Monday, June 20, 2011

Ben's OCS Graduation

Ben has completed the long road to becoming a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant US Army. He graduated from Army OCS on Thursday June 16th. A proud day for all of us! The process was long, difficult and at times frustrating. He persevered and has now achieved his goal of becoming an Army Officer. Well done, Ben!

Before the graduation ceremony, Ben and Emily spend some time together.

Graduation is over, Emily helps Ben make it official. Removing the "candidate" covers to reveal the 2nd Lieutenant shoulder boards.

A pose with Mom and Dad outside after graduation.

Ben and Emily, a happy moment.

He will be stationed at Ft. Benning, GA for at least a year or more of specialized training. We toured Ft. Benning when we were down there, it's huge. Roughly 900 sq miles in size. There are more buildings and training facilities than I can mention. They even have their own mall and convenience stores. All I can say about Georgia in the summer is it's hot and humid. But I guess he's used to it now after training there for the past few months. Ft. Benning is just south of Columbus. We spent some time touring around Columbus while we were there.

It's got a nice old historic district with typical southern charm.

Old brick streets and pillared houses dating back a ways.

Even some old factory buildings that are still being used.

The old shopping district was interesting, some of the stores were displaying clothing that looked like something that would be worn during the civil war. A lot of good restaurants.

We stopped at this outdoor cafe to have a drink and listen to a street musician. Notice the old brick wall behind us. Looked like the rest of the building fell down but they decided to keep this part.
We had a great time and enjoyed the southern hospitality. Greetings from Georgia!

2 comments:

Cathy said...

Congratulations Ben I am very proud of you. I would love to visit you for a long weekend some time. Hope to see you when You come up to gather all your "stuuf". Love Aunt Cathy Carl and rma, it was a pleasure to watch ben's four legged sibs while you were down there and I'm glad I got to spend a little time with both of you. Love Cathy

Anonymous said...

Bravo! Great pictures of a successful "journey" for Ben. Your pictures tell it all. I'm impressed with the area--the heat and humidity don't photograph. A very interesting grey house on the corner with the veranda and two chimneys flanking narrow windows is interesting architecture. Are those bikes for sale, or is that transportation?

Glad you had such a good time.