Playing Army Man Again - (Germany) Day 101

Two groups getting ready to kick down the door and 

clear a house during our training in Mannheim

This morning we did not have PT. Instead we had to form up early (0630) at the armory to get our weapons issued to us. We have training scheduled for our Thursday sergeant's time training and today is a special one. We are heading out to Mannheim and meeting up with some other platoons from our company that are located in Mannheim, and there are even some from Landstuhl making the trip down.

Our platoons here in Heidelberg took 3 TMP vans to Mannheim which is about a half hour to 45 minutes away. Once we arrived we headed to the DFAC right away and everyone had breakfast before heading out. The DFAC food was typical DFAC food, we got enough to fill us..but the quality left something to be desired.

We then went to the field and broke up into three even groups to start our training. I have to say this is the kind of stuff I really don't like about the army. The motto is that "Everyone is a soldier first", but I sometimes think they use this as a blanket excuse to just do infantry training. We have to have some sort of training every Thursday and because there is already so much infantry training all laid out and ready to go, they just go with it. It's useless training for me and I really hate it. I really wish they would do some geeky computer training! You may think that it's funny that I'm in the army and don't like to run around in the bushes playing army man. I think of myself more like a guy with talent and experience in a professional field. I left my profession to serve my country for one tour of duty. In doing this I made sure to get my particular field selected for my job and planned on contributing during my service. My specialty is computers…Information Technology. I'm experienced, I'm certified, I graduated at the top of my AIT class, yet I still have yet to do my job in a full time capacity…instead I get a glimpse of my profession every now and then, but that is it. Think of a talented surgeon that wants to give back to his country and joins the army as an army surgeon, but instead of working in a hospital they have him kicking in doors and running around the woods. They have him doing this not as a combat medic, but just as a soldier learning infantry. This is how I feel every time I go to the field…in fact every time I attend any army training each Thursday. Also we just found out today that there are no appointments allowed on Thursdays anymore…just in case someone wanted to use one to get out of this "awesome" training we have. This was put out by our battalion commander.

The training is given by our NCOs and I'm not upset at them…at all. They are most times not even told what they will be teaching until the last second…sometimes the day before. Another crappy thing the army does which hurts not only the teacher, but also the students. In our training sessions today we had the NCOs reading line by line from sheets of paper printed from the internet telling us how to run around the woods and play army man…well enough ranting here is how the day went:

Our first group we had to form up in a platoon wedge formation and start walking through the woods. We were told the entire days training should end at 1100…so we got started right away. This basically involves 2 teams each with a point man and the rest of the team at a roughly 45 degree angle walking…kind of a similar formation you would see a flock of birds flying…except spread out a little farther apart. Our training was on how to react to fire. So if we happened to be patrolling the woods and were fired upon, what should we do? We walked through the correct procedure a few times. They made me squad leader at one point, which is another thing I really hate. I have no desire to ever lead a group of troops through the woods or any other kind of infantry movements. It's not "good training" for me, because it's something that will NEVER happen.

After that we went to the next station which was how to hold your weapon in close quarters and also when the enemy is within 25 to 50 meters. This class was pretty simple and not very time consuming. After a few demonstrations we all practiced and then would practice turning left or right with the weapon ready.

Next was the mount training. This tactic involves lining up outside a door and then kicking in the door and clearing a room. We then did more advance scenarios such as the entire house with two teams.

Once finished we found out we then had to each do a larger scenario that took everything we learned and put it all together. My group volunteered to go first while another group would watch and the last group would be the enemy (with their ACU tops on inside-out so we could tell). Someone had the great idea to make me and another PFC the squad leaders of the group. WTF? We have a number of NCOs in our group who sit around in an office environment and only get to lead in a supervisory role. These should be the guys jumping at the chance to now lead in a tactical exercise, this should be their chance to shine as leaders and practice something they do not get to use. Nope me and another PFC got the job. Needless to say we all died many times before even getting to the village to clear the houses. Luckily we were able to get resurrected each time, so we could clear the houses. We cleared the first house fine, but everyone died in the second house.

Now I was about to rest a bit as the next group went, but they needed two extra people and wouldn't you know it…I was one of the ones chosen. FML! We went through the scenario again and I was finally able to rest after we finished while the last group went. The training took way longer than anyone thought it would have…we left at almost 1500. Without lunch there were plenty of people getting cranky. My neck, shoulders and lower back were extremely sore from wearing my body armor all day long. I can handle it for short periods of time, but it really messed me up today.

We headed back to the armory to turn in our weapons. We then had to turn back in one of the TMP vans. I drove the van there and SPC Mac brought me back to the office. By this time it was almost 1700. Everyone gathered in the office and we received our safety brief from our NCOIC. After that we were released for the 4 day weekend! I went home took a hot shower and had my wife rub icy/hot on my shoulders, then proceeded to take pain medication…I only wish I had some prescription strength medication.

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.

NBC Issue - (Germany) Day 52

The supply sergeant checking the gas mask on one of the soldiers from 1st platoon

This morning I showed up to the PT formation in my ACUs. I was there just for accountability and then I headed off with two NCOs and some soldiers from 1st platoon to Landstuhl. We all needed our NBC (Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) gear issued to us. We loaded up in the TMP van and I promptly fell asleep a few minutes into the drive which lasts a little over an hour or so.

Once we arrived at the base, we waited in the company conference room for about 15 to 20 minutes before the supply sergeant came and got us. We then headed to a warehouse that has all the NBC gear. Unlike in Korea where they just handed me all the stuff and the process took about 5 minutes, this place was much more involved. Not only did we each try everything on, the mask was put on and tested. It was also hooked up to a machine that tested the mask while on our heads. During the testing we had to move our head around and take deep breaths. This was all to ensure our masks were in good order and the seal was never broken.

The entire process including the drive back to the office took until 1130 which was just in time to go to lunch. I just went to my car and listened to music while eating my sack lunch. I then headed to the office after my lunch.

My boss was back after being on leave for the last week and a half. He finally gave me my initial counseling statement, which is basically describing what is expected of me and what I should expect working there. I was also told that I will initially be assigned one customer. Right now each person has about 4 customers each that they are responsible for. Giving me one will ease me into the whole process of making sure their paperwork is all squared away without getting overwhelmed. It should also help me keep a little busier than I have been because I can actually focus on something.

There was not a lot of anything else the rest of the day. We had a 4-day safety brief which was a little longer than normal and then I left and headed home. After changing and getting ready my wife and our guests (her cousin and her cousin's husband) headed over to SPC Whirlwind's house for dinner. We had some home cooked German food which was great. We stayed there until 2200 just visiting and chatting the whole time. A nice night out with friends and family.

