A Bit of A Break

This past week's training have not been too taxing on us.... It was sort of a break from the huge physical demands on us..... We concentrated on basic soldier skills like Call For Fire, using the Guardfist simulations device. We also did Cordon and Search.. Now this could have been some great training. Fort Riley have a different mentality when it comes to training. They gloss over the training in class, then they expect you to conduct the training to standard during an exercise. This particular training/exercise is a huge training requirement for us/ETTs for our mission in Afghanistan.... What happens is they let you conduct the training, then they evaluate your operation. Needless to say, that many of us are hands-on/visual people and it is much better to go show you on the ground how it is done, then allow you to do it.... Many of the teams struggled with the scenarios, but got better after each iteration....

Following this event we began our specialized training. SFC Walsh and I participated in the Advance Commo Training on the Harris 150/117 radios. Some of the others in the team went through Medical and Counter Insurgency Operations Training.

This week's Training went into the weekend on Saturday evening. We kinda expected it, since we had Monday off due to the Easter Holiday.... However when the training ended we let our proverbial hair down, (I guess, those with hair!!)

In this first picture is LTC Shawn Harris, my Omega Fraternity Brother and myself hanging out in the back of the billet... LTC Harris is from Michigan and is leading one of the Michigan Teams....

Some of our other Frat Brothers made their way down to Camp Funston to check on us... You see we had a good time....

In this other pic. Is one of the Afghan Trainers having some fun with us during our Cultural Training.... They go over scenarios that have occurred in theatre and assist us in ensuring that we deal with them properly. Really gives us a great start on how to effectively interact with our Afghan Counterparts...

Also depicted is SGM Mike Elvington, (the Horse) of the team. SGM Elvington is a stud.... strong as an ox, very knowledgeable. This is his second Afghan deployment....... He don't have to worry too much about being challenged.... He is quite intimidating... Also pictured with him is SFC Post from Michigan and COL Cannon...


This upcoming week returns to the field. We are schedule to began our Crew-serve Weapons Qualification, day and night. So we expect to be out in the field late into the night to get this done.....

CLS "Combat Lifesaver Training"

This past week's training for us was the all encompassing Combat Lifesaver Training. Fort Riley requires everyone to certify through their course. They do not accept the certification of other agencies. After going through it, I now understand why. They have their own style of training. They also have great instructors that are passionate about their craft. This training is the real deal. They start with classroom instruction for a full day, the next day was a written test and the actual administering of IVs. Everyone gets stuck and everyone sticks.... Below are a few pics of our IV day... (enjoy)....

As you can see my assistant was not too gentle, plus I had a crowd of people around to enjoy the pain of seeing your fellow soldier miss and miss your vein.... MAJ Haselden had previously certified and actually did a great job with this task. I had to embellish a bit for the camera!!!!!!

LTC Wright had fun with SGM Elvington's CLS skills. These two are the best of friends and they have a long history together, personally and professionally. We also have as a part of out team, MSG Tex Hughes, who was our assistant instructor for this class. Tex is a Registered Nurse in civilian life and he loves his job. He really taught us so much, and we feel more comfortable going into combat having an actual RN on our team.

Pictured above is our fearless leader COL Cannon giving SSG Hunter an IV. COL Cannon wears glasses and it was quite funny to see him trying to give Hunter an IV without his glasses on. Hunter was definitely not thrilled either......

Pictured above is MSG Smithey giving LTC Moore an IV. This was Smithey's first time administering an IV. He found it to be quite challenging, but he was up to the test, after a few sticks... and the loss of a quart of blood by LTC Moore... (just kidding). We all realize that we must become comfortable with this process, as it may save someones life.

The next phase of CLS Training was another hands on practical exercise. In full battle-rattle, we had several scenarios that we were faced with that required us to render appropriate aide under combat situations. One was a simulated mortar attack on a dining facility with multiple injuries inside that required mass casualty evacuation. Another event occurred during our dis-mounted patrol, we were hit by artillery, IEDs, etc and had to make the correct decision under stress. The exercise culminated with a medical evacuation after simulated combat operations on the objective.

The above picture is CSM Albert and SFC EJ Walsh enjoying and putting into application the fine CLS Training that Fort Riley have to offer. Part of our joy probably had something to do with us being given a four-day pass for the Easter Holiday. Just kidding, we have really jelled as a group. We know each other's strengths and most of our weaknesses... Best of all we have grown to care about each other's well fare. This is what being a team is all about.......

