Holy hell, this week was long. It's kind of strange how, both weeks, each day felt like a whole week, but at the end the whole week felt like one long day...
Anyway, this week was BRM (basic rifle marksmanship) and US Weapons. We zeroed our weapons, did a known-distance (KD) range, and qualified, and then spent Friday shooting off 50-Cals, 249s, 240Bs, MK19's, and 203s.
Zeroing was more difficult than I anticipated... we're using CCOs (close combat optics) instead of the old iron sights, and getting used to them was a pain. You're supposed to keep both eyes open, which is weird as hell, and (supposedly) if your target is more than 50m away you don't have to have your red dot centered (I don't believe that... nothing is completely parallax free, so if I have the time to center the dot, I'm going to...). Zeroing at night with the PEQ15s (umm... basically an infrared laser devide) and NODs was ok, but I wasn't issued a PEQ15 so I had to fire someone else's weapon. After it was already zeroed. And then my platoon got screwed into picking up everyone else's brass. *sigh*
Known distance was easy, and kind of fun. Basically you're just shooting at the same target from 100m, 200m, and 300m, so you can see where you tend to place your shot groups at different distances. KD at night was a waste of time, because they weren't marking the targets with... I forget the name, but basically marking them with tape that shines in infrared. Since they didn't do that, once we were farther than 100m away we couldn't see our shot groups. We also couldn't see the numbers on the lanes, which was a pain. I'm pretty sure I shot someone else's target a couple times.
Qualification... once again, CCOs are a pain to get used to, and I had to keep reminding myself not to close my left eye. I shot 29/40 though, which was good enough to get off the range. Qual at night was horrible... mainly because we all forgot that the PEQ15 has an IR spotlight on it, so we couldn't actually see our targets with the NODs. I also was never issued a mount for my NOD, so I had to borrow someone else's, and basically hold it with my left hand while I fired with my right, since it wasn't adjusted to fit me. Joy.
Tuesday and Thursday were long days, since we were doing the night stuff. We didn't leave the ranges until 2am both days. Fprtunately, our cadre took pity on us, and cancelled PT. Unfortunately, we won't have organized PT next week either, since we'll be in the FOB, so I have to motivate myself to do it on my own. Yay...
Friday was ok, the lines were long and I never got to shoot the 50-Cal (which was all I really wanted to fire anyway :( ). The MK19 was cool, but getting the damned thing to not jam was a pain in the ass :-/
Oh well... The infantry museum opened yesterday, so I'm going to check that out this weekend. Otherwise, not much going on I guess... 2 weeks down, 5 to go.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
BOLC II - Week 1 Update
So, week 1 has finally come to a close.
All in all I'd say the week went well.
Wednesday kicked off with a urinalysis. Since I had CQ duty from o200-0400, and formation was at 0405, I spent those 2 hours drinking 32 oz of Gatorade and an additional 32 oz of water. Big mistake apparently, since they decided to do an EO briefing before the UA and also had to give two separate briefings on what to do for the UA. I was damned near ready to wet my pants by the time we finally got to actually start. Then I got stuck being an observer for the rest of the testing, since I went first. -_-
Since the UA took so long, we didn't get to do PT that morning. I don't really remember what else we did all day (some more briefings, and CIF issue), but we can't go a day without PT it seems, so we did it at 1300. Yay for the hottest part of the day... It wasn't really that bad though... it was mostly an intro to crossfit, so we ran a couple laps (I think the track is 400m), did pull-ups (which I suck at), did dips (which I also suck at), and did inclined pushups (which I don't suck at, but which were fairly painful on sore muscles). It was a good workout though, so I really can't complain too much.
We did PT Thursday with a local baseball team, so it actually wound up being not so bad. Part of it was a crossfit-type workout, which was fun except for the fact that I can't do monkey bars to save my life. Had to have a buddy help me across the whole way :-/ We then spent the morning doing some more paperwork stuff: dental and optometry inprocessing, getting ID cards (FINALLY I have my CAC card...), and getting car decals. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that the registration has to be in our own name to get the decal, so since mine is still in my dad's I have to get a notarized letter of power of attorney from him to get a decal. Guess I'll just use the guest pass and get a decal in Texas, since I won't have another day when I can visit vehicle registration... Thursday afternoon we started CLS (combat lifesaver) training.
