In Brandon's Words: Gunnery in Korea

I always love reading about what Brandon has been up to in Korea. Usually he sends me an e-mail telling me about his day every day. But he didn't have internet access during his month of gunnery. He took his computer to gunnery and wrote down what he did each day. When he came back to his barracks he sent me everything at once. I had so much fun reading through them all. He had a very interesting month. I've condensed his e-mails down to the most interesting things. I hope you enjoy reading these too.

There were supposed to be pictures with all of these entries, but Brandon's SD card stopped working. Pictures would have been nice, but I think he does a pretty good job of describing everything.

June 14 2014

Today was our day to go to the field. Even though today is Saturday and the weekend we are all leaving today and tomorrow. This is okay because that is why we are here. So we can go to gunnery.

I didn't go to the chow hall for breakfast today. Instead I had breakfast burritos, microwave scrambled eggs in tortillas with ham. I finished eating the perishable food on the fridge, the stuff I didn't think would last until I got home.

This afternoon I finished getting everything ready, I had my room sealed up, with a little sticky piece of paper, I thought it would be more scientific than it was. I took my equipment to the Bradley and spent most of the rest of the afternoon at the company waiting to draw weapons. H_____ and I finally got them and went to the Brad, so we could get that ready to roll. Long about 4:50 we drove down to the convoy site. after everyone showed up a little while later, we had a convoy brief. This consisted of where we are going, how to get there, and how to be safe as we went. We waited another hour to do some final checks and other things. and finally we left at 8:05 pm.

The convoy was fun. We drove through the city! Through evening traffic on Saturday night! it wasn't rush hour but it was nevertheless busy and stressful. You know how when you see an Army convoy rolling down the street and all of the vehicles look really weird? Well I was the one driving the weird vehicle in our convoy everyone else had trucks or Humvees. I was driving the scary vehicle of the convoy. All of the other tanks etc... are coming later so it was just a group of about 10 vehicles at the moment. It was interesting to see the reactions of the Korean people as we came through. There was a car accident right in front of us at one point. I am sure because the guy that rear ended the other guy was watching us and not paying attention to what he was doing. There were people who would just stop and watch. Most people would cover or plug their ears as we drove by. A dog saw us and took off the other way it was pretty funny, and even though we were really scary there were still one or two people who cut in front of us. I have never felt so ominous before.

Well the ride took about two and a half hours. The seat was uncomfortable and the gas pedal is really hard to keep compressed for that long, but apart from that there were not too many hiccups. it was something I have never done before, and now I know what it is like to drive that vehicle through the city.

We got there at about 10:30 and drove to our parking spot. we got out and situated, we waited to find our Barracks room, we also watched a whole bunch of other guys drive in. I was tired enough to fall asleep a little on the ramp of the brad for a few minutes. Finally after a couple of hours we got to take our stuff up to a bay type room with cots. it is more like NTC than JRTC, however we are going to have a chow hall, and nice showers, and bathrooms, and a PX,

June 15, 2014

Well today was much simpler. Last night I was a little chilly all night long, I just fell asleep I didn't find my sleeping bag or anything. I didn't care. They let us sleep until later today. I was tired, that drive wore me out. I slept until about 9:00. we (H_____, G_____, T_____, and G___, along with others) got up and went to find the bathrooms so we could brush our teeth and go to the bathroom and shave. We then got our equipment and went to the Brad. This morning we did the sighting of the barrel for the brad. I helped a little. Then we drove back and worked on cleaning and fixing some stuff on the brad that we didn't get finished, or hadn't noticed before we left. it was a pretty chill day today.

We didn't get dinner last night. I finally got to eat an MRE this morning for breakfast and one tonight for dinner. Finally I am not feeling hungry anymore. The rest of the night tonight was spent chilling out in our new bay.

June 16, 2014

I got dressed in my ACUs instead of my nomex driving suit. The nomex is a jumper, kind of like what a grandpa, or a baby, would wear. (not my choice) There is a flap in the back that has velcro on it and zippers down the side so you can go to the bathroom that way. I am never going to use it how it was intended. Well the velcro is cheap and is only sewn in one line so it rips really easy. My suit had the entire back side torn across. I spent the morning fixing it with my sewing kit, however with your sewing machine it would have taken me ten minutes. H_____ helped me do it until I was pretty much done. Then someone came in looking for people who were shamming, we were not, but we decided to hurry up and clean up our mess and take off.

The rest of the day today we were at the brad. We stayed there and did some work but mostly chilled. E____ from _ co walked past me at one point to the latrines. He came back and talked to me for a while, like an hour and a half at least. it was cool we talked about a lot of stuff. While I was talking to him W____ from _ co came over too and started talking to me too. he stayed after E____ left and just hung out. then later I ran into most of the rest of _ co who all were elated to see me. L_____ even gave me the hand shake hug like he always does. I made some cookies for the Staff duty guys on Friday and everyone told me how good they were I guess they shared them with everyone. Apparently I must have made a very great impression on those guys because every time I see anyone from there they are so happy to see me even SGT F______. Everyone asks how the Warrant officer thing is going and they are all glad to hear when I tell them that it is in. it is cool I think.

Well This afternoon we had a fuel leak in the Brad it was pouring out of the gas tank as the engine was running. so we shut it off and tried to figure out what was going on. After the mechanics came over they told us at first that we filled the gas tank too full. H_____ and I later were like, that is impossible I have never filled a gas tank too full. ever. at least to where it leaked out of the sealed cap. So we think that that guy was up in the night. another mechanic told us that we had air in the lines so he started emptying out the lines to get the air out. from what I know of fluid dynamics I think he was up in the night too but whatever he did stopped the pressure forcing fuel out of the cap. I don't know what it was but I don't think it was air in the lines. there had to be other factors at play. I think there might be an engine vent line that could have had fuel in it, that might have also caused the misinformation on the gas gauge in the Brad too. Anyway whatever the cause whatever the reason The pressure, the air or too much gas in the system it was resolved and not a moment too soon.

We cleaned up the mess and dumped the extra gas we collected into a gas can for one of the Humvees. then we did a radio check, had an MRE for dinner, did a radio check ,and some more turret system checks. Then we came back to our little barracks area.

I haven't had a shower since Saturday, so I had one. It was way nice. I was sweaty and stinky. I got appropriately ready for bed like in Pajamas (PTs) and got my sleeping bag out so I wont get chilly at night again.

