Author: CongaltonFBINA275

We woke up to another rainy day here. It’s not quite cold enough to snow. Section 2 started with physical training and Courtney kicked our butt. I had no energy this morning but I made it through. Before we began my roommate thought it would funny to snap a photo of me. I know it looks like I’m goofing around drinking coffee but I’m actually rolling out the muscles in my back with a small ball on the wall.

We have a guest speaker today In my second class. I am looking forward to her presentation.

Very interesting discussion on cumulative trauma and how it impacts an employee over a career.

After class we went off base for a haircut at Kim’s. They were happy to see us again. I’m not gonna lie, straight shave, hot towel and massage is nice.

Had a great weekend in New York but reality set in when the alarm went off this morning. We woke up to a cloudy rainy morning but we got a little extra sleep because the base delayed opening until 9am. This resulted in no class first period and allowed us to easy into Monday.

I got a text during class from my roommate advising that I had a package. I went to the section 2 mail section and found a package from my parents. That was a nice surprise. The box contained some chocolate and other See’s candy for valentines. Thanks Mom and Dad!

This afternoon we have the last of two international panels. Today we have students answering questions from Greece, Austria, Hong Kong, Pakistan, West Africa, and Canada

Afghanistan, Dubai, Belgium, Phillppines, Jamaica, and Bangladesh

After class I was lucky enough to get another package from the family. It was a happy birthday surprise since I’m gone for my birthday. Got some Girl Scout cookies and sweet tarts with a nice card. Thank you for making my day!!

Up at 730 this morning. Today will be another long day. Got my Starbucks and I’m ready to head to the harbor for a boat trip with NYPD and NYFD and a visit to marine operations. After our boat trip we will head to the freedom tower and the 911 memorial. Our long bus ride home will commence at 5pm. Should be a quiet ride home tonight.

Boat trip was an awesome experience. Not too often you get this kind of opportunity. I am very appreciative for the once in a lifetime opportunity.

We ended the day with a tour of the 911 memorial and a view from the 81st floor of the freedom tower.

While we were up in the Freedom Tower, Tim Brown joined us and talked about his experiences during 9/11. He was a FDNY firefighter that was in both towers on that day. He was able to take shelter near a support pillar when the buildings collapsed. He was lucky to survive that day and lost many friends trying to help people. He was also a guest speaker at our academy.

What a great weekend. Thank you to Charles, Tony and Lito from NYPD and class 275, for planning a great trip. Thank you to NYPD for their hospitality and professionalism. I put together a little recap of the weekend. I don’t think the weekend could have been any better.

We didn’t get to bed until 2am this morning. After a 6 hour bus ride we hit the town for dinner. It was a little chilly and windy.

This morning it is still cold.

We made it to the ESU, emergency services unit, for NYPD. We got the full tour to include a demo. Very high speed unit that can handle just about everything.

The flight crew did a little showin off for us. Thank you NYPD.

We have arrived at 1 Police Plaza, the NYPD police headquarters.

After the visit to 1 Police Plaza, we set out on the 8.5 mile concrete jungle fast paced walking tour. We left the plaza and hit the Brooklyn Bridge first. We started off with a decent size group (seen below) but ended with about 25.

We the continued throughout the city and went through china town, little Italy. We stopped off at the 6th precinct police station and then continued on to the high line, a walkway converted from an old rail line.

We finally made it back to the hotel where I hit just over 20,000 steps for the day, about 10 miles. I am ready for dinner at Carmines tonight. Made it to dinner. The food was amazing and the company was great. We had a visit from the NYPD bagpipers at dinner.

Martin, Marissa, Me, Dave, Bill, Rigo, Ron, Melissa At Carmines.

We ate so much at Carmines that we had to take a walk. We went to the NYPD mounted stable that is in the city under a luxury apartment complex. We had a great tour. The mounted patrol has about 60 horses. They had as many as 120 at one point.

The horse above is symbolic to the unit. The eyes show the fire of the World Trade Center, the horse is rearing up towards evil, and badge on the bottom is for the fallen officers of the mounted unit.