Friday morning we had a 5-ish mile ruck march for PT. We rucked a little less than a mile to the clinic, where we got immunizations, then rucked for a while longer until we had to come back to eat and shower for the rest of CLS training (not sure how far we actually went). My new Danner boots seem to work well, I just need to make sure to wear sock liners when I'm carrying a ruck to avoid blisters on my heels (I didn't really get blisters, but the top layer of skin definitely peeled off - didn't hurt at all, fortunately).
The rest of Friday was a long day of classes, for the most part. At the end of the training we got to practice giving IVs, which was fun. Then we took a written exam and got our CLS certification cards. I am now qualified to try and save people's lives in combat :p
We got off around 2200 that night... 10 hours after the last time we'd eaten, and 16 hours after we'd gotten up that morning. Since it meant the start of the weekend, and the DFAC was closed anyway, a group of 10 or 11 of us headed to Outback for dinner, which tasted amazing. We got back in around 0030.
Sleeping in today was nice - I woke up around 5 anyway, as I expected (yay for my internal alarm clock setting itself), but then went back to sleep until around 1030. I'm on CQ duty right now (from 12 to 1500, in fact), but there's not much that the daytime shifts have to do. The cleaning tasks are assigned to the nighttime shifts (which makes sense, since people won't be walking around making the floors dirty again, and it keeps the people on duty awake), so all the daytime shifts really do is answer the phone and contact the NCO who's on call if there's a problem. We also are supposed to cut out targets for the rifle range on Monday, but my knife isn't big enough to really cut through the plastic targets.
Other than that, I have no real plans for the weekend. I wanted to swing by a post office today, but they either aren't open or close at two around here. I'll probably swing by the PX for some more PT shirts (the packing list said to bring 3 shirts and 3 shorts, but we do PT 5 days a week so that doesn't really work out well...) and sunblock (there's not really any shade at the rifle range). Tomorrow... again, no plans, but I might head to the pool here on post and swim some laps so that I'm not too sore after PT monday (I'd intended to do that today and take tomorrow off, but my arm hurt like hell from the meningitis shot and I was honestly too tired to want to get up this morning).
PT monday morning isn't until 0530 (holy hell, we get to sleep in!), and it sounds like another crossfit-ish workout (crossfit probably isn't really the right word for it... but we're doing some workouts that involve lunges and high-knees and stuff like that, and then sprints, so not really sure what you'd call it). Then we get to start our BRM training at the range. This next week promises to be long; we have to qualify at night too, so there will be at least one night where we will return to the barracks at 0200 and have to be up at 0500 for PT. Days spent at the range also tend to be long just because of the waiting around in the heat.
Weeks 3 and 4 will be spent in the FOB (forward operating base), so not sure what contact with the "outside world" I'll have (there is supposedly internet there, and we can bring our phones, but rumor has it that ATT doesn't work out there, and I'm not sure I'll be on my computer at all while I'm there). Weekends are still off though, and Week 5 is spent at the barracks before we spend week 6 doing actual field training out of the FOB (apparently we don't spend the entire week running our own missions, but get to play OPFOR - aka the bad guys - for other platoons part of the time, which will be fun). Then week 7 of outprocessing and graduation, and we're done!
Damn, it sounds so short when I summarize it like that... I suppose if every week feels like this past week (which basically felt like one long never-ending day, instead of 5 days) then it'll feel like it went by quick at the end too. Or it'll feel like we've been here forever. We'll see.
Until next time! (and I will just keep telling myself, I could always have been screwed and gotten stuck at Ft Sill. It will make the next 6 weeks feel so much better :p)
All in all I'd say the week went well.
