Convoy Live Fire

Tuesday- PT at 5, Chow at 7, and then movement to convoy live fire.

You ever had the feeling that you are just not prepared to do something, well I got that feeling about convoy live fire. In comparison we did ARM/Reflexive fire for weeks, but we have practiced Convoy Operations for 1 day and we are doing a live fire exercise. Good times. We practiced the operation again this morning and moved out to the convoy live fire range. Again we did a dry run, blank run and then a live fire exercise. The way the exercise went, we moved in a convoy of maybe 7 humvees and two 5 ton troop carriers. Some barrier would block the road, forcing us to dismount the vehicles and engage the enemy. When we dismounted we would get online and fire rounds at pop-up targets. Once the enemy was destroyed we mounted vehicles again and moved out. Then at some point we would get hit with an IED (which was an artillery simulator tossed near the convoy, it makes a really big boom) and react accordingly. To my surprise, and to the dismay of the Cadre, we did this exercise really well and essentially we were allowed to relax a little that night. And then we started classes on land navigation. Since I was leaving early this week, I missed land navigation and would have to make it later.

ARM/ Reflexive Fire

Week 4

I was notified by my instructors that I would be allowed to go home on Wednesday of this week to attend my grandfather’s funeral. That would then I would have only two days of training and those two days were really cool. In week 4 we began FOB operations. A FOB is a Forward Operating Base where we would essentially live the next three weeks. We are operating FOB’s all over IRAQ and Afghanistan right now and this FOB is to act like those do in theater, equipped with guard towers, two gates (One of which that would serve as an entry control point) living and dining areas. In other words, Week 4 started my “Field” work for BOLC II. All training was done at the FOB unless it was done at a range of some type. Getting released at 5PM was not going to happen anymore, we work until training is done and several times that meant 12AM or later!!!

Monday- Wakeup 5, PT at our barracks and then we moved out to the FOB. From the FOB we moved to reflexive fire/ARM.

So I have been talking about Reflexive firing and ARM for 4 posts now. This was the live fire day for these drills. The way this course has been taught thus far, for every exercise, we do a dry fire with no ammunition, then a blank fire with blank rounds and then a live fire with live rounds. The first exercise was reflexive fire. The firer starts in the kneeling position, loads a magazine, asks permission to move and then moves to a low retaining wall. Once at the wall the firer fires 2 rounds to the left of the wall and two rounds above the wall. The firer then places the weapon on safe (very important!!!) and requests permission to move to the next obstacle which is a high wall. Once at the high wall, the firer fires two rounds at the side of the wall and two rounds above the wall. The firer places the weapon on safe and ask permission to move to the next obstacle which is a BIG window. (Our Cadre kept telling us not to die in the window by exposing ourselves, but its almost impossible with that size window) Once the firer get to the window, he/she fires two rounds through the window. At this time, the firer must reload magazines because he/she was given two 10 round magazines. Once the firer has reloaded he fires two more rounds through the window. The firer places the weapon on safe he/she asks permission to move to the last obstacle which is a door. When the firer reaches the door, he will do a facing movement into the door and firer 8 rounds through the doorway in controlled pairs while advancing forward. During this entire exercise there is a Cadre member walking with the firer correcting mistakes and keeping things safe.

The next exercise is ARM drills. Firers take up positions at the base of a firing line. There are approximately 30 firers on the line. There is a target in front of each firer that contains a red symbol, a green symbol, a yellow symbol, and a purple symbol. On command from the command tower, fires will engage targets of a designated color by the tower. In addition there are also “friendly targets” that should not be engaged. In our case, purple and yellow symbols should not be engaged. So if the tower said “Yellow…, Ready Up!” we would not fire at the target. We would yell, “FRIENDLY!” But if the tower said “Red…, Ready Up!” we would fire a controlled pair at the red target. After firing a given number of rounds at this firing line, we would then move to the next firing line and do a facing movement so that the target was at our right left or rear. This means that in order to engage the target, we would have to do a facing movement prior to engaging the target. So if the target was at our left, when the tower says “Red…, Ready Up” we would positively identify the target, turn left and then engage the target with a controlled pair. Remember I said there was a degree of danger to this and here is where it gets hairy. If your buddy to the left or fight of you accidentally fires while turning, you will take that round in the chest or back. Needless to say I was scared to death during the live fire of this exercise, especially when the target was at the rear and we had to do a full 180 degree turn to engage the target. We did this exercise with 60 rounds so there was a lot of time for error.

