Change of Command Practice - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 61

 A photo I found on the internet to show the parade field where 

we had the Change of Command ceremony practice.

I got up this morning and got ready as usual. I headed out to my car, but when I looked at my phone I saw a text from my squad leader stating our morning formation this morning wasn't until 0830. I went back to bed and laid down for a while before getting up once again and heading in. We had to practice for a change of command that is tomorrow and my MOU doesn't get me out of this kind of stuff or any appointments.

In formation everyone that was participating in the change of command was told to move to the back of the formation, then our first sergeant went through and inspected all the remaining folk's profiles to make sure they couldn't participate. She was even checking people that had walkers! Our first sergeant then went through our ranks checking everyone's beret. I got a new unit crest, this means no more unicorns on my uniform…lol. We were then dismissed and told to head to the parade field.

Once on the parade field we went through the practice over and over again. Folks with canes were moved to the back of the formation, I made sure I was somewhere in the middle and unnoticeable. The practice went on and on until a little after noon. It started to get hot and by the end I had a headache in full bloom.

Once we were dismissed, I headed home and did schoolwork. Once finished with the schoolwork, I did more unpacking…we still got a lot to do!

Change of Command - (Germany) Day 294

This morning we did not have PT, instead we formed up for accountability at 0645 (really 0635), then headed up to Landstuhl (our company headquarters) for the change of command ceremony. I brought my headphones so I could relax and listen to some music for the hour drive up there. We made a quick stop once there at the shoppette for some breakfast supplies and coffee. We then arrived at the new location for the ceremony…the gym on post. Evidently it was too cold yesterday outside, and they didn't want the honored guests and other civilians to be cold while watching the ceremony.

We had time to finish our coffee and stand around for a while before anything got started. Then we practiced the whole ceremony several times. I'm not too sure why we had to practice so much. Most of these people were here doing this for half the day yesterday and the only thing all the soldiers in formation do is…well…stand in formation. Well we do go to parade rest when told to, we also go to attention when told to, and we also salute when the national anthems of both Germany and America are played. I guess it didn't matter too much that I missed all that practice yesterday…LOL. Just a lot of standing around doing nothing for almost the entire morning.

Finally we were about to start, but it turned out to be a false start. The new commander's wife and family I guess were having a hard time finding the gym. When they arrived about 15 minutes later we finally started the ceremony. Thankfully it was pretty quick…for an army ceremony. We did our thing…stood in formation and such. There was a lot of reading by the Master of Ceremonies. There was the "passing of the guidon", and a prayer. The company commanders both old and new gave some speeches along with the battalion commander, then we were all released.

Everyone in our TMP formed up and quickly exited the building. We headed over to Ramstein for lunch, where I was severely disappointed that Taco Bell stopped selling their Dorito Tacos. I'm not sure what they are thinking…that was perhaps one of the best things they've thought of since the Volcano Taco!

We did have to head back to Landstuhl before heading home. Our CAM had to pick up a laptop from someone at the company. Our CAM is the head of all things ComSec and is actually the supervisor of my boss. She surprised me today by saying in a casual conversation that she gets sick to her stomach every Sunday because she knows that she has to go to work the next day. Sounds a little like I feel. I swear everyone hates being in the army here. I wonder if having a new company commander will change anyone's feelings on this? The pessimistic side of me says...I don't think so.

We were all given a pleasant surprise when we got back to Heidelberg…we were told that we could have the rest of the day off. So from about 1400 on I was free. I headed home and relaxed a bit, chilled in front of the TV after starting some laundry (a never ending battle). I was supposed to go to the range tomorrow, but found out that I can't because I'm still on profile and can't wear my body armor or helmet. I don't even know why they had me scheduled so early. They are good for a year, and I have plenty of time left on mine. I'm also not too sure why they make such a big deal out of the need to wear the body armor and helmet when at the range. The entire time I was at basic training we never wore any of that and we went every day for weeks it seemed.

Not a big deal though, in fact if that is the case, I can't see me going again. I have been diagnosed with spondylosis and I don't see that getting any better. I guess we'll see. I have an appointment this Friday and may be referred to the large hospital in Landstuhl for further diagnosis. We'll see what they can find out or treat me with.

