JUN 30 - Inspection, Martial Arts and Mail Call

Hello again,


Today's photos show a barracks inspection, martial arts, and mail call.

Inspections go hand-in-hand with a military training environment. It forces teamwork as the Recruits prepare for the inspection and reinforces responsibility as each Recruit's area is inspected. Those that fail have to clean-up and go again, until they get it right. So, when the Recruits get home make sure they clean their room. Heck, get them to work on everyone else's too.

Each day's martial arts is a progression upon the last as MAJ Gorman works with the different platoons through the TACMAP (The Army Cadet Martial Arts Program) system. Those Recruits that are staying for the Basic Leaders Course and especially the TACMAP week will reach a very high skill-level and each day's training is built upon the last.

Mail call is a great part of Basic Cadet Training, as letter-writing is the main form of communication during the training. I'm sure you have started to get letters from your Recruits, and I'm also sure that plenty of those letters show signs of homesickness, at the very least. When I went through my own basic training my very first letter home was carefully crafted to show that I was toughing it through but that I really missed home and I purposefully made sure some fat tear drops hit the paper in the hope that my parents might come get me. By the end of the program I was the Honor Graduate and cried again when I had to leave my new friends. All in all the first week of these programs are tough, which is the point. Very soon they are going to start the really exciting training, and will be loathe to leave.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's photos and you'll see just how much fun they can have, all the while learning important lessons, and finding out what they are made of.


Respectfully,

OC Land