Lucas and his family James, Jennifer and Lindsey
Tomorrow he will travel to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio TX for Combat Medical training. His MOS (military occupational specialty) will be Combat Medical Specialist 68W, known as "68 Whiskey". Combat Medics are responsible for providing emergency medical care at the point of injury, limited primary care, health protection, and medical evacuation on the battlefield and in clinical settings. His training will result in and National Recognized Emergency Medical Technician certification. 
Lucas and our son (his uncle) Dan
Lucas has always been very physically fit. He has played competitive ice hockey in Michigan since he was old enough to walk. For years, including travel team and all the way through high school he has been the team goalie. Lucas joined the Army as a high school senior, just like I did, under a program called "delayed enlistment". Before leaving for basic training he did his homework and knew what he needed to focus on - things like memory work and fitness. Not unlike the Air Force, we would coach our recruits to learn things like rank structure, the Army song, the Army Values, etc and fitness. Contrary to what many believe, you do not want to go to basic training under the assumption that "you will get fit and lose some pounds down there". That is a good way to fail. You must got to basic training fit, and ready to become more fit. In Lucas's case, he was very fit. So we asked him how much weight had he lost? He said he gained 17 pounds, which has to be muscle mass because his body fat is likely in the single digits! Lucas is a "lean, mean, fighting machine"!!
So yesterday was Family Day and today is Graduation Day. Doreen and I rolled out of the rack about 0445 hrs, slammed a quick breakfast and headed for Fort Jackson Gate 5 again, just like yesterday. We made it through the gate quickly and headed towards Hilton Field again, just like yesterday. We ended up at the same spot, ready to turn onto the road leading to the field. We waited for a while then traffic started to move, and in we went to park. Jennifer and the rest of the crew were about six cars behind us, again, just like yesterday. We processed through the security checkpoint with the metal detectors, then we made our way to the huge stadium area but today we were further towards the center to hopefully be in line with Lucas's platoon better. And there we waited....
Shortly before 0900 hrs the Soldiers marched onto the field led by the band. It is so awesome to see 1196 Soldiers in formation marching in near perfect alignment to the beat of the drum! Gives you goose bumps!
The Commander took this opportunity to perform a retirement ceremony for a career Soldier and then the Platoons performed a "pass in review". They marched to the left and then marched past the stadium from left to right, We got a good look at Lucas then. He is tall therefore was in the back row.
Once all the Platoons passed in review, they chanted the Soldiers Creed and sang the Army Song. My family was surprised when I sang along with them. You see, the last four years of my career, as State Command Chief, my boss was the Iowa Adjutant General, an Army Major General. When you are standing next to your Army boss at various events and they sing the Army Song, you better damn well know it!! So sing it loud and proud!!
Lucas and our daughter (his aunt) Michelle
Shortly before 0900 hrs the Soldiers marched onto the field led by the band. It is so awesome to see 1196 Soldiers in formation marching in near perfect alignment to the beat of the drum! Gives you goose bumps!
The Commander took this opportunity to perform a retirement ceremony for a career Soldier and then the Platoons performed a "pass in review". They marched to the left and then marched past the stadium from left to right, We got a good look at Lucas then. He is tall therefore was in the back row.
Third in, back row
Once all the Platoons passed in review, they chanted the Soldiers Creed and sang the Army Song. My family was surprised when I sang along with them. You see, the last four years of my career, as State Command Chief, my boss was the Iowa Adjutant General, an Army Major General. When you are standing next to your Army boss at various events and they sing the Army Song, you better damn well know it!! So sing it loud and proud!!
Finally the new Soldiers were released to their families, so they again stood at attention until they were "tapped out". We made our way out of the stands and today we had a lot better idea where Lucas was - back row, third in. Today his dad tapped him out followed by a huge hug from his mom and the rest of us!! We are so proud of this young man!
At this point he is released, so we headed for the exit and stopped briefly to take a few pictures.
At this point he is released, so we headed for the exit and stopped briefly to take a few pictures.
Jennifer, James, Lucas and Lindsey loaded up in Jennifer's car, stopped by his barracks momentarily and then headed for Jennifer's VRBO to relax and have lunch. Doreen, Michelle, Dan and I loaded up into my truck and spent the next hour waiting patiently amongst drivers that were not patient, until we were able to get out of the gridlock and get out of there!!
We were all on our own for lunch, so Dan found a brunch spot called Vicious Biscuit. They had a variety of food all revolving around chicken and biscuits and they also had bloody Mary's and we were all ready!
The food was amazing. Our biscuits had jalapeno in them. Dan and I had the Nashville Hot chicken. Not sure what the others had but it was really good!
We headed back to the VRBO to reunite with Lucas and relaxed there for the afternoon. He was preparing a travel bag for his trip to San Antonio tomorrow while we threw questions at him about how were his experiences at basic training. It is so great to hear his stories!
The food was amazing. Our biscuits had jalapeno in them. Dan and I had the Nashville Hot chicken. Not sure what the others had but it was really good!
Dan and Michelle
Nashville Hot Chicken
Nashville Hot Chicken with Egg
Silence of the Hams
Silence of the Hams with Gravy
The Vicious Mary (Bloody Mary)!
Too soon it was time for him to head back to the base one last time, so Michelle took her rental car and headed for Charlotte for her flight back to O'Hare airport. Dan loaded up in our truck and we took him to the Columbia airport for his flight to Des Moines. James, Jennifer, Lindsey and Lucas headed for the base to drop him off and say their goodbyes. Doreen and I went back to the campground to do our normal thing the night before we depart. 
This has been such an awesome event. We are so thankful our entire family could attend and honor Lucas as he completes this milestone in his professional journey. 
Tomorrow we pull chocks and head east to the Myrtle Beach SC area, We will camp there for five nights before moving on to the Greenville NC area.
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