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.

Technology Fair and Reenlistment - (Germany) Day 214

The reenlistment ceremony for the sergeant in maintenance

This morning's pt was a little strange. We formed up in civilian clothes at PHV and after accountability and some announcements we were released to go back home. We were told we can work out if we want…everyone just split and headed home…LOL.

At work I checked my email and such, then learned how to change the combinations on our safes. It's actually a pretty simple process and has to be done every time someone leaves or if we believe the combination has been compromised…or at least once a year. We have two people getting ready to PCS soon so we went ahead and made the change.

We then checked out the technology fair. There was a lot of hype about this event and it was held in the gym nearby. Our office headed over and looked it over. There were a number of vendors offering some pretty cool stuff, but as junior enlisted we really didn't have the power to make any purchase decisions. It was interesting though to see what these vendors are trying to sell to the government. There was everything from physical port security to IA software scanners that will find every vulnerability in your network.

Checking out some of the vendors at the technology fair

After that I headed to lunch. I took my lunch to the food court along with my iPad to read my book. I couldn't sit in my car because the weather has been getting pretty hot! Shortly after lunch we all gathered near the flag poles at the front of the base for a little reenlistment ceremony for a sergeant in our maintenance office. He just re-classed and will be guaranteed staff sergeant after graduating AIT. He signed up for another 5 years! After the ceremony I surfed the internet for a while, then inventoried a safe before cleaning up. We received our safety briefing (don't be stupid) for the weekend and then we were released.

We had a family dinner, then I went to the bowling alley for a little farewell get together for SPC Matrix. I had planned on just buying him a drink and having one myself before leaving, but it turned out to be a 3 hour affair. We ended up playing mini-golf and everyone had a great time…including my kids.

We signed up for a USO day trip to Paris for the weekend. We'll be leaving at midnight and heading to the park and ride near post to catch the bus. Should be a fun filled day tomorrow along with a day of rest on Sunday…more to come….

Dragon Warriors & The Drawbacks of Being Tall - (Germany) Day 179

A view of the units in the staging area about 15 minutes

before forming up to march on the field.

This morning we did not have PT once again, instead we had a mandatory 100% weigh in for the company. We had to form up at 0600 in our summer PTs, then wait in line to get on the scale. They base the standards on how tall you are, how old you are and how heavy you are. I came in at 203…my max is 205. For those that didn't make it, they had to get measured by tape to calculate their body fat. If they end up being overweight, then they go on the special population program (also known as the "fat boy" program). People on this get weighed more often and have to attend an extra PT session after work. Usually we're given a bit more time to prepare and I don't eat ice cream for a while when I know we have one coming up!

After, we all stayed around the office. I changed into my ACUs and picked up some breakfast at the bakery in the food court. We actually had a couple hours before we had to go to the armory to pick up our rifles for the ceremony, so I just surfed the internet. It turned out good though, because I found out our platoon sergeant is on leave. I had to resend all the command sponsorship paperwork to our NCOIC.

We picked up our rifles and then waited some more for the bus to come and pick us up for the hour and a half ride to Wiesbaden. I was a little better prepared this time, I brought my headphones and was able to listen to music on the trip. Once we arrived we were released for lunch.

We finally formed up at a little after 1300. Being one of the taller guys I have to be in the front of the formation. This is not a good thing because everyone's eyes are on you, so you have to do everything perfect. The change of command ceremony took place for our brigade commander. The ceremony was uneventful…lots of standing around with a sparse crowd of family members and friends in attendance. Lots of speeches that were a bit too long, then it finally ended.

It wasn't exactly over for us though, we had to board the bus and head over to a gymnasium. Forgetting how tall I am, or how short the ceiling was in the bus…I slammed my head into it. It was hard enough to start bleeding…luckily I had a paper towel that I just held on my head for a while. I hate it when that happens! Once in the gym we waited for a while, then the new brigade commander came in and we had a town hall session. He had a bit of a speech, then asked if anyone in the crowd had any questions for him…..crickets…..of course late on a Friday nobody is going to have any questions, everyone just wants to leave and go home to start their weekend. He then went on and closed out on his speech.

We then boarded the bus and headed back home. Once we arrived at about 1800, we had to head to the armory to unload all the rifles. We were then finally released for the weekend. After a long week I'm really looking forward to a bit of relaxing. My boss gave me a ride home and I hung out with my wife for dinner and a movie in our living room.

