In the military a "DG" means "Distinguished Graduate." It's what you get when you finish at the top of your class. Those of us less serious about high accolades from academia refer to DG as "Done Graduated." So I DG'd from the advisor course and am back home for a bit. The course did a great job of balancing the fieldcraft skills with the cultural training. Cadre were knowledgeable and relevant. I give the course 4.5 out 5.
To finish out the the training the staff put us in the field for a final training exercise. The mission was to traverse hostile territory to meet with a local commander. On the way they "ambushed" us and our vehicles went down (simulated gunfire with blanks). This forced us to move out on foot while taking casualties (a cadre will walk up, yell in your ear: "gunshot wound to the chest, shrapnel to the leg, unconscious" etc etc). He told me "shrapnel in the right leg, you're bleeding, but you can walk." So after a self applied tourniquet to stop the "bleeding" I spent the rest of the exercise pretending to hobble around on my good leg. It got pretty funny because I ended up carrying the weapons from the other wounded. At one point I had three rifles slung over my shoulder while I was helping to hobble another "unconscious" teammate to the landing zone.
A few small training courses left before the real fun starts; language school.
To finish out the the training the staff put us in the field for a final training exercise. The mission was to traverse hostile territory to meet with a local commander. On the way they "ambushed" us and our vehicles went down (simulated gunfire with blanks). This forced us to move out on foot while taking casualties (a cadre will walk up, yell in your ear: "gunshot wound to the chest, shrapnel to the leg, unconscious" etc etc). He told me "shrapnel in the right leg, you're bleeding, but you can walk." So after a self applied tourniquet to stop the "bleeding" I spent the rest of the exercise pretending to hobble around on my good leg. It got pretty funny because I ended up carrying the weapons from the other wounded. At one point I had three rifles slung over my shoulder while I was helping to hobble another "unconscious" teammate to the landing zone.
A few small training courses left before the real fun starts; language school.
Good job on completing round 1 of training. You didn't let us know for sure if you're "done" or "distinguished." Will you be giving us that detail? Be safe in the storm. Love, Connie
ReplyDeleteJust "done." No "distinguished" from this course!
ReplyDeleteWell,I'm giving you a "Dog-gone Good" rating, which comes with a certificate, plaque, and some more hardware for your uniform.
ReplyDelete