My New Adventure Starts Tomorrow 07:00 Sharp

Starting tomorrow morning at 07:00 I will start the next chapter of my life! I start my new Job as a NTTS instructor on Ft. Drum helping Soldiers obtain their Class "A" Commercial License. I'm really looking forward to starting this next chapter of my life- with the exception of a brief stint working as a contractor back in 2010 2012 I haven't had the opportunity to work and train with Soldiers since that time. This was one thing that I have truly missed since I retired. I also plan to still drive Part- time with Gypsum in case this gig ends abruptly. (In the contractor world when working for the U.S. Government - Tuesday everything is great / awesome, Wednesday you are looking for a new job! - It's that quick) So I'm hedging my bets so to speak also I will be able to offer current prospective of the constant changes that our industry seems to go through. As soon as I get settled into the routine I plan to knock out the required basic instructor certifications and then pursue the Master Instructor accreditation offered through JJ Keller. I know that I will miss the road I really enjoyed hauling coils every night (Don't worry Coors Light drinkers Middletown will still continue to make cans lol ) Now to enjoy the rest of today and get ready for tomorrow. Cheers

Congratulations and good luck!

Any update on your new gig, Chris L.?

Starting tomorrow morning at 07:00 I will start the next chapter of my life! I start my new Job as a NTTS instructor on Ft. Drum helping Soldiers obtain their Class "A" Commercial License. I'm really looking forward to starting this next chapter of my life- with the exception of a brief stint working as a contractor back in 2010 2012 I haven't had the opportunity to work and train with Soldiers since that time. This was one thing that I have truly missed since I retired. I also plan to still drive Part- time with Gypsum in case this gig ends abruptly. (In the contractor world when working for the U.S. Government - Tuesday everything is great / awesome, Wednesday you are looking for a new job! - It's that quick) So I'm hedging my bets so to speak also I will be able to offer current prospective of the constant changes that our industry seems to go through. As soon as I get settled into the routine I plan to knock out the required basic instructor certifications and then pursue the Master Instructor accreditation offered through JJ Keller. I know that I will miss the road I really enjoyed hauling coils every night (Don't worry Coors Light drinkers Middletown will still continue to make cans lol ) Now to enjoy the rest of today and get ready for tomorrow. Cheers

Any update on your new gig, Chris L.?

YEAH!! ?!?!? Seriously; very interesting & intriguing, and should put you being in your 'own' home/bed right now!!!! Yes???

Did you get into a kerfuffle with Coors ?!?!? ;)~ Just kidding!!

OH, BTW: Pack., quit beating to / at my own purpose, haha!!

~ Anne ~

Well my first week working as a trainer is in the books and what a long week it was! It started out early Monday morning driving through the “Ontario Gate” and onto Ft. Drum. It brought back a flood of memories. That was the first time in 9 years that I have been on post that early in the morning. My main focus will be working with the Part time class (We run a 5 week fulltime class which meets every days from 07:00 to 17:00, and a 13 week part time class which meets Wednesday and Thursday Nights 17:00 – 21:00 and Saturdays 08:00 – 17:00) The current full time class just finished up their second to last week of training and have one week to go. The week consisted of the students working on backing maneuvers (See side, Blind Side Back, See Side, Blind side Off-Set Back, Parallel Parking) and completing their on the road driving training. On a whole most of the students have mastered the backing skills and there are some that are still struggling a bit. Helping out the students that were having difficulties I actually had my own difficulties breaking down the movements / steps to master the assigned task. After awhile Backing becomes muscle memory and every driver has tweaked the basic movement steps, so it works for them. Going back to breaking down the maneuver step by step and teaching the mechanics was a little bit of a learning curve for me. I’m a little more confident by the end of the week Heck I actually jumped into on of the tractors and went through all the maneuvers a couple of times just brush up and sharpen up my backing skills. I’m really glad that I have taken this job the team I’m apart of is top notch most of us are retired Army NCO’s and we all work well together. Most of our students are Solders that have begun their transition out of the service and their units allow them to come down for the 5 weeks of training. Of course, Joe will be Joe and there is always going to be some Grab-Ass going on; but when it comes time to train they all get on it and make the mission. This week I will be finishing up the requirements so I will be “Field” certified and the following week when the next full-time class starts I will teach a majority of the class room portion and I will become “Classroom” Certified. Then the only thing I will have left to get certified on is getting my NYS Driving instructor certification so I will be able to conduct “On the road evaluations”. Also I’m keeping my connection with my former employer Gypsum Express I’m taking a load of coils down to Middletown tomorrow evening(Coors Light drinkers rest easy I've got your Back! . When I can I will keep posting updates. Cheers