Friday 9/18 1829 hrs
Hey everyone!
Sorry I've neglected to update this lately. I don't even remember where I left off. We are now in blue phase of Basic Training and it has had some interesting training events. We are hardcore learning how to be legit soldiers ready to ship to Afghanistan. That are making us into infantrymen, which interestingly enough, no one in the company will be directly involved with that type of combat. We are all "support" to combat jobs - such as truck drivers, cooks, or in my case communications. So it is just like fun training that we can absorb "just in case" we get into a hot situation.
Among the fun training we've gotten lately - we just did live convoy fire (firing at targets while in a moving vehicle) and a lot of urban operation tactics. Fort Knox has special "towns" with streets, building, and urban terrain created for out enjoyment. We got to run around it with paintball guns the other day and got ambushed by drill sergeants. We were set up to fail - but it made a bit impression on us regarding the chaos of combat and how important it is to function as a team during that stuff.
We are preparing for a 15 kilometer road march on Sunday which will launch a week long field training exercise (FTX). It is going to be intense! We will have realistic missions and will have to employ all of the skills we have learned on the last several weeks. It's like a big final test! Rumor has it that they will even gas us one more time - maybe in the middle of the night. So it is probably going to be one of the toughest weeks yet. I'm pretty excited that we are about to do it though because it is literally the last graduation requirement. The week after it we'll be handing in all of our issued gear and preparing to ship out of Knox! I can't stress how excited I am haha. While this has been a very bearable experience, I am so ready to be done. I really want my cell phone back - freedom to talk to my woman and parents. I want to listen to music and be free to roam! But I'm not complaining - this whole time was expected to be a lot harder.
Well I have a big final fitness test tomorrow. Very tired tonight but it's cool.
Love yall,
Tim
Friday, September 25, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
Bct Blog #11
9/9/09 17:17
So as I may have mentioned in my most recent blog, all of the cool toys are the subject of our current training. Saturday, we were doing short ranger marksmanship with my rifles. We have been using the M16 for our training, but the M4 is a smaller, more accurate weapon that made me want to buy one haha. That was a fun day, we had to practice target identification - Shooting a specific target out of the 6 that popped up. And then practices a lot of quick movements with different short range targets. We shot all of the way into the night, at which point they put the NVG's (night vision goggles) onto our helmets and a laser only visible through the night vision was attached to the rifle. This was AWESOME. Just like those video games, pitch darkness becomes crystal clear in an eerie green hue.
We had a long weekend off for labor day, and then today we began what is supposed to be a 3-day field training exercise (camping without the booze as our DS call it). It may be cut short by rain, but anyway, today the first day has been devoted to the BIG GUNS: a 50-cal machine gun and 2 smaller machine guns. I just got done firing a few moments ago and it was quite an adrenaline rush! Other soldiers have describes an overwhelming rush of testosterone that requires no further description, but I can only say it was freakin' cool. One soldier that shot first aroused a group of turkeys that were chilling in the range, and of course one of them was tragically killed as it tried to exit the line of fire. It was the subject of cheers from everyone around - but to me it was sort of a chilling reminder of the power behind the military toys and the finality of what happens to whoever is caught in front of them.
9/9/9 1617
Yesterday turned out to be the longest day ever. After dark we placed our rucksacks in the woods where we would be sleeping. We though it was bedtime, but then they surprised us by taking us back to the range and handing out more ammo. For night time training, we were learning how to operate a big huge turret machine gun using a thermal night observational device. It was cool, but since we had been wearing our sweaty body armor for 17 hours straight, at that point I was in a bad mood lol. I'm REALLY getting antsy for this one to be over! But still staying positive.
The camping part of last night was fun! We paired off - I am with my squad leader, Greenway, who is cool. Just us with out sleeping bad on the floor of the woods. It is difficult to shave and change socks in the dark with an almost dead flashlight, but somewhere it worked. I am excited to camp again tonight, but could really use a shower rather than baby wipes (thanks mom and dad, they are helpful).