A Day of Practice - (Germany) Day 178

A view from where I was sitting before we started forming up.

You can see the uniform we had to wear for the ceremony complete with beret and rifle.

This morning we did not have PT, but we did have to get up very early as I mentioned yesterday. I was picked up at 0420 by my boss and we headed into work to be in the 0445 formation, but since it's the army we had to be there 10 minutes early of course. We then drew our rifles from the armory. We then had about a 10 minute window where I was able to go in the office and send off my first round of paperwork for my daughter's command sponsorship. I know there will probably be many more rounds, but I'm glad to get it actually started.

We formed up again about 0545 and waited for the bus to pick us up. We headed to Wiesbaden where the ceremony is going to take place. I'm not sure how long the ride was (about an hour or so I think), but I fell asleep pretty quick and woke up right as we were about to enter the base. Once in, we were released for breakfast in the DFAC. Their DFAC was OK, and we had plenty of time to eat (a little over an hour) so there was no rush.

Once finished we boarded the bus again and were taken to the field where the ceremony is going to take place. At that point we did nothing for a while except stand, sit, or smoke. Well I didn't smoke, but I did take a nice seat on the ground and waited. We formed up and waited some more, until finally we marched over to the field.

Once in the field we stood around in our formations for a while before finally getting started with the rehearsal. I was surprised that in addition to our battalion, there were companies and battalions from Stuttgart, Wiesbaden, Belgium, and even Italy. I'm not sure who picked the uniform for the ceremony, but they should be knocked upside the head. We wore ACUs with a rifle, beret, and our flack vest with canteen. It made me remember why I hate the beret so much. Standing around all day in the heat with a wool hat on your head just sucks. To me having the rifle doesn't make much sense either…all we did was sling it over our shoulder for the entire ceremony.

The practice consisted of mostly standing in formation. We would watch some signal flags get waved around at certain points which told us when to be at attention, parade rest or present arms (salute). We also marched around the field a couple times. We did all this over and over and over again. The soldiers had everything down pretty quick, it's the officers that kept messing up and thus making everyone do the ceremony over again.

I have to say the day pretty much sucked. Standing at either attention or parade rest is not much fun when you have to do it for long periods of time. When at these positions the only thing you're allowed to move is your eyes. It got hot and I think a lot of people got sunburned. In fact the first sergeant told one guy he looked like a "cherry popsicle". We did get a break for lunch, but then had to come back and do it again and again…over and over until we were finally released at about 1700. We weren't done yet though…a long bus ride back, a visit to the armory to turn in our weapons, then a ride back home from my boss. All so we can do it again tomorrow. I guess I should be thankful that we only have a 0600 formation tomorrow morning.

As for the night…when I got home, I showered and then just plopped on the couch and relaxed…trying to mentally prepare for tomorrow.

Change of Responsibility - (Germany) Day 157

This morning we did not have PT, instead we had a formation at 0615 and then all loaded up in TMPs and left to our company headquarters in Landstuhl. The drive is about an hour or so away and almost everyone in each of the vans fell asleep at some point…LOL. Once we arrived we had to stand in a line and show our ID card, our dog tags, and our gas mask which we had to bring.

We then had to stand in one big company formation and go through a simple change of responsibility ceremony. A new first sergeant has arrived and is replacing our acting first sergeant (who is also the sergeant major). The ceremony only lasted a few minutes, which totally surprised me. Normally army folks jabber on and on, but I think the longest speech was less than 2 minutes! Just the way I like it! I have to admit that it did seem like a waste of time and resources. 3 of the 4 platoons are located more than an hour away and had to come up for this little ceremony. No worries though, we headed back and it kept me out of the office for the better part of the morning.

Once back we only had about a half hour before lunch. I left for lunch and made sure to take the entire hour and a half before heading back. I really just hate going to the office. I did however make it back and once again went through my customer's folders looking for errors. I suffered through the rest of the day until we were released at 1715 for the day.

Traffic Director - (Korea) Day 179

A photo I snapped during the Memorial Day ceremony. Some of the UN honor guard
with ROK honor guard behind them. You can see the 8th army headquarters in the background.

