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
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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!!!!!!!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Update on Matt
Hi everyone!
I was going to write this sooner, but thought I would wait until I had received a letter from Matt. That has not happened, no letters, but we did get to speak to him last night.
First of all - Last weekend we were in GA and did Family weekend with Matt, He was not allowed to leave base because he has been on profile with his stress fractures and had not completed all of his training. He was given a base pass however and we were allowed to spend both Sat. and Sunday with him on base. At first we had thought we would have a hard time finding things to do on base for 2 days, but this was not the case. The base is huge. The airborne school is there, and they just moved the school for tanks there also, a lot to see. We visited the large PX - which is like a Super Walmart or Target with clothes more like Kohls. We tried to find a pair of running shoes for Matt - he learned that he has high arches and needs a cushioned running shoe. Unfortunately the PX did not have his size, we were also able to pick up toiletries for him. An interesting fact - anything bought at the PX - NO SALES TAX. We saw a movie, and had dinner at a nice little Mexican restaurant on base. Matt called his sisters and grandparents while we were with him.
We drove around the base and through the base - the maps they give you are not great, but I figured this was a good way for Matt to work on his navigation skills, and we had time so all in all it worked out great. I had made Mother Mary's famous Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies - so Saturday when we were riding around Matt ate as many cookies as he wanted and loved it.
Sunday we went back to the PX and then to the National Infantry Museum. Matt's graduation will be held at the Museum - outside - very impressive. We spent a couple of hours going through the museum and ate lunch at a very nice restaurant located in the museum. Matt was able to finally get a steak! It was not as good a steak as Shannon's, but he said it wasn't that bad. We also rained on Sunday - Matt said it hasn't rained like that since he started Basic Training, figures!
We took Matt back to Sand Hill (where his Company is located)at around 5:00. Picked up a couple of his friends and drove them to the base of their barracks. He left us around 5:45 to begin the walk up the hill for recall formation at 1800.
Matt had MRI done on his legs the Friday before we arrived and was suppose to find out on Monday the results. While we were with him, he said his legs felt fine, he had no more swelling and the knees did not hurt.
I did not receive a letter from Matt this week, I had heard from another mother, Jan Hughes, whose son Jon, also had stress fracture. Apparently Jon had said in a letter that Matt was returned to Active Duty. This was confirmed last night when we spoke to Matt. He did not get to see Dr. on Monday of last week, but did finally see the Dr. or PA Tuesday AM. He passed all the tests and was given his RTAD orders. He has been training with his platoon all last week - what is not known is if Matt will graduate on OCT. 1st. He has been trying to find out, but no one has made that decision yet or if they have, they have not shared this information with Matt. He is playing the waiting game. He also has not been given his orders - for where he will be stationed. We are not sure how Matt will get the training in he missed while on Profile - most of the training he missed was marching, hand to hand combat training, and some artillery training. His Drill Sargent's have said all along that he was in a strange place with his legs and no one was sure how it would all work out - I guess they were not kidding. So we shall wait and see - keep the letters coming for Matt. I will let you know what is happening once Matt knows and lets me know. Till then - as Matt would say
Embrace the Suck.
Diana
I was going to write this sooner, but thought I would wait until I had received a letter from Matt. That has not happened, no letters, but we did get to speak to him last night.
First of all - Last weekend we were in GA and did Family weekend with Matt, He was not allowed to leave base because he has been on profile with his stress fractures and had not completed all of his training. He was given a base pass however and we were allowed to spend both Sat. and Sunday with him on base. At first we had thought we would have a hard time finding things to do on base for 2 days, but this was not the case. The base is huge. The airborne school is there, and they just moved the school for tanks there also, a lot to see. We visited the large PX - which is like a Super Walmart or Target with clothes more like Kohls. We tried to find a pair of running shoes for Matt - he learned that he has high arches and needs a cushioned running shoe. Unfortunately the PX did not have his size, we were also able to pick up toiletries for him. An interesting fact - anything bought at the PX - NO SALES TAX. We saw a movie, and had dinner at a nice little Mexican restaurant on base. Matt called his sisters and grandparents while we were with him.
We drove around the base and through the base - the maps they give you are not great, but I figured this was a good way for Matt to work on his navigation skills, and we had time so all in all it worked out great. I had made Mother Mary's famous Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies - so Saturday when we were riding around Matt ate as many cookies as he wanted and loved it.
