Hey all! Let me just start off with an apology for not updating for a whole month. I did go to the Academy as mentioned in my previous update, but the NDO let me go home and repack my bags first. Once I got home, I worked for a couple days until they sent me to Lansdowne, VA on Labor Day. As usual, nobody could give me a definite answer when I asked what was happening after the Academy so I had to pack as if I would be going directly to another deployment.
After arriving at the Academy, I got word that we would all probably be going home on the 22nd. The NDO wants to send out the teams that trained together on deployment, but October is typically a slow travel month and airports aren’t in need of our support at the moment. Rumor is that I will probably be home all of October and possibly into late November. Of course, I could get deployment orders at any time but until then I’ll be working at MSP.
The Academy was a good experience overall. It wasn’t quite as military as I expected. There were two classes of about 100 recruits each. The classes were divided into twelve teams so each week I worked with a team of nine recruits and the coach, Larry O. I was the Asst. Coach.
Before the recruits arrived, we had five days to prepare but it was disorganized and I wasted time because I didn’t know what to expect or how to prepare for it. The day before the recruits came, I was singled out as the quiet one and forced to do a 15 minute presentation on the NDO Responsibilities and Expectations. I think their judgment of me being the "quiet one" was a little off-base and unfair since many of them worked together in the past and I only knew 2 other people there. But there was no point in arguing. It was obvious that the organizer, Larry C., wasn’t changing his mind and rather enjoyed putting people on the spot and watching them squirm. So I decide to pretend like it was no big deal when in reality I really didn’t want to be a presenter.
Little did I know that that 15 minute speech would be minor in comparison to what was coming up. The NDO hired Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to teach our online timecards (WebTA) and travel voucher submittals. These two things are extremely important because this is how we get paid and each individual has to do his/her own. Well, my team was in the first WebTA class and it was an absolute disaster. I don’t think these SMEs have ever taught anyone anything because the class was a mess. The SMEs obviously knew the material, but they didn’t present in a way that was specific to the NDO and they also had no control of the classroom. After the class, the recruits had to take a quiz on the material and the scores averaged below 60%. This was obviously not good.
Since I have a lot of experience with WebTA, I was chosen to prepare a NDO specific remedial class for that evening. I spent all day on it then made more improvements as time allowed for the remaining WebTA classes. In the end, the NDO was pretty impressed with my ability to prepare and present on such short notice. I returned to MSP on the 22nd, leaving behind a good impression and with faces to go with the names of the people who are organizing the NDO. Unfortunately, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they will send me to Hawaii this winter, but one can always hope.
Here are a couple pictures from the Academy. The first one is my team from week # 1 and the second is from week # 2. The last picture is of Gwena, Karen, me, and Peggy. We were all coaches or asst. coaches. I became closest with Karen and Peggy. During the little free time we had, I taught them how to play Shanghai Rummy and we also went on several evening walks.
I got back to Minnesota just in time to attend Anna’s baby shower. We got together on Sunday at Julie’s apartment. It was nice to get together and see everyone again. With all of our different schedules, it doesn’t happen nearly often enough. I got a picture of the group minus Marie. She had to leave earlier. I’m on the left, Rita’s next to me wearing nothing but an orange necklace (I thought that was strange too, but it was pretty warm), then Renee, Jen, Anna, Katie, and Julie. Sorry, Julie. You were right. Your eyes were partially closed.