Today was training for more big manly guns, including the AT-4 (anti-tank rocket launcher) and a grenade launcher. We were firing fake tracer founds since these are extremely expensive weapons (the AT-4 is single use and costs $14,000 a shot!). But fake rounds or not it was cool to hold them and shoot at the fake tanks set up for us. We are also working on individual movements - like running towards fire and using concealment. It is fun to see these skills all tying together and actually making us somewhat prepared for the real thing.
It is funny how we can have 2 hour conversations in which we fantasize about the fast food and junk food we can't wait to eat. You just can't imagine how much of life you appreciate when your freedoms are gone.
9/9/09 2029
Tonight is awesome! We actually had time to arrange a quality sleeping area - probably because of the high chance of rain! Greenway and I reamed up with my other boys Ito and Jackson. We combined forces with our ponchos and made a sweet fort! I am pretty tired so I'm out!
9/10/09 1955
Somehow this crowded bay has become home sweet home for me since this camping/field exercise kicked my butt so much. It's so good to back back in a familiar bed. The best thing is we are getting up at 0330 for a PT test to check how many pushups/situps we can do and how fast we can run 2 miles. Last time I had a fairly high score - 6th best in my platoon of 56, so it is nothing to stress out about, but I'm pretty exhausted! Today we ran around a lot at another obstacle course pretending to attack an enemy and cover our battle buddy. It was pretty fun, but wow I'm just having a really hard time feeling motivated this week. I am so focused on family day and graduation coming up that my attitude towards training is slipping. Hopefully the grenade course will motivate me tomorrow. I really need to pick it up to finish this crap.
Anyway, I should make the most of time to sleep so I can feel good tomorrow! Love you all.
So as I may have mentioned in my most recent blog, all of the cool toys are the subject of our current training. Saturday, we were doing short ranger marksmanship with my rifles. We have been using the M16 for our training, but the M4 is a smaller, more accurate weapon that made me want to buy one haha. That was a fun day, we had to practice target identification - Shooting a specific target out of the 6 that popped up. And then practices a lot of quick movements with different short range targets. We shot all of the way into the night, at which point they put the NVG's (night vision goggles) onto our helmets and a laser only visible through the night vision was attached to the rifle. This was AWESOME. Just like those video games, pitch darkness becomes crystal clear in an eerie green hue.
We had a long weekend off for labor day, and then today we began what is supposed to be a 3-day field training exercise (camping without the booze as our DS call it). It may be cut short by rain, but anyway, today the first day has been devoted to the BIG GUNS: a 50-cal machine gun and 2 smaller machine guns. I just got done firing a few moments ago and it was quite an adrenaline rush! Other soldiers have describes an overwhelming rush of testosterone that requires no further description, but I can only say it was freakin' cool. One soldier that shot first aroused a group of turkeys that were chilling in the range, and of course one of them was tragically killed as it tried to exit the line of fire. It was the subject of cheers from everyone around - but to me it was sort of a chilling reminder of the power behind the military toys and the finality of what happens to whoever is caught in front of them.
9/9/9 1617
Yesterday turned out to be the longest day ever. After dark we placed our rucksacks in the woods where we would be sleeping. We though it was bedtime, but then they surprised us by taking us back to the range and handing out more ammo. For night time training, we were learning how to operate a big huge turret machine gun using a thermal night observational device. It was cool, but since we had been wearing our sweaty body armor for 17 hours straight, at that point I was in a bad mood lol. I'm REALLY getting antsy for this one to be over! But still staying positive.
The camping part of last night was fun! We paired off - I am with my squad leader, Greenway, who is cool. Just us with out sleeping bad on the floor of the woods. It is difficult to shave and change socks in the dark with an almost dead flashlight, but somewhere it worked. I am excited to camp again tonight, but could really use a shower rather than baby wipes (thanks mom and dad, they are helpful).
Today was training for more big manly guns, including the AT-4 (anti-tank rocket launcher) and a grenade launcher. We were firing fake tracer founds since these are extremely expensive weapons (the AT-4 is single use and costs $14,000 a shot!). But fake rounds or not it was cool to hold them and shoot at the fake tanks set up for us. We are also working on individual movements - like running towards fire and using concealment. It is fun to see these skills all tying together and actually making us somewhat prepared for the real thing.
It is funny how we can have 2 hour conversations in which we fantasize about the fast food and junk food we can't wait to eat. You just can't imagine how much of life you appreciate when your freedoms are gone.
