A Pause In the Action

No video tonight. Due to fast pace of our training this week I wasn't able to shoot very much video. However my Lieutenant was very helpful in offering to shoot video for me while I was participating in training exercises while he was observing. Now all I have to do is review what he shot video of and have it approved by our Major and I can post here and submit some to KIMT. As far as written posts, the Captain has given me his "OK" as long as I stay in the realm of the generic...I can easily live with that.

So, where to begin? I hear the very beginning is a very good place to start. For this situation that would be around 0800 on Monday morning. Everyone showed up at the armory in Mason City in good spirits. We packed our bags, loaded them up, and had some down time after cleaning the armory to hang out a bit. Jaime Copley from KIMT was kind enough to show up and do some interviews with a good variety of unit members as well as the American Legion Riders who escorted us from Mason City to Camp Dodge on their motorcycles. That was not only unexpected, but greatly appreciated (as well as really cool). Shortly after arriving at Camp Dodge we began refresher training in marksmanship and by the end of the night we were well into the routine of being soldiers full time.

Tuesday started off early, with half our company on the M16 qualification range while the other half went over familiarization training with some of the weapon systems we may not normally have access to. Later that night we had night time qualification training, but had to end it early due to storms moving into the area. I will say one thing, the lightning made for a pretty light show. Wednesday was pretty much the same as Tuesday only with the training reversed for the halves of the unit. I would like to say I shot every target put in front of me and am quite the expert...but that would be lying. As it is, my marksmanship ability has increased quite well over the last year and a half that I've been back with the unit...although I could use some work tossing grenades (hopefully it will be OK'd to post some of that video).

Thursday started early, 0530 wake-up followed by Physical Training (PT) at 0600. After some warm-up exercises my platoon went for a two mile run around the track on Camp Dodge. I kept up a good pace, had fun racing SGT Heald in a sprint for the last 1/8th of a mile, and got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise. After breakfast we were off to First Aid refresher training. First Aid is one of the areas we train on year round, but it seems like I always walk away from it having learned at least one new thing. Thursday was no different. My confidence in the abilities of my fellow soldiers and myself improved greatly after this refresher course and I look forward to getting more in-depth training in the weeks to come.

Friday was an interesting day. Instead of refresher training we received training in some areas that we have never been trained on before. For being newbies we did quite well. Most of the subject matter was easily carried over from our operations on convoys, and at least for the squad I am in the teamwork was impressive. Granted we are no experts in what we trained on, but we did quite well. After our training Friday afternoon we turned in our weapons, tidied up the barracks, and boarded our respective buses for a much appreciated weekend at home with our families.

The internet access at Camp Dodge is rather "iffy", so tonight I talked with KIMT to see about getting a wireless card through one of the cell phone companies. With luck by the next weekend we visit home I will be able to pick it up. This is cool to me because I should be able to post on a more regular basis, and with luck send video back (with the COC's approval) the same day in which I shoot it...and let's face it, I am a bit of a geek when it comes to gadgets.

There is one thing I'm having trouble getting used to though, being addressed by my rank by lower ranking soldiers. Don't get me wrong, I realize and appreciate they are doing it as a sign of respect...I'm just not used to it even after all this time in the military. As I see it, I'm just one of the guys as long as they understand when stuff needs to be done they still have to listen to me. If it was up to me, just being addressed by my last name would be perfectly acceptable. Oh well, it is the military after all and one learns to be flexible. As LT G often said "sempre Gumby" (always flexible).

So that's where things sit at the moment, the soldiers are at their respective homes, I get to pick my kids up in the morning, and with luck by next Friday I'll have more to report.

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