2.11.2008

Drill This weekend was a drill weekend. We have a program with the National Guard where we give the soldiers a taste of what to expect when they get into Basic Training, for all trainees that are in the split option program or are just waiting to head off to basic. I did give them a little taste of what to expect, but they had me train them on the AT4 this weekend, which is a weapon I haven't seen since Basic training, and we just kind of played with it then. We didn't even go over it in DSS. But the AT4 is idiot proof, the instructions are written right on it, but of course, give me something idiot proof, and I'll give you a bigger idiot. Of course, they didn't want us to go nuts and full scale drill sergeant on these soldiers, as they didn't want to scare them off, but I did smoke a couple of them for accountability reasons (one had a key fall out of their pocket during PT, another left their canteen somewhere) just to give them a taste. I discovered I can't smoke somebody with Little Man in the Woods without cracking a laugh, so I'll wait later in the cycle to do that one. Drill Sergeants don't smile in front of Privates for the first three weeks. But yeah, I need to get refreshened on my army knowledge, which can be difficult when you don't drill for two months (we didn't drill in January) and I haven't played drill sergeant since beginning of November. But there is a PT test next month. Yikes, gotta run! Mobilization is still on for May. Knox is a go! Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant -Risawn: # 10:45 AM - |

1.15.2008

Latest School Woes I've run into a dilemma with school these days. Well, aside from the book issue, which has been resolved, sort of, but I think I wanted to give myself an excuse to drop out subconsciously. Last term I did, I realized that this wasn't really the direction I wanted to go. I love working with the software and everything, but it is something I want to do on my own terms, and this term is going to suck. For one, I'm taking two classes which are heavy writing intensive, one a research paper that will demand a lot of my time. I'm supposed to go to Fort Knox sometime in the next few months, and I'm supposed to be there for somewhere around six months, give or take. This is still up in the air, as I don't have orders yet and I am very much well aware that the army can do whatever it wants when it comes to what it needs to do with me. Knox isn't guaranteed, heck, I won't believe it is set until I have set boots on ground. And even then its not certain. They can still say 'hey, we don't need you' and send me home. The army is like that. And this might happen because they are sending me, a female drill sergeant, to an all male basic training post. I'm not counting on anything right now. As soon as I get my orders, I'm going to take a road trip to get to my destination, mainly to see friends and family along the way and there is no way I'm going there without a car. I went to DSS without a car and it sucked royally. If the orders say what I think they will say, this is going to mess with my school pretty bad. I'm going to be on the road the last two weeks of school, trying to finaggle homework (to include a majorly huge research paper) and visiting people and, oh, did I mention I need to move out of my brother's house next month? He's getting married while I'm in Knox (good news, I'll probably be able to swing a few days off to come home to attend the wedding) but I'm guessing that the newly weds won't want a roommate hogging up the bedroom next door. This isn't a very big house, and I want to be in my own place when I get back anyway. So I have to plan a road trip, move out, prepare for Knox (meaning I need to really start trying to run as soon as the ground outside lets me), and did I mention I still have a job that I need to work? As much as I would like to, looking at my homework, and my complete and utter lack of motivation for doing it, I think it might be best for me to drop out of school for now. Or dumb it down to one class instead. I'm going to talk to my adviser tomorrow and see what I can do, but right now I think it would be very wise not to be taking a full load right now. I want to be able to continue to go to school while I'm in Knox as well, but I know I'll be down to maybe a class while I'm there. I don't know, I'm just seeing the potential problem here and the fact that I would rather not pile my plate completely full and find myself ready to pull my hair out of my head when it is all said and done. Yeah, that's it. Labels: Army, School -Risawn: # 8:00 PM - |

12.01.2007

The Army and an FS2000 I almost recreated the 'not sorry' look. With an FS2000. That intense glare, the military uniform, the bad ass rifle in hand. See, I walked in the door in uniform and the first thing that came to my brother's mind was getting me to do a pose with his new rifle. I think it looks sharp with a class A uniform (a departure from BDUs), though I'm one of the few people in the army that actually likes the Class A uniform (other then the inability to keep a female uniform squared away to the contours of my body, another post for another day) A far off look. Hey, this one I'm wearing my hat! Another kick ass weapon that looks straight out of the game of Halo. I haven't gotten to fire it yet, but this will soon be rectified. And I love the rifle already! Labels: Army, Badass, Drill Sergeant, Guns -Risawn: # 9:29 PM - |

11.24.2007

GI Jill While surfing through my blog roll (and sadly, finding several dead links), I ran into this fascinating story about US Army SGT Jill Stevens, also Miss Utah and running in the Miss America Pageant in January 2008. She even so much has her own official Military Webpage Going through her flickr page and seeing her interact with some of the people during her deployment in Afghanistan reminded me of the Medcaps in Kosovo, mingling with kids and kicking a soccor ball while i have a weapon slung on my back. I think I would get along with her. Good luck at the Miss America Pageant, though granted that's one thing I would be petrified to compete in. Hat tip: Northshore Journal Labels: Army, Blogging -Risawn: # 3:52 PM - |

