**Sorry for the delay on updates! Training became very high speed all of a sudden and my procrastination bit me in the butt ^_^ We have a few days off so I will try and get back on track this coming week. Media added to the previous post too.**
When we first arrived at B Troop we received an initial briefing from the drill sergeant on duty stating that we couldn’t eat or use chewing tobacco in our barracks, couldn’t carry pocket knives, weren’t to leave Disneyland(the small basic training area bordered by Disney street) and had to sign out on a roster every time we left to go to one of the three facilities available in the area: a shoppette with a ridiculously expensive(15 cents per minute) internet café, a small gym, and a running track. He said that the troop would try to treat us like permanent party and this was supposedly just an initial directive until the first sergeant was be able to come down and give us a briefing. That gave us hope for the coming week but we knew that, since the forty plus soldiers from Camp Mcgrady were getting in on Sunday, we wouldn’t get the briefing until Monday and our weekend plans of visiting Louisville were shot. We therefore basically sat around and did nothing for two and a half days in our eight man rooms. Gotta love the Army!
Things didn’t get any better after the briefing. As a matter of fact, they got worse. We were marched to chow every meal even if we wanted to order pizza instead, we had a Red Line for accountability where we had to recite the Soldier’s Creed every night at 2100, and towards the end of the week a drill even told us we couldn’t nap when we had free time nor lay on our racks to rest. We were basically held to basic training standards and protocols aside from having more free time, being allowed to eat whatever we wanted, and being allowed to use tobacco products.
Two new drills out of the troop’s twelve were rotated in to oversee us everyday so rules changed all the time. One drill even made us do CQ(Charge of Quarters) and fireguard duty and after complaining we still ended up rotating on CQ every night. There was one drill that stood out. He called us “faggots” and teased people about being overweight, said soldier’s combat patches were meaningless since they didn’t have discipline, and made us grab our balls at times when we didn’t sound off loud enough. Some of the soldiers got so fed up that they reported him to IG(Inspector General) and someone’s wife even called their congressman. These things didn’t bother me much since I knew he was just teasing most of the time but, mixing his serious disciplinary statements with the playful ones on top of the fact that most of us didn’t want to be there in the first place, a bunch of the soldiers were offended and took it personally.
Being on a TRADOC(Training Doctrine) post, arguably the worst one, was really irritating to us IRR guys; especially since we were heading to the exact opposite type of duty station: a FOB in a combat zone. TRADOC posts are always demoralizing because the training environment requires everything to be done by the book and is almost a crime if not. I can understand how they need to follow regulations and instill discipline to train soldiers but it can be taken too far very easily since there are no other missions at hand. Compared with a line unit where, as long as work gets done and the missions are accomplished, rules can be bent, TRADOC protocol is often very trivial. For example, a lieutenant colonel had nothing to do for 20 minutes one morning but stand on a walkway outside our barracks waiting for soldiers to pass by without saluting him so he could chew them out. A lot of the drill sergeants, who are almost all staff sergeants, even expected a handful of IRR sergeants, only one rank lower, to stand at parade rest when speaking with them even though that would never happen in any normal unit. With too many ridiculous things to describe, it’s not surprising why Fort Knox has one of the highest suicide rates out of all the posts in the Army.
On Monday the new group started their training and we joined them since we couldn’t be left idle in a TRADOC environment. They did a pretest on all the subjects we covered plus POMing the 240B 7.62mm machine gun, the M203 rifle mounted 40mm grenade launcher, the SINCGARS/ASIP(new smaller version) radio system, and dismounted hand signals.
Tuesday, instead of riding our trusty air conditioned cattle truck from the previous week, we marched out to the motor pool in a foot of snow to finish the pretest with all the BFV skills tests, topographical maps and the M4 Carbine. That night we convinced the training cadre that we didn’t need to go out and do the BFV and HMMWV day and night driving again so on Wednesday after our daily 0530 PT and breakfast we were able to hang out at the troop supply room. We did the same on Thursday but ended up organizing a shed full of OSUT dropouts’ gear in 10 degree weather. I would have preferred the 240B and M203 EST training that the other soldiers went through.
I finally got my orders that day sending me to my mobilization site but I was getting sent to Camp Shelby, MS; a mob site for Iraq. I had to delay my initial report date because of a dental issue so I knew my orders would change since the unit I was originally assigned to would be almost done with their tour by the time I was ready to deploy. Nonetheless I was almost certain that I would be headed to Afghanistan since my job wouldn’t be of much use in Iraq where it is quite stable. I was initially quite irritated since, if I am to go to war, I would like to see some combat and would prefer to be in the mountains of Afghanistan where fighting is more similar to conventional war in that civilians are not mixed in with the enemy as much. After further reflection I felt more at ease with this change since living standards will be exponentially better at the built up FOBs in Iraq and since it might be God preventing me from getting hurt or dying in Afghanistan. One sergeant I met at Fort Knox put it best stating, “Easy money!” since I get all the same benefits as I would in Afghanistan but will have to go through much less hardship.
