A Long Day - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 146

Sunrise this morning at Ft. Lewis from my parking spot...unfortunately 

I was driving and couldn't take an amazing view with Mt. Rainier 

in the background a few moments earlier.

This morning we had our morning formation at 0830 in ACUs. I arrived and was thankful to be able to sleep in a little. Our first sergeant arrived in front of the formation and I guess wanted to stroke her ego or something. She had everyone who was on profile that cannot do push-ups move to the back, the rest of us had to start doing push-ups. Doing push-ups is fine, but it just pisses me off when people have to strut around and show people who's boss.

My mood worsened when after formation we broke up by platoons and I was voluntold to clean the stairwell in the barracks along with another soldier. I was pretty pissed off. All I did was just glare at the NCO while he was instructing us what to do. What made it worse was that I was really looking forward to my coffee that was waiting for me back in my car. Instead I have to clean up a stairwell in a building that I don't live in or ever use…but that is the story of my army life…cleaning up after others it seems. The other soldier quickly volunteered to do the sweeping leaving me with mop duty…this morning just keeps getting better.

I do the cleanup and then head to my car where I finally have my coffee. I get a text shortly after from my squad leader telling me I have to sign my appointment slip at his desk. Stupid new rule. I head up and do that, then head to Starbucks on post, get a coffee and hang out in their lobby with my iPad making use of their WiFi. I needed to get away from the WTB for a little while. After that I headed to the JAG office to inquire about electronic repair estimate forms that the moving company needs me to have filled out because they broke a few things during the move. The JAG officer gave me the forms, but said if there is no physical damage evident that "the little elves inside electronics just die sometimes" and I will not be able to get reimbursed for the damage. They broke a 2TB external hard drive of mine and a pair of Bose wireless speakers. Both are not cheap, and now I realize that I will probably not get reimbursed for them. They worked fine in Germany before they were packed up and shipped here by the movers. That just pisses me off.

I head to Subway for lunch, then hang out some more in the lobby with my iPad. I head back to the WTB and wait in my car for a while…taking a small nap. I then went to my hydro massage appointment at 1500. The massage was great as usual. When I left I saw my company all getting in formation, there is no way I'm going to join them…I just head to my car and head home. Luckily I'm enrolled in class, so I don't have to attend any evening formations even if I'm not working with the navy.

I get home, do my schoolwork, then prepare for the weekend!

Weekend Wrap-Up (Germany) Days 110 & 111

(Due to the FTX my posts may be a little sporadic, I found out the USO offers free Internet and will be toting along my laptop and uploading posts as I get a chance)

Saturday: I didn't have much planned for the weekend other than getting some rest and relaxation before my FTX that I was voluntold to do. My wife and I hung out around the house for a bit just cleaning up and watching TV shows before heading to the PX to gather some items I wanted to make sure I had for the FTX such as laundry detergent and a German style power-strip along with some US adapters. I found out during my last FTX that all the barracks use the German plugs and I figured this one would be no different.

We then met up with SPC Whirlwind and his wife for dinner at their place. His wife is German and made us a traditional German dinner recipe that consisted of cabbage, some type of noodle with sauce, and beef wrapped up with some veggies inside. I didn't catch the names of everything, but it was all pretty good. We plan on having them over to enjoy some Asian food before they leave. We then went to cosmic bowling and bowled until 0100 with a few others from our company. One of the sergeants just found out he was going through a divorce, so he was "bowling angry". This also included partaking in a lot of drinking for everyone. I had a couple of beers, but decided to leave it at that. The other guys drank beer, then started ordering doubles and triples of jack and coke. It went pretty downhill from there, but it was pretty funny to watch them all try and bowl afterward.

Sunday: Again my wife and I didn't do a whole lot. We wanted to spend the day together because I would be gone for a month. We did make a trip to the commissary, but that was about it for the day. It was all spent eating some of my favorite meals that my wife made for me. Pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast and then tacos for dinner. Who knows what the food will be like during the FTX. I then packed everything I needed into a ruck sack and a duffel bag. Luckily I didn't need any combat gear for this FTX. I also do not know what the situation will be for internet access, so I will just write and then update when I get a chance.