This shows one of the soldiers with the machine testing their mask while wearing the NBC gear (except for the boots)

Curfew in Effect - (Korea) Day 312

Work call this morning was at 0845. Even though we "started" doing PT with the company I think 5 weeks ago, I have yet to attend one. Last week they actually did attend a battalion run, but SPC Mick and I were on the Hyundai Cultural & Friendship Tour. This week all of our reflective running vests were at the shop getting our names, rank and unit sewn on them, so we were not able to attend. The work call was also a little strange, we had no meetings at all scheduled today and when that is the case we usually come in at 0830, but we got an extra 15 minutes today for some reason.

Even though we had no meetings it seemed very busy for some reason. I checked my email and then was busy running errands and tying up loose ends. I checked with our NCOIC about my levy packet and she said she forgot to send it last night, she just got overwhelmed. She did tell me to stand at her desk until she composed the message and sent it off. Now I know it has been officially submitted.

She then asked me to create a spreadsheet for her from some of the inventory items that we are going to get rid of. I had given her the sheet that listed all the items, but she thought for some reason I had it. I checked everywhere in my office and then came back and told her I didn't know where it was. I told her I could create a new one from the master copy, but then she found the sheet I gave her earlier on her desk. She then apologized and got down and started doing push-ups…lol.

I then had to send her the requirements for my replacement to become an IMO like me, and also what he has to do to get the elevated privileges (the demigod card). He now has a checklist of items he's going to need to work on.

We all then gathered in our conference room and watched some required sexual harassment videos. I suggested we make it a pizza party and our NCOIC agreed and sent Special K and SPC Mick off to Pizza School to get some pizza! After the videos I headed over to an IMO meeting with a lady from our admin office. She's an air force master sergeant. She's also a little peculiar, she doesn't ever wear her uniform when coming to work or when leaving work. Maybe she doesn't like all the saluting that is required when in uniform. Anyways…that will be her nickname since she is also a little peculiar in other ways as well. The meeting was all about the email migration that is coming up soon. The entire DoD is moving to a new email system and the end result is going to be better, but there are going to be some pains in the short term during the migration process.

After the meeting MSgt Peculiar and I headed back to the office and briefed our army major on everything that is going to happen. Me and MSgt Peculiar are going to be busy next week getting everyone ready.

We all had to gather once again up in our conference room and get a brief from our NCOIC. Evidently it seems there have been a number of incidents where American soldiers have been getting into trouble. This is what prompted the sexual harassment training which also went over rape and such. There have been some instances of soldiers raping Korean nationals. There was also an incident of an E-7 masturbating in front of a Korean school. WTF? I wonder what the heck these people are thinking. Not only are they getting into some serious trouble themselves, but it really puts a stain on all the rest of the American military that are here in Korea. It has been big news in the Korean media. Because of this a curfew has been implemented effective today. I heard before I came there was a curfew, but since I've been here there has not been one in effect. I was surprised about how lax the curfew actually was though. We have to be back on post by 0100 on weekdays and 0300 on weekends. Right now it's only temporary, but our NCOIC says she thinks it will stay in effect for quite some time…we'll see.

We then got our safety brief and were turned loose to clean the office and leave. We ended up leaving about 1730. I headed to my room and called the maintenance office about our bathroom light being out. I called first thing this morning, but hadn't heard anything. They actually sent a guy out right away and he replaced the light. I changed and headed to The Point and worked out. My body is still pretty sore from the hard workout I had two days ago. I'm hoping I can keep up this pace, I'd like to get a better score on my next PT test…which should be in November now.

I got back to my room and ate dinner, then watched Conan The Destroyer. A great classic movie! Now I'm ready to watch the remake! I also watched an episode of Breaking Bad before calling it a night.

Freeze - (Korea) Day 178

SPC Mick taking a nap on the floor of the conference control room.
He's using a stack of napkins for a pillow...lol

Work call this morning was at 0500. We setup for a small meeting in the top secret conference room. After that we didn't have to do anything except wait, so I headed up to my lair with SPC Mick. SPC Mick fell asleep on the floor, but for some reason I couldn't fall asleep. I stayed up and watched late night talk shows. I'm not sure why they show them in the morning over here, but there they were. I watched The Tonight Show, Late Night with David Letterman as well as some others that I've never heard of. Just as I was about to fall asleep our sergeant called and had us come down stairs to see him.

Our sergeant called us all into his office and told us he would be doing the board prep and such today since he never got around to it yesterday. I went ahead and printed out my 10 SkillPorts for the week to show him and then headed back up stairs to watch the NBA playoffs. My viewing pleasure was interrupted when our supply sergeant came up and had everyone gather in the conference room. She gave us the weekend safety brief and because it's a 4 day weekend we had to talk about the significance of Memorial Day and such. We then had our "Don't Ask…Don't Tell" brief. The basics of it is that we are supposed to treat gay people normal and can get into trouble if we sexually harass them. No big change except now gay people can be open if they choose to and not worry about being kicked out. One interesting fact is that their partners are still treated the same as a straight person's girlfriend or boyfriend. They don't get any extra benefits or anything like a married couple gets.

After our briefing our sergeant bought everyone lunch from the Navy Club which was awesome. We sat and ate lunch and finished watching the game. These playoffs have been a lot of fun to watch I have to say. I then found out that not only does someone have to come in on Monday, but Tuesday as well. The ROKs are having another meeting and don't care that it's an American holiday. So this means I'll be coming in on Tuesday for a while. It just sucks that our officers don't care because it doesn't bother their holiday. Our sergeant said he would make it up to us, but it kind of ruined the plans we all had for this weekend. I'm not holding my breath either about it getting made up either…I've heard that one before.

I then had a little time to work on a SkillPort for a bit before getting called down to the sergeant's office. This is where he gave me my monthly counseling statement and then had us each come in and practice for the board. We had to enter and salute, then follow any directions he gave. It's a stressful situation and when asked to recite the soldier's creed I started, then went totally blank. I don't do well under pressure I guess. I finished it with a little prompting from our KATUSA of all people. I've said it hundreds of times, but I just froze…crazy. I then had to sing the army song which was kind of weird…singing to my sergeant in a tiny office. I hope I didn't hurt any of their ears. After that I was asked questions regarding military justice which we had been studying. I answered all those with no problems thanks to my handy dandy iPhone app that I had been using to study.

I think this was good practice. I'm going to need a lot of it because I totally suck and doing stuff like that in front of people. I was nervous doing it just in front of my own sergeant. I guess we'll be doing more of it which will be good…if we do actually follow through and keep doing it.

