Quick Post About Today's PT

OH MY GOD!!!

Instructor says, "We're just going to do an easy run today guys..."

Be wary when your PT instructor says something like that.  A nice easy run is all in perspective.  It's easy for the instructor.  May not be that easy for you.

Today we ran a nice slow run.  Then stopped and did some sort of lunge/walk deal.  Then ran.  Then ran up to the top of a parking garage.  The ran up and down four stairwells in the parking garage. Oh, did push-ups at the bottom of the stairwells and squats at the top.  Oh, there were some jumping jacks thrown in there. (Side stradle hops for my fellow Army vets)  Then we ran back to the running track and did sprints back and forth from one utility pole to another.

Anyway, it was extremely tough for me but it was fun.  Lots of high fives, cheers, and fist bumps.

Oh, I forgot about the partner assisted shoulder presses and the weird push-up/plank thing our instructor had us doing.....

Section 5 saw the challenge and conquered it.

YES!

3rd Challenge Done! - The "Cyclone"

This was an interesting challenge.  It was essentially circuit training in place.

It was something like this:

• Three rounds
• Each Round = 5 minutes
• 1 Minute Rest Between Rounds
• The idea is to keep moving for one minute.
• First Minute = Lunges, Squats, Jumps, 
• Second Minute = Push Ups, Mountain Climbers, Planks, Etc.
• Third Minute = Hip Up's, Crab, Supine Planks, Etc.
• Fourth Minute = Rotate from Bear to Crab, Hip Under, Sit Through, Etc.
• Fifth Minute = All of the Above
• Rest and Repeat

It was physically challenging.  My legs are like spaghetti right now!

"Planking"

After a Shower.  Still excited and thankful to be here!

We have a guest speaker this afternoon. More later about that.

Until next time!.....

5.11 Steak Dinner and Physical Training

 5.11 Steak Dinner

Well, last night we were fed huge New York strip steaks by the folks at 5.11.  The steak was one of the largest steaks I have ever tried to eat!  5.11 prepared around 208 steaks!

We were also treated to door prizes and each of us were given a 5.11 "Push Pack."  Inside the bag was a nice knife.

5.11 Push Pack

5.11 Knife

This was a fun event and I think every session really looks forward to it.  Here's a picture from the event:

5.11 Steak Dinner

PT!

Today was physical training (PT) day.  We have PT three to four times a week.  It is fun but extremely challenging.  I can definitely tell I'm not in my 20's anymore!  Here are some pictures from today's circuit training:  (By the way, circuit training means multiple smaller torture stations instead of one big torture station.  LOL!)

Section 5 Ready for PT!

Resistance Leg Raises

Resistance Push Ups

Tired!

Lastly, I leave you with an image of what I see every day when I go to my classes:

Take care everyone!  Tonight is Flag Night.  I will be posting something about that as well.


See ya!

3 Weeks Down

I am a little late getting a blog entry made for this past week.  Last week was challenging.  I came down with a cold through much of the week and was not feeling well at all.  Several other students were under the weather as well.  The fitness challenge took a lot out of me as well.

It's actually the beginning of the fourth week now.  There is some anxiety over whether or not our session will end this Friday due to a shutdown of the federal government.  If it does, it means we would be sent home and have the chance to finish at a later date.  We would all have to start over from day one.  I will be greatly and profoundly disappointed if this happens.  But, it is out of my control and is unlikely.

We have our 5.11 / National Academy Associates steak dinner tonight.  It should be good.

I'll share more in a few days.

See ya!

2nd Challenge Completed

Ok, today Session 268 tackled the challenge known as "Not in Kansas Anymore."  Unfortunately, it was cold and raining so I didn't take my phone out for pictures.  I will update the blog if I run across some pictures.

This challenge consisted of three stations; sprints with a partner holding you back with a big rubber band, sprints up a fairly steep hill over and over and over (at Hogan's Alley, which was cool), and lastly sprints up and down at flight of stairs at a local parking garage...over and over and over.

Resistance Sprints

Sprinting at Hogans Alley

Sprinting at Hogans Alley

 

Sprinting Up and Down Stairs

 

 

Me After the Challenge

We did get our "challenge t-shirts."

Front

 

Back

If you are preparing to come to the FBI National Academy....train harder!  They believe in sprints, body weight exercises, resistance training with rubber bands, etc.  Don't do like me and just focus on running.  They don't do that much here anymore.  They believe in "functional fitness."


The National Academy Associates (NAA) held a meet and greet between the FBINA students and representatives from numerous colleges and businesses.  Souvenirs could be bought and the NAA provided pizza.  