SMA Part Deux - (Germany) Day 73

My lunch bag. A Starbucks bag with digital cammo duct tape 

on any parts that have ripped.

PT this morning was not actually PT at all. We had our formation outside the barracks, our company has offices and the armory in the lower level of the barracks in Mark Twain Village. This morning our company was conducting 100% required weigh in. We were told that anyone that is overweight and "busts" tape (if you are overweight, your body gets measured and a formula is used to figure out your body fat percentage…you "bust tape" if you are over the limit) will get flagged immediately. Once a person is flagged they cannot do anything such as go on leave, on pass, get promoted, etc.

Even though it was a 100% for the entire company, the higher ranking individuals such as the XO and the senior NCOs went into the office and did it with the door shut. This seemed a little strange to me and also a little suspect, but I'm just a private so what do I know. I see fat NCOs all the time and wonder how the heck they even pass their PT test let alone their weight test. I wonder if they do this "closed door" weigh in as well. I'm not saying our leaders are like that, it just seemed a little strange.

After standing in alphabetical order we finally started moving after about a half an hour of just standing there. When it came my turn I came in 6 pounds under my limit for my age and height. Once finished we were allowed to leave and report back for our normal Thursday Sergeant's Time Training at 0900 back in the barracks office. I drove home and proceeded to get ready for the work day.

Our training today consisted of a bunch of people crowded into a room trying to see a PowerPoint presentation on a small computer screen. I have to say that if the company knows we have to have training every Thursday, and most of these trainings are conducted via PowerPoint that they would invest in a projector! When my boss had to do training, he brought in his flat screen TV and hooked up his personal laptop to it in order to do the training which worked well…but he shouldn't have to provide all the training equipment himself…the company should.

The actual training was over troop movement and planning operations. A bunch of typical infantry type stuff that really doesn't pertain to my job. I swear whenever the army needs to do training they always fall back on infantry type stuff instead of thinking a little outside the box and doing some training that would actually help us learn more about our jobs.

Once the training was finished it was almost lunch time, so I headed back to the office and ate my lunch. I then had to ride with my boss and a few others from 1st Platoon to "K-Town". K-Town is actually what folks around here call the Kaiserslautern army garrison. The trip was a little over an hour and we went to the theatre on post to see the Sergeant Major of the Army. He was doing a Town Hall meeting and our company needed to send a certain number of people. Since I'm the lowest ranking it's easy for them to choose me to go. I had already been to this same type of town hall meetings with the SMA while I was in Korea. This one was basically the same, going over the troop reduction, sexual harassment, and answering people's questions. One new thing added was the new ACUs that are being considered. He passed around various prototypes of new tops and bottoms that were being considered. I think they all are better than what we have now…they are getting rid of the Velcro on the sleeves and pants which never seem to work that well with the current uniform.

The meeting didn't end until 1700 and because of traffic leaving post (normal post traffic getting off work plus the surplus of traffic from the meeting, we didn't get off post for an hour). We then had to stop at Patton Barracks on the way back to fill up the TMP with gas. I didn't actually get back to my house until 2000! I then ate dinner and worked on schoolwork.

Tomorrow is Friday…looking forward to getting through that so I can enjoy a nice relaxing weekend.

Playing Operator - (Germany) Day 70

PT this morning was a little strange. We started to head off for PRT in the racket ball court, but our NCOIC came in at the last second and told us to head to the gym, we're going to work out with the HHD company today. Once there we ended up doing P90X. There was a laptop hooked up to a projector with little speakers on it. Everyone was already started and we fell in the back of the formation and started along with them. I give it a big thumbs down…not because I think P90X is stupid, but because all these exercises were new, so I would end up watching the video for about half the exercise to see what the heck they were doing. I couldn't hear anything from the tiny little speakers. A lot of the workouts put me in strange positions that I just couldn't do, so the entire workout was a bit of a joke. I do think if P90X is done correctly, you would probably be getting a great workout though!

