Since the insurance company cut me off, I dropped off the rental in Oklahoma City yesterday. Due to the lack of actual transportation, I didn't get to visit any art museums, but I finally got to spend some time in a Panera's and also bought the first season of Veronica Mars on DVD. I started watching it last night around 7, finished it a few minutes ago and promptly ordered the second season from Amazon - it should get to my parent's house just in time for me to pick it up on my way to Virginia. Obviously, I didn't get as much sleep or rest before FOB week as planned but at least I got my laundry done. Now I just have to go finish up packing. They took us to the FOB during convoy operations but we never actually stepped foot into the buildings so I have no clue what the set-up is like and which luxuries would just not be worth bringing. I guess I'll be making a lot of phone calls for entertainment since I won't even be able to do the email thing (although maybe they'll pleasantly surprise me with a computer lab - I hear there's wireless at Benning's FOB). It's only five more days. Of course, the 1SG wants us to do an end of cycle class project to fill up all our downtime during outprocessing week so I'm sure even that week will annoy me.
Anyway, I'll be back in a week. Hopefully I don't screw up too much (or take any heads off - I'm really not a people person, especially when I'm tired). Speaking of which, I haven't even mentioned the showers here. There's a woman here that likes to sing (belt it out) in the shower - Friday night I felt like I was listening to Disney's Greatest Hits. It was so sweet and wholesome that I was tempted to start singing "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. Yes, I'm a bad person.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Saturday, September 09, 2006
How can a four day week seem so long?
I'm done with another week of BOLC II. I only have two weeks to go, but I have hard time believing that the end is actually in sight since I feel like I've been here forever. I would say that this has been the week from hell, but I say that every week. I think I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I'm going to experience all the different circles of hell in the next four years until I finally ascend back to the world of academia and school. Seriously though, hopefully once I'm done with BOLC, things will start getting better. At the very least I'll have my own room at OBC! It's not that I don't get along with my roommates, but I had a one bedroom apartment all to myself my senior year, so I'm not used to living with people (and when I had roommates in college, it never ended well - I guess it's the only child in me coming out).
We started off the week with Convoy Operations on Tuesday. We got a quick class about battle drills (some of them are so basic I can't even believe they are considered battle drills - for example, the assistant driver shooting back at someone as they drive by is a drill - or at least that's the impression I got from our class). After that, we practiced loading and unloading trucks. My life is just that exciting. We even had a mission that day, but being 4th squad, we were in the very back humvee (which means I don't have to jump as far down), and didn't do anything. They gave us six boxes of ammo (20 rounds per box) and I didn't fire a single shot. Usually during convoy ops, only the first trucks have a lot to do - they are the ones that in theory hit contact first and also should notice the IEDs. As a result, all we did in the back was pull rear security. Of course, that also means we didn't get shot at with paint balls.
We finally had land nav on Wednesday. I wasn't sure what to expect because I was hearing different things. Bravo Company did land nav the week before us, and I had heard that they only had two failures total in three platoons. However, 3rd and 4th platoon from our platoon did the course on Tuesday and they'd had eight failures in 4th alone. Of course, as I found out later, Bravo used a different, much easier course than we did, and had even had a practice day (apparently, Alpha Company is the only company that doesn't use the other course). My platoon, on the other hand, had a slide show about land nav in the first or second week, and then just went to the course Wednesday morning. We had thirteen failures out of forty-one people, and of course my partner and I were two of those failures. You know, I really think I might enjoy this place more (or at least hate it less) if it weren't for the fact that I start stressing out about the fact that I might get recycled every other week.
Not only did we fail, but we failed miserably. The standard to pass is 5/8 points. Many of the other failures had 3 or 4 points. We had 1. 1! Our biggest problem is that we were both so used to the LDAC course that we saw that our point was located near a path on the map so we thought we'd just go to the path, and use that to find the point. Unfortunately, there are dozens of paths in the eastern part of the course, and only two or three of them are on the map so that messed us up a lot. We also lost two protractors while on the course but I'm so blaming that one on my partner.
That afternoon we got remedial land nav training which consisted of us watching the same slide show from week 2, only this time it was given by the most long-winded cadre member in our platoon. We were all just sitting there with our eyes glazing over. I'm great at the theoretical part of land nav, I can plot points and I can pass a written test, no problem. I need help with the practical portion so watching a slide show did me absolutely no good. It didn't help that the sergeant didn't always understand the point we were trying to make to him, and then one LT kept arguing with him, dragging the class out even more. At one point, we all just started cracking up because the LT just said, "No, don't explain it again" in complete exasperation.
