Anyway, we are having a lot of classes, and there is this great teacher (a civillian) Dr. Washburn. He is...eccentric. He's almost 70, he's Irish, and he is very energetic about his teaching. He tries to present himself as a grouchy old man, but I think he's really cool. Today was a sports day, and the various OBC classes (there are 5 here right now) competed. Our class, the newest, won the competition and got a big trophy and a steamer for our flag. I, unfortunately, chipped 3 teeth in the process. The Dental Clinic didnt think I was in too much pain, and so they said to go and see them during sick call on Monday for treatment. On the bright side, I didnt break my ankle, but the LT that did break her ankle was given the same response and no cast. Life in the Army continues to present new and interesting challenges... I'm heading up to Richmond on Saturday to celebrate LT Sanchez' birthday. We are trying to get a driver so I can celebrate with him. Anyway, keep the emails coming, and I look forward to seeing everyone over Christmas!

So I havent posted in a few days... We are going to classes (and trying hard not to fall asleep...) and we do PT every morning. There are some very interesting traditions, and most are fun. Wednesdays all the officers in the Transportation Corps (that are on base) go to this bar and have a drink after work. We are also going to put on a dining in, which is a really neat military formal dinner. The dining in has a grog bowl, and everyone drinks grog...there is even a tradition for the composition of the grog, but to put it simply it is nearly half Bacardi 151 and Everclear. Evidently Everclear isnt illegal in VA!!! We are also hearing every day how the war in Iraq is going, how we will be deployed there, and how soldiers are dying and getting injured all the time. It is kind of scary, but I can't imagine not being scared when faced with this kind of a war. Not sure what I posted, but I'll put up some pictures from the Transportation Museum that I took last weekend, to include a Vietnam era Gun Truck (which are once again coming into common use).

Starting OBC
I got here on Monday night at about 5:15pm. I shortly found out my orders were still not ready, and that due to a few other conditions I was stuck at the airport...Go Guard! Being inventive (and very courteous to the counter guy) we got a rental for a day and headed to Ft. Eustis to report in. Waking up two hours later we (me and LT Sanchez) went to our first formation and got weighed...along with everyone else in the class I had gained exactly 7 pounds (so they dont calibrate their scales...). This week has been boring briefings and our initial processing, with a PT test on Wednesday. Today we managed to lock our keys into our rental car... Needless to say, LT Sanchez is Mexican, and despite 15 years of living in Hawaii he was able to get the door open with 15 minutes and a wire hangar. Now we are on our first weekend here, and we have 16 weeks left to go. On that note I'll go celebrate, I'll try to post again in the next couple days, but classes will start next week and furter postings may be not very regular.

Posted by un/armyofone at 1:23 PM HDT
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OBC
I will be attending my OBC (Officer Basic Course) for Transportation starting on next Monday, 16 August. I will attend school along with another LT from my unit, 2LT Sanchez. The other 2 LTs in the unit are set to attend Quartermaster OBC starting in September, leaving our poor CO all alone to mobilize the unit until December. The soldiers are anxious but looking forward to the start of their training, and the leaders are well focused. The transition from National Guard to Active Duty will come as a shock to many of the soldiers, but they are generally good boys (and girls!), and I have faith in them. I will attend OBC as a 1LT, and so I'll end up as the class leader for most classroom tasks (or so I'm told). I hope to read some emails from people, and the email address on my page is accessible to me from pretty much anywhere (even when we get to Iraq). Pray for our soldiers.

Welcome
Welcome to my blog! This will (hopefully) be where I post all my stuff for the duration of my deployment to Iraq. I have been very busy lately in preparation for the deployment, and soon I will head off to my Officer Basic Course at Ft. Eustis, VA. I'll return from OBC on December 22, and then I'll link up with my unit and deploy to Iraq. Send any emails to me at joshua.a.jacobs@us.army.mil

-Josh