We then cleaned up the office and left early (around 1530) which was a nice surprise. I headed to my room and took a nap, I was dead tired from getting up so early. I then ate my dinner and watched a TV show. There was a knock on my door and to my surprise it was PFC Pickle. He was fresh back from his leave. He looked a lot better after his nice little vacation back home. He had a lot of issues to clear up with his wife and I think they made a lot of progress. He seems happy and it looks like things may work out between them. We headed to the food court where he ate dinner and I had ice cream. We then purchased a 6 pack and headed to his room where he showed me a lot of pictures from his trip home, then we watched a movie.

We watched the movie "Taken". I love this movie! A great fast paced action thriller starring Liam Neeson. His daughter gets kidnapped while vacationing in Paris and he uses his former spy skills to kick some ass and rescue her.

I also downloaded an interesting album by Aaron Lewis. I've been a fan of his since I first heard him as the lead singer of Staind. Staind would be considered a hard rock band and they have some pretty heavy songs out. The last album they came out with was quite a bit mellower and this solo EP that I got called "Town Line" takes a total left turn from his normal music. He goes country! It's interesting to hear this former heavy rocker doing country songs. What drove me to get it was a country remake he did of a former song called "Tangled Up In You". It's not a bad album overall.

Road Trip - (Korea) Day 137

Our view of the Filipino band playing at the hotel bar

Work call this morning was at 0830, a nice way to return to work. We only had one meeting scheduled and it was more of a performance than a meeting, so all we had to do was put out some seat covers with name tags and setup the flags in the conference room. The only meeting was also scheduled at 1400, so we didn't have any rush when we first arrived.

The first thing I did was update the events calendar. Usually if I'm not there the air force master sergeant will do it, but he was gone as well, so it really didn't get done all week. Events change almost daily so it needs to be updated daily, luckily it's a really slow week. We then did spring cleaning for the office. This involved lots of Windex, Pledge, and vacuuming all over. Once we were finished our sergeant wanted us all to watch an HBO series he just got on DVD. It's called "Generation Kill". We hooked everything up in our conference room so we could watch it…it was almost like being at the movies. :) We watched the first episode and it is basically about a marine unit during the first days of the 2nd Iraq war. The push in from Kuwait and see some pretty crazy stuff. Since it's an HBO series it can get pretty graphic. After the first episode our sergeant ordered us all lunch from the navy club to celebrate SPC Roy's last day in our office. Starting Monday he will be in another office actually getting some training for his MOS which is 42A (Human Resources Specialist). Like everyone else in our office, nobody actually does their MOS because the army doesn't have a coffee server MOS, so they just usually stick 42As in our spot…I'm just the lucky one. We then watched another episode before we had to setup for the upcoming meeting. The series is pretty good, I may have to borrow my sergeant's DVDs so I can finish the first season now that he got me hooked. I guess it eventually goes on to deal with how the war affects these young marines and how it changes their lives.

I then ran some errands with SPC Roy in his rented car that he picked up for this weekend. It's a Kia, but it's really nice. Lots of technology built into the car. When we got back I helped SPC Roy and SPC Mick get on the correct site so they can do their IA training. SPC Mick has to do it for the first time and SPC Roy needs his annual refresher. I now get notices of folks in my office that are close to expiring.

We then had our safety briefing…don't drive drunk, always have a battle buddy, call someone if you find yourself in trouble…etc. I then went to my room and did a little schoolwork. Once I finished SPC Roy came and picked me up for our road trip down south to a city called Jeonju. This city is about 30 Kilometers away from his father-in-law's place where he will be helping them plant rice. I'm just along to keep him company. The trip took about 3 hours and we only missed one turn, which is amazing because we actually had two GPS units going. After we arrived at the hotel we checked in and then checked out the bar. It was a little after midnight and the place was pretty empty. Here we sat in a Korean bar with a live Filipino band singing classic American songs in English. We each had a couple drinks and then retired to our room. Tomorrow I have to do a lot of schoolwork while SPC Roy works in the rice fields.

Above Sea Level - (Korea) Day 94

The coin I received today. Challenge coins come in a variety of shapes and sizes

Work call this morning was at 0500 once again. We loaded up as usual, but the 1st van I usually get in had some issues. One of their headlights was out, so they had to take a spare van. I usually ride with the admin master sergeant, an air force captain and our colonel. This was the first time we rode with these particular drivers. As we took off our colonel made a comment to the admin master sergeant asking if that was coffee or tea she was drinking. She said it was pumpkin tea, then the driver went over a speed bump without slowing down and the pumpkin tea shot up and a lot of it spilled on the colonel. The master sergeant was drinking out of a normal coffee cup and not a travel mug. She started trying to wipe the colonel down and I was laughing really hard (on the inside of course). It was pretty funny. The driver is lucky we have a pretty easy going colonel.

When we arrived at CP Tango I setup the secure laptops as usual. SPC Roy came in and was in an exceptionally good mood. It was a little strange. I started to think he took some drugs or something. Then he got all excited and said "I have to go take a dump" and off he went. A little while later he came back even more excited exclaiming that "it was above sea level". He kept going on and on about his poop. It was actually pretty funny. I ended up hanging out with him at the table in the office for as long as I could before I had to go do a little computer work in the IMO office. Our secret computer was quarantined because it hadn't been on the network since the last exercise, so no updates were installed on it. I have been working with the help desk trying to get this resolved and finally this morning the computer was up and running on the secret network (SIPR). I setup the admin master sergeant's email accounts on it (had to do a little thinking back a few jobs ago when I worked with Outlook and Exchange to setup two profiles…it's been a while). She was happy I was able to get it all up and working for her though.

Later on that day the 8th army sergeant major came in and started talking to me. He then shook my hand said keep up the good work and gave me a coin. Army coins are kind of like an "atta boy". It's a nice way for them to say thanks and give you a token of their appreciation. They are coveted items by most soldiers because usually you have to do something special in order to get them. I think my hard work all week splitting time between IMO and operations was noticed. I think I deserved a coin just for putting up with SPC Roy all week!

When we got back SPC Roy and I took the broken van to the repair shop to get it's headlight replaced. We then headed back and were given the safety brief. "Don't drink because you're on exercise and don't be stupid". That was it…we were released for the day at a little after 1500. I worked out and then video chatted with my wife for a bit. I then left to the PX and ate some taco bell and had some ice cream to celebrate receiving a coin…lol. Unfortunately I have to work tomorrow as well, so I'm going to bed early tonight after I do a little schoolwork.

the wife

Keep up the awesome work asagua! Ice cream was well deserved!