Wednesday kicked off with a urinalysis. Since I had CQ duty from o200-0400, and formation was at 0405, I spent those 2 hours drinking 32 oz of Gatorade and an additional 32 oz of water. Big mistake apparently, since they decided to do an EO briefing before the UA and also had to give two separate briefings on what to do for the UA. I was damned near ready to wet my pants by the time we finally got to actually start. Then I got stuck being an observer for the rest of the testing, since I went first. -_-
Since the UA took so long, we didn't get to do PT that morning. I don't really remember what else we did all day (some more briefings, and CIF issue), but we can't go a day without PT it seems, so we did it at 1300. Yay for the hottest part of the day... It wasn't really that bad though... it was mostly an intro to crossfit, so we ran a couple laps (I think the track is 400m), did pull-ups (which I suck at), did dips (which I also suck at), and did inclined pushups (which I don't suck at, but which were fairly painful on sore muscles). It was a good workout though, so I really can't complain too much.
We did PT Thursday with a local baseball team, so it actually wound up being not so bad. Part of it was a crossfit-type workout, which was fun except for the fact that I can't do monkey bars to save my life. Had to have a buddy help me across the whole way :-/ We then spent the morning doing some more paperwork stuff: dental and optometry inprocessing, getting ID cards (FINALLY I have my CAC card...), and getting car decals. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware that the registration has to be in our own name to get the decal, so since mine is still in my dad's I have to get a notarized letter of power of attorney from him to get a decal. Guess I'll just use the guest pass and get a decal in Texas, since I won't have another day when I can visit vehicle registration... Thursday afternoon we started CLS (combat lifesaver) training.
Friday morning we had a 5-ish mile ruck march for PT. We rucked a little less than a mile to the clinic, where we got immunizations, then rucked for a while longer until we had to come back to eat and shower for the rest of CLS training (not sure how far we actually went). My new Danner boots seem to work well, I just need to make sure to wear sock liners when I'm carrying a ruck to avoid blisters on my heels (I didn't really get blisters, but the top layer of skin definitely peeled off - didn't hurt at all, fortunately).
The rest of Friday was a long day of classes, for the most part. At the end of the training we got to practice giving IVs, which was fun. Then we took a written exam and got our CLS certification cards. I am now qualified to try and save people's lives in combat :p
We got off around 2200 that night... 10 hours after the last time we'd eaten, and 16 hours after we'd gotten up that morning. Since it meant the start of the weekend, and the DFAC was closed anyway, a group of 10 or 11 of us headed to Outback for dinner, which tasted amazing. We got back in around 0030.
Sleeping in today was nice - I woke up around 5 anyway, as I expected (yay for my internal alarm clock setting itself), but then went back to sleep until around 1030. I'm on CQ duty right now (from 12 to 1500, in fact), but there's not much that the daytime shifts have to do. The cleaning tasks are assigned to the nighttime shifts (which makes sense, since people won't be walking around making the floors dirty again, and it keeps the people on duty awake), so all the daytime shifts really do is answer the phone and contact the NCO who's on call if there's a problem. We also are supposed to cut out targets for the rifle range on Monday, but my knife isn't big enough to really cut through the plastic targets.
Other than that, I have no real plans for the weekend. I wanted to swing by a post office today, but they either aren't open or close at two around here. I'll probably swing by the PX for some more PT shirts (the packing list said to bring 3 shirts and 3 shorts, but we do PT 5 days a week so that doesn't really work out well...) and sunblock (there's not really any shade at the rifle range). Tomorrow... again, no plans, but I might head to the pool here on post and swim some laps so that I'm not too sore after PT monday (I'd intended to do that today and take tomorrow off, but my arm hurt like hell from the meningitis shot and I was honestly too tired to want to get up this morning).
PT monday morning isn't until 0530 (holy hell, we get to sleep in!), and it sounds like another crossfit-ish workout (crossfit probably isn't really the right word for it... but we're doing some workouts that involve lunges and high-knees and stuff like that, and then sprints, so not really sure what you'd call it). Then we get to start our BRM training at the range. This next week promises to be long; we have to qualify at night too, so there will be at least one night where we will return to the barracks at 0200 and have to be up at 0500 for PT. Days spent at the range also tend to be long just because of the waiting around in the heat.
Weeks 3 and 4 will be spent in the FOB (forward operating base), so not sure what contact with the "outside world" I'll have (there is supposedly internet there, and we can bring our phones, but rumor has it that ATT doesn't work out there, and I'm not sure I'll be on my computer at all while I'm there). Weekends are still off though, and Week 5 is spent at the barracks before we spend week 6 doing actual field training out of the FOB (apparently we don't spend the entire week running our own missions, but get to play OPFOR - aka the bad guys - for other platoons part of the time, which will be fun). Then week 7 of outprocessing and graduation, and we're done!
