Testing my dedication

I joined the Army ROTC PT this week. They train very early in the morning,with a lot of running and various other intense physical exercise. I joined them to see what PT was like, and to get my first personal military experience. Captain Dale Avellon is the man in charge of the program, and the only person who runs it at this small school. For PT he has the assistance of Sgt. Gibson. A tall man with a bald head, from baldness or shaving I don't know, but I do know he is in excellent physical condition. Which perhaps is not what could be said of others in the group.

There are 4 females. I know Amber and Rebecca's first names, and the last names of the other two, Saintoange is a tall cadet who is normally not putting in the extra effort to make her body hurt but absolutely there and trying.She wants to be a pilot in the Air Force. The 4th girl, Silva, is short and Latina of some nature, and seems to have a mental block on her physical abilities. She often has to stop running and spit to catch her breath only to run a few more steps and then walk the majority of the remaining distance. Her tenacity in the sporting exercises however, shows her ability to do the physical exercise asked of her. Amber is a short girl with very curly hair, who shouts out "hua-hua!" in a higher pitch than her already high pitched enthusiastic tone during PT. Laughter normally ensues, although I don't know why. She is very encouraging, and is always verbally offering support and enthusiasm. Rebecca is already signed on the the National Guard. She is naively enthusiastic about her possibilities in the Army service. She says she hates running but is normally at the front end of the line. That accounts for all the females.

There are quite a few more males in the group as to be expected. There is a guy who leads the group, who I believe has the highest rank of the class. I don't know his name yet. I do know he is constantly badgering and putting forth a stern warning/support to the cadets he leads. I met with him after PT on Wed. where Capt. Avellon told me he was interested in flying, but didn't care what he flew. So I inquired of him, do you not care what you fly, or do you not care what you fly so long as you get to fly a fixed wing aircraft?His response was that he wanted to fly fighters. He's got a typical fighter pilot attitude, and I would say that if he can perhaps get more of a "I LOVE TO DO THIS" perspective, he'll get whatever he wants. In the Air Force of course. He is a sophomore. There is a big dude named Mohamed, he has an accent. There is a tall skinny guy last name Simons, who according to Amber all the girls flirt with. Oh that reminds me, there is another girl.Her name is Jen, she is short and has a very athletic build, and does well in all the required areas, she is Canadian American and engaged to an enlisted Airman. They are getting married in a civil ceremony on Oct 15. There is another tall skinny guy last name Aldridge, who told me I could call him that or Dan, or Richard. He smiles a lot and does "remedial pt" on Wed. and Friday nights. He ran the 2 mile PT test run in 13:27. thats less than 6 minutes a mile. I did a mile on the treadmill today at the gym in 11 minutes...There is a guy named Rivera, he is short and Puerto Rican and normally carries the flag. A guy named Barrow, who has a tattoo on his right forearm of I don't know what and likes to talk about himself and his unusual encounters while we wait for everyone to show up before pt begins. He is also tall and skinny and his voice and the way he carries himself remind me of my friend Evan from Colorado. There is a guy named Parada, I think thats how to spell it. He is short and smiles all the time and I can tell he really enjoys what he's doing and loves being a part of the ROTC program. There is a guy last name Kissum, who works at the Best Buy my brother in law works at. He is stout wears glasses, makes odd dry humor comments and doesn't seem to know for sure what he wants from ROTC. Another skinny kid who's name I think is david, he has braces and rallied around me while I ran in the back the first or second day to help me make it to the end. Another guy who seems to have a broken tooth but wants in almost a secretly desperate way to lead ROTC I don't his name.He's almost shy, so I think it distracts him when they give him the chance to take the lead. There are other guys, I just can't recall all their names or info. I will tell more about them as time goes by.

I suppose it will have to be my next post that tells about all the awesome events we do. I have to go get ready for work now. Wish me luck!