Sunday we went back to the PX and then to the National Infantry Museum. Matt's graduation will be held at the Museum - outside - very impressive. We spent a couple of hours going through the museum and ate lunch at a very nice restaurant located in the museum. Matt was able to finally get a steak! It was not as good a steak as Shannon's, but he said it wasn't that bad. We also rained on Sunday - Matt said it hasn't rained like that since he started Basic Training, figures!
We took Matt back to Sand Hill (where his Company is located)at around 5:00. Picked up a couple of his friends and drove them to the base of their barracks. He left us around 5:45 to begin the walk up the hill for recall formation at 1800.
Matt had MRI done on his legs the Friday before we arrived and was suppose to find out on Monday the results. While we were with him, he said his legs felt fine, he had no more swelling and the knees did not hurt.
I did not receive a letter from Matt this week, I had heard from another mother, Jan Hughes, whose son Jon, also had stress fracture. Apparently Jon had said in a letter that Matt was returned to Active Duty. This was confirmed last night when we spoke to Matt. He did not get to see Dr. on Monday of last week, but did finally see the Dr. or PA Tuesday AM. He passed all the tests and was given his RTAD orders. He has been training with his platoon all last week - what is not known is if Matt will graduate on OCT. 1st. He has been trying to find out, but no one has made that decision yet or if they have, they have not shared this information with Matt. He is playing the waiting game. He also has not been given his orders - for where he will be stationed. We are not sure how Matt will get the training in he missed while on Profile - most of the training he missed was marching, hand to hand combat training, and some artillery training. His Drill Sargent's have said all along that he was in a strange place with his legs and no one was sure how it would all work out - I guess they were not kidding. So we shall wait and see - keep the letters coming for Matt. I will let you know what is happening once Matt knows and lets me know. Till then - as Matt would say
Embrace the Suck.
Diana
Monday, August 23, 2010
Back Early
Thursday, August 19th
Hey Everybody!
Technically this letter should be coming from the field, but it's not. Me and the other "broke-dicks", as we are referred to around here, came back this morning after 1 night in the field.
Last night was "Nick at Night" or better know as the night infiltration course. This is the one you always see in the movies where a person is crawling under barbwire while they fire machine guns overhead, but here, it's supposed to be much safer.... Anyway, I was not allowed to participate, so I guarded weapons all night until midnight. At 0100, I had fire guard for a hour. I slept from 0200 to 0330. So yeah.....2 1/2 hours of sleep....
We got up early and left the field at 0400 where Hughes and I started working staff duty. Staff Duty is basically where you take any battalion phone calls or radio transmission among the rest of 1/50 and relay it to the appropriate channel. It's not that bad, but you have to find ways to stay awake since this is where all the battalion cadre works. We're on 2 hour shifts today with a couple other groups so were not doing it throughout the day. Everyone is staying out in the field again tonight, but I'll be pulling staff duty (it's a 24 hour shift) for 2 hours at some point tonight.
Enough of that though, it's time for some early week recaps and I know I need to answer a few questions. So lets go!
I already told you about Monday, so....Tuesday was combat qualification. We shot behind barriers from a standing, kneeling and prone unsupported position. We were given 3 magazines each with one "dummy" round. Basically it loads into a magazine, but doesn't do anything. It's meant to replicate a malfunction. So each magazine has 10 rounds plus 1 dummy. You could start from any position, but once you had a malfunction, or your magazine was empty, you had to kneel behind the barrier. You then correct the malfunction or load a new magazine an then move into a new position. So if you were standing and had a malfunction, once you correct the problem, you move into either a kneeling or prone unsupported position. You do this because once you go behind the barrier, you lose your competitive advantage, and the enemy can focus on your last spot.
I only shot 9 out of 30 my first time. Partly because this involved the training from Monday that I missed, and I had my head at the wrong point on my rifle when I was firing, so my shots were missing high. So I made my correction for the next round and hit 22 or 23. Also of note here.....We're so used to only firing 1 shot per target. If you miss, you normally wait for the next target. For this event though, you shouldn't do that. You don't fire at targets when there is a malfunction, or magazine change, so those go unshot and you have extra round to use on targets you miss. Hence the large improvement HAHA!! So thankfully my shooting skills are still there and not lost. That seems to be my pattern though, I do terrible the first round then then tear it up in my next.....maybe I should work on that.......