8.10.2007

The Beat Goes On So, last weekend I may have mentioned was a Drill Weekend. Not a whole lot happened except for a couple of drill sergeant stories that amused me to no end (I'm taking notes) and a PT (physical training) test that I did, well, abysmally at. I passed my pushups and situps just fine (though my pushups could use some sprucing up and smoothing out, yikes!), it's my run that got me. I don't know what is going on, becuase I feel like I'm running and giving it my all and I never remember running being this hard. I hate growing old and being short because my pace is not the pace I need it to be to really pull out a strong run time on my PT test. So in order to combat this, I've been running every day this week to improve my run time, and yesterday I ran two miles (give or take, it was on a high school running track so the mileage is off by a little) and I found that I shaved a good minute and a half of my run time by running every day. However I have to shave another thirty seconds off of it before I hit Fort Leonard Wood to get a solid 70 points in that event. My goal is to get 70 in each even when I get there, at the very least. 70 won't be great, but it would be better then just barely passing, which is what I don't want to do. Fortunately, I do have a few things going for me. When I do run the PT test for DSS, I will be running with other soldiers and if I'm lucky, there will be another female there who can help me get a good pace. Pacing helps me a lot. Just as long as she's not slower then me. I just hope I don't slow her down! Leonard Wood is a lot closer to sea level then home is. The Elevation does impact your breathing when running, and right now my breathing is my biggest concern for the run. My motivation should be in full gear at that point. I don't know when I will be doing my initial PT test, but I intend to run on Monday to give myself an idea of where I'm at and how well I run the course. I fully expect to run into a Drill Sergeant and get treated like a private when I first get there, and get barked at by asking who my drill sergeants are, what unit I'm with and where the hell is my battle buddy. Should be fun. Meanwhile, back on the homefront, I'm trying to get everything in order so that I'm ready to high tail it to training and I won't have to worry about anything back home. This includes my car, my bills, my stuff, my rent, my fish, so on and so forth. However, my First Sergeant has told me to bring my Laptop along, so I am somewhat confident that I will have a little more freedom then I did when I initially went to Basic Training some seven years ago. I haven't been to Fort Leonard Wood in seven years. Before it was as a E-nothing brand spankin' new to the US Army private. This time it is as a slightly more matured buck sergeant hoping to earn an extra shiny for my uniform (as I don't have near enough). I should be getting promoted at some point through training. We'll see how that goes. Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant, Running -Risawn: # 5:48 PM - |

7.07.2007

Fun with New Recruits This weekend is a drill weekend. I'm thinking that a few of my readers probably wonder what goes on in the quest to become a drill sergeant and are probably disappointed that I don't write more about my drill weekends. To tell you the truth, most weekends aren't all that exciting. I take a PT test every month (I passed my run this time by 2 seconds, which means that I need to run a LOT more) and most of the time I sit in a class room and modulate on the Position of Attention and the Rest Positions while at the halt. I can also modulate the hand salute. Sometimes we march each other around to familiarize ourselves and we also do a lot of PT. But it is usually very routine and often times boring to discuss later. I'm very eager to get my hat, because I want to be done with this and actually do Drill Sergeant type stuff. Well, they let us have a little practice today by bringing in some fresh recruits, none of which have been to basic yet. The recruiters brought these new troops in to give them an idea of what they will be facing when they go to basic training as well as give them a leg up by providing some training in basic Drill and Ceremony (D&C) and some other training that they will encounter when they hit the ground at their basic training unit. Today it was Mout training, although I didn't get to help out with that. But I got to do the D&C training, with about six drill sergeants backing me up in full drill sergeant mode. Oh the fun to be had! Some of these troops were shaking, you could see the terror in their faces as they tried to do as they were told. This weekend confirmed to me that this is what I want to do, I had so much fun training these troops standard D&C such as Rest Positions at the Halt and walking along and making corrections as somebody else made adjustments. I think most of them thought I was just a little older then them doing this (most of these were kids right out of highschool) and when they found out I've been in the army just shy of eight years they looked surprised. A couple of them thought I was maybe 20 or 22 at the most. I wrote a little bit more about this experience on my Milblog, but it did get me geared up for the fact that I leave for Drill Sergeant School next month and now I'm all motivated to go there and kick butt. Now, all I really need to do is work on that run time. It would also be nice if I can shave of two minutes or so. Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant -Risawn: # 6:51 PM - |

