It started out like any other tasking in CGSC. All CGSC students were given the dubious task of completing STRATCOM requirements. One of the specific tasks of STRATCOM is to complete a community engagement. Most of us struggled with what to do in order to complete our community engagement. MAJ Thomas Laybourn had fortunately received a request from the Girls Scouts on Ft. Leavenworth to remove some dead trees from in front of the Hasting House. The Hasting House is a remodeled stable from the early days of Ft Leavenworth build in the1930s. The Hasting House is a historic building the Girl Scouts use to have their meetings. I knew about the building because my daughter is a Girl Scout.
After the offer was made by Tom we had to decide the best time to remove the trees. We went through an extensive military decision making process (MDMP) to identify the endstate, objectives and key task. After much deliberation, we decided on the appropriate weekend and meet at the PX on Ft Leavenworth.
There were about nine of us that volunteered our Saturday to help. We had some serious logging tools like axes, saws, rope and shovels--not to mention a Toyota Tundra truck for pulling. Once we arrived at the Hasting House we identified the five trees that needed to be removed, and went immediately to work. The first few trees we removed gave us the impression the task would be easy and we would make quick work of the remaining trees.
We chopped, pushed, and pulled trees that were about three to four inches thick in diameter. While we had success initially the last tree was not as cooperative. As we continued I began to ask myself how many Army Majors does it take to remove a tree? We obviously needed some expert help. It ended up taking an hour of chopping, digging, pushing, pulling on that one tree. What I did not mention was that we tied the begrudging tree to the aforementioned Toyota. Needless to say the tree won that round. Thank goodness, we did not pull the truck apart.
After several different approaches, techniques and deliberation about removing the tree we had an epiphany. We dug around the tree some more and found out there was still a live root at the base of the tree. It took about four or five good chops to remove stubborn root.
After our accomplishments we took a photo as proof of the obstinate tree. Proud of our accomplishments and ourselves we stood around and talked about class, deployments, future jobs, family and of course that last tree. We all felt a since of camaraderie and accomplishment you just do not get from conducting the awe inspiring MDMP.
We concluded with putting all the dirt back in the holes and having some cold beers as a well deserved reward. I look forward to the final phase of planting new trees in the spring. I’m sure we will have as much fun planting as we did pulling up the trees along with the since of satisfaction that we came together as a class and helped the community in the process. You always learn more about yourself and others when you work outside the confines of the classroom.
In conclusion, I had a great time tackling the project with my classmate and have the scars on my shoulders to prove it. We not only completed our community engagement for our STRATCOM requirement we all bonded and felt good about helping the community.
After the offer was made by Tom we had to decide the best time to remove the trees. We went through an extensive military decision making process (MDMP) to identify the endstate, objectives and key task. After much deliberation, we decided on the appropriate weekend and meet at the PX on Ft Leavenworth.
There were about nine of us that volunteered our Saturday to help. We had some serious logging tools like axes, saws, rope and shovels--not to mention a Toyota Tundra truck for pulling. Once we arrived at the Hasting House we identified the five trees that needed to be removed, and went immediately to work. The first few trees we removed gave us the impression the task would be easy and we would make quick work of the remaining trees.
We chopped, pushed, and pulled trees that were about three to four inches thick in diameter. While we had success initially the last tree was not as cooperative. As we continued I began to ask myself how many Army Majors does it take to remove a tree? We obviously needed some expert help. It ended up taking an hour of chopping, digging, pushing, pulling on that one tree. What I did not mention was that we tied the begrudging tree to the aforementioned Toyota. Needless to say the tree won that round. Thank goodness, we did not pull the truck apart.
After several different approaches, techniques and deliberation about removing the tree we had an epiphany. We dug around the tree some more and found out there was still a live root at the base of the tree. It took about four or five good chops to remove stubborn root.
After our accomplishments we took a photo as proof of the obstinate tree. Proud of our accomplishments and ourselves we stood around and talked about class, deployments, future jobs, family and of course that last tree. We all felt a since of camaraderie and accomplishment you just do not get from conducting the awe inspiring MDMP.
We concluded with putting all the dirt back in the holes and having some cold beers as a well deserved reward. I look forward to the final phase of planting new trees in the spring. I’m sure we will have as much fun planting as we did pulling up the trees along with the since of satisfaction that we came together as a class and helped the community in the process. You always learn more about yourself and others when you work outside the confines of the classroom.
In conclusion, I had a great time tackling the project with my classmate and have the scars on my shoulders to prove it. We not only completed our community engagement for our STRATCOM requirement we all bonded and felt good about helping the community.
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