Thursday, September 23rd
Hey Everybody!
With everything winding down and Turning Blue and Graduation just a few days away, I wanted to take the time to THANK YOU ALL for the support, prayers, letters, and cards, jokes, articles, pictures and anything else I may have forgotten over the past 13 weeks.
It goes without saying that this has been a difficult 3 1/2 months. There have been days of anticipation, days of regret, of questioning, motivation, accomplishment, despair, frustration, heartache, anxiety, suspense and jubilation. It's safe to say that I have felt a lot of different emotions, but I always kept my eye on the future and reminded myself what I had to lose if I didn't finish. You have no idea how many times I have flipped through the pictures you all sent to remind myself of better times and as motivation to move past what's dragging me down.
Many of you went out of your way to write consistently to me which I really appreciated. It was great to know that on a normal Wednesday I could expect a letter. It was also amazing on the days when it just seemed that everyone wrote. I think my record was 11 or 12 letters in one night! Needless to say, you made a lot of the guys here jealous with how much mail I received. You all helped keep me sane and motivated, Oh.... and actually feel like a real person HAHA!
With that being said, this past week of recovery (so far...) hasn't been that bad. We clean weapons pretty much all day, go to chow, PT in the morning, and clean some more. So as you can see.....very exciting days!
Other than that, not much is going on. We're all counting the days down until we are finally free of Ft. Benning and our Drill Sergeants! I'm just waiting for the first ice cold beer....that's when I'll know that I'm really free HAHA! Well at least for 12 days until I report to Alaska. Has that thrown anyone else for a loop? I really wasn't expecting that assignment, but it should be cool.
Alright, Take Care Everyone! Hopefully this makes it before Tuesday.
SPC Martin
PS You should probably stop sending mail because I probably won't get it.....
Monday, September 27, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
A Week in Review........
Friday, September 17th
Hey Everybody!
WOW!!! That pretty much sums up the week so far. A lot has happened over these past 5 days that answers many questions that have been lingering for a while and probably brings new questions to light. With that being said, by the end of this post, you will know what the past 5 days have been like, whether or not I graduate or restart, and where I have been assigned. There's got to be suspense right???
Okay, so Sunday morning (around 10:00) we got on the buses with our 60lb rucks and headed for our FTX sight. We got there and set up our hasty's, distributed blanks, and just organized everything for the next few days. A common theme around FTX is to pull security. So wherever we went, we had to have 6 guys. So for example, if 1 guy needs to piss, 5 others have to go with him as security. It also meant that at night we had to secure our Patrol Base (PB). So our platoon pulled 50% security throughout the night for every hour. So 1 person up and 1 person sleeping and it switched every hour. Of course there's a tactical reason for this because this is when the DS love to attack our PB and see if we are actually doing what we're supposed to. So Sunday night we get attacked around 23:30 and we hold them off. Basically imagine sleeping and then waking up to explosions and gun fire, and you have to stay where you are because you have to watch your section, while a quarter of your platoon fights on the other side of the PB. Needles to say, we held off the attack. 2nd Platoon 1 DS - 0......
Monday came and we sat around until after lunch until we finally worked on Mounted react to contact. Basically you ride around in a Humvee and stop for casualty lying in the road. The we get fired at. One team pulls security/suppressive fire while the other team flanks to take out the enemy. Overall...didn't take too much away from this one, because I just layed suppressive fire. Monday night we got attacked again and lost. The DS destroyed 90% of my platoon when they went up to "revive" our casualties. Basically, one of the DS "killed" the SAW gunner, stole the weapon and then lit up about 35 people in my platoon. Don't worry, I made it out Okay, HAHA!
Tuesday was a lot of walking. We did Land Nav.to different locations for different scenarios. We set up a Recon mission on which I was one of the team leaders. Later we did a react to contact which I thought went pretty well, maybe a little slow, but apparently it wasn't up to par. Either way, it was a long day...followed by a long night of Land Nav to find our MRE's for Wednesday. Georgia woods suck at night by they way.....but we found them after about an hour. Tuesday night, the DS took it easy on us since we got back late and everyone was running on about 3 hours of sleep...
Wednesday was our squad assessment. We walked/Land Nav. all day to different objectives and had to complete each task. We only got to 6 of 8 events, but my platoon overall was deemed the best combination of squad, which basically means overall, we knew more about being/performing as the infantry. So, nasty blister and all after all the marching/rucking this week, but FTX was finally over. All that was left was clean up and the Bayonet on Thursday.
