Week 1 - Day 5 (Thursday)

Today I was blessed by starting my morning at 4:45 with a PT test. This was a diagnostic test to determine our beginning condition. I was required to do:
34 push-ups, I did 45
38 sit-ups, I did 39
two miles in 18:18, I did it in 15:07

So, I passed - by the skin of my teach. Hopefully, by the end of this course, I will be able to do much better.

This picture is of my friend Kirk Kay. We first met online through his blog (Chaplain Ken)
Today was our first day wearing the uniform. It was good finally to have everyone's last names to see and their rank as well. Many of the student are chaplain candidates and have not finished seminary yet, so they cannot wear the cross on their chests yet and are not called "chaplains", but are referred to by their rank. The rest of us are simply called "Chaplain" regardless of our rank.

Pictured below is myself with another "Olson". He is a candidate and therefore has no cross on his uniform. When he returns to school next year, he will then be a first lieutenant and be able to wear the cross. He is a great guy and I look forward to serving with him someday.
It is good to finally wear the uniform. It is one more step to finally feeling like I am really in the Army. It still feels like I am in a seminary class however, but hopefully soon the reality of what is ahead will really begin to set in.