Proud of my neighbor! (Read 887 times)

Heard from Ben this week! This is part of what he said... The good news is that I'm actually writing from Tampa. I just arrived back in the US, reassigned to Naval Special Warfare (NSW). The bad news is that my orders have been extended for one year. I'll be training with and directly supporting a Seal team. I have three training courses to complete. The first is 8 weeks at NMITC (Naval Marine Intelligence Training Center) in Dam Neck Virginia x 8 weeks. I'll finish Dec 22 and will come home for a week. Then I go to North Carolina Dec 30 for 2 weeks of generic military training, mandatory for all mobilizations. Then back to Virginia (Norfolk) to train with the Seals Jan 17 to Apr 1. Once complete, I become mobilized with a Seal team until the end of July 2008. The most challenging part will be the physical component. I have been told that most fail out of the course because of the physical demands. Fortunately I've already started exercising on my own, and have nearly three more months to prepare myself. I intend on using every bit of it. I participated in a mini triathalon on Tuesday, and came in 4th out of 8. I was extremely happy. The first part was swimming 5 laps (10 lengths) of a pool. We never figured out the exact distance, but I'm guessing 75-100 feet per length. Then we rode stationary bikes x 8 miles on level 10 (out of 20). We wanted to ride outside, but couldn't get enough bikes. The last leg was a 3.25 mile run. The three guys which beat me work out every day - lifting, running, and swimming. I knew I had no chance at winning, but just wanted to see if I could complete the event. Ages were 24 - 43 (I was the oldest). Pretty funny. He may be able to make a trip to PA to visit his family this week, they miss him greatly so I hope he can make that happen.