Sooo I haven’t written much because there isn’t much going on. We are kinda spread out all over the place right now.. a bunch of different classes and some of us are here and others there and just kinda crazy. I went and told my plt sgt that I wanted to be volunteered for any and every class we can get. Well I had really good timing because I got into the cooles class the very next day and there are only 6 of us in the whole thing. Its on the ASV (armored security vehicle) picture enclosed… it is 20 x 8.5 x 8.5 for 3 people. The gunners turret is completely enclosed which is awesome. The gunner can stay inside the vehicle and still be able to shoot without being exposed at all. Its also 30,000 lbs so that’s a lot of armor and protection! Its kinda hard to get in and out of, very similar to a tank on wheels with how cramped it is inside. We also learned all about the headset microphones we will get, makes you feel really cool to have all those play toys. One of those vehicles costs $780,000. The class is 5 days but we are getting credit for a 70 hr course, that’s a lot of credit for a course which will help with promotions and stuff down the road. The coolest part is still that there are only 6 of us in the class and one of the guys may not get credit for it anyway because his wife went into labor so he might be heading home before the class is over. Tomorrow we get to drive it, little nervous because it is so big but im super psyched that I will get to drive and become licensed on this thing. Tuesday is our last day of the class and we have to be able to get all the weapons set up and loaded and we actually get to go out to a range and shoot the weapons, it has a m2 .50 cal and a mk19 ( a 50 shoots a round that is as big around as your thumb but longer than your longest finger. The mk19 shoots a grenade). With the optical on the weapon we can shoot them both accurately 1800 meters so it’s a pretty sweet truck. We should have a couple of them once we actually get to Iraq so im hoping I get to drive one over there.
Wed we get new uniforms, 4 sets of fire retardant uniforms which is exciting because from what I hear they are actually a lot more comfortable than the ACUs. Guess ill have to let you know later once I get to wear them! We got issued our new bullet proof vests (called an OTV or IBA). It was actually exciting too because this one is sized correctly for me unlike every other one ive ever worn so it is more comfortable. The weight actually sits where it is supposed to so hopefully that will help take some stress off my shoulders and back, I wont really know until we actually spend some time out at the ranges or in the field moving around in all the gear. At some point while we are here we will spend a good bit of time out on a FOB (forward operating base) basically staying out in the field ( im not sure if we will be in tents or just like wooden buildings) and spending a lot of it running missions and actually getting prepared for what we will be doing in Iraq. Someone said we will be out there for like 4 days this coming week but if we get uniforms issued wed then the earliest we could get there would be wed night? I don’t know.. information isn’t really being passed down very well right now, if we know whats going on 2 days before its like super crazy. The past 2 nights we haven’t gotten our brief for the next day until 12 or 1230 at night. Been some late nights sitting around waiting for information which has gotten really old really quickly. We have had a couple of issues with my platoon, were kinda the redheaded stepchild of the platoon, always get stuck with worse rules than everyone else. If we are sitting around the barracks during the day 3rd platoon will be on lockdown while everyone else can go to the gym or the px or something. Hopefully it will get better soon though..
Um sorry this is really long just kinda catching up on some of the new stuff going on, im sure im missing a lot but oh well!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
ft. dix
So we finally made it to Ft. Dix. the even more exciting part of that is that our deployment has officially started. 397 days to go! haha yea, things are a good bit different here. Were still trying to figure out exactly how things will be but now that were on active duty things are a lot more strict. hopefully it wont get too bad but I guess Ill find out soon enough.
were in 4 man rooms here, which may be better than the open room from Ft. Mccoy (at Mccoy we had 2 20 man rooms, 1 downstairs and then i was upstairs). its very dorm like, since there are less females we are in 4man rooms but the guys are in 12 man rooms by squad. so everyone in my squad sleeps in the same room but me.. stinks to be a girl sometimes! but our entire company is on one floor plus some from another company.. this floor probably holds 200 of us? something like that. the only problem is that there are 2 female bathrooms, they each have 2 stalls and one shower head so were gonna have to get good at sharing. these girls who want to take 30 or 45 minute showers are going to get a wake up call. actually thy kind of have because the water will only stay warm for like 5 minutes.
the last night in ft. mccoy we got to go to Mccoys, the only bar on post. it was a lot of fun just getting to hang out, we were still in uniform but a lot of people ignored that. the bar had pool tables and a built in bowling alley plus the bar and dance floor, so there was lot for us to do, even those of us not drinking. it was funny watching everyone get out on the dance floor and do the cha cha slide and superman and all those other dumb choreographed dances. good times, its nice getting to make fun memories with these people too, not just training memories.
