We're not at Camp Bullis Anymore...

We’re Not at Camp Bullis Anymore...

16 May 2011

Yesterday I had to leave my beautiful wife and my darling little girl to attend pre-deployment training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey.  The last time I was up this way I ate at “The Diner,” which has AMAZING food and Gretchen and I went up to NYC.  I am pretty fond of the Joint Base Dix McGuire Lakehurst area.  Pre-deployment training on the other hand is a different story.  My experience with this training evolves around my experiences at Camp Bullis, Texas...a week’s worth of sweating, MREs, dehydration, sleeping on cots, shoulder pain, and no real working restrooms.  So what was I expecting from Combat Airman Skills Training (CAST) at lovely Ft. Dix, New Jersey?  In reality I was expecting much of the same, except I knew that the weather would be much cooler....boy was I wrong.

I got to CAST in processing at about 6 pm.  I was expecting to get MREs and get transported to some other facility.  To my surprise I was told that we would get hot food from the Chow Hall 2 out of the 3 meals each day.  That was AWESOMENESS #1.  AWESOMENESS #2 was when I got up to my room to find that we actually had beds...not cots.  Plus, it turns out that there is only 3 of us in a room built for at least 10 people...plenty of space.  Having a hot shower to come home to every night definitely falls in line with AWESOMENESS #3.  Having a working restroom that does not consist of either a “port-of-john” or “shower tent” does make my vacation stay at Ft. Dix so much better than my “week of hell” at Camp Bullis.

19 May 2011

My last deployment consisted of primarily working with folks from Blackwater...now known as “Xe.”  I get to work with some of these folks again, except this time they are “motivating” us.  Our first field day was (believe it or not) out in the field.  We worked on small unit tactics, individual movements, and reactions to contact while moving in a squad.  Our morning was spent doing low crawls, high crawls, and rush-n-rolls.  Our Blackwater and ex-Marine instructors liked to make a game of it though, especially when they combined all three in the end, making it a 75 yd obstacle.  At first glance, this seemed like nothing but after doing it consecutively and wearing 40lbs of armor plus Kevlar helmet and M-4 rifle makes it quite more difficult.  In the afternoon we got to work on our squad movement tactics and they gave us “blanks” to use during our stroll through the woods.  Overall, it was a very taxing day and reminded me how unprepared I was (conditioning wise) for CAST.

The next day we reviewed Counter Improvised Explosive Device (CIED) material.  It was a great review from the vast knowledge that I have attained by teaching at ASBC, however I learned so much more.  In the afternoon we went out to the field and walked around as a flight identifying different IEDs.  I learned that there is no such thing as a “potential IED”...it is or it isn’t.  The best part was driving in the “Humvees” spotting them going 15-20 mph and then following all the correct procedures.  We missed a couple which really humbled me...it is amazing how people are able to see them in the AOR.  I have a newfound respect for those that work in Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD).  I was also educated on the fallacies of the movie “Hurt Locker.”

Today was land navigation, which is usually my strong suite.  However, my fire team has different views on how to conduct land navigation and I swear it almost got us lost in the woods.  Not to mention, New Jersey is said to be the deer tick capital of the world.  After trouncing through the woods for a few hours, I came home to find 7-10 ticks on my person.  None actually dug into the skin, but still not a good thing to come home to.

22 May 2011

Friday had to be the most fun day thus far in my CAST experience.  We had to wake up a little early for it, but it was well worth it.  Our day consisted of instruction and hands-on experience (through simunitions) of urban operations.  We learned how to stack on each other and how to use the fire team concept to get through an urban environment.  This involves calling out corners, danger zones, windows, rooftops, doors, suspicious people, etc.  We even got to kick in doors and clear a room/building.  Being the tall guy had the responsibility of checking the aerial area of fire.  I was impressed with how close we walked together and how much you have to rely on the person who has your “six.”  After a series of instructional walkthroughs, we ate lunch, geared up with paintball masks and other “protective” equipment and received our simunitions ammo clips.  The mission was to get from one side of the neighborhood to the other side, clearing at least one building.  Our first run was pretty much a disaster, but that is to be expected.  The second run was better, and our opposing forces (OPFOR) stepped it up a notch as far as intensity.  The third run required us to go backwards to the original starting location, and this is where I got lit up pretty bad.  Since the OPFOR stepped it up even more, we ran out of ammo quicker, which meant we could not “lollygag” around on the street.  Major Jarrett (the second position) ran out of ammo so I had to cover both aerials and one of the flanks.  However, when MSgt Autry (rear security) ran out of ammo, he did not communicate it very well, and I started to get pegged in the back.  Upon realization, I took the rear security and we got to our destination.  We learned a pretty valuable lesson that day...COMMUNICATION is key!

Saturday was spent doing our high risk of isolation (HRI) brief and Hummvee rollover drills.  One of these was really fun and the other one was boring...I bet you can’t guess which one was which?  They have these simulators that actually rotate you 180, 360, 270, etc.  From there we had a very limited amount of time to egress from the vehicles...definitely a new experience for me!  In the afternoon we had our HRI briefing and it was 3 hours of PAIN and SUFFERING.  To stay awake I played “buzz word bingo” with Nate Hocking (2Lt in my room), and I almost got a blackout.

24 May 2011

The last two days of training prior to our final exercise were very eventful and educating.  Yesterday we were able to work on our marksmanship out at the firing range.  The difference between this range and other ranges that I have shot on was that there were pop-up targets.  I actually got to use my red dot sight like in Call of Duty on different targets that consistently popped up.  My strategy was to hit the targets closest to farthest and in particular, focus on the 300m (farthest) targets when I was down in the prone position.  Unfortunately I had a range instructor that encouraged me to do more: “I know you can hit that 50m chicken$#!%...I want  you to knock down the 300m targets!”  At one point we had a “Double tap” exercise where you aimed on a target and pulled the trigger twice...hence the “Double tap” (Zombieland Rule #2).   At this point in the exercise you were only focusing on the 50-100m targets.  So, in the end I did not do as well as I would have liked, but I did knock down four 300m targets, and one of them I used my weak (left) side.

Today we learned mounted/convoy operations.  We got classroom instruction in the morning and then went out to apply some “Experiential” learning out on the convoy course.  Our fire team took turns being the gunner, vehicle commander, driver, etc. and we had to travel as a convoy and conduct operations as such.  As one point, our convoy came under simulated attack with OPFOR firing on us and a few grenades and IEDs thrown in to add chaos to the mix.  Our last run through the course I got to be the gunner and I swear that I shot off about 90 rounds of blanks.  Part of the training is evacuating injured/casualties from a downed hummvee and moving them over to a functioning one.  Imagine trying to drag someone like me unconscious with 40lbs additional weight in body armor...oh, yeah and you have to get them from one vehicle to the next.  Today’s class provided me with a lot of insight and some very memorable experiences.