After ARM we moved back to the FOB to began practicing for convoy operations. We ate chow at 5PM, but when chow was done, we continued work on convoy operations. This was the first time we were doing actual training after chow. During convoy operations we were learning about what to do in the event we take fire, get hit by an IED, or what happens if we are impeded in any way while on a convoy. We practiced really late because the next day we were scheduled to do a convoy live fire operation. Fun Stuff!

Friday of Week 3

This was an interesting day because it started at 0330. We had a 5 mile ruck march scheduled for a 4am step-off time. This ruck march had to be done in 2 hours (no faster/no slower) and had to be tactical. That makes this an extremely grueling ruck march because it is so slow! I have found over time that fast ruck marches hurt much less than slow ones because you generally take more steps in slow ones and each step hurts. We were doing the march with 35lb rucks which is standard for all cross gender training courses in the Army. I however, in preparation for Air Assault school, rucked with a 55lb ruck. I also was priveledged to be the one that set the pace for the march.

Once the ruck march was done, we did more reflexive firing drills and Advanced Rifle Marksmanship drills. I am starting to believe that reflexive firing and ARM are the real basis of this course, I guess I will find out next week. After ARM, we began prepping for room clearing and Urban Combat. In today’s battlefield, the most dangerous aspect of the battlefield is urban combat. It is highly dangerous because the enemy has many avenues of approach, many places to hide, and many casualty causing agents that can be used in buildings. All in all, this was a very simple day, and a simple week, except for the news of my grandfather’s passing.

I am alive

Ok so I have sucked so horrible the last three weeks keeping this thing updated, so I am going to catch everyone up in the next three or 4 posts.

The end of week 3.

On Wednesday of week 3 we had PT at 6 am and the moved out to basic rifle marksmanship familiarization training. Basically, we went to a firing range and aimed at a 75M, 150M and 300M pop-up targets. When a firer hits one of the targets a computer tells you where on the target the round hit. The purpose of this is to help a firer understand where on the target they are most likely to hit during qualification. I seem to aim high ( I like head shots). I hit all 36 of the pop up targets, which generally means I will fire well at qualification. We will find out tomorrow.

It was at this time where my training went on the back burner, to a family issue. I received a call at 11:21 PM from my brother that informed me that my Grandfather had died. I had known for a week that he was really sick, so the news wasn't horrible unexpected, but it shook me. In an already sleep deprived environment, I didnt sleep at all that night. I spent most of the night contemplating why my Grandfather and I were not that close, and remembering the time we did spend together. BAD NIGHT TO SAY THE LEAST

So the next day, I went to formation at 5:50 thinking that I should tell my platoon mentor what had happened and take a day off. LOL, I actually thought that could happen for just a second! Then I came to my senses and thought " This is the Army, there are no days off" So I went to PT, and attended all training for that day. I was told I needed a emergency call from the Red Cross in order to go home, so I began getting that lined up. If you remember from the paragraph above, this is rifle qualification day. Each firer gets to fire twice and I shot 31 and 34 (out of 40). This means that I shot "Sharpshooter" I have been firing "Expert" over the last few years (hitting 36 or better) but under the circumstances, I cant complain. From there we came back to the barracks area and began to do more reflexive firing drills. We seem to do these drills anytime we have a free moment. Reflexive firing and Advanced Rifle Marksmanship is practicing firing from the standing position, around buildings, walls, and barriers, as well as firing on the move. We practice it a lot because we will be doing these drills with live rounds at the beginning of the next week, and if these drills are done incorrectly, a person could easily kill the man standing next to you. It is very important to do this right!