Moving on..... I think I failed to relay the fact that I did go to the concert a couple weeks ago... my bad.....I'm not quite sure how I forgot, but to recap, we got off the bus and headed in. The band was a local cover band who was OK. They weren't great, but they also weren't terrible. They played music ranging from Breaking Ben, the Cranberries, Creed, Metallica, Katie Perry, and lady GAGA......different.....yes. So the first hour of being there was dedicated to eating Dominos, M & M Ice Cream Cookies, Funnel Cake, Pepsi and repeating this process. It was a great time because we finally were "away" from our DS's, and just got to hang out and be ourselves for once for more than 10 minutes. It's amazing how much you enjoy something that has been restricted from you for some time.
That is probably what I miss the most from being here is the freedom of choice to go out and have fun, drink beer, or eat a meal with family. But, don't think I forgot, and understand, what I've gotten myself into. Over these next few months and years, I will have to make sacrifices because of what I do and I've accepted that there will be events that I miss because I'm gone. The only thing I can hope for is that these sacrifices make a difference somehow or in someway and help me continue to grow as a person. The Army is my foundation for my future and with your continued support and encouragement, I know that I'll make it. When? Well....no one knows the answer to that question except God himself, so I figure I'll let him decide and I'll move forward from there. I saw a quote that I like last week while at Mass. it said, "Adversity does not breed character, it reveals it." I think it fits a lot for what I'm dealing with right now. There's a lot of uncertainty and obstacles that I'm facing, but I know that if I continue to put my right foot in front of the left, then I will be just fine, just keep the momentum moving forward. I know eventually one day it will all work out and I'll be a better man for it. Until then.......let's answer some more questions.
Q & A
1. We only fired automatic rifles that one day last week, and I was able to take part.
2. I did not take the APFT 2 because I was on duty squad. I think 96 people failed out of 223. We have APFT # 3 on Monday. If you don't pass, NO Family Day! But....as far as I know, I'm good. Plus I passed the APFT 1.
3. I don't know if they'll keep my scores. Part of be believes they will.
4. I may go Friday of next week to get X-Ray and see how my knees are fairing. If they're the same/worse, I may be put on another 30 day profile....
5. Mom and Dad, please bring a change of clothes! And plan on seeing at least one movie HAHA!
6. Right now, without PT'ing for the last 4 weeks, I can hit around 70 sit ups and 45 push ups which puts we well past the 60 % needed at the end of AIT and for graduation (Mostly because of the work I've done on the side)
Lyric Requests
All-Time Low
Vegas
Stella
Matchbox 20
3 am
Real World
Jason Aldean
Big Green Tractor
EMBRACE THE SUCK!
KEEP THE LETTERS COMING!!!!!
SPC Martin
Hey Everybody!
Technically this letter should be coming from the field, but it's not. Me and the other "broke-dicks", as we are referred to around here, came back this morning after 1 night in the field.
Last night was "Nick at Night" or better know as the night infiltration course. This is the one you always see in the movies where a person is crawling under barbwire while they fire machine guns overhead, but here, it's supposed to be much safer.... Anyway, I was not allowed to participate, so I guarded weapons all night until midnight. At 0100, I had fire guard for a hour. I slept from 0200 to 0330. So yeah.....2 1/2 hours of sleep....
We got up early and left the field at 0400 where Hughes and I started working staff duty. Staff Duty is basically where you take any battalion phone calls or radio transmission among the rest of 1/50 and relay it to the appropriate channel. It's not that bad, but you have to find ways to stay awake since this is where all the battalion cadre works. We're on 2 hour shifts today with a couple other groups so were not doing it throughout the day. Everyone is staying out in the field again tonight, but I'll be pulling staff duty (it's a 24 hour shift) for 2 hours at some point tonight.
Enough of that though, it's time for some early week recaps and I know I need to answer a few questions. So lets go!