Damn, it sounds so short when I summarize it like that... I suppose if every week feels like this past week (which basically felt like one long never-ending day, instead of 5 days) then it'll feel like it went by quick at the end too. Or it'll feel like we've been here forever. We'll see.
Until next time! (and I will just keep telling myself, I could always have been screwed and gotten stuck at Ft Sill. It will make the next 6 weeks feel so much better :p)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
BOLC II - Week 1
Oh man, I hurt right now.
We had our PT test yesterday (which I passed with a 280), and I'm still sore from it. Then we did a run this morning that was approximately 4 miles long (not counting the many times we had to circle back to pick people up) and holy hell, Georgia has hills X( Now, I've been up cardiac hill in full ACUs, a ruck, and a gas mask before, in the middle of the day in the summer, and it sucked then. But damn it if it doesn't suck just as much in PTs before the sun is up. And the other hills weren't much fun either. Add that to the fact that all the water I drank yesterday apparently wasn't enough, so I dehydrated, stopped sweating, and got dizzy, and PT this morning was pretty unpleasant. I am, however, proud that I didn't fall out until the very end, after I stopped sweating (and stopped seeing straight... heh).
At least I know that I will eventually get used to the PT regimen here (5 days a week, whoo!) and it will make me better at PT... but until my muscles adapt, heal, and grow, it's going to be fairly painful *sigh*
In other news... Sooo many briefings the past 2 days! The cadre for my platoon seem pretty cool, although I haven't really talked to SSG Coulter or SFC Thomas. We had a couple of colonels (the DCG was one of them) and a SGM (may have been a CSM, couldn't see his rank clearly and didn't really read the ppt slide), and that was pretty interesting. Kind of a "wake the fuck up, you're not little kids and college students any more so act like a damned officer" day... (ok, so I actually thought the speeches were a lot of fun, honestly...)
I get CQ duty tonight, from 0200-0400 >.< sleep is a crutch. but the 12-2 shift would be far worse... I probably wouldn't get any sleep if I had that shift. Fortunately we don't have CQ over the weekend, and I think next week it goes to 2nd platoon, so I only get it once this week (and we'll see if I get to pull CQ at the Bn HQ next week).
Tomorrow we have a urinalysis first thing (formation at 0400, yay...), followed by crossfit (MAJ Ty would be so happy...) and I think some more briefings and such. Thursday and Friday are CLS, which will be fun... right up until one of my classmates has to stick me and misses the vein because mine are so small. That won't be much fun at all. PT both days, of course.
Then... the weekend! And some recovery time for my abused muscles (ok, ok, it's partly my fault for not PTing enough the past month and a half, but I still think today's run would have hurt a bit). No real plans, except to relax a bit and maybe do some reading. I found a couple of parks nearby that might be fun to wander around, and I think I'll see if the Infantry Museum is open weekends (it was closed for renovation when I was here last summer, so I haven't seen it yet). May or may not post another Week 1 update, we'll see.
Next week is BRM!
EDIT: The Infantry Museum isn't open again until June 19th, so I'll have to wait a couple weeks to check it out. Should be cool though :)
We had our PT test yesterday (which I passed with a 280), and I'm still sore from it. Then we did a run this morning that was approximately 4 miles long (not counting the many times we had to circle back to pick people up) and holy hell, Georgia has hills X( Now, I've been up cardiac hill in full ACUs, a ruck, and a gas mask before, in the middle of the day in the summer, and it sucked then. But damn it if it doesn't suck just as much in PTs before the sun is up. And the other hills weren't much fun either. Add that to the fact that all the water I drank yesterday apparently wasn't enough, so I dehydrated, stopped sweating, and got dizzy, and PT this morning was pretty unpleasant. I am, however, proud that I didn't fall out until the very end, after I stopped sweating (and stopped seeing straight... heh).
