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Nickname: ArmyRob
Bio: 26 M living near Richmond, VA
Age: 28
Gender: M
Location: Ft Lee, Virginia
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| Moving |
| Things are finally over in Oklahoma, now I'm off to Virginia. My friend flew into Dallas, TX on Friday and we drove to Kansas City, MO to watch the Michigan Ohio State game on Saturday. Needless to say Michigan lost (boo) but hopefully USC will lose this weekend so we can have a second shot at the Buckeyes. UM played a sloppy game and lost by three. Things are a lot more busy in Michigan than I had anticipated and I'm not sure if I'm going to get a chance to hang out with as many people as I thought I was going to. The whole Thanksgiving thing is throwing a loop into it all. That's it for now. I'll be heading to Virginia later this week for 14 more weeks of training. Thankfully this will be my last school until I make the rank of Captain, or until I get deployed. Adios, Rob |
| Posted: 11/21/2006 1:18:01 PM |
| One week left |
| Well tomorrow we start our final week of offical training here at BOLC II. We technically have two weeks remaining, however the final week is spent outprocessing so it will be super easy. We're going to be out in the field for four days and three nights. Things should be interesting because there will be "24 hour operations" meaning there won't be an offical scheduele just random missions, etc. There is also going to be a 10 mile ruck march which will probably be physically demanding. Our field exercise will be more compact than normal because friday is the start of a long holiday weekend for the Army. I guess that's all for now. Rob |
| Posted: 11/5/2006 7:23:29 PM |
| Land Nav |
| Today we woke up at 0330 and headed out to the land nav course at 0400. The course is on the other side of Ft Sill so it was a long ride in the LMTV (Light Medium Troop Vehicle) to our destination. The area that the course is located in is completely different from any part of Oklahoma I've seen. When we got there it was so dark out you could clearly see the milky way and about a billion other stars, it was very pretty. We got our maps and coordinates at about 0430 so there was still plenty of darkness until sunrise. Our test required us to find five out of eight points within the given five hour time limit. It takes about 15 - 20 minutes to plot all points on the map so I took my time so that I would have less darkness to walk through. Once I plotted my points I realized one of my points was a little over two and a half miles to the west just off a paved supply road so I decided that would be a good starting point that way I would have a nice easy walk and get to the point just around sun up. This plan worked out perfectly and I was very surprised once the sun came up to see that I was completely surrounded by large hill/mountains. The larger mountains ranged from 500 - 800 feet and the terrain was very rocky with lots of cliffs, cacti and other desert like vegetation. 0nce the sun was just below the horizon I saw some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen in my life. This particular land nav test was a solo mission so there I was all by myself standing on top of a 600 foot mountain with a view over several miles in every direction with a cool breeze watching the sun rise with nobody else in site. All I kept saying to myself was "I wish I would have brought my camera" which is ironic because when I got back to the start/finish point everyone else was saying the same thing. I think everyone else found a hill or mountain to scale just to watch the sunrise. It was very surreal... maybe it's good that I didn't have my camera. Some things are so beautiful that taking pictures is robbery. You're only allowed to have those moments once. I'd say the only other moments I've had like that were in Colorado and Utah. I guess there's something about the mountains. Later on in the day we got our results - I got six out of eight points. Not perfect, but I passed so I won't have to retest. The rest of the day was spent taking care of paperwork and other boring stuff. |
| Posted: 10/30/2006 8:10:00 PM |
| Oklahoma City |
| Got time for a real quick post, so here goes: My friend Kyle (went to basic training and OCS together)and I spent the weekend in Oklahoma City. Had a great time, there is a really awesome area called "Bricktown". There is about 50 bars all within walking distance of each other so we hit up a bunch of them. We met two interesting girls that went to University of Oklahoma that were in town for a modeling shoot. We ate dinner at Toby Keith's resteraunt which had excellent food and good entertainment. I also went and visited the memorial for the OK City bombing (Timothy McVeigh). That was really neat. Other than that nothing else is new. I have to be up at 3:30 am tomorrow for a land navigation test. In other words, time for bed. Adios, Rob |
| Posted: 10/29/2006 9:17:41 PM |
| New Post |
| Sorry I haven't posted lately - I have to hook my cellphone up to my computer in order to get online and my service is crappy at best here so it's pretty tough to get online. Lets see, last time I posted I think we were about to head into week #2. Week two is hand to hand combat training where we learned brazilian judizu (probably misspelled). We did spend five hours per day for five straight days honing our techniques and sparring. I must say - that stuff really works! We started off with basic moves and then moved as far as our instructors were allowed to go. Brazilian Jud. is a form of ground fighting that allows you to gain "dominant positions" on your opponent so that you can either choke them out or break their arm/leg, etc. I'm not the fighting type but next time I get in a scuffle things will be interesting, heh. Week three was pretty much spent at the range shooting our M4 assault rifles. The M4 is the new version of the M16. The cool thing about the M4's we use is that they have the M68 close combat optic (CCO) on it. This is a sight that you look through with a red dot inside that you put on the target instead of the traditional iron sites used on most rifles. The CCO is very effective and easy to use. Yet another toy we Americans have that the enemy doesn't. Right now we're currently on week 4. This week has been a mix of crew served (machine gun) weapon fire/familiarization and military operation urban terrain (MOUT) training. On Tuesday we spent the day at the range shooting a Mark19 (automatic grenade launcher), M240B (big machine gun), SAW gun (small machine gun), M203 (grenade launcher attatched to a M4), and last but definately not least the good ol' .50 caliber machine gun (machine gun that shoots rounds about the size of a penny roll). I got a video of me shooting the .50 cal, hopefully I can get it posted. The latter half of this week has been spent on MOUT training which is entering buildings and clearing rooms, etc. Next week will focus on land navigation, convoy ops and then we'll head out on a field exercise for week 6 which is going to be hectic because they're going to be throwing stuff at us 24/7 all week. The week after that is the last week where we'll clean up all the gear they gave us so we can give it back. I graduate on 17 Nov and will be heading back to Michigan for Thanksgiving, then I'll be off to Virginia until Xmas, and then eventually until March 1. My best friend Mike is flying in on 17 Nov and we're going to stay in Dallas, TX for the weekend before driving home. Sorry for the short post but I should get going before I lost my internet connection again. Later, Rob |
| Posted: 10/27/2006 3:53:22 PM |
| Another post... |
