Not long after my last post, a Judge Advocate from the Iowa National Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Clausen, was here at the JAG school for an advanced two week course. I can't tell you how great it was to see a familiar face. Aside from running into him in the school's hallways, we were able to go out to dinner a couple of times before he left. He really is a great officer/person and the perfect example of what makes the Army National Guard so special.
(above picture: LTC Chris Clausen and 1LT Ben Smith both of the Iowa Army National Guard)
(above picture: 34th Infantry Division Flag, Red Bulls)
I've been attending St. Thomas Aquinas, which is the Catholic Church in Charlottesville that serves the University of Virginia. The best part of St. Thomas Aquinas is its 5:15 p.m. Sunday Mass. :-) Mass yesterday was packed with students.
A few weeks ago, we had our "Blues Reception". Basically, it was a formal get-together for our class/cadre/instructors.
The five-day-a-week physical training has been a doubled edged sword; I am definitely in the best shape of my life, but it leaves little time to rest and heal all the minor bumps/bruises that go hand in hand with such a rigorous training regiment. It seems just as one blister begins healing, another one appears. It’s almost comical. In fact, my hotel room now doubles as an athletic training room (a very messy athletic training room) - ice bags in the freezer, moleskin packaging scattered about, and the delightful aroma of Ben Gay. On the other hand, like I said above, I am in awesome shape and, as one of our class leaders pointed out to me halfway through a fast-paced five mile run, "you are getting paid to exercise" and "you could be billing hours right now." I grew up listening to coaches discuss the power of a positive attitude. In fact, when visibly defeated, my Father would always say to me "the head goes up and down" ("yes I can"). I guess what I am getting at is with all we have going on (long hours in the classroom, early morning training, being away from our families, etc), it has been easy to lose perspective and focus on the negative. Keeping a positive mental attitude throughout has been challenging, but with the help of my classmates, I am winning that battle.
I don't want to discourage those reading this who are considering the Army JAG Corps (I know there is at least one). Much of what has made morning PT a challenge is my competitive run group and extra training for Airborne tryouts. Really, it seems with Army PT, you get out of it what you put into it.
(above picture: because rucking around Charlottesville, Virginia with a functional M4 Carbine is probably frowned upon).
(above picture: hmmmm..... I wonder what I should wear today).
The classroom instruction is much different than law school. Basically, our instructors feed us the information necessary to be minimally competent in all matters military law. An in-depth education of the same would extend the course by a matter of years. Our instructors, who are themselves Army JAG Officers, have provided terrific instruction, and have been very entertaining while doing such.
(above picture: typical day in class)
(above picture: me sporting my Military Issue Glasses, aka BCGs, which, for obvious reasons, is an acronym for Birth Control Glasses).
Last Saturday, a bunch of our class tailgated at and attended the University of Virginia Football home opener. We had great seats (see the below pictures).
Two bits of personal (other than JAG School) news: I was selected to be a Board member for Iowans for Life, which is Iowa's most active pro-life organization. It is an honor to be trusted with such a huge responsibility. I can't wait to get back and get started volunteering with them on a part-time basis. I definitely have some big plans which I hope to get started on soon. The second bit of news is the Smith house got a new family member (see below picture of "buddy" in action).
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Thank you all for your continued support. I am sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I will try to do better in this last half of training. I miss you all and will see you soon! Please keep our men and women overseas in your prayers and thoughts.