So i am now officially a probie. im on probation status with the SRT (special response team). its the military's version of SWAT. Ill go through a couple of months of "on the job training" with a good bit of pt and hazing thrown in for good mix. Im excited though because i want to be with the people who care and enjoy this stuff. that and i feel like all the training will give me and everyone around me a better chance of making it through all of this safely! im about to go grab dinner. hope all is well
by the way i apologize for not capitalizeing things and using proper grammar and stuff hope yall will be ok with that!
were in 4 man rooms here, which may be better than the open room from Ft. Mccoy (at Mccoy we had 2 20 man rooms, 1 downstairs and then i was upstairs). its very dorm like, since there are less females we are in 4man rooms but the guys are in 12 man rooms by squad. so everyone in my squad sleeps in the same room but me.. stinks to be a girl sometimes! but our entire company is on one floor plus some from another company.. this floor probably holds 200 of us? something like that. the only problem is that there are 2 female bathrooms, they each have 2 stalls and one shower head so were gonna have to get good at sharing. these girls who want to take 30 or 45 minute showers are going to get a wake up call. actually thy kind of have because the water will only stay warm for like 5 minutes.
the last night in ft. mccoy we got to go to Mccoys, the only bar on post. it was a lot of fun just getting to hang out, we were still in uniform but a lot of people ignored that. the bar had pool tables and a built in bowling alley plus the bar and dance floor, so there was lot for us to do, even those of us not drinking. it was funny watching everyone get out on the dance floor and do the cha cha slide and superman and all those other dumb choreographed dances. good times, its nice getting to make fun memories with these people too, not just training memories.
So i am now officially a probie. im on probation status with the SRT (special response team). its the military's version of SWAT. Ill go through a couple of months of "on the job training" with a good bit of pt and hazing thrown in for good mix. Im excited though because i want to be with the people who care and enjoy this stuff. that and i feel like all the training will give me and everyone around me a better chance of making it through all of this safely! im about to go grab dinner. hope all is well
by the way i apologize for not capitalizeing things and using proper grammar and stuff hope yall will be ok with that!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
so yesterday we qualified with machine guns for those of us assigned to a machine gun. As a driver, I am assigned the 249 saw ( i think ive mentioned this before but if not see the dictionary). to qualify on the saw we had to zero the weapon (making sure the sights are actually alligned with the barrel and with your eye), qualify on a paper target, and then qualify with popup targets. To move off the paper target you had to hit the targets 35 times with 52 rounds. since its a machine gun you were expected to hit each target 3 times so a lot of the shooting had to do with trigger control and getting off a 3 round burst instead of 2 or 4. you could only score 3 points per target no matter how many rounds you had in it so it was important. i shot a 37 which was actually the highest score out of our 16 people firing line ( kinda not impressive as a whole). out of the 16 only 4 of us actually qualified on the paper target. Once you qualified on the paper yuo went over to the field fire with popup targets. you had 66 rounds for 11 targets. i got sharpshooter, theres marksman, sharpshoote, and then expert. most people couldnt qual first time go and a couple still couldnt qual at all but its all good.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
combatives!!! so today we did combatives for 5 hours. Combatives in the army is basically mixed martial arts (MMA, like UFC). Its ground grappeling and choke holds and that kind of stuff. We train on the dominant positions, learn a couple choke holds, and a couple arm bars. At the end of the training we actually competed against each other for 30 sec matches and rotated. I went against 2 of the girls and one of the guy sergeants. I got choked out in the first one and then was choking the other one when the fight got stopped and in the last one we jsut kinda went back and forth and nobody really had an advantage. It was good because they stress combatives isn't about winning, its about maintaining long enough for yuor buddy to get there.
