In the Army now

You'll have to excuse us for not posting -- this past month has been pretty crazy. We packed up our stuff and put it in storage, went to Cabo San Lucas with my family for a week, moved in with my parents, and then I left to join the Army as a JAG officer. I'm currently writing this from a hotel outside Ft. Lee, VA. Even with all that, I tried to put up some video of Carter riding a horse (it's a really, really cute video), but the hotel internet couldn't handle it and after a half hour, blogspot told me there was an error with my upload. Alas. Hopefully I can upload it shortly.
As for the Army, so far it's been mainly sitting in an air conditioned classroom watching powerpoint presentations on everything from the role of JAGs in the larger Army structure to prohibitions on "fraternization" (i.e. officer - enlisted friendships/relationships). We have had a couple of physical training sessions, but they've been mainly of an introductory nature ("this is the proper form for a push-up"). The worst part is that we have to wear our PT ("physical training") uniform the entire time. This consists of our gray Army gym shirt, our black Army gym shorts -- which are nylon and have netting on the inside like swimming trunks -- and a bright neon orange reflective belt. It's pretty easy to spot us since everybody else on base is wearing fatigues (actually "ACUs" or "Army Combat Uniforms" -- that's one thing I've learned so far, the Army is big on acronyms).
The biggest adjustment has been the relative lack of free time. I generally wake up at 4:40 a.m. (more on that later), end class between 1700 and 1800 (5:00 - 6:00 p.m. for all you civilians :)), and go to bed around 9. In between, I have to eat dinner and there's always some little thing I have to do, like go to the clothing store to work on my uniform, etc. I haven't been able to watch PTI all week!!
As for the waking up at 4:40, that's another phenomenon I've noticed so far -- everybody is deathly afraid of being late (and for good reason). PT starts at 5:50 and since we're 5 minutes from the base, it seems like we could leave at 5:30 and be fine. Except the student leadership wants us there at 5:30 so we can work on formations, etc. Then, we start to worry about getting through security at the main gate, so we decide to leave the hotel at 5. Of course, this means every morning we get to the training field at 5:10, sit in the car for 10 minutes, walk to the track, chill there for 15 minutes until student leadership tells us to form up and we get in line at around 5:35 or 5:40. Fortunately, I convinced my group to not leave until 5:10 tomorrow -- that will be blissful!
Tomorrow, we wear our ACUs for the first time and we have a visit with the gas chamber. I'll be sure to tell you about it.