Saturday, March 5, 2011 - 01:41 AM

M3 Test Out (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 134

This morning I had my last PT with SFC Kent. We only did our normal warm up and stretching because today is a battalion run. It is also a costume run as well. Anyone who wanted to wear a costume did. SFC Kent dressed up as Freddy Krueger…I guess because he's in our nightmares…lol. There were also sergeants in the run dressed up as Jedi Knights, Jason (from Friday the 13th) and the command sergeant major was dressed as a cheerleader which was pretty funny. One of the funnier soldier's costumes was a guy who obviously bought a kids batman costume and forced it on. It was pretty funny. The run itself was run at a pretty slow pace and we went a little over 3 miles.

This morning in class we tested out of M3. There was a written test which included questions from our entire time here at AIT. We went over most of them in the review that we had yesterday though. There was also a hands on test that had us setup a network with two routers, two switches, and two desktops. After we finished we had to wait in the student break area until lunch. After lunch we came back and then were told our scores. I scored 100%! I believe I will graduate at the top of my class now….wow!

After we were given our scores, we just kind of hung out in the classroom for a while, then we cleaned up and left. We had a safety brief which gave us the normal "don't do" list. We then were told that next Friday is Centurion Challenge. This is where our companies will compete against each other in different events. We'll see if Charlie can do better than last place this time. Our commander also told us that effective immediately there are going to be some changes for people that fail out of school or can't pass their PT test. The army is over staffed at the moment and there will be no more re-class options for people in AIT. This means if someone can't pass a class or their PT test, they will be chaptered out of the army.

We left to the RFAC and then to the library, but found out it was closed. We then waited outside until the RBK formation arrived to enter our barracks. Once there we saw that there was only a few people from Charlie there. Then PFC Metal got a frantic call from PVT Celtic telling us that everyone was called back to Charlie. So we lock everything up and planned to get a ride from PFC Metal's wife back to Charlie. As we're running to his car we hear "STOP…where are you soldier's going?" We then told him about the Charlie recall…he called Charlie and asked. It turned out there was no official recall, they just called everyone back that was in the area for mail call. SFC Kent then asked if we came over in the formation. "No sergeant, we missed the formation so we battle buddied over here". Then he looked at PFC Metal's car and asked "Who's car is that?". PFC Metal said it's his wife's car. Then the subject was changed, the sergeant told us only to believe what we hear from a sergeant and not word of mouth from privates.

We then started packing for our move back to Charlie company. Since PFC Metal's wife had her car here we just started putting stuff in her car. Then we drove over to Charlie. Everyone else had to wait for the duty van. PFC Metal and I were told we would get a two man room, so we wanted to get everything squared away before hand. We were very disappointed. The sergeant wanted to know how many people were coming over and then proceeded to put us all in 8 man rooms. We locked up what we had and then went back to RBK for the rest of our stuff. All in all it took us three trips. I have a lot of crap! Our room has the young Hawaiian, PVT Celtic and one of the original roommates we had when we first started in Charlie as well as a few other guys.

We'll see how this goes…I was so looking forward to just a two man room. I am very glad that we are done with classes though…I needed the break. We have a short weekend because on Sunday we have to pack and leave for Capstone. This is the FTX (army camping) event that ends our official AIT stay here. At this event we stay at a FOB (forward operating base...well a pretend one at least) for a week with other MOSs from around Ft. Gordon. We have to setup a network for our part is what I'm told. I guess we'll see when we get there. There are no electronics allowed, so I'll be writing things down the old fashioned way and then updating the blog when I get back. The event is supposed to last a week….ugggghhhh.

Instead of the overheard quotes I'll put some quotes from SFC Kent that we would hear a lot during PT each morning at RBK. I won't be hearing these anymore since I'm back with Charlie:

"We gotta shake off the weekend rust" (Usually every Monday morning before a run)

"There ain't no cool way to do it" (Granted…we do look pretty stupid doing some of our exercises)

"Show me your doggone b-boy stance" (When we are stretching our thighs)

"You guys are in doggone sustainment phase now"

"Victory, where's your doggone motivation?"

Test Out (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 121

This morning’s PT was muscle failure day. We didn’t have our usual motivated Sergeant Kent out on the field with us, but I still had a good workout...lots of push-ups and sit-ups. We had a new sergeant leading PT and at the end he had us try a new type of sit-up which turned out to be pretty interesting. Each squad of soldiers all interlocked our arms and then did a sit-up to his count. There was nobody holding our feet so it was pretty tough. 

We arrived at school today and saw an instructor in their Alass A uniform...then another...then another. We were then told that the sergeant major told all instructors to wear their Class A uniforms (dress uniform) today. I guess there was going to be an inspection for them...lol. I guess no matter how high you get in the army, you still have to deal with the same old crap. They all looked pretty sharp. There was a combination of the greens and the new blues all over the place. 

We tested out of TIMS today. The test was basically going through the steps like we have been practicing all week. There was also a written portion and we were allowed to use the help files on the computer as well as the manuals, so I should have scored 100%...but I didn’t. Like most of the class I scored a 99% on the test. There was one written question that I missed.

There was a little commotion earlier in our sister class. I guess there was a girl that was supposed to be on bed rest, but came to class anyway so she could take the test. They told her she was not allowed to break bed rest and that she wouldn’t be able to take the test. She was also told because of this she will be recycled and have to take the class over. Since the next class is in delta she will also have to move to delta company. She was not too happy and was seen crying down the hall. I don’t mind too much though, she was a loud obnoxious bitch and an attention whore. I won’t miss her in our formations.

After the test we headed to lunch and then came back to class. We had nothing to do so a lot of us took a nap. I woke up  to take a break with the rest of the class. What I didn’t notice is that PFC Metal had taken my phase badge off and replaced it with an ACE card. (This is a suicide prevention card the army issues everyone in basic). Thankfully he didn’t let me walk down the hall too far with it before giving me my badge back, I didn’t even notice. I’m sure a sergeant would have before too long though and I would have been asked where my phase badge was...that would have been bad news.

After the break we cleaned the heck out of the classroom since it will be our last time in it. We buffed the floors and scrubbed everything. We also had to do our normal cleaning duties as well, so I had to clean the bathroom...lucky me.

We then had our safety briefing for the week. This one was pretty short with the usual...don’t do drugs, don’t drink if you’re under age, drink lots of water, and be careful. We were also told that there was an Oktoberfest going on at the end of Barton Field with a number of carnival type rides and such...what they didn’t say is if we were allowed to drink there or not.

The sergeant who was taken away by the MPs was back. I’m not sure what he was taken away for, but I imagine that it wasn’t what the rumor mill was saying about messing around with a private. I can’t imagine them letting him come back to his same job if that were the case.

Had the normal evening plan with dinner at the RFAC, but this time since we were there early and the formation was coming early (early release on Fridays now). We ended up just staying in the RFAC the entire time. We sat near the TV and just shot the poop the entire time. We also ran into some fellow gladiators from basic that we haven’t seen in a while.