There is a REAL war going on.

Before I get to the main point of this post, it rained today. IT RAINED! I am so happy not to see the sun its frightening. Today was a usual day, PT at six, Chow at 7, then we did Advanced Rifle Marksmanship (ARM) Training consisting of reflexive firing movements and firing around obstacles. It was actually pretty fun!

While doing some of the ARM training my platoon spoke to a Sergeant/Instructor who has deployed 3 times and has seen much of the battlefield. This Instructor is an 11B (Infantry, The Queen of Battle, HOOOAH!!!) He has also lost troops, been hit by several IED's, survived a near-ambush (a "near" ambush is defined as an ambush in which the killing zone is within hand grenade range or 15M maximum) and has lived to tell about it. He told us many stories about things he saw over there (I wont go into detail, but there were some horrific stories told) and he also stated that wishes no one else has to go there.

It was at that point that I went into shock!

The horrific stories didnt shock me, I have heard those before. That statement (where he wishes no one else has to go there) shook me because when you talk to other people that have been over there, the response is different. They state things like, "it will be good for you" or "its good to have combat experience". I don't know if the people that make statements similar to these are simply ignoring the Hell that is Iraq, or they have conditioned themselves to look past that Hell. In either case, I have been hearing a slanted story. I have been hearing only from those that have seen small segments of the battlefield. I am a Quartermaster Officer (QM), who generally talks to other QM's. Inherently, QM's dont get to see all the action up close, we get hit by IED's and mortars, but we don't do fighting door to door, street by street. This Sergeant (Staff Sergeant Actually) did every type of combat mission in theater. Everything from sector clearing, patrolling, fob security ops, etc. Anything you can name, he did it. And as a result, for the first time since I have been an Officer, I have seen the eyes of an individual who is tired of and beaten by war. A war being fought by hard men everyday while I sit here and complain about heat in Fort Sill, and you read my rants.

Its important that I first understand that it is my duty as an officer to lead these hard men into battle, and the immense responsibility that accompanies that task. The point of him telling war stories was to paint a picture that leadership is essential to saving lives over there, and when leadership fails people die in bad, bad ways.

It is equally important that you all remember that there is a REAL war going on. One where lives are lost, lives are broken, and lives are being altered forever. Iraq seems so far away, most of us are only connected to it through the media. Its so easy to forget the war, and its so easy to forget the sacrifice of those that serve. Please don't, keep us all in your prayers.

OMG ITS FREAKIN HOT

Ok, I am not sure what Oklahoma did to piss off the sun, but the sun is REALLY mad. This is literally the hottest weather I have ever had to endure. I mean, I have been in Arizona in June/July, Vegas three weeks ago, Okinawa, Japan in summer and I have never felt anything like this before. We were out at the Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) range conducting grouping and zeroing. The premise of the operation is simple, get 6 consecutive shots into a 4 CM circle to group and get 5 out 6 in a 4 CM, centered box to zero. Well no matter how simple it is, people are destined to have some trouble, which happened today. Some people took the better portion of the day (till 3:30 PM) to group and zero. Its OK, I love em anyway. We also had PT this morning like usual at 6. We had a 2 mile litter carry where we had to carry "injured" soldiers on a litter (envision a very flat cot) for 2 miles. It was a pretty good workout.

But back to this heat. We got to the range at about 9:30. By 10:30 we had our first heat casualty. At about 11:00am it was 97 degrees. Plus, were were wearing MOLLE gear (look it up, its cool stuff) Interceptor Body Armor (IBA- Adds at least 10-15lbs and about 5 degrees of heat) and wearing our Kevlar helmets. It was just damn hot. There are Sergeants/Instructors here that have deployed to Iraq when it was 130 degrees in the desert and they say this is worse. The humidity puts Fort Sill in a heat league of its own.

