10-98

Tomorrow is the finale of the 10 week program.  Graduation and goodbyes begin at 1000.  I’m glad its over, but I already miss some of my friends I made down there in Quantico over 10 weeks. We all hope to stay in touch and I’m confident that we will in one way or another. The cities, counties and states these fine men and women work for are in good hands with these top drawer people!

Tuesday night saw one final meeting in the Boardroom.  The karaoke was the best (and worst) of the session!  A lot of goodbyes were started early as by Wednesday night most students had moved out of the dorms and into hotels as their families have arrived. 

It has been a long 10 weeks...it did go by “fast”, however 10 weeks away from home is 10 weeks.  I thank my wife and family for the support and handling things on the home front, as well as my co-workers in La Vista. 

Week 9 Done...1 more week to go!!

Week 9 has come and gone.  Most classes are wrapping up with final tests and presentations pretty much all that's left.  Monday will be the final physical assessment in PT to determine what level of improvement resulted from the past 10 weeks.  I have no doubt that most of the class improved in muscle mass.  I won't be surprised if most gained weight, most likely good weight, however, a high concentration of barley hops may be present in many. 
The Yellow Brick Road obstacle course was postponed from Tuesday to yesterday due to the Marines needing to use the course.  Our section, 4, had PT on Thursday.  Pain Master O'Malley didn't pass up the opportunity to put us through a final round of medieval torture as he had a 1:30 minute circuit with 6 stations. 1:30 full out, rest 15 seconds as you get to the next station, and there you go again.  This was followed by leg stretching using a band.  My legs have never been stretched in such a way.  I woke up at midnight with leg cramps.  The stretching was good stuff and something I'll do at home once my body recovers from the abuse it has taken over the past 10 weeks. 
The YBR course began at 0900 with a temperature of 29 degrees.  You get off the bus and off you go into the woods for 3 miles.  It is best described as a military trail hike with obstacles.  The biggest obstacle to me was trying to avoid the mud puddles and tree roots throughout the forest.  One classmate was taken to the hospital after he split his elbow open on the jagged rock climb.  Word on the street was he had to get 9 staples to close the wound and has some shoulder issues.  One other guy tweaked a knee.  Once you get out of the woods you pop out next to the Marine Corps officer training base.  They had training going on and when we were in the woods the sound of explosions and gunfire really made for some good ambiance.  Once off the trail, three of us made 3 mile the trek back to the finish line. One interesting fact...we have two Marines in our class, and since this is a USMC course, both are required to be in USMC gear whenever on the course so they had to run the course with Marine equipment on.  Here's to them!!!!   It was a fun and challenging finale to the PT program. 
Dinner was with a great group of 10 or so guys at a steakhouse in Price William County followed by a dose of Advil for the sore legs. 
Forensics class on Thursday had a presentation on the JonBenet Ramsey case.  The presenter was a former Boulder detective assigned to the case. In my opinion, there was a terrible response by a couple Boulder cops that screwed the crime scene up, but the investigative work was outstanding.  Based on the evidence and case work, there's no doubt in my mind who was involved with murdering the 6 year old girl.  How John and Patsy Ramsey were not prosecuted is a mystery to me.  After 16 years, you could still see how bitter and disgusted the detective feels about how justice was never served in this case.  Patsy is dead, however, her millionaire husband still roams free.  The evidence shows how they did it and how they staged the scene.  The little girl deserved justice.  One of the grand jurors spoke out in January of this year and said the grand jury voted to indict both of them but the Boulder District Attorney declined.  Shame on him.
Families will begin to arrive on Wednesday in advance of the Friday graduation.  Amazing how big of a deal this is here.  The FBI had to have a guest list early on in order to do security checks on attendees.  Tickets are needed for graduation admittance as seats are limited.  They do run a tight ship here which to me is impressive.
I hope they start selling Yuengling in Omaha sometime soon!!!!

Failure to Communicate

One of the things that needs to be improved at the  NA is communication. There has been several law enforcement officers killed and seriously injured across the country during the 9 weeks I've been here that have had connections to classmates here, however, the only way to find out about the incidents are word of mouth or watching/reading the news.  I'm an avid reader of numerous newspapers and Sunday  night I read that two Middlefield, Ohio police officers were shot on a traffic stop.  They returned fire and killed the suspect.  One of my classmates is a Middlefield copper. Its a small department near Cleveland. It really hits home when you know someone from a department that's been affected.  

Last month the NA travelled to DC to the Peace Officers Memorial and some DC cops played the pipes and drums at the ceremony.  Well, last week one of the drummers was injured in a traffic collision on his motor in DC (controversy on this as the DC Fire Dept didn't have a rescue squad available and it took 25 minutes for one from a neighboring jurisdiction to show up.  Not good DCFD). This circle of six degrees grows every day. 

The issue for me is this type of info needs to get out to the students here. Word of mouth only goes so far. Law enforcement is a tremendous brotherhood, especially in times of crisis.  A single newsletter only goes so far. Thankfully, the network the NA experience establishes will be a great asset for all who are here.  A suggestion to the NA administration of the FBI and future NA classes...find a way to get info like the above out to the masses.  

DID YOU ISSUE THE CODE RED? I WANT THE TRUTH!

