Better Every Day

Things keep on getting better...

I found a guy who wants to buy my truck, and negotiations are complete. Now it's up to the banks. I'm a bit sad to see it go; while it was (and still is) a good truck, it is another sign that my time here in America is drawing to a close and blast off is eminent. The flip side to that is the sooner we get to Iraq, the sooner we get to come home.

Also as a bonus, my NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) Sergeant First Class Pate (AKA: Big Mama) found out he was selected for promotion today. Super news. It's good to see the Army reward good NCOs and entrust them with more responsibility.

Today was a good day of training. We did what the Army calls 'Short Range Marksmanship.' It was the first day of a three-day block where we learn to conduct operations in an urban environment. It wasn't quite like a week at the Direct Action Resource Center (http://www.darc1.com/) but it is the best Riley can do for a half a day and limited ammo. It involves shooting and moving, transition to pistol, and shooting around barricades. Basically I got paid to do my favorite hobby today, which was nice.

Tomorrow we are going to learn about clearing rooms and buildings. The end state of training is some force on force stuff with an expensive version of paintball. Should be a good time, as well as a chance to do some team building and some urban problem solving. These types of training events are good for the team in that we get to exercise our decision making abilities, and we also get to see second and third order effects of decisions, and we also learn more and more about each other.

These two days will take us up to a scenario on Saturday where we have to do another combat patrol, link up with a platoon of Iraqis, and accompany them on a cordon and search mission and a raid in two towns where bad guys are. Our job is to coach and advise the Iraqi Army (IA) in the conduct of their operations. In these scenarios, there is no right answer, only different methods and consequences to each method. The optimal goal is to find a solution where the Iraqis solve the problem themselves and we bring everyone home. Stay tuned for Sunday's exciting blog entry on how this turns out!!!

Not looking forward to watching the Arkansas vs UT game this weekend. Hope the Iraqis at least fare better than the Hogs.

Hope all is well- Take care.

Ron