| Well the last two days haven't been terribly exciting. Yesterday we had an APFT and then sat through some boring classes about ethics and all that kind of stuff. I nearly fell asleep about a dozen times. In the afternoon we went to a communications class that showed us an in depth look at how the radios work. It's pretty impressive how much technology is put into scrambling the radio waves so the enemy can't tap in. This morning we woke up at 03:30 and got on some troop carriers that took us somewhere out away from the post. We did a five mile squad sized (8 people) ruck to a FOB (Forward Operations Base) and encountered some training excercises along the way (simulated casualties, etc). The cool thing is we got issued our brand spankin' new M4 rifles. The M4 is a LOT lighter and compact than the M16 which makes rucking with it a little more enjoyable. All the other gear we get here is brand new so that's also a plus. All in all, it wasn't a long march at all so it didn't kill us (although some people were taking it worse than others) and it gave myself and my squad mates some quality time to get to know each other. Also I got to talk with our squad trainer, an E6 from South Carolina that is turning out to be a really squared away, cool NCO. When he makes E7 I'll envy the 2LT that gets him as a platoon Sgt. After the ruck we went back to the barracks where I got about 45 mins sleep in before we headed out to a banquet type hall where we met our Regimental Commander (Colonel) and our Battalion Commander (Lieutenant Colonel). Once they both spoke we were released back to our barracks once again and I went off post to get one of my uniforms from the alterations place and to Outback for a steak. In about an hour we have to go back to that same place because we're having a social event with "top brass" (a bunch of Officers that severely out rank us) wich includes finger food and a lot of beer so that should be a fun time. After that we're released for the weekend - I still haven't decided if I'm going to stay here or head to Oklahoma City for the weekend. Well, I guess that's all for now. Take care, Rob |
| Posted: 10/6/2006 4:55:22 PM |
| Day III |
| Well its day three here at Ft Sill. Things are still going pretty good, but this town is really driving me nuts. I swear its layed out so stupid and I always realize while I'm driving through an intersection that I should have turned there only to realize that there isn't a place to turn around or turn off for like two miles. I can't really explain it but I swear it happens at least 10 times per day. Also, there are very few resteraunts in this town. Yesterday some of my buddies and I from basic training and OCS went out for dinner and they showed me where "all the resteraunts are." There was a Chili's, Applebees, Red Lobster, Outback and Lonestar. Now Chili's and Applebees are the exact same thing and so are Lonestar and Outback. That pretty much makes three chain resteraunts to choose from. Today I wanted to get some pasta for dinner (energy for tomorrow's PT test) and I literally drove around for 45 minutes looking for an Italian resteraunt. Once I found one it was a "since 1953" type place that I have no idea how its been open that long because the fifty three year old recipe for spaghetti wasn't all that good. As far as BOLC II goes things are still going very good. I'm surprised with how much freedom we get. Yesterday I got all my dental and audiology stuff done and since hardly anyone else did this morning all I had to do was show up for a drug test then I had nothing to do until after lunch. During that time I went and got my pretty blue (officer) Department of Defense sticker on my truck, got a haircut, had some of my uniforms altered (new patches sewn on) and got some brunch. After that I went to Wal-Mart and got some plastic drawers because I don't have enough room in my wall locker for all my stuff. Once lunch time rolled around I went back to the barracks and got on a bus to the medical clinic. This part of the day sucked because I had to get some more shots - one of which included the infamous penicilin shot to the butt which hurts REALLY bad. As a matter of fact my right butt cheek currently feels like it got hit with a sledge hammer. Once that was all over I went out to dinner (see above) and then went to the casino for about an hour and a half and played poker. I won $50 so that was cool because it paid for all my expenses throughout the day. Other than that, nothing much is really happening around here. We have our first APFT (Army Personal Fitness Test) tomorrow which consists of pushups, situps and a two mile run. Should be a blast. This weekend is a long weekend because of Columbus day so some buddies and I are either going to Dallas, TX or Oklahoma City. Hopefully we go to OK city because Toby Keith has a resteraunt there that you can get a free hamburger and fries at if you show a military ID. I hear the burger is killer too. That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to talk about next time. If not maybe I'll tell you about my roomates. Adios, Rob |
| Posted: 10/4/2006 9:28:54 PM |
| BOLC II day one |
| Well today was the first day at BOLC II (Basic Officer Leadership Course #2). Things started off bright and early at 4:45 AM with a wake up call followed by PT (Physical Training). We formed up, stretched out and headed off on a two mile run at a pretty slow pace. Nobody fell out of the run so I guess it was overall a success. The rest of the day was very boring. All we did was inprocess which consists of paperwork, getting shots, drawing blood, eye exams, hearing tests and a LOT of waiting around. The chow hall serves up some pretty good food but is located about 1/4 of a mile from our barracks so its quite the walk in the 95 degree heat just to get something to eat. It's now about 8:45 and it seems like I've been up for days - its been a while since I got up that early. As a matter of fact, I'm used to going to bed that late (I've always been a late nighter). The best part about BOLC II so far is the fact that we're actually treated with some respect for once. Most of the staff that gives us guidance are enlisted personnel so they have to call us "sir" and are overall very nice to us. We're pretty much let go every day at 5:00 pm and can do whatever we want from that point on until the next morning's formation. It's MUCH better than OCS so far... Well, I think I am going to go to bed now - I got about 2 hours sleep last night which was off and on throughout the night. I'm super tired. Adios, Rob |
| Posted: 10/2/2006 8:49:21 PM |
| Lawton, OK |
| Well I got to Lawton, Oklahoma today and I guess my feelings are indifferent. Once I arrived I reserved a room at the local Hamton Inn (I'm die hard Hampton fan and reccommend it to anyone that travels) and jumped in the shower. After I got out of the shower I called some of my Army buddies to notify them I'm here so we could hang out. Well, to no surprise everyone was out of town and couldn't hang out (not blaming them, blaming myself for calling once I got here instead of 8 hours before when I left St. Louis so they could actually plan) so I took the initiative to have a ball by myself. I asked the lady at the desk "What's a place near here that I can get a beer and chill out?". She replied: "try 'girtlestones' right across the street". So I went across the street and hung out long enough to find out that a.) it was a really nice bar, but very slow for a Saturday and b.) girls from Oklahoma have super hot accents! After three beers I kindly excused myself and went back to the hotel looking for something more exciting. Once inside, I asked a passing hotel resident that looked like they knew a thing or two about Lawton: "Hey, where are the heavy metal bars in this town??" and he replied: "Railside for sure". So I called a cab and changed my clothes (to all black of course) and once the cabby arrived we shoved off towards the railside. When we got there I wasn't sure If I wanted to go in alone because it looked super shady. I thought about this for about 3 seconds and realized that if there's one thing I've learned over the past few years about metal bars - THEY ALL LOOK SHADY. I closed my eyes and jumped in head first. Once inside I realized it was just like every other metal bar I've been to. A lot of people that looked mean or tough at the same place for the same reason - to see a metal band (same reason I was there). Once I recognized this I was very comfortable and at home. The bartenders name was "Kay" which I'm unsure if that is how you spell it or pronounce it, but she was a Korean woman with a petite build that looked like her odometer read 100,000 miles. I guess that's par for the course in a military town - a foreign woman working an average job because they have a green card from the military man that has now left her. Either way she was a sweetheart that knew what a "black toothed grin" was (shot consisting of Jack Daniels with a splash of Coca-Cola). U.P. Kyle, one of my best friends on Earth taught me what a BTG was and I've rarely ordered one since becase of its tendency to make me puke. Anyway, I've never in my entire life met a bartender that could pour a BTG regardless of race or sex so this woman was rare like a well done steak in Kansas City. Well Once I had a few drinks I loosened up and made some new friends. Needless to say I'll be calling them boys up in the near future to hang out and hopefully we'll have as much fun as toninght. Well anyway, with that said I guess it's time for me to hit the hay. Sorry about the sudden ending but tomorrow I have to check into my new life (for 7 weeks) and it's getting late now. I'll write again soon, I promise. Rob P.S. Yeah, it was also 94 degrees here today. |
