Change of pace

03SEP14
After a physically and mentally demanding qualification yesterday we went a complete 180 today with "death by powerpoint." Literally almost 11 hours in the classroom with a 40 minute lunch. We were expecting the chow hall but turned out to be MRE's again. We had 10 minute breaks in between but wow today was straight slide after slide.

As much as I have mentioned how physically demanding this is I'd say your mental fortitude is what gets you through. You know you're going to encounter heat, heavy gear, dangerous environment with guns but you mentally push yourself to get through.

04SEP2014
They brought out the big guns to play with today. We shot the 50 caliber gun, 240 bravo, and  249 bravo machine guns. Some serious power and adrenaline rush goes through you as you fire a weapon like that.

Field course range was a course in which we simulated running out of a MRAP vehicle (mine resistant assault vehicle) with our rifle taking cover behind a humvee. Moving on to a window where we popped 6 shots then running to another vehicle for cover and taking more shots. It was a fun stress free activity we got to do without worrying about qualifying. You can see how comfortable people are getting with the group as personalities are showing in a good way. One of the students (bats for the other team) an officer was screaming out of the vehicle and the entire course with a high pitched scream. It made the entire class laugh and the drill instructors got a kick out of it.

05SEP2014 Convoy training.
One final exercise we are gearing up for is the convoy simualtion. Seems like the drill instructors are more excited than we are as I can tell everyone is over this training and ready to move on to the next phase of our deployment. One of the training exercises was actually virtual in which scenarios were presented to us and there was a control room overseeing all activity. Although it was virtual they made it as realistic as possible with actual gun shot movements, hum vee trucks, and realistic events.