Monday, April 28, 2008

BOLC II Demographics and Food

So its interesting to note the breakdown of my class here at BOLC II. Given the timing of the course we skew a bit higher than most classes, since we are at that odd spot where there odds of college grads decline (since the timing is wrong for most college and academy grads). Its interesting to note that there are NO Academy grads in this class, not in either of the 2 companies (400 people). Its about 45% Active Duty, 40% National Guard and 15% Reserve. Overall we are older, the younguns are in shorter supply. The split is probably 50-50 for whether they came from OCS (either the Federal program here at Benning or the State programs that graduated people such as myself) or from ROTC. There are a few direct commissions that bounce around but they are still fairly rare. We are also an older bunch, with the average hovering probably around 30. Lots of prior experience, you can see probably 30% of the people have combat patches (below the flag on the right arm, it denotes what unit they were attached to during a tour in a combat zone). That's particularly useful since it gives a lot of experience and knowledge that you can't find everywhere. And the final number is 10%. Thats approximately how many of the people going through this are female. My platoon is a good example as we have 41 soldiers and 4 females, each assigned to a different squad.

And now for my favorite topic, the food. I would say that chow here is better than I have experienced (though my experience is pretty limited) though I have been told that its on the middling point for the Army. Breakfast is always good, lots of eggs, scrambled or as an omelet, sausage or bacon, biscuits (with of course, gravy, either sausage or regular available), bacon, oatmeal, grits, waffles. All in all a pretty good selection and nothing to complain about. Lunch and dinner are generally the same. They have 2 lines, a fast line with burgers, fries, and that ilk, and a traditional line with a choice of protein and a starch, along with veggies of various types (my buddy on Facebook posted his status lately as "I think the Army considers tater tots to be veggies"). There is also bread and a salad bar that is pretty comprehensive. The food is a bit on the overcooked side and is too heavy on the grease. While I appreciate this time as one of the last times other than deployment that I get free food, I definitely look forward to eating out on the town when I can. I have also taken to having a liquid breakfast, protein shake plus a sports bar in the morning.

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