June 17, 2015

We woke up and waited It feels like we are camping I felt like it was 10:00 before we left but as I checked my watch for the first time before we left it said just after 7:00 we got to the brad and just stayed out of everyone's way. I read a bit. I read the Book of Mormon and I read Elantris. I got through a lot of that today. Then I drew on a notepad for a bit. Finally we found out we were actually going to do something. We were supposed to first start shooting on Thursday. Alpha company was going faster then they thought so they said we could go after they did today. we were kind of excited. I had never done it before and was kind of excited to see if I can do the driving stuff I have been hearing about.

So we hurried up and came to the bay and changed into our driving uniforms. we rushed back to the brad and were waiting there for another hour or two until we could leave. By the time we were leaving there was a storm cloud on the horizon. I knew it was going to rain, and just as soon as we started shooting it started raining. Apparently H_____ couldn't see anything out of his screen. Major R_____ had other problems with his screen and it was my first time driving ever on a lane. So needless to say we didn't do very well. That is okay though we can still do it in Thursday. we will see what happens next time and hopefully we will be prepared for it.

After shooting we went to our debriefing where we were told just how crappy we did, and we all had excuses why. Then we went back to the brad and waited, finally about two hours later we drove back to the company parking area. we were getting ready to shut down when another sgt asked us if we had received a message on our little computer in the Brad. So H_____ turned it back on and we waited for another two hours for him to not figure out what the problem was. We were finally able to shut down and turn off the Brad and go home. it was about 9:00 pm.

June 18 2014

My day was a lot better today than it was yesterday. I think the principle reason is that I was not tired. I do not know what the problem was but yesterday I just felt groggy. Today I felt great. I had a pretty okay day at the Brad. We park it in a motorpool about 1/8 of a mile from here. and we walk to it everyday. this morning we went and kind of hung out and did some system checks I did pmcs and did some other checks. H_____ had the mechanics come over and verify that our vehicle was working properly. We went at about 1:00 pm to go try and shoot our lane again that we did yesterday. after being briefed on what went wrong and how to do it better, and it having not rained the moment we started, we did a lot better. I had a guy give me a tip on how to start the brad better. I am getting better at it. we finished what is called a table and then we went and got our debriefing on how we did and what we could do better.

then H_____ and I just chilled out at the Brad for the rest of the day. I got to read more of Elantris. I find it to be an interesting book after having read two different books by Brandon Sanderson I realized that he is a very distinct author. He likes to write about political intrigue religion, and religious ideas, and culture. a lot of the time while reading the book it reminded me of things that I had forgotten in Mistborn. it is good though it is a very different story, and pretty interesting, but I am past page 100 and catching on to all of the different characters and cities and religions spoken of, it is kind of hard to keep them all straight sometimes especially when I find myself getting sleepy or distracted or something. It is a good book.

Tonight we had a pretty good dinner chow. then we got ready for the night round. it is kind of weird to drive the bradley at night because you drive it with no lights on. I look through an infrared camera that is on the front of the brad. usually I am looking through four little periscopes that let you get a narrow field of view up and down of things to see. I am getting used to it though. The side to side is not bad you get about 135 degrees of a field of view from my direct left to just to the right of the front of the brad. it is weird to have that little of a view but I am getting used to it. besides my job is easy. I do not have to shoot anything. hallelujah.

we did really well tonight on our night shoot. we got about a 953 out of 1000 so we did really well. we are coming together quite well as a team. it has been nice these are kind of practice tables we did today and yesterday. so that by next week we should be really on top of our game.

After we were done shooting and had our AAR debriefing (I do not know what AAR means but that is really what it is called.) H_____ and I drove back. Don't worry, I didn't drive back without lights, there are regular headlights on it for when you are not "in Combat" so it is not too bad. I can open up my hatch and I get a nice blast of cool air right into my face it is like driving a really giant armored convertible. that is not red, but olive drab in color. HA HA HA .

Well we got back and found out that everyone in our little building has moved to our new barracks except for H_____ and myself and two other SGTs. we will all be moving tomorrow. I guess it is even further away from the motor pool. I, however, am not complaining in the slightest. I can shower, I can apparently clean my clothes ( i haven't needed to yet but I will.) this is a lot better than any field exercise I have been to yet, it just keeps getting better Knock on wood.

June 19, 2014

I had a pretty boring day today I went to the Brad to PMCS it. that was just about it there were a couple of other highlights but that was my main task for today.

At the end of the day today I got to eat at a chow hall Yay!! food!! I have been missing meals that filled me up.

I took a shower and feel clean as a whistle. I actually did some laundry, that was really nice. and I hung out with a guy in _co that I only think I talked to once or twice, he actually remembered who I was, He was even in headquarters, Not first platoon. we had a pretty good conversation about none other than airplanes. it was cool. well after that I went home brushed my teeth and got the rest of the way ready for bed. and went to sleep.

June 20, 2014

Well it has been a long day. it is midnight, I have been up all day since 4:00 am, come to remember I really didn't sleep very well at all last night. SO I am sure I have been awake for longer than 36 hours minus a slight dose last night and a slight dose today siting in the Brad. Well I thought I would do this as I unwound from the day I still feel wide awake so I am just easing out of being active and about ready to fall asleep here shortly.

It seems as though we shoot once during the day, and stand by until the night where we shoot once again.

What t is like to shoot you may ask? well for me it is pretty simple. I drive. When the commander of the vehicle tells me to go I go and when he tells me to stop I stop. The hardest part is when we do a certain type of engagement I am supposed to quickly drive forward about 30 feet. then when he says driver back I am supposed to back up like 30 feet. it is really weird because Driving a Bradley is not like driving a sports car. it takes a lot to get it to move. I end up using the gas for my right foot and the brake with my left foot. a driving faux pas. but necessary to get the job done.

For the gunner and the TC (commander) their job is a whole lot more involved. they have to know what they are looking for. They scan the terrain for it with each of their cameras. When the see it they have to say a jumble of words in code to each other. I could tell you the words but it would just be lost in translation. One of the codes is "Driver move up" that is all I listen for, but basically they are targeting what they are both looking at.

It is interesting to be a part of. I do not know what events led me to the point I am in my life but it is very uncharacteristic of me that is for sure. I never imagined myself looking through periscopes to the outside world while being in a tiny crampt low seat driving a huge slow armored vehicle with an infared screen (so I can actually see the terrain at night. no headlights) while people were shooting with really big guns out of it. It just seems as though I am living someone elses life.

I like the experiences and the stories I will be able to tell one day. Especially while the tanks shoot outside right now and the whole building rattles as the rounds go off. That's literally happening right now as I type.