At least I know that I will eventually get used to the PT regimen here (5 days a week, whoo!) and it will make me better at PT... but until my muscles adapt, heal, and grow, it's going to be fairly painful *sigh*
In other news... Sooo many briefings the past 2 days! The cadre for my platoon seem pretty cool, although I haven't really talked to SSG Coulter or SFC Thomas. We had a couple of colonels (the DCG was one of them) and a SGM (may have been a CSM, couldn't see his rank clearly and didn't really read the ppt slide), and that was pretty interesting. Kind of a "wake the fuck up, you're not little kids and college students any more so act like a damned officer" day... (ok, so I actually thought the speeches were a lot of fun, honestly...)
I get CQ duty tonight, from 0200-0400 >.< sleep is a crutch. but the 12-2 shift would be far worse... I probably wouldn't get any sleep if I had that shift. Fortunately we don't have CQ over the weekend, and I think next week it goes to 2nd platoon, so I only get it once this week (and we'll see if I get to pull CQ at the Bn HQ next week).
Tomorrow we have a urinalysis first thing (formation at 0400, yay...), followed by crossfit (MAJ Ty would be so happy...) and I think some more briefings and such. Thursday and Friday are CLS, which will be fun... right up until one of my classmates has to stick me and misses the vein because mine are so small. That won't be much fun at all. PT both days, of course.
Then... the weekend! And some recovery time for my abused muscles (ok, ok, it's partly my fault for not PTing enough the past month and a half, but I still think today's run would have hurt a bit). No real plans, except to relax a bit and maybe do some reading. I found a couple of parks nearby that might be fun to wander around, and I think I'll see if the Infantry Museum is open weekends (it was closed for renovation when I was here last summer, so I haven't seen it yet). May or may not post another Week 1 update, we'll see.
Next week is BRM!
EDIT: The Infantry Museum isn't open again until June 19th, so I'll have to wait a couple weeks to check it out. Should be cool though :)
Friday, June 5, 2009
BOLC II Overview
The powers that be apparently don't want me bashing BOLC II before I even start it, since the internet doesn't seem to want to work long enough for me to finish this post. Let's try again.
I am just now beginning to realize how much BOLC II mught suck... and I haven't even started it yet.
According to my written orders, I have to report in tomorrow, at some unspecified time. According to my online orders, I report in NLT Sunday, at an unspecified time. Rumor has it that if I report in 'early', I will wind up tasked with something. At the same time... I really don't want to sit around all day tomorrow, and I definitely don't want to risk reporting in late by following what the online orders say. So, tomorrow in the am it is. Even though we don't actually do anything until Monday.
Monday starts the wonderful world of PT (which I did not do enough of the past 2 months) and inprocessing. Cue the ass-loads of paperwork, the ridiculous lines, the hurry-up-and-wait boredom, the immunizations, the "oh shit, they told me I didn't need that form!" and, for me at least, the "God damn it, why does Patrick AFB suck too much to give me my CAC card?" Yes, that's right. PAFB doesn't have me updated in the system, so even though I am contracted AND commissioned and have all of the paperwork to PROVE it, they will not give me my CAC card. Even though Jensen, who commissioned the same day as me, got his at the AFB near his home. Wtf? Of all the things that might actually result in me not getting paid on time...
Next week we also may or may not have a diagnostic APFT. Which I will probably pass, but not with a very high score. Who knows? Apparently sometimes they don't do the first APFT until the second week.
Speaking of the second week, we get to do a few days of combatives. Basically, stuff I've done twice already now, except potentially more painful because people actually care now. It also might not help that I weigh 87.5lbs, and don't stand a chance fighting against anyone unless I'm actually allowed to try and hurt them... which we're not allowed to do. Really realistic training right there... *cough* We also get do do classes on BRM. This is an M4. This is how you disassemble it. This is how you reassemble it. Etc etc.
Week 3 is actual zeroing and qualification. Cue the ridiculous amount of time spent waiting at the range to shoot. Then cue the pains of shooting with full combat gear on (yeah, I know, we obviously need to practice in the actual gear we'd wear downrange, but that doesn't make it any more fun to do). At least we get to use an M4 and not the M16s that we get stuck with in cadet-land. We then get to do some reflexive firing and firing at night with the NVGs (which may or may not be a qualifying exercise, apparently).