A code red was issued today at the Marine Corps Base here at Quantico.  The red level meant the base was closed to only essential emergency personnel.  A snowstorm with an expected drop of 8-12 inches was forecast, meaning the end of the world for those in DC.  Classes were cancelled today, which thus meant the 5 mile run in our challenge series, called the“Journey to OZ”, also the last run prior to the Yellow Brick Road next week, would not be run.  It was probably a good call on the base closing as a good heavy snowfall from around 0500 to noon today hit the area.  While DC itself got mostly rain, everyone else got snow and wind gusts. About six inches fell here. 

Not to be denied, however, some classmates still were going to run the 5-miler in the snow and wind.  I was not one of those.  My roommate and I were on the way to the cardio room to run the 5 miles in the confines of a climate controlled cardio room. Ah but the best laid plans…being the cop that he is, the lobster from Maine referred to me in derogatory terms, and I then guilted my roommate so off we went into the winter wonderland. Surprisingly, the air temp was around 35 degrees, but the wind wasn’t so kind.  Our group of about 30 finished the run in under an hour.  The run sucked; however, knowing it was done and no “makeup” work was needed made it worth the while. (Several other groups also ran throughout the day…no doubt peer pressure plays a part!). I went into the gym afterward and a group of 10 had been playing basketball for about an hour. Seizing the opportunity, I was able to get a couple games in with a group of analysts that are here for a month of training. They range in age from 23-27, which means the run a lot faster. Advil is the drink of the day.

Television weather stations were all geared up for the end of the world and the blizzard of ’13, “Superstorm Saturn”, was a bust. The weather coverage is just as bad here as in Omaha…it wasn’t this way when I was a kid.  It borders on ridiculous.     

Starting week 8

Week 8 starts tomorrow and week 8-9 is basically the end of the college classroom work, with the first 2 days of week 10 finals for those who have them.  Many classes have group presentations that should be interesting.  The Officer Involved Shooting class will have group presentations (usually 4 to a group) on a shooting someone from the group's agency was involved in.  Interesting how things are investigated differently, however the end result is usually the same.  The Forensics class presentations should be even more interesting.  That class has been the best of the bunch that I have.  I've also heard that from several classmates.  We had a lecture on blood spatter on Friday that was both graphic and educational.  This should be a required class for all.  I'd like to see how to get this into a 24 hr training class and have everyone in our department get the training.  It would be a great benefit, especially to police officers who work the street.  I'll be working on this.

The weekend was rather relaxing.  I found a spot in Fredericksburg, VA to watch the Creighton game on Saturday.  I out-numbered Wichita State fans in the place 1-0.  Kudos to the 'Jays.  An early to bed Saturday night and a late sleep in Sunday morning was well needed.  A little laundry and I'm in gear for the 5+ mile run we do on Wednesday.  The only hitch is the projected snowmaggedon that again is forecast for the area.  The I-95 corridor is the alleged dividing line between heavy snow and "less heavy" according to the weather procrastinators.  I would imagine if the Academy is open on Wednesday we'll be running.  I think they should make that run "self-study" and have us do it on a treadmill.

I had dinner on Friday in the chow hall with a guy from Lebanon.  Very interesting to hear about that country and the issues they face.  Interesting to hear how American foreign policy is received there.  He had some good points and questions.  I wish him well upon his return.  Amazing the things he has to worry about and here I am still worried if Taylor Martinez can develop as a QB any more after 4 years (probably not).  Spring practice has begun in Lincoln.

The craziness of America continues to hit around here.  An Alexandria motor officer was shot in the head by a cab driver this past week.  Amazingly, he has a good chance of survival and recovery.  The two officers killed in Santa Cruz were known to a classmate from Capitola (CA).  One of the officers was 3 weeks from retirement.  Two additional police officers were shot, one killed, near another classmates area near Vero Beach.  I'm sure there has been more when you have 270 different agencies together. 

Week 7 Pics

Berlin Wall

East German Guard Tower

UnaBomber's cabin

The two guys from Nebraska, me and Godfrey Brokenrope from Aurora PD 

International Night and More

Wednesday night was “International Night”, which is a night where all of the international students set up a booth to showcase their countries food, liquor, beer, gifts, etc. Some of the food good, some there was no way I was trying, such as the duck egg….eck

There was a variety of beverages at many of the booths, with the Aruba “Spider” drink a favorite.  They say International Night is one of the best nights for fun and networking and it was spot on.    I-Night ended at 8 pm.  We then had to meet in the Boardroom for a follow up meeting and additional networking.  The meeting ended at 11pm and Neil from Thunder Bay broke out his guitar and serenaded many of us in the Crossroads area for a short time.  The sound of bagpipes was heard on several dorm room floors shortly thereafter.  One thing is for sure; don’t ever let a Texan (Ed) attempt to play the ‘pipes!!!

Our media class trekked up to Washington DC on a field trip to the Newseum.  It’s a museum dedicated to the history of news, newspapers, and the like.  There was a couple sections of the Berlin Wall there along with the Shoe Bomber’s shoes and the Unabomber’s cabin (which were on loan from the FBI to the museum).  Cool stuff. The bus ride back was entertaining when Bryan from North Carolina got stuck in the john on the bus for a short time. 