4.28.2007

Army Weekend It never ceases to amaze me how far technology has advanced. I have wireless internet. In some really old barracks. On a national guard post. And it is actually a pretty decent connection! The last couple days were filled with adventure and excitement, and a lot of down time in between. But I don't really care, it's hooah and it's army and I'm here to do my job and have fun. I did have to get up at insane o'clock yesterday morning so we could get all of our gear in order, draw weapons, and get on the bus so we could make it to our destination in Montana in a timely manner. They just issued a weapon to us, and the supply sergeant was about to take one of the 16's out and give it to me and I noticed they skipped over a weapon. I was trying to figure out why when I noticed it had an extra attachment on it. An M203. Sweet. So I asked if I could have it. He said sure, but asked if I was expecting to qualify. Why the heck not? I've never actually fired a 203 as an M16 before and was curious about it, so I got the 203. Maybe not the wisest choice, as though the 203 is basically an M16 with a grenade launcher attached, the added weight of the launcher coupled with a different placement of the hand on the barrel (the bottom of the barrel is 2 inches lower), well, I now had to get comfortable with it. But no harm done. Except for some reason I decided to volunteer for various tasks so I wouldn't get voluntold to do something I had no desire to do. And I got tasked with teaching how to evaluate a casualty, so I was lugging around a dummy with me. And I somehow stupidly enough volunteered to be Guidon Barer. What the heck was I thinking? I haven't done guidon in years, and as an E5, technically I'm not supposed to do that. First thing this morning, I delegated that task out as quick as I could. One day was enough for me. The range was fun though. Although I found a host of other 'excuses' for not doing as well as I usually do. On account of qualifying on a '203, my kevlar was to big, they made us fire in flak vests (which I hate), they changed the qualification round on us, we had to load and reload automatically, we only had ten round magazines, the sun was too hot, my foot was hurting, venus was out of alignment, so on and so forth. It took me far to long to zero, as I had to get used to the placement of my weapon in the prone position and get used to not really requiring a sandbag. Hell, I was all over the place, but once I got the thing zeroed, I took it and wandered over to the qual range. We used to fire in the foxhole supported and the prone unsupported, 20 rounds in each position, but recently they decided to make the qualification range more in tune to how we actually fight in war. And, well, from what I understand, we really don't use Foxholes anymore. So we got rid of the foxhole position, and now its 20 Supported Prone, 10 unsupported prone, and 10 kneeling. A lot of people didn't really like Kneeling. It took me missing two targets (including a 50 meter, GAH!) to get it, but I loved kneeling. Prone Unsupported got me this time, like it usually does. But not for the reasons it usually did. Well, usually we have a transition time when we qualify before, but this time, they just said get into your positions automatically. Given two ten round magazines, we had to change them out between shots and you move and your firing position changes. Then you had to quickly reload another magazine, move to the unsupported and engage the targets with only a few seconds to get comfortable. I had to constantly shift between targets until I got a good sight picture. And then its off into the kneeling position. I qualified 26 the first time, which was qualified but considering I usually smoke the supported position and this time I flubbed it, I wasn't happy with my score (but I was happy I qualified first time considering all of my 'excuses'!). So I decided to see if I could go again, get a better score. I did, and I improved it by 2. Eh, Marksman for me. Fine, I'll take the *%^$@# Marksman. *grumbles* Other high points of the day included Hip Pocket Training in regards to me teaching how to Evaluate a Casualty. Except some other guy from one of the other companies got tasked for the same topic. I taught it once, then learned that they had the SAW range open so I went over there. SAW is fun. I got in line and waited for my turn, then got a 25 round clip and got a quick refresher training on the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (er, the technical term for SAW) and went 'yay!' I got down in the prone position, tried to get comfortable and my stupid kevlar flopped into my line of sight, so I was sitting there fidgeting around until I got a decent site picture waiting for the tower to give us the go ahead. What I got was something like this. "Engage your tar- CEASE FIRE CEASE FIRE!!!!" A flippen dear decided to take a stroll across my lane at that precise point and we were forced to wait until it ambled on past. I had a perfect line of shot for the sucker to, but that would be a bad thing as deer are plentiful yet a protected animal on post. So once it had passed (we hurried it along by flopping up the pop up joe targets) I engaged my targets. It took me a few shots before I got a decent site picture. But I took out the 100 Meter target, and the 200 meter. And a couple of the 600 meters. :) SAWs are fun. However, my favorite range of the day was the 9mil. Usually I'm not fond of the M9 qualification range because usually you just shoot at a paper target and you have nothing to really gage your score against, so you can be consistently missing and you won't know this because you can't see where your shooting until your done. This is the first 9mil pop up joe range I have ever seen. And it was a freakin' blast! I'm not sure the precise range, but they had a slew of targets ranged from 15 Meters to 40, or so. Like I said, not precisely certain on the distances. The firing range was a little eratic, we had to practice dropping a magazine and reloading another magazine quickly. Sometimes just five targets popped up, one time ten, all in all thirty targets in all. For having brief experience on that range, I took people's advice from the past with my handling of handguns and instead of leaning back with a pistol, which threw me off balance, I leaned forward and suddenly I realized that I LIKE handguns! I was getting comments that I was smoking that thing left and right. A couple of targets I might have hit if they stayed up a split second longer, but all in all, I qualified first time and I was getting a couple comments that I should look into getting into competitions. Whatever the case, I loved that range, I wanna go again! When we got back to garrison, we were then treated to a Urinalysis. Yay us. . . Tomorrow should be rather exciting, with a lack of flak vest wearage. I think I need to get a few different poses with a 203 and make more 'Girls With Guns' Comic Book Covers. Labels: Army, Guns -Risawn: # 9:39 PM - |

2.12.2007

Running and the Army Meanwhile, Drill was this last weekend and it taught me something very valuable. I need to run more. I have NEVER done that poorly on a run before, though I'm not exactly thrilled with our track by any means. So for the next two weeks, I've made up my mind that I'm going to run daily. I took a nice easy run today and it actually felt good despite the fact that it smoked me on Saturday. Tomorrow I'm going at it again. And the next day. And the Next. Each day getting progressively harder and longer. Well, I have a month to scrape two minutes off my run time. This is doable, because its not like I have been running and conditioning myself and suddenly have to shave off two minutes, its that I haven't been, so if I work myself, I see this as doable. It should be pretty easy actually. I mean, I have to do 2 miles in 18:36, which is a nine minute mile. That's seventy points on the Army Physical Fitness Test, which is where I have to be. By the end of school, I'm hoping to be up there in the seventeens, and then I want to maintain that (I still want to buy a dog) as I want to be able to put my money where my mouth is when it comes to training soldiers because if I can't, they will eat me alive I'm sure. We were going over more modules (this is where you recite, ver batum, what Attention, the Rest Positions at the Halt, and the Hand Salute among other things is, so that you know it forward, backwards and in your sleep) and got to know the Drill Sergeant Creed. The fourth stanza is the one I want to be able to live by. "I will Lead By Example, never requiring a Soldier to attempt a task that I would not do myself." That's kind of one of the reasons I joined this specific unit. I want to be up there, training troops and earning their respect. One thing I regret though is not having the combat patch on my shoulder while I do this. Its kind of an honor issue I guess, here I am, training soldiers to go into combat which they will undoubtedly see, and I haven't been there to experience it myself. Kosovo sure didn't count. By next drill, I'll have my E6 Promotion Packet in. I should be pinned by the time I get back from Drill Sergeant School. Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant -Risawn: # 6:28 PM - |