Well today I read about through half of the Book Elantris. I hope you read it or are going to read it so we can talk about it later. it is a very interesting book I do like the way that Brandon Sanderson can put funny moments in a very serious situation. it is a cool book I like it although not as much as Mistborn.

the other day one of the guys from _ co and I were talking, I think it was E____, but I am not sure. He was asking me about the brad and we said something about pulling the control wheel back like an airplane control. I jokingly said, "of course this happens -we lift off the ground!" H_____ piped in said, "if that happened, well screw helicopters!" I lost it! I thought it was such a funny statement. So did he and we all laughed about that for a good minute. it was pretty funny.

June 21, 2014

well lets see after I PMCSed the Brad (checking all of the fluids and other things that are in it. I made sure it was operational just like I always do, ) I got in the back and was looking for anything and every reason to not clean the 240 machine gun. I hate cleaning guns. I think that would be the main reason I would never own one. I decided that I would clean the periscopes, and find other excuses not to do it but in the end it was inevitable and I found myself just sitting down with some baby wipes and cleaning the oil and soot. H_____ came and sat across from me in the brad and cleaned it too. We had a very pleasant afternoon of just cleaning that stupid gun.

he showed me some video he took yesterday of another Bradley shooting and that pretty much took up the whole day. at about 5:05 or so we buttoned it up to leave it was nice to have an evening off for a change and I was able to come back to my room I dropped my stuff of and went to the chow hall and had dinner really fast. it was actually pretty good there way a choice between sweet and sour chicken, and Beef and shrimp (chinese style food) I actually convinced the server to give me a little of both. it was great. Then I was able to go and do what I have been dying to do the whole day. I laid on my bed and read almost all the way through Elantris tonight. it was nice.

I finally stopped when on of the SGTS came in and said lights out and turned off the lights. I held the page got my flashlight and marked my place.  I am on page 500 out of like 613 or something. I guess I am going to have to wait until later to read the climax - so sad. It is really good. I think one of the main reasons I love Brandon Sanderson's books so much is that he likes to write about "strong willed" women who never give up, and the "gentle soft spoken" men who don't give up either. I think you and I could be characters in a very epic love story.

June 22, 2014

I was going to tell you that Sister Phil called me last night to get some information from me, it was nice to talk to someone who wasn't a soldier. But when I answered the phone I wasn't sure who it was. I could have sworn it was Mom because of the way she sounded. The first thing she said was "Brandon!" just like Mom would. It threw me off for a second. it was funny.

I ran into W_____ again today I have run into him a few times this week but today was the biggest day. I actually had a pretty good conversation with him about just a lot. The other day he smashed his thumb in one of the hatches of the tank and he had a blue thumbnail. today he had a little brace on it. he had been to see our new Doctor friend who is in the field with us. he needs an x ray but there are none to be had here and he can't very well go to the nearest hospital and get one. he is seeing what he can do though. W_____ is having lots of fun sitting underneath the gun as it is fired. I am glad I do not have his job. He is about six feet from a huge fireball and a crack that can shake buildings a half mile away. We were actually able to eat chow together. He is pretty funny. I like him.

This afternoon when H_____ let me go. I got my notebook and found a nice little quiet spot. to be alone, sort of. There is a pond just a stones throw from my barracks and it has trees and grass o the sides of it there is lots of plants and fish are usually jumping out of it it seems like all day. I went over there and chilled for about a half an hour and contemplated the mysteries of the universe or something. it was really relaxing until ants started crawling uncomfortably close to me. it was nice to get away from everyone and everything even if it was just for a few minutes.

June 23, 2014

I am actually really grateful this gunnery that I am the driver for the Brad and not a dismounted person. The dismounts have to do their team and squad live fire events, which I did last year. I do not have to do that this year. Yay! It was not fun last year.

June 24, 2014

Well we got done at the brad at about 4:00 I came back chilled for an hour and then went to chow. I am glad that we do not have MREs for every meal here. That would severely disappoint me. other than that I came back to my barracks building, and I took a shower and got ready for bed. I looked through my computer and cleaned off some of the files that need to be thrown away on it.

I was informed that tomorrow we are actually going to shoot even though it wont be for any reason other than shooting. Our next table, table 5, that we have t shoot was moved from Thursday to Friday. So H_____ didn't like that.

June 26, 2014

HI it seems like a long time since I wrote you last although you really can't tell the difference. A lot has happened in the past couple of days I didn't even have time to write you yesterday.

Okay lets start, in brief, everyday here is the same over and over again so I cant tell what happened form one day to the next usually. That being said I will try to remember my day from yesterday.

The day started off with us shooting. we were supposed to go shoot at 7:00 but it was pushed back until 1400 instead so we just worked on getting everything ready for the brad. during the morning, we had lunch and I really do not remember what we did other than that until we shot.

at about 13:30 H_____ and I drove the brad down to the range again. we went and picked up our ammo, loaded it and moved the brad in the line of vehicles waiting to shoot. We were about 5 back so we had to wait a few hours until everyone of them finished shooting. I just chilled out with the brad running, and drew in my book. Finally it was our turn I drove us onto the range and everything was normal except for H____ couldn't hit the targets at all no matter what happened. it seemed like the guns were trying to miss on purpose even though he would try to line then up every time. at any rate when we were done we had to wait about a half an hour for the other guys to finish their debriefing before we started ours which took another 45 minutes or so to do. 

SGT J_____ who was the guy debriefing us told H_____ a few errors that we could check and some things we could go to the mechanic and tell him about. we decided that tomorrow we would do it. this takes us to about 5:45 and I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get chow tonight. I have kind of been in a bad mood more so today but in all reality all week because I have just been fed up with everything Just all of the shooting, sporadic hours, dumb stuff and people we have to deal with, and just a lot of things. Not getting chow kind of threw me over the edge this time :) .

well We had to got to get this camera equipment put on the brad so that when we shot tables five and six Friday and Sunday we would have some extra audio and video stuff there so we could be graded and stuff I don't really know we just had to go get it installed. As we pulled up there were probably 4 brads ahead of us an d a great many more tanks. so we just chilled, and chilled we did. we ended up being there from about 6:00 pm to about 1:15 in the morning waiting to get this done. finally when it was our turn it took ten minutes. for the life of me I cannot figure out why it took so long but whatever.

Well we got back to our barracks at about 1:30, and no one was there. all of H_____'s and my stuff was still there but no one else nor anyone else's stuff was there. I though to myself I don't care I will figure it out tomorrow. which I eventually did. everyone moved out and downstairs in the same building to make room for new people coming in to see our tables 9 and ten I guess when we do them. it is going to get awfully crowded here I think.

Well I was like screw it and I went to bed eventually. I think H_____ thought the same thing so we both fell asleep.