The Never Ending Day - (Korea) Day 284

My view from the back of the naval change of command ceremony. Lots of bells
ringing and everyone kept their hats on inside...(that's a little hard to get used to)

So after getting to sleep late last night, I'm woken up at 0430 with more banging on all the doors. WTF? I'm starting to hate living in the barracks. All the soldiers in normal housing don't have to put up with this crap. My roommate got up and asked me if we should go out. Again they never even said anything, just a bunch of banging on the doors, so I didn't budge from my bed…my roommate stayed in as well. I found out later on in the day that the MPs were taking their dogs in rooms and having them sniff for spice (an illegal drug). Of course even though I haven't had much sleep and I decided to stay in bed, I could not get back to sleep before i had to get up at 0600. I just laid there the entire time.

We got an email from our NCOIC yesterday that said our office is now going to do PT with the company every Friday from now on. Today was going to be the first day, but it was already cancelled…lol. Work call for me was 0645 and 0830 for everyone else. The thought process was that I would be physically tired from all the walking around and touring yesterday. Everyone else would go to company PT and then be at work at 0830, but since PT for our office was cancelled they didn't have to do anything until 0830. When I got in I setup for a meeting in our conference room and started flipping slides for it once it started.

I was about half-way through the meeting when CPT Hooah! told me to switch with SPC Mick and had me help him at a navy change of command ceremony. We brought a laptop over and hooked it up to a projector, then I waited…and waited. We sat through the ceremony and then took the laptop and left. I had to fight sleep the entire time. CPT Hooah! was all excited when the ceremony was over, this would be his last function with our office. He was able to switch to our protocol office, I'm not sure he'll like it there any better. I guess it will be interesting to see.

We headed back to the office and Special K and I ate lunch in our conference room. His wife had packed him a pretty big meal to share. This weekend is a 3-day for us and a 4-day for ROK soldiers because of the ROK holiday of Chuseok, which I guess is the equivalent of our Thanksgiving. So this meal was in pre-celebration of this holiday.

After eating I called my wife and then helped out our KATUSA do some sample setups for meetings. He's trying to document everything so he can train his replacement exceptionally well. I then left for a 1500 CQ briefing at the company. For some reason I was the only one that showed up, the sergeant was a little pissed. I got a quick briefing and then took off, he said he was going to contact all the other people's NCOs and see where they all are. Since it's the weekend there should have been 6 total (2 for each day). I went to the PX and bought a couple supplies (5-hour energy drink and hot tamales), then went to my room and took a quick half hour nap.

I started my CQ shift at 1700 and will do it until 0900 tomorrow morning. It really kind of screws up the weekend because I'll be sleeping a lot of the day away tomorrow. Sometimes you see some interesting stuff, but not much going on tonight..only one girl who was obviously heading off to a booty call. She left her room at 0145 to go out. As for me…my night was filled with Breaking Bad, SkillPort, video chatting with my wife and a phone call to my dad. I also watched a great old movie called "They Live" about aliens living among us undetected…that is until you put on a special pair of sunglasses! A great classic!

I hit the wall a little early. At around 0500 it got really tough for me to even think straight. I had to stop even attempting to do SkillPorts and just try to stay awake. I may have started dreaming while I was awake. The last few hours drug on and on until finally my replacement came and I somehow managed to walk to my room and collapse into my bed.

The NCOIC’s Bitch - (Korea) Day 227

A quick snap shot I took of the VIP staging area (formerly known as the racquet ball court)
complete with leather couches and plants

Work call this morning was at 0730. We setup for a KUB in our conference room and then our KATUSA, me and our NCOIC took off to the big gym on post "Collier Field House" to help setup for the commander's change of command ceremony. The ceremony was originally scheduled to be on Knight Field which is right outside our office, but because of the weather it was moved inside. I helped place some brochures on the seats and duct tape down some cables on the floor…pretty minor stuff. Our army major then wanted me backstage near the VIP staging area where they had a laptop and portable projector setup just in case there were any technical difficulties.