New PJs Ok, so I mentioned I got some new pajamas and that pictures are coming. Well, when I got them, I felt kind of weird telling somebody to take a picture of me so I can blog about the experience, so I kind of got a picture of them as an after thought. I'm actually wearing an old BDU (that's the old camouflage) T-shirt with them, but they have a tanner colored shirt that you are actually supposed to wear with them instead. Everybody calls the new uniform (ACU, Army Combat Uniform) Pajamas because that's kind of what they look like. I love them already. They are light and comfortable, the entire unifrom is about as heavy as the pants on the original uniform. I leave for school in a month, I was wondering if I would get any in by the time I had to leave because I didn't want to be the reservist showing up for an active duty school in the uniform they're phasing out. I had to go run errands before I got home, and I try not to spend to much time in public wearing the uniform because despite the fact that its supposed to conceal you with your surroundings, it screams "LOOK AT ME" when your out in public. I got thanked by about four different people this weekend while I was walking around. It's good to hear people still care. Labels: Army -Risawn: # 6:20 PM - |

12.03.2006

Drill Sergeant Update This was a Drill Weekend. Yay for Drill Weekends! I've got two more to go before Drill Sergeant School. In Fort Benning. Being an active duty school, I have learned that there is a chance that I might be able to get online while I'm there. But no guarantees so I might suffer radio silence for 9 weeks. Hmm. . . Anyway, the latest with the Program is I have to memorize a lot of words. Ver Batum. See, nobody knows D&C (that's Drill and Ceremony) quite like a Drill Sergeant, and there is a reason why the Drill Sergeant knows the position of Attention backward and forward, up and down, and can correct a soldier out of the corner of his eye. Because he literally knows this position from the 45 degree angle of the soldier's equally pointed out toes to the vertical alignment of the head and neck. And now, I know it backward and forward too. There is so many times that I've seen soldiers screw up the position of attention. Including me. I can guarantee you I'll never screw it up again, because it is engrained into my braincells now. Furthermore, I have now routed the rest positions while at the halt into my braincells as well. I have recieved a go at stating both of these modules, using the step by step method of instruction practically ver batum. And now that they are engrained into my head for life, when I was in formation today the fact that the platoon leader didn't know what she was doing was more evident then ever. We were called into formation with a Hospital unit (first sign) who put the unit At Ease. So we sat there looking around, wondering what was going on when the other units started putting their units at Parade Rest (for you civilians out there, a different rest position that is more formal, and more locked up.) It didn't help that we were in a formation with a naval unit in charge, which was throwing us off that much more. So the Platoon Leader calls us to Parade Rest from At Ease. This is what has been engrained into my braincells from the module on Rest Positions at the Halt. "Parade Rest will only be commanded from the Position of Attention." In short, if the unit is At Ease (they can move when they're at ease), you have to call them to Attention to bring them to Parade Rest. Civilians might be looking at me and saying "why are you so anal retentative about this? Does it matter?" In the long run, probably not. But in regards to discipline and military custom and courtesy, yes. It is a sign of discipline and respect when you perform these simple formations properly. And people who know better (like the plethera of Drill Sergeants that fell into this formation) won't look at you like you don't know what in the hell your doing and you aren't given the reputation of 'tore up'. Meanwhile, the CG came by, and we were all commenting on the CG's aid, and being a Drill Sergeant Battallion, we were wondering if she was in regulation or not. I stated she wasn't, though some people were trying to argue that she was ok. See, she had dark brown hair cut short with her bangs long up front. Now, her style wasn't bad, it was the blonde streak that she had in her bangs that framed her face. The one blonde streak. It looked like Rogue from the Xmen, seriously. People were stating that as long as it is a natural hair color, she can do it. So I can put Red, Black, Brown and Blonde Streaks throughout my hair so I look like a calico cat? No, because it looks faddish and unprofessional! Besides, I think it is also supposed to blend naturally, you aren't supposed to have dark brown hair with a platinum streak through it and be a captain in the military! Gees! At least I'm catching these things. I might make a good drill sergeant yet! Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant -Risawn: # 11:16 PM - |

10.14.2006

Ho-Hum So lately my life is encompassing school and a couple of ferrets. Every now and again I get the privelege of going to an army drill, but all in all, my life has become rather mundane. The search for employment continues. I'm looking at getting a job through the VA Work Study Program (I can do it as long as I have GI bill coming in) which is tax free. And tax free is good! I've also looked at other things to do to occupy my time. The CERT course (Community Emergency Response Team) has been helpful in taking up a portion of my time on Mondays, and I can use it as Volunteer points. So far I really enjoy the class. In regards to the army, nothing like getting hazed for delaying your entry into Drill Sergeant School. They would prefer I go in January. I keep insisting that I've been there and done that and would prefer to go in March. So that's what I'm doing. I was half tempted to change my mind and go in January but I decided to stick with the March date for three reasons. The first, its bloody cold in January. As I said before, been there done that. The Second, it fits so nicely in with my schooling to wait until March. When I come home in May, I can just transition back into school. The Third, well, being a Snowboarder and all that purchased a season pass. . . I would prefer to be able to use it and not cut my season short. So that's it in a nutshell. Me and the army and the rest of my hum-drum life. Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant, Volunteer, Work -Risawn: # 8:26 PM - |