Today (June 26) however, is a lot easier to remember. I have actually been in a pretty good mood all day long. We got up and went to the brad. We went to get the mechanics to look at it for the morning. While waiting we again cleaned the Coax (I am not sure if you know but it is a machine gun that sits on the front of the brad) for some reason it does not keep a good zero when we zero it. They told H_____ that it was just a bad zero after looking at it. So yet again we went to boresight it. We did the 25 mm first for about an hour and a half. Then we did the coax. it is very difficult to manipulate all of the dials and instruments when doing it. To boresight it we have to use a tiny little telescope that sits on the end of a post that you shove into the barrel and twist as you get the barrel closer and closer to being on an exact target. The telescope has two small knobs on it and I can't twist them with my thick uniform and other stuff on. my helmet also likes to hit the telescope too that throws it off as well. This is not the first time we have boresighted, and probably wont be the last. We spent pretty much the whole afternoon perfecting the zero and we finally were able to get it pretty good. 

I found out that I get to go home a day early, for the fourth because I have staff duty that day. I have to go back on the third and chill out all day that day then I get the fourth fifth sixth and the seventh off I think I am looking forward to that. well anyway just a little blessing I think to make this field problem go faster than normal and I am glad for that.

June 28, 2014

I didn't tell you about Friday so we will start with that.

We had to be up and ready to go early so we could shoot. We got up at 4:30 and got dressed, had breakfast and went to the brad. We got it ready and drove it to the range where we spent the morning waiting to shoot it wasn't too long. we actually started shooting at about 9:00ish I think. We went through the lane and then we went to our AAR meeting where we find out how we did. H_____ is actually really good. he has the second highest score of anyone in the battalion on the brad.

H_____ and I parked the brad after that and got our ammo ready and loaded, we cleaned the 240 and had lunch we also chilled for a couple of hours waiting until 8:00 when the evening fire was going to happen. we had chow and got the brad ready to go again. we lined up at about 7:35 and waited for a bit before we had our evening shooting brief. then it was time. we loaded up at about 8:30 and got ready to go.

IT went waaaayyyy toooo slow. The range was active at 9:10. No one started until about 9:40 then it took them about 50 minutes to go through. We were the third ones through and we started at about 12:15 in the morning. We got through it quick enough , but it took forever. at one point they put glow sticks along the road so we could see the route to take. That took another half hour. when we finally went to the clearing area, it was about 1:00 That took forever we had to pull over like three different times that I have no idea why. we then finally parked. and went to our meeting.

SGt G______ was our meeting leader there. he was his usual quirky self. H_____ and Major R_____ were a little put off by it. I think you have to get used to it before you find out he is an okay guy. it was funny. He had F_____ there to who was talking to me and telling me all sorts of stuff to I was too tired to really remember what exactly happened. All of the _ company guys love me they are always saying hi, giving knuckles to me, etc... when they see me. It is kind of cool to have them all as buddies, even though I am not there anymore.

H_____ and I knew we were going to miss breakfast The next morning so we went and had midnight chow, (yeah, they don't serve lunch at noon, they serve it from midnight to two weird huh?) when I finally went to bed it was about 2:20. I was pooped.

This morning I got up and took a shower it was nice I haven't had any time to take a shower for a couple of days and have been stinking. this morning I was finally able to do something about it. I came back and got ready to go. I really didn't have enough time to sleep at all so I woke up this morning tired already.

We worked on the brad all day today.  I am sick of working on the Brad every day. I think God invented the Sabbath day so you wouldn't kill your co-workers. And he gave us Saturday too so we wouldn't get sick of what we do for work. nevertheless H_____ loves working on the Brad all day so I get to spend all day with him everyday

At the end of work today we got off at five yay!!! I just needed a break. I went to the chow hall and chilled for a while. W_____ came up and started talking to me, it was a great change of pace. then he went with me when I did laundry and I just ended up talking to him all night long. it was really nice. I got my laundry done to so now I don't have to worry about wearing my last clean uniform. I had a good time tonight and was able to regain a bit of my sanity. tomorrow is Sunday and you know what that means out here in the field? Nothing. I am going to get up and go to the Brad and work on it all day with H_____. I can't wait (insert with sarcastic font).

June 29, 2014

Hi Sweetie. I actually had a very good Sunday today compared to most. Even though I had to work today. I had my Army scriptures with me in the brad this morning (I have been trying to become more regular at reading them) and I decided that I would have a few different lessons for myself. I read the book of Mormon where Alma goes on a mission to the Zoramites and sees their weird religious practice of kneeling on the tower and praying. it is a good story. I also read where he teaches the poor zoramites who were kicked out of their synagogues. I then opened the Gospel Principles book and randomly flipped to and read about the Three kingdoms of Glory, and what kind of people go to each. It was good too. I relearned some things. I read the first chapter of the Pearl of great price ( I like that chapter). I then read my Patriarchal Blessing and I got some more out of that today too. Thank you again for sending it to me. It was a very spiritually charged morning. I did that while H_____ went and obtained our rounds for tomorrow. I then helped him get everything ready for tomorrow. We are shooting Table six. "The Table" This is the one and the only one where you get graded on how well you shoot and get scored. it is where you can get top gun if you are good enough.

He brought the ammo back and then he and I counted, organised, and loaded them to be ready for tomorrow. We pulled the 25 mm gun out cleaned all of the shards of metal out of it, along with other tiny bits of stuff. We then re-greased it, and put it back together. We then took the brad over to re-boresight it. H_____ wants to have everything perfect for tomorrow. I am sure that either he or another crew from Alpha co will get Top gun because I believe Their crew and our crew were the only ones that did anything like that to our weapons today.

The best part about today was that we finally got off early. it was amazing we got off at 3:35 I was able to come back to my barracks without being extremely tired or whatever and actually have some time to relax. and be by myself. it has been a very good day.

June 30, 2014

 H_____ and I are shooting table six today we went early this morning and we are going again tonight.

We went shooting this morning for our test it was pretty alright we didn't get that great of a score though it was a 507 out of 600. apparently it was hard. hard enough for the rules to be changed a little after we shot. So H_____ is upset about that. Major R_____ is going to see if he can get our score changed accordingly so we don't get too low of a score again. The brad got stuck in neutral today too while we were shooting I had to shift it from drive to neutral again back to drive for it to work properly, that took up some of our time on one engagement. They didn't dock us points for that though. I was glad.

Well we were the first ones to shoot I hate being the first because you are always the guinea pig and we definitely were. the positive part about it though was that we were the first ones done this morning so Maj R_____ could go to his meetings. H_____ and I cleaned the 240 and loaded ammo in the 25 mm and we were done with that at about 1:30.

I am very excited for this to be over this is one of if not the last day we get to shoot, we have to work Tuesday and Wednesday then I have 24 hour staff duty then 4 day weeken here I come!!! and I will get to talk to you again. I am so very excited for that. I have been thinking about you all non stop for the past couple of days and I can't wait.