Week 4 is convoy ops (unless you didn't qualify with your M4... which is a possibility since we'll be using a sighting system that I personally have never worked with before...) and LandNav. 5 points of practice, then the actual 8-point course... A "daytime" course that starts at like 0430. Glad we trained that way at Malabar in ROTC, even though it really sucked back then...
Week 5 is live fire exercises, US weapons, and the joy of kicking in doors. Fun stuff.
Week 6 is the sucky week in the field. Apparently your level of activity greatly depends on what squad you're in. 1st squad is on point most of the time, and therefore always sees action, 4th squad is rear guard most of the time, and therefore rarely sees action. Hard to say which I'd rather be. The FOB doesn't sound too bad though - shower facilities, wireless internet, and apparently we get to keep our phones and stuff even when we're in the field. QRF and guard duty are both guaranteed to suck, as per usual. The week ends with the 10-mile road march. In full combat gear, with approximately 35 pounds in the ruck and a weapon. Joy... Rumor has it it lasts a ridiculous length of time, with little missions scattered throughout it. I really hope the rumor is wrong. Enough time to do it without breaking ourselves or without falling out: good. Several hours spent changing from standing to prone to kneeling and having to get up and down with all that gear on: not good. Did I mention that I weigh 87.5lbs? and all that gear will probably be over half my body weight? Yeah. If they try to assign my the SAW for that march, I might snap on somebody's unfortunate ass.
Week 7 is the usual outprocessing. And cleaning. Lots of cleaning. "Even though the rooms looked kind of crappy when you got here, we expect them to be spotless and perfect when you leave." Thanks.
At some point, we do a second APFT and a 4 or 5 or 6 mile ruck (nobody is really clear on how many we do...). Weekends off (unless you fuck up bad, or your platoon in general is comprised of screw-offs, in which case pass priveledges might get revoked) and evenings off... although they might be very short evenings.
Oh well. I've been told expectations are actually fairly low at BOLC, at least for the first week or two, so hopefully it won't be that bad. It is, however, Army training... which means it will probably suck a great deal of the time... especially since I did all of this at LDAC except convoy ops (which I at least learned about at CTLT) and working with NVGs (which we played with at Spring FTX). So you see Florida Tech cadets, the Panther Battalion actually does prepare you for stuff besides camp ;) (And rumor has it that BOLC II might wind up being abolished as a repetetive waste of time that only benefits a very small amount of people... you lucky little bastards if that is true!)
Is it bad that I'm complaining about training before even reporting in for it?
It could be worse: I could be stuck at Fort Sill.
I am just now beginning to realize how much BOLC II mught suck... and I haven't even started it yet.
According to my written orders, I have to report in tomorrow, at some unspecified time. According to my online orders, I report in NLT Sunday, at an unspecified time. Rumor has it that if I report in 'early', I will wind up tasked with something. At the same time... I really don't want to sit around all day tomorrow, and I definitely don't want to risk reporting in late by following what the online orders say. So, tomorrow in the am it is. Even though we don't actually do anything until Monday.
Monday starts the wonderful world of PT (which I did not do enough of the past 2 months) and inprocessing. Cue the ass-loads of paperwork, the ridiculous lines, the hurry-up-and-wait boredom, the immunizations, the "oh shit, they told me I didn't need that form!" and, for me at least, the "God damn it, why does Patrick AFB suck too much to give me my CAC card?" Yes, that's right. PAFB doesn't have me updated in the system, so even though I am contracted AND commissioned and have all of the paperwork to PROVE it, they will not give me my CAC card. Even though Jensen, who commissioned the same day as me, got his at the AFB near his home. Wtf? Of all the things that might actually result in me not getting paid on time...
Next week we also may or may not have a diagnostic APFT. Which I will probably pass, but not with a very high score. Who knows? Apparently sometimes they don't do the first APFT until the second week.
Speaking of the second week, we get to do a few days of combatives. Basically, stuff I've done twice already now, except potentially more painful because people actually care now. It also might not help that I weigh 87.5lbs, and don't stand a chance fighting against anyone unless I'm actually allowed to try and hurt them... which we're not allowed to do. Really realistic training right there... *cough* We also get do do classes on BRM. This is an M4. This is how you disassemble it. This is how you reassemble it. Etc etc.