At work it was just me and SGT Black in the main part of the office. Everyone else either had appointments, or they were getting their 4-day that they missed because of the FTX. I ended up doing nothing except surf the web in a limited capacity and answer the phone when it rang. When I say surfed in a limited capacity, I mean the powers that be have blocked quite a few sites, some of them even army related sites. I'm not sure why, but now we cannot access much of anything. Luckily Yahoo News still worked and I was able to read the news.

Being the lowest ranking person in the shop, I knew I would end up getting tasked out to do stuff. It's happened a little before…someone will let our NCOIC know that they need a certain number of people for either a detail, or just bodies in an audience. I found out this week is going to be full of such events. Tomorrow I will again see the SGM of the Army for a town hall meeting. I did this once while I was in Korea as well. We got to hear him tell everyone how the army will be trimming the fat, how he doesn't like tattoos, and how he wants the PT test to be tougher…such as adding a 12 mile ruck march to it. I can't wait to hear it all again...LOL. I also found out I'll be attending some sort of training on Wednesday that requires me to have my full battle rattle…WTF? Friday I will attend some newcomer training since I'm fairly new. Yay me. At least I will have the weekend off. I can't wait for it…and it's only Monday!

Landscaping Day - (Germany) Day 67

Our work call this morning was at 1000 to give us a little recovery time from the FTX. Once we arrived to work, we heard there is a chance the sergeant major of the army may be coming to our post. What does this mean? It means that me and SPC Matrix were chosen to help out the battalion with a detail. We headed over and found out that we would be raking leaves and sweeping the sidewalk. There are leaves everywhere and a sidewalk that goes on for what seems like miles. SPC Matrix starts raking leaves and I start sweeping the sidewalk. We break for lunch at 1130, I head to my car and listen to the radio while eating.

At 1300 we have to report back to battalion. The NCO looks over our work and then tells us he wants the sign washed and all these tiny leaves picked out from various areas. SPC Matrix was a little pissed. He felt like this is something that should usually be given to people assigned with extra duty (people in trouble). It wasn't too bad though once we started, we did it and finished it pretty quickly and then we were done with the day's detail. Unfortunately my hands aren't used to manual labor…I'm a computer geek you know…I developed a blister….grrrr.

Once back at the office we were released at 1500 after given a safety brief and turning in our weekend checklist. Mine basically said I'm staying at home all weekend because I have staff duty tomorrow. I then headed over to pick up my wife from work and we headed home for a relaxing night.

Lightning Warrior Field Training Exercise Day 5 - (Germany) Day 64

Me after decontaminating myself after the fake gas during operation "Eagle Eye"

Wake up was at 0530 as usual. I headed up to the wash room, brushed my teeth and then ate breakfast at the DFAC. We had to form up at 0700 for a police call around the FOB. For those who don't know a "police call" is another way to say we walked around and picked up trash.

0800: Team meeting. Our squad went over our mission and how we would accomplish it. Not really too involved other than we would be pulling rear security until something happened and then we would be called up to help with first aid.

0900: Squad practice. We formed up outside and walked through how our formation would look and what we would do in case of each event (i.e. IED, direct fire, etc).

1000: Rest…we hung out in the barracks and ate snacks

1100: We formed up outside the barracks in full battle rattle with gas masks and wet weather gear. It was cold so I also had on my thick poly pro on underneath to try and keep me warm. We marched about half way to the town and then did a walk through once again. We had two officers with us, who were the evaluators and also the ones who would tell us who is injured, dead, or if there is an IED...etc.