I already told you about Monday, so....Tuesday was combat qualification. We shot behind barriers from a standing, kneeling and prone unsupported position. We were given 3 magazines each with one "dummy" round. Basically it loads into a magazine, but doesn't do anything. It's meant to replicate a malfunction. So each magazine has 10 rounds plus 1 dummy. You could start from any position, but once you had a malfunction, or your magazine was empty, you had to kneel behind the barrier. You then correct the malfunction or load a new magazine an then move into a new position. So if you were standing and had a malfunction, once you correct the problem, you move into either a kneeling or prone unsupported position. You do this because once you go behind the barrier, you lose your competitive advantage, and the enemy can focus on your last spot.
I only shot 9 out of 30 my first time. Partly because this involved the training from Monday that I missed, and I had my head at the wrong point on my rifle when I was firing, so my shots were missing high. So I made my correction for the next round and hit 22 or 23. Also of note here.....We're so used to only firing 1 shot per target. If you miss, you normally wait for the next target. For this event though, you shouldn't do that. You don't fire at targets when there is a malfunction, or magazine change, so those go unshot and you have extra round to use on targets you miss. Hence the large improvement HAHA!! So thankfully my shooting skills are still there and not lost. That seems to be my pattern though, I do terrible the first round then then tear it up in my next.....maybe I should work on that.......
Moving on..... I think I failed to relay the fact that I did go to the concert a couple weeks ago... my bad.....I'm not quite sure how I forgot, but to recap, we got off the bus and headed in. The band was a local cover band who was OK. They weren't great, but they also weren't terrible. They played music ranging from Breaking Ben, the Cranberries, Creed, Metallica, Katie Perry, and lady GAGA......different.....yes. So the first hour of being there was dedicated to eating Dominos, M & M Ice Cream Cookies, Funnel Cake, Pepsi and repeating this process. It was a great time because we finally were "away" from our DS's, and just got to hang out and be ourselves for once for more than 10 minutes. It's amazing how much you enjoy something that has been restricted from you for some time.
That is probably what I miss the most from being here is the freedom of choice to go out and have fun, drink beer, or eat a meal with family. But, don't think I forgot, and understand, what I've gotten myself into. Over these next few months and years, I will have to make sacrifices because of what I do and I've accepted that there will be events that I miss because I'm gone. The only thing I can hope for is that these sacrifices make a difference somehow or in someway and help me continue to grow as a person. The Army is my foundation for my future and with your continued support and encouragement, I know that I'll make it. When? Well....no one knows the answer to that question except God himself, so I figure I'll let him decide and I'll move forward from there. I saw a quote that I like last week while at Mass. it said, "Adversity does not breed character, it reveals it." I think it fits a lot for what I'm dealing with right now. There's a lot of uncertainty and obstacles that I'm facing, but I know that if I continue to put my right foot in front of the left, then I will be just fine, just keep the momentum moving forward. I know eventually one day it will all work out and I'll be a better man for it. Until then.......let's answer some more questions.
Q & A
1. We only fired automatic rifles that one day last week, and I was able to take part.
2. I did not take the APFT 2 because I was on duty squad. I think 96 people failed out of 223. We have APFT # 3 on Monday. If you don't pass, NO Family Day! But....as far as I know, I'm good. Plus I passed the APFT 1.
3. I don't know if they'll keep my scores. Part of be believes they will.
4. I may go Friday of next week to get X-Ray and see how my knees are fairing. If they're the same/worse, I may be put on another 30 day profile....
5. Mom and Dad, please bring a change of clothes! And plan on seeing at least one movie HAHA!
6. Right now, without PT'ing for the last 4 weeks, I can hit around 70 sit ups and 45 push ups which puts we well past the 60 % needed at the end of AIT and for graduation (Mostly because of the work I've done on the side)
Lyric Requests
All-Time Low
Vegas
Stella
Matchbox 20
3 am
Real World
Jason Aldean
Big Green Tractor
EMBRACE THE SUCK!
KEEP THE LETTERS COMING!!!!!
SPC Martin
Friday, August 20, 2010
Sunday Pass? Why Yes..... I Think I will
Sunday - August 15th & Monday August 16th
Let's recap shall we?
Saturday sucked until about 17:30. Why? Well because from 0900 till 17:30 I sat on my ass and did absolutely nothing while everyone else qualified for level 1 in Ground Fighting Tactics (GFT). That lasted until lunch chow. I literally wasn't allowed to do anything. Not even clean the bay...This is the typical Saturday for me now so yeah.......it got better though when GFT stopped.