Work call this morning was at 0800. We setup for a pretty big meeting in the secret conference room. After we setup it was the same old situation, people coming in and wanting to change their seats. I let CPT Hooah! deal with all that and left to do my job as a door stop.

After the meeting started I went up to our conference control room and watched the NBA playoffs once more. Only this time we were able to watch the entire game. During the 3rd quarter CPT Hooah! wandered up and acted like he was going to hang out, so we took off to the food court for lunch. SPC Mick paid which was very generous and we watched the rest of the 4th quarter while sitting in the food court.

We headed back to the office and I did a little SkillPort before being called down to be a chauffeur for our supply sergeant and her KATUSA. OMG it was very annoying. She didn't exactly know where she was going and we must have done about three circles around the post. I would go exactly where she told me and then get frustrated that it was not where she meant. Finally she found what she was looking for and then we headed back. I headed back to my lair (the conference control room) and watched a little TV waiting for a meeting to end.

Once this particular meeting was over we all had to head out and do traffic control. There was a ceremony going on in the field in front of our office and part of our job is to make sure no cars drive up during the ceremony. The ceremony was a memorial day ceremony and had the band, the honor guard and some of the united nations honor guard as well. When I heard about it, I thought there was going to be a number of people, but it was basically only for the command group and their family. There was a small bleacher with some soldiers in it, but that was about it. I thought it was going to be a much bigger event.

After the event we headed back to the office where I did some office work. I updated the events calendar and then started teaching SPC Mick how to do "read aheads". This is a pretty easy task that I do once a week. It involves copy and pasting information from the previous week's meetings into one sheet for easy viewing…that nobody ever uses…lol.

We then cleaned up the office and took off. I ate dinner in my room and watched a TV show before starting on my schoolwork.

Overheard Quote: "I have a question about a person…and it's complicated" (My roommate stated this…and I asked "does it involve a girl?"…of course the answer was yes…lol)

Hyundai! - (Korea) Day 16

A pic of the two buses that were given to USFK from Hyundai 

to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korean War 

(before the ceremony)

This morning was a little crazy. We went in to get a meeting all setup and there seemed to be a lot of miscommunication between departments on how it was supposed to be setup. It turned out getting SPC Short a little snappy and our KATUSA getting yelled at by him. In the end what happened was the brass attending the meeting didn’t communicate what they needed and at the last second told us. Not good, but you always have to keep the brass happy.

While hanging out in the office today a sergeant who had been on leave since I arrived came into our office. She works in the admin section which works closely with our office. She came in and saw me and asked who’s the new guy. She then found out I was a 25B and immediately she said she is going to take me and move me to her office. I guess they really need a 25B down there. I may actually work on computers if that does happen.

Later on a guy who works in the admin office asked if I could give him a hand picking up all the mail. I said no problem and we took off. He mentioned that he heard I was (or may be) moving to his office...lol. Funny how fast rumors spread...or maybe that sergeant has some pull. We drove a GOV (a government vehicle - Government Owned Vehicle). Every time we stopped somewhere the guy had to write down the time and the mileage. I guess the bean counters keep an eye on that stuff down to the minute.

The big deal of the day was that there was going to be a ceremony in front of our building. The Hyundai CEO and a bunch of their directors and such came rolling up in about 6 black sedans. Hyundai was giving the US Army Forces Korea two Hyundai luxury buses. This is the 60th anniversary of the end of the Korea war. The buses were a thank you to the US forces here for helping keep the peace and protect South Korea. During the ceremony I was in charge of directing traffic...making sure nobody tried to drive to where the ceremony was taking place. I was very glad that I had the chance to visit CIF yesterday and pickup all my cold weather gear. Even with the polar fleece , gloves and my PT beanie it was cold! Fortunately the ceremony didn’t last too long, just long enough for the CEO and General to exchange many thanks. All the people that came in the 6 sedans just had their drivers keep ‘em running with the heat on and when the ceremony was over, they walked very quickly to their cars and took off. It all lasted about a half hour. Just another day in the life of a 25B who didn’t touch a computer. I did get to wear a big shoulder band that made me look important though!