Oh, and carrying a rucksack, wearing the IBA, Kevlar and MOLLE gear reaffirmed that my ribs are not anywhere close to healed. Everytime I moved with that gear on, I wanted to scream. But anyway, enough whining for me, remember, ITS ALMOST FRIDAY!!!! (Thats what I tell myself to stay motivated even though the week just started) Good times ladies and gentleman, good times.

Am I Injured, Or am I hurt?

There is this saying in the army that if you are hurt, you can go on, but if you are injured you should get things checked out. Well I am probably injured right now, although no one knows it. On day 1 of combatives, I hurt my ribs. I cant describe really how it happened but I can describe what the injury is like. Every time to turn my body from left to right, my ribs pop, and I have a sharp pain. Not to mention the fact that it seems to be bulging a little from my body. On day 3 of combatives, I am sure I had a minor separation of my left shoulder. It sucks right now.

However, given how bad I want to get this crap over with and how much I hate making excuses, I rolled on that mat, and did PT for all 5 days hurt/injured whatever. I didnt and wont go to sick call because I may be recycled and have to go through this stuff again. So, my decision is made. I am going to suck it up and drive on. I have decided that I am only a little hurt. Wish me luck.

Week 2 RECAP

I have been doing a horrible job keeping this thing up to date. Kinda sucks when you are busy all the time. Week 2 was all about death by power point and combatives. The week went like this; Wake-Up was around 5, Physical Training (PT) at 6. Chow at 7. Classroom classes on weapon systems from 8:30-11:30, chow from 11:30-12:30. Combatives from 1-5pm. The classes were kinda boring but combatives was not. Most people were pretty amped up for day 1 of combatives, but that zeal wore down as the week progressed, people got sore, tired and injuries mounted. Not to mention we were doing some pretty good PT every morning of the week as well. I started at 100% and by day 4 I was operating at 40% at best. I saw at least 3 serious injuries of other people, a broken clavicle, a shoulder dislocation and a muscle tear in the shoulder. In addition to that stuff, we received a writing assignment from our platoon mentor to give a bio about ourselves. Luckily, I had already written some type of bio for this blog so that wasnt hard. In addition, I led PT twice and had to do risk assessments and PT outlines for that. We also put together out gear all week, and some students had to give those death by powerpoint classes mentioned above (to include me). All in all it was a long tough week. I partied hard to celebrate the end of it all.

BOLC II has just begun for real

So I just got my ass kicked for 4 hours in combatives and I literally hurt everywhere. And this will go on for 4 more days. Holy crap, on Friday, I am going to be in hell. It was more fun than the boredom of last week, but damn. We went over some basic moves and positions and then sparred for dominant body positions. Although I did pretty well, I went up against a guy named "Mule"(yes, really its Mule, he is about 6'2 and weighs around 225. We work out together and he can do reps of 315 with ease on bench. Needless to say, he's huge.) at the very end and I got crumpled. I also sparred with one of the instructors, and I achieved several dominant body positions but was unable to finish him off. So all in all good day, but I need some ice bad!

Week One - Hurry Up And Wait

I have never been so bored during a military training event in my life. Because BOLC II is the first step in most officer's careers, there is much emphasis placed on the in-processing process. It took literally 5 days to fill out maybe 10 forms, get shots, take a PT test, and hear everybody and their momma come speak to us. Here is how it broke down.

Sunday: In processing paperwork all day.

Monday:
Wake-up 0415
First Formation: 0515
0530- 0700- PT (A 1 mile "jog" around the PT test area, nothing major because we have the all important PT test coming up.)
0700- 0800- Personal Hygiene and Breakfast ( Let me stop and say I am on the BOLC II diet. Which means every time we are supposed to eat, if something else is going on at the same time, you dont really have time to eat that meal. I missed this meal because over 200 males share about 6 bathrooms to shower in. Great Start.
0800- 1100 AG In Processing ( Holy Shit!!! it took approximately 3 hours to fill out two forms on life insurance. Two forms that I completed prior to my arrival here. I wasted three hours of my life, and I got the HURRY UP AND WAIT response when I tried to get out of it. Good Times)
1100-1200- Lunch ( My first "meal" on post. It was actually alright too.)
1300-1600 CIF Issue ( This is where you get all your military gear for the training period. Again there are 235 people that must get gear, and things are done alphabetically, so lets just say I hate being a "Smith" sometimes.)
1600 Move back to company area and are pretty much done for the day. Too Easy!