One wake up and I was on my way to Louisville at 0500 on to Camp Shelby, MS. I couldn’t wait to get out of Knox but Shelby wasn’t all that much better either!
More to come soon ;D
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Fort Knox
Going back to Fort Knox, the OSUT(One Station Unit Training) squadron 5/15 Cav in particular, brought back many memories; mostly good and some stressful. Luckily I was in a different position this time as a graduate instead of a new trainee. The IRR recalled scouts were inserted into an OSUT troop for housing but were treated like permanent party. After training we were able to go off post and, although we trained on Saturdays, we had passes so we could leave as long as we came back in time for PT(Physical Training) on Monday.
It was quite interesting to see how OSUT has changed at Knox. Instead of having to rush to the hallway in ten seconds after “Red Line” is called, the “Warriors”, not “Privates” anymore, are given most announcements over the emergency intercom system. Although we were housed at the ends of the barracks we would still experience the flashing strobe lights and drill sergeant sounding off over the intercom like a deity; sometimes in the middle of the night. Now the drills couldn’t smoke(forced PT to muscle failure) trainees inside the barracks and couldn’t even call it a smoking for some reason. Drill sergeants also play a counseling role now with trainees claiming PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from training or even life before their enlistment. With the Army getting so soft, medical clinics are ordered to take these claims seriously and often even prescribe antidepressants for them. One drill told me that the scout trainees were falling out of their troops for serious medical reasons or for going to sick call and missing too much training at a rate of around 50%. Although when I went through OSUT it was much less harsh than it was in the past, mainly due to mandates preventing physically disciplining trainees, we only had a 20% fallout rate and going to sick call was still frowned upon if the issue was not critical. This makes me wonder what our next generation of soldiers will be like. Hopefully we’ll have mostly unmanned vehicles and robots so we won’t have to rely on combat soldiers as much.
It’s funny how people stereotype Asians. I can see how it happens though since I have not seen any at Camp Mcgrady nor at Fort Knox. As we all know, stereotypes are based on truths and, although I don’t fit into the scrawny and nerdy Asian archetype, I do actually fit into many of the other guidelines. I played instruments when I was younger, I am pretty good at math, pretty decent with computers, and my parents both had technical careers that required higher education. The main stereotype that I don’t fit into is that I’ve never really trained in any martial art. EVERYONE thinks I know kung fu. I tell them it’s genetic. At Knox, on a driving course, people started calling me a ninja after I wore a balaclava to fight the cold.
Everybody thinks I have the coolest last name too. You’d be surprised by the interesting last names out there. The guy I’ve been traveling with is Ball. There’s another guy named Box. One of the guys at Knox was White which, with me, made White Fang. The best I’ve heard of is a guy with the last name of Nutsandwich. Since everyone is referred to by their last name, nicknames are easily made and are very popular.
On our first day at Fort Knox we went through a vehicle identification slideshow in the morning and did a UCOFT(Unit Conduct Of Fire Trainer) exercise in the evening. The UCOFT was a BFV(Bradley Fighting Vehicle) gunnery simulator. With early 90’s graphics on the screens and view ports we would identify all types of targets and destroy them with the Bradley’s weapon arsenal. The BFV has two TOW(Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) missile launchers, a 25mm chain gun that fires HE(High Explosive), AP(Armor Piercing), or DU(Depleted Uranium) rounds, and the 240C coaxial 7.62mm Machine Gun. UCOFT training is quite fun, just like a video game, but was pointless since there are no Bradleys in Afghanistan. That night I went to the post bowling alley with a few guys, had a few brews, and disco bowled for two hours. I hit 190 that night and started trying to curve the ball but can’t get it to curve much.
Sunday was pretty relaxed. I slept in, got my gear squared away, and slept early to wake up at 0500 for PT.
