Yakima

Yakima is proving to be NTC ( national training center -Ft. Irwin California )all over again, a brief flurry of activity for a couple of days and then sheer boredom for the rest of the time. Our training at Ft. Lewis was fast and furious and we kept busy and learned all sorts of great stuff. Then we came here to Yakima to do field maneuvers to show 1st Army that we know what we are doing and are ready to deploy to Iraq. It is an actual test in which you can actually fail. If you fail you have to stay at the MOB station for a longer period of time and keep retesting until you pass. We saw an engineer company from Mississippi that was MOB'ing out of Ft. Irwin when we were at NTC in March that had been to every MOB station in the US for the last six months and still had not passed. Heard of another unit from North Carolina that barely passed MOB and got to Iraq but were actually kicked back to the US 5 months into their tour because they were so ate up (ate up = not worth a damn).



The problem with this field problem is that it is scripted by the big Army , 1st Army. It might be great for a regular Infantry unit but it is not really suited for what my unit does. The other problem with it being scripted is that nothing can be added to the scenario once it starts. So on the first mission the teams went on 2ND platoon had a truck break down. We got all geared up to go out and retrieve it and bring them another vehicle but we were not able to because it was not in the "script" which I think is absolutely retarded. So basically all the Infantry teams get all this training in the field and my section and the transportation section are stuck in the rear with nothing to do because the Army did not understand how our unit was set up. I guess we will just get to practice in the real world in Iraq.



The captain has been frustrated by the "scripting" of these exercises and has pretty much forced himself into the scenario which is cool as it gives us something to do. For the last three days we have actually gotten to leave the base and pull a couple of missions. I have been riding in the turret as a .50 cal machingunner on our up armored humvee. It is all very exciting for the first couple of hours but can actually become exhausting work. First is the simple act of climbing up and down from the turret wearing all your gear. Not to mention mounting the gun which weighs about 110 pounds. About half of your torso sticks up above the roof but you have some protection from the turret armor. The only exposed skin you really have is your face and neck so you get a nice sunburn. It is also very tough on your feet as you are pretty much standing the whole time wearing all your gear and getting bounced around. But I do have to admit that there is a certain amount of feeling almighty standing behind that huge gun, I am a war monger I know. Have not had a chance to fire but I have had lots of practice cleaning it. I have been riding in the last truck of the convoy pulling rear security which gives me the austere privilege of eating all the dust from the first 3 vehicles.



The worst part of Yakima has proven to be the chow hall. It is run by a civilian contractor and the food is absolutely horrible. For breakfast I pretty much just eat oatmeal,bacon and pancakes ( if they are not rock hard that is). Everything else they have is pretty much crap. No one eats the eggs anymore because we have figured out that they are recycling them. Some mornings they have "breakfast burritos" which are just the eggs, bacon and sausage from the day before. We don't get lunch , we are supposed to eat MRE"s which is something I just started doing here in week two because I have been starving to death. I had an MRE today which was 5 times better than any food that I have had in the chow hall, that is just sad and should not be an issue in this day and age. I don't know when the Army stopped using its cooks but it is time to bring them back. When you had cooks assigned to your unit they actually cared about what they served and the food was a s good as they could make it using what they had. Now with these civilian contractors its all about cutting corners for profit, a seriously sad state of affairs. Yesterday I was totally starving having not eaten lunch and very little breakfast. I go to dinner chow and they have a choice of burritos or lasagna, I chose the burrito because they looked good. Unfortunately they were total shit, turns out they had used the chicken fried steak from the night before and chopped it up and put it into the burritos. It actually made me sick, even the 1st Sgt. hated it, he took 2 bites then threw it away. And if all that was not enough we actually have to pay for the food. The Army gives us a food allowance every month but when you eat in a chow hall they subtract a certain amount of money for every meal you sign in for. So not only does the food suck ass but I have to pay for it, got to love the Army.

Another crappy thing about Yakima is the wind and dust, why anyone would choose to live here is beyond me. I actually think the dust here is worse than it is going to be overseas. That is a bad statement since we are going to a desert where there is no greenery whatsoever. I will be seriously surprised if all my electronics live through my entire deployment.

Alright, gonna go to the gym and burn off some aggression.