| Posted: 10/1/2006 3:57:15 AM |
| Leaving Tomorrow |
| Well, tomorrow I leave for Ft. Sill. It's in Oklahoma for anyone that doesn't know. It's about a 20 hour drive from Michigan so I'm gonna be plenty bored on the way. Illinois, Missouri and Kansas aren't exactly the sweetest states in the Union. I checked the ten day forecast and it's going to be in the mid 90's there during the day for most of next week. That sucks because I'm a cold weather kind of guy and it was just starting to cool off in Michigan to the point where I could wear long sleeves and jeans all the time. Last year I missed most of winter and this year I'm going to miss fall and winter. I also changed the weather thing on the top right part of the blog to Ft. Sill so you can see what the current weather is like there. |
| Posted: 9/28/2006 9:49:34 PM |
| update |
| Just doing a quick update so that my blog won't be deleted. I'm going to be heading back for some training on Oct. 1st so stay tuned for more info. That's all for now, Rob |
| Posted: 9/19/2006 2:23:44 AM |
| two day hitting streak |
| Well the good luck continues. I went out to dinner with a friend tonight at a resteraunt called "The Wildfish" which has excellent seafood. When we returned to the barracks I realized I forgot my cell phone on the table so I called them and they had it and it could be picked up anytime before 10 PM. I hopped in the truck and got there within 15 minutes and the manager greeted me at the door with "some bad news". Apparently somebody took my phone from where they had it stored. The manager assured me that it wasn't an employee because he patted each employee down and searched their cars. Sweet. Looks like somebody else wanted that fancy $300 razr phone more than I did. Enjoy your freedom buddy. ::salute:: |
| Posted: 6/7/2006 10:04:09 PM |
| Nine days left |
| Well today we ran the five mile release run (release means individual as opposed to a platoon run) and I passed by completing the run in 42 minutes and some change. I wasn't looking forward to doing it, but once I got on the track it was surprisingly easy. I felt like I could go another three at least when I crossed the finish line. Tomorrow the company is schedueled to visit a civil war prison. Coincidently I had my flight physical schedueled during this time and was notified I had to cancel my physical so I could go on the field trip. This uspets me greatly because yes, I would like to visit the prison because I will definately learn from it, but come on. I'm being forced to skip something that could greatly influence my military career for a learning experience? Now I have to rescheduele (2-5 days waiting list) and postpone my application process for the aviation slot out west. Not to mention, once the physical is complete it needs to be sent to Ft. Rucker Alabama to be certified by a flight surgeon there which takes another 5 to 7 days. If I got the physical done tomorrow I could get all this done by the time I graduate. Now I might be here after graduation which really stinks. Oh well - thats Army life for ya. Yee Haw. That's all for now. Rob |
| Posted: 6/5/2006 10:01:53 PM |
| Pictures added |
| I added a few pictures today. The url is on the left - for now you'll have to cut and paste until i figure out how to put a link in using html code. There are more pics coming, it takes a while using a laptop thats transmitting through a cell phone. The pics aren't only limited to me either, some of the pics are of my battle buddies here at OCS. Enjoy! |
| Posted: 5/31/2006 10:04:05 PM |
| Senior Phase |
| Well today was pretty cool. We woke up at 0500 and did a dress rehearsal of our "senior pass and review" which is a military ceremony that allows a commanding officer to observe troops and deem them worthy of something. We were deemed worthy of entering senior phase. There was a guest speaker and a couple of General Officers there so it was pretty cool. After that we went back to the barracks and I took a nap for about an hour before I started reading my new book "Dracula" by Bram Stoker - so far its really cool. I don't normally read fiction but someone reccomended it to me and it was only $7 so I figured what the heck. I'm only about 40 pages in so far but hopefully it will continue to read the way it does. I am actually looking forward to the next time I get to pick it up. Some big news for me recently has been with the contract I signed when I joined the Army. When I went to Lansing and the computer drew up my contract it put an $8,000 signing bonus on it. Traditionally Officers aren't supposed to get bonuses but the career counselor said "wow, never seen a bonus for Officers before. You better sign up quick before they decide not to give it out." I figured that was just his line of BS to get me to sign that day, but I already had it made up in my head that I was going to sign anyway so I took it. Wellll it turns out it really was an error and now the Army said they're not going to pay it so it's technically considered to be a breach of contract. They gave me the option of A.) keep going through OCS and on to active duty and forfeit the $8,0000 B.) Take up to $64,000 in student loan repayment (yay for paying those off before I went in) C.) take an enlisted job D.) Take a job in the Army Reserve or E.) seperate from the Army all together. Well since I like the Army but don't like the job they're giving me (field artillery) I'm trying to get in a reserve unit. The reason I'm doing this is because the reserves offer jobs where slots are open. Just like when a civilian applies for a job, they apply for positions that need to be filled within a company. In essence it's a way to get a guarantee on the job you want because all you do is look around for a job opening you want and apply. Well I've found an aviation job in Washington state that I want so I'm actively pursuing it. There's also an intelligence job in Chicago and a Chemical job in Grand Rapids which I would be interested in too. The only crappy thing about th reserves is that I will have to find a civilian job too since the reserves are only one weekend a month, two weeks a year. If I get a reserve job I'll still be a Second Lieutenant and I'll still graduate on June 15th. Well, I'm getting ready for bed so that's that for now, just figured I'd fill anyone who still reads this thing in on what's going on in my life since I haven't posted in forever. Adios for now, Rob |
| Posted: 5/30/2006 10:26:57 PM |
| Crap! |
| I just tried to post a big long entry and messed up when I posted - losing the entire thing :( To paraphrase: I'm about to graduate from OCS and have much more free time which means I'll be posting more so keep checking back! Adios Rob |
| Posted: 5/29/2006 3:20:54 PM |
| Entry # 35 |
