Our time here at the COL is almost finished, and I'm glad. Today we went over how to run and ECP (Entry Control Point). The ECP is the first line of defense for a base, or in our case, COL Blackhawk. There are 3 major pieces to the ECP: tower/gate guards, searching personnel, and the QRF (Quick Reaction Force). The tower and gate guards watch all the vehicles coming in, as well as the pedestrians and the respective holding areas for both. The searching personnel look through and underneath vehicle for anything suspicious, and also hand search any pedestrians. The QRF are the badass boys of the ECP, and I was glad I was picked for it. Anyone can call in the QRF if there is any chance of the ECP being overrun or heavily damaged. If anything gets out of control, we are called in to kick ass and take names later. Asking for the QRF is reserved only f or serious situations, and it’s not a force to be toyed with. We were called a few times that day, for everything from a riot to a sniper holed up in a van outside the gate. It was actually a fun exercise, and we did really well. Chief Mule Face was on Alpha Team of the QRF with me, and we had some fun running around with machine guns and firing blanks at simulated enemy, sliding behind barriers and calling in over the radio that we “need more fucking ammo up here sarge!!!” haha.
All in all, everyone learned just how chaotic the ECP can get, and how important it is to report anything suspicious before it gets out of hand. Everyone also learned that it is best to have all the badasses on the QRF. It felt good to be able to run everything out and kind of escape the bullshit for a few hours and concentrate on the mission. I don't know why, but I'm letting some of the soldiers in my unit get on my nerves about things that normally wouldn't bother me.
I also got dropped by Sergeant Know-It-All today too, for the second time. I've begun to take a different approach to this deployment, and I'm not sure if it's going to work for me. I told a good friend of mine before I left that I had planned to keep a light attitude towards this trip, and she agreed that it might be the best idea for me. Well, it sort of bit me in the ass when Sergeant Know-It-All called me out on it today. He took me outside after I spit out a few jokes before a class, and told me I am "not allowed to joke anymore". This is a senior NCO, been in the Army ten plus years more than me, and he's telling me I can't joke!? Talk about a waste of time. This guy should have so much more on his plate regarding our mission and the welfare of our soldiers, yet he insists on singling me out to stop my "unnecessary and disruptive horseplay". Now, I see Horseplay in the same league as GrabAss, and I clearly was doing neither from the position I was sitting in. Anyway, I did pushups while Know-It-All was explaining this to me, and I couldn't help but smirk. Know-It-All was about to blow a gasket, when a captain came outside to tell us class was starting. Nothing like getting saved by a captain :)
-Mac
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
COL Nighthawk, Day 2
Today began early. This was still training, but we had all begun to take it a little more seriously. We headed out to our training convoy staging area early to begin our PMC (Preventative Maintenance Check) before pulling out. We finished quickly, and we had a few minutes to “smoke and joke” around and on the vehicles. I always like standing around a humvee with body armor and magazines full of bullets, joking with Moon and the Jap. It gives me this feeling that I’ll never be able to describe or forget. It’s almost like something out of a movie: all the soldiers standing around, geared up and armed, holding helmets underneath arms and talking away. Some joking, some smoking, some just sipping their last cup o’ joe before jumping in and driving off. It’s a sight to see, especially when we have a big convoy. Then the rally signal goes out to mount up and move out, and it’s game on.
Since it had seemed like I had a rain cloud literally following me, Chicken decided I should drive for this convoy instead of gunning. I agreed, mostly because my ass hurt from sitting on the slim gunner’s sling and I didn’t want to stand either. So I drove. Moon was my VC this time, and our platoon sergeant actually got up in the turret. He’s a salty old fellow from Guam. Seen his share of shit, and I’m still wondering why he hasn’t retired even though he’s well over his 20 year mark. I guess if you’re that good at soldiering, you should stay in until your body quits. Well, the Crazy Islander still had it in him, and he spun a good turret today.
We ran through some woods and streams, checking under bridges and underneath overpasses for IEDs. The Crazy Islander spotted some snipers I swear I would have missed, and we had a few run-ins with some unruly town people. The convoy seemed to be pretty quiet, until we hit Route Buckaneer. There was a message put out on the net that a VIP was somewhere along this route, making a sale of explosives to insurgents. If we saw him or his trademarked black sedan, we were to shoot on sight. As soon as I made the turn onto Route Buckaneer, we all puckered up at the sight of it. Heavy woods sided on a one lane gravel road, stretching up a hill and back down the other side. This was perfect territory for an ambush, and if we knew where the VIP was, chances were that he had a hint that we were coming. We hit a few IEDs that missed, and we ended up speeding through the route, with no sign of the VIP. At the end of the route, we formed a box with the humvees and ran an ACE report (Ammo, Casualties, and Equipment) up to Chicken. Well, Chicken had been hit and our second convoy commander had to step in. That’s when the shit hit the fan. Sergeant Know-it-all, someone I'll be describing in great detail later on, apparently didn’t know it all when it came to the current situation, and we ended up sitting in that box formation for a good half hour while he tried to get a handle on everything. Nothing like hearing a senior NCO babble and studder on the radio, being cussed out by and officer that wants to know what the SITREP is (SITuation REPort). I started to get hungry, so while the Crazy Islander watched my sector, I pulled out and apple to eat. Well, when I moved my bag there was a red wasp underneath it and it flew out. It must have hid inside somewhere over night. Well I started batting and swatting, and Moon cut the radio transmission he was giving short to swat at it too. I was told later that Moon still had his hand on the call button, and the whole convoy heard us swearing and screaming, including when the bugger actually stung me. Yeah, I got stung AGAIN, this time on my left cheek down by my jaw. Everyone had a good laugh at it but me, mostly because it looked like I got slugged with a freaking brick. I was not happy.
We started on the route back to Nighthawk, thinking nothing else could happen, but something did of course. The lead vehicle, minus Chief Blackfoot this time, passed a vehicle sitting on the right side of the road near a bridge. It’s convoy common sense not to pass vehicles sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere without checking them out. They could be VBIEDs, Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices. Well, humvee 1 blew past, so humvee 2 thought it was good to go. I watched my buddy the Jap jump back in his turret when the simulator blast went off 2 feet from the humvee. In real life I would have been picking up bits of his helmet hundreds of yards away, but luckily this was just training. Humvee 1 stopped about 100 meters up the road and just sat there. Small arms fire could be heard off to the right, so I decided to do something instead of just sitting there. I gunned my humvee and steered toward humvee 2. I was off the side of the road, and it was pretty muddy from the rain the day before. I heard the Crazy Islander laughing his ass off and we fishtailed sideways and threw up a muddy rooster tail 20 feet high. Finally I got traction and raced over the right side of humvee 2 to provide covering fire on their right. I looked into the humvee, and not to my surprise I saw the Complainer in the driver’s seat, frustrated to tears because her VC was yelling at her. We cleared it all up and got the hell out of there and back to Nighthawk. I still looked like I’d been sacked by a NFL lineman from that damn wasp, and I was tired as all hell. We actually got the rest of the night off after that 8 hour mess of a convoy, and I slept until morning without even waking for dinner chow.