I finally got to organize my locker. On Tuesday or Wednesday two DS's came through for a contraband check and tossed everything from our lockers....So I finally got around to that. I also was able to finish up my laundry and get all that folded up. At final formation we got Nutra-Grain Bars (aka Glorified Fig Newtons) which is always a good thing. We were then told that wake up was at 0600 and that those who shot expert would receive their pass. AWESOME!
So after my 8 1/2 hours of sleep (which I proudly brag of now....) I head out to formation, went to breakfast chow and left to go out on my 4 hour pass. So I called home for a hour which was great to finally talk for a while with Mom and Dad. We seemed to have some difficulty with the pay phone a couple of times, where we stay connected, but they couldn't hear me. Eventually my phone card ran out so I said my goodbyes.
I head inside to a snack shop that opens at 0900. I don't know what it is, but I immediately bought a Monster, some pizza and a Hostess Cupcake. It was genuinely amazing! I've forgotten how good those cupcakes are and what it feels like to have a legit sugar high going. Eventually I found the computer lab and of course got on Facebook HAHA! I got to catch up on messages, my wall, pictures and I got to chat with a few of you. If my chat ended abruptly with you (Joe and Whitney) it was because my time expired.......so my apologies.
After the computers I bought some Reeses and a Snickers which I ate on the walk back. Overall, a great time! It's amazing to think of how much I have been missing out on since I've been gone. Hopefully I'm not here too much longer, that that all depends on what the doctors and my company says. But, to once again feel apart of the Real World and not just the Army World was amazing and definitely made my week.
Monday - Well, it's Monday....
I didn't really do much today. We went to the range and I got to do dry-fire exercises with no ammunition. Everyone did this, but they also shot. Somehow I was left off the list to fire because I was cleaning up breakfast when they took a count. Either way, I spent the day sitting down which is good for my knees.
We headed back, ate chow and got mail, which is ALWAYS the best part of the day. Did I mention the 11 letters I got last Monday? That was an Epic mail day! People in my platoon always cover their heads now because the Ds's just throw it into the crowd and usually hit guys in the face which is hilarious! HAHA
Other than that, I'm going to try and get in as much training as possible these next 2 weeks. We spend two nights in the field this week, so I may only get out a couple letters this week.
Overall, I'm excited for Family Day! I can't wait to get off base and just hang out. Also, if I'm correct, Football season should be starting that weekend! Have a drink for me since I won't be allowed one.....
Embrace The Suck
SPC Martin
Let's recap shall we?
Saturday sucked until about 17:30. Why? Well because from 0900 till 17:30 I sat on my ass and did absolutely nothing while everyone else qualified for level 1 in Ground Fighting Tactics (GFT). That lasted until lunch chow. I literally wasn't allowed to do anything. Not even clean the bay...This is the typical Saturday for me now so yeah.......it got better though when GFT stopped.
I finally got to organize my locker. On Tuesday or Wednesday two DS's came through for a contraband check and tossed everything from our lockers....So I finally got around to that. I also was able to finish up my laundry and get all that folded up. At final formation we got Nutra-Grain Bars (aka Glorified Fig Newtons) which is always a good thing. We were then told that wake up was at 0600 and that those who shot expert would receive their pass. AWESOME!
So after my 8 1/2 hours of sleep (which I proudly brag of now....) I head out to formation, went to breakfast chow and left to go out on my 4 hour pass. So I called home for a hour which was great to finally talk for a while with Mom and Dad. We seemed to have some difficulty with the pay phone a couple of times, where we stay connected, but they couldn't hear me. Eventually my phone card ran out so I said my goodbyes.
I head inside to a snack shop that opens at 0900. I don't know what it is, but I immediately bought a Monster, some pizza and a Hostess Cupcake. It was genuinely amazing! I've forgotten how good those cupcakes are and what it feels like to have a legit sugar high going. Eventually I found the computer lab and of course got on Facebook HAHA! I got to catch up on messages, my wall, pictures and I got to chat with a few of you. If my chat ended abruptly with you (Joe and Whitney) it was because my time expired.......so my apologies.
After the computers I bought some Reeses and a Snickers which I ate on the walk back. Overall, a great time! It's amazing to think of how much I have been missing out on since I've been gone. Hopefully I'm not here too much longer, that that all depends on what the doctors and my company says. But, to once again feel apart of the Real World and not just the Army World was amazing and definitely made my week.