| 4-1-06 Hey everyone, 11:00 Things are still going well here. We've taken about four academic tests so far and I've passed them all. Rumor has it the first test was the hardest one we'll take. Apparently the second toughest is land navigation which is what we'll be doing all next week. We're heading out to the field on Monday for a 4 night/five day vacation. During that time we'll be learning how to use a topographical map, protractor and compass. I learned all of that during basic training, however, this time it will be much more advanced. Thursday we'll probably do a daytime navigation test which will be followed by a night test. Both tests are basically the same with the time of day being the only major difference. The objective is to find a certain number of points in a given time. I received a 100% on both day and night tests at BCT so let's hope I do good here too. The only thing I'm concerned about is the night test...we do it alone and there's coyotes, wild boar and lots of snakes out there, not to mention the alligators in the Chattahoochie River. Not sure if the river runs through our land navigation course or not. I'll just make sure I have my knife (a whopping four inch blade) handy just in case I do run into anything crazy. With all that said, I'm pretty excited about the trip. A lot of stuff we do here is redundant but this stuff is what you see on the commercials and in the brochures. Gotta run, I'll write more later! Rob 12:30 Just got done eating chow. I decided when I arrived at OCS I was going to start paying attention to my diet so I would get maximum energy from it. So far this is how I've been doing it. I wonder what JJ would think of it: Breakfast: I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I eat a lot of food. Also, breakfast is right after PT so it's a good time to replenish the muscles we just got done excercising. I usually drink two six ounce waters, one six ounce gatordade, one six ounce OJ and one six ounce whole milk along with my meal. I always get plenty of eggs and whatever meat they're offering for the day (sausage, ham, bacon etc). Sometimes I get french toast or waffles, but I rarely get biscuits and gravy. I get two pieces of wheat toast and make a sandwich with the eggs and meat. The last thing I get is a huge bowl of cottage cheese. I HATED cottage cheese when I started, but I forced myself to eat it because it has a lot of protein. Now I actually like it. That's about it for breakfast. Lunch: Usually I;m still pretty full from breakfast at lunchtime so I eat light. I don't normally get meat unless there's fish or chicken available and I almost always get cottage cheese and at least a 12 oz water with some gatorade. Dinner: Dinnertime is when I start getting hungry again. For dinner I try to get something that will give me energy for the next mornings PT. Spaghetti or lasagna is usually a choice (lasagna is really good) so that's what I usually pick. Once again I compliment the main course with a large dose of cottage cheese and water. I usually get milk with dinner too. Every once in a while I get a piece of cheesecake for dessert, but that doesn't happen too often. Well, that's about all for now. Adios! Rob |
| Posted: 4/13/2006 8:50:17 PM |
| Entry # 34 |
| 3-25-06 I can't wait until tomorrow. From 0800 to 1200 we have an off post pass to do whatever we want. Of course I'll spend the entire time getting Army stuff done, bit it will be nice to get out and sit in chairs designed for comfort, etc. Things I will be doing tomorrow: haircut, retrieving my Class A uniforms from the tailor, buying a new pair of boots,and I also need to get two or three new sets of ACU's. The uniforms I was issued at the beginning of BCT are pretty toasted and they stink even after they've been washed so I'm just going to toss 'em as soon as I get the new ones. I probably could pursue a way to get a re-issue or exchange for my old ones but I need the new ones ASAP and I have a window to get it done tomorrow so I'm just going to buy them this time. It's pretty embarassing when I'm at Infantry Hall walking past all those officers both foreign and domestic in a beat up uniform. I just don't feel professional dressed like that. Today was loaded from front to back with a variety of things to do. We were up at 04:45 and in formation by 5:20. We stepped out on a tactical road march at 05:45. A tactical road march is a road march with full combat gear (including M-16) and a ruck sack that typically weighs 50 - 65 pounds. It was only a five mile march so it wasn't all that bad. Before we graduate we'll have to do two 7 mile, one 10 mile and one 12 mile ruck march. The longest march we did at BCT was nine miles so hopefully the combination of all this running and rucking will get me in good enough shape to do that 12 miler. Our march today ended at the "Leadership Reaction Course" which was a really cool twelve station obstacle course that focused on developing leadership skills. Each obstacle was out of sight from the others (no cheating!) and gave each 10 -12 person squad a mission to accomplish. There were 12 squads so each squad started at one of the 12 obstacles and was given 5 minutes to plan and 15 minutes to make an attempt at accomplishing the task. After the 20 minutes was up the squads rotated to the next station so that in the end each squad did every event, and every person in each squad got at least one opportunity to be the squad leader. The obstacle that I was given command of was a simulation of a bridge that was blown up. Our mission was to get an ammo supply across the water to the other side in order to re-supply allies. The obstacle was two wooden platforms about 20 feet apart with a pool of water about three feet deep between them. There was an "island" about half way between the two riverbanks as well. We were given two boards, one about 6 feet long and the other about 8 feet, to cross the river. It was hard to figure out how to do it at first since neither board would reach the island from the river bank. Just when I was about out of ideas I thought we could use our belts to tie around the boards and make one fourteen foot board out of it. Once we got that taken care of I sent one person to the island to stay and switch the board between the island and either bank. Then all we had to do was send two people at a time from one bank to the island, switch the board to the other side and then send them from the island to the other bank. Once we got the mission completed I was briefed by the Lieutenant grading the obstacle and he said we were the first group all day to succeed. He said my troop leading skills were pretty good and I just needed to work on being more vocal during critical times. Not bad for my first shot at being in command! Something ironic also happened at the course. I have really bad hearing because I worked at a concert venue for three years, and everyone here makes fun of me (in a nice way) about it. Well, at the obstacle course today they had a public address system set up and they blared music through it at a really loud level to create more stress when we were negotiating the obstacles. When people were talking I could hear them fine but they all had trouble hearing through the music. I guess during all those years at The Intersection I learned how to listen during high volumn levels. Today I got to make fun of them for not being able to hear me, he he. Once the leadership reaction course was done we headed back to take the test we've been preparing all week for. I think I did ok on it, but only time will tell. If I got less than a 70% I'll be given a chance to re-take it. 3-26-06 Every time I get time off post I end up spending more money than I expected. Today we got our off post pass as promised so I headed over to Ranger Joe's to pick up my class A uniform (had it altered). While I was there I found a flash light that will greatly help me on the night time navigation course next week so I bought it. Of course, in order to make the light beam red I had to buy an extra part that cost nearly the price of the flashlight. After that I found the three pair of ACU's I needed, those were about $75.00 each. Once I left Ranger Joe's I went over to the other military store called Commando's and got a really nice pair of boots. These boots are more comfortable than my running shoes and are extremely light too. All together with the haircut I got, I think I spent about $400.00 today. I hope being an officer is going to be fun because it sure is expensive becoming one! I was just given the job of Company Fire Marshall. I have to design an evacuation plan for the building and maintain all fire equipment. I think I'm going to do a walk through of the building and check out all the exit points. I'll write again later. Bye! Rob |
| Posted: 4/2/2006 8:48:35 PM |
| Entry # 33 |
