Week 11 - ANTI

This week Jim and I spent our time with the Law Enforcement Officers. On Monday we needed to enter in new codes for some of the houses. We had to use the booklet to figure out how to enter in the top secret codes. Tuesday we were allowed to drive the park's fire truck to one of the barns to clean off some of the tables for an upcoming meeting that was taking place. We learned how to use the fire hose and participate in scrubbing down the tables. We then had to go back and re-fill the truck so that it would be ready to use the next time.

Wednesday we were allowed to do bike patrol around the park. We never

realized how many hills were in the park until we had to do it all on bike! We managed to do the whole battlefield but by the time we were coming back we were so exhausted that we luckily found one of the Natural Resources employees to pick us up in the truck! After a brief lunch we were out riding around again. It was a really fun and different way to go around the battlefield. We were given the challenge to talk to as many visitors as possible. Unfortunately we did not find all that many who were on foot, but we were able to get our pictures taken by one up by the Burnside Bridge.

A brief stop at the Visitors Center had us speaking with a gentleman looking for the site that housed the remains that were found a few years ago. Other than those two encounters, we weren't able to find others. We both really enjoyed getting out on the bikes to explore the battlefield yet another way.

On Friday, Cailin was part of a response to a biking accident on one of the trails. She participated in aiding the woman and her daughter. Although the woman was taken out in ambulance, it would good to experience what the obstacles that you may face when responding to a call. In a park where there is not always easy access to points on a trail, we really had to think out how to first of all get us to the woman's location then how to get EMS out there. After responding to the accident, later in the afternoon Cailin participated in a dog off leash call. It lead to a visitation of the dog owner at their home. Both calls that day were really interesting and a good way to see the things that we will one day be responding to.

Our week with Law Enforcement was a lot of fun. Even just simple patrols around the park are always interesting and a good way to keep us on our toes. We are able to interact with the divisions that we spent time with and continue to see the importance of each of those divisions. As we are going into our last week, we are really sad to be leaving the park. We are going to miss everyone at the battlefield. We are looking forward to what will come within this next week!

Jim and Cailin

ANTI - Law Enforcement and Manassas National Battlefield

Jim and I began this week working with the Law Enforcement division at Antietam. Tuesday and Wednesday morning we prepared for our trip to Manassas. We had to do a routine vehicle inspection, prepare our GovTrip, and other last minute paperwork before we departed Wednesday afternoon. We went out on patrol with the LE Officers only a few times because of the preparation work that we had to do before our departure.

Wednesday evening through Sunday afternoon, Jim and I were working at Manassas National Battlefield with the other ProRangers. We were responsible for Chinn Ridge parking area. Our experience really allowed us to get familiar with Incident Command. This was our second time working under Incident Command and it proved to be successful in our area. Although the temperatures were extremely high, we had a really good time speaking with the visitors and learning about another battlefield. We didn't realize how difficult it would be to entirely shift the park that you work at. We often found ourselves telling people that we could answer their questions because we were not from that battlefield. People were always extremely understanding, especially because we were located within the parking lot but at times it was frustrating for us to not be able to answer these simple questions. Even with something as simple as parking, we learned that you need to have some knowledge of the place that you are working. At Antietam, after spending nine weeks there, we would be able to answer the majority of questions. We had a really good time with the other ProRangers working this event. Our ability to all work together smoothly continues to amaze me. We look forward to seeing everyone again and working more events such as this in the future.

Antietam National Battlefield - Week 7

After a week at Leadership Camp, Jim and I returned to Antietam. We missed working here and were eager to get back into it! This week we were working with the Maintenance division of the park. On Tuesday, we got to experience the annual park picnic. Almost the entire park staff gets together and goes to a picnic area, eats and catches up with one another. There were various sports played. It was really nice to see all of the people who we have gotten to work with in each division. People came together to organize a softball game, although it was 90 degrees out. It was a lot of fun and really demonstrated how the park functions as a whole. While there was still some separation of divisions, for the most part everyone was intermingling and catching up with one another. It was a really nice event to have the chance to participate in.

Wednesday and Thursday, Jim and I spent our days working with one of the masons on the Cunningham Barn. They are restoring the foundation. Neither of us knew how much work masonry was. There is so much patience and skill involved. Over those two days, I continued to get more and more frustrated with the work. It was hard to put so much work into a joint and know that you can’t get it perfect and will have to take it out! Working on the barn really demonstrated how the individuals who work in each one of these divisions are irreplaceable. It is absolutely necessary to have each and every one. Within the park we each play our role and without one the park would not run the same way.