Week 3 is actual zeroing and qualification. Cue the ridiculous amount of time spent waiting at the range to shoot. Then cue the pains of shooting with full combat gear on (yeah, I know, we obviously need to practice in the actual gear we'd wear downrange, but that doesn't make it any more fun to do). At least we get to use an M4 and not the M16s that we get stuck with in cadet-land. We then get to do some reflexive firing and firing at night with the NVGs (which may or may not be a qualifying exercise, apparently).
Week 4 is convoy ops (unless you didn't qualify with your M4... which is a possibility since we'll be using a sighting system that I personally have never worked with before...) and LandNav. 5 points of practice, then the actual 8-point course... A "daytime" course that starts at like 0430. Glad we trained that way at Malabar in ROTC, even though it really sucked back then...
Week 5 is live fire exercises, US weapons, and the joy of kicking in doors. Fun stuff.
Week 6 is the sucky week in the field. Apparently your level of activity greatly depends on what squad you're in. 1st squad is on point most of the time, and therefore always sees action, 4th squad is rear guard most of the time, and therefore rarely sees action. Hard to say which I'd rather be. The FOB doesn't sound too bad though - shower facilities, wireless internet, and apparently we get to keep our phones and stuff even when we're in the field. QRF and guard duty are both guaranteed to suck, as per usual. The week ends with the 10-mile road march. In full combat gear, with approximately 35 pounds in the ruck and a weapon. Joy... Rumor has it it lasts a ridiculous length of time, with little missions scattered throughout it. I really hope the rumor is wrong. Enough time to do it without breaking ourselves or without falling out: good. Several hours spent changing from standing to prone to kneeling and having to get up and down with all that gear on: not good. Did I mention that I weigh 87.5lbs? and all that gear will probably be over half my body weight? Yeah. If they try to assign my the SAW for that march, I might snap on somebody's unfortunate ass.
Week 7 is the usual outprocessing. And cleaning. Lots of cleaning. "Even though the rooms looked kind of crappy when you got here, we expect them to be spotless and perfect when you leave." Thanks.
At some point, we do a second APFT and a 4 or 5 or 6 mile ruck (nobody is really clear on how many we do...). Weekends off (unless you fuck up bad, or your platoon in general is comprised of screw-offs, in which case pass priveledges might get revoked) and evenings off... although they might be very short evenings.
Oh well. I've been told expectations are actually fairly low at BOLC, at least for the first week or two, so hopefully it won't be that bad. It is, however, Army training... which means it will probably suck a great deal of the time... especially since I did all of this at LDAC except convoy ops (which I at least learned about at CTLT) and working with NVGs (which we played with at Spring FTX). So you see Florida Tech cadets, the Panther Battalion actually does prepare you for stuff besides camp ;) (And rumor has it that BOLC II might wind up being abolished as a repetetive waste of time that only benefits a very small amount of people... you lucky little bastards if that is true!)
Is it bad that I'm complaining about training before even reporting in for it?
It could be worse: I could be stuck at Fort Sill.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Movies and such
FINALLY! Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete was released in the United States today :D I only watched bits and pieces of it on my internet copy, with the full intention of buying the disk when it came out. Now I get to sit down with my brother and some popcorn and watch the full thing tonight :)
One of the most exciting things about getting the movie today: there is a little flier inside stating that Dissidia is coming this Summer! So I checked the internet, and it comes out September 30th :D Whoo!
(If you don't like video games, or don't know anything about the Final Fantasy series, you probably don't care at all about the previous two paragraphs. Sorry :p)
In other entertainment "news"... I watched 3:10 to Yuma for the first time a couple of nights ago. I can understand die-hard Western fans being upset, because it really is different from your traditional Western movie, but... I liked it :) If I enjoyed watching "old" movies, I'd rent the original version... but I don't so I won't.
Also saw Terminator: Salvation. Much better than the third movie (but that doesn't take much). The differences in technology make it virtually impossible to compare it to the first movie, and it's a tough call between it and Judgement Day. There are plenty of in-depth reviews out there already, so I'll just say a few things: midnight showings are incredibly fun to go to; I think it's really cool that they CGI'd the Governator's face onto another actor so that he could appear in the movie; and I thought it was a pretty nice little detail that they showed how John got the scar that he has as an adult in Judgement Day.
