Week 1

The first week was pretty relaxed. Every week a new class of IRR(individual ready reserve) recalls reports for mobilization processing and my class only had about 25 people. The week before us had about 80 and this Sunday there will be about 180. With our small group we were able to process through very quickly and efficiently; giving us much more free time. Next week there will only be 11 people attending CTT. Needless to say, I am quite lucky.

In our group there were only 11 enlisted, including a first sergeant and a command sergeant major, while the rest were officers. There were three full colonels, a bunch of lieutenant colonels and even a one star general. Of the junior enlisted I've been mostly hangin out with there is another cav scout, an infantryman, and a mechanic. There is also a welder but he's getting sent home due to medical issues. Everyone is friendly, surprisingly even the drill sergeants, and they haven't pulled rank on the junior enlisted which has led to a very relaxed environment.

Until Wednesday I was processing to ensure that I was deployable. The picture on the left shows the checklist we had to go through before we were given the army mobilization stamp of approval. The highlights were the eight vaccines and new uniform issue I received. Of the eight vaccines I can only recall the anthrax, h1n1, hep a, hep b, and flu. Needles don't bother me but my arms were quite sore for a few days. I received a new complete uniform issue. Since I kept most of my old uniform issue I will likely be selling the new gear on ebay.

While the rest of the soldiers were completing processing on Thursday the three other junior enlisted soldiers and I just went to the PX(post exchange) for a couple hours and hung out for the rest of the time. Friday we received our TA-50 issue consisting of kevlar helmet, body armor, wet weather gear, a canteen and a gas mask. We also received a classroom land navigation and cultural awareness review. I did some chores and ran some errands for the rest of the day; getting in a 3 mile run before bed.

I planned to check out Columbia on saturday and get a hotel for a night but junked that idea after it started raining Saturday afternoon. I ended up just going downtown for a few hours with a few other soldiers. I'm not sure how I feel about the rain here. It makes everything dirty but it brought the temperature up a good 10 degrees from the 20 or so degree lows I encountered when I first got here. I think I've pretty much acclimated to the weather here though so all is well.

We're set to start our BRM(basic rifle marksmanship) training on Monday which should be fun.

Until then!

** My address in South Carolina is:
PFC Fang Philip
Echo Company, Class 14. TFM
5395 Leesburg Road, Building 3903
Eastover, SC 29044

I will only be here for another week so unless urgent I'd recommend waiting to mail anything. If necessary ensure it will arrive by Friday.