| 3-23-06 Today was pretty uneventful. Woke up at the usual 0500 and headed out for PT by 0600. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning we do combatives (learning how to do hand to hand combat) instead of the normal PT. It's pretty cool stuff so far....I don't know the name of the style but it focuses entirely on ground tactics since 99% of all fights end up on the ground within 30 seconds. Once we graduate I think I'll be a pretty tough dude - the maneuvers they've taught us in only two sessions are very effective and very simple to do. Pretty soon they'll be teaching us how to break arms, legs, etc which is kind of bazaar to think about but hey, it'll be nice to know that in case I ever need to use it! I'm really enjoying myself here so far. The only problem I've had is the extreme pain I've been experiencing in both knees and hip sockets. It's a really strange pain because it doesn't restrict any muscles or hamper any movement. It doesn't even really hurt when I'm running. The only time it hurts is right after I run and it only lasts about 2 - 3 hours. I've been thinking about going to the doctor about it but I also don't want to get sidelined at all. Right now I'm just dealing with it, pain doesn't kill you it's just annoying. The people here (my classmates)are all super cool. Unlike BCT everyone here is VERY motivated and positive. If someone is struggling everyone backs them 100% and overwhelms them with encouragement until they accomplish the task. I've never seen so much comradery and we've only been together for two weeks. I'm so glad I decided to join the Army. Although it was difficult to adjust to everything in the beginning, I'm in the groove now and having a blast. When I first got to BCT I saw people marching to cadence and thought that cadences were retarded but now I actually like them. When you're marching with a good cadence caller and everyone is in step with the cadence it gives the entire group of individuals an amazing sense of unity and security. Running to cadence is even better. The running cadences are more hard core than the marching ones and as everyone knows, I like the hard rock/heavy metal music so they get me pumped up pretty good. Cadences are good for running because they keep you in a consistent stride, but most importantly they force you to breathe properly which allows a runner to run much further, much faster. Saturday we have a really important test over all the things we' ve been learning in the classroom. The classes here are much tougher than in college because we're learning something I've never had any experience with. I would compare it to learning another language because all of it is so foreign. The other day I asked another soldier who has been in the Army for about ten years if all this stuff we're learning is like review or completely foreign to him and he replied with "Dude, I have no clue what's going on." So that made me feel a whole lot better. I guess we're all in the same boat. I hope I do ok though, I haven't actually studied since college (graduated in 04) and we've taken over 50 pages of notes in four days! I talked to Mike the other day and it was really good to hear from him. It sounds like he's got Grand Rapids held down pretty good without me there to wreak havoc with him, so that's good. I think that he and U.P. Kyle are going to come down for my graduation in June. If those guys and my parents are here at the same time I'll be in hogg heaven! Anyway, that's a bit too far down the road to be thinking about - there's A LOT to do between now and then so I'll just keep my mouth shut. Last Sunday we got a day pass to do whatever we wanted so Mike (my buddy from BCT and OCS) and I went shopping. The store we were at didn't have something we needed so we headed over to Sand Hill (where we went to BCT) and went to the PX there. It was sooo funny.....Mike went to use the ATM machine and a private from BCT was in line behind him waiting patiently with his hands in his pockets (BIG no no ) and when Mike turned around and saw that, he yelled "PRIVATE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR HANDS IN YOUR POCKETS!?" When the private saw Mike's OCS rank on his ACU's he didn't know whether he should go to attention or parade rest, then he said "sorry sir...er..sargeant...er" I was laughing my butt off to the point of tears. We aren't the type to go around and act like we're better than eveyone because we're at OCS, but that was so funny because two weeks ago we were in the same boots as that poor private and we would have acted just as dumb. Well, I guess it's back to study time for this soldier. I'm looking forward to getting mail from anyone that's bored enough to write a letter. Thanks to all who have written in the past - you have no idea how awesome it is to get letters from home. Until next time, Rob PS Hello to Patrick, Aunt Sheri, Jake, Josh, Uncle Eddy, Colleen, Juliet and Mickey!! I have Jake's picture of the solar system taped up in my locker. |
| Posted: 3/29/2006 8:33:22 PM |
| Entry # 32 |
| 3-20-06 Hey Everyone, Sorry I haven't updated lately. After I graduated from basic I've been so unbelievably busy I haven't had any time to write. To be honest, I really don't even have time to be writing this, but I feel like I need to since it's been so long. OCS is WAY differant than BCT. It's as far from BCT as it could possibly be, as a matter of fact. Our intructors actually treat us with respect here and we're all treated like adults. At BCT you don't breathe unless a drill sgt tells you to. Here, we do everything as a class with only the supervision of the instructors. The way it works here is as follows: The instructors have something we need to do, so they tell our student chain of command what they want us to do and then it's up to us. All they do is observe and step in only when we're really messing up. We have roughly 130 people in the company so it's quite a bit smaller than the BCT company I was in. Each person has a job, just like in the real Army and as previously stated we have a chain of command. For any of you Army buffs we have a Company Commander, Executive Officer, 1st Sgt, four platoon leaders, four platoon sgts and 16 squad leaders and 16 team leaders. Each week we rotate platoon leaders, platoon sgts and team leaders so we all get a lot of time evaluated in each position. They really like to stress us out here just like they did at BCT only here instead of stressing by constantly smoking us they give us demanding tasks that need to be done in very small amounts of time. It's not uncommon to have an instructor say "It's 14:21 and you need to be in location X (which is 1 mile away) at 14:35.....get dressed and go. So we run upstairs, try to find the proper uniform and run our butts the mile to where we need to go. Another difference about OCS? Physical Training. the pt training here is hard core. "Ya'll are gonna be some runnin' fools" is what drill sgt Victorian said to us as he dropped us off at OCS, and boy was he right. We run and run and run and run here. I've never run so much in my life. I think by the time I'm done here I'll go run a marathon just for the heck of it. Today we ran three miles in 20 minutes (a good pace) and I didn't even really feel all that tired. OCS is right next to Airborne School and right across the street are the famous jump towers. For anyone who has seen "We were soldiers" with Mel Gibson, when they were boarding the busses to head to Vietnam they gathered right in front of the towers. Those towers are around 250 - 300 ft tall and those crazy Airborne guys jump off with their parachutes on. Sometimes you'll notice a plane flying low everhead and when you look up there will be people jumping out, it's a trip! Well I know I didn't get to write much this time but I hope I'll get more free time to write again soon. Sorry this letter was written so poorly, I've really had no time to think and write - I've just been firing off whatever is on my mind. Oh yeah, one other cool thing - we take a lot of classes at the famous Infantry Hall which is home to the Army Infantry. We see all kinds of soldiers from all over the world there, places like Honduras, Isreal, Egypt, Iraq, Canada, S. Korea, etc. It's really cool seeing all the different uniforms. It must be an honor for them to be here. I wonder if they're as curious about me as I am about them? Anyway, that's all for now. Gotta run!! Rob |
| Posted: 3/26/2006 3:59:47 PM |
| New address at OCS |
| OC Mathey Robert Class 05-06 1st Platoon Alpha Company 3-11th IN REG (OCS) 7480 Riordon Street FT Benning, GA 31905 |
| Posted: 3/17/2006 6:19:36 PM |
| Entry by Mom |