Thursday classes, like every day, start at 0800.  One problem today was the fact that anyone who sampled beverages from the different countries at I-Night found out why you shouldn’t mix alcoholic beverages.  0800 came way too quick for many.  I am glad I wasn’t one who had PT at that time. 

Speaking of PT, our master-of-pain, EJ, again pushed the limits of sanity.  Today’s torture session was a set of eight (8) 400 meter runs.  You had a partner who runs a 400, then when he’s done, you run, then him, then you, etc.  A total of 8 laps for each guy.  So you run and then get about a 2 minute rest in-between laps while the other guy goes.  The trick is to attempt to run each lap near what the starting pace was (for instance I am a 1:50 per lap guy) strangely enough, you tend to get stronger later in the game. Coming off International Night, waterboarding would have been more fun.

The “challenge” on Wednesday was called the “‘Winged Monkey Assault.” About a dozen different stations are set up on the track area that worked various parts of our body.  We were on the clock for 30 minutes….the goal was to keep moving non-stop the whole time.  One more challenge to go before the Yellow Brick Road in 2 weeks.  Next week is the “Journey to Oz”, which is a 5 mile run….followed by a large dose of Advil.

 

The highlight of the week was today with a presentation from Lt Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police.  Paul is the public affairs officer for CSP and handled the media at the Newtown school shooting.  Hearing his insight was both interesting and educational.  Twenty children and 6 adults killed….Paul was able to clarify some things for those of us in law enforcement that honestly citizens don’t ever need to know. Horrific cannot describe what happened there.  I thought at the time of the crime Paul did a magnificent job and hearing a presentation about it from him confirmed my initial impression of him on television…professional to the core. My heart continues to go out for the families, first responders and the community of Newtown. 

Linguistics

Dinner last night was entertaining as I was at a table with a guy from Belgium, Scotland, Tennessee, Alaska and New Jersey. Listening to the different accents was in itself awesome. The blending of cultures here is pretty cool. I like to people watch, and that has been taken to a new level listening to people talk. From back woods Alabama to the Queen’s English to the difference between Suffolk County (New York) and Elizabeth, New Jersey, it sounds cool. The Detroit guys talk different than the Illinois guys, but much like the Cleveland peeps. The Texas boys are different than those from Oklahoma. The Maine guy is different than the Massachusetts and Connecticut guys. Then there's the Philly guys. I can't leave out the West Virginia and Southern Virginia guys. Throw in the Tennessee talk as well. The Carolina guys have their own language. The Minnesota and Wisconsin guys do say"eh". I can’t even get into the International dialects.

From Nebraska west to the Pacific Coast there doesn't seem to be much of a twang. Boring

About 100+ of us attended a weekend training in Philadelphia put on by the members of our class from PPD. There was a great session on explosives and tactical response. Philly is a big city with a lot of crime, and how they respond and deal with it is crucial. It surprised me how much of a slum Philly is outside of downtown. Those cops have a lot to deal with on their plates. The Real Time Crime Center appears state of the art in the making. A tour of the Citizens National Bank Ballpark and the sports complex where the Phillies, Eagles and Flyers play reinforced how crucial crowd management needs to be at high profile sporting events. I don't think you really can understand until you experience the complete behind the scenes tour.  Philadelphia Police were outstanding hosts. I cannot say enough on how well we were treated. Thanks Tom and Ray!!

As for the bus driver of bus #2, he needs a new job that doesn’t involve driving and the bus needs new brakes.

Wicked Witch Hunt

Class 252 got back into the swing of things after the 3-day break. Tuesday was the basic classroom sessions and Wednesday was another athletic challenge and enrichment speaker. The challenge this week was called the "Wicked Witch Hunt" which began with a 1/2 mile run, followed by a set of 20 lunges, off on another run, followed by a set of 25 pushup on the side of the road, another run, another exercise (bear crawls up and down a hill x 3, another run to the parking garage, up the garage steps to the top level, 20 burpies (up and downs...you feel the effect of these rather quickly), a run back to the track, backward bear crawl up a steep embankment followed by "dive bomber pushups" over a trench, then about a 200 meter sprint to the finish. Everyone eventually finished. It's always good to be in the middle of the pack and "represent" for us older guys!!

The enrichment speaker was Bobby Smith, a Louisiana trooper who was shot in the face and blinded in 1986 by a dope dealer. Smith has been involved in helping officers through traumatic incidents and uses his life experiences (he has lost both his son and daughter to tragic incidents since his shooting) to get his message out. His book, Visions of Courage is a good read.

I was following the weather forecast for the Omaha metro where they were calling for the end of the world (10+ inches of snow). It was entertaining to see the hype was overdone again by the weather people. How do they keep their jobs??

I have commented several times about the PT class and the medieval methods of torture EJ O'Malley uses to bring pain to my body. Today, another chapter. Four stations, 50 seconds each x 4 (16 total) followed by sprints on the track. He has a point when he says you get what you put into a workout. If you dog it, why bother?? Police officers in 2013 should all be "21st Century Tactical Athletes"...which is a combination of being in good physical and mental shape to do the job. A good workout plan combined with decent nutrition is the key. Weight loss is pretty much easily done by eating the right foods (including the ones you like) but having smaller portions....combined with exercise.