The walk throughs were a bit of mad chaos. The first two people who were told that they were dead was a 6'8" big black dude as well as McLovin, who is one of the thickest guys in our squad. We couldn't actually move either of them, so we had to "simulate" carrying them back. We didn't have an actual litter to put them on and we couldn't carry them, so they just stood up and walked back. During the walk throughs we simulated IEDs, Gas, and indirect fire. Everyone was running everywhere, I couldn't hear crap because I had my earplugs in and I was also running all over trying to help injured people because I was part of the aid and litter team. For being a "walk through" it kind of sucked. We had a quick review over everything and the officers told us what we needed to work on before the real operation started.

1300: The mission starts and we all have to do a test fire of our weapons. The officers don't want anyone not firing their blanks because they don't want to clean their weapon later on…it's like they read my mind. We start marching and do a lot of stopping and making a 360 degree perimeter while suspected IEDs are checked out. We finally make it to the fake town and there are a number of people dressed up as Arabs walking around. One of the people in front spot an IED and we break off into two groups and end up assaulting the town. There was a lot of confusion and a lot of people either dead or injured. They did actually have real litters to use there, so I ended up having to carry a number of people to the medivac landing area on the other side of town. This turned out to be a good workout! I then pulled security around the medivac zone while the rest of the people started getting out of the town.

We ended up getting blasted by the officers afterward because we assaulted a "friendly" town. We knew we were going to be attacked and even though we saw the IED, the officers were having non of it. So we all got yelled at a bit before we could continue on.

Next up we keep marching down the road with more possible IEDs and 360 degree security. We spot all the IEDs before getting to them, so the officers have to just call out IED and take out some pyrotechnics and have blasts in the middle of the road. We then have to get the injured again and move them like before. This happens a few times until they pop a smoke grenade and tell us it's gas. Everyone has to put on their gas mask quickly and then get out of the contaminated area. It sucks to run with a gas mask on because your lungs can't quite get the deep breaths they need fast enough. So you get the feeling of slight suffocation. To make matters worse a number of people "died" because they did not get their masks on in time, so we had to physically carry them out. One of the people was the radio guy who was carrying the radio on his back. Somehow I got stuck with lugging that heavy ass thing around on my back and helping carry people out of the contaminated area.

I thought I was about to die at some points. I had to literally take of my mask so I could take in some deep breaths or else I may have passed out. Once done we had to decontaminate ourselves. This involves taking a charcoal pad out of some packaging and wiping down our hands and then our face. In order to do our face we had to take a deep breath and only open our mask enough to reach a hand in and start wiping. We had to keep doing this until we were able to wipe our entire face.

Once finished we were then told there was an IED behind us and had to run up an incline 300 meters. That did it for me! I made it most of the way, but with that heavy ass radio on my back I couldn't make it the entire way. Once everyone was at the top we had once guy who sprained his ankle or something and they had to call in and have a van come and get him.

We then marched back to the FOB and turned in any blank rounds we had left along with the radios. I then got voluntold to help with 9 others for a police call around the areas we just went on patrol. So in full battle rattle we all had to walk around looking for trash around the entire course. It sucked and nobody was happy about that one.

Once back in the barracks I don't ask, I just leave and shower. I was soaked with sweat through my shirt, my poly pros, my uniform and all over the inside of my wet weather gear. It was pretty gross. I then decided to hit up the "gut truck" and purchased two brats with 1.5 liters of water. The gut truck is there everyday, but I didn't want to spend money when there is free decent food available. Today was an exception though…we finished the operation and it was time to celebrate. I was very dehydrated and ended up drinking the entire 1.5 liters of water rather quickly.

While we were doing the police call, everyone else was doing the AAR (After Action Review) of the operation. I heard it went pretty bad and no matter what any of the soldiers said, the officers had an explanation and were not even listening.

I hung out on my bed…finished my second book and then just played games on my iPhone (Monopoly, Plants Vs. Zombies, & Solitaire)…just things to pass the time. When I got up to charge my phone I could feel my entire body ache. I think I'm getting too old for this crap. Speaking of charging my iPhone, I brought a charger, but they do not have the standard American plug in these barracks…only the German plug-ins. Luckily a guy a few bunks down let me borrow his for an hour or so each night so I could keep my iPhone charged.