| 3-14-06 I just finished entering the letters that we received while we were in Georgia attending Rob's family day and graduation. It was a long way down there but we made it and checked in our hotel Tuesday evening. We did bring Jack, the family dog, along so Rob got to see him too. We didn't get to see Rob until Wednesday morning at family day. There was a brief ceremony and then all the graduates marched out in front of the building where the ceremony was held. The excitement of the parents and families there was building in anticipation. I even saw one mom slip on the grass as she tried to get a good spot to catch sight of her guy. They were so handsome in their dress greens. I had to wonder how they were holding it together knowing they had to be at least as excited as their families, if not more. But they were all professional, marching and following their commands. That first hug was great, I didn't want to let go. I knew from a friend that they are not allowed to show emotion while in their dress greens, so when we hugged and he said, that's the only hug you get for now, I knew what he meant. The graduation ceremony was very patriotic as you might expect. The weather was beautiful for the event that was happening. We enjoyed every moment spent together for those several days. There were many changes in him and yet, he was the same guy we have always known. I am very proud of our son, who has grown into a good man. I asked him if he still felt he made a good decision, and he said yes, he did. He is excited and a little nervous about starting OCS It will be a complete change from basic training, maybe a slight shock to his system. But I am absolutely sure that he will make a great officer. I'm pretty sure you can look forward to more entries into this blog. I don't know if he will be entering them personally or if we will continue with me entering his letters. I have heard of someone in the Army who started a blog and the Army blocked it. So we will have to see how the rest of this story will be sent along. Thanks so much to you regulars who check in. I hope you have enjoyed reading his stuff as much as I have enjoyed sharing with you. He got a new laptop while we were there so he'll be able to check you comments. Don't know exactly how long before he'll be able to be on line, but he will eventually. Keep all of our brave soldiers in your prayers, and let's hope that very soon we will no longer have to send our guys over seas. Thanks from a proud Army mom |
| Posted: 3/14/2006 6:59:33 PM |
| Entry # 31 |
| 3-5-06 Sunday... didn't do much. Cleaned my weapon some more. When it came time to turn in our weapons the drill sgt had to ok it beforehand. If there was anything wrong with it we had to do 50 pushups per wrong item, mine had four things wrong with it so I had to do four sets of 50 pushups. At this point that's not really all that hard of a task, we're all pretty rock solid in the pushup dept. One cool thing about the past week or so is that we're not doing pushups and situps for disciplinary reasons anymore, we do them to maintain what we've worked so hard and long to achieve. When we first got here it was hard to do 25 or 30 pushups, now I can do 50 - 60. It's pretty cool when you start seeing results like that. I guess since there's no real news to speak of I'll write about what's on my mind for the upcoming week. First, tomorrow we have the four mile "Cold Steel" run. It's a company run which means all four platoons in my company will run it as fast as the slowest man so we won't get killed by the pace. The thing I'm worried about is my hip. I'ts not completely healed yet and the last thing I want to do is reinjure it right before OCS. Next, family day and graduation. I've been waiting for both since day one. It's going to be totally relieving to see mom and dad again. Too bad Jack couldn't come along. Since I have the greatest parents in the world they're both driving seperate vehicles here (mine and theirs) so I can have my brand new truck at OCS (yay!) I CANNOT WAIT to drive it again. I only had it for about four or five months before I shipped out. Branching, many of you may not know that when a civilian applies to and is accepted to OCS they get branched based upon the needs of the Army. We all filled out "wish lists" but nothing is guaranteed. This means I could be anything from a pilot to an infrantry officer. My top five picks on my wish list were 1. Aviation 2. Medical Service Corps 3. Armor (tanks) 4. Military Intelligence and 5. Signal Corp (communications) We find out what branch we got sometime this week. It's been tough doing all this training not even knowing what job I'll be doing. All the enlisted guys know their jobs, soon I'll finally know what mine is. The weekend ahead will be very busy. Hopefully I'll be granted leave for the weekend so I can get a hotel and chill out. I'll be doing a lot of shopping for stuff I need at OCS. A couple guys and I also have plans to hit the town and do a little partying. Anyway, it's getting close to bed time. bye! Rob |
| Posted: 3/14/2006 6:40:16 PM |
| Entry # 30 |
| 3-4-06 Howdy, Sorry about not writing as much. Even though we're done with training we've been doing a ton of work. All the gear we were issued at the beginning of the cycle has to be cleaned to military standards. I've been cleaning my M-16 for two days straight - literally. Saturday night was pretty wierd, our entire brigade (about 1,000 to 1,500 soldiers) went to Columbus for an arena football game. Apparently it was soldier appreciation night or something. At first I was kind of upset about going. I mean, yeah, arena football is cool and all but I didn't come here for that. My opinion changed when we got to the game though, we were given the green light on everything but alcohol. So we all became gluttons for the night. My friends and I were like little kids in a candy shop running around to and fro buying everything we could get our hands on. Personally, I had three pieces of pizza, two snickers bars, cotton candy, a bag of peanuts, french fries, ice cream, two cokes and a Dr Pepper. It was kind of weird because the most sugar I've had since December 29th was probably a piece of cake or something so when I ate all that crap I got a major sugar buzz. We were all eating like 10 year olds, it was hillarious. It was all fun and games until we got back to the barracks and had to go to bed. One thing I didn't consider when I ordered all that soda is that I haven't had caffeine in two and a half months either, so when I laid down I couldn't sleep because my heart was going so fast - oh well. The entire time I've been at Ft Benning I've been wondering what the city of Columbus (the city outside the base) is like. The ride to the arena finally gave me the chance to check things out a bit and the town (or what I saw of it) is a major dump. The only stores I saw were the type that prey on 18 year olds who are in the Army making good money but don't know how to manage money yet. I'm talking pawn shops, adult stores, liquor stores, bail bond/check cashing stores etc. It was pretty sad actually. I'm hoping the other side of town has better things to do otherwise it looks like I'll be heading to Atlanta on any free time I get at OCS. Graduation is only five days away and family day is four. It's been a long time comin' and I can't wait. Hopefully this week will fly by like the last few have and I can kiss this place good-bye as painless as possible. By painless I mean them not screwing me over, not me being emotionally attached to this place. I'm guessing by the time this letter reaches the blog I'll be done already because mom and pops will be here by the time the letter gets there....that ladies and gentlemen, is a good thing!! Alright well, my fireguard shift is about over so I'll write again some other time. Adios! Rob |
| Posted: 3/14/2006 6:22:59 PM |
| Entry # 29 |