If anyone reading this is a future NA student, enroll in the Forensics class with Buddy McGinnis. Forensics sounds intimidating; however this is an overview course and has been very enlightening. Buddy even made the presentation on "tool impressions" interesting. His delivery and wit is well received. The guy knows his stuff. It is AMAZING what science can do in the world of crime scene investigation. Next week is a presentation on underwater evidence recovery.

Interesting conversation of the day included a discussion with a guy from the North Carolina Dept. of Fish and Game who was telling a story about poachers shooting bears in order to cut out the bear's gall bladder.. Evidently there's a black market for medical use in Russia and some people ingest the gallbladders as an aphrodisiac.

To some of the people here the gall bladder might taste better than the cafeteria food at this point.

Starting Week 6

Friday was get-out day as many of the class 252ers went home for the day weekend.  I was one such soul.  I will admit that DC traffic on I-95 is the worst in the country.  When I got on 95 to head to DCA on Friday at 4:30, I had smooth sailing northbound.  Traffic southbound from when I got on at Quantico all the way to the 395 merge was backed up, that's about 30 straight miles.  No telling how far south of Quantico it was added to that.  That commute must really blow for people in the suburbs.  Here's to a 6 am to 6 pm workday!!!
Our PT instructor wasn't about to let us go for a 3 day weekend without a going away gift of 35 straight minutes of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off, 66 reps of sadomasocist exercise!! There's not enough leg room on any plane to compensate for that!
Returning to Quantico on Monday required a meeting in the boardroom.  Interesting cop talk and strange-but-true stories of murder and intrigue!  The guy from Connecticut had a strange story involving a sock...whoa....
Upward and onward we go...

Week 5

Week 5 was basically the longest week of the session. It seemed like every day and night had something going. I think the PT instructors were bent on retaliating on the 100+ that went to NYC. PT on Monday involved running out to the five level parking structure and splitting into two sections of 25…one section detailed to a routine of 20 squats, sprinting up four flights of stairs on the NE side of the structure, 20 pushups, then a sprint to the NW side and repeating the routine on all four sides of the structure. After a one minute break, we switched with the other group and did 100 yard sprints up the parking garage ramp and band work, then jogged down the ramp and repeated the sprints for 10 minutes straight. Brutal, torturous, medieval…but a great workout.

The IACP hosted a dinner at the Officer’s Club at the Quantico Marine Corps Base. It was a quick meal with a good speech by the IACP rep. After 5 straight weeks of chow hall chicken, most, if not almost all of the class, was hoping for something other than chow hall chicken…nope.

Speaking of food, 5 weeks of chow hall food without seasoning starts to wear on people.

Wednesday was a “challenge day”, which meant a 3.2 mile run on the roads surrounding the FBI Academy. The runs used to be on scenic trails, however last year unexploded ordinance was discovered and the Marines closed the trails. Everyone completed the run; however, several suffered injuries from the run. Nothing major, but some were hobbling around. A group of us enjoyed another post-challenge “touch” football game. Joe from Ohio still looks like he can play LB for any D1 school.

Wednesday afternoon saw an enrichment seminar presented by Mike Durant, the Blackhawk helicopter pilot who was shot down and captured by Somalia warlords in 1993. Mike was held captive for 11 days and sustained gruesome injuries. His crew was killed. It was interesting to hear his story and learn firsthand how political mistakes by those in Washington lead to our troops unnecessarily being without the resources they need. He talked about the importance of leaders being those that can make decisions. If you are afraid or can’t make a decision, you have a tough time being a leader. His definition of leadership is “taking people to places they otherwise wouldn’t go”.

Wednesday night took the class to the National Peace Officers Memorial at Judiciary Square in DC. It was cold and rainy, but no one seemed to care. A somber ceremony was held. The senseless murders of officers in Southern California by the cowardly idiot were on many of our minds.

Thursday saw a third day of PT. What we thought would be a recovery day turned into a basic 20 minute circuit of strength conditioning followed by taking planking to another level. Most of us went to that spirit world EJ talks about. A 4 on 4 basketball game followed the PT workout and revenge was taken on EJ. A Valentine’s Day meeting was held in the Boardroom later in the evening.

Friday is get-away day with many heading home for the 3-day weekend. As a sendoff for Section 4, we’re “lucky” enough to have PT as the last class on Friday. We’ve been warned that a proper beginning to a 3-day weekend includes a healthy breakfast and a full-body workout. Gee, lucky us.
We’re halfway through the session and the importance of networking has been taken up a notch as stories and department experiences are being discussed more now that we’re comfortable with each other. The second half of the session should be a great learning environment.

The picture of the two men at the table is kinda cool...one guy is from the US Border Patrol and the other from the Tijuana (Mexico) Police Department. Both great guys.

Finding NEMO

The weekend saw a class trip to NYC. National Academy tradition is to have a New York trip lottery and those lucky enough to get into the 110+ slots and $550 (which include hotel, transportation and dinner at Carmines) get to bus up to the City. We left in search of super-snowstorm Nemo and found parts of it halfway through New Jersey. The bus driver slowed a little and increased his following distance and got us to Manhattan around 7pm. We stayed around 54/7th Avenue in a great location. I have never been to NYC Having lived in LA and been to Chicago, I had a good idea of what to expect, but I was blown away by number of tall buildings... everywhere in Manhattan.