Tuesday:
Wakeup 0415
First formation 0445
0500-0700- Blood Draw/ TB Test (I didnt get my blood drawn, just the TB test, again the "Smith"thing comes to bite me again.)
0700-0800- Breafast ( I actually ate this time)
0800- 1130- Blood Draw/ Dental Exam/ Optometry- (waste of TIME!!!! and took forever)
1145- Lunch
1300- Finance Brief ( the only brief I actually needed because my pay is all jacked up)
1500- Company Commander and 1st Sgt Brief ( I was told about 20 times that I am here to improve leadership and to not do anything stupid. Sure I wont!!!!!)
1700- Chow and the day is OVER!!!!!!

Wednesday:
Wakeup 0415
0500- PT (Physical Training test for all you non-mil folk) Test ( I killed it, TOO EASY. But since I weigh 196 and I am 5'11, I had to be taped (tape measured) for body fat composition. The army has labeled me a "fat boy" which is hysterical if you have ever seen me. I passed the body fat test as well with a couple "why is he being taped" comments from the people conducting the test.
0700- Chow ( I missed it because I was being taped. Of course they want the fat boys to miss chow)
0800- Pee Pee test (OK HUGE waste of time, not because I hate the pee test, but a urinalysis test for 235 Lieutenants should have more people administering and observing. The way they did it here, it took 5 hours)
1130 -Chow (some missed because of the Pee test, again the BOLC II diet)
1300- Commo Class ( Maybe worthless for some, useful for others)
1500- Briefings
1700- Chow ( Missed this one because of a cleaning detail. After this one I went to the commissary and went grocery shopping. THEY WONT STARVE ME DAMNIT!!!)

Thursday:
I wont go hour by hour, just know PT then medical all damn day. But there was an interesting development. Someone stole a computer monitor out of the computer lab in our barracks, so now its closed to us. I then went out to get a wireless internet card. Oh and I had to miss dinner chow because of that monitor. Damn Thieves.

Friday:
OMG 8 hours of briefs after PT!

So in conclusion, this week has been pretty boring with all of the preliminary stuff, but getting off at 5 or so has been nice. Next week should be better.

Introduction

Well as I leave for 5 months for Basic Officer Leadership Course, I have been wondering how to account for my time gone. You know, the who, what, why, when of this adventure. So, I have decided to blog the next 5 months of my life so others can share in the misery of training with me. I expect that I will learn much about myself, and thus you will learn much about me as well. And through it all I want to accomplish 1 thing: I don't want to answer too many "so what have you been up to" questions when I get back. It will all be here.

For those who don't know that much about me, or know varying things about me but not the whole story, here is the most concise description of my life thus far. I was born in Chicago, Illinois. I am from some of the most poor housing projects and neighborhoods around the city but I have also seen my share of nice neighborhoods as well. I was raised by a plethora of people; my mother for 8 years, next my maternal grandmother after that a combination of an uncle and my brother. During my childhood, I was a very mischievous kid, I found different ways to get in trouble (most of which I cannot discuss here), but my ability to take tests (standardized, IQ, it doesn’t matter, I am a test taker) kept me out of serious danger. That ability to take tests helped me attain the title of “gifted” in school. (I laugh at the idea of being “gifted,” because I am not in any way a gifted student. I was put in programs with genuine geniouses and my only “gift” was the ability to decipher tests, BIG FREAKIN DEAL, lol. Thus, I will always quote the word “gifted”). However, I can seriously say the “gifted” programs I entered, offered to me in error or not, have had a significant impact on who I am today.

