Post LDAC

I left for the 5th regiment of LDAC back in June and got back home in July. It was an interesting experience; the weather was amazingly cool and hot rolled in one day, and I made some friends.. Well I would think they were friends, but things like this in ROTC is a bit grey. I passed everything, but at one point I certainly thought I would have to go home and do it all over again next summer.

Assessment was a problem, because the grader is not always around to observe your day of leadership so one would have to rely on a yellow card. The yellow cards are used to make yourself sound awesome and brilliant. Exagerrate and elaborate. It is the key to getting that "excellent" grade rather than a "satisfactory." This whole game at LDAC confronted my religious beliefs, and it was definitely a point worth thinking about.

Was getting an E at LDAC worth sacrificing my values and beliefs? In the end, even the Army wasn't worth ruining my chances of spiritual enlightenment and human honesty. I passed with a Satisfactory grade. Fine with me. Do I really need the graders to know how much I've done for my platoon? In the eyes of the Army, yes, but in my eyes, I believe there is more to life than this. I figured this was all another obstacle on my road to self peace and happiness. How can you care about others when you can't be honest with yourself? That's what I think about when I look at these lame evaluation cards. If I know that I did my best for my men, and they know it too, then it's all well said and done.

And that was LDAC. I really didn't like it all that much; it was TAC-dependent. If you had some really traditional and stubborn cadre following you around like me, then you'll have a sour taste in your mouth. Just get er done.