The snow really intensified and we were hungry so a group of us hit McSorleys...the oldest bar&grille in New York...open since 1854.

Times Square was still rocking even in blizzard conditions. It was a good feeling to walk in with a group of 8 guys and see another group from our trip in the various pubs.

A late night turned into an early morning as we boarded the bus at 8 am Saturday morning for a trip to 1 Police Plaza (NYPD Headquarters). A quick tour and we were off to the NYPD Aviation Unit on the south end of Brooklyn. There was obviously more snow there...one of the pilots had an adventure getting to work from Long Island...he said he had about 2 feet of snow in his 'hood. Gracious and professional reps of NYPD.

We had free time for around 4 hours before the class dinner. Several of us took the time to walk...alot...between 54th and around 40th / Madison Avenue to 5th Ave. Its amazing to see how close things are, whether it be Madison Sq Garden or Carnigie Hall...only a few blocks seperate the iconic places.

Dinner for 110 was at Carmines in Times Square. This ia a must stop for anyone. Servings are family style, and our meal was a five courser. Word was the bill was $11,000, which equates to around $100 per person. I'm sure we'll be paying for the calories at PT on Monday.

Another late night led to another early morning as we left Sunday morning at 8:30 for the water. FDNY hooked up the class with a fire boat tour of the Hudson river on a large and sofisticated rescue boat (basically a ship). Ellis Island, statue of Liberty, brooklyn Bridge, etc. (the New Jersey guys say Manhattan get the front of Lady Liberty and New Jersey has to look at her rear!) It was chilly, no cold, but well worth the chill. Hats of to the FDNY

Next stop was the World Trade Center site. We got the behind the scenes tour thanks to the Port Authority Police. There is a small exhibit and the memorial, which is nicley done. What floored me was the list of people who died in the attacks of 9-11 and their pictures. Most everyone teared up at some point walking through the exhibit. Class 252 bought a large memorial wreath and we grouped together to pay our respects.

The e-ticket was the new World Trade building under construction. The Freedom Tower is 105 stories and overlooks the 9-11 site. Its scheduled to open in spring of 2014.

The bus back to the Q was suppossed to leave at 4, but that pushed back to around 5 so a large group of us stopped next to the site at O'Hara's Pub. The bartender is FDNY and gave us the firefighter look at the attack. He rode his Harley with Bunker gear on from Brooklyn to respond to the site on 9-11 (great pictures) He lost alot of friends that day.

Having seen the crime scene, it gives you a better perspective when you go back and watch the video/read the stories of the 9-11 attack in NYC.

NYC is a must do. There is soooo much to do/see, and now with a better understanding on where to go, I will be back.

Blood & Cryptology....

Today was the Cyclone Challenge, not not a trip to Ames, Iowa to see Iowa State, but a six stage, four times around visit to the "spirit world". 35 seconds of muscular endurance, 15 seconds to get to the next station, and 35 more seconds of pain...6 stations....4 tmes each station...20 minutes straight...whoa

Most, if not all the 270 participants, completed the challenge and wanted more.  Amazingly, there is strength in numbers when it comes to endurance workouts...people push each other to get better...whether an acacemy recruit or command school copper, the brotherhood continues on  It seems easier described than it is.  

Ten or so of us ventured out to the track to continue the PT regime by playing touch football...a team of Nebraska-Wisconsin-LSU and Utah guys got it on with West VA, BYU, FLA and Penn St.  Finally can say B1G over SEC.

 A cool thing while playing football was watching the HRT choppers fly over and hearing the training rounds going off.   What I would call the civilian version of the Navy SEALS, the FBI's team is serious badass.    What they did in Alabama to save the youngster is amazing when you realize what they did.  Being here brings home the FACT that there are some quality law enforcement professionals at all levels, local, state, military and federal.  Combine that with the international professionals in the class...premium blend people! 

There was a Speaker in Forensics that went over the art of cryptology...no, not the study of gangbangers, but of code breaking...from gambling sheets to secret notes.  The people who break the code(s) are very talented to put it Mildly.

The food is beginning to become a subject of interest...four weeks of the same thing have gotten on many people's hit list.  There's still a choice of some ok stuff, but it starts to get old.  Thankfully i've got a fridge in the room.  

Tonight was a voluntary meeting in the Boardroom that saw many of class 252 in attendance. Important things were discussed. 

A trip to NYC is on the agenda for this weekend.  A "nor-easter" is forcast for Friday-Saturday...hopefully the weather forecasters are as bad here as they are in Omaha

G Dub was kinda a big deal

Wednesday night saw an enrichment session with former Navy Commander Kirk Lippold, who was in command of the USS Cole when it was bombed by Al-Qaeda terrorists in 2000. Seventeen of his men were killed and thirty-nine were injured.  Lippold talked about crisis leadership and the importance of planning ahead, something that is sometimes overlooked at times.  Succession planning in law enforcement should be taking place at management, mid-management and line levels.  Preparing your staff for the future and giving them opportunities to shine are no-brainer concepts. 
Thursday and Friday were PT days for Section 4.  EJ had stations of self-torture each day.  Going hard at it for a shorter period of time is better for conditioning than running the 2-miler at a 10 minute pace.  Results come from hard work...hard work produces results.  Sorry to say, but those shake-weights just don't cut it dear....