July 1, 2014

Well I don't think we got top Gun, but that is something I am okay with. However, we did get 905 out of 1000 which means we got exemplary or something like that. That also means that we will be getting Army Achievement medals too I guess. Pretty cool to be a part of that.

Last night we went and got the rest of it finally done. I don't think we are shooting anymore! yeah!!!! we went and it actually went quite fast, it helps when you are the first team going. .

I got back and knew I wasn't going to get up and have breakfast the next day so I ate some midnight chow and then took a shower ( I stunk like crazy), and went to bed

Today H_____ and I went to the brad spent a couple of hours cleaning the 240 then came back and chilled in the AC for the rest of the afternoon. Oh yeah while we were at the Brad about 4 helicopters landed not too far from us. it was cool to watch them fly over. I got some pictures of them. They tied down the blades and other things like that I think they are going to be here at least overnight. I haven't heard them leave yet, but later this afternoon about three Apaches flew over and landed too it was really cool. I love watching them land and fly.

Well this evening I went and had chow and am doing some laundry. my clothes really stink. I am glad that this place has showers and laundry facilities. It makes being in the field at least a little bearable. This place is actually really nice I am going to be sad to never have another Field problem in a place like this again. Everyone, including the Colonel, says that this is the best place like this they have ever seen, I don't know how I feel about that.

There was as sergeant in here who actually just informed me that I have staff duty on Saturday instead of Thursday which actually makes me a little upset but what are you going to do? I guess I will just have to wait for one more day to talk to you. After he told me that he told asked anyone in the room if they had any photoshop skills I replied with a yes and he asked me help him photoshop something. it was way fun to have an audience. he was rally grateful, and he was pretty intrigued watching me work. He thought it was pretty cool and I thought it was a lot of fun.

July 2, 2014

After formation I came back to the BAy orgainsed my stuff to bring with me to Camp Stanley tomorrow, and then went and took a shower. I love the fact that we have showers here. it is so nice to be clean!!! I try to shower at least every other day here, just because it is so annoying running out of clothes so quickly here, now that I am done shooting though I won't have to get in the same nasty clothes everyday, and I will be able to do laundry a little more often, so I think I will start feeling cleaner and better about life again.

July 3rd: (we came home from Gunnery)

WE Woke up and were told we had to be ready to go by nine so I was ready to go by 8. I crawled back in bed and fell back asleep for a little while longer. Luckily enough, I really didn't have to wake up at nine, we weren't leaving yet. The only reason I woke back up was because all of the night crew shifts came back from The TOC and were being loud and talking about how crappy the TOC was that night. Have I mentioned to you that I am glad that I do not work there.

We got all of our stuff and took it to the buses. We had to have readily available for inspection our Weapons, our night vision (NODS), our ID, our dog tags, and finally our pro mask. It was a lot of stuff to balance around, but eventually we were checked against the Itinerary and could board the bus.

It was a very long drive to Camp Casey. We eventually made it, turned in our weapons and NODS and went to check our rooms to make sure no one had broken into them. As soon as we did that we had a final formation and then we were released for the weekend.

I couldn't wait to talk to you on my computer So I hurried back and B_______ told me that his internet wasn't working so i had to go somewhere else. I found working Internet at the library, but my Computer wouldn't connect to it, I tried restarting it and everything it just didn't want to work. I finally gave up and went to chow.

That was when I realized that It was Thursday, and the chow hall was closed by the time I got there. I didn't have any lunch so I was looking forward to it. and was pretty upset to remember it closed. I then walked over to the PX so I could get some dinner. and tried the internet there. It didn't work, I tried everything. I finally decided (with some regret) that I would reformat my computer's drive. It meant that I would loose All of my Adobe stuff and Turbo CAD, but I didn't care. I just wanted to know that I could talk to you, the most important thing in my life.

I needed to buy some CDs or something to get everything off of my computer. I found after a few trials and errors some CD's that would work. I was able to spend the entire afternoon getting it all cleaned off and ready. then about 10:00 I formatted it, and went to bed.

Friday July 4

It was actually a pretty boring day altogether except for the Fact that I got to talk to you for about 3 hours in the Afternoon. I absolutely love talking to you! The entire rest of the day I spent at the PX in the same chair working on redoing my computer. It didn't help that my connection was SSLLOOWW!! it took forever to download stuff and has been taking forever all weekend long, eventually I got everything up and running. I downloaded some freeware versions of Photoshop and Illustrator, but they are not the same thing as the real thing I found out. they work but they are not as fluid, and don't have a lot of the features I use consistently, so It is a bit frustrating.

Saturday July 5

This was a work day for me. I had to spend the Day at Staff duty. I woke up kind of early so I could get some stuff done before I Went there. That was nice. Friday night I didn't sleep very well I think I had a Dr. Pepper and I am not used to the caffeine. So I went to staff Duty already tired, and I knew it was going to be a very long 24 hours.

Turns out it was not bad. I am used to sitting in one place for a long time. I am finally used to being idle for hours on end, being in the Army has finally made a mark on me. Don't worry that doesn't mean I like it, and have changed to be a real idle person, I can just tolerate it better. Sgt A____ G___ and I were on Staff Duty. I was glad it was a very quiet weekend, in the fact that no one got in trouble, nor was anyone working at the offices we were at. We were pretty much just left to ourselves. It was okay.

SGt A____, who was a pretty integral part of the HHC Soft ball team here was told there was no game this weekend so He was assigned to be the NCO on duty, Then they sprung on him that there was a game on Saturday, and he had to go, so he got another Sgt to substitute for him for the afternoon.

Later Sgt A____ came back. He was the Sargent that I had talked to the other day and had photoshopped a picture for. Since that had happened he had downloaded and installed a "Free" version of Adobe Photoshop on his computer, and asked me to help him learn how to use it. I agreed. It was way fun to show him stuff on there and have him be so intrigued with it. I helped him learn to do while he placed a picture of his daughter sleeping over a picture of a dog that they had that had died in the past week. Kind of as a nice gesture to her

We had lots of fun learning to use Photoshop it was really cool. I was also trying to learn to use my new drawing programs too. I could get it to do what I wanted, but it was a lot harder to get in done with a lot more steps involved in these programs than with adobe Creative suite. I was a little jealous that he had photoshop and I didn't. Oh well I didn't dwell on it too long. I asked him how he got it, and he told me that he had a website where you could download anything you want (Movies, software, pretty much anything downloadable you could get on there). I he said that it gave you a key to use to activate it and everything, I thought to myself, is this legal? but decided I wasn't going to argue, and was actually curious if I could download the software from there but use my own Real key to activate it.