9/9/09 2029
Tonight is awesome! We actually had time to arrange a quality sleeping area - probably because of the high chance of rain! Greenway and I reamed up with my other boys Ito and Jackson. We combined forces with our ponchos and made a sweet fort! I am pretty tired so I'm out!
9/10/09 1955
Somehow this crowded bay has become home sweet home for me since this camping/field exercise kicked my butt so much. It's so good to back back in a familiar bed. The best thing is we are getting up at 0330 for a PT test to check how many pushups/situps we can do and how fast we can run 2 miles. Last time I had a fairly high score - 6th best in my platoon of 56, so it is nothing to stress out about, but I'm pretty exhausted! Today we ran around a lot at another obstacle course pretending to attack an enemy and cover our battle buddy. It was pretty fun, but wow I'm just having a really hard time feeling motivated this week. I am so focused on family day and graduation coming up that my attitude towards training is slipping. Hopefully the grenade course will motivate me tomorrow. I really need to pick it up to finish this crap.
Anyway, I should make the most of time to sleep so I can feel good tomorrow! Love you all.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
BCT Blog #10
9/2/09 1327 hrs.
I'm out at the shooting range where we did qualifications. It's a big day because we must pass in order to graduate. Last night I was very unsure of how today would go, but in a strand of answered prayers, I qualified as a Sharpshooter! This means I engaged 30 out of 40 targets. It was really cool because this morning, our drill sergeant who is a good guy, just very moody, pulled me out to get my weapon fixed since yesterday I did terribly. Well, half of the rifle was replaced, and I had no problems. I am thrilled with my sharpshooter badge - on graduation day we get to show off the badge on our uniform. Also, for those of us who qualified on our first try, our reward is a 10-minute phone call tonight. Can't wait!
I wonder how many targets I would knock down if they were shooting back at me. I hope I won't have to find out! But at least I'm qualified to defend myself if necessary. But enough about killing haha. I'm not sure what is next for us. I think we're moving on to other, bigger tools of modern warfare including grenades, and playing with night vision. I guess all of the really fun stuff is coming up -- we'll do some camping for a week straight and a lot of paint balling. We'll learn how to clear a room - which our hardcore killer drill sergeant says he goes around his whole house pretending to clear each room - "just in case". Haha. I am going to practice that at my house.
We'll I'm not sure what to write these days. I'm used to being away from home, and the military routines are becoming second nature. It still sucks being away from loved ones. I can't wait to have a life again lol. The first thing I'm going to get is a tube of cookie dough. Or cheese cake. Yeahhhh. Haha I'll write some more later.
9/3/09 2000 hours
Well hey everyone! Nothing exciting on my mind, except today we tried on our formal "Class-A" uniforms for graduation and I was delighted to talk to my girl for a few min. on the phone! This is enough to get me through!
I've concluded that the main thing I miss besides fiance and family is knowing what is going on on the world. So I'm just putting this out there... if anyone sees anything that I might find interesting - news, sports, music-related, science, whatever... print it out and send it! I have been confined to a very small area of Fort Knox, KY for a long time not and could use some outside distractions to bring me back to reality. Something to think about.
Thanks and I love everyone who is reading, praying, and supporting.
I'm out at the shooting range where we did qualifications. It's a big day because we must pass in order to graduate. Last night I was very unsure of how today would go, but in a strand of answered prayers, I qualified as a Sharpshooter! This means I engaged 30 out of 40 targets. It was really cool because this morning, our drill sergeant who is a good guy, just very moody, pulled me out to get my weapon fixed since yesterday I did terribly. Well, half of the rifle was replaced, and I had no problems. I am thrilled with my sharpshooter badge - on graduation day we get to show off the badge on our uniform. Also, for those of us who qualified on our first try, our reward is a 10-minute phone call tonight. Can't wait!
I wonder how many targets I would knock down if they were shooting back at me. I hope I won't have to find out! But at least I'm qualified to defend myself if necessary. But enough about killing haha. I'm not sure what is next for us. I think we're moving on to other, bigger tools of modern warfare including grenades, and playing with night vision. I guess all of the really fun stuff is coming up -- we'll do some camping for a week straight and a lot of paint balling. We'll learn how to clear a room - which our hardcore killer drill sergeant says he goes around his whole house pretending to clear each room - "just in case". Haha. I am going to practice that at my house.
