This week has been really fun for the most part. We worked on driving and weapons qualifications. A Humvee is a fun ride. It can go almost anywhere. Two drivers discovered that there are some limitations, but unless you are trying to get stuck, the only limit is how much bouncing your kidneys can take. There are no shocks, so you feel every bump. I have a license to drive unarmored Humvees now. When I get to Kuwait, I will learn to drive armored Humvees.
We also spent nearly every day on one range or another working on weapons qualifications. Since we will never go outside the wire without armor, that meant wearing my armor for every shoot. I am almost 50 pounds heavier in full battle rattle and that is without any ammunition. The Army says that I am ok to shoot the 9mm pistol now. I have to go back tomorrow to try again on the M16. I am pretty good shooting at black circles on white paper, but pop-up target are another thing entirely, and shooting at night with no illumination is next to useless. But I have to at least figure out how to fake it long enough to finish the qual. We also got to shoot a few M203 grenade rounds.
The only downside to this week is that yesterday I caught some kind of crud that has been going around my baracks room. I am the fifth one to catch it. It isn't too bad, but it is annnoying. Fortunately, we have a really good Corpsman to take care of us.
For anyone who is interested in sending any mail or care packages (hint) my current address is:
LCDR James McElwee
c/o ECRC 10759
Building 6038
Doughboy Loop
Ft. Dix, New Jersey 08640
This address will be good for anything that will arrive before about 12 June 2008. Nothing will be forwarded if it misses me, so don't try sending anything if it wont arrive by then. I dont know what my APO address will be yet.
I nneed to turn in now. I have another early day tomorrow, and I need all of the sleep that I can get. I hope I can kick this crud soon.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Another Long Jump Into the Future
My week off passed pretty uneventfully. Charles was busy with school, it was still cold outside, and I really wasn't interested in doing a lot. Just relaxing for a week without having to think about the Army was a good time. I did spend one day at work. I went to lunch with a couple of friends and caught up with happenings there. I spent close to three hours in a brainstorming session with one of them. I think we could go into business together some day. Between us, we have solved every problem we have run across with the hardware we use at work.
My last day at home, I got a call from ECRC who pointed out that my travel itinerary had me going back to Ft Bragg instead of Ft Dix. It got fixed, but it meant arriving at the Philidelphia airport close to midnight. I didn't actually get to Dix until after one AM. That was an appropriate start to this part of my training. Some of it has been interesting. Over the last two days, we have been doing driver training. I now have a military license to drive Hummvees. Tomorrow, we are drawing weapons and going to the range for the first time. I think that all this week will be in weapons qualifications. I will qualify with the M4 (M16 carbine) and M9 Baretta pistol. I will get to shoot the squad automatic weapon, the M240 machinegun, and the M203 grenade laucher too, although I wont get to qualify on them.
Most of my time here has been spent waiting. I live in a twelve man barracks room with nine Navy officers from my last course and two Army officers, who by now have been mostly converted into to the Navy. We have a lot of fun, but mostly we complain about the Army. We get up early every morning and then wait for transportation to wherever we are having our training. Then we wait for everyone to arrive, then for the training to start, then for transportation to our next stop. Today, we finished the training evolution in about an hour, then waited for almost three more hours to find out what we were doing next.
All of us Navy types have a hard time believing that it is even possible to be so unorganized. The Navy mentality would not allow this kind of time wasting to occur. Long days aren't so bad if you are actually doing something. If there isn't anything to do, let your people take care of their own business. Nothing will change, so all we can do is complain among ourselves.
Internet is very slow here, but I will try to post a little more about my current training.
My last day at home, I got a call from ECRC who pointed out that my travel itinerary had me going back to Ft Bragg instead of Ft Dix. It got fixed, but it meant arriving at the Philidelphia airport close to midnight. I didn't actually get to Dix until after one AM. That was an appropriate start to this part of my training. Some of it has been interesting. Over the last two days, we have been doing driver training. I now have a military license to drive Hummvees. Tomorrow, we are drawing weapons and going to the range for the first time. I think that all this week will be in weapons qualifications. I will qualify with the M4 (M16 carbine) and M9 Baretta pistol. I will get to shoot the squad automatic weapon, the M240 machinegun, and the M203 grenade laucher too, although I wont get to qualify on them.
Most of my time here has been spent waiting. I live in a twelve man barracks room with nine Navy officers from my last course and two Army officers, who by now have been mostly converted into to the Navy. We have a lot of fun, but mostly we complain about the Army. We get up early every morning and then wait for transportation to wherever we are having our training. Then we wait for everyone to arrive, then for the training to start, then for transportation to our next stop. Today, we finished the training evolution in about an hour, then waited for almost three more hours to find out what we were doing next.
All of us Navy types have a hard time believing that it is even possible to be so unorganized. The Navy mentality would not allow this kind of time wasting to occur. Long days aren't so bad if you are actually doing something. If there isn't anything to do, let your people take care of their own business. Nothing will change, so all we can do is complain among ourselves.
Internet is very slow here, but I will try to post a little more about my current training.
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