They give you real bullets here

This past week has a busy combination of boredom and quasi-excitement as we spent 5 days in the "Field". Technically, we lived out of a fortified compound (FOB). Right now we have been preparing to reach combat status so our focus have been shooting live ammunition and learning about US weapon systems.












Shooting the M-2 .50 machine gun. We only fired 15 rounds but you could definitely feel the power and recoil on the weapon.













This is the ARM (advanced rifle marksmanship) All of these LTs have live ammunition loaded. In a line standing shoulder to shoulder we were expected to conduct a series of facing movements (full range of motion) with a fully loaded weapon. It was certainly a lesson on trust because at any given movement your buddy was walking and turning right next to you.














This is my buddy LT Williams. He is prior service with at least 10 years experience. Since he was a platoon Sergeant in the 82nd, he has been a great source of experience and knowledge. He is holding "Turtle" a brand new hound puppy that belongs to one of the cadre. We are right about to set out on a convoy and he handed the little guy around.













Me and Turtle.












This is on a cliff face overlooking the land navigation course. I volunteered for an advanced trail land navigation course that our Company Commander was testing out to see if it would work effectively within BOLC II. The rest of the company conducted a normal land nav test that requires them to find 8 points, within 5 hours, in a 10 square kilometer area starting at 5 am. The 10 LTs (including me) who volunteered encountered a completely different experience. We started the course at 1 am with a 40 pound rucksack (backpack), a rifle, and Night Vision. We weren't told where we were dropped off or where any of the points where. We had 9 hours to search and locate as many points as we could within the land nav course. Once we located a point we were required to use terrain association and other techniques to accurate plot the point. This was by far the most I have ever been challenged on any land navigation course. I managed to accurately plot 18 points after nearly rolling my ankle and falling on my face about a dozen times.












We also conducted a live night fire range. This is a blurry image of what you see through PVS-14 night vision monocular.











My roommate Jeracka always throwing up the peace signs. You can see he is wearing the larger PVS-7 night vision goggles.












Boys are boys and the first night we were at the FOB my buddy Hackett and I were left to Guard some of the platoons weapons. We have everything: M-249 SAWs, M-240 MGs, M-19 grenade launchers. This pretty much sums up the heavy fire power of a light infantry unit.













This is my buddy Hackett going through berm drills. The objective is to fire accurate controlled fires while moving from behind different obstacles including berms, windows, and doors.



This is a video of me going through the berm drills. CPT Davis (our plat ton mentor) is the safety officer leading me through the drills.














These are my guys from 4th PLT, 2nd Squad. From the left Hackett, Ferge, and Jeracka. They are in full "kit" including Individual Body Armor (IBA), combat vest, and helmet.


This next week is going to be intense. I finally have a leadership position as Platoon Leader. My job is to make sure our platoon is on-time and in the right place for the next four days. We will be conducting Convoy live fire (shooting from vehicles) and MOUT training (how to shoot inside buildings and clear rooms). The most important thing is that I actually have a short 4 day work week. Friday the 7th is Veterans day and the start of our 4 day weekend. I am really excited because I am headed to NC to visit friends and take a break.