After that was over we kind of just plugged in movies and watched them the rest of the night. we watched Galaxy Quest which all three of us loved. G___ and I were talking about it the other day which was where I got the idea, and Sgt A____ had never seen it before. He was laughing so hard at points it made watching the movie even funner. We watched Space balls, army of Darkness (I didn't like this one too much), we watched Clue, and Snow white and the huntsman) that took us to about six thirty in the morning, we were all pretty "movied out". We just kind of tried to get through the rest of the morning until nine. at 8:00 I finally fell asleep with my head on my hands in my lap.

I woke up at about 8:59, and no sooner had I done that when SGT A____ told G___ and I we were good to go, we both high tailed it out of there. I knew I wasn't going to make it to church plus I was too tired to go, and I wanted to talk to you, so I didn't even worry about it. I came back to my room, waited until chow started by trying to download the rest of the documents on my computer like open office.org I tried to download the "Free version of adobe CS4" I Didn't like the feeling of the website, it seemed a little shady to me so I decided to try Adobe.com, and was successful at finding a downloadable trial of CS4 I will then try my key with. It has taken all day to download it. The internet is so slow here. I watched the Documentary I had about The Rovers "Spirit" and "Courage", I think were their names, and how they tried successfully to get them to Mars. It was very interesting to me.

I then was able to have another in a long line of awesome conversations with you. I think it is so cool just how easily you and I can talk together. I am so happy to be married to you. I am so glad that you and I are so similar with so many things, but different enough to keep it interesting. Thank you, thank you, thank you for not being a drama queen. I am so glad I do not have to put up with any drama from you. thank you, thank you, thank you again I love you.

The rest of my afternoon I spent just relaxing I took about a three hour nap but not too much more than that and have just been chilling. and playing with my computer. I am pretty sure I will be able to fall asleep tonight pretty easily.

I have to give myself a haircut tonight, I am doing my laundry as we speak, and I will get everything all ready to go for tomorrow and then I will see if you are available online and then talk to you, then go to bed.

July 7, 2014

I had a very boring but very good day today. Boring in the fact that H_____ and I are now roped into working at the TOC. but exciting because it was "Brandon author day today" and actually figured some stuff out to make my story actually pretty good.

This morning I woke up at six like I was supposed to, I got ready for the day and left to be down ready to draw weapons and NODS at 0630.

We were there for about a half hour before they started doing it, finally we were able to get the stuff drawn out of the arms room. after that which of course took forever, we took our stuff to the company. we got to leave it there while we all got to go eat, of course it is still a holiday weekend, so the chow hall was not open yet, and everyone else in the army in the world gets Monday off along with Friday, but we don't. Oh well. After we dropped our weapons off we had to go and seal our rooms. Get this, we seal them with a white Avery label. They are supposed to be sealed so that we would know if anyone broke in to our room while we were gone, but if you are even slightly careful you can remove it without tearing it. It is way easy.

Finally HHC got to mount up. we did a formation, then were told to go to the bus show the Sargent in front of the door our NODS, card, tags, weapon, and promask. then we were on the bus. I really didn't sleep a lot of the night last night and got about 5 hours of sleep along with the three I got yesterday after being awake for most of the weekend. I didn't mind I was just hoping that I could fall asleep on the bus, I didn't I couldn't even sleep at all, nor was I tired. I just sat still with my head on my backpack and closed my eyes and relaxed. The Bus ride was really uneventful.

When we got back to the range everyone was pretty excited about being there I bet you could imagine. and I was expecting to be able to chill out for the rest of the afternoon at the barracks building. Jokes on me, we no sooner had gotten off the bus then we had to march our happy little bodies to the TOC and unload our weapons. H_____ and I were informed that we would be on the day crew for the TOC from 0800 - 2000 and that we would take the next seven hours shift, it was about 1300 at that time. well after getting settled a bit we just kind of sat down and started doing our job, which was wait for instructions. The entire day I went to get Garbage bags and paper at the HHC supply room, Then I had to go back and get garbage cans a few hours later. and later I was told to go see if the chow hall was open, which it was not, (MREs for dinner!) and my final task for the night was to hang up a panel that had space to write information on it. it was kind of lame.

The cool part of the day is that while I was waiting I had my black notebook. I used it, and I was able to figure out roughly how I want that story of mine to go, I worked out just about every major plot point to it. I think it sounds even cooler, now that I have figured it out. I will tell you about it one day if you would like.

I remembered a joke I have been wanting to tell you for months now:

What is the easiest way to make E5 in Korea?

Answer: Come as an E6. (Funny but true.)

Finally 8:00 came and I was released until 8:00 am tomorrow, then I have to be back for a twelve hour shift. I promise I will never ever complain about an 8 hour work day, ever.

P.S. I have a really cool story to tell you. I was just fishing around through my stuff last night packing and getting ready for today. I ran accross a book of Mormon, I handed it to B______. I reminded him about once when he asked me what Mormons are all about, but I never got a chance to explain it to him. I told him that he should read it, that he would like it.

He thumbed through it a bit and asked me if it was an instruction book on How to be a Mormon, I smiled and told him No it was a book like the Bible but it was also different. I gave him the five second spill about where the Bible was written and where the Book of Mormon was written and how the Bible had lots of things lost but the Book of Mormon was only translated once from the language it was written in to English. He asked what was different about it. I asked him if he ever thought about why he was here on earth. he said he really didn't like to think about that because it hurt his head to contemplate those things. I told him really quickly that The book of Mormon explains that there is a reason for this life and it is to come down and get a body, so we could be like God, and to learn to use that body, I also said that we were here to create and become families, and that we were to be tested to see if we will do God's will. He said that he had never thought about it that way before, and it kind of made sense. I told him that the Book of Mormon had a lot more stuff in it that helped you to understand life. he actually seemed a little curious, but told me that he was probably not going to read it in the field and he didn't want to trash it either, but he might look through it when we get back from the field. it was really cool I was glad I ran across the book. anyway that is it for today.

July 8, 2014

Well I better write you this evening before I do not have time. Today Was my first "full day" at the TOC. I had a very peculiar day too.

I woke up this morning and was ready to go by 7:15 I went and got some chow for breakfast, it was open, yay! It was pretty normal chow too. eggs were gross, and everything else was okay. I don't understand how the same people who cook in the DFAC can get eggs edible there but come out to the field and they are disgusting, nasty tasting, and barely edible.

Well I went to the TOC today and I worked along side this specialist who was actually very nice to work along side.

