I can honestly say I liked this country much better when it was all on fire, at least the oil smoke blocked out the sun , it is too goddamn hot here. We were given the first 2 days here off to acclimatize and get our heads sorted out from the jet lag. It was a nice break for us and gave us some time to wander around the base a little more to find out what all was here. It gets light here around 0400 in the morning and it is not too hot around that time. It starts to get really hot around 1000 or so. And to be honest the heat is rough but would not be so bad if it were not for the evil winds of death. Usually between 1100 and 1600 the wind blows in from the desert usually around 30-40mph and it is like being in a blast furnace. You would think it would be nice to have a breeze or even some wind to cool you down but all it is is hot air blowing that is filled with sand. Seriously it is like having someone chase you down with a giant hair dryer and a sandblaster, absolutely miserable. I would like to now apologize to all the ants I have burned with a magnifying glass in my lifetime, Karma is a bitch. The chow halls here are absolutely insane, I see now how some people that deploy gain weight. There are 4 meals each day, breakfast, lunch , dinner, and midnight meal. The food is awesome which I am happy about. What pisses me off is that the chow halls here are also run by civilians and are 20x better than the ones back home. It annoys me because over here all the workers are Philipino, Indian and Pakistani and they do a much better job than the civilian American workers do in the states. My point being that it is a sad state of affairs when foreign nationals care more about their jobs and how they do them then Americans do back home in relation to feeding US troops.
The internet here absolutely sucks ass. It is all wireless and there are so many people trying to use it that it is almost impossible to log in. To top it off you have to pay for it which I think is a goddamn crime personally. I did get an awesome haircut here though, the guy shaved my head, massaged my scalp, powdered my scalp and gave me a 3 minute neck massage all for 6 bucks, pretty cool. The latrines here are all Port-a-Potties which is not too bad except when you use them in the afternoon then they are like shit saunas. Also when the wind is blowing in the afternoons you most defiantly do not want to be downwind of them. We also have shower trailers which are pretty nice considering we are in the middle of the desert. Basically they look like trailer homes and inside you have about 15 individual shower stalls and benches that run down the middle with sinks on one wall with mirrors. That is one thing I have come to miss is mirrors, sometimes it is just the small things.
Our first bit of training started on the 3rd day and consisted of a 3 day MRAP ( Mine Resistant Ambush Protection ) drivers training. I was really excited to be getting this training at first as we had been looking forward to it for some time. These are the vehicles that we are supposed to have once we get to Iraq. I say at first because very quickly during the class we all realized it was a big piece of crap. I call it the MCRAP. I am not going to go into too many details of it for OPSEC ( operational Security ) reasons. But I will say it is absolutely the most uncomfortable vehicle I have ever had the displeasure of riding in. I actually think that when I get back I may write every congressman I can get a hold of and let them know that some one pulled the wool over their eyes on this purchase ( a whopping $500,000.00 per vehicle ). For you folks back home paying taxes you should be pissed. The first day was all death by power point classes, the second day was supposed to be preventive maintained classes in the motor pool than some driving. The weather did not cooperate of course , the wind was extremely high and cut visibility down to next to nothing so instead we went back to the classroom for more classes then took the written test . So the third day consisted of all driving , 15 hours worth. We had 5 guys per truck and everyone had to have a turn driving through various obstacle courses and with different equipment. It was a grueling day sitting in the back of those things for so long. By late afternoon all the trucks were pretty much out of gas so we had to head back to base. Initially we were told that we were done but then they decided that we absolutely had to drive at night to get our certificates. I thought that they wanted us to drive with blackout lights ( special lights on all military vehicles for driving at night ) or night vision, but no, it was just so we could drive with headlights, absolutely retarded. Got back around 2100 got our certificates and promptly escaped back to the barracks before they could come up with anything else completely stupid.
On our 5th day here, Thursday the 6h we went to an IED class which was actually fairly informative. I hate to say it but you have to give it to the insurgents for creativity sometimes, that’s all I am going to say on that issue. Then Harbin and I had to go to the airfield to practice loading and unloading Blackhawk helicopters as flying in them is part of our job. We did that for a couple hours then headed off to afternoon chow. Around 1300 we had a really cool class on foreign weapons. How to take them apart and put them together and how to fire them. Did not have much else to do the rest of the day. Friday morning was really cool, we got to do a Blackhawk insertion on a mock up village. It was all very exciting although I must say that running with all that equipment in the desert sucks a lot more than doing it in Washington state, just saying. Saturday we had some more mandatory briefings and Sunday we had to do the MRAP rollover training, which did not seem to be too bad for most people in it but I was in the gunner position and it was not fun at all.
I actually had to look at my calendar to figure out what days we did what as I have no sense of time anymore, days of the week have no meaning at all these days. Everyone here is absolutely ready to get the hell out of Kuwait and get to Iraq. One of the main reasons we want to get there is we are all absolutely tired of living out of our bags. We have been living out of duffel bags and rucksacks for three long months so far.
Spent our last two days in Kuwait lounging around waiting for a flight out which was nice and relaxing but also a bit annoying as we all are absolutely ready to get the hell out of Kuwait. Our escape from Kuwait turned into a complete nightmare and that will be the subject of my next post.
One thing I would like to add. If you were ever in the mind to donate money to an organization let me suggest the USO. Those folks do an outstanding job supporting and helping us soldiers out.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Military time
Thought I would post this up since i write with Military time in my blogs.
Military time
100am = 0100
200am = 0200
300am = 0300
400am = 0400
500am = 0500
600am = 0600
700am = 0700
800am = 0800
1000am = 1000
1100am = 1100
1200am = 1200
100pm = 1300
200pm = 1400
300pm = 1500
400pm = 1600
500pm = 1700
600pm = 1800
700pm = 1900
800pm = 2000
900pm = 2100
1000pm = 2200
1100pm = 2300
1200pm = 2400
Military time
100am = 0100
200am = 0200
300am = 0300
400am = 0400
500am = 0500
600am = 0600
700am = 0700
800am = 0800
1000am = 1000
1100am = 1100
1200am = 1200
100pm = 1300
200pm = 1400
300pm = 1500
400pm = 1600
500pm = 1700
600pm = 1800
700pm = 1900
800pm = 2000
900pm = 2100
1000pm = 2200
1100pm = 2300
1200pm = 2400
It was kind of strange leaving Ft. Lewis . I expected that it would only be our unit at the air base getting ready to leave but it turned out there were 3 different units leaving that day for Iraq and Afghanistan. We got to the hanger around 1500 and after a couple briefings were able to wander around while we waited to load the plane. The USO is a wonderful organization they were there handing out gift bags with playing cards, snacks and toiletries. They also had a little shop off the hanger with free coffee and snacks. With a final farewell from several officers and high ranking NCOs’ the time finally rolled around to load the plane, so with a bit of apprehension we walked out onto the tarmac and loaded the plane.
Boy what a trip, 26 hours of flying and airport time. We left Ft. Lewis around 1700on Thursday the 9th and arrived in wonderful Kuwait around 0100 Saturday the 10th. Talk about some serious jet lag. The flight over was absolutely brutal. The plane had seats for 420 and we only had about 300 people but because of weight distribution we all had to pack the back of the plane. This was tough as each person is carrying a large assault pack, computer bag and an M-4 rifle with attachments. To say it was a little cramped is putting it mildly. After about 4 hours of sitting in such a cramped space my knees felt like they had been opened up and broken glass had been inserted, not a good feeling at all. We started the flight with our unit of 135 and about 60 folks from another unit. Then we had to fly to Colorado and pick up 100 more people. The flight to Colorado was only a couple of hours and was not too bad. We sat there at the airplane hanger for a break for about 1 and a 1/2 hours then loaded up and took off again headed for Minneapolis /ST. Paul. We arrived there around 0200 in the morning feeling a little bit worn out. We were able to de-plane for a nice 2 hour break and were greeted by the USO. If there ever was an organization to donate money too it would be the USO. We were greeted by 7 smiling ladies who handed out Burger King cheeseburgers and cold cokes. They had books that folks could take for free and all sorts of snacks and such. I was humbled that these folks took time out of their lives to meet us at the airport at such a late hour and take care of us the way they did. We left Minneapolis around 0400 for our flight to Shannon airport in Ireland for the first long leg of our journey. I had stayed awake Wednesday to Thursday night for the most part so when we boarded the plane I fell asleep and woke up when the wheels touched down in Ireland. We were able to de-plane while they refueled for several hours. Because of course it being Ireland the main section of the airport has a huge bar in it. It was a trip back in time for me as my unit stopped at that same airport on our return flight from Desert Storm. Of course the terminal was brand new and completely different from my last visit which had been 18 years previous. I chose to skip the beer as I have already checked the box of having a draft Harp and Guinness in Ireland. Instead I went with some nice hot Irish coffee. The prices were outrageous and I am now the proud owner of several Euros which I will now have to carry with me for a year. I honestly do not remember what time it was that we landed in Ireland as I was a bit out of sorts having traveled backward in time and being jet lagged and confused. After a nice break and several beers drank by most we got back on the plane for our final leg to Kuwait.