-Mac
Since it had seemed like I had a rain cloud literally following me, Chicken decided I should drive for this convoy instead of gunning. I agreed, mostly because my ass hurt from sitting on the slim gunner’s sling and I didn’t want to stand either. So I drove. Moon was my VC this time, and our platoon sergeant actually got up in the turret. He’s a salty old fellow from Guam. Seen his share of shit, and I’m still wondering why he hasn’t retired even though he’s well over his 20 year mark. I guess if you’re that good at soldiering, you should stay in until your body quits. Well, the Crazy Islander still had it in him, and he spun a good turret today.
We ran through some woods and streams, checking under bridges and underneath overpasses for IEDs. The Crazy Islander spotted some snipers I swear I would have missed, and we had a few run-ins with some unruly town people. The convoy seemed to be pretty quiet, until we hit Route Buckaneer. There was a message put out on the net that a VIP was somewhere along this route, making a sale of explosives to insurgents. If we saw him or his trademarked black sedan, we were to shoot on sight. As soon as I made the turn onto Route Buckaneer, we all puckered up at the sight of it. Heavy woods sided on a one lane gravel road, stretching up a hill and back down the other side. This was perfect territory for an ambush, and if we knew where the VIP was, chances were that he had a hint that we were coming. We hit a few IEDs that missed, and we ended up speeding through the route, with no sign of the VIP. At the end of the route, we formed a box with the humvees and ran an ACE report (Ammo, Casualties, and Equipment) up to Chicken. Well, Chicken had been hit and our second convoy commander had to step in. That’s when the shit hit the fan. Sergeant Know-it-all, someone I'll be describing in great detail later on, apparently didn’t know it all when it came to the current situation, and we ended up sitting in that box formation for a good half hour while he tried to get a handle on everything. Nothing like hearing a senior NCO babble and studder on the radio, being cussed out by and officer that wants to know what the SITREP is (SITuation REPort). I started to get hungry, so while the Crazy Islander watched my sector, I pulled out and apple to eat. Well, when I moved my bag there was a red wasp underneath it and it flew out. It must have hid inside somewhere over night. Well I started batting and swatting, and Moon cut the radio transmission he was giving short to swat at it too. I was told later that Moon still had his hand on the call button, and the whole convoy heard us swearing and screaming, including when the bugger actually stung me. Yeah, I got stung AGAIN, this time on my left cheek down by my jaw. Everyone had a good laugh at it but me, mostly because it looked like I got slugged with a freaking brick. I was not happy.
We started on the route back to Nighthawk, thinking nothing else could happen, but something did of course. The lead vehicle, minus Chief Blackfoot this time, passed a vehicle sitting on the right side of the road near a bridge. It’s convoy common sense not to pass vehicles sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere without checking them out. They could be VBIEDs, Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices. Well, humvee 1 blew past, so humvee 2 thought it was good to go. I watched my buddy the Jap jump back in his turret when the simulator blast went off 2 feet from the humvee. In real life I would have been picking up bits of his helmet hundreds of yards away, but luckily this was just training. Humvee 1 stopped about 100 meters up the road and just sat there. Small arms fire could be heard off to the right, so I decided to do something instead of just sitting there. I gunned my humvee and steered toward humvee 2. I was off the side of the road, and it was pretty muddy from the rain the day before. I heard the Crazy Islander laughing his ass off and we fishtailed sideways and threw up a muddy rooster tail 20 feet high. Finally I got traction and raced over the right side of humvee 2 to provide covering fire on their right. I looked into the humvee, and not to my surprise I saw the Complainer in the driver’s seat, frustrated to tears because her VC was yelling at her. We cleared it all up and got the hell out of there and back to Nighthawk. I still looked like I’d been sacked by a NFL lineman from that damn wasp, and I was tired as all hell. We actually got the rest of the night off after that 8 hour mess of a convoy, and I slept until morning without even waking for dinner chow.
-Mac
Friday, August 28, 2009
COL Nighthawk, Day 1
Alrighty, so it's been a quick minute since I've posted, and I think I may have been burnt out a little on it. So I'm going to change the style up to make it a little easier to write and read. Plus, my recent training is all been good story material, especially the parts I'll never put up here...
Today was our first day on COL Nighthawk. COL (Coalition Operations Location) is the new acronym being used instead of FOB (Forward Operating Base) these days. Since most of our bases over in the box house other country’s troops, it seems to make sense. But in a weird way it makes it seem less lethal, which doesn’t sit well with me. Our whole reason for spending the weekend at the COL is to go through some convoy training, IED training, and some live fire exercises.
This morning we had to sit through a slew of classes, covering everything we are going to go through here. Convoy operations and IED reaction training were hit on the hardest, as we had a convoy ops set up for this afternoon. We started the convoy feeling pretty confident in our training, that from the class earlier and our own real world experiences.
I don’t think we had the best crew in our vehicle for the convoy, but we made it through. Our driver was SPC Complainer, whom I obviously don’t feel to great about. She’s a selfish and lazy female that always seems to play the female card when it’s convenient for her, and she is way too timid at the wheel of a humvee. The convoy commander, my section sergeant who I call Chicken because of the way he runs, was sitting in the front seat or Vehicle Commander’s seat. The VC normally mans the radio and calls the shots for that vehicle, but Chicken was running the whole convoy of 5 vehicles. It is much more difficult than one would think. In the CLS (Combat Life Saver) seat was Moon, my Japanese buddy that’s seen a bit of the real world over in Iraq a few years ago. In the other seat behind the VC was one of the trainers for this event, making sure the VC didn’t get us too lost or messed up. He also called the shots on which vehicles had wounded in them when we were hit. I was up in the gunner’s turret, taking aim behind my big ass 240B and keeping a sharp eye out of IED or enemy. I could see the Jap spinning the turret on the humvee in front of me, and I gave him a sarcastic wave and smile before we headed out. Gunners in a convoy have alternating sectors of fire, left and right, while the lead vehicle covers the front and the caboose covers the rear. The Jap is one of my best buddies, and I was glad to know that he’d be covering my six when we rolled out.
We started off pretty good, falling in the third vehicle slot so we could have positive control of the whole convoy. We spotted the first few IEDs pretty early, thanks to Chief Running Moon. Chief is a young specialist that went to high school with my younger brother. He’s a good kid, and I hope he doesn’t take in too much of this sub-par leadership we’ve got. I routinely call him different “Chief” names, mostly from all the western books I read, so they’ll change as this goes on. Anyway, Chief Running Moon has a good eye and spotted a lot of IEDs that day. We missed some though, and had to react to losing and recovering our lead, second, and last vehicles all at once. Chicken got hit by a sniper that I missed in a second story window of a town thought to be abandoned, and we also were hit by an IED and had to be towed out. We also got stuck on a muddy stream bank thanks to our sissy-footed Complainer and had to be towed out. She still swears it wasn’t her fault, but everyone knows that if you stop in mud, chances are you won’t get out.
While we were roaring through a particularly thick part of the woods here, the lead vehicle’s antennae hit a low branch over the road. Well, there was a red wasp nest on that branch that fell and hit the second vehicle’s turret. That left all the wasps turret-high in the middle of the road for guess who…yeah, my turret. I tried to duck in time, but I didn’t want to lose my sight on my sector or lose anything I had loose in the turret. I swatted and smacked, but I still got stung in the face underneath my right eye. I had to ride out the next couple of hours with a swollen right eye and half my sight on my sector. And things got worse, to my dismay. It started raining. I arrived back at the COL tired, swollen, and soaked, only to sit through briefing after briefing. I went to bed miserable and with a mean headache.
Today was our first day on COL Nighthawk. COL (Coalition Operations Location) is the new acronym being used instead of FOB (Forward Operating Base) these days. Since most of our bases over in the box house other country’s troops, it seems to make sense. But in a weird way it makes it seem less lethal, which doesn’t sit well with me. Our whole reason for spending the weekend at the COL is to go through some convoy training, IED training, and some live fire exercises.
This morning we had to sit through a slew of classes, covering everything we are going to go through here. Convoy operations and IED reaction training were hit on the hardest, as we had a convoy ops set up for this afternoon. We started the convoy feeling pretty confident in our training, that from the class earlier and our own real world experiences.
I don’t think we had the best crew in our vehicle for the convoy, but we made it through. Our driver was SPC Complainer, whom I obviously don’t feel to great about. She’s a selfish and lazy female that always seems to play the female card when it’s convenient for her, and she is way too timid at the wheel of a humvee. The convoy commander, my section sergeant who I call Chicken because of the way he runs, was sitting in the front seat or Vehicle Commander’s seat. The VC normally mans the radio and calls the shots for that vehicle, but Chicken was running the whole convoy of 5 vehicles. It is much more difficult than one would think. In the CLS (Combat Life Saver) seat was Moon, my Japanese buddy that’s seen a bit of the real world over in Iraq a few years ago. In the other seat behind the VC was one of the trainers for this event, making sure the VC didn’t get us too lost or messed up. He also called the shots on which vehicles had wounded in them when we were hit. I was up in the gunner’s turret, taking aim behind my big ass 240B and keeping a sharp eye out of IED or enemy. I could see the Jap spinning the turret on the humvee in front of me, and I gave him a sarcastic wave and smile before we headed out. Gunners in a convoy have alternating sectors of fire, left and right, while the lead vehicle covers the front and the caboose covers the rear. The Jap is one of my best buddies, and I was glad to know that he’d be covering my six when we rolled out.
We started off pretty good, falling in the third vehicle slot so we could have positive control of the whole convoy. We spotted the first few IEDs pretty early, thanks to Chief Running Moon. Chief is a young specialist that went to high school with my younger brother. He’s a good kid, and I hope he doesn’t take in too much of this sub-par leadership we’ve got. I routinely call him different “Chief” names, mostly from all the western books I read, so they’ll change as this goes on. Anyway, Chief Running Moon has a good eye and spotted a lot of IEDs that day. We missed some though, and had to react to losing and recovering our lead, second, and last vehicles all at once. Chicken got hit by a sniper that I missed in a second story window of a town thought to be abandoned, and we also were hit by an IED and had to be towed out. We also got stuck on a muddy stream bank thanks to our sissy-footed Complainer and had to be towed out. She still swears it wasn’t her fault, but everyone knows that if you stop in mud, chances are you won’t get out.
While we were roaring through a particularly thick part of the woods here, the lead vehicle’s antennae hit a low branch over the road. Well, there was a red wasp nest on that branch that fell and hit the second vehicle’s turret. That left all the wasps turret-high in the middle of the road for guess who…yeah, my turret. I tried to duck in time, but I didn’t want to lose my sight on my sector or lose anything I had loose in the turret. I swatted and smacked, but I still got stung in the face underneath my right eye. I had to ride out the next couple of hours with a swollen right eye and half my sight on my sector. And things got worse, to my dismay. It started raining. I arrived back at the COL tired, swollen, and soaked, only to sit through briefing after briefing. I went to bed miserable and with a mean headache.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Camp Atterbury Day 6
I had a friend email me today and tell me I write this blog "like I'm getting paid per word", and I think I might tone down the info a little. I guess anyone can just ask me questions if they want me to elaborate more.
This past week, well almost week, has been full of administration junk. We've been going through all our paperwork, from medical to dental to legal. I'm pretty stoked that I got issued a few more pairs of glasses, as my past prescription was a few years old. There are new regulations in place that say we cannot wear contacts in combat zones anymore, so it looks like I'll be rockin' some spectacles for this deployment. I really don't mind, just as long as I get a better pair.
Almost all of my medical files were up to date, minus a few shot records. I had to get the second of six anthrax shots, which really sucked. It makes your arm go numb for a few minutes, and it stays pretty sore for a few days. I also got a TB skin test, which I had no reaction to so I passed. They stick you with it and push a little bit of the TB sample just underneath your skin creating a bubble. Then you come back 72 hours later and have it checked. No marks or bubble and you're good to go. I also had another HIV test and a urinalysis, and I passed both. The worst of all of it was and is the smallpox shot. They stick you 19 times with a man made version in the shoulder, and you have to let your body fight it for a little over 2 weeks. As soon as the scab falls off your good to go, but it's a pain to keep it clean. It's also extremely contagious while in this phase, so I have to constantly wash my hands.
The legal section of this week wasn't difficult for me. Most of what takes the most time is when people need to draw up power of attorney documents or stuff that has to do with divorces and kids, of which I have neither. I did, however, have to draw up a will. At first, I thought it'd be a cakewalk, seeing as I don't have much to sign off. But then the thought kind of got to me a little. Here I am, signing this document that says if I bite the bullet, all my stuff goes here and all my money goes here. It was a little disturbing, mostly because I've never done it in the past.
My day today started off a little crappy. I had latrine cleaning detail this morning, so I didn't get to eat breakfast. We had a medic course this morning, which wasn't really difficult. Every medic course is different, mostly because of the people you take it with. Everyone has their own stories to tell of how they treated this guy, or how they handled that situation, and it's always different. I had never heard most of these guy's stories, and they had never heard mine, so we had a pretty informative and graphic class. I learned a lot, not from the course, but from my 'Battle Buddies' as the Army teaches us to say. I had never seen this new thing they have to rapidly stop bleeding called a Chitosan (kye-to-san). It really sucks up the blood like a sponge and helps control large wounds. Stories were shared from everyone, including a few from me. Poles sticking through people, pieces of the bulletproof vests we wear in someone's chest cavity, and even one about a soldier that was found a few yards from an IED site clutching both severed feet in on arm and dragging himself with his other. Movie-style stuff, but from on hand witnesses and medics.
We also had an interesting task this afternoon. We had to update our morgue profiles. It's this system the military has for identifying bodies and verifying that they are really them. We have to take a front and side profile picture and throw it in there. Also, any new tattoos or identifying scars have to be input to help identify the remains. Pretty heavy stuff, especially after all the medic stuff this morning. But there's a kicker: today is my birthday. What a great way to celebrate your 23rd year of living right!?
My birthday present from the group was a surprise Arabic test, which I aced, and 230 push ups I had to do in front of everyone. I'm in pretty good shape, but it still took me about 15 minutes to knock 'em all out. Someone gave me a rice krispie treat as a cake too, yippee.
We have some other junky class stuff to take care of, and a PT test on Monday. The rest of the week is going to be spent preparing for a big field mission we have at one of the FOBs (Forward Operating Base) they have out here. After that is another field mission which is going to be strictly ammo based, and we should be outta Indiana in no time.
-Mac
This past week, well almost week, has been full of administration junk. We've been going through all our paperwork, from medical to dental to legal. I'm pretty stoked that I got issued a few more pairs of glasses, as my past prescription was a few years old. There are new regulations in place that say we cannot wear contacts in combat zones anymore, so it looks like I'll be rockin' some spectacles for this deployment. I really don't mind, just as long as I get a better pair.
Almost all of my medical files were up to date, minus a few shot records. I had to get the second of six anthrax shots, which really sucked. It makes your arm go numb for a few minutes, and it stays pretty sore for a few days. I also got a TB skin test, which I had no reaction to so I passed. They stick you with it and push a little bit of the TB sample just underneath your skin creating a bubble. Then you come back 72 hours later and have it checked. No marks or bubble and you're good to go. I also had another HIV test and a urinalysis, and I passed both. The worst of all of it was and is the smallpox shot. They stick you 19 times with a man made version in the shoulder, and you have to let your body fight it for a little over 2 weeks. As soon as the scab falls off your good to go, but it's a pain to keep it clean. It's also extremely contagious while in this phase, so I have to constantly wash my hands.
The legal section of this week wasn't difficult for me. Most of what takes the most time is when people need to draw up power of attorney documents or stuff that has to do with divorces and kids, of which I have neither. I did, however, have to draw up a will. At first, I thought it'd be a cakewalk, seeing as I don't have much to sign off. But then the thought kind of got to me a little. Here I am, signing this document that says if I bite the bullet, all my stuff goes here and all my money goes here. It was a little disturbing, mostly because I've never done it in the past.
My day today started off a little crappy. I had latrine cleaning detail this morning, so I didn't get to eat breakfast. We had a medic course this morning, which wasn't really difficult. Every medic course is different, mostly because of the people you take it with. Everyone has their own stories to tell of how they treated this guy, or how they handled that situation, and it's always different. I had never heard most of these guy's stories, and they had never heard mine, so we had a pretty informative and graphic class. I learned a lot, not from the course, but from my 'Battle Buddies' as the Army teaches us to say. I had never seen this new thing they have to rapidly stop bleeding called a Chitosan (kye-to-san). It really sucks up the blood like a sponge and helps control large wounds. Stories were shared from everyone, including a few from me. Poles sticking through people, pieces of the bulletproof vests we wear in someone's chest cavity, and even one about a soldier that was found a few yards from an IED site clutching both severed feet in on arm and dragging himself with his other. Movie-style stuff, but from on hand witnesses and medics.
We also had an interesting task this afternoon. We had to update our morgue profiles. It's this system the military has for identifying bodies and verifying that they are really them. We have to take a front and side profile picture and throw it in there. Also, any new tattoos or identifying scars have to be input to help identify the remains. Pretty heavy stuff, especially after all the medic stuff this morning. But there's a kicker: today is my birthday. What a great way to celebrate your 23rd year of living right!?
My birthday present from the group was a surprise Arabic test, which I aced, and 230 push ups I had to do in front of everyone. I'm in pretty good shape, but it still took me about 15 minutes to knock 'em all out. Someone gave me a rice krispie treat as a cake too, yippee.
We have some other junky class stuff to take care of, and a PT test on Monday. The rest of the week is going to be spent preparing for a big field mission we have at one of the FOBs (Forward Operating Base) they have out here. After that is another field mission which is going to be strictly ammo based, and we should be outta Indiana in no time.
-Mac
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Camp Atterbury Day 1
We rolled into the airport last night around 2000hrs after a rather rowdy flight into Indianapolis. I had a bit of whiskey before getting on the plane compliments of a few guys at the bar, and I was feeling pretty good about the coming plane ride. There was a lot of turbulence on the flight over, but I was given a few more drinks on the plane by the stewardess and I fell asleep. The bus ride from the airport to the Camp was a quiet one, taking us about an hour to get to the front gate. That’s when the shit hit the fan.
By this point, about 2130 or 2200, we had all been up for over 48 hours, we had all been traveling all day, and we were all feeling the effects. I don’t know why, but some of our NCOs were pretty grouchy, and that makes for a bad night. Nobody likes being yelled at, nobody likes being disrespected, and nobody likes these two combined after 2 days of being awake and a day of traveling. The night went pretty late, and we really didn’t get much done but unpack and receive a pretty jacked up welcome brief from our advanced party.
There is obviously a large amount of money that has been set aside for this mobilization site. The barracks sparkle and the latrines are huge with ten million stalls, sinks, and showers. The bunks are nice and new, and the wall lockers have full shelving systems and working doors with locks. They have a huge gym here with all sorts of equipment, along with a full baseball diamond and soccer field across the street. There’s green grass everywhere, and all the buildings are well maintained. The Camp itself seems pretty nice, but the command here is a different story.