Saturday, I treked with the Wisconsin boys to Mt. Vernon to see George Washington's place. I didn't realize how close to DC it is (about 20 miles). GW had an estate of 8000 acres, which is crazy huge in today's real estate world. Martha was a rich widow when she married George and the two of them did well in the 1700s. The Mt. Vernon spread has been restored and there are many original aspects of the estate. I learned more about Washington in about 3 hours than I ever knew. The view from his back yard of the Potomac ranks up there as one of the best backyard views I've ever seen.

 One of the Wisconsin guys hasn't figured out that the doors didn't have key fob opening ability in 1799

The view of the Potomac from Washington's back yard...

The back of the house

President Washington's tomb.  He and Martha are laid to rest here.

The front of the house

 

Challenge #2

Today was the "Not in Kansas Anymore" challenge event.  280+ people met at 0900 on the track and were split up into 3 groups.  Each group would do one of three activities and rotate to the next over the course of 30 minutes.  The first event for our group was a sprint on the field with a band around your waist pulled back by a partner behind you...easier described than done.  A 50 yard sprint with resistance followed by a "pay it back" run the other way by your partner for ten solid minutes was exhausting to say the least.  IMMEDIATELY after the resistance run our group ran to the parking structure and ran ten stairways up and down throughout the parking garage for another ten minutes.  Having ran parking garage steps in Lincoln to get to tailgates in the Embassy Suites garage, it was dissapointing to reach the top here only to find cars and an instructor directing you to the other side of the garage to go back down.  The third and final event was then an up hill sprint of approximately 20 yards, approximately 10 times.  Thirty minites of hard charging left 280 people winded but ready for more.  Since it was snowing in Nebraska today and 70 degrees at 0900 during this event, it was nice to be "Not anywhere near Kansas".
The 5.11 company hosted a luncheon.  Steak that could best be described as delicious was served and devoured by all.  This was a welcome meal as the cafeteria food has become increasingly bad.
After dinner, which most people looked liked they skipped since lunch was sooo good, a mandatory meeting was called again in the Boardroom.

Picking up brass

Leadership can be described in a number of ways.  Some "lead by example" while some do things behind the scenes.  In any event, police officers know when the people they work for are genuine.  Take for example a leader, from command officer to especially a chief, who goes to the range to participate in firearms training.  The command officer/chief show up and goes through the training.  All the troops think "cool, the guy/gal is still one of us".  However, the command officer/chief leaves the training and goes back to the station to clean their weapon.  What didn't they do?  Why are the cops ticked off?  They left their brass (shell casings) for the officers to pick up.  That's a social felony in this profession.  If you go to the trenches, you are expected to carry your own weight.  You catch it, you clean it.  Too many times leaders live in the limelight but fail to take care of the little things that come after.  Don't forget to clean up after you're done.

The past two physical training classes have taken torture to a new level.  I sometimes wonder if the PT instructors conspire to attack muscles, tendons and willpower of every NA student.  Game of Thrones has nothing on the techniques these guys employ.  We've yet to do any "conventional" type of exercise.  Again, the expectation is to challenge yourself to do what you haven't done before...the journey continues on...

Wednesday was to be the trip to the police memorial in DC. Due to expected bad weather, this will be rescheduled.  Paying tribute to those that have given the ultimate sacrifice is a must. 

Tuesday saw the first day of pretty much all day sunlight since I've been here...long time coming.  
Lesson of the week:  The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking  we were at when they were created...Albert Einstein

Brrrrrr...Challenge Run

Wednesday was the first “Challenge” event.  The Challenge events are full class participation (270+ people) physical fitness encompassing eight different events, once a week, leading up the “Yellow Brick Road” finale, which the 6.1 Marine Corps obstacle course.  The challenge events are nicknamed after the Wizard of Oz for traditional reasons.  Event one was entitled “Tin Man Trot”, which was a 1.5+ mile run around the base.  1.5+ miles isn’t so bad, but combine that with the coldest day in Quantico in five years when we began the run, 12 degrees, and it makes for a chilly run.  Even being from Nebraska it is still cold.  I learned a long time ago it is better to be too warm than cold, layers make the difference.  I wasn’t cold.  Florida guy, he was cold.  Having 270+ people taking off at the sound of a bell maked it seem like a flash mob.  The “Not in Kansas Anymore” event is next week.  After talking to the guy who drove from Utah, he’s already glad he’s not in Kansas anymore!

Wednesday night was “Flag Night” where patches and other trinkets were exchanged between everyone and the new FBI agents in training.  The cafeteria has flags of the 50 states plus some other countries and people hung around their state flag until their giveaway stuff was gone then mingled.  After the event wrapped up there was a mandatory meeting in the Boardroom. 

Interesting tidbit from the Officer Involved Shooting class today on memory recall.  The instructor showed a picture from “Logan’s Run”, the movie from 1976.  He asked if anyone remembered it or parts of the movie.  Only about three of us had a clue, sucks to be old.

