The P to the AT

Cheesy Shot

I have returned from two weeks of Annual Training. It was both fun and frustrating. Our mission was to sail to Fort AP Hill and familiarize ourselves with several weapons, and then sail to Baltimore.

I tried posting an in-depth summary but Blogger deleted it, twice, so instead I'll post some pics and explain them. The pics were either taken by a disposable camera or my cell phone, so image quality will vary.

LCM-8

It had a rough start, but once we were underway things were more relaxed. While underway we swam in the bay and threw shit at eachother. It started with water balloons and ventured into eggs, fruit, and glowsticks. It was Karol's idea to bring the catapult.

Karol at the range

We stopped at Tall Timbers Marina for refueling. Alcohol was drank but it would be the last time due to an incident involving vomit, Mr. Roboto and a trip to the hospital. We were also behind schedule by a couple days due to batallion bungling and poor planning as far as AP Hill was concerned. We set up camp at AP Hill and would go to a different range each day. The first was the M-16 ranges, the next was the M249 SAW machine gun range and Mk 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher, and finally the M2 .50 Cal machine gun.

.50 Cal...I'm so badass

I personally think the .50 Cal is a glutton of a weapon, too heavy to lug around, too complicated to set up, and too prone to jams, but I love firing it. One of my .50 Cal rounds ricocheted backwards ten feet in front of the crowd. Many diapers were changed from that one in a million shot. Cowards revealed themselves as they cried back to camp, where they proceeded to nap and suck their thumbs.

Tony at LandNav

Land Navigation was fun. Venture out with your squad in the woods for four hours with your map, compass, and protractor to find four points. I've never sweat so much in recent memory, and we ran out of water, so we had to go back to camp without finding any points. It was challenging. A convoy picked us up once we got to the road.

The Convoy

After five days at AP Hill, we were back underway on the boats. We cleaned weapons and continued to throw crap at eachother. We reached Tall Timbers in 12 hours and refueled. However, a jackass sergeant managed to bungle it up, spilling gallons of fuel into the water at a CIVILIAN facility. We looked like turds and I've never felt so bad as a representative of the Army.

The M249 SAW... hehe

Then we went back to Ft. Belvoir where I had a chance to get some new reading material since I finished the two Star Trek: Voyager novels I brought with me. Sean and another soldier whose name I can't remember how to spell held a small light rave. I provided the techno music.

RAVE!

The mission to Baltimore was cancelled, so we went to a crabhouse instead, and managed to look impressive in front of the civilians for a change. Crabs were delicious.

Lawrence and Me at the Crabhouse

We got back to Ft. Belvoir late but I got some good sleep. Next day we cleaned up and went home, but we came back the next day for family day. And today, the last day of AT, was a PT test that ended up being a diagnostic. Y'see, for the 2 mile run, we usually run on a track for accuracy. Today we ran on a road, with the distance measured out using one of those wheely things. But it was measured at 5820 feet, not 5280 feet, adding over a minute to everyone's time. Oops.

That was pretty much it. It was good to step away from the norm for a while, but it's good to be back. I got to drive the boats, fire off a butt-load of ammo, flirt with a russian chick, and almost kill someone.

Not bad, not bad at all. Thanks to Karol, Lawrence, Tony, Sean, Miguel, Lord, Lana, and the rest of you who don't suck, for helping me make the best of it.