I am in my freshman year of Army ROTC at my University. I have no prior service. I am majoring in Nursing, looking to eventually commission into the Army as a RN, from there I will continue school to become a CRNA. I'm not really sure where I want to go with this blog, I just know that I would have loved to hear about ROTC from the prospective of cadets, rather than recruiters. Feel free to ask me questions, if you see a mistake I made, or if there is something else you want to see on here!

Just because you were in JROTC does not mean you know everything. Don’t correct the III’s and IV’s because you learned whatever in JROTC. It’s fucking annoying. Almost as bad as the prior service guys who are complete tools.

Monday

Same stuff as usual. Formation at 0540. Had muscle failure PT.

Friday

Was a hike. Nothing to report on that. There were some dipshits who decided they would try to run the hike..a couple hurt themselves, and the others were so tired not even half way up from running that they finished last. Pace yourself on shit like that, especially when we have an easy PT like a hike.

Thursday

Class was cancelled. Our instructor was out of town. I try to sleep in on the days I can, but it’s to the point where my body wont let me. It’s so use to being up by 5am everyday, that when I have the chance to sleep in, the most I do is 8 or 9 am.

Tuesday=OCL

Run down for the day: Had OCL at our host school today. Had to be up by 0420 inorder to get ready and be there by 0530. This week was about raids. We got a 40 minute briefing on raids, and watched part of a movie, then we got to apply the information out in the field. We broke down in squads, and did different movement techniques for raids. The entire morning was miserable. It was 50 degrees out, windy, and it started to rain half way though. Didn’t do much other than that.

Advice: Pay attention, and write notes. Cadre members are at these briefings. The person leading the power point usually likes to ask questions, so volunteer to answer them. It will only make you look better if you can answer these questions.

Sorry for not updating in forever!

Run down for the day: We had PT this morning. Same shit, different day. Formation at 0545 at the soccer field. Today was ‘muscle failure’ PT. Basically we just did a lot of the same stuff. 100 push ups (various forms), 100 sit ups, shuttle run, crunches, etc. This semester seems to be extremely easy PT wise. I would have died first semester doing muscle failure, now it’s nothing.

Advice: Work out of your own. Don’t just go to PT. You won’t get better, and exceed the standards if you just work out 3x a week.

Links: Pushups!!! http://military-fitness.military.com/2012/02/power-up-your-push-ups-with-15-variations.html?ESRC=sm_fit.nl

PT test today.

Run down for the day: It was our first PT test since coming back from break. Pretty much everyone did horrible because no one has worked out in 2 months. Cadre also decided to mess with us and change where we take our test. So that just kinda through things outta wack. It was 40 degrees out this morning when we took our test. Had to be up by 0400. The entire morning was just horrible. I passed everything. Maxed my pushups, but my situps and run is not where I would like it. My weight has stayed the same all semester (which is overweight according to the Army) so I have to get tape tested every PT test. Despite me being “over weight”, they don’t care because I’m under the max for the tape test. I’m to the point where my weight is coming from muscle rather than fat.

Advice: Work out on your own time. Especially if there is a long period of not meeting for official PT. Work out on your own even on PT days. It sucks, but you will see the results.

Links: APFT score cards/weight requirements for both females and males—http://www.apft-standards.com/