10 June 2007: Another APFT down

After taking some time to think about yesterday’s entry I’ve decided I may have been a little harsh. I’m talking about that bumper sticker. I haven’t experienced a change of heart – I still don’t agree with it. I may have just over-reacted a bit to the owner. I’ve calmed down considerably on the subject. It is true that English is also the international business language. Some people would argue that English is the language of freedom. That may be a stretch. I’ll put it this way. If you can read then you definitely owe a debt of gratitude to the person who taught you how. That you can read English isn’t something you need to thank a soldier for unless it was a soldier who taught you how to read the language. Cheap logic isn’t it? I’ll move on.

Sunday was another day off. I started the day by taking an Army Physical Fitness Test (ok, it wasn’t completely a day off). The APFT consists of push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2 mile run. Two minutes each are allocated for the push-up and sit-up events. The 2 mile run is timed. The score is tabulated based on a scale that takes into account the number of repetitions you completed correctly, the time of your run, your age, and gender. Raw scores are converted to point total per event. Max points for each event is 100, which means you can score a maximum of 300 points. My results were 92 push-ups, 104 sit-ups, and a 2 mile run time of 11min, 21sec. That was good for a maximum score on every event (meaning I got a 300). Why did I have to take the test? It’s required twice a year regardless of being deployed.

Once the APFT was finished I spent the rest of the day doing as little as possible. I cleaned my hooch. I took a long nap. I stopped by my office several times to check e-mail. I intended to make phone calls home but the phone wasn’t cooperating. Eventually, I went back to the hooch and watched “Old School” on AFN. It isn’t nearly as funny edited. I still laughed my ass off at the part where Will Ferrell accidentally shoots the tranquilizer dart in his neck and then crashes the birthday party.

Don’t look now but June is already a third complete.