So Thursday we cleaned up, got back and slept till dinner chow. We came back from chow and went back to sleep until 22:30. We got everything together (rucks) and brought them out to do the Bayonet. At 00:15 we kicked off, We finished at 04:48. We dropped our rucks and weapons (~60lbs) and were led up Honor Hill. I won't go into Honor Hill details, but I did receive my Infantry Cross rifles! Now all I need is my Blue Chord and then I am officially an infantryman. At Honor Hill, everyone was excited and pumped up. The ceremony itself was pretty simple, just like the infantry.
So after a long past 4/5 days we got some more sleep and received our orders This is also when I found out that I WILL BE GRADUATING OCTOBER 1ST
No Restart!!!! Oh, and I will be stationed at...........................................................................................................................................................................ALASKA!!! More specifically....Fort Wainwright, AK
I think Alaska will be what I want it to be. Ft. Wainwright is in Fairbanks (or by it) Supposedly I'll get to see the Northern Lights and Mt. McKinney(spelling?) There's skiing/hunting/fishing/etc. out there so I may be picking up some new hobbies, HAHA
Either way, I'm excited
Time for Bed, but wanted to get this out. Take Care.
SPC Martin
Hey Everybody!
WOW!!! That pretty much sums up the week so far. A lot has happened over these past 5 days that answers many questions that have been lingering for a while and probably brings new questions to light. With that being said, by the end of this post, you will know what the past 5 days have been like, whether or not I graduate or restart, and where I have been assigned. There's got to be suspense right???
Okay, so Sunday morning (around 10:00) we got on the buses with our 60lb rucks and headed for our FTX sight. We got there and set up our hasty's, distributed blanks, and just organized everything for the next few days. A common theme around FTX is to pull security. So wherever we went, we had to have 6 guys. So for example, if 1 guy needs to piss, 5 others have to go with him as security. It also meant that at night we had to secure our Patrol Base (PB). So our platoon pulled 50% security throughout the night for every hour. So 1 person up and 1 person sleeping and it switched every hour. Of course there's a tactical reason for this because this is when the DS love to attack our PB and see if we are actually doing what we're supposed to. So Sunday night we get attacked around 23:30 and we hold them off. Basically imagine sleeping and then waking up to explosions and gun fire, and you have to stay where you are because you have to watch your section, while a quarter of your platoon fights on the other side of the PB. Needles to say, we held off the attack. 2nd Platoon 1 DS - 0......
Monday came and we sat around until after lunch until we finally worked on Mounted react to contact. Basically you ride around in a Humvee and stop for casualty lying in the road. The we get fired at. One team pulls security/suppressive fire while the other team flanks to take out the enemy. Overall...didn't take too much away from this one, because I just layed suppressive fire. Monday night we got attacked again and lost. The DS destroyed 90% of my platoon when they went up to "revive" our casualties. Basically, one of the DS "killed" the SAW gunner, stole the weapon and then lit up about 35 people in my platoon. Don't worry, I made it out Okay, HAHA!
Tuesday was a lot of walking. We did Land Nav.to different locations for different scenarios. We set up a Recon mission on which I was one of the team leaders. Later we did a react to contact which I thought went pretty well, maybe a little slow, but apparently it wasn't up to par. Either way, it was a long day...followed by a long night of Land Nav to find our MRE's for Wednesday. Georgia woods suck at night by they way.....but we found them after about an hour. Tuesday night, the DS took it easy on us since we got back late and everyone was running on about 3 hours of sleep...
Wednesday was our squad assessment. We walked/Land Nav. all day to different objectives and had to complete each task. We only got to 6 of 8 events, but my platoon overall was deemed the best combination of squad, which basically means overall, we knew more about being/performing as the infantry. So, nasty blister and all after all the marching/rucking this week, but FTX was finally over. All that was left was clean up and the Bayonet on Thursday.
So Thursday we cleaned up, got back and slept till dinner chow. We came back from chow and went back to sleep until 22:30. We got everything together (rucks) and brought them out to do the Bayonet. At 00:15 we kicked off, We finished at 04:48. We dropped our rucks and weapons (~60lbs) and were led up Honor Hill. I won't go into Honor Hill details, but I did receive my Infantry Cross rifles! Now all I need is my Blue Chord and then I am officially an infantryman. At Honor Hill, everyone was excited and pumped up. The ceremony itself was pretty simple, just like the infantry.
