Kellogg's Korner

Day –1

This weekend is my first drill with the 412 CA Battalion. It just happened to be the week that they were headed out to Ft. Knox for weapons Qualifications. Wednesday I picked up some of the gear I needed for this little trip. The only thing they neglected to issue me was wet weather gear, so I picked some up from supply before the busses left. They issued me an M16 with knight vision scope, which will have to be zeroed. This will be the first Weapon Qualification I have done in almost 5 years.

At about 10:30 the busses took off for Ft. Knox, about a 4 1/2 hour ride with crappy movies.  When I was a wake I saw parts of 300 and some othe3r movie that I am not sure  the name of. I might have enjoyed 300 if it were not for the 9” TV 5’ away with bad color. The entire time the movies were in a purple tint. Needless to say I slept most of the trip.

We arrived about 15:00 to move into the worst barrack I have ever been in.  We are all crammed into 4 man rooms, the latrines smell like stale piss, and the walls look as if they have needed to be painted for years. The chow hall is a 1/2 mile down the road, the PX/BX close enough to walk to has the selection of most quickie-marts. thank God they had shower shoes, I forgot to pick some up before I left the house.

The first thing all the E-5+ did after getting our rooms was head out to a rang safety class. It was your basic don’t mess with UXO and follow all the post standards on running a rang. The man giving the class has been running Rang Control for 15 years as a civilian and many years while in the service. He had many little stories to tie in each main point of the class. He  would have made an excellent instructor  for any class, but he was cut short by the fact that we had to catch the bus back to the barracks before it left us out there.

When we got back I hit the chow hall for some grub. It was the standard chow hall food that I remember.  After choking it down and heading back to the Barracks yet again, I caught a ride to the Main PX with the 1st Sergeant.  Being the boring person that I am, I talked about computers and video games. They had some fun telling me the great things they had done with their systems, most of which I would have done differently. Stuff like that reminds me why I no longer do computer work on the side. I would make some nice pocket money, but I would have to cheat people to do it.

It is now nearing 21:00 and wake up is at 05:00. so I am going to call it a night. I just wish I had Internet access here so that I could post this and check my FF hits and the other peoples posts. I also missed a full day of my web-comics. Good thing it is Friday, I can catch up on them all Sunday when I get back.

Day –2

Wake up was at 05:00, chow opened at 06:30, and busses started to move 07:30. I was on the rang zeroing my new M16 by 08:30. They through me for a loop by using optical sights to Qualify. I have never zeroed a weapon with an optical sight before now. I had to work on forgetting my fundamentals of  maintaining my cheek to stoke  and sight picture. The optical sight will adjust the position of the target dot so that is is always on the point needed when it is zeroed.

With limited ammunition, I was not able to properly Zero my sight before my first  Even without a Zeroed sight I was able to hit 22 out of 40, one shy of qualifying. They also made a change to the Basic range since I was last on one. They now shoot 20 in the Prone Supported, 10 in the Prone Unsupported and 10 in the kneeling. Whit my elbow surgery the Pron Unsupported is not an easy task to maintain. I was in pain by the the 5th shot. TO top it all off, I was unable to see 3 of the targets. My second, and last, time up I missed the same three targets, and almost dropped my weapon in the Prone Unsupported position. Needless to say, I did not qualify this time out. I will not blame the Equipment, or the lack of ammunition. I will admit that I am out of practice, and have a hard time sitting up on my elbows.  Maybe I need to go out and get me a rifle and get back into practice firing., But that is something I will have to do on my own time.]

After we returned to the Barracks, the was a surprise Urinalysis. Since I am not a member of the Unit, My name was not on the list. I was selected as an observer for the event, a position affectionately known as a “Meat Gazer. I have to accompany individuals to the Latrines and watch them pee in a cup. Just what I wanted to do before Dinner.

Dinner was another great chow hall favorite. At least I did not have to pay for it. The rest of the evening was spent showering and packing my stuff up to leave in the morning. B Company had a ruck march, so my roommates have a 02:30 wake up. SO I will call it an evening now.

Day –3

it was 07:30 Wake up for me. The busses showed up at 09:30 and we were on the road by 10:30 0nce again. It was another long ride with bad movies. There was no stop on the way back. Once we got back it was an instant “Lets start Cleaning weapons” mode every one went into, with out being told to do so. This just shows well trained people who want to get things done so that they can leave. After finishing up cleaning my weapon I got a new beret, I have to shave and shap it as well as get the flash sown on. I also got the paper work I need to get my pay.

Once all that was done I called Teresa to come get me.  The day was over and we were headed home. We just had to go get some allergy medication because we were out. IN the parking lot a lady thanked me for my service to our country, I love it when people do that. One the way out I helped some one change a flat. tire.Some time I feel like I am too nice, but then again I think that people should help others when they can. All helping her did was take a few minutes out of my day, and saved her lots of time.

All and all, I had a good weekend. Teresa went through some stuff with the girls, but kids will be kids. And our weekend draws to an end. Sorry IO had to do this all in one post. There was no internet access out at Ft. Knox. But I will get back to my random posting of what ever I feel like posting now that I am back to civilization. See you all as we get into a new week of life and working.

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