On Friday, Jim and I were given the opportunity to work with the other two masons on creating the floor in the Newcomer Barn. We had to spread a clay-dirt mixture and then flatten it out. At first it seemed like it would be no big deal to lay a floor down. But, the floor had to be level which created a significant amount of work. With the help of a laser level machine, we were able to level out what we laid. We really got to experience two very different parts of maintenance that most people do not know exist! There is so much more to each division than we initially knew. Unfortunately, that was our last division to be with! We are looking forward to the upcoming weeks being spent at Manassas and with Law Enforcement.

Antietam National Battlefield - Week 6

This week Jim and I spent the week with the Law Enforcement Officers. We spent the majority of the week preparing for the Salute to Independence event that was held on Saturday, July 2nd. We helped run errands in preparation for the event as well as doing other activities that helped to prepare the park for the event. I never realized how much goes into running an event until this week. The whole park was fully engaged in the preparation for this event. All divisions needed to be in communication with one another to ensure that the whole park would be set up by Saturday morning. The orchestrating of this was amazing!

Along with preparing for this event, Jim and I spent quite a bit of time working on

the Eppley Interpretation course. We chose our topic and began working on putting the

talk together. Hopefully within the next few weeks we can wrap that up! We both never realized the amount of hours that go into creating one of these talks. We are using our knowledge from each of the divisions to create this talk. Hopefully we can help the public to understand how important each division is to the park and the role that the division plays in restoring and preserving the battlefield!

Saturday was the Salute to Independence Event at the battlefield. Jim and I worked the later of the two shifts, 1530-2400. We were in charge of checking parking passes and directing people to where they

needed to go. Thousands of people came to the park. It was really nice to see the entire community come out to the battlefield to participate in this event. By the end of the night, the two of us

were exhausted. I never knew how tiring directing cars could be! It was a great experience for the two of us. We had a really good time

talking with the individuals who came to enjoy the event as well as handing out trading cards to all the kids (and anyone else who wanted them). We are looking forward to the next week at Leadership Camp!

Antietam National Battlefield - Week 5

This week, we spent the week working with the Interpretation division of the park. Prior to working with Interpretation, Jim and I were both very nervous. Interpretation meant that we would have to interact with park visitors, giving directions, answering questions about the Civil War, and in general doing something that neither of us had ever experienced before. This was the division that we were both most fearful of. The Interpretation staff welcomed us bright and early Monday morning and within the first hour we were working the front desk with a few of the volunteers and an Interp Ranger. After helping our first visitor, we quickly realized that it wasn't as bad as we thought it would be! If we didn't know the answer to a question, visitors would understand as we would grab one of the Interp Rangers who has been there significantly longer or one of the volunteers who were both significantly more knowledgeable about the battle than either of us. Throughout the week, we got the opportunity to attend Ranger led caravan tours throughout the park. It was another way to see the park and gain knowledge of what occurred on the battlefield. Our first tour we did, due to road paving, we were asked to assist with parking the vehicles and aiding people across the street. While it seemed like a minor job, it is doing things such as that throughout the park that are extremely important to keeping visitors happy and able to see the entire park. The Ranger led tours demonstrated a way that history should be taught - engaging and as one of the Rangers put it "History should not be taught in atwo dimensional manner, history happened in three dimensions and that is how it should be presented"(Ranger Manny). The knowledge that was shared during those tours really stuck with Jim and I. We found that by the end of the week we were able to answer a multitude of questions and that we had more confidence working behind the Visitor Center's counter. Also during our time at Interp we were able to help set up an exhibit featuring Abraham Lincoln. It was nice to see the behind the scenes version of what must go on to set up an exhibit. This was a really good introduction for us to a museum-like feel. Throughout our time at Interp, we were constantly reminded how each division must interact. Although we are planning on going into Law Enforcement, the LE Officers must have knowledge of the park and battle because individuals see a uniform and will ask questions. Now, we have no problem walking into the Visitors Center and helping people or just popping behind the desk if it looks busy. While we both have so much more to learn about the battle, it was a great way to learn about the battlefield. Another opportunity that we had as we worked with Interp was to spend a day with the Education Division. We were both hoping to get a chance to dress up, but unfortunately there were no clothes that would fit us. Hopefully we will get another chance to do that, though. We both did get to participate in the educational programs. I got to work with a group of ROTC kids along with a volunteer giving the "flag program." It was a lot of fun to work with the kids, even though they did act like teenagers on a hot day at times. I didn't have much knowledge of the flag program, but the volunteer and I were able to work through it together and we learned quite a bit! Jim helped the education coordinator do the Cemetery Program for a group of teachers. Unfortunately, the bugs were extremely active and the teachers chose to cut the program short. We both, though, found the experience to be a lot of fun and would have loved to have more time with the education division. Although we started out our week with Interpretation with quite a few worries, by the end we found that there was nothing to worry about. We really enjoyed our time with them! We are looking forward to our next week at the park!