As I was standing around there were so many generals walking around it was crazy. They all had a personal security detail as well, so there were all these guys walking around in suits with ear pieces in, it looked like a secret service convention or something. The incoming General came in and saw me standing along his path to the VIP staging area. He stopped and shook my hand and asked where I was from. He could tell I was a little nervous, because it took me a moment to speak. I wasn't ready for him to stop and talk to me, everyone else just walked by and ignored me! He said he's just a soldier too like me…lol. Seems like a pretty down to earth guy.

Once the ceremony started I headed out and we made a pit-stop at Starbucks where our NCOIC treated me and our KATUSA to some much needed caffeine. Once back at the office I did one SkillPort before my NCOIC asked me to finish up on all the phone calls I started yesterday. As I was doing that Our KATUSA and SPC Mick headed back to Collier Field House to help clean up. When they came back they were with our army major who bought some pizza for us all. That was a nice gesture because we have all been pretty busy with this change of command and it all went very smooth.

After pizza I made many more phone calls. This is basically what the action officers do in our office. They make a lot of phone calls to verify who is attending certain meetings so they can prepare the correct seating charts. I'm guessing my NCOIC doesn't care for doing this because she's passing it all off on me. I finally finished and gave her a detailed report of who was attending and who I just couldn't get on the phone.

I then continued on my army SSDL1 module 3 and finally finish it. I now only have one more module to go. I was hoping to get it done this week, but it doesn't look like that will be happening…maybe next week before I go on leave.

My NCOIC called me down to her desk and then I get handed another sheet of paper full of names for a different meeting at a later date. Another project to start tomorrow. My sergeant also gave me his list of inventory items he hasn't been able to find yet and asked me to see what I could find. We had a meeting going on in our conference room, so I couldn't do much. The meeting lasted until about 1720 then we cleaned up and left for the day. Looks like I already have a lot to do in the morning.

I eat dinner in my room and watch some TV shows as usual, except I make sure to do at least a SkillPort between each show.

A VIP arriving via helicopter to the Change of Command ceremony

Another Slow Day (Basic Training) Day 59

Sometimes it can get very boring in the bay...people do
strange things to pass the time!

These entries are from the letters that Brandon has mailed to me. His writing at times can be a bit difficult to determine his words... bare with me, I do my best, especially with army terms.

Last night was awesome. No fireguard shifts for me. I went to sleep around 21:30 and wok up at 05:45. It felt great sleeping through the entire night and sleeping in a bit as well. Poor PVT Cock got a couple of extra fireguard shifts in addition to his own. After everyone came back from the Powerade guy last night, he stayed down in the CTA to console a friend of his in another platoon. Our PG was trying to get a head count and PVT Cock was missing. Our PG got pretty frustrated and when he finally found him, he gave him extra shifts.

We had duty food for breakfast in the CTA for some reason. The DFAC is only 30 meters away and we aren’t going anywhere… go figure. After breakfast we formed up in a field as a company for the change of command ceremony. Our company commander is leaving and a new one is coming. We did a lot of standing at attention and parade rest. Listened to a number of speeches, then it was done. Everyone was invited to a reception...except us (all of the soldiers). LOL.

We then packed our rucks for tomorrow. We have “Raider Challenge” (each platoon will be competing against each other in a variety of events and we have a 15k march back with the ruck. That is the last major event of this cycle. 

Our PG then assigned everyone to a particular cleaning task. (PVT Slowens and I got the supply closets.) Shortly after, the people who either failed or were unable to pass the final PT test were given a retake. There were 7 from our platoon and all except 3 passed this time. Our ex-cop missed the push-ups by one! After all our cleaning duties we all started cleaning the machine guns again…yay.

PFC Metal came back from sick call right before lunch. He got a shot in the butt and some cream for his butt because of his poison ivy. Ever since FTX-2 we have had quite a few cases of poison ivy in our platoon and throughout the company. One guy had it on his little unit…ouch!

We cleaned our personal rifle and then had dinner. After dinner people finished up with their rifles and we studied a bit for “Raider Challenge” which is tomorrow. PFC Metal climbed into his locker, shut the door, and went to sleep. LOL.

Overhead Quote: “I’ve reached my limit drill sergeant” (PVT Home School during a previous march… this phrase has now become famous and is heard quite a bit.)