The flight to Kuwait took about 7 hours and it felt like I was in the 13th ring of hell. I am accustomed to flying and traveling but being in such a cramped space for so long pretty much had everyone extremely annoyed by the time we finally landed in Kuwait. Landing in Kuwait was a surreal experience for me. The last time I saw that airfield and terminal it was all pretty much on fire and the skies were blocked by oil smoke. This time around they had a new terminal and the runways were not cratered from cluster bombs. We got in around 0100 which was actually a blessing as it was only about 85 degrees out at that time. I was defiantly feeling weird about the whole experience , I would not say I was having flashbacks or anything of that sort but there was defiantly a weird vibe about the whole thing. For one thing I could not believe I was back there getting ready to go fight in another war in that region. . We unloaded the plane on the tarmac and loaded some buses that took us to a little rest area that had bins of ice water and some latrines. We were able to take a break and stretch our legs for a bit then we were loaded back up onto the buses for our trip to the FOB we were going to. We had to stop at al saleem airfield to drop off the troops that we had picked up in Colorado then we were off to Camp Buehring which was the base that we would be staying at for our hopefully short stay in Kuwait. All in all we spent about 2 hours on the bus which was annoying after our joyous airplane trip.
After finally getting onto base we drove to a briefing area and unloaded the buses. We were allowed to run over to the chow hall and grab breakfast which was awesome because all we had eaten in the last 30 hours had been airplane food. After chow we had to go through some briefings about the FOB rules, most of which are stupid in case you were wondering. We also had to have a briefing where they tried to convince us that Kuwait is a combat zone, it did not work we still don’t believe it. After the briefings of which 90% of them I cant remember because they gave them to us after we had all been traveling for 30 hours we got back onto the buses and headed over to our barracks area. The barracks are pretty awesome here, air conditioning and electric lights. Basically they are just huge steel support tents with plastic covers. A very different experience from my last deployment. We unloaded the truck that had all of our bags on it and moved into the barracks. Most people dropped their bags and racked out immediately , it was late afternoon by this time. Surprisingly I was not able to sleep so my buddy Harbin and I went a wandering. It was hotter than hell and a bit of a shock to the system but we forged forward because we had heard there was a starbucks on base and we are both coffee hounds. Sure enough there is a Starbucks here along with a Burger king, taco bell and a KFC. We wandered around for a bit then headed back to the barracks where I promptly fell asleep for about 12 hours, it was awesome.
Boy what a trip, 26 hours of flying and airport time. We left Ft. Lewis around 1700on Thursday the 9th and arrived in wonderful Kuwait around 0100 Saturday the 10th. Talk about some serious jet lag. The flight over was absolutely brutal. The plane had seats for 420 and we only had about 300 people but because of weight distribution we all had to pack the back of the plane. This was tough as each person is carrying a large assault pack, computer bag and an M-4 rifle with attachments. To say it was a little cramped is putting it mildly. After about 4 hours of sitting in such a cramped space my knees felt like they had been opened up and broken glass had been inserted, not a good feeling at all. We started the flight with our unit of 135 and about 60 folks from another unit. Then we had to fly to Colorado and pick up 100 more people. The flight to Colorado was only a couple of hours and was not too bad. We sat there at the airplane hanger for a break for about 1 and a 1/2 hours then loaded up and took off again headed for Minneapolis /ST. Paul. We arrived there around 0200 in the morning feeling a little bit worn out. We were able to de-plane for a nice 2 hour break and were greeted by the USO. If there ever was an organization to donate money too it would be the USO. We were greeted by 7 smiling ladies who handed out Burger King cheeseburgers and cold cokes. They had books that folks could take for free and all sorts of snacks and such. I was humbled that these folks took time out of their lives to meet us at the airport at such a late hour and take care of us the way they did. We left Minneapolis around 0400 for our flight to Shannon airport in Ireland for the first long leg of our journey. I had stayed awake Wednesday to Thursday night for the most part so when we boarded the plane I fell asleep and woke up when the wheels touched down in Ireland. We were able to de-plane while they refueled for several hours. Because of course it being Ireland the main section of the airport has a huge bar in it. It was a trip back in time for me as my unit stopped at that same airport on our return flight from Desert Storm. Of course the terminal was brand new and completely different from my last visit which had been 18 years previous. I chose to skip the beer as I have already checked the box of having a draft Harp and Guinness in Ireland. Instead I went with some nice hot Irish coffee. The prices were outrageous and I am now the proud owner of several Euros which I will now have to carry with me for a year. I honestly do not remember what time it was that we landed in Ireland as I was a bit out of sorts having traveled backward in time and being jet lagged and confused. After a nice break and several beers drank by most we got back on the plane for our final leg to Kuwait.
The flight to Kuwait took about 7 hours and it felt like I was in the 13th ring of hell. I am accustomed to flying and traveling but being in such a cramped space for so long pretty much had everyone extremely annoyed by the time we finally landed in Kuwait. Landing in Kuwait was a surreal experience for me. The last time I saw that airfield and terminal it was all pretty much on fire and the skies were blocked by oil smoke. This time around they had a new terminal and the runways were not cratered from cluster bombs. We got in around 0100 which was actually a blessing as it was only about 85 degrees out at that time. I was defiantly feeling weird about the whole experience , I would not say I was having flashbacks or anything of that sort but there was defiantly a weird vibe about the whole thing. For one thing I could not believe I was back there getting ready to go fight in another war in that region. . We unloaded the plane on the tarmac and loaded some buses that took us to a little rest area that had bins of ice water and some latrines. We were able to take a break and stretch our legs for a bit then we were loaded back up onto the buses for our trip to the FOB we were going to. We had to stop at al saleem airfield to drop off the troops that we had picked up in Colorado then we were off to Camp Buehring which was the base that we would be staying at for our hopefully short stay in Kuwait. All in all we spent about 2 hours on the bus which was annoying after our joyous airplane trip.
After finally getting onto base we drove to a briefing area and unloaded the buses. We were allowed to run over to the chow hall and grab breakfast which was awesome because all we had eaten in the last 30 hours had been airplane food. After chow we had to go through some briefings about the FOB rules, most of which are stupid in case you were wondering. We also had to have a briefing where they tried to convince us that Kuwait is a combat zone, it did not work we still don’t believe it. After the briefings of which 90% of them I cant remember because they gave them to us after we had all been traveling for 30 hours we got back onto the buses and headed over to our barracks area. The barracks are pretty awesome here, air conditioning and electric lights. Basically they are just huge steel support tents with plastic covers. A very different experience from my last deployment. We unloaded the truck that had all of our bags on it and moved into the barracks. Most people dropped their bags and racked out immediately , it was late afternoon by this time. Surprisingly I was not able to sleep so my buddy Harbin and I went a wandering. It was hotter than hell and a bit of a shock to the system but we forged forward because we had heard there was a starbucks on base and we are both coffee hounds. Sure enough there is a Starbucks here along with a Burger king, taco bell and a KFC. We wandered around for a bit then headed back to the barracks where I promptly fell asleep for about 12 hours, it was awesome.
Monday, July 6, 2009
4th of July in Seattle
Whew what a weekend!
Apparently the Army decided it was okay to give us another pass, so we had Saturday and Sunday off as part of the 4th of July weekend. I was kind of bummed out at first because when I left Michigan on the previous weekend on that 4 day pass I decided to leave all my civilian clothes back at home. At first I was not going to do anything but after watching all the guys pour out of the barracks with destinations unknown I decided there was no way I was just going to hang out on base for the weekend. So I caught a ride to the main PX ( post exchange = Army's version of walmart ) and bought some shorts and a T-shirt. When I got back to the barracks I still had no idea what I was going to do but I knew that I would be absolutely pissed with myself if I stayed on base on my last night of freedom before heading off to war. So I called my friend Heather who lives in Seattle hopped in a cab and went to up to see her. The cab ride up there was unbelievably nerve racking as the cab driver had this horrible habit of over correcting with the steering wheel. Even when we were going straight down the highway she kept moving the steering wheel back and fourth. I felt like telling her I was not in the Navy and to stop making me feel as if I was on a boat in rough seas. After a harrowing hundred and thirty dollar cab ride I arrived at Jarret and Bugs ( another Heather so I will call her by her nickname in this post ) house.
They were having a BBQ and were kind enough to let me join my friend Heather there. I was a little nervous because Heather and I had not seen each other in close to 10 years but we picked right up where we left off before and had a great time. After several jello shots, beers and some awesome hamburgers Jarret, Bug, Clayton,Emily, Heather and I headed out to go to a block party that Heather knew about. On our way to the party the city started their fireworks show so we stopped to watch them. It was very cool, they had this huge barge in the middle of Union lake and the choreographed music was being played on a local radio station. So you had this awesome fireworks show and what seemed like hundreds of radios playing this music during the show it was really cool. After the fireworks we made our way down to the block party which was really what seemed like a 2 block stretch of residential streets blocked off for the event. Apparently it is hosted by a friend of Heathers and seemed to be quite a blowout. Unfortunately it was winding down by the time we got down there but it looked like it had been going pretty strong since early in the afternoon. They had mechanical bull rides and some sort of ramp that landed in a wading pool ( I never did figure out what the were using to launch themselves into it ) and of course mass quantities of alcohol. After hanging out for a bit and watching Heather talk to damn near everyone on the street ( seriously I think she knows everyone in Seattle) we scored some road beers and started heading back the way we came to link back up with Bug and Jarret who we seemed to have lost somewhere along the way. We met up at the local yacht club where Heather works and decided it would be cool to go hang out on the dock for a bit. We started to walk out on the dock but there was a boat moored at the end and we were a little nervous about going out there and disturbing them. Of course heather was not nervous about it since she worked there and went out and talked to them. It turns out they were extremely cool people and had no problem with us hanging out on the dock. They were so cool in fact that they gave us home made Ice cream that they had made and these really awesome cupcakes. After talking with them for a bit they decided to take their dog for a walk. As soon as they left the idea was brought up that we should go swimming. * side note: Heather and I have a long history of late night swimming with large groups of people with usually little to no clothes on.* So sure enough before you know it we are all in the lake in our underwear. It was absolutely awesome and felt great. After our midnight swim Bill and Priscella ( the boat owners) returned and after an awkward moment of getting dressed in front of them we all headed back to Jarret and Bug's house. We were all exhausted by this point so Heather and I headed back to her house to crash out. We walked and she forgot to mention the fact that her house was on top of a mountain, seriously I thought I was in San Francisco.