We had our second chance at land nav the next morning (I love getting up at 2:30), and this time didn't trust the map at all as far as paths and such are concerned. Once we had our points plotted, we started heading towards one that we knew because we'd walked past it the day the before. On our way, we ran into another group that had one of our other points, so we walked with them. One our way there, we saw another group on the road so one of the guys from the other buddy pair yelled out, "What point are you going to? Do you need help?" I'd thought the group looked weird because there were three of them, but it was too late to stop him by then. Anyway, at that point the Company Commander said: "This is Major ___ and the RCO (Regimental Commander, so we're talking colonel here). You can't talk to the other groups." (The 1SG was the third member of that group.) Luckily that was the end of it, and we didn't get into actual trouble. Besides, they never officially briefed that the groups couldn't talk to each other. We ended up getting that point, and then found the point from the previous day. After that, we relied on our compass and pace count the entire time. One of us would walk ahead, the other one would tell them to go a little left or right to get on the right azimuth, and then catch up and switch off. It made it take a while to get to points but we ended up passing with 7/8 (we didn't have time to go to the 8th point) so it was worth it. By the end of the morning, all but one of the buddy groups had passed, and the remaining pair got it on their third try.
Unfortunately, we had to join the rest of the platoon for training after that instead of getting some rest so Thursday was a pretty long day. As a matter of fact, Thursday and Friday were both extremely useless and inefficient. We worked on FOB security on Thursday, but in my case that just meant that I stood in front of the exit gate for one and a half hours with another squad member. We got absolutely nothing out of it. Then we did the Quick Reaction Force, which meant more practicing getting in and out of trucks, and then going on a little mission. When 2nd platoon did QRF while we were guarding the FOB, all they did was sit in the shade and plot a mission. Our platoon drove to rescue a downed pilot through some of the dustiest roads with a few random mud patches and puddles. Given our luck with getting done on time, we of course were worried that we were going to get stuck in the mud as we simultaneously were coughing from all the dust (I love Ft. Sill!) - after all, one of our humvees ran out of gas once. Luckily we made it there and back, and once again all I did was pull rear security.
Friday we had the live convoy fire, which was actually kind of fun. Unfortunately, it took us all day to do about fifteen minutes worth of training. Our first formation was at 0600, but we didn't leave until 0730. Once we got to the training site, we got a training brief, and then proceeded to wait until 2nd platoon was done with the training so it would be our turn. We finally left at 1330 (1:30 pm for you civilian types) because they had to do a dry run, a run through with blanks and then the live fire. Since they didn't do it correctly at first, they also had to do the dry one or the blanks twice. That entire time, we just sat and waited (and ate MREs - when we had lunch, one guy said that he was about to eat his 4th MRE of the day). After lunch, we gave each other First Aid classes to look like we were doing something other than napping. One of the other lieutenants who usually keeps a good attitude (he's Infantry, and pretty excited about it) gave the class on sucking chest wounds and it was absolutely hilarious. He basically started the class with, "you're probably going to die if you have one." Our platoon sergeant (the LT, not the actual one) came by and asked if any of us had Prozac that we could give to the Infantry guy. Apparently Thursday broke his spirit, and as a result of this week he is now completely disillusioned with the Army (see it's not just me that hates this place). In fact because of Thursday another LT even shaved off his BOLC mustache - or as someone put it, it fell off because we've all lost our motivation.
We finally got out on the convoy fire, and in the middle of the blank fire, we had an adminstrative halt because the range got closed down. After about a half an hour, we were cleared to fire again, and then we finally got back to the live fire. Unfortunately, whoever distributed ammo did a bad job so on my truck, we only got two 20-round mags instead of four. That was actually probably a good thing because even with less rounds, we still had a three people get burned by the flying brass (surprisingly I wasn't one of them but my brass did burn the guy next to me - sorry).
We finally got back to the barracks, and then had to wait to get our safety brief so that we didn't get released until 7:30 that night. 3rd and 4th platoon got back early so they took care of barracks maintenance for us, but there was a rumor that Captain America (that's what everyone calls our platoon mentor now - behind his back, at least) was going to inspect our rooms so we had to clean those up. I also got counseled for my squad leader position from last week. The sergeant said I did a good job, even if I was a bit quiet. He also said that the Captain wants to talk to me about my peer evals. Uh-oh. I was probably ranked dead last in my squad, but I guess I'll find out Monday. I always get ranked last one these kinds of things, at least in a training environment because no one knows me, and my strengths lie in different areas. Within my ROTC program, I always do better because they know I get my stuff done, and will always show up. My roommate just said not to start crying during my counseling on Monday, but since I pretty much expected to be ranked last, I don't think that hearing it is going to upset me.