Antietam National Battlefield - Week 3

Jim and I spent this week with Cultural Resources. At the beginning of the week, we really didn't know what this team did. We thought that they dealt with archaeologists but we quickly found out that most of their work is done on restoring and maintaining the buildings around the park. They work to return the park to how it would have been the night before the initial battle in 1862. We spent Monday morning going through the park to see the work that has been done in past years - going inside the houses and getting a general idea of what the guys have been doing.It was really interesting to go inside of these homes, most of which are in good condition. We learned that they have to use the same materials that would have been available during the 19th century. Since these homes are still standing, these products were made to last unlike what we are using today! After the overview, we got to work with the guys on one of the houses in the park, the Miller Farm. We spent the week chinking and dubbing, two techniques that were used in the 19th century. It involved a mixture of lime and dirt then pushing it into the siding of the house to fill the gaps. It was a lot of fun to be involved in this process. We learned so much about the restoration process - an element that neither of us initially knew anything about.

Although it was extremely warm this week, the Law Enforcement Officers had to do th

eir PEB's. Jim and I chose to participate in order to get more practice in.

We were able to get a taste of what we will be going through annually working with the Law Enforcement Officers. During the PEB's it was really nice to see how much the officers supported and encouraged each other. It showed how much these individuals enjoy working together. It really drives Jim and I to do our very best so that we can continue on this career path. We are looking forward to the next week!

Antietam National Battlefield - Week 1

This week was Jim's second week and my first week at the park. Throughout the week we spent quite a bit of time messing around with GovTrip. It has been a frustrating application for all of us but hopefully we are through the worst of it! On Tuesday we spent most of our time touring around the park, getting to know the area. Tom (our supervisor) would quiz us on some of the roads within the park as we were driving around. In order to help the people within the park, you must have a good general idea.We are both still working on learning the few but difficult named roads throughout the parks as well as the different major landmarks. Jim is doing a lot better than I am at that. I also attended the one hour video that is done on the park - it is considered the better of the two movies. It provided me with quite a lot of background on the park.

We also got our car on Tuesday! We have our own retired patrol car, without the sirens or other police equipment, that we can drive around for government business. It is a lot of fun to drive through the park in our own car - it allows us to see how individuals interact with the Park Rangers first hand. We were also issued our radios which let us hear what is going on at Antietam and Monocacy NationalParks. We keep our radios with us at all time, especially when we are driving around in the car. On Wednesday we went to Seasonal Orientation – it was a quick overview of the park for the seasonal workers, whether they were returning or new. It was a good informational meeting about the park and we got to meet a few other people working there this summer. After the orientation we got to go hike one of the trails called the West Woods trail. Tom showed us a spot where there was a looting problem last year. It was just one example of the problems that are found throughout the park. We learned that it is often hard to figure out who

the individual looting is unless you catch them in the act.Friday we learned about the boundaries of the park. We were shown the congressional boundary and the current boundary of the park. Each property deed has certain limitations and it is the responsibility of the Rangers to know when these limitations are being violated. After going over some of the boundary stuff we went and walked one of the boundaries. On the walk we saw two tree stands and a deer feeder. These were all on private property so they were allowed. These areas are monitored though, because one of the stands has the shooter facing into the park. We also went to dispatch to learn about what happens at dispatch as well as tour the C&O Canal Headquarters. Unfortunately, there wasn't much activity at dispatch so we did not get to see what happened when a call came in. It was still good to see what dispatch looked like and to meet the people behind the radio.

Saturday we were able to help out with the Sharpsburg annual Memorial Day parade. We helped to set up, give people directions, and take down after the ceremony following the parade. This week was very interesting and we are definitely looking forward to another week!