So after a long past 4/5 days we got some more sleep and received our orders This is also when I found out that I WILL BE GRADUATING OCTOBER 1ST
No Restart!!!! Oh, and I will be stationed at...........................................................................................................................................................................ALASKA!!! More specifically....Fort Wainwright, AK
I think Alaska will be what I want it to be. Ft. Wainwright is in Fairbanks (or by it) Supposedly I'll get to see the Northern Lights and Mt. McKinney(spelling?) There's skiing/hunting/fishing/etc. out there so I may be picking up some new hobbies, HAHA
Either way, I'm excited
Time for Bed, but wanted to get this out. Take Care.
SPC Martin
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Note from Mom
Wednesday, September 15th
As you will read in Matt's letters, the Army still has him down to be restarted. I think he will graduate Oct. 1st if he completes the FTX training. But this is the Army and you never know. We are planning for graduation on Oct. 1st. If we have to change our plans we will. I think the person who is going to be surprised is Matt when he finishes this weeks training and is told he will graduate. As soon as I hear from Matt I will do a post to confirm graduation or not.
If Matt does graduate - you will need to stop writing him next week - he won't get the letters. If he is restarted and has a new address, I will get that posted as well so you can continue to write Matt.
Also, once we have confirmed his graduation I will let you know when Matt will be in STL.
Again, Thank you everyone for your prays, cards, letters, support. These have helped Matt through all the rough times.
Diana
As you will read in Matt's letters, the Army still has him down to be restarted. I think he will graduate Oct. 1st if he completes the FTX training. But this is the Army and you never know. We are planning for graduation on Oct. 1st. If we have to change our plans we will. I think the person who is going to be surprised is Matt when he finishes this weeks training and is told he will graduate. As soon as I hear from Matt I will do a post to confirm graduation or not.
If Matt does graduate - you will need to stop writing him next week - he won't get the letters. If he is restarted and has a new address, I will get that posted as well so you can continue to write Matt.
Also, once we have confirmed his graduation I will let you know when Matt will be in STL.
Again, Thank you everyone for your prays, cards, letters, support. These have helped Matt through all the rough times.
Diana
9 Years and Counting...................
Saturday, September 11th
Hey Everybody!
Well, today is the 9 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and now that I'm in the Army, it bears a new significance in my life. 9 years ago to the day, I was sitting at a computer in my English class working on my Sophomore research paper when the Principal (Mrs. Plunkett) came on the PA and told the school about it. Soon, we were at war and have been now for 9 years. Everyone should know by now how I feel about what we are doing over in Afghanistan and someday, I will be over there to help finish the job. Today, is just a refresher to remind those who have forgotten. I know I'll never forget, but every time I see a video (like today) it fires me up a little and sends chills down my spine. It makes me proud to be an American as well because on that day, everyone in this country was glued to their TV in disbelief/outrage/fear/ horror/shock, and it untied us all. 9/11 brought our nation together like never before and it changed our nation forever. Just never forget and if you need a reminder, just check out youtube. It will bring you back instantly.
In other news......
I completed the 12 mile ruck with no problems! It actually wasn't that bad. I did get a blister on the bottom of my heel, but I can manage if that's the worst. Tomorrow we head out for FTX. We won't get back until Thursday, so if you don't hear from me for a while, don't worry......I just have (0) means of communication. I may also get restarted this next week. Still working on the official word, but on the board with all of our names, my name has "RESTART" written next to it so......yeah.......
If that's the case, my new address will come shortly after my restart. When I'm restarted, I'll make sure I supply all the info you need to get a hold of me.
That's all for now
Embrace The Suck
SPC Martin
PS - Still no orders for my duty station.
Hey Everybody!
Well, today is the 9 year anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and now that I'm in the Army, it bears a new significance in my life. 9 years ago to the day, I was sitting at a computer in my English class working on my Sophomore research paper when the Principal (Mrs. Plunkett) came on the PA and told the school about it. Soon, we were at war and have been now for 9 years. Everyone should know by now how I feel about what we are doing over in Afghanistan and someday, I will be over there to help finish the job. Today, is just a refresher to remind those who have forgotten. I know I'll never forget, but every time I see a video (like today) it fires me up a little and sends chills down my spine. It makes me proud to be an American as well because on that day, everyone in this country was glued to their TV in disbelief/outrage/fear/ horror/shock, and it untied us all. 9/11 brought our nation together like never before and it changed our nation forever. Just never forget and if you need a reminder, just check out youtube. It will bring you back instantly.