I enjoyed a lazy Sunday with Heather and Emily starting with an awesome breakfast at an awesome restaurant ( guess what, Heather knew the manager, go figure :) then a quick stroll through one of the many local street markets. I needed a ride back to Ft. Lewis so Heather borrowed a friends car and gave me a ride back. We arrived at Ft. Lewis with plenty of time to spare but I was unaware of the rules of having a visitor on base. It was so unbelievably stupid I am still in awe. I understand that they need to have base security and all that but you would think that someone with a military ID would be able to vouch for someone with a valid drivers license. No, that is not the case, after arriving at the gate I am used to coming onto base from we were informed that Heather had to have a visitors pass to enter the base. I was getting a bit annoyed after talking to the guard for a bit and told Heather it was no big deal I would just walk to my barracks. But oh no, I was told that No I was not allowed to walk onto base from the gate and we had to go to the Main gate. We drive 2 miles down the highway to the main gate to get Heather a pass to give me a ride to my barracks which were several miles away. After waiting in line at the "visitors center" we finally get to a service window where they wanted enough documents to make your head spin. By this time I was already late for formation and I went outside to make a phone call but of course my phone battery had died so no phone call. Then I was going to take a cab but of course I call them and it is a 45 minute wait. By this point I was absolutely pissed so I just decided to walk, apparently you are allowed to walk onto post from the main gate. So after a quick goodbye to Heather I start hoofing it. Thankfully after having run a ways a woman that had been sitting in the visitors center while I was there pulled up and offered to give me a ride the rest of the way. End result, missed formation, lots of push ups and harassment ( good natured) and a counseling statement which is really just a slap on the wrist.
So besides the stupidity at the gate it was easily as Clayton put it " the best time I have had in years" and it was. I honestly cannot remember the last time I have had such an awesome spontaneous night out like that. Definatly a memory I will carry with me for years to come.
So I would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to Jarret and Bug for their awesome hospitality, and to Clayton and Emily for being such awesome people and of course to my friend Heather for letting me hang out and have such a great night out in Seattle before I leave for Iraq. I would like to give a another thanks to Clayton who served in Iraq in the Navy with E.O.D. ( explosives ordinance disposal ) it was really cool to hang out with someone who has been there from the perspective of someone that is going there.
So I am dedicating this post to "The Lake Union Six" thanks again and I look forward to seeing you all again when I return from my current glorious adventure.
Apparently the Army decided it was okay to give us another pass, so we had Saturday and Sunday off as part of the 4th of July weekend. I was kind of bummed out at first because when I left Michigan on the previous weekend on that 4 day pass I decided to leave all my civilian clothes back at home. At first I was not going to do anything but after watching all the guys pour out of the barracks with destinations unknown I decided there was no way I was just going to hang out on base for the weekend. So I caught a ride to the main PX ( post exchange = Army's version of walmart ) and bought some shorts and a T-shirt. When I got back to the barracks I still had no idea what I was going to do but I knew that I would be absolutely pissed with myself if I stayed on base on my last night of freedom before heading off to war. So I called my friend Heather who lives in Seattle hopped in a cab and went to up to see her. The cab ride up there was unbelievably nerve racking as the cab driver had this horrible habit of over correcting with the steering wheel. Even when we were going straight down the highway she kept moving the steering wheel back and fourth. I felt like telling her I was not in the Navy and to stop making me feel as if I was on a boat in rough seas. After a harrowing hundred and thirty dollar cab ride I arrived at Jarret and Bugs ( another Heather so I will call her by her nickname in this post ) house.
They were having a BBQ and were kind enough to let me join my friend Heather there. I was a little nervous because Heather and I had not seen each other in close to 10 years but we picked right up where we left off before and had a great time. After several jello shots, beers and some awesome hamburgers Jarret, Bug, Clayton,Emily, Heather and I headed out to go to a block party that Heather knew about. On our way to the party the city started their fireworks show so we stopped to watch them. It was very cool, they had this huge barge in the middle of Union lake and the choreographed music was being played on a local radio station. So you had this awesome fireworks show and what seemed like hundreds of radios playing this music during the show it was really cool. After the fireworks we made our way down to the block party which was really what seemed like a 2 block stretch of residential streets blocked off for the event. Apparently it is hosted by a friend of Heathers and seemed to be quite a blowout. Unfortunately it was winding down by the time we got down there but it looked like it had been going pretty strong since early in the afternoon. They had mechanical bull rides and some sort of ramp that landed in a wading pool ( I never did figure out what the were using to launch themselves into it ) and of course mass quantities of alcohol. After hanging out for a bit and watching Heather talk to damn near everyone on the street ( seriously I think she knows everyone in Seattle) we scored some road beers and started heading back the way we came to link back up with Bug and Jarret who we seemed to have lost somewhere along the way. We met up at the local yacht club where Heather works and decided it would be cool to go hang out on the dock for a bit. We started to walk out on the dock but there was a boat moored at the end and we were a little nervous about going out there and disturbing them. Of course heather was not nervous about it since she worked there and went out and talked to them. It turns out they were extremely cool people and had no problem with us hanging out on the dock. They were so cool in fact that they gave us home made Ice cream that they had made and these really awesome cupcakes. After talking with them for a bit they decided to take their dog for a walk. As soon as they left the idea was brought up that we should go swimming. * side note: Heather and I have a long history of late night swimming with large groups of people with usually little to no clothes on.* So sure enough before you know it we are all in the lake in our underwear. It was absolutely awesome and felt great. After our midnight swim Bill and Priscella ( the boat owners) returned and after an awkward moment of getting dressed in front of them we all headed back to Jarret and Bug's house. We were all exhausted by this point so Heather and I headed back to her house to crash out. We walked and she forgot to mention the fact that her house was on top of a mountain, seriously I thought I was in San Francisco.
I enjoyed a lazy Sunday with Heather and Emily starting with an awesome breakfast at an awesome restaurant ( guess what, Heather knew the manager, go figure :) then a quick stroll through one of the many local street markets. I needed a ride back to Ft. Lewis so Heather borrowed a friends car and gave me a ride back. We arrived at Ft. Lewis with plenty of time to spare but I was unaware of the rules of having a visitor on base. It was so unbelievably stupid I am still in awe. I understand that they need to have base security and all that but you would think that someone with a military ID would be able to vouch for someone with a valid drivers license. No, that is not the case, after arriving at the gate I am used to coming onto base from we were informed that Heather had to have a visitors pass to enter the base. I was getting a bit annoyed after talking to the guard for a bit and told Heather it was no big deal I would just walk to my barracks. But oh no, I was told that No I was not allowed to walk onto base from the gate and we had to go to the Main gate. We drive 2 miles down the highway to the main gate to get Heather a pass to give me a ride to my barracks which were several miles away. After waiting in line at the "visitors center" we finally get to a service window where they wanted enough documents to make your head spin. By this time I was already late for formation and I went outside to make a phone call but of course my phone battery had died so no phone call. Then I was going to take a cab but of course I call them and it is a 45 minute wait. By this point I was absolutely pissed so I just decided to walk, apparently you are allowed to walk onto post from the main gate. So after a quick goodbye to Heather I start hoofing it. Thankfully after having run a ways a woman that had been sitting in the visitors center while I was there pulled up and offered to give me a ride the rest of the way. End result, missed formation, lots of push ups and harassment ( good natured) and a counseling statement which is really just a slap on the wrist.
So besides the stupidity at the gate it was easily as Clayton put it " the best time I have had in years" and it was. I honestly cannot remember the last time I have had such an awesome spontaneous night out like that. Definatly a memory I will carry with me for years to come.
So I would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to Jarret and Bug for their awesome hospitality, and to Clayton and Emily for being such awesome people and of course to my friend Heather for letting me hang out and have such a great night out in Seattle before I leave for Iraq. I would like to give a another thanks to Clayton who served in Iraq in the Navy with E.O.D. ( explosives ordinance disposal ) it was really cool to hang out with someone who has been there from the perspective of someone that is going there.
So I am dedicating this post to "The Lake Union Six" thanks again and I look forward to seeing you all again when I return from my current glorious adventure.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
4 day pass
Man just got back from a great 4 day pass back home. I was able to see allot more people than I expected but was also able to do some quality relaxing. It sure did bring to light that it is the simple things in life that you usually end up missing. Things like just sitting on a porch with your best friend drinking coffee and not really talking about anything but yet talking about everything while waiting for a stove to be delivered ( I bailed before that happened because I wanted a nap ). The simple fact of jumping into a car and having the freedom to go anywhere you want without having to ask permission. The fact of being able to go anywhere at any time at night and being able to find stores and restaurants that are open past 8pm. Ice cubes in all my drinks was very cool, literally. Being able to sit around and not have to worry about when your next hard time was ( a particular time you had to be somewhere) and not worrying about getting attached to some sort of detail ( work party/group for a particular task ). Hell , just driving down the highway playing music without headphones on and the windows down was wonderful ( a huge thank you to all that let me borrow their cars :). I do have to say that having not had a bad hangover in quite a while I sure did notice how I did not miss them.