The end of my night consisted of communicating to my ex-wife that she doesn’t need to bring my current wife into the middle of this whole situation. Nobody is happy that I’ll be gone for 12 months longer. Of course I want to see my kids, but there is not a lot I can do about it right now. I’m hoping maybe there will be some way perhaps my wife can still come and live off post in Korea, then there would be a chance that we could have the kids come and visit if we can afford the tickets. I think it would be a great experience for them to see another country. I just hate dealing with my ex and her drama, but I won’t go into details here...

To Certify or To Not Certify (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 100

We ended up having a light run for pt this morning. We released to run at our own pace down the street and back again multiple times. I took it a little easy, but not noticeably easy. My entire body is sore and I need a little recovery time, the weekend can’t come soon enough.

Took the certification test first thing in the morning once we got to school. Since it’s a certification test those of us taking it all had to go to a special testing room that was a bit more stringent on all the rules.

I took this test the same as the one yesterday...slowly and methodically. I also had a Mountain Dew for the caffeine. We were all also given mints because they were supposed to help us on the test...lol. This time when we finished we were able to see our score right away, so we knew if we certified or not. I ended up passing the test and getting my certification (which is actually required by all 25B, so everyone else will have to eventually get theirs or else they will end up not being able to do a lot of the work). I also later found out that I actually broke the record for the schoolhouse with the highest score ever on this certification exam. I guess all that studying and stressing out has paid off!

We were released until after lunch when we had to form up for our new class “CPN”. It is actually located in another schoolhouse filled with mostly students from another battalion. So we are in a new building with a whole different set of rules. No food or candy at all as well as no backpacks or bags. We have to leave our camelbaks in the back of the classroom and there are no drinks at all at the desks. This means no Mountain Dew for me when I really need it. The chairs are way more comfortable which may make it even harder to stay awake in this class. I saw about 5 people fall asleep this first day, it’s going to be interesting. The lecture we had was pretty acronym intensive. My brain has been so fried getting through security+ that I think it all went in one ear and out the other. The teacher was going so fast and all the material was brand new. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up a little better next week after a weekend to relax.

I went to eat after class and didn’t realize that was when the safety briefing was going on. I think I can manage this weekend without it though, I just have to remember not to do drugs, drink and drive, or beat my wife....easy enough.

PFC Metal’s wife came to town and gave us a ride back to RBK in her air conditioned car...nice. Time to kick back and relax.

Battalion Organizational Day (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 93

A photo I snapped of a lot of the Charlie company folks just hanging out.
We all had the bright florescent orange company shirts.

Today is the Battalion Organizational Day. It’s a day where each of the companies in the battalion will compete against each other in a number of events. We will have no PT (except for the events themselves) and no school today. A good day indeed!

Wake up this morning was at 5:50 so we were able to sleep in a bit compared to most days here. I had a great breakfast at the RFAC (love our dining facility here at RBK!). We then marched over to a big field were most of the events were taking place. After a little welcoming ceremony the events started. I volunteered to play on the company basketball team, so we all headed off towards the gym. We ended up playing Alpha company (all the MOS-T soldiers). Unfortunately after having the lead the entire time we turned the ball over multiple times and they ended up winning. I didn’t play too much leaving it to the younger guys to duke it out. It was a little strange playing after almost a year off! Fun times though even with the loss.

At lunch time they had some tents out in the event field where a huge line of the entire battalion was waiting. I waited in line for a while, but it didn’t even move. So I asked the young hawaiian if he wanted to walk to the RFAC and eat lunch. We took off and ate lunch at the RFAC which was glorious. Normally we only get to eat breakfast there, so lunch was a real treat...and we were able to eat in air conditioning.

After lunch we all formed up to watch the dance off. Yes each company had a dance team and there was a competition. It was pretty funny too. Charlie came in third place in that event. The last event of the evening involved the NCOs from each company competing in a relay race, but instead of a baton they carried the company guidon (basically a pole with a little flag on the top). 4 NCOs each ran a lap around the track. Charlie was way behind, but made an amazing comeback with our anchor on the last lap. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get 1st, but we did place 2nd in the event.

It was freaking hot all day long. I got a sunburn as I’m sure a lot of people did. There were also at least two (that I know of) heat casualties. One was actually an NCO! When there is a heat casualty they wrap them up in ice sheets to cool down their body temperature. 

After the relay we all formed up and listed to the results of the day. Alpha came in first place after coming in dead last the previous 14 times. Charlie took that from them this year coming in dead last. Charlie company only came in first in one event...not basketball, not football, not volleyball, not the dance competition, but.........horseshoes...LOL

After the announcements and the handing out of the trophies we headed back to our company area for the safety briefing. It was the same stuff as usual except the lead sergeant said he spent some time on Facebook this last week looking up soldier’s profiles. He said they really need to change their privacy settings. If he can see some of the stuff they say so can the bad guys. Plus if they are underage and there are photos of them drinking that could get them into trouble. Also if you make bad remarks about company sergeants by name...you may want to change your security settings....D’oh!!

We were released early for the weekend...woohoo!! We headed back to RBK and ate dinner at the RFAC...for the first time ever I ate all three meals at the RFAC. A good day indeed!

A video I took from my iPhone (so it's a bit shaky) of the dance off competition.
The first portion is Bravo's dance team and the second is the Charlie team.

Phase Up! (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 86

This morning during our pt formation I overheard the sergeant talking to the barracks next to us (RBK 9 - Another company with a different MOS, but it does have some guys from my old basic training platoon in it). The sergeant was talking about one of their soldiers that up and left in the middle of the night. He is now AWOL.

Our pt this morning consisted of the normal warm up exercises and then a number of push-ups and sit-ups. I’m looking forward to this weekend and a rest from pt at least for a few days.

Once we arrived at school and were in formation we found out that yet another guy from Charlie company went AWOL. Holy cow people are running away like crazy! This particular guy just decided to not come back from the 4 day weekend and the sergeants were wondering if anyone had heard from him. 

In class today we had a moment of silence for the 9/11 victims. In fact the entire school house stopped what they were doing and observed this moment of silence. I still remember when the attack happened. I was at work doing my IT job at the local newspaper when I heard the news. We turned on the TV and I logged into our AP photos feed and started seeing all the pictures that were flooding in from AP News. There were of course the photos of the twin towers getting hit, but there were also numerous photos of people jumping from the towers to their death. As far as work that day, nothing got done. We all just stared at the TV in disbelief and viewed the tragic photos that the AP was sending.

The safety brief seemed unusually long today. There are a number of new soldiers in Charlie and the sergeant had to go over some ground rules since this is their first safety briefing. We then had to file in alphabetical order to receive our company shirts we had to order earlier. There is a challenge coming up called “The Centurion Challenge” in which each of the companies face off against each other in a number of sporting activities and such.

