From My Mind to....

PT and Downtime

I do like hot weather. I'd long enjoyed running in the Missouri summertime heat. But I have to say the older I get, the less I like to exercise in the heat.

By exercise these days, I refer to my daily walks encouraged by my recent medical experiences. The current heat wave we're experiencing coupled with the higher humidity is prompting me to walk earlier than I did only three weeks ago. Before long, I'll be starting my walk at 6am--I've been leaving at 7.

This has reminded me of my time as the Company Commander of Headquarters Company, 5th Engineer Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in the mid-1980's. The 1st Sergeants of the five companies in the battalion would schedule Physical Training (PT) beginning at 7:30am daily. As it turns out, five companies of men descending on the Dining Facility for breakfast at the same time was almost unmanageable.

One company First Sergeant decided to begin PT at 7am, allowing his men to be first in line at the Dining Facility. That lasted about a week before another 1st Sergeant moved his PT to 6:30. Next thing I knew, my 1st Sergeant had scheduled our PT at 5:30. But that left the men with an hour of downtime before the day's work was scheduled to begin.

Downtime and soldiers was never a good combination. We went back to 7:30, leaving the remaining companies to fight over the early slots.

And I got an extra hour and a half of sleep.

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