BOLC - Week Seven

Diary of a Lieutenant - Part VII

Week Seven

February 20-22, 2007

Graduation week was, as you might expect, a lot of BS and waiting around. Final paperwork, final cleaning, and final counseling. I was able to re-take my PT test, and did exponentially better. We also had a 4 mile Battalion Run, and equipment turn-in. Everything went surprisingly smooth. Thursday was possibly the slowest day we've had so far. Graduation days always feel like they take forever.

The graduation ceremony was, I'm sorry to say, pretty lame. It felt like there wasn't much preparation for it at all. The one bright spot was that Genni was able to make it down for the weekend.

All in all, I'd have to say that this was a very good experience. Although I feel that it was mostly geared towards the new soldier, and therefore more beneficial to them, I learned a great deal from this course and am looking forward to MI school!
Below are some shots from my weekend with Genni.

BOLC - Week Six

Diary of a Lieutenant - Part VI

Week Six

February 12-16, 2007

Finally, Culmination Week. We began this week with a leisurely 10-mile road march out to the FOB. Once we arrived, we jumped right into missions. Culmination Operations would stretch out over the next three days. It's a series of missions geared towards taking everything we've learned to this point and putting it into action, at combat speed. Missions were handed out at random to each platoon. Basically, each platoon got an Urban Ops mission, a Convoy Ops mission, missions involving Land Navigation, and all using our various assigned weapons systems. After all of this, however, most of us were ready to get out of the field.




While the past 3 weeks in the field have been without PT, I think we've all definitely felt the benefits of wearing our IBA's and ruck sacks all the time. Also, we were given time to do PT on our own, which most of us took advantage of.

BOLC - Week Five

Diary of a Lieutenant - Part V

Week Five

February 5-9, 2007

Our second week in the FOB was a little less eventful, but just as challenging. First, we conducted the Convoy Live Fire. We moved out to the range on 4 LMTV's, which are the replacement for the 2 1/2 ton truck. Once moving along the route, we had to keep an eye out for pop-up targets on either side of the road. We practiced this 3 times - once with no rounds, once with blank rounds, and then finally with live rounds. I have to say, I was a little weary of having a kid with 6 months in the Army firing live rounds 2 feet from me. But, noone got shot after all.




The other major training event for this week was the Land Navigation test. Having been a Cav Scout for the last 10 years, this was no sweat. We used a pretty challenging course, however. I ended up finding 6 out of 8 points. Not too bad. We shared some of the roads with Ranger school candidates carrying 65 pound rucks for 12 miles. Poor bastards.

Other than that, this week was pretty laid back. Just weapons maintenance, FOB cleanup, etc.

BOLC - Week Four

Diary of a Lieutenant - Part IV

Week Four

January 29, 2007 - February 2, 2007

Week Four was our first week in the "field." I say "field" because it was really just the barracks, out in the woods. The buildings in the FOB (Forward Operations Base) were were pretty nice. We had a dining facility with TV's and computers. The shower tents were complete with individual showers and sinks, but we still had Port-a-johns outside (all that plumbing and no toilets??). The living areas were pretty much large buildings with wall-to wall double bunks. We had the whole company in one building. 214 Lieutenants in one confined area? Whose idea was that?

Day one consisted of familiarization with US Weapons. We were trained on and fired the MK-19 Automatic Grenade Launcher, the M2 Machine Gun (aka the .50 cal), the M240 Machine Gun, and the M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon).




On Day Two, we conducted Advanced Rifle Marksmanship. This consisted of firing at a stationary target, showing three different shapes. On command, we would then fire at the designated shape. This range is designed to hone and test our reaction time and accuracy when firing.

Days Three, Four and Five were definitely my favorite. Three straight days of Urban Operations. Fort Benning has a pretty high speed "enemy town" set up. We conducted both day and night iterations. I was assigned as Platoon Leader for the day mission, which was a platoon attack on one of the buildings. Once we started moving through the building, we took a lot of fire, and I was killed pretty quickly. But I made sure that everyone below me was prepared to carry on the mission.




Another cool part of Urban Operations was the Shoothouse. This is a large house with several connected rooms and hallways. A team of enemy would be placed inside while a friendy team would attempt to clear the house. The best part is, you have actual ammunition and real targets. The "simunitions" are paintballs shaped like 9mm bullets. Let me tell you, they're quite painful. I took one in the finger, but only after disposing of 5 of my assailants.






I returned home again at the end of this week, but not for pleasure. I was saddened earlier in the week to hear of the death of Emmit Mulhern, father of my friends Jon and Brendan Mulhern. Mr. Mulhern was a great man, and he will be deeply missed.

BOLC - Week Three

Diary of a Lieutenant - Part III

Week 3

January 23-27, 2007

Week Three is when we enter the weapons training phase of the course. We moved to the range each day in full battle rattle (LBV, Kevlar, IBA, rucksack, weapon). Day one was spent on grouping and zeroing. What this means is we fire rounds in groups of three, and have to score 5 out of 6 consecutive hits within a 2 inch circle, which is 25 meters away. It's not really as hard as it may sound. However, for some of us (including myself), it was the first time shooting with the newly designed M-4 rifle and the M68 laser sight.





Days two and three were short days, focused on familiarization. We fired several iterations, including kneeling, night fire, and finally our record qualification. Those of us that qualified on Thursday would not have to fire on Friday and would not have to report on Saturday. Itching to visit home, I jumped on this opportunity. It took me 3 tries, but I finally qualified on Thursday.