At our final formation, our class leader announced that a few of the cadre were doing an optional 7 mile road march this morning for anyone that was interested. The 1SG chimed in to say that it was for our benefit because previous classes have complained that they don't prepare us for the 10 miler. Yes, so the best way to help us out is to do a 7 miler at 6 in the morning the week before. I am pretty sure they meant that a few road marches should be included as part of training during the weeks before rather than something the week before on our own time. This place may be good in theory but so far implementation is lacking. After all the point is to make sure we are all on the same page, but for things such as land nav, they don't actually train us; they just send us on the course and hope we know what we're doing. Additionally, we all have different standards depending on our cadre so that completely defeats the point. For example, the companies at Ft. Sill don't use the same land nav courses, and I don't even want to think about how different Sill and Benning must be.
At least it's almost over. Even if it doesn't feel like it.
We started off the week with Convoy Operations on Tuesday. We got a quick class about battle drills (some of them are so basic I can't even believe they are considered battle drills - for example, the assistant driver shooting back at someone as they drive by is a drill - or at least that's the impression I got from our class). After that, we practiced loading and unloading trucks. My life is just that exciting. We even had a mission that day, but being 4th squad, we were in the very back humvee (which means I don't have to jump as far down), and didn't do anything. They gave us six boxes of ammo (20 rounds per box) and I didn't fire a single shot. Usually during convoy ops, only the first trucks have a lot to do - they are the ones that in theory hit contact first and also should notice the IEDs. As a result, all we did in the back was pull rear security. Of course, that also means we didn't get shot at with paint balls.
We finally had land nav on Wednesday. I wasn't sure what to expect because I was hearing different things. Bravo Company did land nav the week before us, and I had heard that they only had two failures total in three platoons. However, 3rd and 4th platoon from our platoon did the course on Tuesday and they'd had eight failures in 4th alone. Of course, as I found out later, Bravo used a different, much easier course than we did, and had even had a practice day (apparently, Alpha Company is the only company that doesn't use the other course). My platoon, on the other hand, had a slide show about land nav in the first or second week, and then just went to the course Wednesday morning. We had thirteen failures out of forty-one people, and of course my partner and I were two of those failures. You know, I really think I might enjoy this place more (or at least hate it less) if it weren't for the fact that I start stressing out about the fact that I might get recycled every other week.
Not only did we fail, but we failed miserably. The standard to pass is 5/8 points. Many of the other failures had 3 or 4 points. We had 1. 1! Our biggest problem is that we were both so used to the LDAC course that we saw that our point was located near a path on the map so we thought we'd just go to the path, and use that to find the point. Unfortunately, there are dozens of paths in the eastern part of the course, and only two or three of them are on the map so that messed us up a lot. We also lost two protractors while on the course but I'm so blaming that one on my partner.
That afternoon we got remedial land nav training which consisted of us watching the same slide show from week 2, only this time it was given by the most long-winded cadre member in our platoon. We were all just sitting there with our eyes glazing over. I'm great at the theoretical part of land nav, I can plot points and I can pass a written test, no problem. I need help with the practical portion so watching a slide show did me absolutely no good. It didn't help that the sergeant didn't always understand the point we were trying to make to him, and then one LT kept arguing with him, dragging the class out even more. At one point, we all just started cracking up because the LT just said, "No, don't explain it again" in complete exasperation.
We had our second chance at land nav the next morning (I love getting up at 2:30), and this time didn't trust the map at all as far as paths and such are concerned. Once we had our points plotted, we started heading towards one that we knew because we'd walked past it the day the before. On our way, we ran into another group that had one of our other points, so we walked with them. One our way there, we saw another group on the road so one of the guys from the other buddy pair yelled out, "What point are you going to? Do you need help?" I'd thought the group looked weird because there were three of them, but it was too late to stop him by then. Anyway, at that point the Company Commander said: "This is Major ___ and the RCO (Regimental Commander, so we're talking colonel here). You can't talk to the other groups." (The 1SG was the third member of that group.) Luckily that was the end of it, and we didn't get into actual trouble. Besides, they never officially briefed that the groups couldn't talk to each other. We ended up getting that point, and then found the point from the previous day. After that, we relied on our compass and pace count the entire time. One of us would walk ahead, the other one would tell them to go a little left or right to get on the right azimuth, and then catch up and switch off. It made it take a while to get to points but we ended up passing with 7/8 (we didn't have time to go to the 8th point) so it was worth it. By the end of the morning, all but one of the buddy groups had passed, and the remaining pair got it on their third try.
Unfortunately, we had to join the rest of the platoon for training after that instead of getting some rest so Thursday was a pretty long day. As a matter of fact, Thursday and Friday were both extremely useless and inefficient. We worked on FOB security on Thursday, but in my case that just meant that I stood in front of the exit gate for one and a half hours with another squad member. We got absolutely nothing out of it. Then we did the Quick Reaction Force, which meant more practicing getting in and out of trucks, and then going on a little mission. When 2nd platoon did QRF while we were guarding the FOB, all they did was sit in the shade and plot a mission. Our platoon drove to rescue a downed pilot through some of the dustiest roads with a few random mud patches and puddles. Given our luck with getting done on time, we of course were worried that we were going to get stuck in the mud as we simultaneously were coughing from all the dust (I love Ft. Sill!) - after all, one of our humvees ran out of gas once. Luckily we made it there and back, and once again all I did was pull rear security.
