I am finally getting some letters from Landon! It’s not like he has already been there for three weeks already or anything. But what the heck who cares! In today’s world of instant communication, we get so accustomed to immediate response and not being able to talk to him aside from his brief calls on Sundays has really made me appreciate mail. The funny part is that almost everything he wrote in his letters he had already told me the day before on the phone haha. It’s amazing how much the world has sped up since phones and email came about. One of the OCS moms mentioned on Facebook how unfortunately the world has lost the virtue of patience with the ability to instant message anyone in the world, no matter the distance. It's so TRUE! Now days we expect constant communication all the time and packages to be delivered across the entire country in two days or less (we love amazon, haha). Seriously what is becoming of us?

Okay back to the letters. Landon is doing really, really well. It is the start of his third week in Rhode Island and he is spending every waking moment preparing for the RLP (Room, Locker, Personnel) Inspection, which will take place this coming Wednesday. You wouldn’t think it would be necessary to spend multiple weeks to prepare for a room inspection, but this stuff is insane. And if any of you know Landon, he is not exactly the most particular of people. He is an incredibly hard worker and always gets the job done, but I wouldn’t exactly refer to him as a “Deep Cleaner”…if you know what I mean. RLP will probably be the most challenging part of OCS for him, but he has been preparing for two weeks now and I am fairly confident he will pass with flying colors. During RLP the DI comes around to each of the candidates room or “hatch” and checks for perfection. I’m not even kidding, they expect everything to be organized in a very particular fashion, one that just screams insanity. Shirts must be folded 6 inches wide, boots shined and placed 2.824 inches apart… okay I have no idea what the exact requirements are. Landon says they are all written flat out like some Lego instruction manual. If you follow all of the directions, then you are good right? Well, apparently that isn’t even the hard part. He started memorizing various things months before he left for OCS, such as the Navy chain of command, the orders of the sentry, yada yada. He isn’t much of a memorizer either, but he assured me that he has those all down and under control.

The real stressful part of RLP is that while the DI is measuring things, he will be ordering Landon to do push ups, screaming and yelling at the top of his lungs, and expecting the same intensity from Landon while drilling him on various military knowledge from the gouge book. The stress comes from having to do everything all at once and not screw anything up! Not to mention having the thought of failing, rolling to the next class, and staying at OCS for an extra two or three weeks looming over your head. Makes me want to puke just thinking about it. I would die!

If you haven't already watched it here is a dorky little snippet of what he has to put up with!

But, Landon seems fairly confident so I know he is going to do just fine. I seriously can’t wait to hear him say, “I passed!” From what I understand, the training should begin to lighten up a little once RLP is over with. Once he has made it over that mountain it should hopefully be a downhill experience from there. On the phone he said that they will be getting laptops to use in their rooms on Friday from which they can email and study, but I don’t know what else.  He has a specific military email that he wrote me a quick little note from last week, but hasn’t been allowed to use yet. I am sooo excited to be able to hear from him more often. Why is it that communication had to be so limited during the hardest portion of OCS?! Obviously to make it even more unbearable. So lame, but okay.

Clearly the instructors wanted those candidates to feel completely alone and defeated. Well good job. It worked. I’ve never seen my love so distraught in his entire life. He mentioned a few different times that he was so close to just throwing his canteen on the ground and giving up. I am so glad he never did… You will never know how proud of you I am, babe. You are seriously amazing.

Looking back now, I think he is starting to make sense of the purpose behind most of the drills and pure torture. It seems to be less about the instructions and orders and more about the respect, the strength, and the dedication that these future Officers are developing. They want them to realize that they can do hard things. There are definitely going to be times during deployments when duty calls and it seems too hard to keep going. But they want them to realize that when they feel like giving up, that’s when they lace up their boots and keep pressing forward. Being part of the military is certainly not easy. It is depressing, full of hard work, long days, separation, and fear. But there isn’t a single job out there that is more rewarding. And to have the opportunity to support a man so willing to serve and protect his country is truly incredible. I’ve gained an entirely new perspective on our life and the freedoms we enjoy here in America. We are so lucky to live the life that we do.

Well tomorrow is a big day for my Lando! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He will need every single one of them!

XO   Jen