Hello everyone,

   Sorry about posting this so late, after two weeks away to fulfill my reserve obligations I returned to FOMC on June 16th, in the midst of Sailabration.  It was good to spend some time with my friends and colleagues, but it was even better to get back to FOMC so that I could experience a big event and get a feel for all of the little behind the scenes things that make the visitor experience a good one.  During the event I had a variety of duties, I helped at the checkpoint one day, drove the shuttlebus on another, helped out with administrative duties, and finally I helped park cars on the last day of the event. 

   Once Sailabration was over we egan the process of returning the park back to it's normal state.  One of the most important things that we did was conduct an inventory of all the EMS bags in the park so that we could replace any items used in the course of the event.  We also made sure that the tents and temporary fences that were put up all over the park were taken back down in a timely fashion so that the visitors could enjoy the park without so many things ruining the view.

I hope to have more for you all next week and look forward to hearing how things are going at the other parks.

Ft. McHenry week 2

Hello again everyone,

  For week two I spent a few days with the maintenance division and went to PRWI to participate in the wildland firefighting training.  While in maintenance I went to Hampton for a day and helped install some window air conditioners in the lower house.  My other days in maintenance were spent helping to paint stripes in the parking lot across the street from Ft McHenry in preparation for the event to celebrate the bicentennial of the start of the war of 1812.  It was a little hot out there, but there was a nice breeze so I didn't notice the heat too much, we wore traffic vests to make sure that we could be seen because there were tractor trailers using the lot at the same time that we were painting it.  It may not seem like it but it was actually a lot of fun and it was important to make sure that everything was measured out correctly so that there won't be any parking problems once the event starts.

 

  Our time at PRWI was also very fun because I got to see some fellow ProRangers that I hadn't seen for a few weeks.  The first thing we did was take the pack test and everyone there did very well on it, later we moved on to practicing setting up our fire shelters and I for one know I could use more practice doing that to improve my speed. 

We also got into squads and practiced making a fire line and even though we only made a small one it was a pretty good indicator of just how much work really goes into making a good fire line for a real fire.

We also had some classroom instruction on the ten standard orders and eighteen lookout situations of wildland firefighting which are very useful things to know.  The last thing we did was practice hose lays which was turned into a competition and it was my personal favorite part of the day.  I hope everyone is having as good of a time as I am and look forward to reading posts from all my fellow ProRangers. 

Greetings from Ft. McHenry

  Hello everyone, sorry for posting this so late, I will try to be more prompt with my posts in the future.  I arrived at Ft. McHenry on May 12th after a little difficulty because there is a section of Fort Avenue that is currently closed and I was paying too much attention to my GPS and not enough attention to the detour signs.  Since then everything has gone very smoothly, I went to an Orioles game on the 12th with a couple of the seasonals who also live in park housing. 

    On our first day at the park Amy Borch and I helped Ranger Shane Stinedurf practice his handcuffing techniques and his techniques for searching suspects which was fun and very informative as well.  It was good to know how to get items out of someone's pocket without putting your hand in there if you are afraid you might be cut or poked by a needle.

  The rest of the week mainly consisted of meeting some of the people in the other divisions and getting familiarized with the park.  We watched the movie about the battle which inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner which was very good, I highly recommend seeing it for anyone who hasn't been to FOMC yet.  We also spent some time with interp and were able to witness a few flag changing ceremonies as well as a very good interpretive program afterwards. 
  Last Thursday we were also able to go out to the firing range with some of the rangers and we received instruction on the pistol, shotgun, and m-16/m-4 from Ranger Rick Apfel who was very knowledgeable and an excellent instructor.  While on the range we had the opportunity to fire both the shotgun and the m-16, as a veteran I am well aquainted with the m-16, however this was my first time firing a shotgun and it was a lot of fun.  I had a very good first week here and I am looking forward to the rest of the summer being just as good.

Good Evening Prorangers, I know I haven't made any posts up to this point and I've been relying on Erin to do it all but I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the past week. I wasn't sure what to expect of everyone else before we got to the camp because very few of us new each other besides those times when we got together at the customs house, but I would like to say that I was pleasantly suprised by the individual efforts and the teamwork that everyone showed. It really is rare to see that kind of teamwork, support, and genuine concern from a group of people that barely know each other and it is something that everyone can be proud of.

For many people this past week was also a week of overcoming fears and pushing through injuries. Many of you were apprehensive about what the week had in store for us and whether it was going to be like "boot camp" but you all worked your hardest and kept positive attitudes in spite of being pushed to your emotional and physical limits when others would have given up. The challenge now will be to continue to push yourselves past those limitations because you have already proven that you can. I know everyone who reads this blog will be expecting great things from each of you, and I also know how easy it is to make excuses for yourself but at the end of the day the person you let down the most when you do make excuses for not giving it all you have is yourself.

It was good to get to know everyone a little bit better this past week and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at the after action meeting in August. Also, don't forget the lessons that General Jones gave us, it is a rare opportunity to be able to meet someone like him and I hope that the advice he gave us will help all of you to become better leaders and achieve the goals you want to achieve.