Anyway My task today was to monitor the radios, and write down information from the company e-mail net that came accross the computer I did it all morning until about one. That place is the epitamy of an organized mess. The equipment is just hap haphazardly thrown all over the place. like there are extension cords running the whole thing and they are strung up on the walls. there are network cable s doing the same thing and everything works but if there was a problem it wouldn't be solveable. The same thing with all of the information there. No one and I mean no one knows what is going on there. There are so may tasks going on, but no one is really in charge so everyone gets on each other's cases. it is a nightmare. Today I was also told to find a form for someone to fill out, I had no idea where to start, I went and started looking through random folders on a table, and found some that were already filled out. finally someone brought me a stack and when I tried to put them somewhere that I would be able to find them again, but they were removed from that clipboard and put right back on the table again not bound or put anywhere except for the cluttered desk. Everyone doesn't like working there. Anyway enough about that. It is just a dumb place to work in.

Toward 1:00 pm I was told that I was going to Drive the Colonel around for everyone doing night live fire tonight so I needed to go back and take a nap so I would be ready to stay up all night. I was like whatever, as long as I can get out of here. SO I came back, and fell asleep for an hour, that is all I need to stay awake for tonight all night. Oh and I stopped by the PX to buy some DR. pepper to ensure I would be awake tonight, I usually do not buy anything there but I felt that it was necessary.

P.S. I just have to tell you now, I have been assigned off the night shift, but I am going to be driving tomorrow. Like I said, no one knows what is going on. SGT G_____ Came back here with Sargent M____ and told me that I wasn't driving anymore. tonight, I would be driving tomorrow for Captain W____, during the Table 12 stuff. I guess it will be fun now I am actually looking forward to it. I just had to let you know just how often things are confused and changed around here.

July 9, 2014

I had a very long day today, it started at 4:30am and didn't get over until 9:00 pm.

I drove a Humvee for Captain W____ today. he is one of the captains that is in S3. he had to drive around watching the dismount guys get out of The Brads and go assault whatever they were going to assault. I drove him around so he could watch them. we did it once this morning and once this afternoon it is a process that besides the waiting in between the two times that we watch it took about oh I would say at least three hours a piece. for the main objective then about an hour for the debriefing (AAR meeting).

Captain W____ was way cool and asked me if I was a Mormon when I told him I was form Utah, he asked if I did a mission trip. and I told him where it was, and that was pretty much the end of our religious subject conversation. We did have a good day talking though. He is From San Diego, and he went to West Point Military Academe. I thought that that was interesting. we did have a good day together.

During this morning's table 12 everyone was wearing the jumpsuits for chemical, attacks. it is really thick cloth that is supposed to protect you from Contamination but about the only thing it does around here is protect you from being cool. In the first hour there were four heat casualties. Guys that got heat cramps, exhaustion, or worse. after that happened a lot they decided to let everyone take it off. it was a good idea because it was sweltering today. Extremely humid and very hot. I was just sitting in a Humvee with sweat pouring down my face, I didn't want to know how bad they had it. but they got to shoot, the brads got to shoot and everyone was happy, me too I got to watch helicopters fly all day, and drive.

During the second time It was pretty much the same except for live ammunition, the guys we were with were going to shoot a javelin, which is a large missile you fire from the seated position on the ground. I was actually a little intrigued to watch them fire it off to see what it would do. It was a dud, it didn't even smoke. It didn't work at all. That was kind of a bummer for every one.

It was kind of nice this afternoon and started raining. it cooled it off a bit and I really don't think it made it more humid because it already felt like the air was saturated.

H_____ and I both drove all day long, and when we got back we took the Brad to see if we could get it washed, the wash rack was not open. then we took the Humvee to tell SGT G_____, T_____ and G___ to come back from their almost escape (they were told they were going back to Camp Stanley tonight, then they were told to come back after they had already left. They were very mad)

H_____ and I also were supposed to go and drive all night long too, but Sgt M____ being the cool guy he is found us some substitutes so we could go and sleep.

I prepared the Humvee for the night just like I was asked to and then I came back and took a shower, and feel a whole lot better about life.

July 10, 2014

Today was a normal day in the fact that I was a driver for Captain W____. but was abnormal in the fact that I only did it once. This morning I was ready with H_____ to go at 0500 he left a bit before me and so I went to the chow hall and ate breakfast. The food they serve here is really bad, even though it is still edible. I can't wait to just have normal nasty Chow hall food again. Depending on the day you either become constipated, or you have to go so bad you almost can't hold it. :) .

I met H_____ at the TOC and I was told by him that today we were going to be going out separately so that we could relax a bit more during the day especially in the Heat. So H_____ went first to go and I chilled. I helped Sgt D____ clean up his vehicle of all the trash that people just randomly throw in there. We talked quite a bit, I can tell he likes associating with me. I think he even said it to someone else. But we get along pretty good. I am sure he is the Best Friend above E4 that I would have around here. he is really cool though. he was telling me about his day in the Striker, and just some of the stuff he has been up to. I asked him about his family, and we talked pretty much all morning. He and I were unofficially in charge of keeping the tent (TOC) from blowing over every time a helicopter landed next to it. The medivac Pilots were practicing Casualty evacuation techniques. I wish I could have been a casualty, but I think they were strapped down to the stretcher anyway so no worries.

Other than that I just drew in my notebook for most of the morning. Oh and sweated a lot. It is so humid and hot here I can't beleive it. I remember Reunion being humid and muggy but I think the fact that I am wearing a relatively thick Long-sleeved shirt is making it worse. On Reunion I wore a light Cotton short sleeve shirt, I think that helped. Oh and the Helmet and gloves don't help either. But I am okay; I just drive. I do not have to exert myself too much, and I am glad for that.

at about 1230 I went out with Captain W____. We went out and got with __ company. I think it was second platoon. and we went to watch them Shoot. When we eventually got there They had the targets pop up and they unloaded everything they had onto them. It was interesting to see. They had Kiowa and Apache Helicopters flying around shooting rockets and machine guns at the targets too. That was actually cool to watch. Those helicopters get flown like fighter jets, it is kind of cool to see them dive and climb and do all the stuff I thought an airplane would do. I enjoyed that.

I only did one time with Captain W____ and we were done by 1530 or so. Then I came back to let H_____ Go again, he was waiting for us. he had all of his gear and hopped into the Humvee almost right when we stopped. I went inside and a few minutes Later H_____ showed up and told me we were leaving. I had a somewhat confused look on my face and asked what was going on. He said that we were going to wash the Brad. so we went and did that. Boy did that hit the spot. We had to spray down and scrub the vehicle, while also climbing on it. (impossible to stay dry) I could do that all day long here. it felt so nice to be soaking wet in the heat. I enjoyed it thoroughly. I am so glad that there was only a light coating of dust on our Brad too. Last year we had to scrub Mud out from everywhere. This time it was not a big deal at all. We came back from The wash rack and we got all our gear and came back to the Barracks building and have been chilling ever since.

