I have a few last minute items to purchase and some details to finish up but all in all I am ready to go. I am looking forward to this great new challenge and phase in my life.

Last night I went out for drinks with my Sensei. We had a great talk. I know that my daughters are in excellent hands with him as their Sensei. My oldest tests for a belt promotion next Saturday. I know she will do well. She works so hard and is so determined to succeed.

Let me tell you though, USAA rocks. USAA is a financial institution that caters to federal employees offering banking, insurance, financial planning, etc. In the last two days I have been on the phone with them at least a half a dozen times for setting up my accounts and getting insurance quotes. For anyone who is entering military service, it is in your best interest to contact USAA for a quote. We'll save around 40% on car insurance each year by going with USAA.

Well, back to getting items off my TO DO list.

That is where I hit my snag for the day. MEPS' systems have not been updated yet to account for the fact that 35 year olds are allowed to enlist. For a short while, my contract listed me as 34, at least until the IT people could update the Software's rules for my contract. Oh to be young again.

After my contract work was done, I was briefed for my swearing in and by 1445 the swearing in ceremony was over. Major R, the MEPS OIC had signed my contract and my applicant days were over. Now I am a DEP.

I will be back at MEPS on March 7th to ship to BCT. I will have almost 10 days of Reception for handling the processing of paperwork and BCT starts on March 17th.

As seen on Break.com

It just goes to show that someone can be very book smart but be really dumb at the same time. It will be something of a miracle if this student avoids going to jail. I would not be surprised to see this student winning a Darwin Award one of these days.

The Board found my explanation of the events and circumstances surrounding my not signing up last year to be acceptable. As Major P said, "Many corporations, or in this case the Army, understand that some people can not accept a job offer because relocation or other factors prevent the potential employee from accepting."

I have to admit that I had my concerns about the Board. As a prior DEP loss the board could have questioned my intentions and commitment to a career in the Army. This Board however did not. Now all that is left is getting the approval on my application from Special Missions. My application will go to them once MEPS clears my consult paperwork.

We sparred again tonight. When we started I made a conscious effort to stop my bouncing by using a slightly longer, deeper stance. It was harder to move at first but as I became more comfortable with it my movements became easier. Sensei and Sempei were thrilled with my progress.

After class Sempei commended me on stronger punches and maybe one of the hardest hits he took from any of the students. He told me he could feel his ribs spread from the force of my punch. I might have thought he was patronizing me but the big smile on his face spoke volumes.

My entire sparring session was not perfect. A blow that I had intended for Sempei's shoulder had ended up hitting him in the mouth. I should have displayed better control and I am not pleased with myself for that. He agreed that I should have exhibited more control considering my past experience but he also noted that my lower stances which changed my attacking angle and the fact that he was bearing down on me also contributed to my bad blow.

This dojo is awesome. The students work so hard to support each other and make each other better. We all help each other and no one gives or takes criticism in any way but as constructive. Sensei pushes us hard and all we do is ask him to push us harder. He loves it. We love it.

I know I have said it before, but I have never had a day that went smoothly when it comes to MEPS. Today was no exception although today's difficulty was in getting to MEPS. On the way to MEPS we were stuck in traffic for almost an hour because a car had swerved under the trailer of a semi causing the car's engine block to be crushed and the 18 wheeler to jack-knife and flip on its side. My thoughts go out to the injuried and their families.

The consult itself was relatively simple even if it was nothing like I expected. The doctor asked me to take a computer based test of memory, word association and responsiveness. I don't know how I did, he will have to score the test and notify MEPS of the results.

All Four Stanzas
By Isaac Asimov (1991)

Introductory Note: Unless you're already well acquainted with our "national anthem," this interesting piece by the late Isaac Asimov will be an eye-opener. It was for me. It's especially appropriate at a time when there is much talk of tossing out this difficult-to-sing and difficult-to-comprehend old song in favor of something that better suits Ray Charles' voice. You'll understand the song much better after you read Mr. Asimov's explanation. — Hardly Waite, Gazette Senior Editor.

I have a weakness--I am crazy, absolutely nuts, about our national anthem.

The words are difficult and the tune is almost impossible, but frequently when I'm taking a shower I sing it with as much power and emotion as I can. It shakes me up every time.

I was once asked to speak at a luncheon. Taking my life in my hands, I announced I was going to sing our national anthem--all four stanzas.

This was greeted with loud groans. One man closed the door to the kitchen, where the noise of dishes and cutlery was loud and distracting. "Thanks, Herb," I said.

"That's all right," he said. "It was at the request of the kitchen staff."

I explained the background of the anthem and then sang all four stanzas.

Let me tell you, those people had never heard it before--or had never really listened. I got a standing ovation. But it was not me; it was the anthem.

More recently, while conducting a seminar, I told my students the story of the anthem and sang all four stanzas. Again there was a wild ovation and prolonged applause. And again, it was the anthem and not me.

So now let me tell you how it came to be written.

