I have just returned from my recent trek into Army training misery. I spent the last two weeks in the front leaning rest at the original home of George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry. The same George Custer who was famously defeated by Crazy Horse at the Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876. I do not think Custer was a racist or an evil man of any sort for participating in the Indian Wars. He was simply a soldier following orders. Many Hollywood films have depicted Custer as being somewhat of a sissy. I would like to point out that Custer did not surrender in his Last Stand. He continued to fight and had the men in his charge continue to fight until their means of resistance was exhausted. Custer's body was found with two bullet holes -- one in the temple and one in the chest. He probably had no ammunition left or the bullet wounds would have been in other locations such as in his face as he peeked over the mounded bodies of dead horses to return fire. Custer was famous for taking personal risks to rally his troops during battle. Doesn't sound like a sissy at all if you ask me.

Ft. Meade is located in the historic town of Sturgis, South Dakota, home of the Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Armoured cavalry began to replace horse cavalry shortly after the first World War. Horses were replaced with armoured cars, tanks, and motorcycles. Ft. Meade, originally home to the 7th Cavalry, was being replaced with motorcycles. This may have given rise to the idea by the Jackpine Gypsies to hold the first Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The rally has been held annually for 69 years, except for two years during World War II. The event started on Agust 14, 1938 and is held every year during the first full week of August. I got to see some setup taking place, during my training stint and the beginning of my break from enlisted service and transistion to becoming an officer, from the bus as we were transported to a park in the Black Hills for training in Land Navigation.

The training lasted two weeks and was only the first phase in a year's worth of training to take place between this year and next at the conclusion of which I will be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. At the end of our last training day, we were bused to Mt. Rushmoore and participated in a pinning ceremony of three officer candidates from Washington who were pinned as second lietenants in front of that famous national monument. Their colonel had flown in specifically for the event. They had completed their final phase just as I had completed my first and were commissioned right there in front of four of our greatest presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt. One candidate was pinned by his father, whom I assume is former or retired military, who then rendered the first salute to his newly commissioned son. What an honor to be commissioned in one of the most famous national monuments and have your father render that first salute. With a supportive military background like that, I have no doubt that man will grow to become a great leader. For me, this journey towards commissioning has just begun. The road will be long and it will be arduous.