We’ve been told that way too many units have come through this mob site and been way too jacked up. The command here has decided to fix that by making a shit-ton of rules and regulations. Let me just say, I feel like I’m in Basic Training again. I’ll just spout off a few of the ridiculous rules here, before I smash my keypad out of frustration. We have to wear our neon orange PT belts at all times, distinguishing us from the regular units here. We have to wear eye protection at all times, meaning if I go outside to talk on the phone at night I need to have clear lenses on my sunglasses. We have to check in, check out, ask to pee, ask to eat, ask to sleep, and ask to fart. It really sucks, and I hope for the sale of the detachment’s morale it all loosens up as we go through training here. For now, we have to play the game and put “sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, or sir” on the end of every single sentence. This is really the reason why I hate regular units, but at the same time we are under the microscope.
We are an experiment from what I understand. All these rules and regs they have here are a result of the previous units, but they might be cracking down early just to see what kind of unit we are. Our reputation has always preceded us in the past, but we have never done anything at Camp Atterbury or in Indiana. I think the closest we’ve ever been to here is in Wisconsin, and that was an easy mission that any mid-sized unit could have handled. It just so happened we did it with 20 soldiers instead of 75. All that aside, we are being watched closely and if we screw up, it’s our commander’s ass. Everyone also knows, as they say, “shit rolls downhill”. Hopefully none of these kids decides to do the wrong thing just to get out of this deployment, but I’ve seen it happen before and it really sucks for all the rest of us.
These next few days we have some really crappy stuff to go through. Tomorrow we have a lot of paperwork to update and complete, and I think we have a dental exam also. I could use a good cleaning. It’s supposed to rain and a few thunderstorms are coming our way, which might make the next few days a little tougher, but we were issued some high speed rain gear at FHL. We are supposed to get another welcome brief from the command here, and hopefully that is a little more extensive.
I’m still adjusting to the time zone here, as we’re 3 hours ahead of California. It really doesn’t feel like 2030, but I better rack out as best I can and get some sleep.
-Mac
By this point, about 2130 or 2200, we had all been up for over 48 hours, we had all been traveling all day, and we were all feeling the effects. I don’t know why, but some of our NCOs were pretty grouchy, and that makes for a bad night. Nobody likes being yelled at, nobody likes being disrespected, and nobody likes these two combined after 2 days of being awake and a day of traveling. The night went pretty late, and we really didn’t get much done but unpack and receive a pretty jacked up welcome brief from our advanced party.
There is obviously a large amount of money that has been set aside for this mobilization site. The barracks sparkle and the latrines are huge with ten million stalls, sinks, and showers. The bunks are nice and new, and the wall lockers have full shelving systems and working doors with locks. They have a huge gym here with all sorts of equipment, along with a full baseball diamond and soccer field across the street. There’s green grass everywhere, and all the buildings are well maintained. The Camp itself seems pretty nice, but the command here is a different story.
We’ve been told that way too many units have come through this mob site and been way too jacked up. The command here has decided to fix that by making a shit-ton of rules and regulations. Let me just say, I feel like I’m in Basic Training again. I’ll just spout off a few of the ridiculous rules here, before I smash my keypad out of frustration. We have to wear our neon orange PT belts at all times, distinguishing us from the regular units here. We have to wear eye protection at all times, meaning if I go outside to talk on the phone at night I need to have clear lenses on my sunglasses. We have to check in, check out, ask to pee, ask to eat, ask to sleep, and ask to fart. It really sucks, and I hope for the sale of the detachment’s morale it all loosens up as we go through training here. For now, we have to play the game and put “sergeant, staff sergeant, sergeant first class, or sir” on the end of every single sentence. This is really the reason why I hate regular units, but at the same time we are under the microscope.
We are an experiment from what I understand. All these rules and regs they have here are a result of the previous units, but they might be cracking down early just to see what kind of unit we are. Our reputation has always preceded us in the past, but we have never done anything at Camp Atterbury or in Indiana. I think the closest we’ve ever been to here is in Wisconsin, and that was an easy mission that any mid-sized unit could have handled. It just so happened we did it with 20 soldiers instead of 75. All that aside, we are being watched closely and if we screw up, it’s our commander’s ass. Everyone also knows, as they say, “shit rolls downhill”. Hopefully none of these kids decides to do the wrong thing just to get out of this deployment, but I’ve seen it happen before and it really sucks for all the rest of us.
These next few days we have some really crappy stuff to go through. Tomorrow we have a lot of paperwork to update and complete, and I think we have a dental exam also. I could use a good cleaning. It’s supposed to rain and a few thunderstorms are coming our way, which might make the next few days a little tougher, but we were issued some high speed rain gear at FHL. We are supposed to get another welcome brief from the command here, and hopefully that is a little more extensive.
I’m still adjusting to the time zone here, as we’re 3 hours ahead of California. It really doesn’t feel like 2030, but I better rack out as best I can and get some sleep.
-Mac
Monday, August 17, 2009
FHL Day 17
As I sit here at 0113hrs, spending my last few minutes on the glorious Fort Hunter-Liggett, I can’t help but reminisce. I’m thinking of all the good and bad times I’ve had here. I’ve come to this base for training missions at least twice a year for the past three years. Some missions have been for as little as 3 days, and one was a whole month once. I can remember going through a full range of emotions while being on this base, from the very first time to these last few minutes.
The very first time I stayed here, it was for a 3 day Qualification Range back in early 2006. I had just gotten to the unit, and I didn’t know everyone very well. I hadn’t brought a sleeping bag because it wasn’t on the packing list I was given. I froze my ass off, but everything seemed ok because I had just started dating a girl I had met about a month earlier and I could still call her every night before I tried to go to sleep. I had those early relationship butterflies and felt great, and nothing could make me feel different. I made my first impression on my NCOs that weekend, by qualifying Expert, or shooting 40 out of 40 targets on the Qual Range.
The next time I would come to FHL was later that year, and I had moved up the ranks a bit. This time I drove a truck full of supplies up instead of riding on the bus. I was trusted with equipment, given less orders and asked to do more things, and I felt like I belonged. The girl I was dating was on vacation in a warmer place than I, so I didn’t exactly enjoy hearing about sunny skies and sandy beaches when I was freezing outside on the phone, but I got through it.