Friday we had the live convoy fire, which was actually kind of fun. Unfortunately, it took us all day to do about fifteen minutes worth of training. Our first formation was at 0600, but we didn't leave until 0730. Once we got to the training site, we got a training brief, and then proceeded to wait until 2nd platoon was done with the training so it would be our turn. We finally left at 1330 (1:30 pm for you civilian types) because they had to do a dry run, a run through with blanks and then the live fire. Since they didn't do it correctly at first, they also had to do the dry one or the blanks twice. That entire time, we just sat and waited (and ate MREs - when we had lunch, one guy said that he was about to eat his 4th MRE of the day). After lunch, we gave each other First Aid classes to look like we were doing something other than napping. One of the other lieutenants who usually keeps a good attitude (he's Infantry, and pretty excited about it) gave the class on sucking chest wounds and it was absolutely hilarious. He basically started the class with, "you're probably going to die if you have one." Our platoon sergeant (the LT, not the actual one) came by and asked if any of us had Prozac that we could give to the Infantry guy. Apparently Thursday broke his spirit, and as a result of this week he is now completely disillusioned with the Army (see it's not just me that hates this place). In fact because of Thursday another LT even shaved off his BOLC mustache - or as someone put it, it fell off because we've all lost our motivation.
We finally got out on the convoy fire, and in the middle of the blank fire, we had an adminstrative halt because the range got closed down. After about a half an hour, we were cleared to fire again, and then we finally got back to the live fire. Unfortunately, whoever distributed ammo did a bad job so on my truck, we only got two 20-round mags instead of four. That was actually probably a good thing because even with less rounds, we still had a three people get burned by the flying brass (surprisingly I wasn't one of them but my brass did burn the guy next to me - sorry).
We finally got back to the barracks, and then had to wait to get our safety brief so that we didn't get released until 7:30 that night. 3rd and 4th platoon got back early so they took care of barracks maintenance for us, but there was a rumor that Captain America (that's what everyone calls our platoon mentor now - behind his back, at least) was going to inspect our rooms so we had to clean those up. I also got counseled for my squad leader position from last week. The sergeant said I did a good job, even if I was a bit quiet. He also said that the Captain wants to talk to me about my peer evals. Uh-oh. I was probably ranked dead last in my squad, but I guess I'll find out Monday. I always get ranked last one these kinds of things, at least in a training environment because no one knows me, and my strengths lie in different areas. Within my ROTC program, I always do better because they know I get my stuff done, and will always show up. My roommate just said not to start crying during my counseling on Monday, but since I pretty much expected to be ranked last, I don't think that hearing it is going to upset me.
At our final formation, our class leader announced that a few of the cadre were doing an optional 7 mile road march this morning for anyone that was interested. The 1SG chimed in to say that it was for our benefit because previous classes have complained that they don't prepare us for the 10 miler. Yes, so the best way to help us out is to do a 7 miler at 6 in the morning the week before. I am pretty sure they meant that a few road marches should be included as part of training during the weeks before rather than something the week before on our own time. This place may be good in theory but so far implementation is lacking. After all the point is to make sure we are all on the same page, but for things such as land nav, they don't actually train us; they just send us on the course and hope we know what we're doing. Additionally, we all have different standards depending on our cadre so that completely defeats the point. For example, the companies at Ft. Sill don't use the same land nav courses, and I don't even want to think about how different Sill and Benning must be.
At least it's almost over. Even if it doesn't feel like it.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Oklahoma Culture
Yesterday we explored the culture of Lawton some more. We went to the Golden Corral for lunch, and ran into another guy from our platoon, so the four of us sat together. I don't think I've ever seen this many buffets in such a small area. After lunch, my roommate, JD and I went to a few different shops in Lawton, including a pawn shop. It was kind of crazy. The owner had all his pistols in the back counter, located conveniently next to the religious material. JD and I were both looking at some of the pamphlets and joking around so the proprietor of the store was kind enough to give us each a copy of "Pornography: The Road to Hell." It turns out that men (because women are only mentioned as the "wives of porn-freaks" and not users) who like pornography are dogs who will end up alone with their semen (yes, it actually said that). Additionally, it is woman's place to honor and obey her husband even if he is a wicked man because first comes God, then Jesus, then the husband, and then the wife.