After the combatives we did scenerios. 2 good guys had headgear on and a bad guy had punching gloves. The bad guy would be noncompliant somehow, sometimes it was obvious he was noncompliant and sometimes he snuck up on you. Here is a video of my fight, im in the red, craig is in the black and mack is the bad guy. he pops me once but as soon as he did i had the choke hold on him and craig had his arms. it was fun i actually enjoyed it and a bunch of the people in charge were really cool and gave me props for taking a hit without letting it phase me. My platoon sergeant told me if anyone ever fell out on his team he would gladly pick me up. the platoon leader was also pretty cool.
After the combatives we did scenerios. 2 good guys had headgear on and a bad guy had punching gloves. The bad guy would be noncompliant somehow, sometimes it was obvious he was noncompliant and sometimes he snuck up on you. Here is a video of my fight, im in the red, craig is in the black and mack is the bad guy. he pops me once but as soon as he did i had the choke hold on him and craig had his arms. it was fun i actually enjoyed it and a bunch of the people in charge were really cool and gave me props for taking a hit without letting it phase me. My platoon sergeant told me if anyone ever fell out on his team he would gladly pick me up. the platoon leader was also pretty cool.
Tomorrow we are doing driving training and i think that's about all of it. too cold to do much else, i guess friday we will go back to the range, hopefully not since it will still be in the negatives im pretty sure. now im hearing we may go to the 9 mm range tomorrow... def praying we dont.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
by the way, for anyone who is interested I got a link for the weather here so you can get a good laugh at my expense. http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USWI0688.html
check the wind chills for the next couple of days... -35 sounds pretty chilly to me but i guess ill find out soon....
check the wind chills for the next couple of days... -35 sounds pretty chilly to me but i guess ill find out soon....
hey guys, not too much going on right now. we were suposed to go out to the range today and qualify ( i will be shooting the 249 SAW, Ill post a picture once it's issued to me dont worry. the stupid thing is a beast, 18 pounds plus 7 pounds of ammo atleast). We couldn't go shoot though because with wind chill the low today is -25 or -30 or something like that. So our 3 days at the range were pushed back until fri sat and sun and we moved classroom instruction up for the next 3 days. ( we had a couple people get frostbite out at the m16 range the other day so were being more careful now.. super cold metal weapons against your face and skin is just not a good idea in that kind of cold.)
When we left the classroom I had a sunkist with that last little bit that you cant really drink still in the bottle. On the 2 minute walk to my barracks it froze inside the bottle. It's kinda mierably cold right now. Last night we got probably 4-5 inches of snow, a lot of which was early in the night. Me, guerera, and gray went outside and played in it for like 30 minutes, we had a lot of fun. we tried to make a snowman but it was too powdery so we will have to try again in a couple of days when there is some moisture to it. We did make snow angels and just have a fight with the powder though. good times. should have taken some pictures but dont worry, when we make the snowman i will def. take a picture of it.
There has been a little bit of dumb girl drama already, people pairing up and excluding others but hopefully it will work itself out soon enough.
Hope all is well at home
When we left the classroom I had a sunkist with that last little bit that you cant really drink still in the bottle. On the 2 minute walk to my barracks it froze inside the bottle. It's kinda mierably cold right now. Last night we got probably 4-5 inches of snow, a lot of which was early in the night. Me, guerera, and gray went outside and played in it for like 30 minutes, we had a lot of fun. we tried to make a snowman but it was too powdery so we will have to try again in a couple of days when there is some moisture to it. We did make snow angels and just have a fight with the powder though. good times. should have taken some pictures but dont worry, when we make the snowman i will def. take a picture of it.
There has been a little bit of dumb girl drama already, people pairing up and excluding others but hopefully it will work itself out soon enough.
Hope all is well at home
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Instructions for Blogging!
Alright family (and friends) I've had a few people talk about not knowing how to post or comment or whatever. So here is a lesson on blogging for all the adults (and Kristi)!!
