So this morning I got up at 0315 and was ready to go by 0400. I had SPC Mac pick me up and we arrived to the morning formation in ACUs. Most everyone had on their body armor and helmets as well. Luckily I can't wear mine and it's all turned in anyway. We were all told of this mission that needed to be done today. We were told over and over that this is a "mission" and not an exercise. They said it's not an exercise so much, those of us that knew better already figured out they were overcompensating. It's Thursday which is sergeant's time training day and that kind of gave it away anyway. So the "mission" was to guard the gate at Patton Barracks. The squad would check every car that came in. Those of us on profile would end up working at the command center. The battalion was split into four teams, each team with a number of gate guards and at least one person working in the command center. Each team was given a 2.5 hour shift with the first shift starting at 0600. Everyone not on the first shift headed back to the office and just hung out. So I had to come in at 0430, stand in the cold, just to go back in the office and wait about 6 hours for my shift. I didn't bring any schoolwork or even reading material because we weren't told anything about this "mission" ahead of time.
My morning consisted of surfing the web until the shoppette opened and I could grab a cup of coffee. I then headed to the food court for an early lunch, which I picked up to go and headed to the S1 shop (which was our command center for the mission). I was briefed on what my job was for my shift. I was to man the radio and log down anything that happened. I was required to do at least one radio check an hour. Time passed slowly…I made my radio checks and surfed the web. I chatted with the platoon sergeant for a while and then the sergeant major came in. He started looking through the food donation box and got all pissed off that someone put expired Halloween food in there. As he was throwing it all away he paused, then looked at me and said "now this is something you can blog about". I just shook my head.
When I was relieved at 1330, I headed over to my office and just hung out until my wife got off work and picked me up at 1630. I wish I would have at least brought my schoolwork to do. There is only so much surfing the web one can do in a day. I felt like the entire day was a waste.
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