Blue Phase: Week 2 - Day 1

Today is a holiday (Labor Day) so we actually get to relax a little bit. We get to have pizza later and watch a movie. They say it's a centuries old Army tradition. Somehow, I don't believe them.

I know I haven't written an update in a while and for that, I apologize. But, in my defense, I have been really busy. Our training schedule has been hectic with lots of field time and night operations. However, I'll try to recap it all here and now.

Early this week we did US weapons. This is a familiarization with the M-249 squad machine gun, 240-B machine gun and the M-2 .50 caliber. The M-249 and M-240 are very similar. It was pretty cool firing off rounds down the range. But the real one, the one that gets you a little twitterpated is the .50 caliber. Wow. The shells for this weapon are about 5 inches long and it can take out anything short of a heavy tank. Two words: awe-some. If any of you ever have the opportunity to fire one, do it. It really is awe inspiring.

The next major training was simulating urban operations, both at day and night. We had to mimic searching for people, vehicles, etc. I gained a new appreciation for those who do such for hours and days at a time. Knowing that the next vehicle could be a family looking for work or loaded down with enough explosives to destroy the entire checkpoint. That's job stress. We also simulated clearing rooms and buildings. There is a definite technique to it and inattention to detail will get you killed. It's a sobering thought. By far the most overwhelming reality check was an urban mission at night. We were equipped with single-eye night vision goggles (really cool) and were supposed to clear buildings in a compound. There would also be hostile forces that would attack. Granted, we were all using blanks, but it's very overwhelming to be in a small room, pitch black but for one eye, the sound of firing M-16s from multiple directions and trying to identify if it's friend or foe before returning fire. Oh, and not getting killed. Very overwhelming. I know I'm not ready to engage in that kind of operation, but you get substantially more training before you do that anyway.

The only training events left for us are an urban assault course, night infiltration and a 15K road march. The night infiltration is where you low crawl under constantina wire while live rounds with tracers are fired overhead. Should be fun. After that, we're done. Just clean, clean, clean and turn in gear. Then, on Sept. 18, we graduate. I can't believe it's over already. In all seriousness, I'm glad to get to the end. In many ways, I thought it would be harder and in some ways I was challenged beyond what I thought possible. I know I'm not the same as I was 8 weeks ago and I have to believe it's a change for the better.

As I am so close to the end, this will likely be the last entry. I may have one more post for family day and graduation. Thanks for all of the support and good tidings from all who willingly read this hot mess. I may make periodic updates from OCS. It depends on time contraints. Thanks again and hopefully I'll see you all soon.

Hoo-ah!