Leaving for OCS at Ft. Benning, 1-4 August, 2010

So I woke up Sunday morning for a long day of driving today. I still hadn't planned /my route yet, but Mapquest has never let me down before. Plus, I've got navigational features along with GPS on my Droid cell phone. I wasn't concerned about being able to drive the 2000 miles it'll take to get there.

I packed my stuff (which took me much longer than I thought) and wished my family well as they left for church. I stood on the steps of my garage and waived as they drove away. I watched as long as I could.

I finally hit the road at about 11:05. Mapquest directed me to take I-80 to Lincoln, NE. Based upon a drive I made in 1988, I decided to do the 935 miles all at once. It was a beautiful drive and I felt no fatigue as I crossed 100 miles of Utah, 405 miles of Wyoming, and 420 miles of Nebraska. I jammed to all kinds of music and really felt a freedom to go as long as I needed to since I didn't have a wife or kids to need to stop for. I hit thunderstorms four times which dropped visibility and speed to 50 feet and 50 mph. Van Halen brought me into the Holiday Inn Express at about 02:15 central time where I crashed for the night.

The next morning I slept in and headed south from Lincoln, across a river into Iowa. The river had flooded onto the highway closing traffic down to one lane but it didn't impede me at all. Finally, I crossed into Missouri and tuned into a Kansas City sports radio station on the am band. I listened to Jim Rome and some guy talk about how badly the chiefs will suck this year. I listened until I hit West Plains about an hour north of the Arkansas border.

The next morning I slept in again and then stopped by an Army Recruiter's office to get a direct deposit form. Amber had told me the night before that we had gotten information from the bank stating that the routing number had changed. I filled out the form and headed south

Arkansas was gorgeous. I followed a scenic route through the Ozarks with speed limits no higher than 45 mph. Finally it opened up into farm country which wasn't so pretty. I tuned into a Birmingham, Alabama sports talk station that kept me from getting too bored.

Memphis wasn't so entertaining. It was just another mid-sized city. I did stop for lunch and had a good barbeque sandwich with Coleslaw on top. I continued south-east and reached Birmingham about seven that evening. I wanted to push on so I continued another hour and a half to Auburn, Alabama: home of the Tigers. I stayed at another Holiday Inn Express and watched an episode of True Blood on HBO. It was horrible. I'll stick with Buffy.

The next morning I slept in again and then drove onto post. I had to get a thirty day pass which I'll have to continue renewing. It'll be a pain to remember when the days blend together so much, but oh well. I familiarized myself with the PX and spent way too much money buying stuff on the shopping list. This place is gonna be expensive.

Finally, about 3 o'clock pm, I drove over to Sand Hill where the Reception Battalion is. I stopped at the building I was directed to go to by my GPS and saw a Drill Sergeant. I asked him where I was supposed to be and he directed me back around the corner to the Battalion headquarters. I drove up the hill to the building and reported at the front desk. They sat me down and took some paperwork and my medical records and then a private called to see where I was supposed to go from there. I had no clue who he was talking to. He turned to me and said, "he said you know where you're supposed to go." Since I didn't have any idea who he was talking to, I told him "know I don't." He then put me on the phone with the same Drill Sergeant I had spoken with at the bottom of the hill who told me not so kindly that I had no business being an officer if I was that unintelligent. I'd like to see him try to put it all together in an unfamiliar environment without antecedents. But Drill Sergeants are always right. I let it roll off.

I drove back down the hill and took some face-to-face ribbing from the cadre and then went to my bay to begin my time at 30th AG.