Yahoo! We're on 60 Minutes

One of the other guys in my platoon just noticed that Yahoo! has a few pictures from the last company of soldiers that went through here. Most appear to be from the Urban Ops. class I had posted about before. If you click on the link below and then hit "next" there are 4 pictures total with descriptions for each.

Note: I've disabled the link since they've switched the page it was linked to.

Also, we found out from our Lt. Colonel today that on Monday the television show 60 Minutes will arrive to shoot footage and interview some soldiers. Whatever piece this is going to be used with should air Sunday, December 5th at 7pm Eastern Time. I'm assuming this should give you a much better idea of what it's like to be here. If anyone could tape this I'd be curious to see it and verify that.

www.cbsnews.com doesn't have much up about it, so maybe it's just a small segment of another story.

NBC - Nuclear Biological Chemical

Just got back from the CS gas chamber and my first day of NBC training. For those of you who don't know what CS gas is, it's basically a more potent version of tear gas. You can read a bit about it here: CS Explanation

Here's the mask everyone wears.(Click to enlarge, my apologies for the poor quality, I don't have an image editing program here.)


For the training we were assembled into groups of seven and sent into an old army tent with a few CS tablets thrown into a can and heated with some sort of open flame. The room was dark and there was a thick cloud of smoke swirling around. After a few minutes a small burning sensation can be felt where it seeps through the covering of your mask and onto the neck. Oddly enough my hands were never irritated even though they were completely exposed.

You're then tasked with pulling up your gas mask, opening your eyes and then resealing and clearing your mask of whatever was sucked in. One soldier who's mask malfunctioned ran out of the tent. The initial gas that seeps into your mask when you do this brings back painful reminders. Once everyone has done this (and the drill instructors have stalled as they see fit) you're placed in another line where you must fully remove the mask and open your eyes. At first there is mild stinging and your main goal is to move out of the tent as fast as you can without falling over.

Once outside the real burning begins. To make matters worse you cannot rub your eyes or face or it will just make things more irritated. Soon after this your body decides it's not so happy with the gunk in your nose and mouth and it sends it cruising on out. Needless to say everyone was looking not so pretty when they got out. The comical thing of it all was that people whipped out cigarettes almost instantly after they popped out of the chamber.

I figured by this point the excitement was over but I was wrong. The drill instructors informed us that there were records for the amount of pushups and situps one can do in the gas chamber with no mask on. Amazingly the record for males was 80 pushups in this environment. Obviously that record was safe, I don't know many people who can do 80 in a clean air enviroment in one sitting let alone that burning mess. The situp record sat at 8, and our resident situp specialist decided she would have a try at it. She knocked out 18 I believe, a hefty feat, and then proceeded to set the mark for females doing pushups by doing around 22. Everyone was impressed.

Sometime later this week we'll be doing a live fire exercise at night with our masks on.

Possible Unit Station

The drill Sergeants informed us that about 50% of us had already been attached to units. I was fortunate enough to know where I may be going to. They're an engineering unit located in Memphis, Tennessee under the name 467th Enginnering Battalion Company B.

I'd say there is a possibility that I may be attached to another unit though, as this one was sent on November 12th to Fort Benning for a month of training. I figure I have a week of training here and then two weeks of training in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri so I may be too late to be attached to that unit. Although they also may just train me and ship me when I'm ready, I'm not sure.

There wasn't much information about Bravo Company but I did find this article about Charlie Company and what they would be doing. (Hopefully you wont have to register, if it asks you to then just type "army" into the top right search box and it should pop up.)

Click here for the story.

Looks like they're headed to Kuwait for a couple weeks, and then into Iraq to rebuild things. I suppose if I have to be there, that wouldn't be the worst possible job to have.

Please note: I've made 3 posts today, this one, a thanksgiving one and a training day one. Scroll down, or click on the right sidebar to view the next two.

Happy Thanksgiving

This morning we woke up at 6:30 for a formation and then everyone jumped back into bed and enjoyed the training holiday. Around 1:00 we headed to the chow hall dressed in BDU's (don't they look happy?). Some guys were complaing about having to dress in uniform on a training holiday and decided to either not go or wear civilian clothes in protest. I don't think anyone noticed though, as we spoke with several officers who gave us the usual greetings along with a glazed look. I don't blame them, who wants to eat in a cafeteria on Thanksgiving.

