The Shit At The End Of The Rainbow

When I first envisioned this post I was going to write about all the cool Army training we received over the 17 days we were here.  Then yesterday I wanted to write and just give you all a pity party.  Well I was too tired to finish writing last night and today I decided to change again.  What I realized over those two days was as long as I have something to look forward to I can get through the not so pleasant stuff.  I needed a lot of personal strength to get through this last week and if I could predict the future I will need it the entire time I’m gone.

The featured picture for this post “The Shit At The End Of The Rainbow” truly sums up NIACT (Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training Center).  I took that picture while running here one evening.

• Sleeping arrangements: I am sleeping with 33 of my closest female friends ranking from E4 to O4, and the O4 happens to be me, the senior female.  I maybe the senior female, but this is an expeditionary unit and rank matters a lot less.  When I first arrived they had me in the male berthing which made me the last to show up to a first come first serve rack picking.  I ended up on a top rack by the door under a flourescent light.  So not ideal!

  

• Weapons Training: Each day starts around 0400.  The mornings we usually spent at the range shooting .  We shot the Navy 9mm Hand Gun Qualification Table 1 and 3.  I shot a 204 which qualified me as a Sharpshooter (not as proficient as it sounds).  For the M4 we shot group and zero, BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship) 8, 9, and then qualified on the M4.   We also did a barrier exercise with the M4s.  On our last day at the range we shot large weapons.  I would also like to mention that we shot all of this in full battle gear.

  

  

  

  

• Army Familiarization:  The rest of the time we had other Army familiarization training.  We did Communications, CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiolagical, and Nuclear), IED (Improvised Explosive Devices), Unexploded Ordinance, Combat First Aid, Survival Training, Cultural Awareness, Convoy Operations, Room Clearing, Humvee Roll Over (we actually rolled the Humvee and had to get out), and Land Navigation.  After weapons cleaning the classroom and practical time usually went until 1800.
• Evenings: I did manage to squeeze in a workout each evening.  I looked forward to it and helped keep some normalcy.  I needed my workout therapy.  Then it was off to bed by 2200 to start all over again.

Those were the 17 days we spent at NIACT in a nut shell.  I would also like to add that everything here is taught by Army Drill Instructors.  They certainly don’t treat us like Army recruits, but they do add something to the atmosphere.  They were always professional and extremely knowledgeable.  I qualified to shoot an M4, and that certainly took some patience on everyone’s part.

So to come full circle.  By mid-week the second week I was simple tired of getting up at 0400 and sleeping in open bay barracks.  I was looking forward to June 27th when I leave, but that dream was quickly shattered.  When I received my travel brief I found out my next leg of travel starts with a 10 hour bus ride to Baltimore to wait in an airport until there is a rotator (military flight out of a commercial airport) that will eventually take us to Qatar.  No one can even tell us when the rotator will be ready to take us, so we wait in the terminal until we leave.  What I was looking forward to sounded worse than what I was living in.  Is it too much to ask for a bed?  So for this weekends liberty I decided to get a room out in Columbia.  Once I made that decision and had something to look forward to my mood changed.  Everything just seemed easier.  I learned this week that this year is going to be a lot of ups and downs, but as long as I have something to look forward to I can keep my head up and complete the mission!

Keep giving these beautiful babies hugs for me!