I Got a Coin!

Every girl loves her accessories, especially if they come in Army green:

Today we headed to CIF to sign out all the gear that we will need for the field, like sleeping bags and IFACs (Body Armour):

And what would BOLC be without a little classroom time?  We recieved our first block of actual "AG" instruction:  Effective communication. 

When it comes to Army Communication, it is all about being ACTIVE.  This means removing "to be" verbs, and crafting your speech to be direct and succinct.  Because of my Public Affairs background, this was second nature for me.  At the completion of the instruction, the briefer asked if anyone could summarize what we learned, so I volunteered.  He had me come to the front and talk everyone through the experience.  I did, in my bright and bubbly PAO attitude, and he LOVED it.  He gave me a coin to teach yet another lesson:  the thank you.  He says to accept any award through the T-COT formula:  Thank the agency for the award, credit the ppl who helped you, observe the award (tell everyone how pretty it is), and thank the agency again.  I was (and still am!) really excited: