Mobilization has finally happened. 353rd CACOM Det 5 officially exists now. Best of all, it means that we are now at least somewhat in control of our own destiny. We have already taken over our training and movement preps, and as near as we can tell, we are miles ahead of any other group. The Navy, and even some of the Army, in the other groups are envious of our progress. In typical Navy fashion, we are pushing through the requirements in order to maximize liberty and personal time. We have managed to give ourselves almost an entire weekend off. At least it is much more relaxed than weekends have been up to now. It is somewhat easier because we are so few in number, but it is also easier because we are motivated to do the work. No one seems to be stepping up in the other groups.
I am the only LDS in the MOB group. I still haven't been able to go to church and wont again tomorrow. The others are complaining about other things. Mobilization puts us under General Order One, which among other things restricts us to the base and forbids the consumption of alcohol. The first weekend we have significant downtime, and they cant leave the base or have a drink. This is really hard on some of my roommates.
We got a new guy today as well. He is our token Army officer and was mobilized out of the IRR from Germany. He is going to fit right in with our group.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
A Slow Sunday
I haven't yet had a chance to go to church, since this phase of my training started. The local service starts after training commences. Since the group is trying to finish all of the 1st Army required training before Memorial Day, there isn't time to take a half day off anywhere. I miss going to church, but I would miss going home one more time, if we didn't finish the training. Today was a pleasant break from the usual sunday training. We finished in time for dinner, and my group didn't have anything else scheduled, because a couple of weeks ago, we used some waiting time do take care of some simple power point training. The other group didn't, so they are still training.
Yesterday, we completed some training called Combat Life Saver. It isn't first aid, because the main focus of the Life Saver isn't to help the wounded. Helping the wounded comes after the combat is over and the threat is eliminated. Statistics on combat deaths show that only a small percentage could be saved if they survive long enough to reach a surgeon. A big chunk of the first lesson was dont even try to save them if... Combat Life Saver is to keep a small class of the seriously wounded alive, because an it can be done by a marginally trained amateur with a couple pounds of gear and a few minutes of relative quiet. The whole thing culminated with the requirement to start an IV on a classmate. Sticking someone is easier than I thought it would be, but a few people had some difficulties. Mostly it was because their partner had very small veins. A few people had to endure multiple sticks, sometimes into muscle. I set the record for blood loss, because my partner didn't properly block the vein when he pulled out the needle with the catheter in place. It wasn't a lot, but it is an intersting sight to see your blood running out of a whole in your arm at that rate. I did a pretty good job myself.
I am going to try to go to sleep early tonight. I haven't been sleeping as well as I ought to, but there are eleven guys in my barracks room, and even though we are all in our thirties, we might as well be in college again.
Yesterday, we completed some training called Combat Life Saver. It isn't first aid, because the main focus of the Life Saver isn't to help the wounded. Helping the wounded comes after the combat is over and the threat is eliminated. Statistics on combat deaths show that only a small percentage could be saved if they survive long enough to reach a surgeon. A big chunk of the first lesson was dont even try to save them if... Combat Life Saver is to keep a small class of the seriously wounded alive, because an it can be done by a marginally trained amateur with a couple pounds of gear and a few minutes of relative quiet. The whole thing culminated with the requirement to start an IV on a classmate. Sticking someone is easier than I thought it would be, but a few people had some difficulties. Mostly it was because their partner had very small veins. A few people had to endure multiple sticks, sometimes into muscle. I set the record for blood loss, because my partner didn't properly block the vein when he pulled out the needle with the catheter in place. It wasn't a lot, but it is an intersting sight to see your blood running out of a whole in your arm at that rate. I did a pretty good job myself.
I am going to try to go to sleep early tonight. I haven't been sleeping as well as I ought to, but there are eleven guys in my barracks room, and even though we are all in our thirties, we might as well be in college again.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
A Very Fun Week
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
I Survived
I just got back from a week in the field, where we put our theory and doctrine into practice. USACAPOC cleared an small area of forest and built a forward operating base where CA and PSYOP students can live and work for a week or so at a time. I checked Google Earth and the imagery isn't new enough to show it, but I have some pictures.
Anyway, we started with a long walk, 19 miles in 23 hours, with 7 scenarios to play along the way. It was a demonstration of negotiation, mediation, and culture built into a story line simulating civil military operations after a short war. The introduction to the arab culture was very eyeopening. The seven days that followed gave us all a chance to try to figure out what the story was and work together to bring it to a happy end. There wasn't much sleep, and there was a lot of work to do. It has been a long time since I was that physically tired. Usually, it takes me as much as an hour to fall asleep after I go to bed, but every night on the FOB, I was asleep in just minutes. Unfortunately for my tent mates, that didn't leave them much time to get to sleep themselves before the snoring started. The last night there, the next tent over said they could hear me, so it must have been bad in my own tent.