| 3-1-06 Yay for payday. We got back from our final field training exercise today which means we're officially done with all our training now. Like I've said before, THAT ladies and gentlemen, is good news! We left for the field on Friday (I think) and did some live firing from a convoy. That night it was about 40 degrees and rainy. The rain and cold went on for the next 24 hours or so which kept us miserable the entire time. Once that system moved out the weather was awesome, about 70 - 75 and not a cloud in the sky the entire time. I even got a tan, that's a first for me considering it's pre-July. After the rain session we moved to a MOUT (Military Operations Urban Training) site. At the MOUT site we practiced the kick in the door, clear the room stuff you see on t.v. -very cool stuff. That night we went to bed early (about 19:00 or 7PM) to rest for the ruck march ahead. That night as we slept on the ground in the woods we heard a very uninviting sound. At about 2 or 3 am a pack of coyotes started howling and barking from a really close range. I'm talking less than a half mile. In my opinion I'd say there was about 3 or 4 hundred of them, but in all actuality there was really like ten or less. Either way it made for a one eye open sleep for the rest of the night. So far we've encountered all the wildlife on the Ft Benning tour except the warthog. The next morning we were up bright and early at about 03:45, packed up the gear and started stepping out on the infamous nine mile road march. Just about everything about that march stunk. Walking in the pitch black with six days worth of camping gear on your back for four hours straight really stinks. The march really wasn't all that bad until the "Stairway to Heaven". It's two miles of continuous up and down on very large hills. I will be the first to admit that I was physically and mentally exhausted after it was all over with. Once we got back we ate a regular old field chow breakfast. I think that was the best breakfast I ever had! Now we're back at the barracks and all we have left to do is clean our gear and turn it in! Monday we're doing a 4 mile run but that won't be all that bad. If that's all that stands between now and graduation, I'll gladly run it. After graduation I'll have a different mailing address so don't write me anything after March 5th or 6th. I'll keep everyone posted on my new address as soon as I get it. Got to go....lights out! Rob |
| Posted: 3/14/2006 6:04:52 PM |
| Entry # 28 |
| 2-23-04 This will be the last letter for a while, we're heading out on our final FTX (field training exercise) tomorrow. We'll be camping in the woods until Wednesday and I think we're going to have a lot of fun. This exercise is designed to incorporate everything we've learned so far into a realistic war simulation. Our Company has roughly 225 people in it, divided into four platoons consisting of 50 - 60 soldiers each. The platoons will be camping together - probably within a mile of each other, but I don't think they're going to tell us where each platoon is.....because every platoon is against every other platoon. Basically all vs all. This exercise is the reason why we all joined the Army. Any guy that isn't gay played with GI Joe as a kid. This is like a grown up version of GI Joe. We're going to be hiding in full camo (including face paint), stalking, assaulting and all the other good stuff they taught us in the past 7 weeks. One thing that was on our packing list for this trip was our gas masks. I'm guessing that means the drill sgts plan on attacking us sometime with CS gas, the same stuff they used in the gas chamber. Speaking of the drill sgts, they said they won't be around 90% of the time, so it's up to us to plan and execute our own missions. The best part about the FTX though is that it's our last training event at basic training. Once we get back we're going to start cleaning up and turning in all our gear. As of today we only have 13 days left at basic. March 8th is family day and the 9th is graduation so we really only have 11 real days left! I CAN'T WAIT until family day. Steak and beer is all I can say about that. I'll only be able to have two or three beers but that will probably do the trick since I haven't had any in a while. When I eat my steak I'm going to take like 20 minutes to eat it. Then I'm going to have a milkshake...mmmm... milkshake. It's really nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I've been here at Ft Benning since December 29th and there's been some really hard times between now and then. It's going to feel wonderful to finally be done. Anyway, that's all for now. I may write some more later, but if not I'll talk to you in 7 days. Bye Rob |
| Posted: 3/1/2006 3:29:23 PM |
| Entry # 27 |
| 2-19-06 It's the little things I tell you, the little things. Today my buddy and I pulled a four hour shift at the battalion desk and we talked about how much we missed the real world. We don't miss stuff like concerts or travel, we miss things like sitting on the porch, playing with our dogs and playing poker. We also talked about funny stuff that's happened so far. One time we all got smoked because someone got three desserts at chow. Drill Sgt Hix said "There is no time when you should have three desserts, unless you're a girl who just got dumped by her boyfriend." Another time we took like 45 minutes to get ready and a drill sgt said "You guys took 45 minutes to get ready. In 45 minutes I could have showered, shaved ...and ran five miles." One other time when we were still pretty new here a guy knocked on the drill sgts door and said "Drill Sgt, I was just checking because I'm unsure when we're actually allowed to knock on your door, could you clear that up for me?" The drill sgt said "Lutrell, I'll make it real easy on you. I don't EVER want to see your face at my door because when I see you I want to choke you." Of course all these need proper tone of voice, they might not even be funny to most people but I promise you if you said any of those to anyone in my platoon they'd laugh their hiney off. Alright well I'm gonna get going. Hopefully something will happen tomorrow so I can write with some news instead of boring stuff. Bye Rob |
| Posted: 2/27/2006 6:45:01 PM |
| Entry # 26 |
| 2-18-06 I already wrote once today, but I feel like writing again. I got to call home tonight for a total of 21 mintues. We were all given seven minutes to make a phone call but I found people that didn't want to call so I offered one guy $10.00 and the other $20.00, so for $30.00 I got to have a real conversation with mom and dad. It was so nice to hear voices from home again. I'd say it has been about a month or so since I've experienced that. Tonight a few guys and I were talking about some funny stuff that's happend here. The stuff the guys in my platoon and I can laugh about is priceless, nobody will ever be able to understand them like we do. In a way it's a shame that we'll all be going our seperate ways in a few weeks. One of the funny incidents happened on the first or second night. We were doing a "shower drill" which is when the drill sgt stands outside the shower room with a bullhorn and harasses us during our 30 second shower. Afterward we were all "toeing the line" (we have a line that goes around the room we all step up to when we get smoked) in our towels when they made us do pushups and situps. At first we struggled to keep the towels on but after about a minute we all realized it wasn't working so we finished the exercises butt naked. You have to realize how horrible that is being in a strange new environment with a bunch of drill sgts yelling at you with bullhorns, surrounded by 56 people you don't know, all the while being completely naked. Ohhh the good times at basic! Ok, ok, that's all for now. I'll fill you in with more funny stuff later. For now it's sleepy time. Later Rob |
| Posted: 2/27/2006 6:01:08 PM |
| Entry # 25 |
| 2-18-06 Haven't written in a couple of days, not a whole lot to write about. It's a holiday weekend and since we're in blue phase now (don't need much supervision) all the drill sgts took the weekend off. All we've been doing is cleaning our barracks and the surrounding area in preparation for our inspection tomorrow. It's going to be a very thorough inspection so everything needs to be perfect. I'm sure they'll be doing all the check methods short of the white glove. Everything from here on out is building up to graduation. For example, today we got our name tags for our class A uniforms and the drill sgt said "for graduation you'll need to put these 1 inch above the......" It's nice to hear the drill sgts talk about graduation. I guess they're just as ready as we are. They do eight weeks on and eight weeks off kind of like a fireman's shift only in months instead of days. Here at basic I've learned how to do some things I probably never would have in the civilian world. For starters I learned how to shoot an M-16. I've also learned how to make new friends. I've never had a problem with meeting people, but for the last 5 or 6 years I've been content with my friend base and never had the urge to make any new ones. Here, I didn't know anyone when I got here, unlike when I went to college, and I didn't really have anything in common with most of these people. I was forced to adapt and overcome and make new friends. Now I have two or three friends that if they were a few years older, I could see myself going to the bar with them and killing a pitcher or two. One more thing I've learned is how to completely zone out for hours at a time. Here at basic they think that making us stand at ease or the position of attention for hours at a time teaches discipline. Whether it does or not I don't know, but I do know it's really easy to do it now. I can't explain it, but somehow I've learned to enter another state of mind that passes time very quickly. Maybe that's the discipline they aimed to teach us. My birthday is coming up. I used to look forward to birthdays because it usually meant a free bar tab (and a night in jail for Mark hahaha). This year will be just another day on the hill. I guess since I'll be turning 26 I'll have to act like a big boy now. Anyway, it's almost time for dinner. Maybe I'll write later. bye Rob |