On Monday we did BFV training and a bit of HMMWV training as well. We PMCSed(Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services) the HMMWV and did the same on the Bradley plus fire and NBC contingency training, loading and unloading the TOW and 25mm ready box, and we also POMed(Perform Operator’s Maintenance) the M242 25mm chain-fed autocannon. PMCSing vehicles is pretty straight forward. You just go through a service manual to note any issues and ensure the vehicle doesn’t have any serious problems or missing items that would make it inoperable according to the standard. In case of a fire on a Bradley we evacuate the vehicle and pull the halon fire extinguisher system handle that correlates with the compartment on fire. If unable to evacuate the vehicle before the halon system is initiated, we must first wear our NBC pro masks since the halon agent removes all oxygen from the vehicle. In an NBC situation we basically need to hook up air tubes and communications to our masks and turn the system on. To Load the TOW we just slide the missile into the launcher tube through the rear hatch after doing some checks on the missile and launcher. The 25mm ready box is a bit more complicated. We need to align the turret for loading, take the ammo out of its storage cans, link the 15 round belts into a minimum 45 round belt, and load the belt into the ready box; hanging specified rounds off the rack to ensure a smooth ammo feed. To POM the 25mm we need to break it down, reassemble it, and perform a functions check.
The next day we turned in our orders and helped the OSUT troop we were living with move things to a new barracks.
On Wednesday we moved stuff in the morning, drove the BFV in the afternoon, and drove HMMWVs at night with NODs(Night Observation Device).
On Thursday we did some more practical training. We did a MOUT review, which consisted of a drill sergeant asking if we remembered how to do it, and POMed the MK19 40mm automatic grenade launcher and M2 .50 caliber machine gun. I haven’t touched these weapons for years now and, with these being our main weapons aside from our rifles, it was nice to get some practice. The M2 is pretty simple to disassemble and reassemble but I completely forgot how to set the headspace and timing. Setting the headspace and timing on the M2 after switching barrels is necessary to prevent the weapon from exploding. The MK19 is a bit more difficult to break down but is easy once you get the hang of it. We also had to clear, react to malfunctions, and perform function checks on the weapons to POM them.
On Friday we did our SST(Scout Skills Test) to see if we had all the basic skills necessary for our job. It was really worthless though since, if we got no go’s on some of the tests, it wouldn’t prevent us from leaving Knox nor deploying. When we first arrived at Knox we were inserted into training with a bunch of IRR recalled scouts who had been there for a week already. They only had about two days of training and with the small group, a total of nineteen, it wasn’t very efficient to start a new training schedule for the five new guys. Hence, we tested out on training after the first week of the two we were supposed to be there. The only training we missed was SINCGARS, call for fire, and POMing the 240B 7.62mm machine gun. I did well and got go’s on all the tasks which wasn’t very hard since most of the instructors were very forgiving and giving guidance while we were being tested. We moved some more stuff for Hotel troop that day and ended up moving as well. We, however, moved to a separate building that happened to be the same building that I spent four months living in while going through OSUT; at Bravo troop 5/15 Cav.
Bravo troop was on an OSUT cycle break so we had the whole barracks to ourselves. This was to accommodate the forty plus scouts that were reporting on Sunday from Camp Mcgrady, SC. With this many people Bravo decided to come down hard with the rules and, for some reason, while quartering us like trainees the drill sergeants decided to treat us like them too. Needless to say the coming week would be the most dreadful week of my mob process so far.
Until next time! ;D
It was quite interesting to see how OSUT has changed at Knox. Instead of having to rush to the hallway in ten seconds after “Red Line” is called, the “Warriors”, not “Privates” anymore, are given most announcements over the emergency intercom system. Although we were housed at the ends of the barracks we would still experience the flashing strobe lights and drill sergeant sounding off over the intercom like a deity; sometimes in the middle of the night. Now the drills couldn’t smoke(forced PT to muscle failure) trainees inside the barracks and couldn’t even call it a smoking for some reason. Drill sergeants also play a counseling role now with trainees claiming PTSD(Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from training or even life before their enlistment. With the Army getting so soft, medical clinics are ordered to take these claims seriously and often even prescribe antidepressants for them. One drill told me that the scout trainees were falling out of their troops for serious medical reasons or for going to sick call and missing too much training at a rate of around 50%. Although when I went through OSUT it was much less harsh than it was in the past, mainly due to mandates preventing physically disciplining trainees, we only had a 20% fallout rate and going to sick call was still frowned upon if the issue was not critical. This makes me wonder what our next generation of soldiers will be like. Hopefully we’ll have mostly unmanned vehicles and robots so we won’t have to rely on combat soldiers as much.
It’s funny how people stereotype Asians. I can see how it happens though since I have not seen any at Camp Mcgrady nor at Fort Knox. As we all know, stereotypes are based on truths and, although I don’t fit into the scrawny and nerdy Asian archetype, I do actually fit into many of the other guidelines. I played instruments when I was younger, I am pretty good at math, pretty decent with computers, and my parents both had technical careers that required higher education. The main stereotype that I don’t fit into is that I’ve never really trained in any martial art. EVERYONE thinks I know kung fu. I tell them it’s genetic. At Knox, on a driving course, people started calling me a ninja after I wore a balaclava to fight the cold.
