That's right, I'm back home now. Last Sunday night was the end of the exercise. 1SG Bernal got a paranoid in the last hour, assuming that the opposing force (OPFOR) would mount a massive assault, so we broke out the MILES AT4 so that we'd be ready to do some real damage! We loaded them and ran them out to the entry control point (ECP), but the MP's there were already packing up for the exercise. What a let down.
Over the next two days, we packed up the tents and all of our gear, and loaded them in our CONEX (Container Express, aka. a steel shipping container). On Wednesday, everything was packed and shipped, so there was nothing to do except enjoy ourselves! LTC Carter was able to get control of the rappelling tower, so several of us went and had a blast with that! In addition to the wall that everyone rappels down in Basic, they opened up the open side that simulates a helicopter rope decent! I only went down the wall, but the open side looked like a blast! After that, SPC Faith and SPC Dixit and I walked the mile out to Mission San Antonio de Padua. It's an old Spanish mission founded in 1771, and is in fact the third built in what is now the state of California. It's a wonderful place, and it was only a mile away the entire time! We had very little time to stay and enjoy, because the entire 5025th/651st was having a barbecue to celebrate the end of a good exercise.
That night, we moved out of the barracks and spent the entire night waiting for the bus. (I'll never know why we had to sleep outdoors with the bags.) The flight home wasn't bad, and getting home was a relief! I had a good time, but now it's time for a couple days of R&R.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Award!
Annual training at PacWar has been going well. SPC Dupio and MAJ Friberg have already gone home, so it's just SFC Zimmerman, SGT Lant and myself. About once a night, at 3 or 4 in the morning, Sgt. Z and I hear blank fire and are forced into a defensive posture, but other than that I've been updating work order paperwork, watching movies, and trying to stay warm. Yeah, no kidding, this place gets frickin' cold at night! It's 110°F in the heat of the day, and 45°F at night. And while 45° may not seem that bad, it gets to you after a few hours of sitting around typing.But I have some very exciting news! This morning after shift, Sgt. Z and I were told to be at the morning formation. That was a little strange because we haven't had to attend formation while on night shift. But at the formation, the two of us and several people from our sister unit (the 5025th GSU) were awarded the Army Achievement Medal! It's a fairly low-ranking award, and most people with some years of service have received one. However, ours were awarded by a different unit, a medical unit that we assisted in getting their HMMWV driver's licenses. I'm told its quite an honor to receive an award from another unit. Besides that, it's my first award! W00t!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Busy Days at Pacific Warrior
Well, it's been a heck of a time so far here at Operation Pacific Warrior. Last week, I joined up with about half of the company to fly out to California. The NCOs introduced me to the USO for the first time, and the USO in Denver is exceptional! The flight to San Jose was uneventful, and we had a short wait until we caught a bus down to Camp Roberts. In the grand scheme of the exercise, Camp Roberts is "Kuwait," the in-processing station, and Fort Hunter Liggett is "Iraq," the operational area.
Camp Roberts itself is not much to look at. Yes, it was a huge training base during WWII, but I'm sure it hasn't been updated since 1945. Half of the camp is in complete shambles, unsafe and unfit for habitation. The other half has plastic siding installed. (Detect any sarcasm?) It's an enormous dust bowl, and miserably hot. I'm thankful we only stayed three days.
On Friday the 8th, we bussed back up to Fort Hunter Liggett. Immediately I could see that it was a huge improvement. Green, tended lawns. Bays with decent lockers and air conditioning. There's even a pay-for-wireless network in all of the bays, so it's too bad didn't bring my laptop! The only drawback is no cell reception.
In the past week, I've been working hard most of the day up in the billeting office, our temporary base of operations. Most of our issues have been network access and printers. I've also been attending classes on everything from radio procedures to OE-254 antennas to MILES 2000 gear. Other than work, I've been trying to take advantage of the base's gym and pool.