Monday - Well, it's Monday....
I didn't really do much today. We went to the range and I got to do dry-fire exercises with no ammunition. Everyone did this, but they also shot. Somehow I was left off the list to fire because I was cleaning up breakfast when they took a count. Either way, I spent the day sitting down which is good for my knees.
We headed back, ate chow and got mail, which is ALWAYS the best part of the day. Did I mention the 11 letters I got last Monday? That was an Epic mail day! People in my platoon always cover their heads now because the Ds's just throw it into the crowd and usually hit guys in the face which is hilarious! HAHA
Other than that, I'm going to try and get in as much training as possible these next 2 weeks. We spend two nights in the field this week, so I may only get out a couple letters this week.
Overall, I'm excited for Family Day! I can't wait to get off base and just hang out. Also, if I'm correct, Football season should be starting that weekend! Have a drink for me since I won't be allowed one.....
Embrace The Suck
SPC Martin
Monday, August 16, 2010
Has It Been Awhile?
Friday, August 13th
Hey Everybody!
I believe this may have been one of my longer writing droughts. It's not because I got lazy, but more because the past couple days have been hectic/fun/shitty/and badass all wrapped into one. So where do I begin? (it's not rhetorical, because I don't remember the last letter I sent....)
How about I guess.....This week in training has been focused on Advanced Rifle Marksmanship. I think the last letter talked bout the M-249 SAW and M-240 Bravo. We just fired them once this week. Everything else this week has been done with our M-4's. We had our first night fire which was cool. It really wasn't that dark yet, so the night Vision wasn't as effective.
Wednesday we did ready-ups. Basically what that entails is you face a target ranging from 5 - 25 meters. The DS tells you to shoot at a certain point/object on the target. Your weapon is facing the ground and you must bring it up and fire. In a nutshell, it's reaction based training exercise. I did this twice and it can be difficult. The hardest part is when they tell you to walk and shoot because obviously your balance changes. It's still fun though!
Thursday/Friday I'm just going to group together since we were continuously training. Thursday was our first night that we spend out in the field. So basically imagine a camping trip with a lot of weapons, no tents, and no alcohol....HAHA
We started the day working from barriers. What we do is fire from 3 different positions while covering our body behind a wooden barrier. We start at the top, so just our head is visible and our weapon rests on the top of the barrier. We then move to a knee and fire, and then into prone unsupported. The goal/purpose of these exercises is to train us on what will be common firing positions once we're deployed. Once everyone shot, we ate chow and waited for night......
Thursday night may have been on of the coolest/most "I feel like a badass? moments in my life. After a proper class on Night Vision Goggles we put them to the test with Infrared laser sights mounted on our M-4! We were also running low on time. Combine these 3 things, and you're about to have a good time! I get the helmet put on and pull down the NV (Night Vision), turn it on, and focus the lens. For all you video game "Call of Duty" people.... it's basically just like that, but REAL! When you start looking around, you see where the lasers are moving from target to target. it doesn't really even matter how you hold the rifle, just as long as the laser is on the target. Since we were low on time, the DS's just had us fire 40 rounds as fast as we could. So here I am popping off 50 & 100 meter targets left and right with NV and lasers! Awesome??? YES!
Once we finished, we cleaned up and headed for bed about 200 meters away. I got everything set up and hit the sack. I tied my rifle to my belt loop so that if a DS walked by while I was sleeping, he wouldn't be able to take my rifle. It worked! Other than that, it didn't rain (like it was suppose to) and I managed to get some decent sleep, only to be woken up to DS's screaming for us to get ready in 30 minutes, which meant, change, repack, shave, shower, bathroom, organize, etc. I made it, but not everyone else did....So 20 minute smoke session later an we finally got it all figured out (Don't worry, I didn't do anything to hurt my knees).
So after that, we loaded up ammo and shot at moving targets today. It seems like Blue phase is going to involve a lot of the actual Infantry training, which is a great change of pace. It's always nice when you start doing what you signed up for right??? After the range, we got haircuts and bought some things from the shop (mostly small items). and headed back to the barracks.
The goal is going to be to take it easy these next few days. The weekends are good since we don't do that much work normally.