After picking up our shirts, those of us that were eligible to phase up were told to go to the Charlie day room. Woohoo we get to finally take our phase up test. I had been studying for the test by trying to put together all the questions from the previous phase up test and going over them with others. We were told that it would be the same test, but it turned out to be a little different. Our platoon sergeant decided to give us the questions orally and we would write down the answers on a sheet of paper. Some of the questions were the same, others were from the policy letter that he just went over with everyone during the last training session. There were also a few chain of command questions thrown in as well. Overall it was pretty easy since most of it was just either common sense or stuff we heard all the time. Turns out everyone in our platoon passed. We all phased up!

The next issue was that we had to wait for the actual phase badges and also for our names to get put into the system. This last step is the most important, because it’s the system that they use to do the morning roll on the weekends and if we’re phase V+ then we don’t have to show up. The process ended up taking a while, so long in fact that it was pretty dark out by the time we left Charlie company. There is a rule that states soldiers cannot cross Barton Field after dark, so we had to walk all the way around it. It didn’t bother me too much, I was still pretty happy to be phased up.

My happiness wouldn’t last long as I found out they decided to restart the weekend hall guard shifts from the beginning because of all the new people here at RBK. Unfortunately PFC Metal and I are the first room, so we get to do a hall guard shift from 12:30 at night until 6:30 in the morning. Oh yeah we also found out that our room didn’t pass inspection, so we have to have another inspection at 9:00 in the morning. We have to be in ACUs and it will include a locker inspection. FML. The things both of us were dinged on have not been brought up in any other inspection. They are little things and they are things that we never change. Stupid Stupid Stupid!!! So we will not be enjoying any of our new found phase V+ privileges until Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Safety Marathon (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 78

There were a lot of rumors today that PT would be another run day, because SGT Kent wouldn’t want to lose a run day because of the holiday weekend. This was not the case however as we did the normal warm up exercises and then a number of push-up and sit-up drills. 

Today at school we only had a half day which was nice. After lunch we didn’t have to return, but the Russian instructor was sure to remind us of all that we had to get done over the extended weekend.

After lunch we had safety training scheduled. This was not the ordinary weekend safety briefing, but a full blown session with a number of speakers and the entire battalion. Because of the 4 day weekend coming up I guess they thought they needed to remind everyone to be safe. We were broken up into males and females. Males headed to the gym and the females headed to the chapel. Sitting in the gym bleachers with no air conditioning and a few hundred other hot and sweaty dudes was not a very comfortable experience. We ended up getting briefs from several different sergeants, each going over a certain topic. The battalion commander started things off letting us know how important this information is and ended his speech with having the entire battalion repeat after him...”Wrap That Rascal”. The topics included: Going AWOL, Suicide Prevention, Sexual Assault, STDs (complete with the graphic photos of STD covered penis and vaginas), drugs and alcohol, and finally Traffic Safety. This last segment was done by our own SGT Kent who during his brief said the word “doggon” 50 times (a guy behind me was counting). 3 hours later we were dismissed to our company areas.

One more note on STDs...we were all informed that the 15th signal brigade is in first place in the entire army with the number of STDs! I’m glad I’m married and monogamous. (I'm also guessing this is a scare tactic)

We had about an hour break then had to have our normal safety briefing from our 1st sergeant and our commander. The commander said a person in our battalion committed suicide this last week. Our lone girl sergeant took the stand after that and asked if anyone wanted to talk to the commander about this suicide (they stated the name because there were some that knew this person). The girl sergeant is just a total bitch and I’ve hated her from my first impression of her. She stood on the stand in front of everyone and after asking if anyone needed to talk to the commander about this suicide she just stared at the formation...anyone...anyone...OK, moving on and started to do mail call. She is pretty heartless and from what I’ve seen treats all the privates like crap and doesn’t care about any of them.

After what seemed like an eternity of standing in formation in the hot sun we were finally released. It turned out only to be an hour, but when you’re in direct sun in full ACUs with sweat rolling down your belly and legs...it seems like forever. Those of us in RBK then marched over to our barracks. Everyone was fully expecting some sort of cleaning marathon because of the 4 day coming up, but to our surprise we were released for the night. The sergeant on desk also said he’s treating this like a weekend night so we don’t have to be back until 1AM (Phase V) or not at all (Phase V+). We later found out that the folks in Charlie had a 21:00 bed check (a half hour earlier than normal). Sucks to be them!

Me and the young Hawaiian went over to the bowling alley. We met up with my old assistant bay leader (back from reception days), PVT Diesel from my platoon in basic, and a few others. We had a few beers and talked about the times in basic and how AIT has been treating all of them. PFC Metal and his wife joined us later on, it was a pretty good night. Nice to unwind and relax.

Free Condoms Anyone? (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 72

One of the vending machines at the IET center. All it contains is different
types of energy drinks...LOL

Today for PT we did something new. We were released in random groups of 6 on a run. We were supposed to all stay together and run down the road to a certain point and run back. We had to keep doing this until told to form back up. Somehow I ended up with an entire group of Latinos. After a while they started doing cadence in Spanish. Uno....Dos...Tres...then they started saying a bunch of other stuff and it would start over at Uno. After a while of this I decided to chime in with my own (I can still remember a little German)....Eins...Zwei..Drei...Sie alle sind Schwanzkopf ja. Eins...Zwei...Drei...Du kannst mich blasen.

Speaking of Latinos...Its pretty amazing how many there are in the army. Well I should say at Fort Gordon. I'm not sure if its the same in the entire army, but there is a lot here. It seems everywhere I turn I hear people talking in Spanish. Makes me wish I took some Spanish back in the day, I have no clue what everyone is talking about.

In class today Pvt. Celtic had his phone taken away by an NCO (because were not allowed to have it in school). It was given to our instructor for safe keeping. At some point the instructor gave it to our class leader to give back to Pvt. Celtic after class finished. Well our class leader decided to turn on his phone and update Pvt. Celtics facebook status to "I'm feeling a little gay today". Needless to say Pvt. Celtic didn’t realize this until hours after class had finished. It was pretty funny.

After class we had to eat dinner pretty quick in order to make it to the safety formation at 18:00. The brief was pretty normal stuff (don't beat your wife or girlfriend, don't drive drunk, be careful). The captain also mentioned that in the 15th Signal Brigade there was a suicide this last week and to keep an eye out for our battle buddies. We were also informed that the 15th Brigade also has the highest STD percentage at Ft. Gordon. To help battle this they are providing free condoms, at least at Charlie company. There is now a box full of condoms next to the CQ desk!

