A Company Report
LBar. Xie – There are many aspects of life at RLA that are difficult. There are many challenges a Recruit faces at the Academy. Watching other Cadets go on leave, taking scoff and having more time to relax and watch TV was difficult. Having to stand behind my chair in the Mess, staring at my meal, waiting for an IC to sit me down, was difficult. Having to go back to remedial drill multiple times and re learn basic drill lessons was difficult. Classes were ok but having to pass my P.O. run at least once a month, even in January was difficult.
There were many stories from staff and older students about this May Inspection Day. Maj. Stock talked about it in some detail in the Mess Hall. I had heard there was a General that would be coming to inspect our academic lockers, or the ASM would be inspecting us on parade, or we would be making stands for an inspection of sorts. I had no idea that the May Inspection would be showcasing all the difficult things we do at the Academy, aside from waiting for our meals in the Mess.
On the day of the Inspection, I rushed to L5 to fix up the claw machine we made and put last minute touches on our display to get it ready for the crowds. Unfortunately, due to a lack of last-minute supplies some of our intended display items were inoperable for the display. However, our solar oven saved the day and made a ton of delicious smores for people that visited our display. We got so good at making smores that we started a donation jar as we noticed some people were returning for more smores. At the end of the day, we amassed over seventy-five dollars in donations. Thank you very much!
At slow points during the Inspection, our teacher let us visit other displays. Our first stop was to Lt. Heida’s escape room. Despite having the appearance of a difficult and complex escape room, we got a guided tour and learned some of the secrets required to escape the room.
Bublyk’s Licks was next on our list. It was a hot day, so the ice cream was a welcome cool treat. After the delicious ice cream, we invaded the new science lab. I thought at one point the ice cream I had just consumed would be coming back up after viewing the multiple dissections that were on display. After checking multiple slides of bacteria through microscopes and quick chemistry demonstration we bounced off to check out the Gym when we were paged to get ready for parade.
After feverishly changing into scarlets and darting to Ops to pick up my drum, we finished the Inspection with a good parade and everyone feeling exhausted was a sign that a lot of hard work went in to making the day incredibly successful.
This year’s May Inspection was one of the most memorable, fun and interesting days I have had in two years at the Academy.