The next couple of years were a blur here, aided by too many memories and too many beers. For one whole month my platoon was staying in a tent on a live tank range here, dealing with the ammunition for one of the nation’s largest war games, Pacific Warrior. The war game didn’t so much pertain to us, so we had our working hours and our beer hours. I did a lot of thinking on that mission, and I went through a full spectrum of emotions that month too. That girl I had been dating had left just before the mission, my grandmother had died, and I had lost a close friend in combat, both while I was away. I had also been promoted and praised by my command, and I was even awarded a medal during this mission, so there were plenty of happy times. During our stay that month, me and some of my close buddies went on ‘nature walks’ on the tank range, picking up Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and elk antlers. The elk antlers were ok for us to grab, but as you can imagine the UXO wasn’t too bright of an idea. I got a few things I’ve never even seen, including a mortar round from 1956, but I was sure to be careful of how I transported it. We chased wild boar in huge Paletized Loading System (PLS) trucks, drove up impossible tanks trails in HUMVEES, and made beer runs in Light/Medium Tactical Vehicles (LMTV) with our uniform tops on and civilian shirts and jeans on underneath. We were our own element, and the only unit controlling the ammo, so we handled everything our way. Don’t get me wrong, we sure as hell got work done, but we had our fun time too. It really reminds me of Vietnam, at least what I get from the movies and books I’ve read. I mean we walked around in nothing but our running shorts, or in a IBA with no shirt on underneath. I even went “hunting” with a .177 pellet gun! All I shot was a deer in the ass and a rabbit. We skinned the rabbit on guard duty the next night, but maggots had already gotten to it. There are so many stories I can’t remember now, but I’ll be sure to jot them down when I remember them while in Iraq. I’m sure they will come back up.
This last mission here has been an overall positive one. The group as a whole has learned a lot, and we’ve come together a little bit closer. We’re not all ready yet, and we’re definitely not a full functioning family, but we will be there soon.
See you later good ‘ol Fort Hunter-Liggett, I hope to run through your fields and wreak havoc again someday.
-Mac
The very first time I stayed here, it was for a 3 day Qualification Range back in early 2006. I had just gotten to the unit, and I didn’t know everyone very well. I hadn’t brought a sleeping bag because it wasn’t on the packing list I was given. I froze my ass off, but everything seemed ok because I had just started dating a girl I had met about a month earlier and I could still call her every night before I tried to go to sleep. I had those early relationship butterflies and felt great, and nothing could make me feel different. I made my first impression on my NCOs that weekend, by qualifying Expert, or shooting 40 out of 40 targets on the Qual Range.
The next time I would come to FHL was later that year, and I had moved up the ranks a bit. This time I drove a truck full of supplies up instead of riding on the bus. I was trusted with equipment, given less orders and asked to do more things, and I felt like I belonged. The girl I was dating was on vacation in a warmer place than I, so I didn’t exactly enjoy hearing about sunny skies and sandy beaches when I was freezing outside on the phone, but I got through it.
The next couple of years were a blur here, aided by too many memories and too many beers. For one whole month my platoon was staying in a tent on a live tank range here, dealing with the ammunition for one of the nation’s largest war games, Pacific Warrior. The war game didn’t so much pertain to us, so we had our working hours and our beer hours. I did a lot of thinking on that mission, and I went through a full spectrum of emotions that month too. That girl I had been dating had left just before the mission, my grandmother had died, and I had lost a close friend in combat, both while I was away. I had also been promoted and praised by my command, and I was even awarded a medal during this mission, so there were plenty of happy times. During our stay that month, me and some of my close buddies went on ‘nature walks’ on the tank range, picking up Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) and elk antlers. The elk antlers were ok for us to grab, but as you can imagine the UXO wasn’t too bright of an idea. I got a few things I’ve never even seen, including a mortar round from 1956, but I was sure to be careful of how I transported it. We chased wild boar in huge Paletized Loading System (PLS) trucks, drove up impossible tanks trails in HUMVEES, and made beer runs in Light/Medium Tactical Vehicles (LMTV) with our uniform tops on and civilian shirts and jeans on underneath. We were our own element, and the only unit controlling the ammo, so we handled everything our way. Don’t get me wrong, we sure as hell got work done, but we had our fun time too. It really reminds me of Vietnam, at least what I get from the movies and books I’ve read. I mean we walked around in nothing but our running shorts, or in a IBA with no shirt on underneath. I even went “hunting” with a .177 pellet gun! All I shot was a deer in the ass and a rabbit. We skinned the rabbit on guard duty the next night, but maggots had already gotten to it. There are so many stories I can’t remember now, but I’ll be sure to jot them down when I remember them while in Iraq. I’m sure they will come back up.
This last mission here has been an overall positive one. The group as a whole has learned a lot, and we’ve come together a little bit closer. We’re not all ready yet, and we’re definitely not a full functioning family, but we will be there soon.
See you later good ‘ol Fort Hunter-Liggett, I hope to run through your fields and wreak havoc again someday.
-Mac
Saturday, August 15, 2009
FHL Day 15
Well we are almost our of here. Just basically checking the list of courses and running through the motions. All of the tactical training is pretty much over, we turn in our IBA today and I think we have another RFI issue before we leave. We still haven't been issued any new boots, socks, undershirts, or uniforms. This whole process has been kind of jacked up. We have a tone of extra crap to put on our weapons and tactical vests, but we don't have the basics. How that's supposed to work our is beyond me, but I hate running around in a dirty uniform. Plus we really had to get down and dirty for our training the last few days.
Day 12 seemed like it was going to be a cake walk compared to the Land Nav course the previous day, but it really wasn't. We had a full day of Combatives training, which covers hand-to-hand combat maneuvers the Army has put together. It's very much like what you would see in an MMA match or on one of the Ultimate Fighter shows, a mix of martial arts put together. They cover a lot of ground techniques, how to set up for this or how to escape that, but it's usually not covered in any depth. We have so many other means to take out the enemy before we actually resort to hands-on fighting. We are taught how to use our rifles as weapons without shooting, utilizing the butt stock like a club and also attaching bayonets on the muzzles. Actually, I've been told we are no longer authorized to use bayonets on our weapons, who thought of that I have no clue. I never really used it anyway, but it's nice to know I can. So we have our ammo, then the rifle itself, which brings us to the knife. The Army doesn't cover knife fighting, at least I've never seen the Technical Manual or Field Manual, but I've received some training with them I've employed myself in real life situations. Anyway, every soldier on the battlefield today they carry some sort of knife. I would much rather prefer being proficient with a knife than with my hands, but we still have to go through the training. We got through all of it, with a few good fighting matches towards the end of the day. Nobody was seriously injured, but a few guys had their feelings hurt from a certain someone...
Day 13 was an experiment, for us and the cadre here. We were trucked out to a new training facility, less than a year old. This was only the second training rotation to go through this new site, and the cadre's plan wasn't the best. We covered five stations: the M18A1 Claymore, NBC, securing buildings, Sniper Control, and the M67 Hand Grenade.
The Claymore mine is an "oldie but a goodie" as they say. We hardly ever use them anymore, but they are the most effective antipersonnel mine I've ever seen. Depending on terrain, a few pounds of C4 in the back of the Claymore send about 200 metal marbles and a few less metal washers out to cut through enemy personnel coming towards it. We normally mount them on the ground, but it can be mounted at eye-level or above for different uses. It first came with a wire you had to lead out and cover, and then detonate with an electric charge, but now they have wireless kits that convert it. Easy to use, relatively light, and extremely effective.