In 1812, the United States went to war with Great Britain, primarily over freedom of the seas. We were in the right. For two years, we held off the British, even though we were still a rather weak country. Great Britain was in a life and death struggle with Napoleon. In fact, just as the United States declared war, Napoleon marched off to invade Russia. If he won, as everyone expected, he would control Europe, and Great Britain would be isolated. It was no time for her to be involved in an American war.

At first, our seamen proved better than the British. After we won a battle on Lake Erie in 1813, the American commander, Oliver Hazard Perry, sent the message "We have met the enemy and they are ours." However, the weight of the British navy beat down our ships eventually. New England, hard-hit by a tightening blockade, threatened secession.

Meanwhile, Napoleon was beaten in Russia and in 1814 was forced to abdicate. Great Britain now turned its attention to the United States, launching a three-pronged attack. The northern prong was to come down Lake Champlain toward New York and seize parts of New England. The southern prong was to go up the Mississippi, take New Orleans and paralyze the west. The central prong was to head for the mid-Atlantic states and then attack Baltimore, the greatest port south of New York. If Baltimore was taken, the nation, which still hugged the Atlantic coast, could be split in two. The fate of the United States, then, rested to a large extent on the success or failure of the central prong.

The British reached the American coast, and on August 24, 1814, took Washington, D. C. Then they moved up the Chesapeake Bay toward Baltimore. On September 12, they arrived and found 1000 men in Fort McHenry, whose guns controlled the harbor. If the British wished to take Baltimore, they would have to take the fort.

On one of the British ships was an aged physician, William Beanes, who had been arrested in Maryland and brought along as a prisoner. Francis Scott Key, a lawyer and friend of the physician, had come to the ship to negotiate his release. The British captain was willing, but the two Americans would have to wait. It was now the night of September 13, and the bombardment of Fort McHenry was about to start.

As twilight deepened, Key and Beanes saw the American flag flying over Fort McHenry. Through the night, they heard bombs bursting and saw the red glare of rockets. They knew the fort was resisting and the American flag was still flying. But toward morning the bombardment ceased, and a dread silence fell. Either Fort McHenry had surrendered and the British flag flew above it, or the bombardment had failed and the American flag still flew.

As dawn began to brighten the eastern sky, Key and Beanes stared out at the fort, tyring to see which flag flew over it. He and the physician must have asked each other over and over, "Can you see the flag?"

After it was all finished, Key wrote a four stanza poem telling the events of the night. Called "The Defence of Fort M'Henry," it was published in newspapers and swept the nation. Someone noted that the words fit an old English tune called "To Anacreon in Heaven" --a difficult melody with an uncomfortably large vocal range. For obvious reasons, Key's work became known as "The Star Spangled Banner," and in 1931 Congress declared it the official anthem of the United States.

Now that you know the story, here are the words. Presumably, the old doctor is speaking. This is what he asks Key

Oh! say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

"Ramparts," in case you don't know, are the protective walls or other elevations that surround a fort. The first stanza asks a question. The second gives an answer.

On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep.
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
'Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

"The towering steep" is again, the ramparts. The bombardment has failed, and the British can do nothing more but sail away, their mission a failure.

In the third stanza, I feel Key allows himself to gloat over the American triumph. In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood to act otherwise.

During World War II, when the British were our staunchest allies, this third stanza was not sung. However, I know it, so here it is

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The fourth stanza, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more slowly than the other three and with even deeper feeling.

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the Heav'n - rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
And this be our motto--"In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I hope you will look at the national anthem with new eyes. Listen to it, the next time you have a chance, with new ears./p>

And don't let them ever take it away.

As the editor said, this article was a real eye-opener. As most Americans do, I learned the simplified story of Francis Scott Key being a prisoner aboard a British ship while the attack on Ft. McHenry and his being inspired to write the poem the morning after the attack. I wish that I had taken the time to learn the full poem for it is far more powerful and dare I say patriotic than the shortened version we sing.

Isaac Assimov spoke to my graduating class in High School, he is a brilliant man and a wonderful orator. He was probably being very modest when he said the cheering was for the poem and not for him.

I caught him a few times myself. Once with a roundhouse to the short ribs and another time with a punch that landed just above the collar bone. I still have to shake the habit of bouncing when I spar. It is a habit I picked up in Tae Kwon Do as a way to stay on the balls of my feet.

I love the fact that we are doing this sparring without safeties. While I understand that the safeties are meant to protect both combatants they also allow one to be a little sloppy with techniques and control. Without them you have to focus on controlling the strike even more as well as executing properly to avoid injurying yourself or your opponent.

A little test today showed that all my training is having positive results. Sensei had us lie on the ground and do leg raises. They focus on tightening your abdomen in order to keep your legs raised 6" off the ground. Well while we do that he came around the class and punched students to make sure we were doing the exercise properly. In my case he also stood, full weight, on my abdomen twice each for about 5 seconds. He weighs about 180lbs.

My training is paying off. A few weeks ago and my spleen would have been through the floor. Maybe by the time I get to BCT I will be ready for the DI to do the same while in boots carrying a 40lb pack. Then again, I doubt it.