I ALSO saw the new Night at the Museum. It was... okay. Not nearly as good as the first one though... there is no way those old planes could have flown for as long as they did... and Amelia's plane couldn't have flown from the Smithsonian to the Museum of Natural History in only one hour... let alone there and back. And what was up with Jed's ridiculous accent? He didn't have one in the first movie, so why do it in the second? It irritated me every time I heard him speak. Other than that, it was cute. I was a bit surprised that no jokes were made about Kahmunrah's lisp though... hm.
On to other things besides movies and games... I cleaned my room for the first time in four years today. Don't look at me like that. I've been in college for the last four years, living in a dorm, so I haven't been around to clean my bedroom at home. And when I was home on vacations, I tended to just get it dirty without bothering to pick up my mess. So I accumulated four years worth of crap that desperately needed to be cleaned. Approximately 8 hours of total cleaning time later, my room now looks awesome. I do, however, need more bookshelves :( My books are stacked two-deep on the shelves, and there are still about twenty stacked on top *sigh*
And finally, I am reporting for duty on Saturday. Wish me luck, I now have to suffer through 42 days of Officers' training... which is basically the same stuff I already did in ROTC, only longer -_- I am more than ready to finally be moving on though... Less than four months before I go to flight school! :dance:
Oh... and I turned 22 last week. I'm pretty sure that means my PT test standards got harder :(
EDIT: So, I now have to do more push-ups and sit-ups to max, but I don't have to run as fast to pass :D (although I do have to run the same speed to max...)
One of the most exciting things about getting the movie today: there is a little flier inside stating that Dissidia is coming this Summer! So I checked the internet, and it comes out September 30th :D Whoo!
(If you don't like video games, or don't know anything about the Final Fantasy series, you probably don't care at all about the previous two paragraphs. Sorry :p)
In other entertainment "news"... I watched 3:10 to Yuma for the first time a couple of nights ago. I can understand die-hard Western fans being upset, because it really is different from your traditional Western movie, but... I liked it :) If I enjoyed watching "old" movies, I'd rent the original version... but I don't so I won't.
Also saw Terminator: Salvation. Much better than the third movie (but that doesn't take much). The differences in technology make it virtually impossible to compare it to the first movie, and it's a tough call between it and Judgement Day. There are plenty of in-depth reviews out there already, so I'll just say a few things: midnight showings are incredibly fun to go to; I think it's really cool that they CGI'd the Governator's face onto another actor so that he could appear in the movie; and I thought it was a pretty nice little detail that they showed how John got the scar that he has as an adult in Judgement Day.
I ALSO saw the new Night at the Museum. It was... okay. Not nearly as good as the first one though... there is no way those old planes could have flown for as long as they did... and Amelia's plane couldn't have flown from the Smithsonian to the Museum of Natural History in only one hour... let alone there and back. And what was up with Jed's ridiculous accent? He didn't have one in the first movie, so why do it in the second? It irritated me every time I heard him speak. Other than that, it was cute. I was a bit surprised that no jokes were made about Kahmunrah's lisp though... hm.
On to other things besides movies and games... I cleaned my room for the first time in four years today. Don't look at me like that. I've been in college for the last four years, living in a dorm, so I haven't been around to clean my bedroom at home. And when I was home on vacations, I tended to just get it dirty without bothering to pick up my mess. So I accumulated four years worth of crap that desperately needed to be cleaned. Approximately 8 hours of total cleaning time later, my room now looks awesome. I do, however, need more bookshelves :( My books are stacked two-deep on the shelves, and there are still about twenty stacked on top *sigh*
And finally, I am reporting for duty on Saturday. Wish me luck, I now have to suffer through 42 days of Officers' training... which is basically the same stuff I already did in ROTC, only longer -_- I am more than ready to finally be moving on though... Less than four months before I go to flight school! :dance:
Oh... and I turned 22 last week. I'm pretty sure that means my PT test standards got harder :(
EDIT: So, I now have to do more push-ups and sit-ups to max, but I don't have to run as fast to pass :D (although I do have to run the same speed to max...)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)