We'll I'm not sure what to write these days. I'm used to being away from home, and the military routines are becoming second nature. It still sucks being away from loved ones. I can't wait to have a life again lol. The first thing I'm going to get is a tube of cookie dough. Or cheese cake. Yeahhhh. Haha I'll write some more later.
9/3/09 2000 hours
Well hey everyone! Nothing exciting on my mind, except today we tried on our formal "Class-A" uniforms for graduation and I was delighted to talk to my girl for a few min. on the phone! This is enough to get me through!
I've concluded that the main thing I miss besides fiance and family is knowing what is going on on the world. So I'm just putting this out there... if anyone sees anything that I might find interesting - news, sports, music-related, science, whatever... print it out and send it! I have been confined to a very small area of Fort Knox, KY for a long time not and could use some outside distractions to bring me back to reality. Something to think about.
Thanks and I love everyone who is reading, praying, and supporting.
BCT Blog #9
8/26/09
Wow white phase is crazy so far. Just like the beginning of red phase, they keep us busy from wake up till sleep time.
The last few days have been eventful. Sunday night, as we got ready for our first day of white phase I was appointed as a team leader. This puts me in charge of 6 other guys (2 teams of 7 make a squad, our platoon has 4 squads). So that is pretty cool because it got me off of the "read guard position" that I got stuck with for two weeks lol. And it is cool having a small amount of leadership responsibility.
I have to be honest, shooting the weapon was VERY difficult! Since I've NEVER handled anything like that before I took many tries before I finally got it. Monday was the most frustrating day ever lol. After a class on shooting, they took us to a really cool simulation where we shoot a screen on the wall and it tells us how well we can hit a simulated 300 meter away target. I could not do it and was very ashamed! There were only a few other guys in my situation and I got very worried.
But then yesterday we went out to a live range (after marching 5 kilometers to it haha) and I was sooooo much better with the real weapon. It was so much easier to see the target clearly. Anyway, I was quite nervous for the first several shots and was a "no go" for the first set of 5 clips that I shot. After stressing the rest of the afternoon, I got my second try, and finally nailed it on my very last clip! You seethe objective was called "grouping" or making 8 out of 10 shots in a 4cm circle 300m away. So anyway, I was SO relieved that I grouped my last set of shots and the good this is I got more and more confident with it each time. The key really is to relax and I was so stressed on it. But once I convinced myself that I was supposed to be enjoying it and having fun I did a lot better. I am determined to be an expert marksman by the end of this phase.
Wow white phase is crazy so far. Just like the beginning of red phase, they keep us busy from wake up till sleep time.
The last few days have been eventful. Sunday night, as we got ready for our first day of white phase I was appointed as a team leader. This puts me in charge of 6 other guys (2 teams of 7 make a squad, our platoon has 4 squads). So that is pretty cool because it got me off of the "read guard position" that I got stuck with for two weeks lol. And it is cool having a small amount of leadership responsibility.
I have to be honest, shooting the weapon was VERY difficult! Since I've NEVER handled anything like that before I took many tries before I finally got it. Monday was the most frustrating day ever lol. After a class on shooting, they took us to a really cool simulation where we shoot a screen on the wall and it tells us how well we can hit a simulated 300 meter away target. I could not do it and was very ashamed! There were only a few other guys in my situation and I got very worried.
But then yesterday we went out to a live range (after marching 5 kilometers to it haha) and I was sooooo much better with the real weapon. It was so much easier to see the target clearly. Anyway, I was quite nervous for the first several shots and was a "no go" for the first set of 5 clips that I shot. After stressing the rest of the afternoon, I got my second try, and finally nailed it on my very last clip! You seethe objective was called "grouping" or making 8 out of 10 shots in a 4cm circle 300m away. So anyway, I was SO relieved that I grouped my last set of shots and the good this is I got more and more confident with it each time. The key really is to relax and I was so stressed on it. But once I convinced myself that I was supposed to be enjoying it and having fun I did a lot better. I am determined to be an expert marksman by the end of this phase.
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