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 NEWS
 Candidates "Start Your Engines" By Eric Durr
                New York National Guard
 TALLADEGA, Ala. - A patriotic cry of motivation and enthusiasm echoed through the empty grand stands of Talladega Superspeedway last week as 190 officer candidates rounded the two-mile track to finish a seven mile road march. The officer candidates are from the Alabama National Guard Training Site at Fort McClellan, Ala. and are currently enrolled in officer candidate school (OCS). The seven-mile march is one of many mandatory training missions the candidates must successfully complete to graduate from the program. Col. Charles Keith, commandant at the training site, worked with track officials arranging for the candidates to make one lap of the track before ending their seven-mile march at the start-finish line. "The Talladega Superspeedway is a fantastic neighbor to allow us this memorable opportunity," said Keith. The 190 candidates represented 40 states, so there was plenty of NASCAR fans scattered through the ranks. For some, this was their first time to visit a race track. "This is awesome," said Richard Sands of Michigan. "I am a huge NASCAR fan." Sands says his favorite driver is Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who currently drives the #88 National Guard and AMP racecar. NASCAR fan or not, most of the candidates have watched the movie, "Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby" starring comedic actor Will Farrell. The movie is a spoof about a NASCAR driver, Farrell, who looses everything after being in a terrible racecar accident, including his ability to "go fast," and must overcome his fears and win at Talladega. Many of the candidates were heard saying quotes from the movie like "Shake-n-Bake" and "If you're not first - You're Last." Officer Candidate Anthony Rose from South Carolina says he was born in a car just like Ricky Bobby and now he's been given the opportunity to walk in Will Ferrell's footsteps as he marches around Talladega. With stories such as these, it's easy to see why this is the second OCS class Keith has led around the speedway. "Its exciting and motivating for the candidates," said Keith. All 190 candidates crossed the finish-line completing the seven mile road-march in full "battle rattle." Keith attributes the class's success to the OCS cadre. "This is the best staff and organization in the Army National Guard. Their dedication to the job is outstanding." Officer Candidate John McNally of Nebraska agrees with Keith. "They prepared us well," explained McNally. "They got us in good shape and then rallied us together last night to pump us up for the march." Maj. Anthony Cloud, a TAC officer at the training site, said members of this particular class of candidates were already in great shape. "This class has the highest physical training scores I've ever seen," said Cloud adding that the average PT score was 300 with the highest score of 423 from a female candidate. Scoring 300 is considered "maxing" the PT test. "They did a great job," said Keith, "But they still have many challenges ahead of them. Keith says their next road-march will be 10 miles long.
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