What Wade has been up to...

Here is a whole post on what Wade did at COT (Commissioned Officer's Training).

He was there for five weeks. He said it was a long five weeks but he made it! Every morning they were up and out at 4:30am. They did PT(physical training) that early and then would go and eat breakfast. Then the rest of the day they spent in lectures. They were trained in a bunch of leadership areas and a bunch of other stuff too that I don't remember what he told me :) Often times Wade ended up going to sleep at 11:30pm because of the work load he had after lectures and dinner. He was so exhausted but did a great job at pushing through and keeping focused. If you know Wade, you know how him and NO sleep don't go very well together. He can't function without at least 9 hours of sleep, so this was a huge challenge for him! BUT HE DID AND IS DONE! at least with this part of the training. Enjoy the pictures!

As soon as Wade got there they were divided into Flights (or groups) of 16 officers. Wade ended up being the FOIC. Which meant the Flight Officer In Charge. He was in charge of his whole flight. It gave him great opportunities to lead but it came with a ton of responsibilities, sometimes, not fun ones. He received a few demerits for things his flight did wrong. Of course Wade ended up being a great leader and received many praises and compliments from his superiors. Here he is leading his flight as they begin to march.

They marched everywhere. Wade said another huge challenge was the constant "standing at attention". They would have to stand there sometimes for a very long time without even flinching. Wade mentioned sweating so bad (they were in Alabama) and he couldn't wipe the sweat off his face. His shoulders were often sore and his back hurt a lot.

 Here they are eating dinner. For the first few weeks they had to be silent. It wasn't until they got "privileges" that they could talk but it had to pretty much be a whisper. And they had to eat formal, drink three glasses of liquid, and keep a straight back.

Here they are in a lecture. They called it the big comfy red bed or something like that because most fell asleep. Can you blame them? Poor guys were exhausted. Wade is the 4th from the right in the back row.

Even with all the challenges, Wade absolutely loved it. I should say he loves the military and loves being a part of it. If I say anything negative about a rule or something, he quickly defends it :) Glad he loves it so much.

Early morning PT. He thinks he is buff ;)

Here he is during a field activity. They were acting out an emergency medical situation that could happen in the field. They didn't do much of this kind of stuff, but when they did, he loved it. COT isn't like enlisted boot camp, it's mainly classroom stuff on how to lead as opposed to all the physical stuff they do at boot camp.

Here he is in his Blues. He looks so handsome. This is what he will wear to work 4 days a week, minus the tie, unless he is in court. On Friday's they where the camo stuff. (At least that is what he said the military had just changed to. They used to wear the camo uniform 4 out of 5 days.)

This is the same field activity. I am not totally sure what he is doing in the grass :)

Giving a presentation

Wade is in the middle on the second row. The backpack thing is a camel back that held water in it.

One of the last days there they did an obstacle course. HE LOVED IT!

 Zip lining! So fun!

They raced up the wall and Wade beat him :)

 He is on the left.

Here he is thanking his flight for their awesomeness.

I am so proud of Wade and for excelling in every thing he did at COT.

He is gunna kill me for including these facts but I want them for our kids to read about how awesome their dad is:)

Wade graduated COT number 27 out of 263. He missed the Distinguished graduate(top ten %) by ONE!

He one best brief in his flight

He scored excellent on his PT tests

 So proud of you Wade! Weston is going to think you are so cool when he is old enough to understand these things.