In other news......
I completed the 12 mile ruck with no problems! It actually wasn't that bad. I did get a blister on the bottom of my heel, but I can manage if that's the worst. Tomorrow we head out for FTX. We won't get back until Thursday, so if you don't hear from me for a while, don't worry......I just have (0) means of communication. I may also get restarted this next week. Still working on the official word, but on the board with all of our names, my name has "RESTART" written next to it so......yeah.......
If that's the case, my new address will come shortly after my restart. When I'm restarted, I'll make sure I supply all the info you need to get a hold of me.
That's all for now
Embrace The Suck
SPC Martin
PS - Still no orders for my duty station.
MOUT & My Situation......
Thursday, Sept. 9th
Hey Everybody!
Well, it's good to be back at the bay! We had a couple of NASTY smoke sessions yesterday and today which makes me feel like it's Red Phase again.... I'll go into details some other time, but it's questionable what happened.
Anyway, yesterday we didn't start training until after our 10 minute lunch for said smoke session. Once we finally started it was a lot of fun and it was good training. Everything starts off pretty simple with the concept of clearing a room. Everything gets complicated when you start throwing in booby-traps and people. It gets even more complicated when it's at night and you are being shot at (with blanks) and you have to react. I'm going to be spending a lot of nights practicing MOUT in the near future...... The scenario is complicated a million times the moment gunfire breaks out. It's not an easy task to complete when you're trying to keep yourself alive, kill the bad guy and not shoot the civilian.
Today we worked more with actually tacking and fighting with someone resisting when we enter. It was hilarious at some points and down right stupid in other instances. The building we were using doesn't have a back wall, so you just imagine it's there. Everyone waiting to go is watching each group go from the back side. The stupid moments occur when people freeze and don't fight/move/say anything. The hilarious times occur when people yell or hip flip a DS or slam a DS's head into a wall. These were the fun ones. What also made today more interesting was that there was a camera crew filming us today. They were there to make a video for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The videos are being used to show what the MOUT training at Ft. Benning consists of. That's pretty much all the First Sgt. told us about them, but they had a lot of equipment and was pretty cool to be around.
In other news, I was finally told by on of my DS that I would be restarted. Now, when I was trying to figure out when/where/why questions, the answers weren't exactly what I needed to hear. Basically, I'm being restarted, but the reason and timing don't fit. They say it's for training I missed, but it may be next week before I leave my company. The new company would be in either week 9 or 10 and I didn't miss any of that other than a PT test which I crushed on Monday. So Mom & Dad, ignore the graduation letter you will receive until you here more from me about this gaggle-$*!@ of a situation.
That's about all for now. I will still be training w/my company until further notice. The 12 mile is tomorrow and FTX starts Sunday. I hope this gets figured out soon. I don't get why I would have to repeat both events....but I guess.........
Embrace the Suck!!
Spc Martin
Hey Everybody!
Well, it's good to be back at the bay! We had a couple of NASTY smoke sessions yesterday and today which makes me feel like it's Red Phase again.... I'll go into details some other time, but it's questionable what happened.
Anyway, yesterday we didn't start training until after our 10 minute lunch for said smoke session. Once we finally started it was a lot of fun and it was good training. Everything starts off pretty simple with the concept of clearing a room. Everything gets complicated when you start throwing in booby-traps and people. It gets even more complicated when it's at night and you are being shot at (with blanks) and you have to react. I'm going to be spending a lot of nights practicing MOUT in the near future...... The scenario is complicated a million times the moment gunfire breaks out. It's not an easy task to complete when you're trying to keep yourself alive, kill the bad guy and not shoot the civilian.
Today we worked more with actually tacking and fighting with someone resisting when we enter. It was hilarious at some points and down right stupid in other instances. The building we were using doesn't have a back wall, so you just imagine it's there. Everyone waiting to go is watching each group go from the back side. The stupid moments occur when people freeze and don't fight/move/say anything. The hilarious times occur when people yell or hip flip a DS or slam a DS's head into a wall. These were the fun ones. What also made today more interesting was that there was a camera crew filming us today. They were there to make a video for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The videos are being used to show what the MOUT training at Ft. Benning consists of. That's pretty much all the First Sgt. told us about them, but they had a lot of equipment and was pretty cool to be around.
