NTC AAR

AAR means After Action Report. The US Military just LOVES acronyms. So, we spent 30 days in the CA desert and this is what I learned: the desert DOES get cold at night...very. fucking. cold!! Riding in a helicopter is as cool as I always thought it would be. Calling in air strikes from a pair of Apache attack choppers is pretty cool. That day must have cost you, the US taxpayer, roughly 250,000$. We all went three times and there were 20 of us. They shot something like 100 3 inch rockets and thousands of rounds of 30mm chain gun ammo. It was cool, and loud! I need more training time on the 50caliber machine gun. Shaving with no hot water is very hard and very painful. Must get an electric razor. T Mobile has no service in the desert. Must get verizon or sprint. Riding airplanes with 300 other guys and everyone has an M4 machine gun is pretty cool. It's nice to come home. NTC was cool, but I was told by all the veterans of Iraq that everything that happens at NTC does not happen in Iraq. So we're training for something we're not gonna be doing. Strange, huh? Definitely going SF! Can't wait...

NTC

So, we're going to NTC this week for the entire month of Nov. NTC is the National Training Center on Ft. Irwin, near Barstow, CA. It's a desert training facility where most troops en route to Iraq go to train. We'll be there for a month, learning tactics and movements, traffic control point procedures, concerted movements of our offensive tactical vehicles and hopefully, watching New England vs Indianapolis in a week. I heard there was a tv there. The past few days we've been putting all our vehicles (tanks, bradleys, humvees, tanker trucks etc) on the train so it can go there ahead of us. As we were doing this, I was struck by how heavy, slow and inefficient the Army is. It took us 2 days and 20 hours, and 1000 people aided by 100 contractors to put 300 vehicles on the trains. That might seem quick but believe me, it wasn't. And it all got me to thinking: If the US Army was tasked with fighting and winning a two front war, a REAL two front war, could we? If Transformation is the wave of the future, why are we stuck on these heavy, cumbersome unarmored armored vehicles? Where is the swift lethality, the lithe ferocity, the hungry lightning? I think Transformation is the wave of the future. In 20 years, our Army will have farmed out all but Infantry jobs and Civil Affairs jobs. And those jobs will be run by troops with Special Forces level skills. In other words, as Transformation occurs, to be a soldier in the US Army, one will have to have the skills of a Special Forces Soldier. Indeed, all soldiers in the Army will be Ranger, Airborne or Special Forces soldiers. This is Transformation. Light, lethal, hungry, efficient, and pure. This will be the Ultimate Government Job.

Don't Stop, Get it! Get it!

So, Basic Training at Ft. Benning is different that all other places to do Basic. Benning is the home of the Infantry School. So if you're going Infantry, you'll go to Benning. And really, what healthy male would have any MOS except Infantry? There is no internet, no TV, no cell phones, few phone calls, no real privileges. I heard from people (read: POG's) that went to Basic at places other than Benning, and they had all these things, including the thing that all of us missed most: WOMEN. The only women at Ft Benning Basic Training work in the Dining Facility. They are civilian contractors and man, can they cook! Excellent food! Seriously. It was good stuff. But they were also women, and we were very happy to see them, every day, 3 times a day. Especially Ms Pat. She worked in the front, checking your SSN and making sure you were legit. We would file thru, one at a time, she would say 'Next man' and then recite our SSN, and she would check it. Eventually, we would go so fast that she didn't have to say next man and that made her happy! Sometimes she got so happy, and excited, that she would start to move and sing, moving her head and hands and really getting into it! The next level would be for her to stand up and start gyrating on the next soldier, dirty dancing and shaking her money maker. At that point, she would sing out her signature motto, something she must have sang out a million times every time she was about to have an orgasm: DONT STOP! GET IT, GET IT!! DONT STOP! GET IT, GET IT!! We loved it! She was like our lover, our friend, our wife, all wrapped up in one. She made the toughness of Benning bearable. Hats off to you, Ms Pat!

I'm From the Government, and I'm Here to Help!

So, tomorrow is the day. I shall report to Ft. Hood in the AM, in-process for a couple days and then begin my real job. I am an indirect fire infantryman; that means Mortars. We shoot mortars. Our motto is High Angle Hell, Death and Destruction from Above! It's kind of a cool motto. I'm excited and a bit apprehensive about my future. Going to Iraq or any hot zone doesn't scare me so much. What I do worry about is being maimed. Dying? Well, seems like it will be quick. But being maimed? That would suck. And most soldiers who are injured are surviving with terrible wounds. I actually believe in this mission, the public and probable private reasons. Lots of my friends looked at me with questions in their eyes. They support me, but they don't necessarily understand why I've done this. I have 40 reasons. Someday, I'll list them all. Right now, suffice it to say that I believe in the mission, I want to see it for myself, I want a physical and mental challenge and, well, I want some action. I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help!

Basic Training

Basic Training was 14 weeks long. The first 8 days were spent at the Reception Batallion and so far, it was the worst experience I've had in the Army. We would wake at 0400 and just sit there. All. Day. Long. Then we would eat. And then we would sit some more. Finally, we went Downrange. That means we were arranged in our groups and were sent on buses to the area where we would actually do our basic training. The shark attack was actually quite frightening, as none of us knew what to expect or what would happen. We just did what we were told. We sweated a lot, and ran a lot and then we got to eat! Then they made us run. And run. And run. One guy threw up, a lot! That's what they call tasting it twice! The first few weeks of Basic are a total blur. I just don't remember them at all. It lasted from 1 JUN to 13 SEP. So all of Summer 07 I spent at Ft. Benning, GA. And folks, it was hot! Not as hot as Texas, mind you, but it was getting there. This is my first posting in what will be a continuing documentation of my Army experience. I report to my unit in a week and then to Iraq sometime shortly after that. I'm anxious to go and see the shit. I'm ready to begin my new life as a Specialist in the US Army in wartime. All queries answered and all comments considered...Special Lips....