FOB Week!

First of all, I need to get this out of the way.  WAR EAGLE!  I thought I would never hear myself say that, but if the Hogs are going to get into the Sugar Bowl without any ruckus, we need Auburn to beat the Gamecocks today. 

OK (pun intended), I just got home from FOB or Forward Operating Base Mo-Way yesterday afternoon around 1600, and it was a long week.  This week was completely geared around two things.....Weapons Qualification and Master Resiliency Training.  Both are pretty important tools in the Army.  One of them teaches us how to kill the enemy by the utilization of our marksmanship skills, which are only learned with much practice and dedication.  The other teaches us to deal with the stresses of being a soldier in the United States Army.  Granted, the marksmanship is much more fun, but in the overall scheme of things, MRT will serve us better in the majority of our military and personal lives, especially since we won't be shooting at people every day, but will be dealing with our own issues as well as those of our soldiers on a daily basis. 

3rd Platoon was the range platoon was the duty platoon on Monday morning, so we went straight to the Grouping and Zero Range first thing.  The cadre wanted each platoon to have the opportunity to run a range during the week so that we would have that skill when we got to our units.  Running a range involves setting up ammo points, providing safety officers, setting and maintaining targets, and the overall smooth operation of the range for that particular day.  I would have to say that we kicked ass.  For being the first platoon with this responsibility, we pulled it off without a hitch.  We got everyone zeroed (shooting a small enough grouping with a certain number of rounds so that your weapon is accurate at up to 300 meters) and off of the range by mid afternoon, and then cleaned up the range and were back to the FOB by 1630 or so.  3rd platoon helped with setup of ranges every day this week, and although we did not run the range every day, we were counted upon to provide assistance for the duty platoon of the day.  It was a lot of work, but also a pretty valuable skill to have locked away for future use. 

On Tuesday, we went to the Known Distance range, where we fired from distances of up to 300 meters in order to familiarize ourselves with how the M4 rifle shoots, giving us the confidence we needed to  qualify on Thursday.  Wednesday was spend familiarizing ourselves with the Engagement Skills Trainer (EST), which is another video game simulator that allows us to shoot targets without expending ammunition (not to mention it was in a warm building, which we had not had all week).  That afternoon, we conducted Advanced Marksman Training, which allowed us to become comfortable firing in "Full Battle Rattle," or everything we will be wearing in combat, which includes our Advanced Combat Helmet, Individual Body Armor, and FLC vests.  It was pretty cool to have all of that on while firing, though it will take a little getting used to. 

Thursday was qualification day.  We had to hit at least 23 out of 40 targets to qualify with the M4 rifle.  The distances are anywhere from 50 to 300 meters, and there are no optics on the rifles, which means shooting with iron sights.  The first 20 rounds are fired from the prone supported position, with the next 10 coming in the prone unsupported (no sandbags on which to rest the rifle), and the final 10 rounds from the kneeling unsupported position.  The entire class of 110 students qualified by 1500 that afternoon, which has not happened at a range that I have been on since I have been in the army.  That is a pretty amazing feat. 

Master Resiliency Training took place after evening chow from Monday-Thursday, and sometimes during the afternoons as well, if we finished at the ranges early enough.  Each session was approximately an hour and a half.  This kept us from falling asleep during the training, since we were each pretty tired after a full day on the cold, windy Oklahoma prairie.  These sessions taught us how to deal with stress, put things into perspective, and help others deal with typical issues that arise for soldiers in the army.  They actually made me sit back and re-evaluate how I will attempt to deal with my own issues in the future.  I don't know that I will be able to do it on every occasion, but I will definitely try to incorporate these methods into my personal as well as professional life. 

We spent Thursday night and Friday morning cleaning the FOB and cleaning weapons so that we could all go home at a decent hour Friday evening.  Mission accomplished, and I am sad to say that we have completed the Common Core phase of BOLC-B.  We will be moving to the Gunnery Phase on Tuesday of next week, which means a lot of long nights studying, and ratcheting up the stress level quite a bit since we will be dealing with Captains as instructors instead of NCOs.  From what we are hearing, they like to provide quite a bit of corrective action when things don't run as smoothly as they ask.  Should be a fun next 4 months.  

Overall it was a very productive, although very cold week (until Thursday, of course), and we had a lot going on, but  we completed what we set out to accomplish, and I am very proud to be a part of such a good class. 

I know this entry might be a little disjointed, but I am still feeling the effects of my cold medicine from last night, so give me a break. 

Paulson out....

3rd Platoon running Zero Range

Jokesters at the Ammo Point.

Rankin firing his Zero

LT Perry being a leader!

Home Sweet Home.