Housing here is more comfortable. My platoon is mostly on the third floor with the exception of the females that are on the first. Each person gets a room with one room mate with the exception of a few people who have three rooms. Some people who are infantry have their own places off post but that is the exception not the rule. Each room has two wall lockers, beds, desks and desk lamps. Eye balling it the room is probably 12x18.
Generally it appears that no one cares what your room looks like. Keep it as clean as you like or be a pig, the option is up to you. You are issued linens. However you can user your own linens if you choose. I'm keeping my guitar under my bed. It really is quite spacious.
I think there are two bathrooms on the floor. I haven't walked all the way down to the other end of the hall to check. But I never see anyone from the other platoon in our bathroom. Showers are a step up from last year. The stalls actually have separators on them.
As for time management. It has been really laid back. All be it it was only the first day. But for the most part the philosophy of the cadre seems to be that once you know the hard time it is on you to get there. No babysitting here. All the movement is also up to you, so no piling on to cattle cars and school buses to get from place to place. No inane counts of people getting on and off the bus. Its good to be a lieutenant.
I think that free time is best summed up by the phrase the cadre OIC for the platoon used. "If you don't have anything to do, don't do it here." What this means is that when there is nothing to do you get time to yourself.
I like the cadre. They seem to have an interest in training smarter not harder so that we can all finish doing training and go drink beer. And that is an army you have to love.
The first week is mostly in briefs and processing. If something doesn't apply to you, you don't have to go. This means people who have been to LDAC or CTLT don't need to go to finance meetings etc.
Also of note my mailing address for anyone who wants it is:
2LT Andrew Nortrup
D/1/11 IN
BOLC II 6th Platoon
BLDG 2749
Fort Benning, GA 31905
I'm a big fan to the Constitution (right up there on my list of favorite documents ever). But despite all of the wisdom encased in that document it fails on one serious point. That is providing a clear job definition of the work that the vice president should do.
The original document stated that the vice president should be the person who came in second in the general election (which honestly makes impeaching the president so much more appealing). The 12th amendment changed the manner by which we elect vice presidents but the document as a whole leaves very little clarity on what the office is responsible for.
I don't have a problem with the fact that the President has delegated significant amounts of power to the VP. In his own way Cheney is a very capable administrator with a lifetime of Washington experience.
The problem is who do you assign blame to when he does something wrong. As obscene as it seems the office of the VP is not a normal cabinet office. He is an elected official and serves at the will of the people. Everyone else is nominated and approved by the Senate and serves at the pleasure of the President.
The motion to defend the office of the vice president as part of the executive branch is indeed theater and is in my opinion low theater. As a matter of tradition the VP is a member of the executive branch. If he is breaking the rules, congress shouldn't act like an unhappy parent and withhold his allowance. They should follow the steps that are granted them in the Constitution. That is impeach him.
The hard part is deciding who to impeach. Do you impeach the President for poor delegation or do you impeach the Vice President for breaking the laws that he was given to enforce.
I say impeach them both. The vice president has broken laws and ignored the constitution. He has abused the trust of the American people and it should not be permitted.
However, to return to my previous point, the job of VP is not defined beyond Senate tie breaker and presidential understudy. Therefore any additional power that he holds is delegated from the President. As we say in the military you can delegate authority but never responsibility. The president of the United States has granted incredible power to the VP. Failure to ensure that that power is used correctly leaves him just as guilty.
*This post was originally posted here as a comment.