10.12.2006

DS Status Somebody mentioned wanting to have an update on the Drill Sergeant thing. I'll have to be clear in that I'll likely only update my status on becoming a Drill Sergeant once a month. That would likely come around my drill weekend, or the more correct term being Battle Assembly. As a Drill Sergeant Candidate, I am not a Drill Sergeant yet. When I go to drill, I learn various modulations that will be necessary for me to know when I gain the badge and go down range to train soldiers. They also work on my marching, cadence calling, drill and ceremony, and how I carry myself. Basically the things I will learn in Drill Sergeant School are reinforced before hand, helping me get an edge on what I'm expected to know. I actually don't go to school until March, so I have a while, and while I'm at school I don't expect to have any internet access so my blog will likely be down. Until then, I will be expected Because I did so well at the range last drill, I won't be firing at this one and have been given the task of teaching a class on Stoppages and the Eight Function Cycles of an M16. This is also to show that despite the beliefs of some people, I can prove that I really am competant enough to teach a class. I'm looking forward to the opportunity, and it is important that I am able to do this as teaching and training others is a primary task of a Drill Sergeant. I am eagerly looking forward to going to school and proving myself, I have mentioned this before but this unit has given me a motivation to excel in the military again. I'll update more on this over the weekend. Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant -Risawn: # 1:39 AM - |

Looking Back and Accepting It From time to time, I look back on my life and assess different situations I have gone through. Often times I look at them and try to figure out how I would do it differently if I could go back and do it again. One thing I get out of this excercise is that if I come across similar situations now, I can see myself handling them differently then in the past. A lot of this thought process goes back to my time in Kosovo. Its no secret that I had a tough year last year and dealing with a complete idiot who seemed to want to make my life a living hell didn't help matters. If I could go back and go through those situations again, I would handle them completely differently. I would know how to handle them. Like when I recieved what was quite possibly the worst counseling session ever (or frankly any counseling session), how I would conduct myself when I lost my KFOR badge, how I would handle that last briefing, or what not. A year ago today I was given a counseling that basically told me that I was worthless as a soldier and had no business being in preventive medicine. My NCOIC was looking at ways to remove my MOS. Yes, an egocentric E6 felt he had the authority to take away the Military Occupational Speciality of an E5. Which in one word is retarded. From this point on was the descent of my professional relationship with that man. I lost all respect for him and in three months I was completely out of his section with no love between the two of us. Looking back and playing the scenerio in my mind, I have discovered that how I would respond now vs then would probably result in me getting kicked out of the military for insubordination. But truthfully, at the end of the rotation, I had my former NCOIC completely on the defensive, meaning he didn't dare try anything with me. And I realize now that looking back I came out on top of the situation. But say that I did happen to find a time travel device and could go back to the start of the deployment and fix things, I realize that I learned so much from this deployment that I wouldn't want to go back and change anything. I have often looked back and realized how much fun I had that year, what I was able to accomplish and the lessons I learned both good and bad and if I could go back in time, I don't think I would change anything. Last year was an important growing experience for me. I had to endure those trials, discover myself, fumble and falter because if I didn't, I wouldn't have learned the lessons I did. Going back to change one thing would likely change everything that followed, especially in that tumultuous year. Change one thing, and the entire year would had a completely different outcome. For good or bad, the experiences would have been different. The memories I gained, the people I met, the experiences I had, it was all worth it. If I had to go back to October of 2004 and make up my mind all over again on whether or not I would go to Kosovo, I wouldn't want to change a single thing. Except maybe telling SSG D to Sod Off a little earlier in the deployment. Labels: Army, Kosovo, SSGDipshit -Risawn: # 1:14 AM - |

9.11.2006

Reenlistment News On September 10, 2006, SGT Erickson had a temporary lapse in sanity. . . That settles it then. You see, I have just signed my life away to the army. Again. Although, considering the timing (completely unintentional btw), its a bit symbolic to re-up the day before the fifth anniversary of the twin towers falling. Labels: Army -Risawn: # 12:58 AM - |

Range and PT Test In the army, after attending a range excercise, it is not uncommon to have extra rounds left over. Because of the paperwork involved and the logistics nightmare of extra rounds left over after a range, the easiest thing to do is just use the rest of them up. You try to make it so that you have more then enough ammo for a range so that you aren't caught short. Usually, in cases such as this, we had more. So it meant firing it all down range. Usually you just try to expel it down range as quickly as possible. So my aiming technique here is not my best. My shoulder was pretty soar for the PT test today. Still passed it with no problem. I better not fail, considering I'm trying to be a Drill Sergeant someday and I better be able to hang in there with the best of them. And it always helps to be able to give a good impression. Unfortunately, in this unit I take them monthly. In other news, like that NCOER I had mentioned previously, my current unit had to get started on mine, which is due in November. Yeah, it looks like I have time, but if you look at this from a reservist's standpoint, that's in four days (see, we drill two days a month) so it had to get done this weekend. And so far, its a favorable one. In fact, I got an excellence in Competence. Which is a different story from my last NCOER, which says I'm completley incompetent. It helps to have NCOs that give a damn, you know? Labels: Army, Guns -Risawn: # 12:44 AM - |