In other news, I was finally told by on of my DS that I would be restarted. Now, when I was trying to figure out when/where/why questions, the answers weren't exactly what I needed to hear. Basically, I'm being restarted, but the reason and timing don't fit. They say it's for training I missed, but it may be next week before I leave my company. The new company would be in either week 9 or 10 and I didn't miss any of that other than a PT test which I crushed on Monday. So Mom & Dad, ignore the graduation letter you will receive until you here more from me about this gaggle-$*!@ of a situation.
That's about all for now. I will still be training w/my company until further notice. The 12 mile is tomorrow and FTX starts Sunday. I hope this gets figured out soon. I don't get why I would have to repeat both events....but I guess.........
Embrace the Suck!!
Spc Martin
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Still Waiting.........
Monday, September 6th
Hey Everybody!
Happy Labor Day! I hope you're all enjoying your holiday at the lake or at a Bar or some form of fun that I'm not having....jerks......HAHA! Anyway, since it is a holiday, we don't get mail again. I think this makes 5 days in a row without mail which sucks, but hopefully I have some built up.
Saturday we went to the National Infantry Museum. This was my second time there(first was Family Day) and I looked around some more, but we were allowed to go to the IMAX movies so most of my time was spent watching Lewis and Clark discover America and DiCaprio describing the Hubble in 3D. After those, most of my time was over and we left not long after 1300. Eventually, when I graduate, (which I still don't know for sure if I'm graduating or being restarted) I'm sure those who come will want to look around for themselves, and I'll finally see everything in the museum.
Sunday was pretty typical. A little bit of cleaning mixed in with Mass and a phone call home. Mass ran about 40 minutes late because we were waiting on the priest to show. I had no problem with this because A) I didn't have to be back at the bay and B) the organist started playing all the patriotic hymns in the book which is always a cool thing when you're surrounded by other soldiers. When I talked to Mom and Dad, I was able to tell them about my RTD because the letter I wrote Tuesday had not made it to them yet.
(Note: We still have not received this letter)
So I was able to give them more information and answer their questions. I also got to talk a little bit about MIZZOU! and Notre Dame and the Cardinals who are still 6 games back after taking 2 of 3 from Cincy. Only a month left boys.......
Today was fairly eventful, because we had APFT 4 and this would be my first long distance/2-mile run since week 3 or 4. Either way, it's been a long ass time since I've ran. I was hoping to put up similar numbers overall from my first APFT which was a 220. I expected my run to be a lot slower, and have my push ups and sit ups pull up the slack from a slower run time.
So how did I do? 52 push ups which was an increase of 7. I did 71 sit ups (+3) and my 2 mile.................13:45!!HAHA! I couldn't believe it! I actually shed 5 seconds off my old run. It was funny when I turned in my time to the DS and he knew I hadn't run in about 7 weeks and said, "That's 45 seconds too slow soldier.........HOOAH!?" HOOAH Drill Sergeant.....HOOHA......HAHA! My over all score was a 253 and seemed to impress a lot of people from my platoon. Overall, my score was 15th of 52 in my platoon, and not much separates me from being # 4 overall, other than the fact that not much time is left. Either way, I'm proud of my score.
After the APFT we had a class on MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain). Basically a class on breaking down doors and cleaning rooms in urban environments. it's pretty much getting to the point where we start putting all of our training together. The next two days we are doing MOUT and will spend 1 night out in the field. On Friday, we supposedly have the 12 mile ruck march which I guess you could say I'm a little worried about considering the longest I've gone so far is 4 miles.... and that was 7 weeks ago.... so yeah...... I think it will suck, but I also know I can push through if needed. Sunday starts FTX (Field Training Exercise) which is our final test. We'll spend I think 5 or six days in the field running security and missions. Basically it's supposed to simulate what it's like for the Infantry. I'm assuming that if they let me do all this, then I'll be graduating with my Company on October 1st. But until then, I continue the waiting game and hope for a quick answer this week.
That's all I have for now. Take care everybody and drink a beer for me. I can't wait for that day!!!!!
SPC Martin
EMBRACE THE SUCK!
Hey Everybody!
Happy Labor Day! I hope you're all enjoying your holiday at the lake or at a Bar or some form of fun that I'm not having....jerks......HAHA! Anyway, since it is a holiday, we don't get mail again. I think this makes 5 days in a row without mail which sucks, but hopefully I have some built up.
