Flowers

Today I bought Courtney a Edible Arrangment, I can post it here cause I know she wont read here! Hopefully it gets delivered this time!

Halloween

So this weekend has been fairly uneventful, became single, and i guess im ok with it. 4 days till the PT test that will determine if I have what it takes to get into west point. That and my nominations that are currently pending from my Battery and Battalion Commanders. Then my packet will be complete, and I should have a notice weather or not im accepted to West Point or going to the Prep School, or just out 100%. Bought an edible arrangement for someone special today also. Also bought a grill and some steaks to get the taste of the Tasteless food out of my mouth. Still on a no run/jump profile til the day before the Candidate Fitness Test. Hopefully next week ill be able to meet with my Battalion Commander to discuss West Point.

I have a Field Problem

Today was the day that we got back from the field and start our weekend before recovery. I drove an LMTV to the field which is the equivalent to a box truck with wheels. The biggest kind you can get from UHAUL.  Did I mention it has air brakes, those take alot of miles to get use too. We left for the field sunday midday to travel to our AO (Area of Operation). Which for our purposes we will call "The Farm" Ill name it the farm because we were no shit a spits way from a korean Pig Farm/ Slaughter house. When we arrived sunday besides the amazing aromas of pig shit The view was amazing, we were nestled down between the mountains where the sun would appear only around 8-9am and dissappear behind the mountain around 6.  We set up triple strand C Wire around the entire camp which was the most time consuming. If you don't know what C Wire is its constantine wire a close relative to the barbed wire, but C wire has razors with hooked ends to catch you, instead of barbs.  I was going to take a picture but when i snapped the shot, the picture couldn't save mainly because my memory card was sitting on my desk at home. The ride out was uneventful, i was the driver and my VC (Vehicle Commander) was our battle captain who was prior enlisted and very knowledgeable and always willing to help. We set up out TOC (Tactical Operations Center) which became my work place for the next week. I work with Chief Faris, a WO1 who was a 13F before he went warrant officer. He and myself worked hard to make sure all the rounds/rockets fired were reported or landed safe with in the Santa Barbra Impact Area. When not tracking rounds with our counterparts at the Artillery Locating Radars or the observation point Chief would school me on what it takes to be a better soldier and more importantly what it takes to be a fister (13F).

During the week we conducted live fire exercises with the batteries qualifiying their crews. The did a combined live fire with ROK MLRS and US Forces. We were right between the Rocket Valley and the impact area, where we could hear the rockets launch then hear the baboom as they landed down range.

When we packed up after the joint fires, we moved out and back to Camp Casey which I was happy to have a breath of fresh air that didnt smell like a crazy pig farm. I was just about use to that smell too; to think they stayed out there for 3 weeks back in june. On the way back we were driving and a traffic light caught me and seperated me from the front half of the convoy. We started to move forward and cruise along when a car came up to a stop sign, didnt even slow down and pull out infront of me. He was going fast enough i didnt hit him, but a big truck full of C wire wont stop on a dime even if you are only doing 25 miles per hour. When we passed through Gate 3 of Camp Casey, we passed another convoy deploying for a field problem.

Friday Close Out/Org Day

So today was an interesting day! It was org. day for out battalion, for me that meant wake up at 0500 and at the site of the future festivities. There was not a whole lot to be done, when I arrived there were minimal people there and the word was that we were not going to set up the "Drash" a bubble like tent similar to one of the expandable balls. Pull out and it expands. Commo set up the sound system and that was that now to sit around til 0900 untill the fun was supposed to kick off and everyone was supposed to get there. The rain starts coming down and you havent seen rain untill you have either been in korea or in a tropical rainforest. Where all it does is just rain. HHB sets off with changing a softball tournament into a dodgeball tournament. Kudos to who's idea that was cause dodgeball in the rain is brilliant in my mind :D. We kicked the butts of Echo, but no defined winner was chosen due to the game being called on the account of lightning. The grills were due to be fired up because a truck came with all the food :D. Rain and charcoal do not mix no matter how much lighter fluid you put on it.... Here we go lets put the tents over it  and with some deliberating between NCOs they had the two covered BBQ Pits. Flames flash as Sgt Offineer squirts a ton of lighter fluid on to the coals.



TO BE CONTINUED.... AND EDITED

The Start.

4 September 2010 

Today starts my blog as I sit here on a four day weekend bored, watching series of Dexter. This past week has been long enough with the approaching of a hurricane; referred to as a Typhoon here in the eastern hemisphere. A whole bunch of work is required to make sure nothing if flying around the motor pool that might destroy stuff if the wind would have picked it up and thrown something as small as a rock. 

My fiancee Hailey who I asked to marry me before I went through security at Nashville International Is now at basic training. I write her every day, she'll have a suitcase worth of letters when she gets out of BCT. She also writes me back trying to every day, the postal system and the military mail service is by all means slow. Usually takes somwhere near a week or two for her letters to get to me. The other way around its slightly faster taking anywhere from 3-5 days for the letters to reach her.