I went to Indiana University for college and graduate school. I did this partially because I liked the school, partially because of my inability to run track at a DI level (I will explain that in some detail at a point in the future), and a need for diversity in my life. You may ask, “why would Will need diversity in his life” and the answer is simple. My high school was almost 99% Black and I had a jaded idea of how the world operated. I needed perspective, and I got that more holistic look at life at a school that was over 90% white at the time I attended. While at IU, I played club volleyball, joined the greatest fraternity in the world (PHI BETA SIGMA), did student government (IUSA), met some lifelong friends, lost a couple lifelong friends, and got a couple degrees. I also met an amazing girl, who became a woman and my wife. I don’t know how she wrangled this bull-headed, psychotic, idiotic, wild-child in, but she did it, and now she is stuck with me. She has done the rest of the women on this earth a great service!

While at IU, I joined as an enlisted soldier in the US Army Reserves. My exact date of enlistment is Sept 3, 2002. I did it for a couple reasons: I needed some discipline, and above all, I needed money for school. 9/11 played some part in my decision, but to say that was a major contributing factor in my joining the Army would be a lie to you, a lie to myself, and a disservice to the nation. I became ultra-patriotic some time later, maybe after 2 years of being in the service. In my military career, I attained the rank of specialist and was promotable to Sergeant when I had a change of heart and decided to become an Commissioned Officer in the Army. I joined Indiana’s ROTC program my senior year of undergrad and completed the program at the end of my first year of graduate school. I am now a Second Lieutenant and will be promoted to First Lieutenant in November.

At the end of grad school, I was hired by Crowe Chizek and Company LLC to do process consulting (I will explain later). I can say that I have been so utterly happy with my job thus far, I am not sure how everyone doesn’t work for this firm! I work out of the Chicago office, but I really haven’t worked there much. I have done most of my work in Indianapolis. Strangely enough, this works well right now because my wife still live in Indianapolis.

That gets everyone caught up to the present, except no one knows what Basic Office Leadership Course (BOLC) is. Directly from the BOLC II page on Fort Sill’s site:

Our mission at BOLC II is to train, educate, and (most importantly) acculturate you into our Officer Corps in order to develop competent, confident, and adaptable officers able to lead Soldiers in the contemporary operating environment. When you graduate, we hope to have reinforced in you the Army Values, given you an understanding of the culture of Army Officers, and to have contributed to your embodiment of the Warrior Ethos.

Your pre-commissioning BOLC I experience has exposed you to basic Soldier skills. At BOLC II, we will reinforce some of those skills that we consider most critical towards building the Warrior Ethos (i.e., combatives, marksmanship, and physical fitness). Most importantly, we will transition you from a cadet or candidate into an Officer and a Leader. No longer merely in the receive mode as a student--you, lieutenants, will lead and instruct your classmates throughout the course, and you will be coached and evaluated on your leadership by combat-seasoned non-commissioned officers and captains.

Upon completion of BOLC II, you will report to your branch-specific BOLC III course where you will learn the specialized skills that you need to succeed in your first job in the Army. Regardless of your branch, though, you will leave BOLC II with a stronger Warrior Ethos, more comfortable in a fight, and mentally and physically prepared to engage the enemy in close combat and win. We hope that you maintain that which we instill in you throughout your career as an officer and leader of Soldiers.

Yup, that sums it up. If most of you read that and noted that “Warrior Ethos” is mentioned 3 times in 3 paragraphs, and also took notice of the section that said “At BOLC II, we will reinforce some of those skills that we consider most critical towards building the Warrior Ethos (i.e., combatives, marksmanship, and physical fitness)” you can probably deduce that I am going to be fighting, shooting, running, jumping, and doing a whole bunch of push-ups over the next few weeks, in addition to becoming a leader in the army.

Good Times ladies and gentleman, good times.