Chapter Eight - part five

   The next week was indeed the week when the intense training at Jack's Valley came to a conclusion. The Doolies were tried and tested almost without a break during the entire week. A few did break and quietly left the Academy. The training had cracked their last reserves and the final testing broke them completely. James was right in the middle of things. He had been put in a position to help monitor the running portion of the testing. James spent all day, every single day, that week running along with the Doolies as they faced that test. The fact that he was running with them and encouraging them rather than discouraging them was alone a huge difference. The fact that he was there every single day from the first run of the day to the last run was almost unbelievable. By the end of the day James was often so exhausted he would have to sit down and rest before returning to camp. More than once some of the Doolies in the last group tested remained there with him and gave him an escort back when he could manage to make the walk back. After the first couple of days, it wasn't unusual to have other Doolies get permission to return at the end of the day so they could help escort James back too.

    That simple act of respect from the Doolies made a huge impression on the other cadre at Jack's Valley. When James arrived back and sat in on the cadre meetings after lights out many of the other cadre had called him a fool and criticized him for what he was doing at first. They had warned him that he couldn't keep it up all week or he would be the one to break. That would be the worst thing that could happen in their eyes. The cadres were supposed to be smarter and stronger than the Doolies, not foolish enough to break themselves for those who weren't ready to face the testing alone. As the week went on they watched as the Doolies showed more respect and determination to James with each passing day. That was in spite of the fact that he was struggling more each day to stay with them. Many of the cadre began to grudgingly admit that what James was doing, worked. Several of the Doolies that had been expected to barely pass, if they passed at all, had actually done well. Those were most often the Doolies who were there at the end of the day to show support for James. They weren't alone though. There were often Doolies waiting with him who had excelled, many of those were expected to become leaders on the Hill themselves during the next four years.

   James wasn't satisfied with just being there to push and motivate the Doolies during the required run though. James had been working to change the way everything went during the last week of Jack's Valley. One of the biggest things he had wanted to change was the very Ironman run that had ultimately thrown him into the center of the fire. He had been working to convince not only those directly involved at Jack's Valley, but also the wing staff back at the Hill that it was time to make changes. He had been trying to think of a way to make changes since finding out that he would be one of the cadres in Jack's Valley. Once he had gotten past the initial shock of his own Ironman run going to the national press James had seen it as his opportunity to actually change things. He had spent a lot of time and effort reminding everyone involved of all the press attention and how bad it could, indeed would, be for the Academy if the press decided the Ironman was abusive. He hadn't been totally alone in those efforts either. There had been changes made immediately after his run by Lt. General McBride. While he had forced some immediate changes, he couldn't change everything. The wing staff and the cadre were still the ones who must make many of the changes work. McBride could have ordered more changes, but without the full backing of the wing staff as well as the cadre who were responsible for the daily duties within the ranks of the cadets... it would have been a wasted effort and might have made matters even worse.

   The press conference had forced the wing staff to once again start thinking about the current way the Ironman was handled. James had spent a lot of time and effort talking to the wing staff members, one on one, about it too. The changes he had asked for hadn't been huge changes, but James believed they were critical ones. The first change was that only the cadets who earned a spot by being one of the best at Jack's Valley would automatically be selected as runners. Second was that even those cadets could refuse the run without consequences, if they wanted to do so. James didn't try to get them to stop asking those who would be pressed the hardest to participate in the run. That had stunned the wing staff almost as much as James actually wanting them to encourage those very cadets more strongly to compete. The biggest change James asked for and got was in the way they started the runners. He wanted the best runners released first, one at a time, much like they were already doing the start. The runners who weren't really considered to be runners though he wanted put into units, according to their abilities. He wanted those small units started as a unit and he wanted them to be encouraged to finish together, as a unit. James wanted to make the Doolies understand that the individual mattered, but the unit should be just as important, even more important, than the individual. It was sort of a 'one for all and all for one' concept that he wanted to start building in the Doolies.

   James hadn't tried to push anything too hard. He had just made suggestions and tried to get the wing staff, along with other cadres, thinking about the Ironman. He wanted them to think about what it meant now and what it should mean in the future. The Ironman could become a powerful tool for building, not only self confidence, but also teamwork and unity within the ranks of cadets. That unity building tool was his biggest push for making changes. The Academy was being divided by the different beliefs of the cadets and their commanders. Nobody could deny that any longer. James tried to convince those commanders that it was up to them to unite the cadets and in turn the Academy, not in their beliefs, but in support of the freedom to have those different beliefs. All of the effort had paid off. The wing staff had already made changes to eliminate the disciplinary aspect of failing to complete the run after James and Aadila had put it into the spotlight. That was mostly because of Lt. General McBride, but the current wing staff had actually changed things again this year, so that the cadre would be required to watch and remove anyone from the run who they felt shouldn't be allowed to continue. They had also made an allowance for those who were struggling to carry their packs. They could lighten or even leave those packs behind. They wouldn't be given credit for completing the full Ironman, but they would be allowed to finish the run. They had also agreed to the new way of starting the run and had agreed to form units of cadets from those who had volunteered for the run.