9.09.2006

Range Day So far, this has been a drill weekend. Actually, what's kind of funny is in my previous unit we always called weekends with the army drill weekends, or just drill for short. However here they use the technical term, which is Battle Assembly. Strange is I've never heard it called that before I got to this unit. Of course, I also drilled with a Hospital so that might have something to do with it. I may have mentioned that I love my unit. I'll continue to emphasize this. I have been told not to expect these guys to be perfect and that this is a unit with its fair share of problems like any military unit, and I've definitely had moments where I may have rubbed a few people the wrong way, but what I've discovered is here I feel like I have purpose, and that I'm needed. This is something that is really big for me, I have to feel like I'm there for a reason, and that may be one of the reasons why I didn't click with Preventive Medicine. See, Preventive Medicine is a job where the soldier can be as busy or not busy as they want to be. As long as people aren't getting sick and everything is smooth and A-OK, they can disappear off the face of the earth with a random inspection here and there and the higher ups aren't going to be none the wiser. The problem is, I WANT to be busy. I WANT to have something to do. I want to have some kind of PURPOSE! That may have spawned some of my depression with the army over the years in that job field, because many a drill weekend was spent where we had NOTHING to do! With this unit, there is always something. What's interesting is a lot of it is just things that soldiers in general should do anyway, just most soldiers deal with their regular jobs rather then the soldiering aspect, but Drills always have something to improve upon. Well, the status is this. I'm officially in this unit, and have been since May. I have to Reenlist before I can go to school. I'm set to go to school in March. In Fort Benning. Between now and then, I just have to keep passing PT tests and work on marching and do ranges and soldiering tasks that all drill sergeants should be proficient at. This weekend was a range weekend. We have connections with the city government and was able to finaggle the use of the Police Academy Range. Now, I didn't have to qualify, because I qualified in April and we have another range in November (and October for that matter). But what the heck, I was up for it anyway. So I was issued a weapon. There was something wrong with said weapon. It would fire alright, but wouldn't discharge the spent round, so you had to pull the charging handle back every time you fired to eject the brass. Not the kind of weapon you would like to qualify on. So I took another weapon at random, zeroed it in 9 rounds, and qualified with that. These were paper targets, so you have ten targets you have to hit four times each, unlike Pop Up Joe who comes up and down at random. I kicked butt this weekend, and I would like to report that I also kicked butt in the prone Unsupported position, the position I'm usually cursed into failing when firing at these kinds of targets. I fired 47 out of 40. And no, that is not a typo. After the second 20 rounds, I thought I had hit all the targets when I discovered I still had rounds and tried to figure out why this was so, and thought maybe I had miscounted. No, I just had an additional 10 rounds. One I missed for certain. My first 20 I got my usual 19 out of 20. So if you take integrity into account, and say that I had actually missed those two targets the first time I fired at them I still got 37 out of 40, which is kick-butt. I've never fired that well. However, chances are they will still count me as having 39 out of 40. Which is expert. Which is freakin' the best I've ever done on a range before! Maybe I can keep this up? I'm mostly pumped that I have the whole prone unsupported figured out. Now I have to get ready for a PT test tomorrow. More then! Labels: Army, Guns -Risawn: # 11:50 PM - |

8.14.2006

DI In training I sincerely hope I don't look this psychotic when I finally make Drill Sergeant (some day. . .) Labels: Army, Drill Sergeant, Photomanipulation -Risawn: # 10:26 PM - |

8.13.2006

Back to that Kosovo Issue Blind Eyes Over Kosovo, a fairly recent article about Kosovo that I can attest to from first hand experience of being over there. A region that used to have significantly more diverse population is now about 92% Albanian. When I was over there, I didn't know what we were really doing to help support and stabalize Kosovo so that we can pull out of there. Its a mess, we've been there for seven years, and it doesn't look like we'll be pulling out any time soon. What a mess. . . Hat Tip - Desert Cat Labels: Army -Risawn: # 7:14 PM - |

Details on the Sandbox Alright, because of the nature of my blog currently, and the all important question, 'To Go, or Not to Go', and what other people have told me in emails or in my comments of why I should or shouldn't take a deployment to Iraq. I'm aware of the many angles I can take on this, but when making a choice like this, I often take a look at many different angles and the whys or why nots. I often like to make lists. So, in regards to me, from my perspective, the bulleted list of reasons for me to go, or not to go, from reasons that are incredibly mundane to very important. Granted, this is just for me volunteering to go. If the army ended up sending me on an involuntary deployment, I would go and not try to get out. Reasons to Go To Iraq Career wise with Military it would strengthen my resume for longterm. Would make me a more effective Drill Sergeant if I continued that route when I returned (I would know exactly what I'm training soldiers to eventually face) Lot's of Money, of which most would be tax free. Would definitely make E6 while over there (or even before I went over there) Sense of duty drives me to serve. Combat Patch When facing criticism for my political standpoints on various topics, I have the legs to stand on and back up my position. (Put your money where your mouth is) I support the war in Iraq as a soldier, it is only fitting that I am willing to serve in it. This deployment would only affect my schooling by a few months. If I wait and reenlist overseas, big fat tax free reenlistment bonus (unless bonus is removed by that time) I will likely not be working in the position of Preventive Medicine (Yes, this is definitely a plus) Reasons for Not Going My current Unit needs me here. People change when they face combat, and not always for the better. Deployment could easily span out to two years, I'm not sure if I'm ready to spend that long in that environment. Strong family ties makes me want to stay close to my family, and the stress they endured for a relatively easy deployment to Kosovo makes me reluctant to put them in that position again. 25 years old, I'm ready to work on settling down. Self preservation, Iraq is a high risk deployment and I would lie if I said that wasn't a factor Potentially dangerous mission, even for Iraq. I wouldn't necessarily be deploying with people I know very well, and I could literally go anywhere. A note on voluntary deployments, in the military, especially considering the contrevertial nature of the War in Iraq, the military is trying to go about a certain way when deploying troops. In regards to deployments such as the one I am mentioning, the Army is first taking soldiers who have never deployed to fill slots, then taking soldiers who are volunteering to deploy (if the soldier has never deployed and volunteering to go, they are almost guaranteed a position). The rest of the slots are filled with soldiers who have already deployed once but still have time on their clock, so to speak. What that means is in a five year time frame, soldiers can expect to be deployed for two out of those five years. Those two years do not count Mobilization time and only takes into account 'Boots on Ground'. I have one year on my clock, and have just gotten off a deployment seven months ago. The timing of this deployment I can easily be picked up to go. The only thing that would definitely keep me from deploying is if I get scheduled for my school on time, or if we have enough people in the Brigade that fill the current slots and they do not need me. Because of the security nature of the deployment, or what not, obviously I can't give times or dates, I'm not even going to mention the mission and what it entails. There's a good chance I won't be doing my primary job skill. Labels: Army -Risawn: # 2:33 PM - |