Anyone on the internet can "Comment" on a post. So if Katie writes a whole post and you just want to say thank you and love you, or whatever, then you go to the bottom of the post and click the link that says "0 Comments" or whatever. So if you write a post, you can go back and check and see if anyone ever commented on it.
To do your own post, you have to have an id. Right now, only Mom, Dad, and us three can do this. I did this so that we could also post to update Katie on what we are doing. BUT! If any one in the family would like to be able to post, thats really easy just let me know and I'll send you the link (megahcj@auburn.edu)
So, the basic idea is this. If you are replying to something that someone posted, you "COMMENT" on their post. If you want to write about something new, than you "POST." Like I said, as of now ANYONE can comment on a post, but only the five of us can make a new post. But let me know and I can change it very easily!
I hope that helps everyone out!! I love everyone and I'm glad we have this new way of keeping in touch!
Anyone on the internet can "Comment" on a post. So if Katie writes a whole post and you just want to say thank you and love you, or whatever, then you go to the bottom of the post and click the link that says "0 Comments" or whatever. So if you write a post, you can go back and check and see if anyone ever commented on it.
To do your own post, you have to have an id. Right now, only Mom, Dad, and us three can do this. I did this so that we could also post to update Katie on what we are doing. BUT! If any one in the family would like to be able to post, thats really easy just let me know and I'll send you the link (megahcj@auburn.edu)
So, the basic idea is this. If you are replying to something that someone posted, you "COMMENT" on their post. If you want to write about something new, than you "POST." Like I said, as of now ANYONE can comment on a post, but only the five of us can make a new post. But let me know and I can change it very easily!
I hope that helps everyone out!! I love everyone and I'm glad we have this new way of keeping in touch!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
so, I feel like a complete dweeb cause it has taken me quite a while to figure this thing out and it seems as though DAD got it before I did. sad. Katie, I had no idea you had that much of a time difference. It's been really good getting to talk to you so much, and everyone here has been asking about you non stop. Will you send me the link for the dog tags cause a few of my friends want to wear them. Also, what's your address up there? Anyway, I just cleaned my room (guys you should be proud) and now I'm going to keep running errands but hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this stuff now. I loooooooooooooove you Katie!!!!!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
dictionary
This is the dictionary carrie requested, its a start. if there is something you dont know jsut ask and i will add it on here. I will also add as I think of more!
Nco= non commissioned officer, SGTs ( e-5 and up)
Specialist= me, e-4 last rank before sgt. Above private
Team leader- e-5 over 2-3 people
Squad leader- e-6 over 10ish people
Platoon sgt- e-7 over 40ish people
Xo- officer.. does paperwork
Commander- capt graham, in charge of the whole company
Iba- bullet proof vest, 20ish pounds
M4- rifle
M9, 9 mil, hand gun, beretta, ect. – our handguns.. mps always have one
SAW- squad automatic weapon, its similar to the m4 but much bigger and automatic.. a 23 lb. machine gun
Ach- army combat helmet.. helmet
Iba- something ballistic armor maybe? I don’t really know what it stands for but its our bullet proof vests
Bay/ barracks- where we live
Defac- dining facility
Hmmwv- pronounced hum-v, our trucks fit 3-4
Mrap- m-rap more armored truck, fits like 10 people. We may have these in Iraq
Pt- physical training.. blahhhh
FOB- forward operating base, where we will live in Iraq pronounced as a word. People who only work on FOBs and don’t run any missions are considered fobbits
Rank- private, private, private first class, specialist (me), sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, 1st sergeant, sergeant major
Officers- 2nd lt, 1st lt, captain, major, lt. colonel, colonel, generals…
Nco= non commissioned officer, SGTs ( e-5 and up)
Specialist= me, e-4 last rank before sgt. Above private
Team leader- e-5 over 2-3 people
Squad leader- e-6 over 10ish people
Platoon sgt- e-7 over 40ish people
Xo- officer.. does paperwork
Commander- capt graham, in charge of the whole company
Iba- bullet proof vest, 20ish pounds
M4- rifle
M9, 9 mil, hand gun, beretta, ect. – our handguns.. mps always have one
SAW- squad automatic weapon, its similar to the m4 but much bigger and automatic.. a 23 lb. machine gun
Ach- army combat helmet.. helmet
Iba- something ballistic armor maybe? I don’t really know what it stands for but its our bullet proof vests
Bay/ barracks- where we live
Defac- dining facility
Hmmwv- pronounced hum-v, our trucks fit 3-4
Mrap- m-rap more armored truck, fits like 10 people. We may have these in Iraq
Pt- physical training.. blahhhh
FOB- forward operating base, where we will live in Iraq pronounced as a word. People who only work on FOBs and don’t run any missions are considered fobbits
Rank- private, private, private first class, specialist (me), sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, 1st sergeant, sergeant major
Officers- 2nd lt, 1st lt, captain, major, lt. colonel, colonel, generals…
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
so this is the M16 rifle with the 203 attached ( the tube thingy my left hand is on). It is a grenade launcher, that's why it is angled up so high I'm aiming like 300 meters away. I know, i look tough! by the way, that snow right there is up past my boots so about 8 inches.