Not only was the pawn shop owner a religious nut of sorts, but he also had a thing for gun (obviously, given the location of the pistols and pamphlets). He started a conversation with JD and some other guy about his 90 round magazine (what is he hunting - dinosaurs? I am pretty sure there is nothing here that wouldn't die after a few rounds, unless he is just that bad of a shot - even I should be able to hit something with that many rounds). He also hates Bush but he's very grateful to him for not re-newing the ban on assault weapons. Where the hell am I? Can somebody get me out of here? To add to the oddity of Oklahoma, about half the radio stations are Christian, and the beer has to have a lower alcohol content here than in other states.
I actually went into a Christian bookstore yesterday. There were some nice things, a lot of trinkets that looked like dust collectors, and a Bush biography as well as a Patriotic Karaoke CD. I haven't been in that many Christian stores, so I'm not sure if this is the exception or the rule, but it just seems like an interesting mix of patriotism and religion, as if all good Christian folk are also good patriots and vice versa. Of course, I guess it's easier to mix those two together with our current president.
In the evening we went and saw Crank. It was a bad movie, but highly entertaining. My roommate hated it, but Juan and I were cracking up during most of it. I feel like I got my five bucks worth.
Today, we drove around Oklahoma City in search of Qdoba's, and a mall. My roommate already saw the museum and the memorial last weekend, so we didn't go there, but we stopped by a Art Festival, and the Farmer's Market/Antique shops - there was so much junk. Next weekend, we might go to the zoo or I might look if there is an actual art museum. I haven't been to the Chicago Art Institute in more than a year, so it would be nice to see an art gallery.
Not only was the pawn shop owner a religious nut of sorts, but he also had a thing for gun (obviously, given the location of the pistols and pamphlets). He started a conversation with JD and some other guy about his 90 round magazine (what is he hunting - dinosaurs? I am pretty sure there is nothing here that wouldn't die after a few rounds, unless he is just that bad of a shot - even I should be able to hit something with that many rounds). He also hates Bush but he's very grateful to him for not re-newing the ban on assault weapons. Where the hell am I? Can somebody get me out of here? To add to the oddity of Oklahoma, about half the radio stations are Christian, and the beer has to have a lower alcohol content here than in other states.
I actually went into a Christian bookstore yesterday. There were some nice things, a lot of trinkets that looked like dust collectors, and a Bush biography as well as a Patriotic Karaoke CD. I haven't been in that many Christian stores, so I'm not sure if this is the exception or the rule, but it just seems like an interesting mix of patriotism and religion, as if all good Christian folk are also good patriots and vice versa. Of course, I guess it's easier to mix those two together with our current president.
In the evening we went and saw Crank. It was a bad movie, but highly entertaining. My roommate hated it, but Juan and I were cracking up during most of it. I feel like I got my five bucks worth.
Today, we drove around Oklahoma City in search of Qdoba's, and a mall. My roommate already saw the museum and the memorial last weekend, so we didn't go there, but we stopped by a Art Festival, and the Farmer's Market/Antique shops - there was so much junk. Next weekend, we might go to the zoo or I might look if there is an actual art museum. I haven't been to the Chicago Art Institute in more than a year, so it would be nice to see an art gallery.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Urban Operations
I survived Urban Ops (well, I died twice on Thursday, once on the mission and once as OPFOR). I actually enjoyed the training up until Thursday night when it came time for the night mission. They are so worried about us losing the equipment that they didn't issue us the NODs (don't ask me what it stands for; it's just what everyone calls the night vision) until right before the mission so that we barely had time to really play with it before it was time to assault the building. It was a bit worse for me because I was 4th squad leader so I was also the last person in the platoon to get a chance to adjust mine, only to discover that I got the pair that didn't focus - at all. Also, as usual, my squad didn't actually listen to me. I placed one 240 team on the top of the roof as ordered by the PL, and put the other team on the lower roof. For some reason, the first team came down, too, because their team leader told them to come down. Okay, but I'm the squad leader, so what did I tell you?
Every time we do anything at night in this place, it just ends up as a huge mess that no one learns anything from. Partially, it's because we don't get the equipment in time, so it would almost be better if they didn't bother to give it to us at all. Also, they are just so wasteful. We got a total of a hundred rounds for all of Thursday. I used up about two mags on the second night mission because they told us to expend as much ammo as possible so I was shooting at the air but other than that I used maybe three rounds all day. At the end, they had us shoot off all our extra rounds. It is a waste of resources, and now my weapon is filthy because I had to fire all those blanks. I wasn't the only one annoyed with that: one guy in my squad wrote, "I pay taxes, too" on his weekly AAR. Another one suggested that we use privates to collect up all the brass, which my roommates and I found extremely amusing (as squad leader, I had to collect the AARs from everyone, so of course I looked through them).
I was the assistant gunner for the Friday mission, so the tactical squad leader gave me the radio. We were issued three radios for the squad, two smaller ones and a large one. Somehow I ended up with the big, heavy one because as AG, I would be in one position the whole time - then why didn't the other AG get the big radio? I have bruises on my leg now from when I frontloaded it, and didn't get a chance to tighten up the straps, so the radio was just dangling in front of me as we walked down the road.