Friday morning I caught a ridiculously early flight home. I spent a wonderful weekend in a little town called Greenfield. You may have heard of it. I returned Sunday extremely late, in true Sheldon fashion. In the morning we would be moving to the field for the week.

BOLC - Week Two

Diary of a Lieutenant – Part II

Week Two

January 13-15, 2007

I began my long MLK weekend with some laundry and coffee. I decided that if I was going to be here for 7 weeks, I was going to make it feel as comfortable as possible. With that, I began the unenviable task of getting everything out of my truck. Most of the items I brought I won’t need until I get to Arizona, so very little needed to come inside. Once I got everything inside, my geek side took over and I set up my desk. After unpacking my clothes and setting up my closet, I was good to go.






Although we’re issued everything we’ll need, we are also authorized to use our own stuff, so I had some shopping to do. Sheets, food and basic amenities were all I really needed. Other than having Staff Duty on Sunday afternoon, I really had nothing to do. I basically just watched the Pats kick some Charger ass (actually, they were lucky to come away with the win), and tried to explore the base a little.

January 16-19, 2007

This week’s training consisted of BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship) and Combatives (Hand to Hand Combat). Now I know why they added a mouthguard to our packing list. We were taught fighting positions, escapes, mounts, chokes and arm-bars, and had to perform them on each other. (I can be seen in the upper right hand corner of the fourth picture, “mounting” that rather large gentleman).










The week concluded with a 5-mile road march on Friday morning, followed by our Combatives Tournament. Regretfully, I was not chosen to represent our platoon. Hey, I’m a lover, not a fighter. I’m looking forward to yet another 3 day weekend, where I plan to visit my roommates house in Georgia and ride my motorcycle!

BOLC - Week One

Diary of a Lieutenant – Part I

Week One

January 6, 2007

After some last minute packing and some teary goodbyes, I began my journey to Fort Benning, GA. And only two hours behind schedule! The truck was packed to the gills with uniforms, suitcases, and, of course, my motorcycle. It took about 12 hours to get to my sister’s house in Chesapeake, VA, the halfway point of my trip. Ingrid, Joe, and Jonathan were a welcome sight after a less than eventful trip. Joe greeted me with lasagna, beer, and his camera. Jonathan heard the commotion and took it upon himself to get dressed and come downstairs for some chips and television. After just a brief visit, I was off to bed.

January 7, 2007


I got an early start (well, 9:00) this morning. Joe made sure I had some coffee for the road, and took some pictures before I left. Other than getting pulled over in Virginia, this leg of the trip was also pretty uneventful. Apparently, radar detectors are illegal in VA. I felt it was unnecessary for it to cost me $86 to find this out, but the officer disagreed. I continued on. I arrived on Fort Benning around 8:30. It was absolutely pouring out, and I knew nothing of this post. After visiting several buildings to get directions, all of which were wrong, I suddenly remembered the handy printout of directions I had. Once I arrived at my barracks, I was introduced to my cadre Platoon Sergeant and assigned a room. It was a little unexpected to have trainers and cadre calling me sir instead of maggot, puke, or the ever popular ‘hero.’




I introduced myself to my roommate, a fellow guardsman from Georgia, and brought in a few uniforms from the car. Our room was cold, dark, and unremarkable. That would change.


January 8, 2007

First Formation for BOLC (Basic Officer Leadership Course) Class A03-07 took place at 0-dark-hundred. The first formation of a new school consisting of 214 strangers who all have something to prove was, as you might expect, quite the gaggle. Once we established some order, the leadership positions for the first week of training were announced. I was assigned as the Platoon Leader for 2nd Platoon. I was a little nervous at first, but I felt confident that I could rely on my training and professionalism to pull me through. Our first task was to march to Building 4 (Infantry Hall), where we would be spending most of our time throughout the course.






Anyone who has participated in an Army in processing will tell you that if you’re not sitting around and waiting, then something’s wrong. This was no different. I tried to pass the time by meeting my platoon and working with the student Platoon Sergeant to try to nail down some hard and fast rules, before anyone tried to get their own ideas. To my amazement, we were also able to move freely throughout the building, get coffee and snacks, and talk amongst ourselves. This truly was going to be a “gentlemen’s course.”

January 9, 2007


Day two of in processing was much like day one. A lot of good information was given out, but most of the blocks of instruction were geared toward the new soldier – the guy who has about 2 months military experience. Following in processing and dinner, we were invited to the Officer’s Club. This was a chance for us to met and greet with the officers of the 1-11th Infantry Regiment to get some advice on our careers and swap stories. It was also an opportunity for us to drink. I have to admit, I was still half-expecting some grotesquely huge sergeant in BDU’s to come in and drag us all outside for a long smoke session! But, it was becoming clear that as long as we act like officers, we would be treated accordingly.

January 10-12, 2007

The rest of in processing is far too boring to discuss here. It consisted of the usual poking and prodding, shots, x-rays, briefings, paperwork, blah, blah, blah. We finished up the week with our PT test and equipment issue. I didn’t do as well as I would have liked on the PT test, but I’ll be able to retake it during week 6. We do PT every morning, but it’s less than challenging. We usually run about 3 or 4 miles, or we do some muscle failure exercises (push ups, pull ups, sit ups, dips, etc.). I’m looking forward to the long weekend!