So far my time at Norwich has been a blast. Midterms are coming up and I find it hard to believe I have already been here for over 2 months. The days may go slow at times but the weeks seem to fly by. My indoc for Ranger Co is over and I am currently training to earn my Cat Eyes in April and finally be a part of the company. Ranger Co training is the best training at Norwich in my opinion. It teaches me things that no other MS I would ever learn. Squad Tactics, Movements, Coordinations, Weapons, things like that. You don't normally touch it until you're a MS 2 or 3. It may be tough at times but it'll be worth it at the end. I know this training is going to really help me get ready for LDAC that I will attend my Junior summer before I start my final year at Norwich.
Earlier this week my Company Commander and his roommate brought out their Roomba, an automated vacuum/cleaning unit that moves around rooms and hallways on it's own. They taped a triangular piece of cardboard to the roomba and put a C/Captain rank on it. It was then called Cpt Roomba. We had to call "Room Attention!" and "Hall Attention!" every time it would move out into those respective areas. My roommates and I decided to take our Dog River rocks and make a barricade so the roomba couldn't get in. We then collected dust from the corners of our room and put it just inside the door where a trap made from 550 cord was located. We had hoped to fool the roomba but it saw through our plan and when it went to go into our room it turned around and kept going on it's path. Our CO didn't let the fact that the roomba outsmarted us go unsaid. Somedays aren't fun here, others are riots. It's just that kind of thing you learn to love about Norwich.
I had my FTX just this weekend. I can honestly say I had a great time. While I didn't learn too many things new (other than the word "swath") due to my Ranger training, it was a great chance to brush up and apply what I've already learned and use it in a practical scenario. Rukking uphill for miles, camping in the cold, getting up in the middle of the night to guard the fire, getting dirty and grimy, all equates to everyone having a good time. I'm already looking forward to the next FTX sometime next semester!