The first night home was kind of strange for me.I always feel as if I am some sort of time traveler when I travel a far distance in one day, especially when I do it and I am in the Army. One day I am in a classroom wearing a uniform getting a class on when it is okay to shoot people and the next day I am at home having drinks ( with ice) with all my friends. The first night out I felt more like a bystander on the fringe of the crowd than I did a participant. Everyone was sitting around just like always talking about the previous workweek and stuff they were planning to do this summer. And I was just kind of sitting there absorbing it all feeling out of place. Part of it is that it is difficult to really explain what it is like in the Army to a group of people that have never been in. After years of this I have decided that it is not possible and the best you will be able to do is share a few funny stories and have a laugh. That is one reason I am glad to have this blog as I feel it helps to explain the military and what we do a little more clearly than a typical bar conversation.
Where as the pass was awesome and a much needed break it was actually kind of cool to get back. Most of us just want to get over there and start doing our job. This is something we have been training for and working towards for over a year now and all the training is now becoming redundant. Not to mention that the big Army stupid bus apparently rolled into town while we were gone. Apparently the active duty Army unit that is stationed in the barracks around us is not fond of a deploying National Guard unit in their midst. Not just any Guard unit but an Airborne Guard unit. We all think that it is beret envy as the unit here is a leg (non Airborne / not cool enough to jump out of airplanes ) unit. The regular Army wears black berets, Airborne units wear a maroon beret, Rangers wear a tan beret and Special Forces wear a green beret. The Army wearing black berets is something fairly new. A few years ago some general in the pentagon ( probably a leg ) decided that everyone should be allowed to wear a beret not just special units.The command Sergeant major that is stationed here has started nit picking all our soldiers, apparently he does not like when we choose to put on our berets before going outside and when we decide to take them off as we go inside. Basically you have to wear headgear when you are outside and take it off when you go inside. I guess the fact that we put our berets on as we are walking outside and taking them off as we enter buildings as opposed to coming to a complete stop either as we enter and leave to do it annoys him.He went so far as to go to our CO ( commanding officer ) and complain to him as to when exactly we should put our berets on, bottom line Stupid Army bus.
So the pass went great except when I finally got to the Seattle airport. They lost my bag and my bag only out of the whole flight. I found this to be somewhat suspicious as I had allot of newly purchased Army gear in my bag to include a pretty fancy brand new combat rifle sight for my M-4. The M-4 is the standard issue rifle in the Army these days, it is basically the same thing as an M-16 which the Army has used since Vietnam except it now has a shorter barrel and a collapsible stock. It also has rails that cover the barrel that you are able to attach different types of accessories to the rifle such as fore grips, flashlights, bi-pods and that sort of thing. The Army issues us a combat sight for our rifles but I really do not like it and chose to buy my own, besides I can use it on my rifle at home so it is not just a one year use item. Anyways after not seeing my bag on the carousel I had to go to the baggage claim desk to find out they had no idea where my bag was. After I explained to them that I was leaving for Iraq in several days and that I was really, really, really not happy that they did not know where my bag was and explained to them how much money it was going to cost for them to replace the items it miraculously showed up in their computer as still being in Michigan. I had to go pick it up from the airport today and to my surprise everything was in there which I was pretty happy about.
So that about sums up my four day pass experience I will try and put in another entry before I cross the big pond. If not it may be several weeks before I am able to access the interweb again. Until next time..........
The first night home was kind of strange for me.I always feel as if I am some sort of time traveler when I travel a far distance in one day, especially when I do it and I am in the Army. One day I am in a classroom wearing a uniform getting a class on when it is okay to shoot people and the next day I am at home having drinks ( with ice) with all my friends. The first night out I felt more like a bystander on the fringe of the crowd than I did a participant. Everyone was sitting around just like always talking about the previous workweek and stuff they were planning to do this summer. And I was just kind of sitting there absorbing it all feeling out of place. Part of it is that it is difficult to really explain what it is like in the Army to a group of people that have never been in. After years of this I have decided that it is not possible and the best you will be able to do is share a few funny stories and have a laugh. That is one reason I am glad to have this blog as I feel it helps to explain the military and what we do a little more clearly than a typical bar conversation.
Where as the pass was awesome and a much needed break it was actually kind of cool to get back. Most of us just want to get over there and start doing our job. This is something we have been training for and working towards for over a year now and all the training is now becoming redundant. Not to mention that the big Army stupid bus apparently rolled into town while we were gone. Apparently the active duty Army unit that is stationed in the barracks around us is not fond of a deploying National Guard unit in their midst. Not just any Guard unit but an Airborne Guard unit. We all think that it is beret envy as the unit here is a leg (non Airborne / not cool enough to jump out of airplanes ) unit. The regular Army wears black berets, Airborne units wear a maroon beret, Rangers wear a tan beret and Special Forces wear a green beret. The Army wearing black berets is something fairly new. A few years ago some general in the pentagon ( probably a leg ) decided that everyone should be allowed to wear a beret not just special units.The command Sergeant major that is stationed here has started nit picking all our soldiers, apparently he does not like when we choose to put on our berets before going outside and when we decide to take them off as we go inside. Basically you have to wear headgear when you are outside and take it off when you go inside. I guess the fact that we put our berets on as we are walking outside and taking them off as we enter buildings as opposed to coming to a complete stop either as we enter and leave to do it annoys him.He went so far as to go to our CO ( commanding officer ) and complain to him as to when exactly we should put our berets on, bottom line Stupid Army bus.
So the pass went great except when I finally got to the Seattle airport. They lost my bag and my bag only out of the whole flight. I found this to be somewhat suspicious as I had allot of newly purchased Army gear in my bag to include a pretty fancy brand new combat rifle sight for my M-4. The M-4 is the standard issue rifle in the Army these days, it is basically the same thing as an M-16 which the Army has used since Vietnam except it now has a shorter barrel and a collapsible stock. It also has rails that cover the barrel that you are able to attach different types of accessories to the rifle such as fore grips, flashlights, bi-pods and that sort of thing. The Army issues us a combat sight for our rifles but I really do not like it and chose to buy my own, besides I can use it on my rifle at home so it is not just a one year use item. Anyways after not seeing my bag on the carousel I had to go to the baggage claim desk to find out they had no idea where my bag was. After I explained to them that I was leaving for Iraq in several days and that I was really, really, really not happy that they did not know where my bag was and explained to them how much money it was going to cost for them to replace the items it miraculously showed up in their computer as still being in Michigan. I had to go pick it up from the airport today and to my surprise everything was in there which I was pretty happy about.
So that about sums up my four day pass experience I will try and put in another entry before I cross the big pond. If not it may be several weeks before I am able to access the interweb again. Until next time..........
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Active duty Vs. Reserves
This entry is mostly a description of the differences between active duty and the reserves. I am astounded sometimes by the lack of knowledge about the military and how it works in the general populace of the United States sometimes so I figure since I have this blog maybe I can explain some of that to those that are interested.
Whenever you sign your first contract with the military whether it is the Army, Air force, Marines, coast guard, Navy or any reserve unit you are signing an 8 year contract. I will use my experience as an example, when I enlisted for the first time it was for 3 years of active duty. When I got out I had the choice to serve the 5 years in either the Army Reserves or in the Inactive reserves (IRR). The Army ( or national guard) reserves means you go to a weekend drill once a month usually for a Saturday and Sunday and you also have to serve two full weeks during the summer months. The in-active reserves just means the Army keeps all your contact info on file for those 5 years and in case they need extra body's they can call you up and re-activate you to active duty. That happened to my friend Jim for Desert storm, one day he was sitting on his couch and he got a phone call and two weeks later he was sitting in a tank on his way through the Iraqi desert. When you are in the active reserves you can also be called back up for active duty which has obviously been the case in the last several years with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I chose to join the active reserves when I got off of active duty and served those last 5 years of my 8 year contract and then some. Once you have completed those 8 years you are done unless you decide to stay in. I have heard stories in the last several years of the Army trying to call up soldiers past their 8 year contract but I believe all those folks fought it and won in court as a breach of contract. The only difference between the National Guard and the Army reserves is that the National Guard is State funded and the Army reserves is government funded. To add to that the National guard gets some money from the federal government but not a lot. When the National Guard gets activated for active duty those soldiers become part of the regular Army and are paid federally.
When I was serving with the 82nd Airborne division on active duty we used to make fun of all the reservists and National guard and back then they kind of deserved it. That was during peacetime when the last time a reserve unit had been called to active duty was for Vietnam. But these days I consider the Guard and Army reserves to be actually more difficult to serve in than active duty. The differences are that when you are on active duty the Army is your life and job and that is all you have to worry about. You get up every morning and do PT you go eat chow then you report to whatever area you work in. At the end of the day you go back to the barracks and your day is done. You usually get weekends off unless you are in the Field ( on training maneuvers) and you get to enjoy all the federal holidays that everyone else enjoys. Plus you get 30 days off every year in which you can take leave and go home or go traveling. It really is just like having a job with the slight difference that you may have to go to a war and you have to obey lots of rules.
In the reserves you only get that one weekend a month and those 2 weeks in the summer to train on all your military skills and you are expected to be proficient in your job at all times especially these days with all the call ups. Also you have to maintain your PT to the Army standards which I can tell you is allot harder than it sounds. Basically being in the reserves in my eyes requires 3 times the discipline as the active duty does. Plus the fact that you have a whole separate civilian life that you have to maintain. It is also harder for the families when the reserve soldiers get called up because they are usually going through their normal lives then their spouse or whoever has to get up and drop everything and take off for a year. Allot of states have developed new laws in regard to the amount of deployments that their National guard units can be called up. In Michigan if you get called up for a year you cannot be re-deployed for a minimum of three years from their return. Individual soldiers can volunteer for more deployments if they want but the government cannot call up whole units for three years. Those laws were put in place because the Army was calling up units for 15 month deployments then calling them back up only several months after they had returned. Another law that has been put into place in the last year is that units cannot be called up for more than 12 months at a time.