We also had another enrichment seminar tonight featuring Sergeant First Class Greg Stube, United States Army (Ret).  SFC Stube was a Special Forces Green Beret.  He was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device while serving in Afghanistan.  SFC Stube presented an emotional and touching speech on bravery, leadership, and caring for your fellow man.

Lastly, for anyone coming to the FBINA.....here's some information for you:

You have very little room.  You're only assigned one half of this wall locker.

There are four small drawers and a bin under the bed.  There's a larger storage area under the bed.  Move your mattress to gain access.

The desk does not have a lot of room.

This is your gym locker.  Brings two pairs of shower shoes.  One for the gym and one for your room.

End of 2nd Week

Well it is the end of the second week here at Quantico.  Everyone seemed tired this week.  I think that was because this was the first full week of classes and physical training.  Regarding physical training; It's as hard as you want it to be.  The instructors know that everyone is not a marathon runner or champion athlete.  It is up to the person to challenge themselves.  I was pretty sore and beat up after the PT.

The classes are going well.  I am spending this weekend finishing up everything that I can for this session.  I was invited to go with some other students to the Marine Corps Museum this morning (Saturday, 4/15/17).  It is a great place to visit and it is free.  You will appreciate anything here that is free.  I am about to go eat in the free cafeteria.  LOL.

Oh, we had our first enrichment speaker on Thursday.  The speaker was retired Marine Corps Lieutenant General (that's 3 stars if you didn't know) George Flynn.  He gave an awesome and down to earth speech on leadership.  He also spoke at length about his experiences with our current Secretary of Defense, James Mattis.  He spoke very highly of Secretary Mattis.  I got a chance to meet LTG Flynn and have my picture made with him.

 

Lieutenant General (Ret) George Flynn, United States Marine Corps and I.

Lieutenant General Flynn at his retirement ceremony.

Anyway, everything is going great.  I have to admit that I do miss sleeping in my own bed.  I miss my family and I miss my girlfriend.  However, I have met so many wonderful people here.  The FBI Academy itself is well run and the staff is very professional.

Until next time....

1 Challenge Down, Pictures Made, Patches and Pins

Today was a fun day!  No classes!  But wait!....

We started our day with our first challenge; the Tin Man Trot.  It is the first of several challenges leading up to the Yellow Brick Road.  Everyone did well and it was a fun experience.  The FBI director's helicopter flew over us as we ran which was interesting.

My Section (5) just after the Tin Man Trot

 

Can you spot me? :-)

We also had our section and individual pictures made.  We finally got to wear our suits!  I thought we looked pretty good.  

 

 Lastly, we finished the evening off with our Patch and Pin night.  This is an opportunity to get patches, pins, and coins from officers from all over the world.  It was great fun!

"Most Expensive Free School You'll Ever Attend"

"Most Expensive Free School You'll Ever Attend" is a phrase you'll hear repeated often while you are here.  I brought $2000 of my own money and over half was gone in the first week.  You have to buy your National Academy uniforms.  They cost me about $330.  They are 5.11's and you know they really like their stuff!  I went ahead and paid for my New York trip which was $629.00.  I haven't even began to buy my souvenirs yet!  So you can see how your money can go quick here.  I would recommend, if you're coming to the National Academy, to bring at least $2500 or more of your can. 

Anyway, today is Wednesday, week 2, and I had a little downtime before our first challenge run of the session; The Tin Man Trot.  All challenges have a Wizard of Oz theme.  The challenges culminate with the Yellow Brick Road the last week or so of the academy.  The Yellow Brick Road is a 6.2 mile, cross, country, obstacle course designed many years ago by the United States Marines.  Its name is due to the various rocks that were painted yellow to mark the path of the course.  Completion of the Yellow Brick Road earns you a yellow brick. Most people here are very excited to get that brick, myself included.

There are other bricks you could potentially earn.  The only other "official" brick is the blue brick earned by swimming 34 miles while here at the academy.  The pool is currently shutdown due to construction so no blue bricks for us.  There are numerous "unofficial" bricks going around which were created by the students.  Here one for example:

The "Laundry" brick for all the laundry we do.

 Anyway, enough about that.  I will tell you, that as a law enforcement officer, this will be the best experience of your career.  You will be very, very, very, busy from about 7:30AM to 5:00PM, Monday through Friday.  Some days you will stay later than 7:30PM.  For us, today is one of those days.  Tonight is our Patch and Coin night.  I finally get to show off the awesome coins we have from the Oxford Police Department!  I'm also excited to see what everyone else brings.

Tomorrow night we get to hear from our first enrichment speaker.  Lieutenant General (Ret) George Flynn, United States Marine Corps.  I cannot wait to listen to what he has to say.

