20110522

Report on NAMI

In my last post, I noted that the next step was to travel down to the National Aeromedical Institute (NAMI) at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola in Pensacola, Florida. I am pleased to report that I completed that trip 17-20 April. Here's the report.

20110316

Medically Qualified! [Updated]

This post discusses the news that I have been approved by DODMERB for military service and looks ahead to the next step—NAMI.

Update: PFT schedule.

20110226

Candidate/Applicant Get-together - FEB 2011

Below are the notes I had made in preparation of my report on a get-together I attended in Terre Haute in February 2011. I decided to post them as-is rather than delete them.

Posted 08 August 2011.

20110108

Today's OSO Meeting Notes

Today, 8 JAN 2011, I met with Captain Kline, Officer Selection Officer, USMC in Warsaw, IN. Here is a summary of what we discussed.

20100603

"Before"

For the past couple years, since I made the decision that I wanted to join the Corps, my primary concern was to get my degree finished. Now that my degree is in hand, I have one concern: get into shape to pass the PFT. Here's what I look like "before" getting into shape.

Step 2 - Diploma

According to officer.marines.com, to be considered as an officer candidate, a person must meet the following qualifications:
• U.S. citizen;
• 18 to 28 years old, though exceptions may be considered;
• College senior or graduate from a four-year college or university.

Obviously, the first two were taken care of, and now the last one is, too!

20091205

Pre-OCS Physical Fitness Program

Intro
Six days ago I began my last quarter of undergraduate studies at Rose-Hulman. Each day, I have made time to hit the gym, lifting weights, cycling, and running on a treadmill, albeit without a specific routine. I've been looking for a good routine to help me prepare for OCS, but most I found assumed I was already somewhat close to PFT standards and only needed to improve a bit. I finally found one that claims I can start now, at my present state of physical (non)fitness.

The full program can be read here.

More after the break.

UPDATE: Calendar added
I have created a public calendar for all the exercises I will be doing over the next 12 weeks. Click here to subscribe or click here to view it online.

20091120

Step 1 – finalized.

On Thursday, 19 November 2009, I stopped by Whitson Vision in Indianapolis, IN for my “6 month” post-operation follow-up.

The results are in: I have 20/15* vision in both my eyes. Dr. Smith commented, “you can’t even tell we touched your eyes!”
*How is visual acuity measured? Find out here.

This is excellent news. It means that my eyes will not prevent me from serving as a pilot in the United States Marine Corps.

Dr. Smith informed me that I did not need to be scheduled for any more follow-up appointments, but she also advised that I should have my eyes checked once every 1-2 years simply to watch for any changes, side effects, or eye diseases. The checkups need not necessarily be by Whitson Vision, but if I were to have any problems, I should contact them directly right away.


Caleb, out.