________________________________________________________________________________
I am going to add to this posting because it by far gets the most hits. One of the most frequent questions asked is " what should I do, active or reserves" well that is a tough question as there can be so many variables. It really depends on what you are looking for. Did you just graduate high school and you are unsure what to do with your life? Cant find work, unhappy where you are at, need to make a change? Have a job and a life but just looking for more? Want a little adventure in your life?
As you can see there are many reasons people consider the Military option. From a personal standpoint, I reiterate personal standpoint. I think that unless you have a job you are happy with or you are in school and just looking for a little extra money to help you pay for college that everyone that joins the military should strive for active duty first. For one thing going from active duty to the reserves is easy, but going from the reserves to active is actually very difficult. Don't ask me why, it does not make any sense to me either. Maybe it is my military mindset but why do something half assed, this is not to say that there is anything wrong with the folks that just go straight into the reserves. But if you are not sure what to do with your life or you are looking for a change going active would be your best bet. It can be a scary decision for sure, but thousands of people do it every year.
One thing I do want to make clear, and once again this is from a personal standpoint. Do not entertain the thought of or join the military because you think someone else expects it of you or wants you to. If you are going to do it make sure it is for the right reasons. Also do not go into it thinking it will cure all your woes. A good friend told me once "no matter where you go, there you are" words to live by.
Whenever you sign your first contract with the military whether it is the Army, Air force, Marines, coast guard, Navy or any reserve unit you are signing an 8 year contract. I will use my experience as an example, when I enlisted for the first time it was for 3 years of active duty. When I got out I had the choice to serve the 5 years in either the Army Reserves or in the Inactive reserves (IRR). The Army ( or national guard) reserves means you go to a weekend drill once a month usually for a Saturday and Sunday and you also have to serve two full weeks during the summer months. The in-active reserves just means the Army keeps all your contact info on file for those 5 years and in case they need extra body's they can call you up and re-activate you to active duty. That happened to my friend Jim for Desert storm, one day he was sitting on his couch and he got a phone call and two weeks later he was sitting in a tank on his way through the Iraqi desert. When you are in the active reserves you can also be called back up for active duty which has obviously been the case in the last several years with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I chose to join the active reserves when I got off of active duty and served those last 5 years of my 8 year contract and then some. Once you have completed those 8 years you are done unless you decide to stay in. I have heard stories in the last several years of the Army trying to call up soldiers past their 8 year contract but I believe all those folks fought it and won in court as a breach of contract. The only difference between the National Guard and the Army reserves is that the National Guard is State funded and the Army reserves is government funded. To add to that the National guard gets some money from the federal government but not a lot. When the National Guard gets activated for active duty those soldiers become part of the regular Army and are paid federally.
When I was serving with the 82nd Airborne division on active duty we used to make fun of all the reservists and National guard and back then they kind of deserved it. That was during peacetime when the last time a reserve unit had been called to active duty was for Vietnam. But these days I consider the Guard and Army reserves to be actually more difficult to serve in than active duty. The differences are that when you are on active duty the Army is your life and job and that is all you have to worry about. You get up every morning and do PT you go eat chow then you report to whatever area you work in. At the end of the day you go back to the barracks and your day is done. You usually get weekends off unless you are in the Field ( on training maneuvers) and you get to enjoy all the federal holidays that everyone else enjoys. Plus you get 30 days off every year in which you can take leave and go home or go traveling. It really is just like having a job with the slight difference that you may have to go to a war and you have to obey lots of rules.
In the reserves you only get that one weekend a month and those 2 weeks in the summer to train on all your military skills and you are expected to be proficient in your job at all times especially these days with all the call ups. Also you have to maintain your PT to the Army standards which I can tell you is allot harder than it sounds. Basically being in the reserves in my eyes requires 3 times the discipline as the active duty does. Plus the fact that you have a whole separate civilian life that you have to maintain. It is also harder for the families when the reserve soldiers get called up because they are usually going through their normal lives then their spouse or whoever has to get up and drop everything and take off for a year. Allot of states have developed new laws in regard to the amount of deployments that their National guard units can be called up. In Michigan if you get called up for a year you cannot be re-deployed for a minimum of three years from their return. Individual soldiers can volunteer for more deployments if they want but the government cannot call up whole units for three years. Those laws were put in place because the Army was calling up units for 15 month deployments then calling them back up only several months after they had returned. Another law that has been put into place in the last year is that units cannot be called up for more than 12 months at a time.
________________________________________________________________________________
I am going to add to this posting because it by far gets the most hits. One of the most frequent questions asked is " what should I do, active or reserves" well that is a tough question as there can be so many variables. It really depends on what you are looking for. Did you just graduate high school and you are unsure what to do with your life? Cant find work, unhappy where you are at, need to make a change? Have a job and a life but just looking for more? Want a little adventure in your life?
As you can see there are many reasons people consider the Military option. From a personal standpoint, I reiterate personal standpoint. I think that unless you have a job you are happy with or you are in school and just looking for a little extra money to help you pay for college that everyone that joins the military should strive for active duty first. For one thing going from active duty to the reserves is easy, but going from the reserves to active is actually very difficult. Don't ask me why, it does not make any sense to me either. Maybe it is my military mindset but why do something half assed, this is not to say that there is anything wrong with the folks that just go straight into the reserves. But if you are not sure what to do with your life or you are looking for a change going active would be your best bet. It can be a scary decision for sure, but thousands of people do it every year.
One thing I do want to make clear, and once again this is from a personal standpoint. Do not entertain the thought of or join the military because you think someone else expects it of you or wants you to. If you are going to do it make sure it is for the right reasons. Also do not go into it thinking it will cure all your woes. A good friend told me once "no matter where you go, there you are" words to live by.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Age and rank
Easily one of the hardest parts of being back in the Army has been my age in relation to my rank and other peoples rank. Due to some of my more extravagant behavior in previous enlistments I am not holding much rank in the Army at the moment. Also the spot I am in at this company does not offer much in terms of advancement but I chose to stay in this unit for deployment more than promotion. Anyways, being a 42 year old private in the land of 24 year old Sergeants has proven to be a test of my maturity. Which by the way has noticeably improved over the years as I have not had any incidents (yet). Not only is it hard for me but it is also difficult for the younger Sergeants as they definitely feel uncomfortable telling me what to do. As a matter of fact for the most part when I am working with them I inevitably take charge and run the detail ( work group working on a specific task ) because sad as it may be I have noticed that alot of the younger NCO'c ( non-commissioned officers or non-coms or enlisted) really have no idea how to lead. With all the constant deployments and retention problems in the Army these days the armed forces have been using promotions as a way to keep soldiers in the Army. This is a good way to keep the force strength up but in the long run it is a bad way to run the Army. To me it seems that the rank of Sergeant is the Army's new rank of Specialist ( a specialist is considered an overpaid private). Here is a brief intro to the Army's rank structure:
Enlisted-
E-1 Private
E-2 Private w/one stripe
E-3 Private first class
E-4 Specialist
E-5 Sergeant
E-6 Staff sergeant
E-7 Sergeant first class
E-8 Master sergeant
E-9 First Sergeant/Sergeant major
Officers-
0-1 2nd Lieutenant
0-2 1st lieutenant
0-3 captain
0-4 Major
0-5 Lieutenant colonel
0-6 colonel
0-7 General (1 star,2 star, 3 star, 4 star)
Currently I am a lowly private first class although I have been told that a promotion is on its way which for me only really means a pay raise which I am fine with. I am hoping to get my Sergeant stripes while we are overseas. Currently in the unit there are about 15 people around my age that hold the same rank as me if not lower so it makes it a hard life on those younger sergeants.
It is of my opinion that the quality of soldiers currently in the Army is on both ends of the scale from top of the line soldiers to bottom of the barrel soldiers. This has a lot to do with the recruitment standards that the Army used over the last several years to get soldiers to stay in the service or recruiting off the street. It used to be if you had any major mis-deamoners on your criminal record there was no way you could get into the Army. But for several years they dropped that requirement and were accepting people that had as many as 2-3 felonies on record. Starting last October which is the beginning of the Army's fiscal year they dropped that practice and have since gone back to the policy of no waivers to get into the Military. I am grateful I came back in when I did because if I had waited I might not have been able to get in. Not that I needed any waivers or anything but the process would have been a lot more difficult.
To be honest when I came back into the service in early 2008 I would have considered myself one of the bottom of the barrel soldiers. having lived as a civilian for the last 12 years I had absolutely no military bearing whatsoever. It has been a pretty big adjustment for me being back in the Army. I am happy to say that over this last year and a half I have improved my soldierly ways quite a bit. I actually wish that they had made me go through some kind of boot camp to come back in as so many things have changed since the last time I was in. All the issued equipment is new and has actually changed several times over the years. Not only has all the gear changed but also all the soldier tasks have changed completely, it is like being in a completely different Army.
One major change in the military that I am not so fond of and this may come as a shock to some that know me is the lackadaisical approach the Army has come to adopt. Everything is about the soldiers comfort these days which is nice in some ways but there is a definite lack of discipline. You know it has to be a change if I am complaining about it due to my previous exploits in the military. Maybe I have just gotten older in the ways of my thinking, I do not know, but the Army seems to have fallen into the ME generation in full force. Simple things like keeping your personal areas cleaned up and having all your gear squared away ( making sure all your gear is in working order) does not seem to be much of a priority in the Army these days.
