Departure Date

M-16 Motion Qual

Finally the time has come to depart the US!!! It felt at times it would never come and now that it's been set, its been jam packed days all the way. We currently have a 2 days pass to Seattle, with overnights; which I am grateful for. Its been awesome to take a break from that insane place of FT Lewis. I do also have an address now, which I may have mentioned before, but I am not giving it out until I get there as the Navy can sometimes (insert sarcasm...'hard to believe') change plans of where people end up.

Motion Qual in action

With leaving we've been issued more gear, more gear and more gear. Its been too overwhelming for me just yet to think about how I am going to compact some things down. I must get it together soon!!! We've also done a bit more with our M-16 for qualifications, as well as grenades and mines. I repeat it as a joke on a daily basis; but something really bad is happening if they are sending an ICU nurse cross the wire to throw grenades or set up mines. But this is all for just in case.

Blue Grenades...aka "Blue Balls"

Might be a bit for my next entry, but my next entry should be from Afganistan. God bless!

Training

Training is trucking right along....I have learned more Army lingo than I could have ever imagined to include such word and terms as I have translated below;

Galley=Chow Hall

You Tracking?=Are you paying attention? Do you understand?

Lets break...every 40 minutes

Glow belts=Safety reflection belts we must wear from dusk till dawn

Weapon appreciation-bringing it with you EVERwhere you go

Latrine=bathroom or as the Navy calls them, 'heads'

Cattle Car=large vehicle much like cow trucks

More acyronyms than I can shake a stick at like NVGs (night vision goggles), EST (simulators), PMI (something about instruction), ACU (uniform), etc....

50 Caliber Simulator

The Army is strange in its ways...but its still been fun playing soldier. This week was the biggest perk with Humvee drivers training completion. I can successfully operate an M1151 HMMWV independently. It was like being able to mudd in the coolest 4 wheel vehicle ever. We did a few night drives as well, and I was able to take some sweet pictures as below. The NVG's can play tricks on your mind, but the view is awesome.

Night Vision Goggle View of skyline

The rest of the past few weeks have been hit or miss with our schedule. We continue to have lots of white spaced time and days off. They have created more unneeded courses, like 50 cal (fun, but will never shoot one) and such to fill our space. Once we have gotten a day pass to Seattle, and we are scheduled to have 2 overnight liberty periods before we leave. Most all of us are of course excited, but eager to get over to Afganistan as well. We are replacing a crew that is waiting on us to get there and have thus been extended. Still glitches in communications, but its all good. We'll be there in the next few weeks. Still no definite word on departure, but sometime before 11 March.

FT Lewis

I have safely arrived and successfully completed just about 1 week of training. There was a delay in arrival due to snow storms in Virginia, and then my toiletries and makeup were stolen from my sea bag...that set me over the top after a long day of travel. But with the help of the people I knew from NMPS and some newly acquired friends, I made out okay. Of course I can live without makeup, but it sure makes me feel better when stripped of all other femininity.

This week has gone by very fast and has included; weapons issue (must keep M-16, M-9 on body at all times...or have ENS Locker aka my locker watch them), M-16 and M-19 qualification, Humvee simulator rollovers, cleaning of weapons, simulator shooting, of course uniform issue (cold weather, Kevlar and flack gear). Heavy flack jacket and wearing all gear has been rough on my body, but I am young and I am doing alright with a little help from my friends Aleve and Advil. Its fun to find new bruises and I every time I put my flack jacket on I keep thinking it will be lighter. It hasn't gotten lighter yet :) I will post a few pictures when I can.

The living arrangement could be better....but we have heat, beds and warm water...more than some get. The buildings are circa 1940's built and the beds are about that too. Since I arrived late I got stuck with a top bunk. The showers within the structure are open, but there is also a shower trailer with more privacy and lockers a few buildings down. Computer access is limited, but we do have it in certain buildings and we get time on most days in the evening for access. Important to note also, we are training with the Air Force and our instructors are Army people. They aren't the nicest, I will leave it at that. And they call the Air Force "chair force" for a reason. They are the biggest groups of whiners I have ever met. No disrespect to the ones I have met so far, they take ownership to their whining at least.

That's all on my end, still no address for Afghanistan, standing by :)