I brushed my teeth and then hung out with McLovin and SPC Mac for a while. I can feel my body is sore everywhere. I should sleep well tonight!

Lights out at 2200.

Voluntold - (Korea) Day 309

The new ROK uniforms...I can't believe they went to a beret!

Work call this morning was at 0800. We were voluntold to participate in a ceremony. The worst part was that the ceremony was for something downright retarded. The name of our battalion is changing from STB-K to HHB. Big freaking deal! They have to have a stupid ceremony for it. Anyways you can tell how much I actually cared to be a part of this momentous occasion. We had to stand in formation and go through a rehearsal which consisted of us standing in formation moving a couple times from parade rest to attention and so forth. We then were released to stand around the field for about an hour and a half before the actual ceremony started. Once the ceremony started it took about a half hour to finish. What a joke…I really can't believe they had a ceremony for this. Anyway…on with the day.

I headed to the office and checked my email and such. I came across something that literally turned my world upside-down. Unfortunately I can't speak much of it right now until I speak with my wife first, but I can tell you my jaw dropped and I walked around in disbelief all day.

I did a little IMO stuff such as take a laptop to be imaged to the help desk. It would not boot from my netboot cd, so I was unable to re-image myself. The helpdesk will have to use alternative methods. I also pushed through the secure network access paperwork for PV2 Charlie. All the required documents have been collected and sent off. We'll see how long it takes to get him setup.

I headed to lunch with Special K and SPC Roy. On the way out to the car I saw who I thought was SPC Roy bent over tying his boots. The last name was the same, the body type was the same, so I stopped and waited for him to finish…only to find a LTC come up looking at me with a puzzled look…wondering why I was standing there hanging out with him. I'm really glad I didn't give him a "good game" slap on the butt or anything. That would have been a disaster. SPC Roy said he was watching me in his car wondering what the heck I was doing…anyway we all left and ate at the food court.

Once back I had to drive our NCOIC and PV2 Charlie to CIF so he could get all his gear issued to him finally. We then headed back and I helped PV2 Charlie unload everything into his room. Back at the office we cleaned up and everyone left except me, I stayed back with Special K to help him study for the board. About 15 minutes later our NCOIC comes in and says to recall everyone. Evidently there was a meeting missed on the events calendar and we have to setup for it tonight. Once everyone was back we all had to hear about it for a bit. I guess there was a mess up last week when we were on the tour and now this one. Pretty soon we'll start getting into some serious trouble when things like this happen. Unfortunately the possibility is high now with two new people training. SPC Mick and the KATUSAs stayed back to setup for the meeting because PV2 Charlie and I had to make sure to come in on time tomorrow for the normal Wednesday morning meeting.

Once back in my room I hung out for a while, we were supposed to have an inspection…but nobody reminded our NCOIC…on purpose…lol. I ate dinner and watched a Hawaii Five-0. I worked on a Windows 7 SkillPort, then watched some more TV shows….NCIS & NCIS LA. I love that the new seasons have all started! My roommate wanted to order chicken, so I ended up going in on it with him and we had a late night snack as well. Hopefully I'll get to work out tomorrow…I just hope we get to leave work on time and there are no room inspections.

Status of my move: I don’t want to talk about it right now....

Voluntold (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 54

Three of the lucky guys at RBK who were "voluntold" to do some duties

We had no PT this morning, but we did have to dress in our PTs and report to formation at the normal time (5:15AM). It is the first day of civilian school here in Georgia and I guess they let the NCOs have the morning off to get their kids to school their first day and make sure everything goes smooth for them. I was thinking this was pretty awesome so far, but it got even better after roll call. The sergeant said words that I’ve never heard come out of any sergeants mouth...”you guys can do whatever you want, you can even go back to sleep” We just had to make sure we were back for a 7:30 formation. This was great. I am finally getting over my cold, so one more day without PT is perfect.

