Life in the Desert: Getting on With Getting On

Me and CPT Steven Hancock, my Operations guy.

We had a pretty good day of training. We got up early and headed to the range. Not sure why we need to drive an hour to a place that has a bunch of sand berms and targets; seems like Kuwait is so wide open we could just drive out the back gate and start blasting. But we loaded the buses and hit the road.

Today we conducted advanced close quarters marksmanship and it was taught by an ex-Special Forces guy who had a big watch and a bigger ego. I bet he drives a Corvette. It was some good stuff, and anytime ammo is free, I like it. I could have done it all day. The fellas got a lot out of it, mostly because we were able to shoot in manners (and in some cases, directions) that you can't do on normal Army posts due to oppressive Death Star Imperial Range Control. About the only bad thing we could have done today was shoot each other or shoot a camel. While it wasn't anywhere close to training at DARC (http://www.darc1.com/) it was still good to get some range time in.

The team leaders and NCOICs had dinner last night with Brigadier General (BG) Walker, who is the Iraqi Assistance Group (IAG) Commander. Steak and seafood; not bad (it was steak night on Buering, so all the troops had it, not just us, which is fantastic). He gave us a good rundown on where all of the advisory teams are in Iraq and where the focus is shifting. It sort of painted the bigger pitcure and put our upcoming mission into perspective.

This week we also got new body armor. The new stuff rides much better and is more comfortable than the older model. The neck and collar are also better, as you can turn your head without strangling yourself like with the old stuff. Unfortunatel the weight is still about the same, at 40-50 pounds. Here's a picture of the new stuff.

We actually had a thunderstorm last night, too! It poured for about 10 minutes or so, and it was complete with thunder and lightning. Pretty cool to see. Deserts are amazing. Not necessarily nice or pleasant, just amazing.

Tomorrow we have some language and some more medical stuff, and then some of us get three days of MRAP training. The MRAP is the Army's new truck. It's basically a big 5-ton truck with a buttload of armor on it. These trucks have been very successful in mitigating damage done by IEDs. Since they are still under contract and warranty, we just can't hop in and cut loose... We have to be trained... By the contractor, of course... No telling what that costs. What a boondoggle.

Hope you have a good Halloween. I'm going to go as a consultant...

Take care,

Ron