A Temporary Lull...

Hello All,

No, Steve hasn't given up on the blog already!
Unfortunately, the power cord for his computer is kaput and he is waiting for another. His roommate has been very generous in letting him borrow his computer so that he and I can stay in contact...which has been great.

I am sure he will be up and running again soon!

By the way, thank you for all of your wonderful comments...it makes me feel like you are all a part of this. We are very lucky to have such a terrific support network!

Pam

Hello all. Well after a grueling 13hour flight and a one night stay in a friendly country, we arrived yesterday. We're all jet lagged to the max had class all day today. The smell of the country is the first thing to hit you. Then you notice the condition of the area, definitely a third world country. We're in camp that has all the comforts of home, except that its not. We'll be here a while before we get our assignments and then we'll be off. Its cold here but not like back in RI. Stay warm and I'll be in touch.

Well, that's it. Its Saturday and we're leaving today. The last week was a blur, cramming as much training as they could into the two week period. Did ok on M-4 qual, 296 out of 300, yeah, I know, surprised me too. The rest was basic but quality stuff, including first aid, defensive tactics, ect, ect, ect.

I did it and I've been out of the game for two plus years. No doubt if any of you operators, and you know who you are, were to give this a try, no problem.

So my next posts will be from over there. Won't be able to give out too much info because of OpSec, but I will send what I can.

Thanks for the support, through this process, stay safe and I'll be in touch.

Had a very nice visit this past weekend from Pam and the boys. (Missed you Mel). They flew down and stayed at a local hotel. They did tours and scouted the local area and we got together at night after class. It was a great morale booster and once again proves I'm a lucky man to be involved with such a resourceful woman. Thank you very much Pam.

To catch up on things. Last Thursday and Friday we got our issued gear (desert chic) and did convoy ops, which consisted of showing us how to move passengers from a downed vehicle to a good running vehicle. Interesting because there could be five big dudes in full kit that have to get into your vehicle which already has five dudes in full kit. TIGHT. Then we did weapons familiarization, all inside. M-9, M-4 and AK. Standard CQB stuff. They broke us into teams and we did team building drills. Fun. Saturday was the coldest its been here in 10 years, (to answer your question D-Mags, no it has not been warm, just the opposite) it was -3 Saturday morning.

Luckily I had convoy ops, so we were in and out of vehicles all day. Including Humvee's.

Sunday we did M-4 drills and M-9 qualification. Not too bad, 480 out of 500, 50 rounds. I think its been about two years since I shot so WTF. I'm sure I'll get alot of range time over there. I'm wearing five layers of clothes.

After that we shot the AK for a while, just for fun.

Today we had combat emergency care all day and tomorow is M-4 quals, so wish me luck.

Oh, I don't know if there's some kind of luck or anything, like if you find a weapon on a battlefield, but I found this knife deep in the sand on the obstacle course the morning of the physical tests while I was doing a recon walk through. Was caked with sand but it cleaned up pretty good. Found rght behind that wall, which you go over.

Well, still waiting for the tap. We lose a few every day. Lets see, yesterday, was all classroom, with an emphasis about being in country. Today, 1/14, we a cultural briefing about the country that was was very interesting. Instructor was great.
By the way, all the Instructors are former military, very squared away.

This afternoon we were issued equipment, alot of equipment with more coming tomorow.

January 12, 2009

Hello all. This is my first post and maybe my last, depending on the outcome of my psyc test, and oral interview. Got to DC Saturday, had to wait at the airport for all the other candidates flying in from all over the country. Then we loaded up on a bus for the hour and a half ride to Va and a local Hotel. 2 to a room.

Sunday, class alot of admin stuff and alot about sexual harassment.

Monday had my psyc, interview then the run. Only a quarter mile plus stairs in 2 minutes 30. Plus 37 lb vest, pistol and m-4. I did it in 1:30 w/o the vest, 2:17 with. Pass is pass right. Then the obstacle course, varied events, over a wall, up steps, through a tube, serpintine, run, up a ladder then drag a 200lb dummy 20'. 2:00 min for that, did it in 1:24. So thats it for today. If my results for the other tests are ok then there will be more posts, if not, I'll be back sooner rather than later.

Coming Soon...

The adventure begins