I'm going to sound off with new random thoughts/answers/etc.
RANDOMNESS
1. I shot 36 out of 40 to qualify expert
2. Family Day in 2 weeks!
3. For now, you can stop sending lyrics. People have stepped up and I have plenty to read.
4. Paper books qualify as contraband
5. GO CARDINALS!
6. I will know within the next 2 weeks where I will be stationed.
7. We finally are able to eat the candy in our MRE's
8. Good Luck Mary
9. I have not been to Annie Gun's
10 But I am le' tired..........
Embrace the SUCK!
SPC Martin
Hey Everybody!
I believe this may have been one of my longer writing droughts. It's not because I got lazy, but more because the past couple days have been hectic/fun/shitty/and badass all wrapped into one. So where do I begin? (it's not rhetorical, because I don't remember the last letter I sent....)
How about I guess.....This week in training has been focused on Advanced Rifle Marksmanship. I think the last letter talked bout the M-249 SAW and M-240 Bravo. We just fired them once this week. Everything else this week has been done with our M-4's. We had our first night fire which was cool. It really wasn't that dark yet, so the night Vision wasn't as effective.
Wednesday we did ready-ups. Basically what that entails is you face a target ranging from 5 - 25 meters. The DS tells you to shoot at a certain point/object on the target. Your weapon is facing the ground and you must bring it up and fire. In a nutshell, it's reaction based training exercise. I did this twice and it can be difficult. The hardest part is when they tell you to walk and shoot because obviously your balance changes. It's still fun though!
Thursday/Friday I'm just going to group together since we were continuously training. Thursday was our first night that we spend out in the field. So basically imagine a camping trip with a lot of weapons, no tents, and no alcohol....HAHA
We started the day working from barriers. What we do is fire from 3 different positions while covering our body behind a wooden barrier. We start at the top, so just our head is visible and our weapon rests on the top of the barrier. We then move to a knee and fire, and then into prone unsupported. The goal/purpose of these exercises is to train us on what will be common firing positions once we're deployed. Once everyone shot, we ate chow and waited for night......
Thursday night may have been on of the coolest/most "I feel like a badass? moments in my life. After a proper class on Night Vision Goggles we put them to the test with Infrared laser sights mounted on our M-4! We were also running low on time. Combine these 3 things, and you're about to have a good time! I get the helmet put on and pull down the NV (Night Vision), turn it on, and focus the lens. For all you video game "Call of Duty" people.... it's basically just like that, but REAL! When you start looking around, you see where the lasers are moving from target to target. it doesn't really even matter how you hold the rifle, just as long as the laser is on the target. Since we were low on time, the DS's just had us fire 40 rounds as fast as we could. So here I am popping off 50 & 100 meter targets left and right with NV and lasers! Awesome??? YES!
Once we finished, we cleaned up and headed for bed about 200 meters away. I got everything set up and hit the sack. I tied my rifle to my belt loop so that if a DS walked by while I was sleeping, he wouldn't be able to take my rifle. It worked! Other than that, it didn't rain (like it was suppose to) and I managed to get some decent sleep, only to be woken up to DS's screaming for us to get ready in 30 minutes, which meant, change, repack, shave, shower, bathroom, organize, etc. I made it, but not everyone else did....So 20 minute smoke session later an we finally got it all figured out (Don't worry, I didn't do anything to hurt my knees).
So after that, we loaded up ammo and shot at moving targets today. It seems like Blue phase is going to involve a lot of the actual Infantry training, which is a great change of pace. It's always nice when you start doing what you signed up for right??? After the range, we got haircuts and bought some things from the shop (mostly small items). and headed back to the barracks.
The goal is going to be to take it easy these next few days. The weekends are good since we don't do that much work normally.
I'm going to sound off with new random thoughts/answers/etc.
RANDOMNESS
1. I shot 36 out of 40 to qualify expert
2. Family Day in 2 weeks!
3. For now, you can stop sending lyrics. People have stepped up and I have plenty to read.
4. Paper books qualify as contraband
5. GO CARDINALS!
6. I will know within the next 2 weeks where I will be stationed.
7. We finally are able to eat the candy in our MRE's
8. Good Luck Mary
9. I have not been to Annie Gun's
10 But I am le' tired..........
Embrace the SUCK!
SPC Martin
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