HEAT

Today we got to participate in HEAT. HMMwV Egress Assistance Training. It was a little scary and fun at the same time. Basically they take a HMMWV that is out of commission. Chop off the front and rear ends and attach it to a rotisserie. It is used to simulate what it feels like to be in a vehicle that rolls over, and teaches you how to escape safely and help the injured escape as well. There are 5 men in each HMMVW. Two in the front, two in the back, and a gunner on the turret. Everyone is buckled in except for the gunner. Guess who was the gunner. Yup. Me. I volunteered though. No one else seemed too interested.
The gunner usually has slim chances of surviving a rollover. They didn't tell us that, but I think it's safe to assume. If you're lucky to be fast enough to even get inside the truck before it flips, you then have to sustain the damage you take from being tossed around like a pair of shoes in a clothes dryer. To make things interesting they throw in rubber ammo cans and fire extinguishers to get tossed around with you. Below is a video I found on youtube of similar training. Also, on a side note, they have video cameras and microphones inside the truck, so everyone on the outside can hear you. As you can imagine, some strange things come out of those speakers.



After all that was done we were whisked away in a cattle truck to our next training evolution. (The cattle truck has its name for a good reason. Picture a horse trailer with 50 people crammed in it). This training was grenades and claymores, CBRN (Chem, Bio, Radio, Nuclear) gear, and field sanitation (how to dig bathrooms). The CBRN I've had a hundred times in the Navy, the field sanitation was pretty much common sense for most of us, but the Grenade training was pretty cool. They gave us what I thought was inert grenades to play with. We watched the instructor throw one and then we did it. I was under the impression these were just hunks of metal and we weren't actually going to throw them. So I was the first one up, and I go through all the motions. Pull the pin and all that but I simulate throwing it. I just make the motion with my arm but never let go of the grenade. Next thing I know the instructor is screaming at me to throw the grenade. Turns out these things actually had a small firecracker like charge on them. So I heave the thing away and it blows up. Everyone was laughing. I thought it was funny as well. The instructor didn't find it too funny though. He found it even less funny when the guy behind me did the same thing I did. Right after he watched me do it and get yelled at. So that was today. 10 hours of training. 50lbs of gear. I'm beat and we have 12 hours more tomorrow, Easter Sunday.

PS... Still no uniform for me...Everywhere I go I get asked by 10 people why I'm in a different uniform than everyone else. My explanation gets more far fetched every time. The newest one is that I'm a Navy SeAL headed to a secret mission in N. Korea and my unit is already there so I'm training with these guys.

Really...?

The first day at Ft. Lewis was not too bad. I had somewhat of an idea of what life here would be like, but most of it was hearsay. Unfortunately, the rumors were true. We were put in WWII "historic" (obviously a way to make the situation sound better) barracks. Open bay. Open shower. Hot days and cold nights.

Everyone got their new desert camo uniforms on that Saturday except for three people. I was one of those people. I only brought one other uniform, so I hoped the new uniforms would come in soon. I was placed into a squad. Squad 2. So far my squad seems to be the best one. Everyone gets along fairly well. Haven't had any problems. Everyone that came on the deployment was supposed to be an E5 or above, so being so top heavy with guys who are used to being leaders at their respective commands has created a little tension so far as guys compete for the better jobs and evaluations. I don't mind that, but a few guys have gone over the top to the point where it is almost annoying. Anyway, there is only one or two of those in my squad of 12.

Saturday was mostly for getting settled in, unpacking, meeting the guys etc. A few guys weren't getting in until midnight, so I decided to make their beds for them that way they could go straight to bed when they got in. They don't know I did it. I hope they appreciated it and would have done the same for me. I slept pretty good that night. Anxious to see what next week will bring.

Ft. Lewis

The second leg of my journey takes me to Ft. Lewis in Tacoma, Washington. Our flight was scheduled for Saturday April 4th. It was an early 7am flight and our flight was out of LAX. Which is about an hour 1/2 away from Port Hueneme. There were four of us on the flight. We left for LAX at 4:30am and arrived at the airport just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, one of the guys that came with me left his bag laying in the parking lot at Port Hueneme. He must have felt terrible. Glad it wasn't me. Lucky for him there were some guys going out on a flight at 12pm and were still back at Port Hueneme. So they were able to take his bag with them. So other than the embarrassment, it actually worked out for him. Now he didn't have to heave around luggage all over. The flights didn't end up being too bad either. I never have this much luck at the airport. 4 flights in a row. Not only no hiccups, but I even got hooked up with the economy plus and the spacious row in between first class and coach. Not only that, but I had room in the overhead for my bags. No people with obnoxious sized carry ons. No crying babies. No kid falling asleep and drooling on my shoulder. Enjoy it while it lasts I guess.