Part B Over. Now on to the sandbox...

Hello all,

  Well its been quite busy these last two weeks as we are finishing the Army training, and now we are about to begin customs training which will only last two days then its off to liberty (time-off). I am looking forward to see Lindsay during liberty even if its only for a couple days.

  Well lets recap the last week and a half, but first I want to show you the hummer that I drove during my time here.

A few interesting facts about the vehicle shown here is that Humvees came in several different models, this one shown is an armored type. It has 3 inch windows all around and can resist AK-47 rounds, it also has doors that weigh 500 pounds each and can be combat locked so enemies cannot enter, lastly the tires are designed as run flats so if they are blown out they can be driven for an additional 15 miles.

  I had the pleasure of shooting at an Army 9MM range and was able to qualify as well. The Navy course is quite different but the course here has pop up targets that were programmed to pop up at different times and distances, and of course it was job to shoot them down again. This course was fun and was my first experence at shooting while wearing my gasmask. You had to be able to shoot 25 out of 40 targets to qualify, I was able to shoot 30.

I also was trained on the crew serve weapons (squad based weapons) like the SAW M249, although we did not get to actually shoot them instead we trained on weapons that were modified to operate on air pressure so that they worked, and felt like you were shooting them. This was called EST Simulator. Try to picture a large scale video game that was designed with these weapons and you shoot enemies on screen.

I completed land navigation which was a three day long training event, now most of you who know me well already know that when it comes to reading maps and giving directions I am the worst by far. So day one was basic map reading and compass reading, and later that day we had to complete a 3 mile course wearing all of our gear, which is about 40 pounds. Day 2 was the same except we were driving our humvees through the woods, which was fun. Day 3 was something special, the Army ran us through a squad movement course that involved us low crawling under barb wire, throwing hand grenades (not real ones), all the while the trainers were throwing live explosives around us, you could feel the blast wave when they were close. This course was fun but I was exhausted afterward.

Next we moved on to IED (Improvised Explosive devices), which are the primary weapon used by insurgents. This class was interesting as we looked at examples of IED's used in the past and how to identify IED's while in a convoy. This was also a 3 day class, so I will skip over to day three. Day three was Humvee convoy training, we were tasked with trying to identify an IED's along the way, and locate a homemade explosive lab. They had actors dressed up as middle eastern locals some of which were friendly, & some that were foes. They used live explosives on the course as IED's, our humvee was destroyed about half way through the course. If you are interested, watch the film Hurt Locker it shows a great deal about IED's

The next course was CLS (combat life saver) it lasted 4 days. This course was challenging and fun. Day 4 was the final exam which involed more obstacle courses like transporting a patient while trying to avoid being shot. At the end of the day you were fairly exhausted.


The next day we moved right on into MRAP (mine resistant ambush protected) vehicle training. I was able to drive the M-ATV later that day.

The M-ATV was designed in 2010, and may one day replace the standard humvee. This thing was massive, notice the wheel comes to my waist, now try to imagine the size of this thing. I am not allowed to tell you much about the M-ATV, but this thing was awesome.

I want to say thanks to Lindsay for my second care package.

I dont know how she manages to pack so much into such small boxes but she does. My room mates also thank you as well.

Well my time is over in Fort Dix, and now its off to Kuwait. I will publish my Kuwait address as soon as I know that its not going to change.

Thanks to all for the prayers and support this far..

To be contined