reading materials

Hello everyone,

   Officially I have been in Spokane a week.  I am loving it more everyday.  THis weekend I am helping my friend move into his apartment downtown so we will get to spend some time in the city.  There are all kinds of outdoor activities here.  It is really a dream to be living here right now.  I have been getting in processed here the last week but next week I should be getting some of the preliminary classes out of the way.  Ill try to explain....... All SERE students from now until late November will be slotted in the January class.  Since there are only two classes a year (July and January)  there is alot of downtime.  When class does start in January we will have 5 months of intense SERE specific training.  In the mean time all students waiting around have to complete SV80, emergency parachuting, and the dunker tank.  I am the first student here for the january class so I have the luxury of alot of time.  The dunker tank and emergency parachuting are both classes that only take one day.  I will most likely be doing those next week.  I wont actually be parachuting but just learning the basics of how it works.  The dunker tank is to simulate a plane crash in the water.  You strap yourself into a "plane" and when the exercise starts the plane is submerged in the pool and spinning 360 degrees.  Our job is to stay calm and get out.  I think that will be a ton of fun.  SV80 is the survival course that every pilot and aircrew goes through. It is the one I will be teaching when I graduate.  It is three weeks long and it essentially teaches the basics of survival and resistance.  They want us to get the perspective of a student in the class.  Anywho, that is my life in the next couple of weeks.  There are also plenty of things to read up here.  I happened across this magazine (picture) that I can't wait to give Kate when I see her next.  Its a great read!  Have to go to dinner now.  Post again soon.