Guitar!

I finally bit the bullet and shelled out some cash for a guitar. It only took me four months to realize that borrowing someone else's or using the severely substandard axe in the MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) room just wouldn't cut it. So, last week as I was coming back from a pre-construction meeting, I bought the pictured guitar at Camp Phoenix. It is a decent guitar made by an unknown company, but it serves its purpose well. The vendor said it was his last guitar and that it was for sale for $120. Of course, just about everything in this country is negotiable and I was able to walk away with this guitar for only $80 after making a few obvious observations devaluing the instrument. She may not be a Martin or a Taylor, but I am very thankful to finally have my own to bring a taste of home into my room.

Now if I could just find a way to get the rest of the church band over here. . . . .

In Him,

David

CST Urban Ops Fun!

Here is a picture of me and my teammates preparing to clear a room during urban operations training. Guess which one is me?

Bang-Bang

The last week of training was tiring at times and exciting at times. Most of it was spent at the range firing off round after round on a mixture of military weaponry capable of taking over small towns.

I've been qualified on small arms for several years, in accordance with AF requirements, so I was already familiar with the M-4 carbine (similar to the M-16 rifle only with a shorter barrel, built-in rail mount system, and an adjustable stock) and the M-9 handgun (Beretta 9mm). Those training/qualification days for the Army were last week, so there wasn't much to talk about as it was not too new to me. This week, however was different - very different.

Instead of firing small arms, I fired an automatic grendade launcher (MK19) and several machine guns (M-2 .50 cal, M-240B, and M-249) in various settings. And yes, it was pretty incredible. I feel fairly competent with targeting, cleaning, disassembling, reassembling and maintaining each of these weapons systems and I have the Army to thank for that. Years and years ago, when my LEGO village was ravaged by an unprovoked attack from G.I. Joe and his buddies, orchestrated by my brother, I was completely confident I would never be this intimate with such powerful instruments of war. Today is different. My goal is to learn as much as possible about the job ahead of me so that I can come home safe to my family and friends and more importantly, so I can conduct my nation's business with honer. The long days at the range were a not-so-gentle reminder of this and the percussion of the rounds blasting forward only added an exclamation point to what this business model often requires in order to ensure success.

G'bye Charter, G'day Gmail / Update

Today I joined the masses in establishing a Gmail account. The reasons were simple - I couldn't send e-mail directly from my computer while travelling without logging in to my webmail. This gets very annoying seeing as how I download all e-mail using Outlook and I can't easily reply. So now I have a fully functioning POP3/SMTP server with Gmail, capable of taking my send items and delivering them as required without flinching.

"How will I be able to e-mail you, now?" you may ask. Well, thanks to my brother's purchase of our family's domain over ten years ago, you can continue using the same simple e-mail address I've had since college. It requires no additional effort on your part at all!

That being said, if you know my whole name, you know my e-mail. Please feel free to send me a line anytime. Or, if you don't remember my name, feel free to send comments on any of the blogs here - they are always welcome.

I thought it was also fair to provide an update of my status in training and how we are doing. Well, the Army is an interesting establishment. Air Force officers are not allowed to sleep in the same lodging room. I'm currently roomed with 30 other Air Force and Army personnel in a 40-man barracks. Air Force personnel are empowered to think freely about the "best" way to do things. The Army has its ways - and they are all the "best". Air Force training has been streamlined and minimized to impact the mission. In the Army, training is the mission while in garrison (not deployed) and training is expanded as much as possible to fill available time (In the last 2.5 weeks, we have not had a single day of training longer than 7 hours). These are just a few of the differences - but I'm not complaining, it's just different.

Last week I learned a ton about the mission I'll be supporting and this week I learned a ton (and became pretty proficient) about programming/using various military radios. Just yesterday I placed a satellite call to someone standing fifteen feet from me. Pretty cool stuff. Tomorrow we have Army 101 (a little late in the schedule, but better late than never!) and marksmanship.

I sleep on the bottom bunk of a bed shared with no one else and the free time is spent working on equipment, watching movies, talking with Rachel and the kids or eating. I'm getting over a cold (that everyone got) and I should be a lot stronger for it! I'm excited about the mission I'll be embarking on and I hope that I can be a successful piece of our strategy for that war-torn country. I'll send another update in a few weeks, but I'll probably blog about other random stuff before then.
In Him,
David

A new career in full motion

Today I had the "Newcomer's Welcome" for my organization. It's OK that I've only been working there since October. There were some folks there who had been on the job since last June. I'm used to getting training after the fact, though. At our first assignment in South Dakota, I went to my job technical training in October, I had been working in that job since July. A year and a half later, I got the actual in-depth training on the specific tasks I had been accomplishing that entire time. Most of my training as a parent has been on the job. Same goes for my faith. Just now, this semester, I'm starting to understand how to really interpret the scriptures which have been the foundation of my salvation as a Christian since I was six. I don't really think it matters when you get trained, though. I think it is more important to stay open-minded to the training and not bitter that you didn't get it in the beginning. Rachel is sewing some curtains for the kids' room and the house is quiet after another long day.