My roommate was the PL for the attack on Liberty City, and she had a few problems dealing with all the restrictions placed on her by the cadre. She had no choice but to cross the open field to the city while another platoon curtailed the city and attacked from a different direction. As a result, we did a Gettysburg style assault on the city. We also had to take our rucks and had to leave a two person guard with them even though they were within sight of the 240 position. Our platoon mentor told her she couldn't leave them on the trucks without a guard, but he didn't mention anything about her needing a guard if they were within view of the city until we dropped them - otherwise we would have left them on the LMTVs. (At one point, 2nd PLT's trucks drove by us - the LTs were already off, but all their rucks were still on there - we were about ready to start cursing). When we asked about the rucks during the AAR, the response was, "Have you ever seen Black Hawk Down?" Actually, I haven't, sir, but could I have a better rationalization than a movie title, please? I don't really know what I think of our platoon mentor. Sometimes he seems nice, but then again he is also a bit too hardcore or something. Perhaps it's the combination of being a West Point grad and FA - I hear both of those groups tend to have minor complexes. While we were clearing the buildings, the PL was trying to call in her reports to higher, which was our mentor in this case, only to look out the window and discover him shooting paint balls at her. He also shot another cadre member in the head because he "kept poking his head out the window." Unfortunately, since he was cadre and not OPFOR, he wasn't wearing any of the protective wear, and now has a black eye.
We only have nine training days left now. It's exciting but five of those days are in the FOB so the next weeks are going to be long.
Every time we do anything at night in this place, it just ends up as a huge mess that no one learns anything from. Partially, it's because we don't get the equipment in time, so it would almost be better if they didn't bother to give it to us at all. Also, they are just so wasteful. We got a total of a hundred rounds for all of Thursday. I used up about two mags on the second night mission because they told us to expend as much ammo as possible so I was shooting at the air but other than that I used maybe three rounds all day. At the end, they had us shoot off all our extra rounds. It is a waste of resources, and now my weapon is filthy because I had to fire all those blanks. I wasn't the only one annoyed with that: one guy in my squad wrote, "I pay taxes, too" on his weekly AAR. Another one suggested that we use privates to collect up all the brass, which my roommates and I found extremely amusing (as squad leader, I had to collect the AARs from everyone, so of course I looked through them).
I was the assistant gunner for the Friday mission, so the tactical squad leader gave me the radio. We were issued three radios for the squad, two smaller ones and a large one. Somehow I ended up with the big, heavy one because as AG, I would be in one position the whole time - then why didn't the other AG get the big radio? I have bruises on my leg now from when I frontloaded it, and didn't get a chance to tighten up the straps, so the radio was just dangling in front of me as we walked down the road.
My roommate was the PL for the attack on Liberty City, and she had a few problems dealing with all the restrictions placed on her by the cadre. She had no choice but to cross the open field to the city while another platoon curtailed the city and attacked from a different direction. As a result, we did a Gettysburg style assault on the city. We also had to take our rucks and had to leave a two person guard with them even though they were within sight of the 240 position. Our platoon mentor told her she couldn't leave them on the trucks without a guard, but he didn't mention anything about her needing a guard if they were within view of the city until we dropped them - otherwise we would have left them on the LMTVs. (At one point, 2nd PLT's trucks drove by us - the LTs were already off, but all their rucks were still on there - we were about ready to start cursing). When we asked about the rucks during the AAR, the response was, "Have you ever seen Black Hawk Down?" Actually, I haven't, sir, but could I have a better rationalization than a movie title, please? I don't really know what I think of our platoon mentor. Sometimes he seems nice, but then again he is also a bit too hardcore or something. Perhaps it's the combination of being a West Point grad and FA - I hear both of those groups tend to have minor complexes. While we were clearing the buildings, the PL was trying to call in her reports to higher, which was our mentor in this case, only to look out the window and discover him shooting paint balls at her. He also shot another cadre member in the head because he "kept poking his head out the window." Unfortunately, since he was cadre and not OPFOR, he wasn't wearing any of the protective wear, and now has a black eye.
We only have nine training days left now. It's exciting but five of those days are in the FOB so the next weeks are going to be long.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Just another day in Lawton
I've decided this place is cursed. Or at the very least that according to some higher force I'm not actually supposed to be here. After all, while I've never been strong at many military skills, I've never had as many problems shooting or keeping up on runs as I've had since arriving at Sill. When you add in the fact that I had an accident on my way to Oklahoma, it all seems like a sign that I'm in the wrong place. Too bad I'm not religious so I don't believe in signs from God but I've certainly hit a streak of bad luck. I just talked to my insurance company, and apparently I misunderstood them so they aren't actually paying for the rental. The claim said I could have one for up to five days while the car was being repaired - my car's been at the shop more than a week now, and isn't covered for being in the shop, waiting to be repaired. The part that I find extremely annoying though is that even if I hadn't misunderstood, the five days is not enough. My car is an hour away, I have long days, and the only time I have off is on weekends. Since I can only get up to the dealership on weekends, or more accurately Saturday (the rental place isn't open Sunday), I would need at least a week of coverage because of my life style. I thought the whole point of insurance was so these kind of things wouldn't be a problem but apparently I was wrong. If I'd known this was going to happen, I would have taken a cab back to Lawton - it probably would have been cheaper!