Enlisted-
E-1 Private
E-2 Private w/one stripe
E-3 Private first class
E-4 Specialist
E-5 Sergeant
E-6 Staff sergeant
E-7 Sergeant first class
E-8 Master sergeant
E-9 First Sergeant/Sergeant major
Officers-
0-1 2nd Lieutenant
0-2 1st lieutenant
0-3 captain
0-4 Major
0-5 Lieutenant colonel
0-6 colonel
0-7 General (1 star,2 star, 3 star, 4 star)
Currently I am a lowly private first class although I have been told that a promotion is on its way which for me only really means a pay raise which I am fine with. I am hoping to get my Sergeant stripes while we are overseas. Currently in the unit there are about 15 people around my age that hold the same rank as me if not lower so it makes it a hard life on those younger sergeants.
It is of my opinion that the quality of soldiers currently in the Army is on both ends of the scale from top of the line soldiers to bottom of the barrel soldiers. This has a lot to do with the recruitment standards that the Army used over the last several years to get soldiers to stay in the service or recruiting off the street. It used to be if you had any major mis-deamoners on your criminal record there was no way you could get into the Army. But for several years they dropped that requirement and were accepting people that had as many as 2-3 felonies on record. Starting last October which is the beginning of the Army's fiscal year they dropped that practice and have since gone back to the policy of no waivers to get into the Military. I am grateful I came back in when I did because if I had waited I might not have been able to get in. Not that I needed any waivers or anything but the process would have been a lot more difficult.
To be honest when I came back into the service in early 2008 I would have considered myself one of the bottom of the barrel soldiers. having lived as a civilian for the last 12 years I had absolutely no military bearing whatsoever. It has been a pretty big adjustment for me being back in the Army. I am happy to say that over this last year and a half I have improved my soldierly ways quite a bit. I actually wish that they had made me go through some kind of boot camp to come back in as so many things have changed since the last time I was in. All the issued equipment is new and has actually changed several times over the years. Not only has all the gear changed but also all the soldier tasks have changed completely, it is like being in a completely different Army.
One major change in the military that I am not so fond of and this may come as a shock to some that know me is the lackadaisical approach the Army has come to adopt. Everything is about the soldiers comfort these days which is nice in some ways but there is a definite lack of discipline. You know it has to be a change if I am complaining about it due to my previous exploits in the military. Maybe I have just gotten older in the ways of my thinking, I do not know, but the Army seems to have fallen into the ME generation in full force. Simple things like keeping your personal areas cleaned up and having all your gear squared away ( making sure all your gear is in working order) does not seem to be much of a priority in the Army these days.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Apology
My apologies for the screwed up layout of the text. I tried to rearrange the post in to the correct order and in the process the text layout got screwed up. Future posts should not be so spread out.
The decision
The purpose of this blog is to create a space for me to formulate all my
thoughts on my decision to go back into the Army reserves and to
specifically go to Iraq on a deployment. It is also a good medium to keep
all my friends informed on what is going on with me during my deployment.
I first broached the subject of re-enlisting with my friend Sean in early
2007. We were both in a state of flux in our jobs and our lives at that
time and that proved to be the catalyst for the most part in out decision
making process. That wasnt all of it of course, our friend Clint was
currently serving in the National Guard at the time and the thought of all
of us in the same unit was pretty appealing.
For myself personally there were so many other factors in my decision also.
Money, boredom, college money, my idealist veiws and just a major dis-
satisfaction with my life up to that point. For a good period of time
before I came to the conclusion of re-enlisting I just seemed to be free
floating through life with absoloutly no direction and a sort of malaise
and I really did not like it. The Michigan economy and the United States
for that matter were /are in a horrible economy work was slow and to be
honest I was very dis-interested in what I was doing as far as work went. I
have spent the last 20 years of my life doing construction which I always
felt was not up to my standards. In other words I felt I was wasting my
talents, the only problem was I was not sure what those talents were. Not
to say that construction work is beneath me or anyone for that matter as I
have many friends in the industry and I consider them all to be able minded
and extremly smart. But construction was just something that I started
doing when I got off active duty in 1989 and I just kind of went with the
flow. With the economy in the state it was, and is, I was finding it
extremly hard to get work and was increasingly doing jobs that I really did
not want to do but was compelled to do such as concrete and roofing. The
Army and deployment was an extremly easy solution to all my financial
problems.
Not only was it a quick fix to my financial problems but it also offered
new college money. Since I was a moron and did not use the GI bill that I
had from my first enlistment I will now have a second chance, not to
mention the fact that the new one is so much better. Hopefully moronic
activity will not consume me when I return and this time I will actualy use
it this time. So I have covered money, boredom and college money now for
the confusing idealist veiws.
Hopefully some of this will not upset or agraviate any of my friends but
one of the many other reasons I came back in was I was tired of the way
most of America was going about their daily lives as if nothing else was
going on in the world. A day has not gone by since the beggining of the war
in Afghanistan and Iraq that I do not think of the men and women who are
serving over there and in the armed forces in general. Part of that is from
being a veteran myself, having served in operation Desert Sheild / Desert
Storm I know what it is like to be away from home serving your country
during a war. It is a huge sacrifice and I just think that too many
Americans take that service for granted. I felt that I was becoming one of
those people taking it for granted and in some twisted form of idealism I
felt for some reason that if I was over there then my friends would have to
think more about those wars and the people serving in them. Because as it
stands right now with our all volunteer Army the only people truley
affected by the war on terrorism are the friends and family of the soldiers
who are serving in them. As I write it and re-read it it sounds extremly
self centered and selfish but be that as it may that was one of the many
other reasons for my volunteering to go on this deployment. Also, and I
have heard many other prior service veterans say the same thing, hearing
about how overburdened the armed forces were and the many repeat
deployments that our service men and women have been going on I just felt
that I should pitch in. Now I am not going to become a pariah and try and
make it sound like I did this all for the soldiers and my country. As I
have previously stated and written down money and college were prime
motivators.
Dont get me wrong I love my country and I am proud to be serving again. I
have done my fair share of bitching about the current state of our country
and our leadership or lack there of in the last several years. Having
travelled to many third world countrys in my lifetime and seen how horrible
other governments and peoples living conditions are America is the best in
comparison. America has its problems but they pale in relation to alot of
other countrys.
thoughts on my decision to go back into the Army reserves and to
specifically go to Iraq on a deployment. It is also a good medium to keep
all my friends informed on what is going on with me during my deployment.
I first broached the subject of re-enlisting with my friend Sean in early
2007. We were both in a state of flux in our jobs and our lives at that
time and that proved to be the catalyst for the most part in out decision
making process. That wasnt all of it of course, our friend Clint was
currently serving in the National Guard at the time and the thought of all
of us in the same unit was pretty appealing.
For myself personally there were so many other factors in my decision also.
Money, boredom, college money, my idealist veiws and just a major dis-
satisfaction with my life up to that point. For a good period of time
before I came to the conclusion of re-enlisting I just seemed to be free
floating through life with absoloutly no direction and a sort of malaise
and I really did not like it. The Michigan economy and the United States
for that matter were /are in a horrible economy work was slow and to be
honest I was very dis-interested in what I was doing as far as work went. I
have spent the last 20 years of my life doing construction which I always
felt was not up to my standards. In other words I felt I was wasting my
talents, the only problem was I was not sure what those talents were. Not
to say that construction work is beneath me or anyone for that matter as I
have many friends in the industry and I consider them all to be able minded
and extremly smart. But construction was just something that I started
doing when I got off active duty in 1989 and I just kind of went with the
flow. With the economy in the state it was, and is, I was finding it
extremly hard to get work and was increasingly doing jobs that I really did
not want to do but was compelled to do such as concrete and roofing. The
Army and deployment was an extremly easy solution to all my financial
problems.
Not only was it a quick fix to my financial problems but it also offered
new college money. Since I was a moron and did not use the GI bill that I
had from my first enlistment I will now have a second chance, not to
mention the fact that the new one is so much better. Hopefully moronic
activity will not consume me when I return and this time I will actualy use
it this time. So I have covered money, boredom and college money now for
the confusing idealist veiws.
Hopefully some of this will not upset or agraviate any of my friends but
one of the many other reasons I came back in was I was tired of the way
most of America was going about their daily lives as if nothing else was
going on in the world. A day has not gone by since the beggining of the war
in Afghanistan and Iraq that I do not think of the men and women who are
serving over there and in the armed forces in general. Part of that is from
being a veteran myself, having served in operation Desert Sheild / Desert
Storm I know what it is like to be away from home serving your country
during a war. It is a huge sacrifice and I just think that too many
Americans take that service for granted. I felt that I was becoming one of
those people taking it for granted and in some twisted form of idealism I
felt for some reason that if I was over there then my friends would have to
think more about those wars and the people serving in them. Because as it
stands right now with our all volunteer Army the only people truley
affected by the war on terrorism are the friends and family of the soldiers
who are serving in them. As I write it and re-read it it sounds extremly
self centered and selfish but be that as it may that was one of the many
other reasons for my volunteering to go on this deployment. Also, and I
have heard many other prior service veterans say the same thing, hearing
about how overburdened the armed forces were and the many repeat
deployments that our service men and women have been going on I just felt
that I should pitch in. Now I am not going to become a pariah and try and
make it sound like I did this all for the soldiers and my country. As I
have previously stated and written down money and college were prime
motivators.
