Author: darkpassport
-
#18: The Perfect Storm Part II
Continued from Blog #17: The Perfect Storm Part I The quintessential tourist – wide-brimmed hat, floral button-down shirt, camera hanging from a neck lanyard, calf socks with sandals – is everything the seasoned traveler strives to avoid. It’s not that we care what other people think about us. After all, we’ll very likely never see…
-
#17: The Perfect Storm Part I
In the fall of 1991, six men boarded the 72-foot commercial fishing vessel Andrea Gail in Gloucester, Massachusetts and steamed towards the notoriously rich waters of the Grand Banks. It was late in the season, but Billy, Bobby, Murph, Sully, Bugsy, and Alfred Pierre needed the money from one last catch of swordfish. With a…
-
#16: Academy Life Part IV
“An army marches on its stomach.” Inconclusively and ironically attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte. As outlined in Blog #15, our training facilities and amenities have relatively little consistency. The availability, proximity, and type of lodging are combined with budgetary limitations and enrollment quantity to be the driving force behind the accommodations offered to us at a…
-
#15: Academy Life Part III
Continued from Academy Life Part II “Do you live there?” Yes. Well, sometimes. We actually rotate through multiple locations in various U.S. states. Some are government training campuses with no-cost college style dormitories. Think of a university, small military base, or large business campus. It is common to find a convenience store, library full of…
-
#14: Academy Life Part II
Continued from Academy Life Part I “Is it physically difficult?” Actually, no. And that’s not just the athlete in me talking. We had to meet physical fitness standards to get here in the first place, and we’re not training for the Olympics. Accordingly, what little physical training (“PT”) we get is designed to keep us…
-
#13: Academy Life Part I
This is the first in a series of miniblogs that will expand upon certain generalized aspects of our lengthy training program. The topics are based on the questions I most often receive from all of you. “What is the training like?” The training program is roughly 60% classroom, 35% practical skills, 5% physical fitness. Remember…
-
#12: Leaving D.C.
“I think the tough times are finally behind me. There will always be bad things, but my life is good. It is as I want it to be. It’s good.” -Sera, played by Elizabeth Shue in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas. What is your travel style? I know men who refuse to check a…
-
#11: Where It All Began – Part 1
“Even though none of us had ever seen a Playboy magazine (which we constantly lied about), we figured going to the pool was the next best thing…” The Narrator of the 1993 film The Sandlot. Before I get to my story, a bit of encouragement for those of you who aren’t CPR certified: Heart disease…
-
#10: Vexillology
…continued from Blog #9 Upon completion of Orientation, my workgroup will spend much of the remainder of the year in what is known as follow-on training specific to our position. There remains a pass/fail component to this furthered education, much like how police officers, firefighters, and military personnel still need to pass basic training before…
-
#9: Orientation
“A 55-year-old garbage man is a million times smarter than a 28-year-old with three PhD’s. Especially smarter than him, because this idiot has been thinking about three things for like 15 years.” -Comedian Louis C.K. during his Oh My God special in 2013. …continued from Blog #7 Packed into a secure government auditorium is a…
The Dark Passport 