Everybody thinks I have the coolest last name too. You’d be surprised by the interesting last names out there. The guy I’ve been traveling with is Ball. There’s another guy named Box. One of the guys at Knox was White which, with me, made White Fang. The best I’ve heard of is a guy with the last name of Nutsandwich. Since everyone is referred to by their last name, nicknames are easily made and are very popular.
On our first day at Fort Knox we went through a vehicle identification slideshow in the morning and did a UCOFT(Unit Conduct Of Fire Trainer) exercise in the evening. The UCOFT was a BFV(Bradley Fighting Vehicle) gunnery simulator. With early 90’s graphics on the screens and view ports we would identify all types of targets and destroy them with the Bradley’s weapon arsenal. The BFV has two TOW(Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) missile launchers, a 25mm chain gun that fires HE(High Explosive), AP(Armor Piercing), or DU(Depleted Uranium) rounds, and the 240C coaxial 7.62mm Machine Gun. UCOFT training is quite fun, just like a video game, but was pointless since there are no Bradleys in Afghanistan. That night I went to the post bowling alley with a few guys, had a few brews, and disco bowled for two hours. I hit 190 that night and started trying to curve the ball but can’t get it to curve much.
Sunday was pretty relaxed. I slept in, got my gear squared away, and slept early to wake up at 0500 for PT.
On Monday we did BFV training and a bit of HMMWV training as well. We PMCSed(Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services) the HMMWV and did the same on the Bradley plus fire and NBC contingency training, loading and unloading the TOW and 25mm ready box, and we also POMed(Perform Operator’s Maintenance) the M242 25mm chain-fed autocannon. PMCSing vehicles is pretty straight forward. You just go through a service manual to note any issues and ensure the vehicle doesn’t have any serious problems or missing items that would make it inoperable according to the standard. In case of a fire on a Bradley we evacuate the vehicle and pull the halon fire extinguisher system handle that correlates with the compartment on fire. If unable to evacuate the vehicle before the halon system is initiated, we must first wear our NBC pro masks since the halon agent removes all oxygen from the vehicle. In an NBC situation we basically need to hook up air tubes and communications to our masks and turn the system on. To Load the TOW we just slide the missile into the launcher tube through the rear hatch after doing some checks on the missile and launcher. The 25mm ready box is a bit more complicated. We need to align the turret for loading, take the ammo out of its storage cans, link the 15 round belts into a minimum 45 round belt, and load the belt into the ready box; hanging specified rounds off the rack to ensure a smooth ammo feed. To POM the 25mm we need to break it down, reassemble it, and perform a functions check.
The next day we turned in our orders and helped the OSUT troop we were living with move things to a new barracks.
On Wednesday we moved stuff in the morning, drove the BFV in the afternoon, and drove HMMWVs at night with NODs(Night Observation Device).
On Thursday we did some more practical training. We did a MOUT review, which consisted of a drill sergeant asking if we remembered how to do it, and POMed the MK19 40mm automatic grenade launcher and M2 .50 caliber machine gun. I haven’t touched these weapons for years now and, with these being our main weapons aside from our rifles, it was nice to get some practice. The M2 is pretty simple to disassemble and reassemble but I completely forgot how to set the headspace and timing. Setting the headspace and timing on the M2 after switching barrels is necessary to prevent the weapon from exploding. The MK19 is a bit more difficult to break down but is easy once you get the hang of it. We also had to clear, react to malfunctions, and perform function checks on the weapons to POM them.
On Friday we did our SST(Scout Skills Test) to see if we had all the basic skills necessary for our job. It was really worthless though since, if we got no go’s on some of the tests, it wouldn’t prevent us from leaving Knox nor deploying. When we first arrived at Knox we were inserted into training with a bunch of IRR recalled scouts who had been there for a week already. They only had about two days of training and with the small group, a total of nineteen, it wasn’t very efficient to start a new training schedule for the five new guys. Hence, we tested out on training after the first week of the two we were supposed to be there. The only training we missed was SINCGARS, call for fire, and POMing the 240B 7.62mm machine gun. I did well and got go’s on all the tasks which wasn’t very hard since most of the instructors were very forgiving and giving guidance while we were being tested. We moved some more stuff for Hotel troop that day and ended up moving as well. We, however, moved to a separate building that happened to be the same building that I spent four months living in while going through OSUT; at Bravo troop 5/15 Cav.
Bravo troop was on an OSUT cycle break so we had the whole barracks to ourselves. This was to accommodate the forty plus scouts that were reporting on Sunday from Camp Mcgrady, SC. With this many people Bravo decided to come down hard with the rules and, for some reason, while quartering us like trainees the drill sergeants decided to treat us like them too. Needless to say the coming week would be the most dreadful week of my mob process so far.
Until next time! ;D
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