Tomorrow is going to be a pretty long day; rumor has it that we aren't getting back till midnight. I think we are going to be clearing buildings at night so we are getting night vision, but I still think I'll fall or run into things, especially since night vision doesn't provide very good depth perception, and some of those staircases are narrow and steep. Friday is a tactical day, and we will be raiding Liberty City. Even though it's happening during my squad leader rotation, I won't actually be squad leader during the attack so it shouldn't be too bad. Maybe I'll even get rid of the radio for the day. Halfway there!
I went out for Chinese tonight with some of the guys. My fortune was just about the funniest thing I'd ever seen, considering my summer: This year will bring you much happiness . I guess I'll be very happy come graduation day but I don't know if that's enough to make it a happy year.
Tomorrow is going to be a pretty long day; rumor has it that we aren't getting back till midnight. I think we are going to be clearing buildings at night so we are getting night vision, but I still think I'll fall or run into things, especially since night vision doesn't provide very good depth perception, and some of those staircases are narrow and steep. Friday is a tactical day, and we will be raiding Liberty City. Even though it's happening during my squad leader rotation, I won't actually be squad leader during the attack so it shouldn't be too bad. Maybe I'll even get rid of the radio for the day. Halfway there!
I went out for Chinese tonight with some of the guys. My fortune was just about the funniest thing I'd ever seen, considering my summer: This year will bring you much happiness . I guess I'll be very happy come graduation day but I don't know if that's enough to make it a happy year.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
US Weapons
Today was a relatively easy day. We shot five different types of weapons within an hour time frame so I guess that means we are now "familiar" with them all. I didn't like the grenade launcher although I think that had more to do with the fact that it was set for right-handed firers so I had to completely readjust to shoot the thing. The .50 cal was cool, though, and the M240B and the M249 (or SAW). I'd already shot the SAW at camp last year. It's actually kind of funny: all these different training schools (including Basic from what I hear) have a weapons day to familiarize us with assorted fire arms but that's about all the time we spend with them. I can basically now say I've shot them but I wouldn't be able to hit anything because they just send us on the range with about 20 rounds and tell us to shot them (and 20 rounds on machine gun goes a lot more quickly than on an M16A2 or an M4).
Despite the fact that we got done rather early today, I feel like my platoon keeps getting screwed over. 3rd and 4th platoons had weapons day yesterday while we were on the range, and today we flip-flopped. We didn't get back until about 6 last night, and basically missed the evening hours for the dining hall while today 3rd and 4th got back before 4, and they had enough time to get everyone qualified (there was one person that hadn't qualified by the end of last night since we only got one run-through). I guess we were the guinea pigs yesterday and helped them work out the kinks in the system, but it just shows how inefficiently they were running the range yesterday.
Tomorrow we start MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) so that should be a bit more interesting the past few days. Part of me was actually grateful that I hadn't qualified on Monday because ARM just looked absolutely boring and horrible - not to mention that my legs get stiff and sore very quickly from standing with my knees bent (they had to be in a half squat position to fire). I'm going to be squad leader for the next three days so hopefully it works out. We're spending Thursday night on the FOB (forward operating base) so I guess I'll definitely have things to do as squad leader, even if it is just PCIs/PCCs (pre-combat inspections/checks). There sure are a lot of acronymns in this paragraph.
I wanted to mix things up a little bit today and do one of those online quizzes or memes (I learned a new blogging word) but I didn't see any that really seemed that exciting. I just thought it might be fun to post something other than "God, the Army really sucks," but I guess it'll have to wait until some other time. We have to do peer evals tonight, so maybe I can post my results when I get them in a few days. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be last in the squad, just because my technical skills are rather lacking (I was the last in the platoon to qualify after all), and my PT scores are lower. Other than that, I'd say we're all rather even, although some of the others might be more social than I am. After all, my idea of a perfect evening is going to Atlanta Bread Company alone to read and take advantage of their wireless internet (kind of like I'm doing right now).
Tomorrow is the midway point!