8.09.2006

Let's Play 'FLAME THE SOLDIER', starring me I gotta love it when people flame me like this and have no idea of the background information. Hey look, I'm patriotic, I stand by the troops and now I'm going to bash you for not serving to what I think every soldier should be, which is on the battlefield of Iraq'. . . I gotta say this, That is pretty selfish considering you are an American soldier. To NOT go because your family worries? That is a real wussie reason . . . That is the kind of thing that makes me believe that women should not be in the military -I say suck it up or GET OUT. Shame on you. You are just running a scam to get a paycheck. I am completely embarrassed FOR you. Proud Mom Dear Proud Mom, I've been in the military for 6 and a half years. I enlisted before 9/11 with the full knowledge that I could deploy. In fact, I've been ready and willing to deploy since I got in the military. I was supposed to deploy to Iraq 3 times and to Afghanistan twice. I was ready and willing to go each time, until my orders got revoked or my unit got stood down. Finally I voluntarily deployed to Kosovo last year because I could not afford to wait around for the army to deploy me or not (I tried to volunteer for an Iraq or Afghanistan mission as well but was turned down). Now its time for me to continue on with my life. I considered getting out completely. However, I feel the need to continue serving. Right now the army is in a critical point where they need soldiers to be trained and they are relying on the US Army Reserve to supply Drill Sergeants to train these soldiers. I have four choices right now. I can get out completely, meaning I can stop drilling right here right now as I have no more obligation to the military. Chances are, coming this soon off a deployment, I will not get picked up to go on another deployment. I can serve out my time in the unit (16 months) and a BIG maybe, get picked up for the Iraq mission. If I get picked up, I get picked up. I'll serve. I could flat out volunteer for the Iraq mission. I HIGHLY considered doing this. But I'm not going to do because right now is not a good time in my life to do this. And if my family had their way, for cripes sake, I would be getting out completely! I could reenlist and go to school ASAP to become a drill sergeant, which is my current unit's primary mission. There is a severe shortage in female drills. If I don't get to school on time, I could (possibly) get picked up to go to Iraq. Mostly because there are a lot of people in those slots who are just biding their time. I looked at going to Iraq this past weekend, and asked my NCOIC about finding more information about it. What did he say? "You too? You can't go, we need Drill Sergeants!" Three Drill Sergeant Candidates have already volunteered to go, leaving our unit even more short. If I get orders for Iraq, I'll go. I've been waiting to go for the last four years. And you know what? After trying to volunteer and almost going this long, I'm tired of waiting. Maybe my family is more important to me since the Army can't make up their mind to utilyze me for the war in Iraq. If they want to send me, I'll go. But right now, it is not a high priority in my life. Frankly I want to go back to school and get that degree I should have gotten a year ago if I hadn't decided to selfishly use the military for my own reasons. I'll take a critical mission that is also needed, regardless of whether the US is at war or at peace, and be proud to continue to serve my country. So maybe I'm using the army to my advantage now. Heck, going to Iraq right now would be to my advantage. I'd make a buttload of money and it would all be tax free. I WANT to go! I'm WILLING to go. I'm even READY to go! But I'm not going to put my family through another deployment voluntarily. If the army wants me, they can utilyze me. But they are going to actually have to buck up and sign the orders first, and I won't even count on those orders being valid until I find myself in Iraq. Sincerely, A Selfish, Wussy, Scamming, Female Soldier. Labels: Army -Risawn: # 4:18 PM - |