Right near the end of the safety formation it started to rain...pour down rain I guess is better wording. The rain drops were pretty huge and started falling like crazy. Everyone went into the day room or into the rest of the barracks to start cleaning. The people that live at the company will be moving back this weekend now that the renovation is complete. I'm glad I don’t live there...there is going to be a lot of cleaning all weekend long there. Free time will be pretty limited with all the moving and cleaning.

We had a nice surprise, the duty vans pulled up to the front door and picked us up to drive us over to RBK. Wow...I wasn’t expecting this. Like most good things that seem to happen here, it was followed by a bad thing. When we arrived at RBK we were told we could change and then to wait in the hall for room inspections. We waited....and waited...and waited. Are you kidding me? Its Friday night everyone is itching to get away from this place and we can only sit in the hall outside our rooms. 2.5 hours later (no joke) we were told that we were released. No inspection...nothing, just a sergeant with a power trip showing everyone who is boss. Things like this drive me nuts. I can't wait until I live off post and away from this kind of crap.

Our room did our own celebrating though. We have one of our guys moving out and back to Charlie tonight because he has finished. Once you finish school you have to move back to Charlie until you leave post for good. We all had some Crown and Cokes to celebrate. I was feeling pretty darn good by the end of the night. I can say that I slept well too.

Overheard Quote: “You better get your doggone doggone” (Sgt. Kent during PT, the sergeants aren’t supposed to cuss anymore. This makes doggone one of the preferred words to use. Sometimes it gets used a little too much...lol)

Wet Weather Gear (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 65

PT this morning was OK, for some reason my throat is starting to get sore. I thought I was over being sick, but it is trying to make a comeback. Grrrrr. We did 60/120’s today...sprint for 60 seconds then walk for 120 seconds. I just didn’t have it in me to give 100%, so I put in about 75%. I’m hoping resting up this weekend that I’ll feel better by Monday.

We went over to Charlie and did duties for about a half hour, then I was PFC Metal’s battle buddy for an appointment at the dental clinic. We took off and I waited in the waiting room watching the news. Strange how little I watch TV now. I used to watch it daily before joining. I can now probably count the number of hours I’ve watched TV on one hand. 

After the appointment we headed back just in time to head to class, guess we’ll eat a snack during the break for our lunch. We are in a new class room with a new teacher. CLI class today turned out to be basic Unix commands. I already knew everything the instructor went over because I’ve been used to working on Macs which are Unix based machines. I just went around the class helping out anyone who was stuck or needed help on the practical exercises we did.

After class and dinner we had our normal Friday safety briefing. The safety briefing was short, but then one of the NCOs got up and just started talking and talking to the formation. I swear they all love to hear the sound of their own voice. It started to rain, that had no affect on him...he just kept going and going. Finally it was time for RBK to form up and march over, so he had everyone fall out.

Everyone at RBK has been required to pack their wet weather gear, but so far we haven’t had to use it. I still can’t get over the weather here in Georgia. It will be hot as hell and sunny as can be, then before you know it rain clouds come in and it dumps rain like crazy. This doesn’t usually last too long, then it’s back to being sunny again. So far we’ve been pretty lucky, the rain has always come down while we’ve been in class or eating. Today we were not so lucky, but I was able to use my wet weather gear for the first time. 

We formed up for the RBK formation and what do you know...the NCO that is marching us over had to give us a little speech about something. He went on and on while the rain poured down and we just stood there. This was a sergeant from Delta company and he was complaining about the state of our rooms over at RBK. Strange because all we ever get is complements from upper command about how our barracks are so much cleaner and better than everyone else. I think this sergeant was just a little jealous, because he went through each of the rooms earlier in the day and made sure to find something wrong with all of them. I’m sure if you spend enough time you’ll find something wrong with even the most squared away soldier here. 

So when we got back to our barracks we had to wait outside our rooms until the sergeant came and told us our deficiencies. If we had a problem we were not allowed to leave anywhere tonight. My hospital corners were not 45 degrees. What’s funny is that since I don’t sleep in my bed it has been this way since I’ve moved in, but no other inspections have turned this up. I didn’t really care though because I wasn’t planning on going anywhere anyways. There will be a re-inspection tomorrow to make sure everyone has fixed their “problems”.

NCOs wonder why the moral is so low here and it’s because of stupid stuff like this. There was a guy who had family fly in from California and he wasn’t allowed to leave to visit with them. Oh well...tomorrow will bring me one day closer to the 4 day weekend and I’ll be off base hanging out with my wife!

Finally Friday (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 44

A photo of PVT Celtic's tattoo. He now permanently has a

"party in his pants". The other day he was in the bathroom while

looking at himself in the mirror he said "I don't think I should have

gotten this tattoo". LOL!

Today was another squirt gun day, both PFC Metal and I brought our guns and randomly shot people from both sides. It was pretty funny. Class today was tough, the room was hot and everyone including me was having a hard time staying awake. Finally the teacher made everyone stand up. She'll do this from time to time, sometimes she'll ask random questions about our subject matter and if a standing person gets it right they get to sit down.

We had our usual Friday safety briefing after school. Sergeant Cujo started off stating that if we see him outside of the base on his off hours that we should not even look at him. Don't smile, do an about face and walk the other way. This guy is so into himself, like I would want to speak with him unless I have to. I guess his wife doesn't like privates or something and he gets chewed out if they approach him when she is around. Heard the normal items and then the sergeants were calling off some names to give them some weekend passes and they were not there. That set off a whole series of speeches about important it is not to miss formations. We all then had to sign on a paper for accountability, so the people that weren't there are going to get into some type of trouble. 

PFC Metal's wife came to visit and I hitched a ride back to RBK with them in a nice air conditioned car instead of marching back with the RBK formation. When we got back we waited for the formation to arrive and then enter the barracks. Once they arrived there was a lot of talking by the sergeant before he dismissed them. I was a little worried not being there hoping that he was not going to call my name out or anything. Once they finally entered we went to our room and checked with our roommates to see what went on. I guess there were a few people who didn't have their room squared away, including PVT Celtic. PVT Celtic didn't lock his locker, so the sergeant took everything out including some bottles he used to spit in while using dip. The sergeant poured out the gross spit all over. Yuck. He had to clean it all up and he now has a locker inspection tomorrow at 11:00. The SOP here at RBK is a lot stricter than Charlie, so you really want to keep your stuff in order. You really don't want any extra attention brought on yourself.

