Well almost 3 years later, 8 weeks of "intense" training, depending on who you ask, and I am now a NY state peace officer, ie Correction Officer.
A quick little overview.
We started with 33 in the Alpha session (my group, last names A-M) and 37 in Bravo, our sister session (last names N-Z). We lost 2 and Bravo lost 8 or 9. Personally, I wish we had lost about 5-6 more.
On week 3, weapons week I got there feeling very.....odd. By day 2 (Tuesday) I knew I was in for a whopper of a "cold". I wish it was only a cold. That was qualification day with the dept revolver. As the day wore on, I could feel my body shutting down quickly. Regardless, during practice, I shot a perfect 250 out of 250, the only in my session. But because it was practice, the WTO (weapons training officer) would not count it. I had to wait for the first line to qualify, then lunch, (which I could eat very little of, the last I would eat for almost 3 days), then I qualified. Breathing control and sight alignment are two critical parts of accuracy. I couldn't breath at all as my lungs were filling with fluid (see where this is going now?) and my fever has spiked at about 104. But I still shot a 247 of 250....twice, tieing for the high score of my class. My WTO had no doubt afterwards, had I not been so ill, I would have taken the marksmanship award for the entire class which eventually went to a Bravo officer with a 249.
That night back at the academy, I forced myself through PT, nearly vomiting several times and almost passing out. After that, I don't remember much. I fell out of the chow line and went back to the class room. Luckily, that week, we were in the hotel, not in house. NY is putting too many classes through to house them all. There is always one session in a hotel, and they rotate weeks.
Anywho, I was delerious and had to be carried to the truck by other recruits. The next day I was taken to St. Peter's ER where my fever was still 102-103 and they diagnosed me with pnemonia (sp?) and hypertension (which is big for me with my heart and normally low BP) So I was taken out for 2 days (the max I could miss of PT and not get cycled out)
So I missed the next 2 days, qualifying with the AR15, which I was a class favorite to be high qualifier given my experience with that weapon from my job at Natec. Then I missed qualifying with the dept Remington 870P. I got back Friday, just in time to take the exam and scored a 90. 2 others that were there the whole week, failed.
The next week was chemmies (chemical agents) and since my DI loved me (really, he had me picked for CERT) he put me through the paces with a double whammie of it and it was rough. Worst thing I've experienced physically to date. I would rather be shot again.
In the end, I missed the high honors (GPA) award by 4/10 of 1%. I only got a 91 on my final (combined with the 90 on weapons week) left me with a 94.1%. The reason I only got a 91 on the final was due to some weapons details I had missed.
A fellow recruit in my session ended up with a 94.5% overall and took the award. Those 2 days I missed cost me 2 of 4 total awards, but what can you do.
So here I sit, badge # 35189, NY state Correction Officer, reporting for duty tomorrow morning.
A quick little overview.
We started with 33 in the Alpha session (my group, last names A-M) and 37 in Bravo, our sister session (last names N-Z). We lost 2 and Bravo lost 8 or 9. Personally, I wish we had lost about 5-6 more.
On week 3, weapons week I got there feeling very.....odd. By day 2 (Tuesday) I knew I was in for a whopper of a "cold". I wish it was only a cold. That was qualification day with the dept revolver. As the day wore on, I could feel my body shutting down quickly. Regardless, during practice, I shot a perfect 250 out of 250, the only in my session. But because it was practice, the WTO (weapons training officer) would not count it. I had to wait for the first line to qualify, then lunch, (which I could eat very little of, the last I would eat for almost 3 days), then I qualified. Breathing control and sight alignment are two critical parts of accuracy. I couldn't breath at all as my lungs were filling with fluid (see where this is going now?) and my fever has spiked at about 104. But I still shot a 247 of 250....twice, tieing for the high score of my class. My WTO had no doubt afterwards, had I not been so ill, I would have taken the marksmanship award for the entire class which eventually went to a Bravo officer with a 249.
That night back at the academy, I forced myself through PT, nearly vomiting several times and almost passing out. After that, I don't remember much. I fell out of the chow line and went back to the class room. Luckily, that week, we were in the hotel, not in house. NY is putting too many classes through to house them all. There is always one session in a hotel, and they rotate weeks.
Anywho, I was delerious and had to be carried to the truck by other recruits. The next day I was taken to St. Peter's ER where my fever was still 102-103 and they diagnosed me with pnemonia (sp?) and hypertension (which is big for me with my heart and normally low BP) So I was taken out for 2 days (the max I could miss of PT and not get cycled out)
So I missed the next 2 days, qualifying with the AR15, which I was a class favorite to be high qualifier given my experience with that weapon from my job at Natec. Then I missed qualifying with the dept Remington 870P. I got back Friday, just in time to take the exam and scored a 90. 2 others that were there the whole week, failed.
The next week was chemmies (chemical agents) and since my DI loved me (really, he had me picked for CERT) he put me through the paces with a double whammie of it and it was rough. Worst thing I've experienced physically to date. I would rather be shot again.
In the end, I missed the high honors (GPA) award by 4/10 of 1%. I only got a 91 on my final (combined with the 90 on weapons week) left me with a 94.1%. The reason I only got a 91 on the final was due to some weapons details I had missed.
A fellow recruit in my session ended up with a 94.5% overall and took the award. Those 2 days I missed cost me 2 of 4 total awards, but what can you do.
So here I sit, badge # 35189, NY state Correction Officer, reporting for duty tomorrow morning.
