Thursday, August 28, 2008

I'm back...for now


I have returned from my training at NTC just half a day ago and I haven't been able to update anything for a month and I'm sick of looking at the same posts. I'm going to write about my experiences as if they are happening now so I can draw out my time until I actually deploy in later this year.

I currently have mixed feelings about how well the training went but then again I have to remind myself that I signed up with the full knowledge that all I would be is a grunt in the Army so in that case I guess it went alright...a lot of sitting around pretending to be busy though.



I will be posting more about the details as I come closer to leaving for the full deployment. Anyway, NTC is designed for infantry and artillery types to get really high intensity training on everything they will encounter in Iraq and the surrounding countries if it ever needs be. NTC is located Death Valley(not just a clever name) and actually simulates to a T the living conditions of laboring and working in probably the worst, most unforgiving ecosystem in the world. We're talking everything from convoys, vehicle check points, clearing entire buildings(built to scale and looks exactly like a home from that region), to simply trying to deal with the daily stresses of living in such a place.

We were ordered to not take pictures of any of the operations we participated in so I'm sorry to say I don't have many pictures of things except for when we were on our down time(which was actually very seldom). 30 days of training and now back home and only 75 left give or take until I leave so I can honestly say that I am better prepared for come what may except for the largest cost of all; my time away from my family. But like I said, I knew what I was getting into and am still proud of it. I only wish that my unit would have been able to benefit more from the training available at Fort Irwin.



Like I said NTC was deigned for infantry and ordinance types so we being engineers don't really have a lot to do with clearing houses or anything tactically offensive. If we're involved with fire fights it's purely in a defensive position...That narrows our training options at NTC significantly. Hence my mixed feelings. We could only focus our training on the realism of the convoy environment they had there, otherwise we were pretty much left to our own devices to come up with our own methods of utilizing the environment for our betterment as soldiers for the upcoming deployment. Not always successful, again contributing to my mixed feelings. What can you expect? We were the first "support" type unit to arrive at NTC in a long time so they were hard pressed to come up with stuff to train us with but they did okay. In my own opinion, NTC is probably now more knowledgeable and better equipped for other "support" types to take part in the-closest-to-the-real-thing kind of training you can possibly hope for because of us. So ultimately I am more than content with the whole experience...........but if I was asked to go again to spend time away from my family lets just say I won't be the first guy to stand with his hand raised in the air.

Questions? Please post a comment and I'll respond.