Starting last Friday, we started moving into the tent city, in preparation for the actual combat simulation. Our job during the exercise is going to be running our own radios and computer network, as well as providing network connections for the other units in the Cantonment Forward Operating Base (FOB). The commo section is going to have our own tent, so we're using our resources to set up a "Morale, Welfare and Recreation" (MWR) tent. We're going to set up 3 or 4 computers for people to use the internet, a printer, and a projector screen for movies. We even brought popcorn and an air popper! For the last couple of days I was on day shift, but starting tonight I'll be on the night shift. Someone has to be in the tent 24 hours a day to guard the equipment. And with the exercise starting, if we hear blank gunfire or simulated mortars, we'll have to take appropriate action and turn out the lights and guard the doorway until the all-clear. Good times!
Camp Roberts itself is not much to look at. Yes, it was a huge training base during WWII, but I'm sure it hasn't been updated since 1945. Half of the camp is in complete shambles, unsafe and unfit for habitation. The other half has plastic siding installed. (Detect any sarcasm?) It's an enormous dust bowl, and miserably hot. I'm thankful we only stayed three days.
On Friday the 8th, we bussed back up to Fort Hunter Liggett. Immediately I could see that it was a huge improvement. Green, tended lawns. Bays with decent lockers and air conditioning. There's even a pay-for-wireless network in all of the bays, so it's too bad didn't bring my laptop! The only drawback is no cell reception.
In the past week, I've been working hard most of the day up in the billeting office, our temporary base of operations. Most of our issues have been network access and printers. I've also been attending classes on everything from radio procedures to OE-254 antennas to MILES 2000 gear. Other than work, I've been trying to take advantage of the base's gym and pool.
Starting last Friday, we started moving into the tent city, in preparation for the actual combat simulation. Our job during the exercise is going to be running our own radios and computer network, as well as providing network connections for the other units in the Cantonment Forward Operating Base (FOB). The commo section is going to have our own tent, so we're using our resources to set up a "Morale, Welfare and Recreation" (MWR) tent. We're going to set up 3 or 4 computers for people to use the internet, a printer, and a projector screen for movies. We even brought popcorn and an air popper! For the last couple of days I was on day shift, but starting tonight I'll be on the night shift. Someone has to be in the tent 24 hours a day to guard the equipment. And with the exercise starting, if we hear blank gunfire or simulated mortars, we'll have to take appropriate action and turn out the lights and guard the doorway until the all-clear. Good times!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Sleepy Summer Days
Since coming back to Colorado from Zach's graduation, I've gotten back into the routine of preparing for AT and trying to wind down. Saturday I had a quick one-day drill, which I took to fill out my military license, take a HMMWV road test, and grab all of my gear. Sunday I spent with my Mom, and we visited family up north.
I've just about prepared everything for AT. Everything's packed into two standard duffel bags, compartmentalized using plastic zipper bags. I'm taking a camera, my GPS, and a few other amenities. I've decided to skip the laptop this time. It's just too heavy and bulky, and it's likely I won't have any internet access anyway. I'll be setting up an internet cafe at Fort Hunter Liggett, but for military computers only. I'll have to wait to see what sort of access I have down there. Potential internet deprivation aside, I'm pretty excited about this AT. It will be the first time our unit has done it all together in a long time, and I'm excited to find out how people handle being in the field, stuck with each other for longer than three days. It will be interesting, I'm sure of that much.
I've just about prepared everything for AT. Everything's packed into two standard duffel bags, compartmentalized using plastic zipper bags. I'm taking a camera, my GPS, and a few other amenities. I've decided to skip the laptop this time. It's just too heavy and bulky, and it's likely I won't have any internet access anyway. I'll be setting up an internet cafe at Fort Hunter Liggett, but for military computers only. I'll have to wait to see what sort of access I have down there. Potential internet deprivation aside, I'm pretty excited about this AT. It will be the first time our unit has done it all together in a long time, and I'm excited to find out how people handle being in the field, stuck with each other for longer than three days. It will be interesting, I'm sure of that much.
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