Basic Officer Leadership Course (BOLC)

So I gave you the rundown of Warrant Officer Candidate School. I left out a bunch of stuff, just know it sucked, and now my class and I are moving on.

What's happened since then...

I had a few days off after WOCS and I came home to attend the wedding of two of my good friends back in Minnesota. It was a great wedding and I was blessed every minute I was home.

I came back to Alabama to attend my second class called Basic Officer Leadership Course or BOLC (pronounced BULL-ICK or BOWL-ICK) for short. It's essentially just a class on how to be an Army officer in the Aviation field. It consists of four written exams, a field week where we shoot the M-16 and M-9 pistol, prepare and execute a convoy, and finally sit through a bunch of classes that should help us become better officers.

A typical day during BOLC looked like this:
Morning Physical Training (PT) at around 0600 to 0700.
Hygiene from there, and then class at 0800 until around 1700 (5 PM). In actuality, the time we got out of class depended on what was going on that day. Sometimes we'd be out at 1700, and other times we'd be out at 1600.
Nights and weekends were ours.

BOLC started with four written exams right out of the gate. The first four weeks or so were spent in class all day learning this, that, and the other thing, followed by my two roommates and I sitting down and studying in the evenings. This proved to be a pretty good strategy as we all did very well on the exams.

After the four exams we went into a week of field exercises which included two shooting ranges, and a number of simulated convoys. A convoy is when we drive our military vehicles from a start point to and mission point if you will, and back to a finishing point. Along the way we were thrown into situations where we had to react to Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), ambushes, suicide bombers, etc... Throughout the mission we were graded on how well we maintained communication with each other, the aviation assets we had, as well as our own internal communications. Now that we are officers, mission planning was heavily graded since that is more of what we will be responsible for in the future.

From there we spent the rest of our time in the classroom. For at least a week, though, we spent half the day in the classroom, the other half doing Combatives. Combatives is the Army's approach to hand-to-hand combat. It is a mixed style of martial arts that encompasses jiu-jitsu and striking techniques similar to what you'd see in MMA.

Prior to flying all students must complete the "Dunker" training. The training consists of being strapped into a mock aircraft cockpit, being submerged underwater, flipped upside down, and escaping the aircraft in different situations. One situation is one in which your door is trapped shut, and you must make your way across the cockpit and get out the other door. The following are some pictures of the training (WARNING, you're about to be bombarded with photos):

This is a picture of all of us waiting to start dunker training. The entire training is performed in our uniforms, boots, tactical vests, and helmets.

The beauty of the helmets is they have buoyancy to them, so they aid in your survivability in the water.

This is a picture of the Minnesota crew.

 
And here I am, alone on a life raft by myself. Oh well, lots of room to spread out.

This is me being hoisted out of the water by the rescue harness that we would use on a real mission. It is not a comfortable ride, but it gets you to safety.


















So what else has gone on? Well, we had a trip to the museum on post. It's a pretty cool museum that gives the entire history of Army Aviation. Afterward we visited a hangar with some of the Army's coolest history:

This is the Comanche helicopter. It was originally designed as a reconnaissance helicopter. It is stealth and thus very capable of fulfilling that role. However, the Army decided it would be nice if it could fulfill the attack role as well. It was outfitted with weapons and grew too expensive to continue on with the project. Though we don't use these helicopters, they are amazing machines.

A view from the rear of the Comanche.

The unique tail on the Comanche.

This little guy is an experimental aircraft the Army came up with in the 60's called the Bell 207 Sioux Scout. You actually entered the aircraft from the nose which opened to the side and you crawled in.

 It looks like an aircraft out of a terminator movie or something.















Finally, we took a trip to each of the airfields down here to explore the different Army helicopters. It gave students who were undecided as to what they wanted to fly an in-depth look into what each aircraft has to offer:

This is the Black Hawk, it is what I am currently slotted to fly.

 The glass cockpit in these is awesome.

Next we have the Chinook. An impressive lift aircraft that is actually the fastest and most powerful in our inventory:

This guy is the OH-58D. It is an observation helicopter that is outfitted with weapons to protect itself and the ground troops if need be:

This is an incredibly agile aircraft. I encourage you to youtube videos of this guy in action. It's a lot cooler than it would seem.

 As you can see, I'm a little big for the OH-58, but whatever, I would fly it if they let me.

As you can see, it's not a very large helicopter at all.

Finally, the crowd favorite Apache: need I say more?

I took a trip down to the Naval Air Museum at Pensacola Naval Air Station, but I will write on that more later. I have a bunch of Navy aircraft pictures.

So as BOLC comes to a close, what is next?

Survival School. In the military it is known as SERE-C, or Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape. It is three long weeks of some of the toughest training we'll go through as soldiers. Because of the nature of the lessons taught in the school the information is considered Secret and is not able to be published. What you'll find on the internet is a lot of speculation as to what actually goes on during the course.

Yes, we will learn to live off the land, be starved and sleep deprived, and yes, there is a prisoner of war camp where we will be "brought" and put through our paces. However, the details of that information is classified. So, while I can't give you specific details as to what we will be doing, just know, this is the stuff Bear Grylls does on his tv show "Man vs. Wild" and then some. Maybe I can ask for a cameo appearance in one of his future endeavors when all is said and done.

Right now the weather in Alabama is HOT, and wet and I don't expect a change in the next few weeks.

During the next three weeks I will not have a phone, internet, or any contact with the outside world. So, if you feel like it, send some prayer my way. Pray that I find food, encouragement, and learn as much as I can from all the instruction I'll receive.

SERE-C is the final step before we start flying. It has been a long road up until now, and I am sure the next three weeks won't just fly by. I do know, though, that there is light on the other side and am very excited for the challenge SERE will pose. I'm also excited to be done with all these "checks in the boxes," so that I can finally start what I came down here for, flying.

I will post a before and after photo in three weeks when all is said and done.

Sorry this post is kind of all over the place, but it's the day before I start SERE and I have a lot to write and don't want to spend all day perfecting it.

Wish me luck, and I'll see you in three weeks.

- Josh