Stay Alert! Stay Alive!

Busy day today. Myself and two other Soldiers from the company had to be in formation at 0630 this morning. Imagine that, we didn't get the message that the formation time had changed to later......as one colonel said, we must maintain "Rigid Flexibility"! No better way to describe it!

Got the chance to take a ride down memory lane by riding in the cattle truck. I had forgotten how hard the wood bench seats are and how terrible the drivers are that bring you to the training locations. Once we got to the site, we broke off into different groups to participate in a round-robin training exercise on various means to protect ourselves from the enemy. Some of the training was a repeat from the previous summer at Camp Ripley but it certainly was a great refresher.

One part of the training led us through the different types of Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) and other weapons used to cause us injury. The instructor had deployed four times so he certainly brought a wealth of knowledge to the subject. After his portion, we entered a shack where two Soldiers were role playing being the enemy. It was a sobering reminder that not everyone likes us.

While I was waiting for the cattle truck to take me back to the barracks, I ran into one of the TAC Officers from Class 42. I hadn't spoken to him since I left OCS 10 1/2 years ago. At least he was one of the decent TAC Officers and not one of the two that we referred to as "Pure Evil".

After getting back to the barracks, it just never stopped. I had to rush off and sign for more gear. While I was in line, waiting for gear, I was told I'm the flight captain for the Torch group. So I rushed to the Torch meeting, followed by another meeting, followed by a meeting with an investigator for a Soldier's clearance, followed by another meeting and two classes this evening. What makes matters worse is; as a Soldier, you shouldn't walk and talk on the cell phone. The only free time I sometimes have is going to and from meetings and this rule about the cell phone, sucks! Sorry for not returning calls today. :(

At one of the IED lanes: Suicide Bomber


The bad guys.


Cornwell the Window Licker!


Hopefully, my last ride on one of these trucks or at least another 10 year break!