Saturday we went to the National Infantry Museum. This was my second time there(first was Family Day) and I looked around some more, but we were allowed to go to the IMAX movies so most of my time was spent watching Lewis and Clark discover America and DiCaprio describing the Hubble in 3D. After those, most of my time was over and we left not long after 1300. Eventually, when I graduate, (which I still don't know for sure if I'm graduating or being restarted) I'm sure those who come will want to look around for themselves, and I'll finally see everything in the museum.
Sunday was pretty typical. A little bit of cleaning mixed in with Mass and a phone call home. Mass ran about 40 minutes late because we were waiting on the priest to show. I had no problem with this because A) I didn't have to be back at the bay and B) the organist started playing all the patriotic hymns in the book which is always a cool thing when you're surrounded by other soldiers. When I talked to Mom and Dad, I was able to tell them about my RTD because the letter I wrote Tuesday had not made it to them yet.
(Note: We still have not received this letter)
So I was able to give them more information and answer their questions. I also got to talk a little bit about MIZZOU! and Notre Dame and the Cardinals who are still 6 games back after taking 2 of 3 from Cincy. Only a month left boys.......
Today was fairly eventful, because we had APFT 4 and this would be my first long distance/2-mile run since week 3 or 4. Either way, it's been a long ass time since I've ran. I was hoping to put up similar numbers overall from my first APFT which was a 220. I expected my run to be a lot slower, and have my push ups and sit ups pull up the slack from a slower run time.
So how did I do? 52 push ups which was an increase of 7. I did 71 sit ups (+3) and my 2 mile.................13:45!!HAHA! I couldn't believe it! I actually shed 5 seconds off my old run. It was funny when I turned in my time to the DS and he knew I hadn't run in about 7 weeks and said, "That's 45 seconds too slow soldier.........HOOAH!?" HOOAH Drill Sergeant.....HOOHA......HAHA! My over all score was a 253 and seemed to impress a lot of people from my platoon. Overall, my score was 15th of 52 in my platoon, and not much separates me from being # 4 overall, other than the fact that not much time is left. Either way, I'm proud of my score.
After the APFT we had a class on MOUT (Military Operations in Urban Terrain). Basically a class on breaking down doors and cleaning rooms in urban environments. it's pretty much getting to the point where we start putting all of our training together. The next two days we are doing MOUT and will spend 1 night out in the field. On Friday, we supposedly have the 12 mile ruck march which I guess you could say I'm a little worried about considering the longest I've gone so far is 4 miles.... and that was 7 weeks ago.... so yeah...... I think it will suck, but I also know I can push through if needed. Sunday starts FTX (Field Training Exercise) which is our final test. We'll spend I think 5 or six days in the field running security and missions. Basically it's supposed to simulate what it's like for the Infantry. I'm assuming that if they let me do all this, then I'll be graduating with my Company on October 1st. But until then, I continue the waiting game and hope for a quick answer this week.
That's all I have for now. Take care everybody and drink a beer for me. I can't wait for that day!!!!!
SPC Martin
EMBRACE THE SUCK!
Wait......Martin You Can Train???
Friday, September 3rd
Hey Everybody!
It's Friday and so far my legs/knees have managed to stay together. Yesterday I got my new running shoes which should help keep a lot of strain off my knees now that I know I need a specific type of shoe for my feet. It's kinda funny though because when we got back yesterday, we had to go yard twice. I ran that with my old shoes. Once we got back from the second run, we were handed out mail, which of course, contained my new shoes.
So since my last letter updating you with the results of my X-Rays and my RTD, a lot has happened. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday night out in the field. We worked on more squad and team movements, reacting to fire, flanking, and indirect (mortar) attacks. We also had to set up security at our patrol base through out the night which requires about 8 - 10 ppl. up at one point. So because of that I pulled 3 shifts on Wednesday night.... We also used Wednesday and Thursday night to work on our Hasty Fire Positions (aka Ranger Graves) which is basically a 3 ft deep foxhole.
So digging these are fun as you can imagine....especially when you run into tree roots....or an ant hill..... You can't really control what they do because you're sleeping in that position for the night and the red ants love running around and show up out of nowhere when you mess with their hill. Eitherway it was GREAT to get back out there and train with everyone again, and actually feel apart of my platoon again.