The NBC training was gay, and the instructor seemed like she was on crack. We basically had to don all of our protective gear and walk around the perimeter in it. Doing ANYTHING in all this crap sucks. It could be 40 below outside and you would STILL get hot as hell in the suit. It's a pain to take off too. Hopefully we don't ever use them. I've never taken any of mine out of the package.
My squad kicked ass in the next training exercise. We had to approach a building and secure just the outside of it. Pretty simple right? Well if you don't have your shit together it's not. The OPFOR, or Opposition Force, was armed with AK-47 paintball guns, while we had M4s. The paint balls were filled with olive oil, so it was pretty greasy if you go hit. We had a six man team approach, and as soon as we hit contact from the enemy on the top floor we took cover. We split up in two man teams, and bounded or 'leap-frogged' up to the front. This is basically having one team run while the other lays suppressive and covering fire, then reversing the action to get both teams up to the building. Piece of cake for us, but we saw some other groups go through that didn't do so well. The point is to keep moving and secure the building as fast as possible, without taking any hits. Some groups didn't find good cover, others bunched up and got taken out by RPGs or grenades. Having too many soldiers in one position is bad, but being too spread out is worse. Anyway, we took the building easily without getting hit.
Next we went over sniper and counter-sniper measures. Mostly this was just just stating the obvious pros and cons to snipers, and how to combat them. Snipers are extremely effective tools, as they can do MUCH more than just shoot one target. Sniper teams serve as forward observers, calling in artillery on certain locations. They can also gather intelligence and relay troop numbers and positions back to their superiors for ambushes. The Army has anti-sniper methods it uses, most of which are classified. But really it comes down to common sense. Don't stand out in the open, don't stay still, and think about what to do if there was a sniper BEFORE the sniper hits.
The grenade training was a bust. Seems like the Army may be spending money in the wrong places, as all we had were 2 M68 practice grenades. Basically just pulling the pin and throwing a metal grenade shell with a blasting cap in it. It doesn't do much but make a really loud 'bang' and a bit of the explosion comes out the hole in the bottom. Yay, that was fun.
Day 14 was the best so far. We had urban operations training all day. Clearing rooms is probably the most dangerous part of being a soldier. You have to breach and enter a room that you know nothing about, being prepared for anything inside. There can be bombs, insurgents, fire, babies, women, children, people sleeping, people shooting, all sorts of things. Yesterday we used four man stack teams to clear houses with single rooms, houses with multiple rooms, and the best of all: The Shoot House. The Shoot House is the best training facility I have seen on any base yet, even topping the HEAT rollover training we had a few weeks ago. It's a setup of a house, with no roof. There's a catwalk above it, where the instructors can see into the hallways and rooms. The OPFOR were running around in there, hiding in rooms and ready to pop us with their paintball markers. The thing that made it even more realistic was the fact that we weren't using paintballs, we were using .68 caliber rubber balls. They really hurt. We had to run in with two stack teams of four. I was the number four man on my team, and my Lieutenant was the number two guy. As the four man, I provide rear security until I'm called up to kick the door in. When I come up to the door, I give it a quick and quiet check for wires, booby traps, and to see if it's locked. If it's clear, I get to rear back and turbo-kick it down! There's nothing like putting a boot to a door, it's just that fun. After I kick it open I watch the rear as the rest of the team rolls in and clears the room. I then have to come in, kick the door back just to make sure there isn't a hadji back there, and then we clear the room. After we exit and stack back up, I close what's left of the door and mark the room clear with an 'X' with chalk or paint. Pretty simple eh? Again, only if your team has it's shit together. We bound with the other team too, they clear a room and then we clear a room. We have to constantly adjust for hallways, furniture, and the OPFOR firing from hidden positions. There are a lot of danger zones to cover, and everyone has to trust in their team to cover each others ass. Almost every other team that went in yesterday got shot, and we only had one hit. Our front man got shot in the hand, but I think it was a ricochet. One of the rooms we breached had an IED at eye-level right in front of the door. I saw it a split second after I booted the door, and I yelled it out. I had to pull our front man andthe LT our of there by their collars. We cleared out of the room fast enough and didn't sustain any casualties. We also found a weapons cache underneath a bed in one of the rooms, and my front guy didn't recognize what was right next to the bed when he checked it. It was an M15 Anti-Tank Mine, with a radio on it and wires sticking out everywhere. I yelled for everyone to get out, making sure I was the last on in. After that the action pretty much slowed. We had taken out all the OPFOR and searched all the rooms, finding all the IEDs and weapons caches. Overall a great exercise, and especially great because I didn't get shot. Plus, I didn't have to fire my weapon. If that was how it always went in the real world, everything would be great, but it's not and room clearing really sucks.
Today was our last day of instruction. We had an IED class this morning that covered the newest kinds of roadside bombs and tactics the insurgents are using. Most are pretty negotiable, meaning we have a way to notice and defeat them. There's one however that is particularly frightening. It's a Russian-made grenade that can pierce through our up-armored HUMVEES. The grenade looks similar to the WWII stick grenades the Nazis used in the trenches and fields. The thing that makes this one more lethal than any other grenade is the fact that it's a parachute stabilized shape charge with copper inside. When it is thrown, the parachute deploys and insures that the shape charge is pointed directly down. The charge then explodes, sending molten copper through whatever is underneath it and igniting anything combustible. It really jacks up our vehicles, and it's so easy for a hadji bastard to hide that we can't see it coming. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du7OInH1PwQ
Tomorrow we just have to clean up the barracks and pack all our stuff. We have to be out of our bay by 2400hrs, but our bus doesn't pick us up until 0200hrs which kind of sucks. I've got a few connecting flights, and then I'll be solid at Camp Atterbury.
-Mac
Day 12 seemed like it was going to be a cake walk compared to the Land Nav course the previous day, but it really wasn't. We had a full day of Combatives training, which covers hand-to-hand combat maneuvers the Army has put together. It's very much like what you would see in an MMA match or on one of the Ultimate Fighter shows, a mix of martial arts put together. They cover a lot of ground techniques, how to set up for this or how to escape that, but it's usually not covered in any depth. We have so many other means to take out the enemy before we actually resort to hands-on fighting. We are taught how to use our rifles as weapons without shooting, utilizing the butt stock like a club and also attaching bayonets on the muzzles. Actually, I've been told we are no longer authorized to use bayonets on our weapons, who thought of that I have no clue. I never really used it anyway, but it's nice to know I can. So we have our ammo, then the rifle itself, which brings us to the knife. The Army doesn't cover knife fighting, at least I've never seen the Technical Manual or Field Manual, but I've received some training with them I've employed myself in real life situations. Anyway, every soldier on the battlefield today they carry some sort of knife. I would much rather prefer being proficient with a knife than with my hands, but we still have to go through the training. We got through all of it, with a few good fighting matches towards the end of the day. Nobody was seriously injured, but a few guys had their feelings hurt from a certain someone...