Yesterday we did the HEAT trainer. It simulated a HMMWV (humvee) rollover. I thought it was going to be really bad but it was actually kinda cool. We got flipped over and had to unbuckle our seat belts (which obviously made us fall into the ceiling/ floor). We had to disengage the combat lock and then open the door up and crawl out. It was very disoreinting (not sure that is a word but oh well you will be strong!). We are going to actually shoot on Friday or Saturday so we will be out in the cold from then on basically, right now is all classroom for the most part. Have a good one.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
the beginning
tues jan 6, 2008
So we got to Ft. Mccoy on Sunday. When we landed in Minnesota we thought it was cold (-2) with the sun out. hahahaha we didn't realize what cold was until Monday morning. Monday it was -10 at 5 am when we got up. We had to walk over to chow and stand in line and then stand in formation. Probably very high up on my list of most miserable moments. I lost feeling in my toes for over an hour after we were inside. Later that day we were able to go get some gear issued to us including cold weather gear. It's really nice stuff, i have a 2 thin long john shirts, 1 thick long john shirt, 1 cold weather top, 1 wet weather top, 1 cold/ wet weather top, one cold weather jacket, and then one " oh my god its so cold I will die in 10 minutes of being outside" jacket. (for real it looks like the little kid from christmas story or whatever that is.
Today it was 2 above so it was pretty warm actually. We are basically doing classes all day today, tonight we are doing a simulator for if a HMMWV (humvee, or trucks) flips over. We experience what it would be like trying to get out because the trucks are so armored that the doors weigh 480 pounds. Things arent bad yet, we can't do pt because there is like 10 inches of snow on the ground and the sidewalks are still pretty icy. Kinda fun to watch everyone bust it. We aren't getting much sleep, hopefully that will change really soon. Bout to head back to class for the day.
BTW dad your socks are saving my life.
So we got to Ft. Mccoy on Sunday. When we landed in Minnesota we thought it was cold (-2) with the sun out. hahahaha we didn't realize what cold was until Monday morning. Monday it was -10 at 5 am when we got up. We had to walk over to chow and stand in line and then stand in formation. Probably very high up on my list of most miserable moments. I lost feeling in my toes for over an hour after we were inside. Later that day we were able to go get some gear issued to us including cold weather gear. It's really nice stuff, i have a 2 thin long john shirts, 1 thick long john shirt, 1 cold weather top, 1 wet weather top, 1 cold/ wet weather top, one cold weather jacket, and then one " oh my god its so cold I will die in 10 minutes of being outside" jacket. (for real it looks like the little kid from christmas story or whatever that is.
Today it was 2 above so it was pretty warm actually. We are basically doing classes all day today, tonight we are doing a simulator for if a HMMWV (humvee, or trucks) flips over. We experience what it would be like trying to get out because the trucks are so armored that the doors weigh 480 pounds. Things arent bad yet, we can't do pt because there is like 10 inches of snow on the ground and the sidewalks are still pretty icy. Kinda fun to watch everyone bust it. We aren't getting much sleep, hopefully that will change really soon. Bout to head back to class for the day.
BTW dad your socks are saving my life.
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