Author: CongaltonFBINA275

Up early this Saturday morning. Hit Dunkin Donuts for some coffee and a bagel on our way to the pentagon. Looking forward to the tour.

PENTAGON

The pentagon tour was very cool. Here are a few photos from the tour.

Behind me is where the plane hit the Pentagon. I am standing in the memorial created for all those killed on 9/11. There is a bench and reflection pond below, for each person. The benches are pointed in two different directions. The ones next to me are pointing toward the Pentagon. The names on the benches are those killed in the Pentagon. Benches facing the other direction represent those killed on the plane.

Bill and I standing in the courtyard of the Pentagon.

CAPITOL

Next stop was the Capitol building. Had another great behind the scenes tour. I was able to stand on the back balcony and sit on the house floor. It was awesome to sit where the state of the union address will take place on Tuesday. Staff was setting up lighting and cameras for Tuesday. I sat in the 5th seat, 3 rows back on the republican side.

The view from where the inaugural speech was given and the pope spoke.

Going down to the bath tub we took the old elevator and ran into my man Donald. He was coming from Pelosi’s office.

This marble bath tub was built it 1858 and it’s use was discontinued in the 1890’s. This was one of 4 tubs in a bath house that was used by presidents and other politicians. The others have been removed. Couldn’t resist the quick opportunity to sit in it.

Finished off the night with a great home cooked meal at Jeremy’s house. Thanks to Jeremy and his wife, Mandy, who cooked fabulous Mexican food and his daughters for the wonderful dessert. A great way to spend the evening with great new friends. They have a beautiful home a beautiful family and a dog to go along.

(Left to right)Jeremy, me, Bill, Dave, Lito, Josh, Justin, Mandy, Martin, Tony, Aubrey

Here’s Kaya!!!

Apparently Bill really enjoyed the food and felt so comfortable in Schepp’s house that he could not resist the bean bag.

Happy Friday!! I am approaching the end of week 4. We have a full day of classes today and then the weekend.

Tomorrow I am excited to go on a pentagon and capitol tour. Thank you to a couple classmates for setting those tours up.

I was able to hit the gym early and knock out 18 miles on the bike and 3600 meters on the rowing machine. Nine of us are on our way to Alexandria for dinner.

Washington DC got some good snow today. We didn’t see as much, just some flurries. Hard to believe we were just there with no snow. What a difference a couple days makes.

We made it Alexandria, what a cool town. It is a crisp 20 degrees outside tonight. We are going to eat at the Fish Market. Looking forward to a great meal.

It’s 6 degrees out. Why not!

Up early today. The class is heading to the Holocaust museum. Beautiful bright blue sky today with a 9 degree temperature this morning. I’m sure glad the climate control inside the academy works very well.

Finished up at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. We all had a chance to tour the museum at our own pace and learn a lot about the history of the Nazis, Hitler and the senseless violent murders of millions of Jews.

Had a great networking opportunity tonight with the FBI agent association. It was nice talking with others from all over.

I was slow to wake up this morning. I stayed up late working on a paper and the forecast is calling for 100% rain and/or snow. In addition to that I have physical training first thing. I am sure I will be awake by the time that’s over.

I was right, pushups, sit-ups, lunges, deadlifts, balance, footwork, and more. I was nice and awake for my second class.

During the second class, we had the opportunity to attend a social media class. Great class on how to properly use social media and how to craft an appropriate message to the community and your followers. Twitter is one of the best ways to manage a crisis according to the experts.

As I sit in the library working on an assignment the snow has begun to fall. Nothing more exciting for a California guy than to sit next to a big window while typing and watching the snow fall. The snowflakes are huge, bigger than usual.

At the end of the day we got our class challenge T-shirt’s. On the back there is a list of all the Wednesday challenges that we will be doing. We have already completed a few. Tomorrow will be one more down and one more closer to the yellow brick road.

It’s Monday!!!!!!! I have a full day of classes today. Started off the day with a continued discussion on addiction. This discussion included the opioid epidemic. The FBI put together a good documentary covering the affects of heroin and prescription drugs on children, adults and families. I would definitely recommend the video, Chasing the Dragon, put out by the FBI.

Finished up the day with a group lecture on PTSD and the impact it can have on a police organization and the members of the organization. Then as we walk out, the news quickly travels about the 5 Houston officers that were shot. This year has started off real bad for law enforcement.

We are awaiting some colder temperatures over the next few days and possibly snow tomorrow.

Well today is the start of week 4. The first few weeks have passed by at a moderate pace. Not much going on today. Got up late after sleeping in. All the walking in DC did us in. A few of us went for a drive and stopped off at Warrior Coffee to get some caffeine and talk. I took my computer and books with the intent of working on a couple of assignments but that didn’t happen. It will have to wait until tonight. I have a 5 page and 10 page paper to steadily work on.

Tomorrow we will be back in class. This next week we will be visiting the Marine Corp Museum and the Holocaust Museum. I’m am looking forward to both.

Slept in this morning for the first time. It felt good to not use an alarm. Missed breakfast so we had to improvise on our way to DC. Duck Donuts it is. Coffee and donuts, breakfast of champions.

We made it to DC. We walked 5 miles to get to the Supreme Court, Capitol and the White House.

At the White House we ran into some of the other students from class 275.

Had dinner at the Old Ebbitts Grill next to the White House. Excellent food and service. I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

We made it back to our car after a long walk to all the memorials. We ended up walking 11.5 miles.

It’s Friday!!!! I’m not sure what the weekend will bring but I am sure we will figure out something. It is suppose to be cold again.

Started off the day with a guest speaker in my Leading at Risk Employees class. An FBI agent that struggled with alcoholism for many years came in and gave his story. This account covered not only the disease of alcoholism but his personal struggles at home and his work struggles. His account put alcoholism into perspective and highlighted the problems it can create for police leaders. He gave us all some valuable things to consider in the workplace.

Had a great physical training session to wrap up the week. I wish it wasn’t right after lunch but we got through it. Did some running on the track to include sprints. One must be careful sprinting in 39 degree weather. After PT we took a group photo by the pain tree.

The below photo depicts the patches from everyone in my section, Section 2. Thanks for the photos Craig.

A few of us are on our way to Georgetown for dinner tonight. Me, Tjörvi, Dave, Mike and Josh ended up at the Berliner for some brauts.

It’s warmer today than it has been in a while. It’s 48 degrees and raining today.

We have a full day of classes today, to include physical training in the pool. I’m not sure what that will consist of but after lunch I’m sure Courtney will let us know.

We are currently listening to a lecture about the Nickel Mines Amish school shooting that took place in 2006, where several Amish girls were killed by a gunman. Very emotional presentation by an officer that was part of the incident. Very emotional presentation by an officer that was part of the incident.

PT wasn’t too bad. We did some water aerobics and cardio then hit the deck for some core exercises. You feel great, when it’s all over!!

Got out of class a little early today and beat everyone to the cardio room. Was able to get 20 miles in on the bike and 2000 meters on the rowing machine, all before dinner.

I’m going to hit the library tonight and try to get a couple assignments done before the weekend. The rain finally moved out, it rained most of the day.