The food was like packed styrafome peanuts flavored with mud. Maybe I'm spoiled since some people did enjoy it, but I'll never get used to fake potatoes. Perhaps I've just become too accustomed to good family cooking. (Minus the time in Florida where I picked up takeout from Boston Market.) Oh well I've had worse Thanksgivings, like that time I had the flu the entire day, so it could have been worse.

I really don't want to give the wrong impression to everyone, I'm sure they did the best with what budget they have in the chow hall. Overall everyone has been good to us so I shouldn't gripe too much.

I hope everyone is having a great time filling up on good food and getting in some family time. If you would like to post what you did in the comment section I'd be curious to know.

Training Day 1 - SINCGARS and Urban Ops.

Today we finally started our actual training. It frustrates me that we had to wait so long. From what I've heard only around 20% of IRR soldiers are showing up which in turn screws over the people who are here because they have to wait for a big enough group to start training. I honestly hope those people without legitimate excuses are punished accordingly.

Our training consisted of Radio Operations (SINCGARS) first. A quick overview of how the system works and how to use call signs and we were pretty much done.

After that we had a hands on class for Urban Operations. They gave an overview on how to cross terrain in an urban environment and then we practiced clearing rooms in a field with tape on the ground to designate hallways, walls and doors. It all culminated with everyone in four man/woman teams actually clearing rooms in a real building.

The four man teams were all lead by the lowest ranking soldier in the groups. I was with three other guys who were all two ranks above me (Two of which had been in the gulf war.) so I was designated team leader. The team leader goes in first and basically directs everyone where to go and decides how and when you go around corners and into doors. It looked a lot like this, except we had on kevlar helmets and there were only four of us in a team: (click on the image to enlarge.)



The real building we breached also was filled with opposing forces played by the instructors themselves. It was thrilling and unnerving all at the same time. People were flying out from behind desks, crouching behind rows of chairs and sneaking around behind us as certain points. Some groups even had dummy grenades thrown at them.

It all ended with a room that appeared to be large but when I swung open the door there was an unarmed "civilian" in a tiny closet who screamed at the top of her lungs and gave us all a shock. I now have a strong appreciation for the fortitude and tenacity it must take to do this for real. Overall I think my group did well but I hope the situation wont arise where we'll need to do this.

First Week Overview: hurry up and wait.

Ah the joys of waiting. Most of my first week was spent standing or sitting in line, or riding to a new destination.

We knocked out medical first, and this was the spot many people laid down their case for being sent home. Everything from head pain to aching knee joints was looked over and for the most part everyone has been told they'll be sticking around. Interestingly enough some people are being sent home simply because they need so much dental work that the army isn't willing to do it. In addition to these people, I'd guess over half the IRR soldiers here were given dental work anywhere from a simple filling to having all of their wisdom teeth pulled. I was amazed to find out that only novocaine was used, and motrin prescribed for the pain for the pulling of wisdom teeth. If I'm not mistaken people are usually knocked out and then given prescription drugs but most everyone was resilient and I heard minimal complaints. Me, I'm healthy (Other than this damn head cold I wish would fly away.) and made it through the shots, probing and screenings quickly.

After that we went to various stations to take care of financial and legal concerns as well as general briefings. If I can give any advice to someone in this same position it's to bring all the paper work they requested including any lease you have so you can get money for your housing allowance. The Army's standard $250,000 life insurance in hand I was nearly finished the initial part of our processing.

From there I went to clothing issue and received all new BDU's and PT uniforms. Another set of advice for those headed this way, don't bother bringing any gear they reissue everything to you again. Save the space for something else, like an extra bag.

Following this we jumped on a charter bus with a strange old driver who was wearing what looked like a comercial airline pilot uniform. Out of nowhere he turns on the TV and starts blasting this horrible Ray Stevens entertainment show at ear bleeding decibel levels. While we made a stop to pick up more soldiers, he began to dance up and down the aisle and was singing to the show which he undoubtably has played numerous times for an equally confused audience. To top off the performance he grabbed his microphone (which made the audio of the show go silent) and made what sounded like grunting noises for a few seconds. Everyone looked around thinking it was the bus making the noise, and then we all put on a confused look when we realized it was the driver. It was a surreal experience.