Despite the fact that we got done rather early today, I feel like my platoon keeps getting screwed over. 3rd and 4th platoons had weapons day yesterday while we were on the range, and today we flip-flopped. We didn't get back until about 6 last night, and basically missed the evening hours for the dining hall while today 3rd and 4th got back before 4, and they had enough time to get everyone qualified (there was one person that hadn't qualified by the end of last night since we only got one run-through). I guess we were the guinea pigs yesterday and helped them work out the kinks in the system, but it just shows how inefficiently they were running the range yesterday.
Tomorrow we start MOUT (Military Operations on Urban Terrain) so that should be a bit more interesting the past few days. Part of me was actually grateful that I hadn't qualified on Monday because ARM just looked absolutely boring and horrible - not to mention that my legs get stiff and sore very quickly from standing with my knees bent (they had to be in a half squat position to fire). I'm going to be squad leader for the next three days so hopefully it works out. We're spending Thursday night on the FOB (forward operating base) so I guess I'll definitely have things to do as squad leader, even if it is just PCIs/PCCs (pre-combat inspections/checks). There sure are a lot of acronymns in this paragraph.
I wanted to mix things up a little bit today and do one of those online quizzes or memes (I learned a new blogging word) but I didn't see any that really seemed that exciting. I just thought it might be fun to post something other than "God, the Army really sucks," but I guess it'll have to wait until some other time. We have to do peer evals tonight, so maybe I can post my results when I get them in a few days. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be last in the squad, just because my technical skills are rather lacking (I was the last in the platoon to qualify after all), and my PT scores are lower. Other than that, I'd say we're all rather even, although some of the others might be more social than I am. After all, my idea of a perfect evening is going to Atlanta Bread Company alone to read and take advantage of their wireless internet (kind of like I'm doing right now).
Tomorrow is the midway point!
Monday, August 28, 2006
Finally, some good news from BOLC II
I made it: I qualified with 26/40, which is the standard on paper targets. I got pretty lucky since there was one shot that could have gone either way but they counted it in my favor. Now all I have to do is Land Nav and other than that, as long as I show up and try, I will graduate and leave this place.
I actually was starting to think I wouldn't have time to qualify today. Only 1st and 2nd platoon were on the range today, so there were five of us that had to rezero and qualify. First, the cadre forgot to bring the zero targets, and then they had the whole rest of the two platoons go through all their training before they pulled us onto the range. I had thought that we'd be a priority or that we'd be shooting at the same time as them, but instead we shot at the end of the day, and we were in charge of the ammo point all day. By 3:30, everyone else was finally done, but then there were some inclement weather issues so we didn't even get on the range until 4, leaving us exactly an hour to zero and qualify before the range would shut down. Fortunately, I got it on my first try since the cadre had to shut down the range once we were done with that first round. One person still isn't qualified, but the cadre were originally intending to give us two or three changes so hopefully they'll manage to work him in with 3rd and 4th platoon tomorrow.
Tomorrow should be a nice day, too. Our first formation after PT isn't until 8:20 which means we have almost an hour and a half rather than a hour to get ready and have breakfast. We have more classroom training in the morning, and in the afternoon we will be shooting a variety of US Weapons, such as a SAW (machine gun) and other pieces of equipment that I know nothing about. Plus there are no targets, so nothing for me to not hit. Unfortunately, I just found I have CQ duty tonight/tomorrow morning from 0400-0500, so that sucks just a little bit. They finally came up with a plan by which it rotates alphabetically, but I thought I was late enough in the alphabet to miss it tonight, and not have it until the weekend. At least it's only an hour shift.
I actually was starting to think I wouldn't have time to qualify today. Only 1st and 2nd platoon were on the range today, so there were five of us that had to rezero and qualify. First, the cadre forgot to bring the zero targets, and then they had the whole rest of the two platoons go through all their training before they pulled us onto the range. I had thought that we'd be a priority or that we'd be shooting at the same time as them, but instead we shot at the end of the day, and we were in charge of the ammo point all day. By 3:30, everyone else was finally done, but then there were some inclement weather issues so we didn't even get on the range until 4, leaving us exactly an hour to zero and qualify before the range would shut down. Fortunately, I got it on my first try since the cadre had to shut down the range once we were done with that first round. One person still isn't qualified, but the cadre were originally intending to give us two or three changes so hopefully they'll manage to work him in with 3rd and 4th platoon tomorrow.
Tomorrow should be a nice day, too. Our first formation after PT isn't until 8:20 which means we have almost an hour and a half rather than a hour to get ready and have breakfast. We have more classroom training in the morning, and in the afternoon we will be shooting a variety of US Weapons, such as a SAW (machine gun) and other pieces of equipment that I know nothing about. Plus there are no targets, so nothing for me to not hit. Unfortunately, I just found I have CQ duty tonight/tomorrow morning from 0400-0500, so that sucks just a little bit. They finally came up with a plan by which it rotates alphabetically, but I thought I was late enough in the alphabet to miss it tonight, and not have it until the weekend. At least it's only an hour shift.
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