18 December 2003
The internet avaliblity here sucks big time so this is my first chance of posting anything for a loooooong time.
I spend last week qualifying with the SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) and the 9mm Beretta. As always the time I spend cleaning the weapons more than made up for the fun of actually shooting them - so I can't say the week was too eventful. The land navigation the week before was actually more fun than this last week. NOTHING is going to be more exhilarating than going home for X-MAS though!
Oh yeah, and about where we're living... hopefully I'll get pictures uploaded next week but anyway, the barracks are basically the nessecities and nothing more. They're WWII style barracks that were condemned and about to be removed before the 81st Brigade was activated. But hey... at least the heat works. Not that is as cold as Minnesota or anything. Eh, I'd take Minnesota over Washington though. Sure, there aren't any mountains or anything but at least it doesn't rain daily... and there aren't really any serial killers running around... well maybe in Wisconsin, but not MN damnit. Some parts of Washington remind me of MN though. Tacoma is like one big Duluth. And there are casinos everywhere - like the riverboat casino I haven't visited yet but plan to. I've only been to a bar and the Tacoma mall so far.
Yeah, so it's a little better than basic training and AIT... hey, warning to all you military wannabes out there - don't join the military if you like independence and don't like being treated like a baby. I think the only way to bypass that is by being an officer of a sergeant major or something. And it'll piss you off since some officers really SHOULD be treated like babies. Well, at least everyone will think you're cool for being in the military while you're in Iraq or Bosnia or what have you. So, if you think that being cool factor outweights the "I can stand being treated like a baby" factor, the military is for you. -sidenote: you will get better living conditions and less babying if you join the active military, so just sign up for three years if you end up signing that stack of papers.-
Well anyway, at least I am, through repetition, learning all the weapons throughly.
So I'll sign off now to fight the BS while I learn the vitals.
I spend last week qualifying with the SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) and the 9mm Beretta. As always the time I spend cleaning the weapons more than made up for the fun of actually shooting them - so I can't say the week was too eventful. The land navigation the week before was actually more fun than this last week. NOTHING is going to be more exhilarating than going home for X-MAS though!
Oh yeah, and about where we're living... hopefully I'll get pictures uploaded next week but anyway, the barracks are basically the nessecities and nothing more. They're WWII style barracks that were condemned and about to be removed before the 81st Brigade was activated. But hey... at least the heat works. Not that is as cold as Minnesota or anything. Eh, I'd take Minnesota over Washington though. Sure, there aren't any mountains or anything but at least it doesn't rain daily... and there aren't really any serial killers running around... well maybe in Wisconsin, but not MN damnit. Some parts of Washington remind me of MN though. Tacoma is like one big Duluth. And there are casinos everywhere - like the riverboat casino I haven't visited yet but plan to. I've only been to a bar and the Tacoma mall so far.
Yeah, so it's a little better than basic training and AIT... hey, warning to all you military wannabes out there - don't join the military if you like independence and don't like being treated like a baby. I think the only way to bypass that is by being an officer of a sergeant major or something. And it'll piss you off since some officers really SHOULD be treated like babies. Well, at least everyone will think you're cool for being in the military while you're in Iraq or Bosnia or what have you. So, if you think that being cool factor outweights the "I can stand being treated like a baby" factor, the military is for you. -sidenote: you will get better living conditions and less babying if you join the active military, so just sign up for three years if you end up signing that stack of papers.-
Well anyway, at least I am, through repetition, learning all the weapons throughly.
So I'll sign off now to fight the BS while I learn the vitals.