It’s Friday baby!!!!! Woke up to a cool foggy Friday morning. Had physical training first thing this morning. I guess Courtney knew it was our New York weekend and we wouldn’t be exercising. She ran us through an hour and 23 minute cardio workout. Jump rope, body drag, boxing, lifting, fighting a dummy and 400 meter sprints outside.

We are loaded up and headed to New York. 4 buses with 185 of us. We are fortunate to have a police escort all the way to New York. We are suppose to arrive by 10pm.

Woke up to a cloudy mild temperature day. It has been nice having some warmer weather. Physical training did not disappoint this morning. Courtney had us throwing medicine balls, doing rope pulls, lunges, and more. We finished up with a nice jog through the Quantico woods.

Tonight we attended a lecture on the Pulse Night Club shooting. We are fortunate to have classmates that have participated in these high profile events and can share their experiences and lessons learned.

Another terrible active shooter event by a deranged terrorist. 49 people killed for no reason.

Have to get packed and ready tonight for the New York trip. We are leaving promptly at 3pm tomorrow.

Today is fit challenge day. We ran a 5k as a class, in preparation for the 6.1 mile , “Yellow Brick Road” challenge at the end. The weather was beautiful this morning. Had to have been in the 50’s.

Me, Bill and Josh are ready for the run.

This is the mob before the run. The group did not look like this after the first mile. Everyone was much more spread out.

This afternoon we have some interesting blocks of instruction. We had the opportunity to pick from a list of 10 different topics. I picked the below listed classes.

After dinner we listened to a lecture by NYPD deputy commissioner John Miller. He spoke about terrorists attacks in New York and in general. He had the opportunity To interview Osama Bin Laden in 1998 and be involved in several of the more recent attacks.

Section 2 started off the day with physical training. It was tough after that big steak dinner last night. As I figured, Courtney did not disappoint us. One hour of high intensity exercise that really got the blood flowing and muscles screaming. Crazy thing is she did it with us, being 8 weeks pregnant.

we have the class elections today after our last class. The 5 section leaders will speak to the whole class and we will vote on who will be our class speaker at graduation.

Immediately after voting we are loading up and going to DC for a Capitals hockey game. Only down side is Trump will be giving the state of the union speech right down the road. I’m pretty certain traffic will be an issue.

We made it to the arena after being left at the at the academy by the group. Chonman was nice enough to lend Bill and I his car. Luckily my instructor Beth Coleman has imparted some emotional intelligence skills over the last few weeks because I was able to manage my emotions after being told we were left behind. I was able to change my thoughts, which changed my emotions which ultimately changed my behavior (Think I got that right). A rum and coke with a salted pretzel, and all is good. And I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge Sgt. Joe from the Capitol police. He hooked us up with parking. On the curb to the front of the arena.

Week 5 is well under way. We had a great weekend and we were able to see some great tours. This Monday is actually pretty boring. Had class today with no real excitement. For the last block of instruction today we had an international student panel. This was made up of 14 international students that answered questions about law enforcement in their respective countries. Romania, Iceland, Mexico, Iraq, Australia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Latvia, England, Africa, Morocco, Thailand, Vietnam and Belgium were all represented. Some of them have very different practices, training and procedures.

Tonight we are having a steak dinner sponsored by 5.1.1. Tactical.

5.1.1. Tactical is always a big supporter of law enforcement.

At the end of the night, 511 Tactical gave everyone a new backpack, pocket knife and wool socks. Top notch company with quality products. I left the dinner in a comatose state and made it back to my room and rested for a while. After an hour I was able to force myself to the gym and ride the bike. I got another 10 miles in and then went to the Lincoln room with Bill and Martin. The three of us worked on our homework assignments and rocked out to 80’s music while we were doing it. I’m tired and ready for bed.

I was able to sleep in this morning after a long day yesterday. Definitely nice not using the alarm.

Made it to the gym at a decent time and rode 27 miles. I got on the bike only needing 23 miles to hit my goal of 275 miles for the riding brick. I got so caught up in a feel good story on ESPN that I rode an extra 4 miles. I plan to continue riding for the rest of the academy.

A few of us got out and went for a hike this afternoon. We went to Prince William Forest Park and hiked a few miles. Beautiful forest and good weather for a hike.

Tonight was a great night at the boardroom. Super Bowl party would list everyone in attendance. Go Rams!!