I mentioned there are some top drawer people here.  One case in point is the guy from Bosnia.  During his flight over he helped save a life on the aircraft when one of the passengers fell out.  He performed CPR on the passenger and brought him back.  Well done. I’m limited on the ability to post pictures.  Some areas and people are off limits for security reasons. I did have a good picture taken with the guys from Wisconsin; however, since they are all Badger fans, I refuse to give Wisky any more pub.  The 70-31 is still too fresh, and they keep reminding me of it (LOL).

PT class today was another installment in medieval torture, this time sandbags, rubber bands, tire chains, and kettlebells.  It is actually kind of fun if you are into pain and sweat.  The Blessed Sacrament gym classes at the Miller Park Y were just a tad different.  Fitness doesn’t come easy.  Three days of it next week….can‘t wait.  On a serious note, the PT is what it should be…challenging mixed with great people to work out with.  Our section has an awesome instructor. Thanks for the motivation EJ!!

Week 2 gets started

Weekends at Quantico are whatever you make of them. Much like being in college, many students return home for the weekend.  Since this was a holiday weekend, most NA students within a 6 hr drive headed home and returned sometime on Monday. Those of us that stayed either ventured out to sightsee, work on papers, or basically hang out.  I was fortunate enough to get up to Alexandria and meet up with eight cops from Sarpy County (a La Vista and Bellevue officer and 6 Sarpy deputies) who are part of our Metro Honor Guard and were marching in the Inaugural parade yesterday. 

The NA course work is more demanding than the normal police seminars. Since the courses are University of Virginia sanctioned, several require research and term papers, most classes have several papers due.  I was able to knock out about 75% of my term papers by banging away on the computer yesterday.  I also discovered I have been to the library on site more times than I did at Sam Houston in four years of college. It is enjoyable, however. 

The weekend also gave me legs time to recover from the demonic stretching they experienced in PT Thursday and Friday. It probably didn't help attempting to do a crossfit style workout on Saturday. Texas Jeff put together a simple 6 stage workout that you are suppossed to do five times. I barely made it three. 

Our first challange run is tomorrow. Rumor is Lester Holt from the Today Show is filming a segment on the FBI Academy tomorrow which we understand will be shown on Saturday morning.  He'll be doing a piece about the Academy, highlighting the resources here. Word is he may participate in our run tomorrow...I hope he dresses warm, temps should be in the teens when the starting gun goes off. 

Good news on the health front as the two class members taken to the hospital last week were treated and released and back in class. 

As many before us have experienced, the cafeteria food isn't bad, it's just repetitive. There are only so many ways to cook skinless chicked and fish. What they call an "angus" steak was more like a hamburger to me.  Washington may know politics but they do not know beef. Here's to red meat! 

Week 1 in the books

Week one ended at 3:30 pm today.  It has been a busy week with the administrative things that needed to be taken care of combined with course work and physical training. I can say that the five classes I have are all interesting and worthwhile.  I posted earlier about stopping at the Flight 93 crash site. Today in Forensics we were shown photos of the crash scene and an explanation of how the FBI Evidence Recovery Team worked the scene...quite impressive and having stopped there on the way to Quantico made it make more sense. Looking forward to explanations of the JonBenet Ramsey case (yes, the parents did do it) and the OJ case.
The media course will include a debriefing by the spokesman from the Connecticut State Police who handled the media at the scene of the school shooting in Newtown. I'm taking an officer-involved shooting course which will probably result in some changes to our current policy. The FBI has an area called "Hogan's Alley" which is the gold standard for realistic firearms training and judgmental shooting. Very impressive facility. I wish we had something even remotely like this in the Midwest.
Another course is called Contemporary Issues in Law Enforcement which is a discussion based look at current topics effecting law enforcement both nationally and internationally. Funny how some personnel issues in Gibraltar (yes, the Rock) are not much different than in La Vista!
The physical training course is an eye opener. Not so much showing improvement needed, but the style of training and the best way to do it. The PT instructor has found a way to stretch every muscle in my lower body in ways unknown to my muscles. I took about 14 months to get in shape for this training and I'm glad I did, but if I would have known the correct way to train that journey would have been more efficient.  Sprints and stress-recovery-stress combined with a crossfit type workout is the new standard. A fifty year old should not be training like a 35 yr old. That being said, one classmate was carted off to the hospital by squad this afternoon with chest pains...we all hope he's ok!  That makes at least 2 classmates this week taken to the hospital. Word was 13 or more were in sick bay yesterday with flu-like symptoms...one went to the hospital dehydrated.
The FBI HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) is housed here. There has been alot of training activity (helicopters, explosions, etc) going on in preparation for the Inauguration. Very impressive stuff. We are well protected.
The sun did make an appearance today.  First time I've seen sunlight since last Thursday in Omaha. The weather experts here must have cut their teeth in Omaha ...we were suppossed to get Snowmageddon (4-8 inches) yesterday....ended up with light rain...no snow.