Other than the processing I've been fortunate enough to be placed with a good bunch of people. A few from the Chicago area, some from New York, and the rest scattered from California to Alabama. Everyone has a great sense of humor so far, and it has helped to pass the time and keep all of our minds off of the numerous questions we have about where we're going and what we have to do.

Next week we'll be starting the actual training segement. Qualifying with the M-16, going through the tear gas chamber again, and other skills the Army thinks are important. From what they've told us so far I should be here for about 17 days and then off to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for two weeks of training, and then shipped somewhere else to be attached to an activated reserve or national guard unit.

Quick Note: Email

Just a quick note that if you're going to send an email please send it to jamestourville@yahoo.com That'll be the easiest way for me to get back to you.

Departure

So far things have been going well, here's an overview of my travels on Tuesday.

I kicked off the trip from Plattsburgh, NY in a tiny plane with two propellers, and landed in Albany, NY not too long after that. For such a small airport Albany proved to be a big holdup, but nothing could prepare me for the mess that is Washington Dulles airport. It was a Tuesday and it felt like I was trying to cut through lines at a busy store on Christmas Eve. The runway proved to be similar as we sat in line for nearly an hour waiting to take off. I definatly don't envy the person who is tasked with creating those schedules. Not long after we were in the air and just as quickly the plane started to descend to my final stop in Columbia, SC.

Now I've been expecting the worst in terms of reception and my fears were nearly confirmed when I heard a Sgt. squaking at some new recruits fresh off my plane. I asked where I should head and he switched gears and politely told me to head downstairs to meet an IRR representative. No one was there but there was a sign informing me to call a shuttle service which I did. Waited for nearly 2 hours and finally caught a ride out to the training center 30 miles away.

When I first entered the shuttle I thought I had entered someones personal living space. Blankets on the seats, a TV and VCR on the center armrest and most surprisingly a random woman who was along for the ride for some reason. I never did find out if she was related to the driver, but it seemed as though they barely new each other. So we set off onto a rural road with classic rock blaring and the stench of cigarettes heavy.

Upon arrival and farewell to my driver I was met with an empty building greeting me. By this time it was nearly midnight and I was worried that I had missed anyone on duty even though a sign promised that someone would be back soon. At this point I gave in and walked to the security checkpoint I had driven by earlier. Oddly enough one regular army mp and what I think were two private security contractors were cooking a huge meal of hot dogs, chopped onions and french fries. It made for an interesting odor for sure. They radioed for someone to come meet me and I was off to the barracks for my first night. The smell of Army linens brought back first night jitters all over again but I managed to sleep well.

More on my first few days later as I've rambled on in minute detail too long...

Sometimes the littlest things...

... can help make a big difference.

A card I received had this scrawled on it and it resonated with me. So many things big and small have helped me this week. I want to thank my Aunt Lori and Uncle Allen for hosting the family get together this weekend, fitting that many people into one spot is no easy task! Whether everyone knows it or not I want to impart how much I appreciate every hug, kiss, handshake, gift and word of encouragement I've received. Now more than ever I understand the advantage of having great family and friends, and I hope I can return the favor to all of you someday.

PS For those of you who couldn't attend the 2nd installment of Saturday evening, let it be known that you missed a rousing dance duel between a certain relative and a jittery amazon that would put a professionally choreographed dance program to shame. This will forever be seared into my mind.

Deployment Date

Well I received an amendment to my orders and the actual date I'm leaving is Tuesday November 16th. First stop is in South Carolina at Fort Jackson, and then eventually back to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri where I went for Basic and Advanced Training. From there I'm unsure of where I'll be headed, but I would assume I'll be attached to an engineering unit somewhere. In any case, I've got a good week of hanging out with friends and family before I leave and I want to thank everyone for this as it makes the wait that much easier.

Letters and Preparations

As most of you already know I received orders from the Army on November 1st notifying me that I would be mobilized for deployment. I decided this blog would be a great way for me to let friends and family know about my experience, as well as other soldiers who may be starting the process themselves.

Here are a couple of other blogs that I've been following and have been helpful to me:

www.lostiniraq.com
www.armyadvice.org