Its over now. I get to go home for a week, then to Fort Dix in New Jersey for two months. Its hard to believe that I have been on active duty for more than two months now. I still have more than a year left, though. More later.
Interior of my tent (GP medium with HVAC)
This is the FOB from one of the guard towers. It can hold up classes up to 2-3 hundred students. Ours was only 52, so it was pretty empty.
There were just barely enough of us to man all of the fighting positions for base defense.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
You Can Always Learn Something From Your Leaders
I passed my APFT retest today. The run was easy. Apparantly, running twice a week and going for a multi-mile ruck march can get you into shape.
It wasn't all good though. Unfortunately, one of the more senior Navy types really didn't want to do the APFT again. He puts way to much stock into doing well in this course. I'm not saying that you shouldn't always try to do well, but this one was willing to screw his shipmates to avoid anything appearing to be adverse.
To start with, no one in the Navy is ever going to see the course OER (Army Officer Efficiency Report) or, if they did, care one whit about it. We are going to Iraq, and even failing this course wont change that. So passing or failing the APFT means NOTHING to us. It does matter to the Army types, though. The Army will see and care about their OERs. Anyway, this Navy type new he wasn't going to pass the APFT, and he didn't want that negative statement on his MEANINGLESS course OER. So he went snivelling to the cadre, and essentially refused to take the APFT again, using the excuse that he had a temporary profile (medical restriction on physical activity). The profile would let him run. It was the sit-ups he couldn't complete, but the profile didn't say that he couldn't do sit-ups. The cadre couldn't just let him go. They had to be consistant across the board, so everyone with a profile was excused. That meant that several Army types would get an adverse statement on their course OER for not being able to complete a course requirement. This mattered to them.
Sometimes, your leaders are examples of what not to be. Dont screw your juniors, especially over something that means NOTHING.
It wasn't all good though. Unfortunately, one of the more senior Navy types really didn't want to do the APFT again. He puts way to much stock into doing well in this course. I'm not saying that you shouldn't always try to do well, but this one was willing to screw his shipmates to avoid anything appearing to be adverse.
To start with, no one in the Navy is ever going to see the course OER (Army Officer Efficiency Report) or, if they did, care one whit about it. We are going to Iraq, and even failing this course wont change that. So passing or failing the APFT means NOTHING to us. It does matter to the Army types, though. The Army will see and care about their OERs. Anyway, this Navy type new he wasn't going to pass the APFT, and he didn't want that negative statement on his MEANINGLESS course OER. So he went snivelling to the cadre, and essentially refused to take the APFT again, using the excuse that he had a temporary profile (medical restriction on physical activity). The profile would let him run. It was the sit-ups he couldn't complete, but the profile didn't say that he couldn't do sit-ups. The cadre couldn't just let him go. They had to be consistant across the board, so everyone with a profile was excused. That meant that several Army types would get an adverse statement on their course OER for not being able to complete a course requirement. This mattered to them.
Sometimes, your leaders are examples of what not to be. Dont screw your juniors, especially over something that means NOTHING.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
A Piece of History
I wanted to do something today, besides the usual lounging around, so I drove to Wilmington and walked through the Battleship North Carolina Memorial. I thought that it would only take a couple of hours, but I spent the better part of four hours walking her decks. I have been to the Missouri memorial in Pearl Harbor, but this ship is the better of the two museums. The NC Memorial has more of the ship open to the public than Missouri, including two of the main gun turrets and one of the five inch gun turrets.
USS North Carolina had a short career. It was commissioned in 1942 and retired in 1947, but it was involved in every campaign in the Pacific theater. I wont try to write any more about that.
What I still find most interesting, when I tour museums like this one, is how little things have changed at the most basic levels. The individual pieces and parts that made up the ship are the very same pieces and parts that make up my old boat. Electrical panels, valves, guages, etc are all exactly the same, and probably made by the same manufacturer. A sailor from WWII may not know what something on my old boat does, but he wouldn't have any trouble knowing how to operate it. We are slowly shifting in the direction of electronic and computer control systems, but the most fundamental parts probably wont ever change.
There are a lot of memorial and museum ships. I will have to have to take greater care to see them when I am nearby.
Number Three turret looking forward from the aft deck. The bell from the armored cruiser North Carolina, commissioned in 1908, is in the foreground.
The view from the Captain's chair on the bridge. I didn't sit in the chair. Even though she hasn't had a Captain for more than 60 years, I couldn't sit there. Some things you just dont do, even when no one is looking. One of them is sitting in the Captain's seat. I am probably just a bit superstitious, but most sailors are like that. I think it has something to do with how important customs and traditions are to us. Some of them go back nearly to Noah. Maybe this would make another good post someday.
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