 

The facilities here are beautiful!  The FBI has been renovating the facilities for several years now.  It is hard to explain and pictures do not do it justice.

 

911 Memorial at the FBI Academy

Until next time......

1 Week Down

It is the end of the first week here in Quantico.  When asked how things are going, I reply, "It's like drinking from a fire hydrant!"  Information is thrown at you in great quantity and at great speed.  I think everyone was starting to get the hang of everything by Friday. 

The classes are great!  Each instructor is an experienced FBI agent with years of field experience.  They are specialists in their respective fields.  For example, my Legal Issues for Command Line Officers instructor, has prepared several cases that were argued before the Supreme Court of the United States.  They only lost one case.  My instructor said that if they had listened to him they would have won!  This particular instructor is one the best I have ever had in any subject.  He keeps your attention and makes you think on your feet.  We don't want to leave when his class is over.

I may have said it before, and I may say it again, but one thing I really like here is the wide range of experience of my fellow students.  We have leaders from small agencies to really large agencies like the New York Police Department or the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.  What we are discovering is that we all face similar problems.  I have found that the old saying, "Policing is policing," is really true.

My section, section 5, conducted our physical training (PT) test Wednesday.  We performed several tests which gauged our flexibility, checked for injuries, and so on.  It started to lightening as we were walking out to the track in the cold rain.  The track run was cancelled.  We then had to do an alternative test.  You didn't think the fine folks at the FBI wouldn't have a backup plan did you? Anyway, we had to sprint from one line to another at an ever increasing pace until you just couldn't run anymore.  I passed.  (as in I passed the test, not passed out!  :-)   )

The food here is not bad.  It is not going to win Michelin Stars either.  It is better then the Army food I remember from years ago.  If you are prior military, think Air Force food. 

I finally got to check out the Embassy Cigar Lounge just off post.  The Embassy Cigar Louge is attached to the Globe and Laurel restaurant which is owned by Marine Corps Major (Ret) Richard Spooner.   Here's an excerpt from their web page:

"Major Richard Spooner opened the Globe and Laurel restaurant in 1968. When he retired, after more than 29 years of service in the Marines, his wife Gloria helped convince him to turn his passion for great food and service from a part-time hobby into a full-time job. The Spooners want their restaurant to honor the men and women who "strap on a sidearm or wear a uniform or badge" in service to this great country. The Globe & Laurel is dedicated to fine dining and the perpetuation of the proud history of our corps of Marines. Many consider Major Spooner the "living historian of the Marine Corps".

Anyway, that's about it for the first week.  The water to our dorm has been off all morning for plumbing repairs.  My session is making plans for various trips.  I have already paid for the New York trip.  If you are planning on making many trips and buying lots of souvenirs, bring LOTS of money!!  Everything is expensive!

Until next time!

Banner in the classroom area.

I found this cool Coach Bryant quote in the gym.  Haven't found any Auburn coach quotes yet.  ;-)

3rd Day

Today was the first full day of classes.  I'm looking forward to each class.  The instructors are great and the wealth of knowledge from my fellow students is amazing!  Each class has officers with huge amounts of experience in all sorts of fields.  Drugs, forensics, gangs, SWAT...you name it.  This is truly a once in a lifetime learning opportunity.

Today was super busy!  Tons of information being thrown at you in a short period of time.  My legal class is going to be a blast!  Wow!  

Anyway, time is short.  I take my PT test tomorrow at 7:30 am.  Wish me luck!

The First Day

I made it!

It's the end of the first day.  It was hectic but I think everyone managed to survive.  One thing I discovered was that the dorm rooms are much smaller than I expected.  I found a place for everything however and all is good.

My roommate is the Deputy Chief of Police for the Aurora Police Department in Colorado.  He is a very experienced law enforcement officer and I'm sure I can learn a lot from him.

Food at the cafeteria is pretty good.  I have been pleased with the two meals I've had so far. It's pretty nice how this place is essentially a small, self contained, city.  They have just about anything you could need within walking distance.

Anyway...until the next post!

The Room

One Side is Mine

Heading Out

Well it is time to start the journey. Bags are packed and the truck is loaded. 

It is a long drive but I am anxious to get started.

I want to publicly thank my girlfriend Stacy. She has been so incredibly helpful through this process. I could not have done it without her. Stacy I love you!

To my friends and family, thank you for your support.

To my colleagues at the FBINA, see you soon!

Update:

Made it to the hotel at about 9:32pm central time.  The drive took about 9.5 hours with one more hour in the morning to Quantico.