    James knew that the Wing Staff hadn't been expecting many volunteers. In fact some of them had just laughed and commented on how fast the Ironman would be done this year. Some had even joked about the Ironman would be finished before the rest of the Doolies were ready for the march back. James wasn't sure if there would be many volunteers, but he was fairly certain there would be a few. The last full day at Jack's Valley everyone got a shock. The Doolies in each squadron had gathered and selected a 'unit' from among them to represent their squadron in the Ironman. Those small five to seven man units were made up of both men and women. The biggest shock was that they were made up of volunteers, many of whom would have a tough time making the entire run. Each squadron had its best runners already selected to run in the Ironman, but now each squadron also had a unit of volunteers running in the Ironman. That night at the staff meeting James just watched and listened as the stunned staff discussed how they should handle this. When they would look at him he would just smile and shrug. Finally the Wing Commander asked James directly what he thought they should do.

   James stood up and spoke quickly. "Sir, I think we should do everything we can to encourage them and that we should try to march the rest of the camp out early enough to have them waiting at the finish for their units. I think this is a chance to make the Ironman something sought after and looked forward to again instead of something to be feared and dreaded. Sir, the Doolies have done something this year that I haven't seen done. They have come together as a squadron to show us that they are ready. I never dreamed they would do anything like this. I recognized most of the names on the list of volunteers. They have good runners and they have runners who will have to walk a good part of the way on the same units. But Sir, they chose them as a squadron to represent their squadron. That means more than finishing well or even finishing at all. They are united. They will stand or fall together. That is something we should recognize and applaud regardless of what happens, Sir." James took his seat again just as quickly as he had stood up. Right or wrong he had made his position known. Now it was up to them to make a decision about how to handle this.

   The decision was made. The camp was up and moving well before dawn. They were on the march before the first runner started the Ironman. They would be waiting along the finish for the runners. James had been assigned the job making sure the units were ready and started properly. He was there with them when he got a real shock. Aadila came walking up to them as they were waiting for all the individual runners to get started. She wasn't alone. Candy Ackerman was there with her, along with most of the track team runners. The track team just grinned and nodded to James as they started to spread out with the units. Even the coaches were with them and they stopped to explain that they were all going to be taking up positions along the route in pairs. They would be taking turns running along with the units as they came along. One would run while the other one walked back to get ready to run with the next unit to come by. Once they moved on only Aadila and Candy were still left standing with James.

   Aadila smiled as she spoke to James. "You helped me finish the old Ironman run. I thought I should be here to help you start the new Ironman run." James had just laughed and gave Aadila a huge hug, but said nothing. Then he turned his attention to Candy who was watching them with a smile on her face. Again James said nothing. He just stood there watching her and waiting. Finally she laughed and began to talk. "I knew there was something special about you the first time I saw you, but I never dreamed it would be anything like this. You have shaken the world and are changing it around you. All of that and you stand there like a rock, showing no emotion, as if nothing at all was happening around you. You are a very rare and very special sort of man James Andrew Cooper. I hope that you will give me a chance to get to know that man." She stood there smiling with her hand extended to him. James made no immediate response, not even moving to take her hand. He just stood and studied her for a moment and then spoke.

   "Miss Ackerman, how did you manage to get permission to be here and more importantly why are you really here? I think you probably already know more about me than I want you to know. Just tell me why you are really here and then we can talk about other things." Candy had lost her smile, but there was still a sparkle in her eyes. She dropped her hand and shrugged as she spoke. "It wasn't easy getting here, but after a certain Senator made a few phone calls, I was given a pass. You should know that wasn't what got me here though. I am here because Lt. General McBride trusts me more than the rest of the press. They will be waiting to greet you at the finish line or somewhere along the last part of the run." James closed his eyes and groaned out loud. The press again! Why did they have to come into this? Couldn't they just leave him alone? Candy continued. "I had nothing to do with that. I swear to you, they started pushing to show up before I even asked. I am not here for a big story. I am here because you interest me. I have done a lot of looking into you. I probably do know more than you want me to know. In fact, I may know more than you think I know, but what I really want now is to know you! I give you my word I won't write anything or share anything about you or anything around you unless you agree to it. I just want to get to know you. I think you are someone worth knowing not just knowing about."

  James looked over at Aadila and she gave him a smile and a slight nod. Then he nodded and offered his hand to Candy as he spoke. "Alright Miss Ackerman, you are welcome to stay and watch, but no questions and no interference from you. This is important to them. I won't have you making it about me. This is their day, their Ironman. You make sure you don't do anything to change that and after it is finished we can talk, fair enough?"  Candy smiled and took his hand as she answered. "More than fair enough for me. I will just watch and wait. I think I need to see you just being you. Maybe that will help me understand you better." James just shook his head and walked away to talk with the Doolies. They had recognized Candy and were all abuzz about her being there. His voice was sharp and his words sharper for anyone who was foolish enough to grin. It only took him a minute to stop the buzz and get them focused on their run.