| Posted: 2/27/2006 5:51:36 PM |
| Entry # 24 |
| 2-16-06 Hello, yet another exciting day at Ft. Benning. We started the same way we always do, PT at about 0530. Today I decided to pull a fast one and paid the price. When we first got here we did a 1 mile timed run so that the drill sgts could put us in ability groups, that way everyone was running with people in similar shape. There were four groups, A - D with A being the fastest group. I was originally put in B group and ran with them until my injuries. I was out of commission as far as running goes for about three weeks and when I returned they put me with C group. Well, today I decided to sneak into B group and run with them. I'll tell you what.....those boys got into shape over those three weeks! I thought I was going to die on several occasions during the run. The distance covered this morning was about 2 miles or so but they were flying. I only fell out of the formation one time. So I didn't make a complete fool out of myself. I think next time we do an ability group run I'll go with them again. If I made it once I can do it again, and as far as physical conditioning goes, the harder you push the better shape you get in. You'll never belive what happened to us today. The drill sgts actually let us go into blue phase! Believe that? I don't. I think it was only yesterday they let us back into white, and now blue? So far blue phase rules. We have seen the drill sgts for a total of about 20 minutes in the past 4 hours. That's fine by me! Apparently we'll be able to use the phone now so maybe I can call home again. I think I've had five minutes of phone time in six weeks. Also, on Sundays after church we can stop at the post exchange now. The post exchange has an ice cream shop in it. They have mint chocolate chip ice cream. Ohhh yea, I'm getting a mint chocolate chip shake on Sunday! Another cool thing about blue phase is that we don't require supervision. The drill sgts are going away for the four day president's day weekend. That means for the next four days we'll hardly see any drill sgts at all. Talk about a relief. Well I think I'm going to go do some sit ups so I can pass my final fitness test and graduate. I'll talk to ya'll later. Bye! Rob |
| Posted: 2/22/2006 7:40:03 PM |
Current Fort Sill Weather:
ardensmom
2/24/2007 9:00:27 AM
happy b-day
Ari
11/21/2006 4:36:48 PM
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ari
11/10/2006 3:29:37 PM
Have a wonderful weekend!
PlayBunny
11/5/2006 11:42:45 PM
Hello there. Just browsing...thought i'd stop by and say hello...and I was army for 3 years. Trained in jackson and gordon...stationed in Ft. Hood.
IndolentPyro
10/30/2006 9:13:23 PM
I am not in the Navy, i am studying at the Califronia Maritime Academy (www.csum.edu), to eventualy be a captain of a ship, and it was more of a general nav test, basicly just plotting, getting ETAs and compensating for currents and such.
Dara
9/20/2006 1:21:55 AM
whats sweet? haha
mageorge177
4/24/2006 10:40:48 PM
Good luck on Land Nav. Although a difficult practical test, trust your pace count and compass, and you will be alright. Don't let the wild boar scare you! The hardest academic test will be Call for fire, later in the course.
Good luck again! <
00pjessica
3/30/2006 6:05:37 AM
hey good luck with the whole army thin...dont get hurt!!! x
ArmyRob
3/29/2006 7:03:35 PM
his_one_and_only
3/2/2006 1:27:23 PM
My husband is on his way to Ft. Benning for jump school. So just as you're leaving, he'll be coming. It'd be funny if you two ran into each other, but I doubt it. Be safe and just keep good thoughts in mind. My husband made it through basics and AIT...if
likeitorlickit
2/11/2006 4:51:28 AM
[t is so cool to be able to read the prespective of someone going thru it for us. I am really humbled and honered by your drive and desire to be a soldier.
chitown
2/4/2006 7:28:18 PM
Hey Rob uncle Doug here been reading you journal I must say you have talent.....sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet....lol sounds like your having a good time very proud of you keep up the good work, I'll take care of the golf for you I know you miss it. Bought the new ca
JdogJames
1/30/2006 10:35:58 PM
Great stories and descriptions only the way Robo can do it. This is really good stuff.
Ogmug
1/26/2006 4:01:13 PM
Yes, garrison life is NOTHING like training. Just be glad you are going through basic now, instead of when I went through it :D
RTC
1/26/2006 1:43:30 AM
"The world needs men and women who have become fully alive." Simple and true. A quote I heard today from a worthless civilian. Nevertheless, proud is an understatement. I knew the Army was perfectly fitting, but the stories are incredibly awsome!!!!
kakapooo
1/7/2006 4:25:33 PM
hellerz n happy new yeeeeer
2/24/2007 9:00:27 AM
happy b-day
Ari
11/21/2006 4:36:48 PM
Happy Thanksgiving!
Ari
11/10/2006 3:29:37 PM
Have a wonderful weekend!
PlayBunny
11/5/2006 11:42:45 PM
Hello there. Just browsing...thought i'd stop by and say hello...and I was army for 3 years. Trained in jackson and gordon...stationed in Ft. Hood.
IndolentPyro
10/30/2006 9:13:23 PM
I am not in the Navy, i am studying at the Califronia Maritime Academy (www.csum.edu), to eventualy be a captain of a ship, and it was more of a general nav test, basicly just plotting, getting ETAs and compensating for currents and such.
Dara
9/20/2006 1:21:55 AM
whats sweet? haha
mageorge177
4/24/2006 10:40:48 PM
Good luck on Land Nav. Although a difficult practical test, trust your pace count and compass, and you will be alright. Don't let the wild boar scare you! The hardest academic test will be Call for fire, later in the course.
Good luck again! <
00pjessica
3/30/2006 6:05:37 AM
hey good luck with the whole army thin...dont get hurt!!! x
ArmyRob
3/29/2006 7:03:35 PM
his_one_and_only
3/2/2006 1:27:23 PM
My husband is on his way to Ft. Benning for jump school. So just as you're leaving, he'll be coming. It'd be funny if you two ran into each other, but I doubt it. Be safe and just keep good thoughts in mind. My husband made it through basics and AIT...if
likeitorlickit
2/11/2006 4:51:28 AM
[t is so cool to be able to read the prespective of someone going thru it for us. I am really humbled and honered by your drive and desire to be a soldier.
chitown
2/4/2006 7:28:18 PM
Hey Rob uncle Doug here been reading you journal I must say you have talent.....sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet....lol sounds like your having a good time very proud of you keep up the good work, I'll take care of the golf for you I know you miss it. Bought the new ca
JdogJames
1/30/2006 10:35:58 PM
Great stories and descriptions only the way Robo can do it. This is really good stuff.
Ogmug
1/26/2006 4:01:13 PM
Yes, garrison life is NOTHING like training. Just be glad you are going through basic now, instead of when I went through it :D
RTC
1/26/2006 1:43:30 AM
"The world needs men and women who have become fully alive." Simple and true. A quote I heard today from a worthless civilian. Nevertheless, proud is an understatement. I knew the Army was perfectly fitting, but the stories are incredibly awsome!!!!
kakapooo
1/7/2006 4:25:33 PM
hellerz n happy new yeeeeer
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