Later on in the night PFC Metal and his wife invited me to go bowling with them at Gordon Lanes. We had a pretty good time, but the line for the beer was extremely long so we only ended up getting one pitcher to drink for the whole night. It's always nice to get away from the barracks in civilian clothes for a while. I managed to bowl a 191 with a house ball which I thought was pretty good. You end up seeing a lot of people at the bowling alley and the attached restaurant because it's the only place on post that phase V & V+ are allowed to drink. So it is kind of the hang out spot on the weekends.

the wife

Um, yeah... big mistake with the tattoo. LOL - it's worse then I'd imagine.

Saturday, July 31, 2010 - 12:39 PM

Phase Up (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 30

Today we have a half day of school. I guess every first Friday of the month we have a half day of school and the other half is used for company training. I can only imagine what that will consist of…perhaps the best way to clean a toilet, or how to pick up trash in half the time, perhaps even how to landscape the perfect yard. We'll see….

School was short and I ended up skipping lunch with two other guys who took the test with me last night. We all headed over to the company area to ask if our tests have been graded yet. We found the sergeant and he said we had to wait until after training. Grrrr…I don't like waiting. So I headed over to the little PX to pick up something to eat for lunch real quick before training.

The company training consisted of breaking us all up into four groups and doing land navigation. One group would go over how to read a map, the next would go over the terrain features on a map, the next watched a power point presentation, and the last group did pace counts. I'm not sure about the others, but everyone from Ft. Benning went through pretty much all of this before. It was pretty boring to be honest. We actually did a lot more in basic training, we went over map reading and actually did land-nav through the woods.

After we did three of the stations, they called it quits and had mail call. I got the package I've been waiting for…my iPhone! Finally. I should be able to get up some more pics now. There is a lot of stuff I've been wanting to put up, but just never had the means. Now there is no excuses. We also had a safety briefing because it's Friday once again. The lead sergeant went through the normal stuff, then said he was leaving and turning over his responsibilities to another one of the sergeants. Everyone was a little surprised because the head sergeant is well liked. We then heard more safety briefing from the soon-to-be head sergeant. He got pretty emotional because he said one of his good buddies from high school just died in the war effort. You could tell the emotions he was showing was pretty raw, it choked me up a bit. His message was basically look out for your friends and battle buddies all the time and remember that no matter what, it could always be worse. The commander came up and gave her speech as well, then another platoon sergeant came up and asked for 25 volunteers to go to a briefing tonight and tomorrow…something to do with high speed soldiers and special ops, nothing that really interested me (at least now…I'm too old for that stuff, many years ago perhaps I would have checked it out). By this time I think we had been in formation for almost two hours. Holy Cow!! I want to find out if I passed my test and if I'll be getting phased up.

Finally they released us, myself and the other guys who took the test last night stood in line to talk with our platoon sergeant. After about 30 minutes of waiting we finally were called back and found out that we all passed. Woohoo. He said he didn't have our badges ready, but he would have them ready in an hour or two. He also gave us the talk about going off base and getting in trouble, but then asked how old I was and said he's not too worried about me…LOL

We went to dinner and then came back to check on our badges. When we were called back into the sergeants office again he said here are your badges, oh and by the way you're all moving to RBK…no ifs ands or buts. I was in a little shock as I stood there for a moment letting it all sink in. The three of us standing there along with a number of others had to move to the RBK housing tonight. Unfortunately PFC Metal was not on the list. We have heard good things about RBK, but it is a ways away and we've never actually seen it. PFC Metal then went down and asked if he could go to RBK as well (there was a lot of people that didn't want to go and he asked if he could switch with one of them). The sergeant said yes and PFC Metal actually went to the highest bidder and made some money off the deal. We then packed up all our crap and grabbed one of our bags and headed to the taxi stand before anyone else from Charlie company headed over to RBK. We arrived and we were able to get a room together. We then walked back (about a 15 minute walk) and waited for the duty van to arrive to take the rest of our stuff there with everyone else.

We arrived again and unloaded everything in our room. The place is very nice and new. The rooms are 4 person rooms in about the size of our old room that held up to 12…and there are no top bunks.

I'll have to give more details later, I'm going to bed now…it's been a long day.

Sgt. Cujo (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 23

PFC Metal showing off his bottom drawer. He had everything tight and actually
taped to the bottom of the drawer so it would stay perfect for inspection.

I’ve heard from a lot of people who have been here a while, that there was a time with Charlie company when it wasn’t too bad. That all changed when Sgt. Cujo came into the picture. He started at Charlie about the same time as I did...lucky me. Sgt. Cujo used to be a drill sergeant and he still has the drill sergeant mentality of doing things. So we seem to have Sgt Cujo who likes to make everyone’s lives hell and the rest of the sergeants who just don’t seem to give a damn about anything.

This morning we woke up and again were told to wear ACUs, no PT this morning. After formation we were told to do a little picking up trash around the company area and then head to the DFAC for breakfast when it opened in about 20 minutes.

After breakfast everyone headed upstairs. Most people rested and some studied. Sgt. Cujo did not like this one bit, he had everyone get out of the barracks and stand in formation for 30 minutes just so we wouldn’t be inside the barracks. Then he let us go in the day room only, but we only had about 10 minutes until the school formation where we got to stand around again. Sgt. Cujo ended up marching with us over to school for the first time and when we got there he yelled at Delta company for using a bad word in a cadence when they were marching over. Someone may get offended. (The cadences here generally suck compared to basic because of this)

It just seems like he is always doing something to make the lives of everyone in Charlie company as miserable as possible.

Normal day after that for a while, school, lunch, school, then dinner. We had our normal Friday safety briefing (don’t beat your wife or your dog, don’t do drugs, don’t drink and drive). We then found out at our nightly formation that all Phase IV soldiers would be given a chance to phase up. It would be Sgt Cujo doing it tonight at 20:00. My excitement was dampened a bit, but I figured it’s worth a try no matter what. I turned in my policy letters that I had copied. A number of us arrived in the day room at 20:00 only to wait...and wait...and wait. We waited for about 2 hours until Sgt. Cujo decided to bless us with his presence. He then did locker inspections, but said they had to be up to standard and proceeded to hand us the new standards. So everyone ran up and had about 15 minutes to try and rearrange their lockers to the new standard. I did as best I could, my locker wasn’t too bad, so I was able to get it done. Sgt. Cujo then came through and did all the inspections. All the lockers in our room passed, but he did tell everyone he wants them to make them a little better and in a week or two he’s going to inspect them again.

We then took a written test on general knowledge including our policy letters, the chain of command, The Signal Song, The Soldier’s Creed, and the general orders. We had to score at least a 70% on it and I think I did, but I’ll have to wait and see. The whole process took 3 1/2 hours so it was pushing midnight before I had a chance to go to bed. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow.

Overheard Quote: “You always go into battle with a helmet right? Make sure to do the same if you’re having sex this weekend” (A captain giving us all advice during the safety briefing)