Dont get me wrong I love my country and I am proud to be serving again. I
have done my fair share of bitching about the current state of our country
and our leadership or lack there of in the last several years. Having
travelled to many third world countrys in my lifetime and seen how horrible
other governments and peoples living conditions are America is the best in
comparison. America has its problems but they pale in relation to alot of
other countrys.
The process
Early 2007, the initial discussions were about what we wanted to do in the
Army if we went back in and we both came to the conclusion that what we did
not want to do was any kind of support job which both of us had done
previously in the service. We pretty much came to the mutual decision to
join the Airborne Infantry unit that Clint was in partly because Clint was
there and also there was good intelligence that they were going to be
called up for deployment. We both were joining the Guard again specifically
for deployment. The summer months of 2007 were a flurry of phone calls and
internet searches of what infantry units and or combat units that were
available in the guard and were on the list for deployments. For a red hot
minute it looked as if I would not be able to join Clint’s unit and that
brought a whole new flurry of activity trying to find a good unit to go to.
I looked at joining a leg ( non-Airborne) unit out of Detroit but was
warned that they were ate the fuck up (not worth a damn) and also a
mechanized Infantry unit on the west side of the state but the commute was
too much for me. Eventually it all worked out and both Sean and I got into
Clint’s unit.. I mean if you are going to do something big like re-
enlisting at age 41 you might as well go big, right? I looked at it all as
a mid life crisis and since neither of us could afford a new sports car we
would go back into the Army as Infantry. So we went to the local
recruitment office in Ypsilanti and told the recruiter we wanted to re-
enlist as Infantry which caused a lot of raised eyebrows, especially when
we told them what unit we wanted to go to. We actually went to see the
recruiter several times and called him several times before we committed to
anything. Having been prior service we wanted to make sure we did not get
screwed over which unbelievably still happens these days. We ended up
signing a 2 year contract with no bonus as they could not find all our
previous service records. (which ended up working very well for me)with a
guaranteed Infantry slot.
Everything else was a smooth ride except when it came to the medical
portion. The recruiters sent us to a private clinic in Wixom for our
physicals instead of the local MEPS ( Military in processing station) . It
was nice to not have to go through the MEPS process with all the other
recruits but the doctor we went to ended up being some kind of retard.
Basically true to government form they use the lowest bidder for those
types of services and it shows believe me. There were a couple of close
calls medically but we both finally passed after having to go to our
individual doctors and setting some things straight. Which was a huge
relief to both of us and also to the recruiters as we had passed all the
other tests with flying colors. As a testament to the able minds of my
friends both Sean and I passed the ASVAB (Armed forces entrance exam) well
above the average which is funny since we are both high school dropouts
with no college. To give an example when I went to take my test I was in a
van with 4 other people all of which had recently graduated from high
school, only one other person passed the test and he just barely passed.
This is sad as the ASVAB is not that hard of a test and the computer
version that we took has somewhat of a curve to it. As you answer questions
they either get harder or easier based on your answer. For example if you
answer the question wrong the next question is easier and if you answer
correctly the next question is harder. I just figured that the ones that
did not pass must have spelled their names wrong.
So finally after several small bumps in the road Sean and I went down to
the recruiters office and raised our right hands. Not only did we get to
join the National guard for 2 years but we also got these cool pens with
built in laser pointers and a nice coffee travel mug, what a deal.
Army if we went back in and we both came to the conclusion that what we did
not want to do was any kind of support job which both of us had done
previously in the service. We pretty much came to the mutual decision to
join the Airborne Infantry unit that Clint was in partly because Clint was
there and also there was good intelligence that they were going to be
called up for deployment. We both were joining the Guard again specifically
for deployment. The summer months of 2007 were a flurry of phone calls and
internet searches of what infantry units and or combat units that were
available in the guard and were on the list for deployments. For a red hot
minute it looked as if I would not be able to join Clint’s unit and that
brought a whole new flurry of activity trying to find a good unit to go to.
I looked at joining a leg ( non-Airborne) unit out of Detroit but was
warned that they were ate the fuck up (not worth a damn) and also a
mechanized Infantry unit on the west side of the state but the commute was
too much for me. Eventually it all worked out and both Sean and I got into
Clint’s unit.. I mean if you are going to do something big like re-
enlisting at age 41 you might as well go big, right? I looked at it all as
a mid life crisis and since neither of us could afford a new sports car we
would go back into the Army as Infantry. So we went to the local
recruitment office in Ypsilanti and told the recruiter we wanted to re-
enlist as Infantry which caused a lot of raised eyebrows, especially when
we told them what unit we wanted to go to. We actually went to see the
recruiter several times and called him several times before we committed to
anything. Having been prior service we wanted to make sure we did not get
screwed over which unbelievably still happens these days. We ended up
signing a 2 year contract with no bonus as they could not find all our
previous service records. (which ended up working very well for me)with a
guaranteed Infantry slot.
Everything else was a smooth ride except when it came to the medical
portion. The recruiters sent us to a private clinic in Wixom for our
physicals instead of the local MEPS ( Military in processing station) . It
was nice to not have to go through the MEPS process with all the other
recruits but the doctor we went to ended up being some kind of retard.
Basically true to government form they use the lowest bidder for those
types of services and it shows believe me. There were a couple of close
calls medically but we both finally passed after having to go to our
individual doctors and setting some things straight. Which was a huge
relief to both of us and also to the recruiters as we had passed all the
other tests with flying colors. As a testament to the able minds of my
friends both Sean and I passed the ASVAB (Armed forces entrance exam) well
above the average which is funny since we are both high school dropouts
with no college. To give an example when I went to take my test I was in a
van with 4 other people all of which had recently graduated from high
school, only one other person passed the test and he just barely passed.
This is sad as the ASVAB is not that hard of a test and the computer
version that we took has somewhat of a curve to it. As you answer questions
they either get harder or easier based on your answer. For example if you
answer the question wrong the next question is easier and if you answer
correctly the next question is harder. I just figured that the ones that
did not pass must have spelled their names wrong.
So finally after several small bumps in the road Sean and I went down to
the recruiters office and raised our right hands. Not only did we get to
join the National guard for 2 years but we also got these cool pens with
built in laser pointers and a nice coffee travel mug, what a deal.
Back in the Army
Holy crap what was I thinking joining an Airborne Infantry unit I must have
a closed head injury, I swear. I thought it would be no big deal to get
back in shape for the Army, boy was I wrong. It was and has been a long
process. Apparently when you eat, drink and smoke cigarettes like a rock
star you cant just go out and run 2 miles with ease. Besides the age factor
of waking up in the morning all sore and tired without having done any
physical activity the day before. Did I not look in the mirror and realize
that I was 40 pounds overweight and that I smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a
day. Having to work construction during the day and trying to work out at
night did not work well for me. When you have been on a ladder all day, or
pouring concrete , roofing or mudding drywall going running when you get
done is not really an option, maybe if I was 20 years younger. To say it
was a shock to the system is putting it mildly. Also it was a complete
mental thing for me as I had been in the civilian world for 12 years and
did not have so much of a military mind about me. It was been a long road
to say the least.
I had my first drill weekend with this unit in February 2008 and just now
in my second month of Mobilization (June 2009) am I truly able to work out
,lose weight and really get back into running. I used to absolutely hate
running, partly because it is hard and not nearly as fun as hanging out at
the bar or on the couch but also because I had to learn how to do it all
over again. I know that sounds silly but for the last year I have really
struggled with running. I would not breathe enough and the smoking did not
help (finally quit after trying to for over a year) and when I would run I
ran flat footed. It was really rough on my knees and back. But now that I
am in a position to run everyday I have finally been able to fix those
problems and actually enjoy running now which is something I never thought
would happen. So if you are sitting on your couch and decide to join the
Army I suggest you find some way to get free money or unemployment checks
so you can dedicate yourself to working out. Maybe explore getting a sugar
momma or daddy or sell blood but definitely quit smoking and start running
your ass off.
The Army now is nothing like the Army that I was in back in the late 80's
early 90's. The computer age has finally caught up to the military both in
equipment and in the personal. Back in the day when you were done with your
duty day you would sit around and talk with your buddies, play cards or
read a book. Now and days its all about the gadgets from laptops to iPods.
Not only are the gadgets prevalent but the kids in the Army these days are
the computer generation. This is a good thing, as much of the equipment in
the military is electronic something or other. In the old days an Infantry
soldier pretty much just had to be able to walk a lot and shoot his rifle.
In this day and age they not only have to do that but they have to be able
to operate navigational computers, communication computers, and all sorts
of other electronic equipment. When I was with the 82nd Airborne in the
late 80's we never had radios in any of the trucks we drove. these days
every vehicle has a radio in it. Not only do you need to know how to
communicate on the different radio systems but every soldier has to be able
to program them and call in all sorts of reports. My head always seems to
be swimming with all the new stuff I had to learn coming back into the Army
this time. A lot of this is all due to the current wars we are in at this
time. An Army that has been at war for 7 years is a lot different form an
Army that has been in peace for 7 years.
The amount of equipment that each soldier gets issued is also staggering,
and most of it is brand new and even some of it you get to keep as it cant
and should not be re-used by others. From camel back water systems to
oakley blast resistant sunglasses. When I was in before you were not
allowed to wear any type of sunglasses now it is a requirement and you
pretty much have to wear them all the time. I have been issued Gerber
leatherman tools, several camel backs, several sets of glasses, all manner
of cold and wet weather gear, an awesome new sleeping bag system which sure
beats the hell out of the old green cotton one, brand new body armor, a
rifleman's vest which I can attach all sorts of things to with the MOLLE
system. All of it it is very impressive.