Training, Training, Training

Training, Training, Training is life on the FOB... This week's training focused on Tactical Convoy Operations and Driver Training..... This weeks training varied from Drivers Training on the Up-armored HUMMV to Combat Life Training. The training here is as realistic as they can get it. Combat Lifesaver Training is more than how to administer medical support to save lives, but they actually have event driven actions that happen to require numerous actions, one of which is the administration of proper medical attention….i.e. an IED goes off near your patrol, the blast injures several soldiers, what actions are required…. Needless to say there are numerous, yet simultaneous actions that are required to deal with the situation…However, I want to also highlight some of the great soldiers serving with me on this mission.... SGM Charles Jackson on the 50 cal... (Ma Duece!!)

One such individual is SGM Charles Jackson. SGM Charles Jackson, who retired 30Sep 2004 from the full-time force with over 29 years of active duty. Charlie voluntarily returned under a retiree-recall to support this mobilization. This is his first combat tour of duty. SGM Jackson pictured below left the surreal day to day activities as the Training Site Manage of Clarks Hill Training Site located in Plum Branch, SC to join the RCAG. SGM Jackson is one of many patriotic soldiers that are on this team. He is truly admired by this team and a credit to the citizens and soldiers we have in South Carolina.

As mentioned earlier much of our training this week was on tactical convoy operations.... This was outstanding training, they, (Fort Riley) spared nothing to ensure we received excellent training.. What i liked most was the Simulator Training in the Battle Simulations Building. This was behind a computer, but it was so real. It virtually put you into the vehicle and had simulated attacks, to include IEDs. We found out very quick that you need to rehearse, rehearse and rehearse your Battle Drills, so that it become second nature how you would react....

I was able to acquire some more pictures of our range operations.... As you can see it was very taxing on us.... Enjoy...

Range operations was very exciting. We all realized that this is for real, and being able to shoot accurately may save your life.... so we became intimate with our weapons... None of us dreaded this, even knowing that we would be worn out by the end of the evening....

When you are tired, you take advantage of every opportunity to get some relief/rest.....

Here are some clips from our night range ops...

For God and Country

This week has been truly for God And Country as BG Sinclair so eloquently reminds us. The Army definitely got their money out of us this week. This is an endearing term used in the military when you worked either for no pay or more put in more than normal. And this they, meaning Riley definitely did. It began with more Cultural Immersion Training which was absolutely outstanding. We actually was able to put into action the training we received as a mentors by practicing role-play with our instructors... In the picture below, depicts LTC Wright and SGM Elvington conversing with supposed Afghan officers and interpreters.. This really gave us a good idea how to utilize an interpreter and also to respect and converse with the ANA. This mobilization has also allowed me to get to know some outstanding officers and NCOs, and LTC Wright is definitely one of those officers. He is a get it done man, he simply gets it done. He is practical and thinks things through. A great man and officer..... His NCO SGM Elvington together makes a strong team.....

We also had our range qualification this week, which made for some very long days and nights. Long hours coupled with wearing the heavy body armor and kelvar helmet, took a toll on our bodies... We all were dragging at the end of the day.... The day started at 0530 and ended most nights between 0130 and 0200 in the morning..... The below pic depicts me PRIOR to the weapons range. I had a smile then, but that night, one was hard to find.....

Also pictured below is my battle buddy, MAJ Gregory Haselden. He and I are generally always close by each other...He is not only a good friend, but a great officer...... He is my Dari language instructor... just kidding.. we are giving it our all.

Finally, I will leave you with a picture of some of our ETTs going through some automation training, prior to deployment. As the G-6, it is my responsibility to assist in the training of not our the ANA, but US soldiers as well. I coordinated with JFCOM, (Joint Forces Command) to assist us in providing training on theatre specific software training that we will utilize in country. The training went great. Below is a picture of some of my fellow SC soldiers in class....

Cultural Immersion

This past week for our URF has been dedicated to Cultural Immersion Training. As previously stated some of our soldiers from South Carolina is in different groups or URFs. That is how they divide us up to complete the required training. Some of them went through weapons qualification, while we went through CI Training. In my opinion, Fort Riley does a wonderful job to prepare us for the task at hand. Cultural Immersion deals with a plethora of subjects from Language Training to briefings from native Afghans on the country and culture. The below pic is one of our classes.