Main Entrance

Check in, Orientation, Class

Arrival in Quantico takes you through two checkpoints to get to the Academy, one through the Marine Corps initial checkpoint and the other about 5 miles into the base. As soon as I pulled into the Academy parking lot and got out of my car I was greeted with the sound of constant gunfire in the distance as the Academy is near one of the USMC ranges. Actually sounded kinda cool.  The explosion about 5 pm was a little different. Evidently the USMC routinely detonates unexploded ordinance that was found buried on the running trails about two years ago. The explosions usually rattle the windows. No big deal to the people assigned here.
FBI agents in training helped bring suitcases and other things up to the NA students assigned rooms.  There is a dorm under renovation so just about every available room at the NA is being assigned so no single rooms for NA students.  I ended up on the 7th and top floor at the end of the hall. Good location away from the sound of the elevator but not so good and "taking the stairs" to the 7th floor won't be happening too many times. Rooms are seperated by a bathroom, so that means four men share a bathroom...luckily, our suitemate has the only room where a second person is not assigned, so that makes sharing the bathroom and showers easier to manage
My roommate is a police Lieutenant from Virginia. Nice guy, and best of all he doesn't snore. Thank god. The guy directly across the hall is from Green Bay (in charge of security deployment at Lambeau Field) and was on suicide watch after the Packers lost on Saturday night (that would be a joke) to the 49 ers. There are four guys from Wisconsin, two from around Madison, so it's hard to talk Cornhusker smack after the beatdown in the B1G championship game.
There are 269 people in the class, with 29 international police officers from as far away as Cambodia, The Philippines, South Korea, the Ukraine, Aruba, and the Republic of Texas. It's a pretty impressive group.
Every student has to take 5 courses plus the Fitness course. Today was the first day of classes as well as the initial PT assessment. The classroom courses seem like they'll be interesting and educational. I have a Forensics class that looks like it will be awesome  The PT assesstment today included height/weight/blood pressure and other measurements.
We were timed in a one-mile run to set a fitness baseline. Since it was raining outside, obviously we ran outside. Running in 35 degree rain with shorts and a tee shirt isn't advisable. I figured Virginia
cold was't as bad as Nebraska cold...mistake.  Preparing physically a year in advance does have its benefits for us more experienced (ie: old guys) coppers. I was pleased with my mile time as I matched the 32 year old guy from Wisconsin by running a sub-nine minute mile (8:39 for me, 6:35 for him...both under 9 minutes right??).  
The cafeteria food is pretty good. There's a wide selection of choices available.  It's only week one and the food choices could get repetitive and old, but complaining about the food would be nit-picky. 
There won't be many pictures of NA activity posted on this blog  The FBI has rules about what can and can't be photographed. There are active agent recruit classes in training as well as some people in our class who have secret-squirrel jobs that could be compromised with photos. 
That's it for now..  Time to do laundry. Yes dear, I'll seperate the white clothes from the darks and use fabric softener! 

Flight 93 site pictures

I didn't know there were mountains in Pennsylvania!!!

It's a long drive from the Omaha metro to the east coast, especially in the rain.  After not seeng much rain at all in 2012, I have seen non-stop precip from 1400 hrs on Thursday to the present time (2100) Friday. It started at the Iowa-Illinois border and hasn't stopped.  Semi trucks on the Interstate make thing worse!  After finally getting out of the "land of Pelini" (Ohio), I rolled into Pennsylvania and treked down the PA Turnpike through the mountains.  I never knew there were mountains in PA. I-76 goes through the Alleghenys...combine that with rain and semi trucks makes for white-knuckle driving.  I did make a stop at the Flight 93 crash site. Amazing what those passengers did on that plane in giving their lives to save so many others!  I've been fortunate to have been to two of the three 9-11 sites, and I'll get to The WTC site n NYC next month.
When I made it into Maryland I saw the exedous of traffic northbound on I-70 out of DC. Alot of people must live in the north "suburbs" (50 miles out!!).
I'll check in to the "Q" tomorrow afternoon.  More then. 10-7 for the evening

Last Day at Work...10-8 Tomorrow

Today was my last day in the office.  I cleaned out the in-basket and filtered the emails.  The department is in good hands...Capt Pokorny and Captain Barcal along with the great Sergeants we have will see to that.  Part of any succession plan involves delegating responsibility and giving your staff opportunities to develop their skill sets.  

Finished up packing and loading up the car.  One of the pieces of advice I have been given is to not over pack, as the uniform of the day, every day, is a green polo shirt and khaki TAC pants.  That being said, as fashion conscious as I am, I did pack about 10 different tee shirts and a couple pair of jeans, (and of course a suit and a couple dress shirts for the official things). My wife bought me a Keurig earlier this year.  That will definitely be making the trip.  

Looking at the normal winter weather in Northern Virginia, it looks like the average highs are around 45-50 in Jan-Feb, with lows in the upper 20s…that will feel like Florida weather to me!  I’m sure the actual Florida officers, along with the Californians and other sun-birds, will be packing newly purchased parkas and snow boots!

There's a great advantage to driving rather than flying to the NA. Trunk space and the back seat equal alot more room than two checked bags. I understand the dorm rooms at the NA are rather small so having the ability to keep some stuff in the car may come in handy. Also, if I get a roommate that snores uncontrollably, he may fit in the trunk.

Leaving at 0-dark-thirty tomorrow morning.  Looks like rain between Omaha and the east coast...that beats snow. 10-8