My only complaint is the damn camo pattern which is all ACU. The most
absolutely useless camo pattern ever thought of by man or woman as the case
may be. I am convinced that some general and several politicians sold their
souls to some defense contractor and are getting rich off their stock
options for agreeing to use this pattern. The only camouflage property's
the ACU covers are if you are hiding in a gravel parking lot filled with
light green rocks or if you were trying to hide inside a rain cloud. Since
I have never seen green rocks and I cannot fly my opinion is that this camo
pattern sucks ass. Especially in a desert enviornment, what the hell were
they thinking making a loam green camouflage for our Army which is fighting
in not one but two different arid desert countries,losers.
My other complaint is all the damn Velcro on the equipment and on the
uniforms. The Army went Velcro crazy, its like they just discovered it for
the first time and decided to use it for everything. All the pockets on my
uniform use Velcro as the fastener, except of course the rear pockets still
have buttons which if you ask any soldier for the last 20 years are the
ones they would have voted to replace. And of course as many know all your
unit, combat patches, rank, name tapes and military organization are Velcro
patches. But all your skill badges such as Airborne, CIB ( combat
Infantryman's badge) Air assault and all that are subdued pin on badges
which are a pain in the ass. They are nice if you like being periodically
stabbed in the chest by the push pins when the backings fall off, I myself
am not into body piercings and do not find any enjoyment in it at all. The
cargo pockets, which in my case and most cases as far as I have heard are
only fastened with 2 small Velcro patches yet all the other pockets have
whole strips. The end result is that when you have stuff in those pockets
and kneel down the pocket opens and all your shit falls out. They should
have put the buttons on the cargo pockets and the Velcro strips on the back
pockets, that way when you sit on a hard surface you would not have 4
buttons leaving imprints on your behind. The zipper on the front of the
shirt is nice but I do not understand why they did not use zippers on the
pockets. I mean this is supposed to be a battle uniform, it is not very
tactical when you are trying to be quite and you have to open a velro
pocket to see your map or get something out. That is if you can even get to
the pocket, your chest pockets become useless once you put on your body
armor because the openings are in the center of your chest as opposed to
being on the outside of your chest so that you could access them.
When I first read about the uniforms I remember reading some General
stating that this uniform would be cheaper for the soldier because you
would not have to pay to get your patches sewn on, LLLLIIIIEEESSSSSSS!!!!!
The Velcro patches cost three times what the sew on patches did. Not to
mention that you are supposed to remove all the patches and badges when you
wash the uniform, I did that for a while now I just wash them with all the
patches on as taking them off and putting them all back on is a pain in the
ass. Which brings me to washing them, don't even think about using a dryer
sheet or washing anything else with them as the end result will be a large
round ball of Velcro nightmare with bits of dryer sheet stuck on
everything. I think the people that came up with this uniform should be air
dropped smack in the middle of an Al-Queada base camp and try and hide. It
could be a new reality show called "Trying to hide in loam green camouflage
in the middle of an enemy base camp in the fricken desert" or "how not to
lose your head in Iraqisatan".
a closed head injury, I swear. I thought it would be no big deal to get
back in shape for the Army, boy was I wrong. It was and has been a long
process. Apparently when you eat, drink and smoke cigarettes like a rock
star you cant just go out and run 2 miles with ease. Besides the age factor
of waking up in the morning all sore and tired without having done any
physical activity the day before. Did I not look in the mirror and realize
that I was 40 pounds overweight and that I smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a
day. Having to work construction during the day and trying to work out at
night did not work well for me. When you have been on a ladder all day, or
pouring concrete , roofing or mudding drywall going running when you get
done is not really an option, maybe if I was 20 years younger. To say it
was a shock to the system is putting it mildly. Also it was a complete
mental thing for me as I had been in the civilian world for 12 years and
did not have so much of a military mind about me. It was been a long road
to say the least.
I had my first drill weekend with this unit in February 2008 and just now
in my second month of Mobilization (June 2009) am I truly able to work out
,lose weight and really get back into running. I used to absolutely hate
running, partly because it is hard and not nearly as fun as hanging out at
the bar or on the couch but also because I had to learn how to do it all
over again. I know that sounds silly but for the last year I have really
struggled with running. I would not breathe enough and the smoking did not
help (finally quit after trying to for over a year) and when I would run I
ran flat footed. It was really rough on my knees and back. But now that I
am in a position to run everyday I have finally been able to fix those
problems and actually enjoy running now which is something I never thought
would happen. So if you are sitting on your couch and decide to join the
Army I suggest you find some way to get free money or unemployment checks
so you can dedicate yourself to working out. Maybe explore getting a sugar
momma or daddy or sell blood but definitely quit smoking and start running
your ass off.
The Army now is nothing like the Army that I was in back in the late 80's
early 90's. The computer age has finally caught up to the military both in
equipment and in the personal. Back in the day when you were done with your
duty day you would sit around and talk with your buddies, play cards or
read a book. Now and days its all about the gadgets from laptops to iPods.
Not only are the gadgets prevalent but the kids in the Army these days are
the computer generation. This is a good thing, as much of the equipment in
the military is electronic something or other. In the old days an Infantry
soldier pretty much just had to be able to walk a lot and shoot his rifle.
In this day and age they not only have to do that but they have to be able
to operate navigational computers, communication computers, and all sorts
of other electronic equipment. When I was with the 82nd Airborne in the
late 80's we never had radios in any of the trucks we drove. these days
every vehicle has a radio in it. Not only do you need to know how to
communicate on the different radio systems but every soldier has to be able
to program them and call in all sorts of reports. My head always seems to
be swimming with all the new stuff I had to learn coming back into the Army
this time. A lot of this is all due to the current wars we are in at this
time. An Army that has been at war for 7 years is a lot different form an
Army that has been in peace for 7 years.
The amount of equipment that each soldier gets issued is also staggering,
and most of it is brand new and even some of it you get to keep as it cant
and should not be re-used by others. From camel back water systems to
oakley blast resistant sunglasses. When I was in before you were not
allowed to wear any type of sunglasses now it is a requirement and you
pretty much have to wear them all the time. I have been issued Gerber
leatherman tools, several camel backs, several sets of glasses, all manner
of cold and wet weather gear, an awesome new sleeping bag system which sure
beats the hell out of the old green cotton one, brand new body armor, a
rifleman's vest which I can attach all sorts of things to with the MOLLE
system. All of it it is very impressive.
My only complaint is the damn camo pattern which is all ACU. The most
absolutely useless camo pattern ever thought of by man or woman as the case
may be. I am convinced that some general and several politicians sold their
souls to some defense contractor and are getting rich off their stock
options for agreeing to use this pattern. The only camouflage property's
the ACU covers are if you are hiding in a gravel parking lot filled with
light green rocks or if you were trying to hide inside a rain cloud. Since
I have never seen green rocks and I cannot fly my opinion is that this camo
pattern sucks ass. Especially in a desert enviornment, what the hell were
they thinking making a loam green camouflage for our Army which is fighting
in not one but two different arid desert countries,losers.
My other complaint is all the damn Velcro on the equipment and on the
uniforms. The Army went Velcro crazy, its like they just discovered it for
the first time and decided to use it for everything. All the pockets on my
uniform use Velcro as the fastener, except of course the rear pockets still
have buttons which if you ask any soldier for the last 20 years are the
ones they would have voted to replace. And of course as many know all your
unit, combat patches, rank, name tapes and military organization are Velcro
patches. But all your skill badges such as Airborne, CIB ( combat
Infantryman's badge) Air assault and all that are subdued pin on badges
which are a pain in the ass. They are nice if you like being periodically
stabbed in the chest by the push pins when the backings fall off, I myself
am not into body piercings and do not find any enjoyment in it at all. The
cargo pockets, which in my case and most cases as far as I have heard are
only fastened with 2 small Velcro patches yet all the other pockets have
whole strips. The end result is that when you have stuff in those pockets
and kneel down the pocket opens and all your shit falls out. They should
have put the buttons on the cargo pockets and the Velcro strips on the back
pockets, that way when you sit on a hard surface you would not have 4
buttons leaving imprints on your behind. The zipper on the front of the
shirt is nice but I do not understand why they did not use zippers on the
pockets. I mean this is supposed to be a battle uniform, it is not very
tactical when you are trying to be quite and you have to open a velro
pocket to see your map or get something out. That is if you can even get to
the pocket, your chest pockets become useless once you put on your body
armor because the openings are in the center of your chest as opposed to
being on the outside of your chest so that you could access them.
When I first read about the uniforms I remember reading some General
stating that this uniform would be cheaper for the soldier because you
would not have to pay to get your patches sewn on, LLLLIIIIEEESSSSSSS!!!!!
The Velcro patches cost three times what the sew on patches did. Not to
mention that you are supposed to remove all the patches and badges when you
wash the uniform, I did that for a while now I just wash them with all the
patches on as taking them off and putting them all back on is a pain in the
ass. Which brings me to washing them, don't even think about using a dryer
sheet or washing anything else with them as the end result will be a large
round ball of Velcro nightmare with bits of dryer sheet stuck on
everything. I think the people that came up with this uniform should be air
dropped smack in the middle of an Al-Queada base camp and try and hide. It
could be a new reality show called "Trying to hide in loam green camouflage
in the middle of an enemy base camp in the fricken desert" or "how not to
lose your head in Iraqisatan".
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