The other pic is a picture of the the FOB, and some of the building/billets that we live in. The FOB is like our McCrady Training Center. This is the Kansas National Guard's training area that is being upgraded to support the MTT/ETT Mission. As they upgrade, many standard facilities are just not there, like a Mini-PX, as you can see from the three white trailers pictured above, that is our PX for Camp Funston.... This is quite strange to me, as we are Class 19, which means that 18 other classes have gone before us.... It does not appear that they are going to put too much money in improving the FOB, as Fort Riley have lost the MTT/ETT Training Mission to another post.. So things like a gym, PX, cable will probably not even show up....

Part of our Cultural Immersion Training involved TCP, (Traffic Control Point) Operations. The above pictures was our URFs training. Traffic Control Point operations deals with how to establish a Hasty Traffic Control Point, which covers how to search suspects, as well as how to search suspect vehicles for possible weapons. This probably was one of my most enjoyable classes. But realistically, this can be quite dangerous to perform in a combat zone. There are so many hazards and things that can go wrong. Everyone must be alert at all times. The lives of fellow soldiers and civilians is at stake if mistakes are made...

The last picture I will leave you is a picture of the RCAG. When you live in close quarters, train constantly, eat with your team, you get to know them. You learn so much about your fellow soldiers. In my opinion, COL Cannon, Commander of the RCAG/ETTs did an excellent job screening and placing the personnel assigned this mission. We all work so well together, everyone on the team is a team-player and will do anything to help the other, even if it is not in their area..... I pray this continues..... We have excellent leaders in every position and our boss definitely allows us to do our jobs. We can't ask for more. He fights for us and we work hard to ensure that we complete EVERY mission/task given. We all recognize that we represent not only ourselves, but we represent the State of South Carolina and the entire National Guard as we perform our mission.

Until next week, continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.... URF#8693.... "The RCAG"

Life on the FOB

The FOB is our training base for our tactical training. We are into our 30th day of deployment and the training is definitely intensifying.... Our FOB, (Forward Operating Base) is named FOB Army Strong or Camp Funston.... The wear of this heavy body armor definitely makes training more intense. This past week, we began our physical conditioning, (getting use to wearing IBA during rigorous training activities). The IBA is not only heavy, it restricts your movement, where you don't have the range of motion as without having it on.... The below pic shows me with full gear/IBA, with our individual weapons (M-4/M-9).

The RCAG, which is my group is very blessed to have great leaders, one of them is SGM Bobby Albert. SGM Albert is a State Trooper from the Gaffney area, and definitely a great leader. The below pic indicates SGM Albert giving us some instruction. One of the big challenges for us this week have been the constant changes to the schedule and location of training. For many this could be very frustrating, but we have continued to a positive attitude to changes. We know that we are on 1ID turf and what they say goes. One of the biggest complaints for soldiers training here has been the lack of internet access, no local gymnasium, and no access to television except for in the dining hall. They, (meaning Fort Riley) don't seem too concerned to fix these issues timely... Either way, we are working through these shortfalls.....

Another great team member is MSG Smithey on Admin NCO from Mullins, SC... He is always willing to help in any way. It is great to have him on the team..., also below Smithey is our group photo.... This is the entire team, minus MAJ Krell, whom is already in theatre.....

The last picture is our group photo..... Class #19, URF 8693..... Would have been a excellent photo if not for the amateur photographer getting the shadow in the picture... Needless to say, we are standing strong, with the help of the Lord above. Please keep us in your prayers....

From Shorts to Coats

One thing that is a surety out here in Kansas is the reliability of the weatherman/news. If the weatherman says that is going rain, you better take your raincoat. If he says it is going to snow, you better buy your boots. These are the most reliable news people I have ever seen. We had 68 degree weather on Wednesday and then snow and freezing temperatures on Thursday... WOW.... As for the training, we are continue to complete our deployment briefings, to ensure we fully understand our Code of Conduct. We had assorted briefings from Sexual Harassment to how to treat prisoners, as well as our actions if captured. All of these briefings were extremely important. It really hits home to you, and everyone was attentive, as this is the real deal...

The above picture is part of the group outside the dining facility on main post. This is after 68 degree temps the day before. These are not your average weathermen...... They got it going on.....