I had a great breakfast. I ate slow and even had coffee. There is always FOX News going on in the RFAC where we eat. It’s pretty conservative and I think it's always a hit with the soldiers. There are always a few around making comments with every story that comes on.

At the 7:30 formation I was in for a little surprise. While everyone else was told they can hang out and do whatever they want until the 10:40 formation, me and 7 others were “voluntold” that we had to do detail. The guy picked us at random and said “don’t worry, you guys will be done by 9”. Right then I thought BS! It’s never that easy. We had to pick up trash, sweep, spray down the stairs, and weed eat. I guess the command sergeant major is coming by later on, so everything has to look nice. We finished everything at 10:15, so I got a little break before the formation.

We formed up and went to lunch, then to class. The class is still Windows Vista. I’m not going to lie...I fell asleep. It didn’t happen just once either. In fact I think about 3/4 of the class fell asleep at some point. Our instructor just told everyone to work on the practical exercises. (installing vista and setting up users and groups) That got old really quick, which is why so many people were looking at the back of their eyelids.

Finally class ended and we marched back to eat, then back to RBK. So nice to get back and not have mandatory study hall. I actually have a bit of time to wind down.

The Wife

do you think "Volentold" would work with the kids?

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 01:22 PM


The Wife

Ok I meant "Voluntold". ;)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010 - 01:23 PM

First Day of Class (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 6

These entries have been sent via email from Brandon. (Yay!)

Wake up was at 3:30 AM this morning. We had our first PT test. It was only a diagnostic, but still very important to pass at the regular army standards. In basic you only have to score at least a 50 in each event. AIT & regular army you have to score at least a 60. Also if you pass the diagnostic and end up getting hurt later on, you can get a waiver for the final test because you've shown you can pass the test already. I did pass, but not with flying colors. (they don't post your score like they did in basic). I guess a combo of doing nothing since we slowed down in basic, eating a bunch of crap, and not hydrating enough the day before all took their toll on me.

After we finished showering none of the new people really knew where to go. The communication here really sucks. It makes being here very frustrating. We finally found out that a lot of us (including me) had our first day of class today.

So those of us who were starting class were told to line up with the school formation. We lined up and were marched to Dixon Hall where all the classes are held. We all filed into the building, but none of the new people knew where to go. We just kind of wandered around and then went back out to the front of the building. Back out front there was a sergeant calling out names of the new soldiers...hey we found the right place to be! Once our names were called we got in line and marched to a classroom.

My first class is A+. This will be going over the basics of computer hardware and will touch on the Windows OS. The class day was for the most part orientation. Class in a military environment is much different than in the civilian world. Before we enter class everyone stands in line at parade rest. When walking the halls everyone walks on the right side and there is absolutely no talking. The funniest one of all is that all the new soldiers (MOS-I) have to be escorted by MOS-T soldiers (soldiers who have been in the army and are now at AIT to switch their MOS - (jobs) ). Today we had a 22 year old sergeant escort 2 36 year olds and one 26 year old to the bathroom LOL. MOS-Ts are treated much better at AIT. They have their own barracks and can come and go as they please. They even have their own break area at the school. 

When we were out for the day I accidentally got in the Bravo company formation to march back....D'oh! No big deal though, I ended up getting in the chow hall a little earlier than everyone else.

After chow me and PVT Metal along with 6 others were "voluntold" (that's when you don't volunteer for a task, but you are told to do it). We had to clean up the brigade headquarters for a couple of hours. Scrubbed some baseboards, mopped some floors and waxed some floors.

I met a guy from Hawaii via Seattle today. He had a rough time in basic. He's 36 as well and ended up with stress fractures in both feet, a dislocated shoulder and something else to his wrist. Sounds like his basic was pretty brutal on him. He seems like a pretty cool guy.

Overheard Quote: "They can talk about us, but they can't talk without us" (our instructor said this about the rest of the army talking about the signal corps) .... I know I know...it's hard to get good quotes now without the drill sergeants running around and scared privates doing stupid stuff.