Maxwell II, Best in Blue!

I'm back from summer camp. I had a blast. It sucked pretty hard core at times, but that's all part of the fun. My flight, Kilo Flight, was AWESOME. That's the biggest reason why it was so much fun. I finished bottom third in my flight, which was a little disappointing, but that's all I'll say about that in an open forum. Obviously, with me shutting up like that, there's quite a bit more to say on the subject but if you're interested in that drop me an email and we'll chat. In any case, it didn't really matter because I graduated with Kilo, which IS what matters. We also won Warrior Flight for the entire encampment, which is a really big accomplishment. I qualified expert on the M-9 and shot best in my flight (4 rounds short of shooting a perfect), which meant that I got a sweet Combat Arms coin (one of only 250 made) from the CATM guys that were instructing us.

Over the next couple of weeks (or more) I'll occasionally be posting funny/memorable stories or moments from Field Training. I think I'll start with quite possibly the funniest single line I remember from FT. However, it does require a bit of setting up. You may or may not be familiar with the phrase "speed of excellence." It is a favorite of the trainers at FT. I believe the speed of excellence to be near unattainable; I've actually heard that it is faster than the speed of light. However, you can rest assured that if you are not moving fast enough someone will be sure to inform you that you need to move at the speed of excellence. Now, there was the little camping trip we took during FT called FLX. FLX was when we simulated being in a deployed environment. On the last night of FLX, things were pretty informal because it was near the end of the encampment and we were blowing off a little steam. Plus, there were only two CTAs around. CTAs are Cadet Training Assistants, AFROTC cadets a year older than us that were recommended to come back and be trainers. Some members of my flight decided to use the latrine after lights out to drop the MRE bomb that had been accumulating in our bowels due to the eating of 4 MRE meals over the past 2 days. Those things are SOLID. Anyway, we were smokin' and jokin' in the latrine when two CTAs came in. One of the CTAs was CTA Koehler, the CTA assigned to our flight. Now CTA Koehler, while extremely professional when he needed to be, also has a very goofy sense of humor. We figured we were busted when the CTAs came in, but then we hear this out of CTA Koehler: "You need to get back to bed, cadets. Gentlemen, poop at the speed of excellence."

Of course, at this point we all bust out laughing. One of the cadets from my flight decides that he's gonna add a little bit to the situation and starts grunting and straining, to which CTA Koehler responds with, "Now that's what I like to hear. Good job."

There'll be more funny (and not so funny) stories like this one from FT. Stay tuned.