Day 13 was an experiment, for us and the cadre here. We were trucked out to a new training facility, less than a year old. This was only the second training rotation to go through this new site, and the cadre's plan wasn't the best. We covered five stations: the M18A1 Claymore, NBC, securing buildings, Sniper Control, and the M67 Hand Grenade.
The Claymore mine is an "oldie but a goodie" as they say. We hardly ever use them anymore, but they are the most effective antipersonnel mine I've ever seen. Depending on terrain, a few pounds of C4 in the back of the Claymore send about 200 metal marbles and a few less metal washers out to cut through enemy personnel coming towards it. We normally mount them on the ground, but it can be mounted at eye-level or above for different uses. It first came with a wire you had to lead out and cover, and then detonate with an electric charge, but now they have wireless kits that convert it. Easy to use, relatively light, and extremely effective.
The NBC training was gay, and the instructor seemed like she was on crack. We basically had to don all of our protective gear and walk around the perimeter in it. Doing ANYTHING in all this crap sucks. It could be 40 below outside and you would STILL get hot as hell in the suit. It's a pain to take off too. Hopefully we don't ever use them. I've never taken any of mine out of the package.
My squad kicked ass in the next training exercise. We had to approach a building and secure just the outside of it. Pretty simple right? Well if you don't have your shit together it's not. The OPFOR, or Opposition Force, was armed with AK-47 paintball guns, while we had M4s. The paint balls were filled with olive oil, so it was pretty greasy if you go hit. We had a six man team approach, and as soon as we hit contact from the enemy on the top floor we took cover. We split up in two man teams, and bounded or 'leap-frogged' up to the front. This is basically having one team run while the other lays suppressive and covering fire, then reversing the action to get both teams up to the building. Piece of cake for us, but we saw some other groups go through that didn't do so well. The point is to keep moving and secure the building as fast as possible, without taking any hits. Some groups didn't find good cover, others bunched up and got taken out by RPGs or grenades. Having too many soldiers in one position is bad, but being too spread out is worse. Anyway, we took the building easily without getting hit.
Next we went over sniper and counter-sniper measures. Mostly this was just just stating the obvious pros and cons to snipers, and how to combat them. Snipers are extremely effective tools, as they can do MUCH more than just shoot one target. Sniper teams serve as forward observers, calling in artillery on certain locations. They can also gather intelligence and relay troop numbers and positions back to their superiors for ambushes. The Army has anti-sniper methods it uses, most of which are classified. But really it comes down to common sense. Don't stand out in the open, don't stay still, and think about what to do if there was a sniper BEFORE the sniper hits.
The grenade training was a bust. Seems like the Army may be spending money in the wrong places, as all we had were 2 M68 practice grenades. Basically just pulling the pin and throwing a metal grenade shell with a blasting cap in it. It doesn't do much but make a really loud 'bang' and a bit of the explosion comes out the hole in the bottom. Yay, that was fun.
Day 14 was the best so far. We had urban operations training all day. Clearing rooms is probably the most dangerous part of being a soldier. You have to breach and enter a room that you know nothing about, being prepared for anything inside. There can be bombs, insurgents, fire, babies, women, children, people sleeping, people shooting, all sorts of things. Yesterday we used four man stack teams to clear houses with single rooms, houses with multiple rooms, and the best of all: The Shoot House. The Shoot House is the best training facility I have seen on any base yet, even topping the HEAT rollover training we had a few weeks ago. It's a setup of a house, with no roof. There's a catwalk above it, where the instructors can see into the hallways and rooms. The OPFOR were running around in there, hiding in rooms and ready to pop us with their paintball markers. The thing that made it even more realistic was the fact that we weren't using paintballs, we were using .68 caliber rubber balls. They really hurt. We had to run in with two stack teams of four. I was the number four man on my team, and my Lieutenant was the number two guy. As the four man, I provide rear security until I'm called up to kick the door in. When I come up to the door, I give it a quick and quiet check for wires, booby traps, and to see if it's locked. If it's clear, I get to rear back and turbo-kick it down! There's nothing like putting a boot to a door, it's just that fun. After I kick it open I watch the rear as the rest of the team rolls in and clears the room. I then have to come in, kick the door back just to make sure there isn't a hadji back there, and then we clear the room. After we exit and stack back up, I close what's left of the door and mark the room clear with an 'X' with chalk or paint. Pretty simple eh? Again, only if your team has it's shit together. We bound with the other team too, they clear a room and then we clear a room. We have to constantly adjust for hallways, furniture, and the OPFOR firing from hidden positions. There are a lot of danger zones to cover, and everyone has to trust in their team to cover each others ass. Almost every other team that went in yesterday got shot, and we only had one hit. Our front man got shot in the hand, but I think it was a ricochet. One of the rooms we breached had an IED at eye-level right in front of the door. I saw it a split second after I booted the door, and I yelled it out. I had to pull our front man andthe LT our of there by their collars. We cleared out of the room fast enough and didn't sustain any casualties. We also found a weapons cache underneath a bed in one of the rooms, and my front guy didn't recognize what was right next to the bed when he checked it. It was an M15 Anti-Tank Mine, with a radio on it and wires sticking out everywhere. I yelled for everyone to get out, making sure I was the last on in. After that the action pretty much slowed. We had taken out all the OPFOR and searched all the rooms, finding all the IEDs and weapons caches. Overall a great exercise, and especially great because I didn't get shot. Plus, I didn't have to fire my weapon. If that was how it always went in the real world, everything would be great, but it's not and room clearing really sucks.
Today was our last day of instruction. We had an IED class this morning that covered the newest kinds of roadside bombs and tactics the insurgents are using. Most are pretty negotiable, meaning we have a way to notice and defeat them. There's one however that is particularly frightening. It's a Russian-made grenade that can pierce through our up-armored HUMVEES. The grenade looks similar to the WWII stick grenades the Nazis used in the trenches and fields. The thing that makes this one more lethal than any other grenade is the fact that it's a parachute stabilized shape charge with copper inside. When it is thrown, the parachute deploys and insures that the shape charge is pointed directly down. The charge then explodes, sending molten copper through whatever is underneath it and igniting anything combustible. It really jacks up our vehicles, and it's so easy for a hadji bastard to hide that we can't see it coming. Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du7OInH1PwQ
Tomorrow we just have to clean up the barracks and pack all our stuff. We have to be out of our bay by 2400hrs, but our bus doesn't pick us up until 0200hrs which kind of sucks. I've got a few connecting flights, and then I'll be solid at Camp Atterbury.
-Mac
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