Well I guess that that is all that happened for today. Today was the last official day of gunnery, and by all accounts we are going back tomorrow. So I am very excited, the question is is whether or not we will have a weekend. I guess you will know as soon as I do.

July 11, 2014

Today is the last day of gunnery. Yay!!!! we are waiting to leave right now. It is 9:30 and we are leaving at 12:30am. everyone is ready but we still have to wait for the right time. I guess the moon has to be in the exact place or we won't be able to land on it. who knows. anyway here we are I am in my brad typing on my computer while others converse outside. H_____ is talking to L____. They asked me why I do not write you a handwritten letter. I said because it takes forever to get a handwritten letter home. I can email this in about two seconds and you have it. Then they said but a handwritten letter has more passion. I then said come October she is going to get all of the passion she can handle. They laughed.

Today I got up early. I went to the TOC and they were already tearing it down YAY! H_____ and I helped to get the main stuff down for S3 when we were all done with our stuff (people were still having meetings in other rooms of the TOC so we left the alone) H_____ and I went to our barracks room and got our Stuff to bring to the Brad. as luck would have it we did not have to carry it back. Sgt J___ had a vehicle he brought back with him to get his gear and he loaded our gear in there as well. all we had to do was bring a few odd ends to the brad with us.

Sgt D____ needed some help taking his vehicle to the wash rack. since I was doing nothing and was very hot anyway, and didn't want to get put on something else I volunteered to go with him. he is pretty cool he drove while I was standing out of the turret on the top of the vehicle. We eventually made it there and I had a good time rinsing it off with the garden hoses they have there.

We got in and came back. I had no idea where anyone else was so I went to the Brad, no one. I went to The TOC it was pretty much gone and there was no one there either. I thought maybe he is at the tank, he was not but G___ was so I helped him load some stuff up on it. we then found H_____ and T_____ and Sgt G_____ bringing a Humvee back from the bay with T_____'s stuff on it. they went to the tank and we had to move the Brad. so We got in and went to the staging area. we have been here ever since that was about 1300. we are still going to be here for a while. not fun, but I am glad, because I am getting closer to home :) .

This afternoon I have helped H_____ put a flag on our Brad. It was his idea but I had the paper and the artistic skills so I drew it for him and tied it to one of the antennas.

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon night just trying to write a story on my computer, I haven't had a drawing program all week long and I haven't missed one either. I am still going to try and download one, but This week I have changed from Brandon: Artist / Drafter, to Brandon Author, and I have been writing. I am glad I have many varied talents it keeps me from getting bored when life gets very boring.

One of my buddies came over and was curious enough to ask me what I wrote about. His name was D____. I let him read it. When he was done he started adding a line at the end of what I wrote about. Just to take the story further. He liked the story a lot, I guess. I told him I would use the line in the story but I would modify it a little bit. He was okay with that and I guess that he thought it was cool because he came back and asked me if I had written the line in the story yet. So as I rewrote what he typed from a sentence into a paragraph he watched and helped me it was pretty funny. at one point I needed a better word for "a lot" and he asked a bunch of the guys outside for ideas, They all gladly helped. It was actually kind of funny. We got a good word and finished it up. D____ told me he only wants two percent of the royalties when the book comes out, We laughed as we negotiated his cut from writing the sentence. he told me that he wants a copy of the story and the book when I am done. I agreed. I really do not think it will ever get that far but we will see.

Everyone outside had all asked me what I was doing but none of them came in and sat next to me and helped me. "I have a fan!" (only slightly sarcastic font). ha ha ha. It talked about an airplane and D____ told me that he loves airplanes and wants to fly, he said he had a medical history that would prevent him from doing it in the Military, but that when he gets out he wants to get his private pilots licence. That was cause enough for me to stop writing and have a really cool impromptu discussion about airplanes with him too. I think he liked that discussion too. It was a fun afternoon.

After I did that for a while I figured I needed my computer's battery for all night so I put it down went outside and stretched. and walked around to see what other people were doing. It was boring, So I went back in and continued. Good stretch though.

Eventually it was time to leave we had our usual convoy brief and then we loaded up. finally after a slight radio malfunction we were ready, and we just left! Okay, you are right, that is not enough exclamation points... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a good feeling.

It took from about 12:15 am to about, I would guess, 2:00 am to get home. It was interesting. we drove so late so we wouldn't get stuck with any cars on the road, and we wouldn't have to worry about traffic. I thought it was silly thinking that 12:00 was late on a Friday night, but I guess it was. We only saw one group of three who were drunk on the side of the road. and one guy who looked at us with a weird look and ran away, and for the most part the cars kept away. It is such a weird feeling being the guy who is driving the huge scary vehicle into the city.  You know the scenes in army movies where you see those tanks or whatever driving down the street in a big city. I never thought I would ever be the guy driving it.

Eventually we made it home. Hallelujah!!! We just drove right up to the motorpool and stopped the Brad where we usually park. We unloaded our equipment and tied the brad down for the night. We put the tarp over it and and put it away. There was a Humvee driving around picking up Ruck sacks and duffel bags to take back to the company so we didn't have to walk with them all the way back. That was really nice. we then loaded up all of the rest of our gear and took all the weapons we had and held them as we walked them back to the Company to put away. We had to have full accountability of all our things before we were released to go to bed.

At one point during the night I had to run back to the brad to get a weapon we had taken but never even used once (or thought about for that matter) all month long. no wonder we forgot it. I made sure I got it back before the arms room was closing I didn't want to be the guy holding everything up.

At another point I was watching the full moon set. You know you have been awake for a long time when that happens.

I was hoping we would be dismissed before five thirty, because I wanted to talk to you before I fell asleep, and there was a scheduled power outage for the post today (Saturday) for the entire morning and I wanted to try to talk to you before you went to bed too. we didn't make it. final closeout formation for the week was at around six thirty. We all had to salute the trumpet sound and then had our brief, and finally we were good to go.

I was hopeful the power outage wouldn't last as long as the had it planned for so I stayed awake hoping that I would get a chance to talk to you before I fell asleep. I organised and unpacked all of my stuff. Also so I wouldn't have to do it later.

I was both right and wrong at the same time. The power came on at about noon, and I could have tried to call you, but I was zonked I didn't even realize the microwave beeped nor my lamp turned on. I woke up about an hour later when I was sure you were asleep. oh well I tried. I will talk to you tonight I guess. I love you so much I can't wait to see you again. have a great night. I will see you when you get up maybe.