Change of Responsibility (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 57

This morning we again didn’t have PT because of the upcoming ceremony. Now let me stop here for a second and discuss the army’s priorities. Right before we took our final exam for CCNA2 (a pretty demanding class and test) the class asked the instructor if we could come in early the day of the test to do some extra studying. The instructor thought this was a great idea, but when she ran it by the 1st sergeant he said PT is very important and he wouldn’t want us to miss it. Now fast forward a few days... we have now missed 2 days of PT because of our 1st sergeant’s change of responsibility ceremony. No big deal.

We marched over to Centurion Field and then were released for breakfast. When we formed back up we practiced singing two of the songs that we will be singing (The Army Song and The Signal Corps March). I guess we weren’t sounding too well in rehearsal the day before. We stood around and waited...and waited. At least this was first thing in the morning (8:30), so it wasn’t getting too hot yet. The ceremony was for our 1st sergeant who is leaving and another is taking over as 1st sergeant. We did a lot of standing at parade rest and attention (keep in mind that when at either of these positions you cannot move at all - the guy in front of me actually got stung by a bee and was able to keep still during the sting!), listened to speeches, sang our songs, and then marched off while doing some loud cadence. I think we all looked pretty good and we sure as hell sounded good when we were marching off. Even our platoon sergeants said it was the best they have ever witnessed. 

After the ceremony PFC Metal and I took off and headed straight to the IET center for our morning nap. Our main goal was to get away from Charlie company asap. You never know what will happen to you if you hang around there too long, most likely they will have you cleaning toilets or some other crappy job. It was awesome and amazing all in one. I really look forward to those naps each morning LOL. After resting up we headed over to eat lunch and then school.

We heard today that someone in Charlie actually went AWOL. I didn’t actually know the guy because he came after I moved over to RBK. Pretty crazy, I thought all that would be done once basic is finished. This place can be pretty crappy too though, just in a different way.

Overheard Quote: “Only 38 more hours until I can have a beer” (A private in formation before the ceremony started)

Rehearsal Day (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 56

Had to wake up at 4:15 this morning even though we were not going to be doing PT. We had to be in formation in our ACUs and we had to get all our cleaning duties done before the formation. Once we were all accounted for we marched over to Centurion Field which is right next to the Charlie barracks. After arrival there, we stood for an hour doing nothing...absolutely nothing.

We finally started the rehearsal and ran through it twice before we were released to go eat breakfast. After breakfast PFC Metal and I walked over to the IET center and waited for it to open. Once it opened we assumed our positions and took a nice nap until lunch time. I’m starting to really like this IET center. 

We ate lunch and went to class. Today starts Windows Server 2008. We went through some slides and a practical exercise of installing and some configuring of some basic services.

Ate dinner and then marched back to RBK. Took a long shower and kicked back and relaxed the rest of the night. Today was a pretty good day.

Overheard Quote: “False motivation is better than no motivation” (Our command sergeant major during the rehearsal telling everyone we need to sound off better.)

Test Day (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 55

This morning sergeant Kent decided since we didn’t run yesterday that we should run today...and run we did. In sergeant Kent fashion we found hills and run up them. At least I’m feeling better now. Even though the run was pretty tough, I wasn’t coughing and hacking all over the place.

We got on the bus to head to class and when we got there we just headed over to the IET center since our class doesn’t start until noon (making sure we didn’t go by Charlie company - you never want to be seen without something to do or else they will find something for you to do) I could get used to this schedule! Once we got in the IET center me and a number of us just sat down and took naps. 

We woke from our naps and went to lunch at 11:00, then class at noon. Today is test day, our Windows Vista class will soon be over. The test was completely hands on. It included installing Vista and setting up some users and groups as well as some other minor stuff. I’m a Mac guy and I think I could have done this test in my sleep. I scored 100% along with about two thirds of the class. The entire class passed though which is the important part.

After class we were informed that everyone in Charlie company and in software classes will have to attend a “changing of responsibility” ceremony. That is just great. So after dinner we had to go rehearse for the upcoming ceremony. So instead of heading back to RBK we had to stand in the sun in formation. We listened to what was going to happen and went back and forth from attention to parade rest multiple times. An hour and 15 minutes later we were able to head off to RBK.

We found out that we also have another rehearsal tomorrow morning instead of PT, that might not be too bad... I need to give my legs some rest as I hear we are having another run day tomorrow at RBK with sergeant Kent.

Overheard Quote: “I can’t believe how much this place sucks” (I heard this from an MOS-T talking about Fort Gordon at lunch as he was getting up to leave)