Today was another good day. We headed out early to a range where we got to shoot the .50 cal. machine gun and the Mark-19 Automatic Grenade Launcher! To put it nicely, I don't want to be on either end of those. The Mark-19 is effective up to 4 miles away and I think everyone knows either from a story or war movie, what a .50 cal can do. Supposedly Blackhawk Down is the most accurate depiction. What was really cool today was how you could see the rounds from the MK-19 as they were being fired, so you could follow the round for a little while. We shot in 5 round bursts, so you just see a streak of 5 black objects flying out towards an old tank on this huge field, and then 5 explosions all around. The U.S. Army has some awesome fire power!
I guess that's kinda the short version of the events. I'm currently being distracted by the "spoon" game. Basically 2 people sit across from each other with a spoon in their mouth. One person puts their head down, and the other person slaps the back of their head with the spoon. Here's the thing, you can't slap it hard at all with just your head, so there is a third person in on it. The third person slaps the back of the gullible persons head. So gullible person is trying to slap hard but can't. He puts his head down and the person across from him acts like he's hitting him, when actually the third guy is slapping the back of the gullible guys head. Well, gullible guy is from my platoon and he honestly couldn't figure it our for the life of him. I wish I had a camera to record it!!!
Anyway, I still don't know if I'm staying for being restarted....hopefully I find out soon....Tomorrow we're going to the Infantry museum, so I'll get to spend more time there seeing what I didn't get a chance to catch over family weekend. There is an I-Max theater there, and I'm wishfully thinking/hoping I'll be able to catch a movie, but........probably not....HAHA!
That's all for now everyone.
Love you & Take Care
SPC Martin
PS - Still no duty station yet...hopefully next week
PPS
GO MIZZOU!!!!!!!
Hey Everybody!
It's Friday and so far my legs/knees have managed to stay together. Yesterday I got my new running shoes which should help keep a lot of strain off my knees now that I know I need a specific type of shoe for my feet. It's kinda funny though because when we got back yesterday, we had to go yard twice. I ran that with my old shoes. Once we got back from the second run, we were handed out mail, which of course, contained my new shoes.
So since my last letter updating you with the results of my X-Rays and my RTD, a lot has happened. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday night out in the field. We worked on more squad and team movements, reacting to fire, flanking, and indirect (mortar) attacks. We also had to set up security at our patrol base through out the night which requires about 8 - 10 ppl. up at one point. So because of that I pulled 3 shifts on Wednesday night.... We also used Wednesday and Thursday night to work on our Hasty Fire Positions (aka Ranger Graves) which is basically a 3 ft deep foxhole.
So digging these are fun as you can imagine....especially when you run into tree roots....or an ant hill..... You can't really control what they do because you're sleeping in that position for the night and the red ants love running around and show up out of nowhere when you mess with their hill. Eitherway it was GREAT to get back out there and train with everyone again, and actually feel apart of my platoon again.
Today was another good day. We headed out early to a range where we got to shoot the .50 cal. machine gun and the Mark-19 Automatic Grenade Launcher! To put it nicely, I don't want to be on either end of those. The Mark-19 is effective up to 4 miles away and I think everyone knows either from a story or war movie, what a .50 cal can do. Supposedly Blackhawk Down is the most accurate depiction. What was really cool today was how you could see the rounds from the MK-19 as they were being fired, so you could follow the round for a little while. We shot in 5 round bursts, so you just see a streak of 5 black objects flying out towards an old tank on this huge field, and then 5 explosions all around. The U.S. Army has some awesome fire power!
I guess that's kinda the short version of the events. I'm currently being distracted by the "spoon" game. Basically 2 people sit across from each other with a spoon in their mouth. One person puts their head down, and the other person slaps the back of their head with the spoon. Here's the thing, you can't slap it hard at all with just your head, so there is a third person in on it. The third person slaps the back of the gullible persons head. So gullible person is trying to slap hard but can't. He puts his head down and the person across from him acts like he's hitting him, when actually the third guy is slapping the back of the gullible guys head. Well, gullible guy is from my platoon and he honestly couldn't figure it our for the life of him. I wish I had a camera to record it!!!
Anyway, I still don't know if I'm staying for being restarted....hopefully I find out soon....Tomorrow we're going to the Infantry museum, so I'll get to spend more time there seeing what I didn't get a chance to catch over family weekend. There is an I-Max theater there, and I'm wishfully thinking/hoping I'll be able to catch a movie, but........probably not....HAHA!
That's all for now everyone.
Love you & Take Care
SPC Martin
PS - Still no duty station yet...hopefully next week
PPS
GO MIZZOU!!!!!!!
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