8.06.2006

Army Life When I came home and found a new unit to drill out the rest of my contract with, I did something somewhat unintentionally. I all but guaranteed that my future in the army was set. See, this is my current deal. My deployment to Kosovo was not all peaches and cream. I had an idiot for an NCOIC who basically killed all of my motivation for the military, so by the time October 2005 rolled around, I was pretty much set on the fact that I was likely going to get out of the military completely once I got home. Come Thanksgiving and the Crap hit the fan, of which I only briefly went over on my website. My respect for my leadership (specifically my NCOIC) came to a grinding halt and died, and within two weeks I was completely out of my section (and regrew my backbone). Oh how I would have liked to have told you all about my NCOIC at the time, but I did have enough respect for NCOs senior to me to not say anything about him at the time. Well I'm well out of his chain of command now so I can say whatever the heck I want. The man was an idiot. I will say two good things about him. He's a Harry Potter fan and he's a damn fine preventive medicine specialist. But he had absolutely no business leading soldiers. The worst NCO I have ever had, bar none. However, what I have gained from that experience is that I now know everything about what not to be in a Leader, and one of the reasons why I chose this specific position was because this unit was what I needed to prove that I was not the soldier he said I was, and I could develop the leadership traits I needed to develop as an NCO and he failed to take the time to develop with me. Unfortunately, one of the things he did is now biting me on the butt, most specifically his evaluation report of me that is far from steller. In fact, it isn't very favorable at all. I was misled on it for one, and two, one of the sections on it is completely misleading to a reader who didn't know either of us reading it. Basically, my report has me as being completely incompetant, literally. At the time I signed it, I was in a F*** it mood, was planning on getting out anyway, and, well, I made the mistake of signing it without reading it through. When I looked back on the report after I got out from under his leadership completely, I realized what I had done and after talking to different people about it, including a Leutenant (who sometimes reads this blog) who knew more about NCOERs (Non-Commissioned Officer Evaluation Report) then most sergeants do, I realized that I had every right to appeal it. I've been kind of in that process for the last few months, but because I've been in somewhat of a transition these last few months and my life is in somewhat of a disarray, I realized I needed two things right now. I needed good consistent leadership, something I've never had, and I needed to get an NCOER for this year that was excellent. Its hard to show a reserve unit what you got when you only see these guys one weekend a month, but my current unit is a no bars held squared away unit that knows what they're talking about. Mostly because they're drill sergeants. I've been told by several members of this unit that I have the personality to do this job, in fact, my leadership style is actually attuned to doing something like this, and I've wanted to be a Drill Sergeant since I got out of AIT. However, to properly appeal my NCOER, I have to go through my current unit and have them help me do it. I talked to my First Sergeant yesterday about it, and in fact I've mentioned a few things about wanting to Appeal my NCOER, but I didn't want to go into detail with what happened in my previous unit, part of the appeal of coming to this unit was starting with a clean slate. However, he knew about it and coming into the meeting, he mentioned to me the fact that most soldiers coming appealing their NCOER do not get the results they desire. I nodded, understanding this, then showed him my current NCOER, the sections I was contesting (the competence section) and kind of explained the circumstances behind it. Then I showed him the Counseling Statement that was given to me in response to one Bullet Statement. He took one look at that and said "this isn't a counseling statement, this is a threat! Heck, I feel threatened by this." The fact is, I got a negative remark that is supposed to show for an entire year of observation and all bullet statements in the Competence section are for incidents that occurred within two days of each other. In other words, I had a bad week, and my NCOER reflect that when it shouldn't. It should reflect the entire year. My current First Sergeant then completely supported my decision to appeal this BS and backed me on it, I showed him a couple of counseling statements (one he called an agenda) and told me that my goal was to make sure my performance in the unit exceeded expectations so I could have an excellent NCOER for this year to balance out this last one. Meanwhile, well, I mentioned that my current choice of unit guaranteed my reenlistment. My current unit is slotted to go to Iraq. But not the Drill Sergeants, who have a mission regardless of times of Peace or War. If I'm not slotted for school by January 2007, I could very well find myself slotted to go to Iraq instead. I don't think this will happen (in fact, if it weren't for my family at the moment, I would volunteer to go) but it does mean that I need to make a decision and get ready to go to Drill Sergeant School by next Spring at the Latest. But before I go to school, I have to reenlist. Guess I'm reenlisting. . . but if I'm going to make this a career after all, I need to get that NCOER squared away. EDIT - I've talked to my unit further, more confirmation on the fact that I have every right to appeal my NCOER and I have plenty of evidence supporting me. In the meantime, the rest of my mission consists of me doing the best damn job humanly possible. I got flamed in my comments. Reply in next post. Labels: Army -Risawn: # 9:46 PM - |

4.30.2006

Drill Weekend in Hell. . . . . or rather, Helena Montana. Actually, the weekend wasn't really hell at all. In fact, it was awesome! Several people mentioned how they would comment to their friends and coworkers tomorrow about how they spent the weekend. Me? I had a nice quiet weekend. It started on Thursday, where I had to get up a little earlier then usual, took a bus to Helena Montana, fire an M16 and qualified as well as familiarized myself with a gas mask and night fire, (in which every round was a tracer and we witnessed some pretty spectacular fires!), practiced urban warfare with simulated ammo and Paintball guns, took a hike on a land navigation course which was done in both the day and the afternoon, and got a little flight to the course via whirly birds. Or Black Hawk Helicopters. I'm trying to revamp my Milblog, so I think this post will best be served there. . . Labels: Army, Guns -Risawn: # 9:22 PM - |

4.26.2006

Hidden Posts brought to light I went back, looked at my blog, and unhid some things I had hidden from view. As I had hid them while I was deployed, or else I never posted them for whatever reason. Well, its safe to post them now. Some of these are definitely in par with the things I shouldn't post on deployment, and they fit how I felt at the time. Well regardless, I brought them out from hiding. YOu can make your opinion on them be known. I didn't really get along with my first couple of roommates. Here is evidence. She turned out to be a decent person, we just, well, didn't mesh well in shared living conditions. A little story I wrote about my NCOIC. He told me that he felt that it demeaned his authority and told me to remove it. Well, guess what? The guy can kiss my behind. If he wants to get sensitive, he can stop being a complete ass. Besides, I'm far to kind to him in this story (which has not been altered in any way). This is a Rant I was told to remove this post, because it tells of me and the boy going to Freedom Park, where we proceeded to. . . watch Night of the Living Dead. Oh, and I made a crack at the Kosovo police, and their inability to do their job. Restlessness with the Army, and Deployment This is but one of many warnings of what a gargatuan ass my NCOIC was, and I didn't post it because I thought I was being to hard on him at the time. 2 Problems with the Army How I really felt about getting out of my section For whatever reason, these posts were not considered to be appropriate for military viewing. Mostly because I'm probably being to honest in them. Heck, some of them are unfinished because I would do that a lot. But this is some of the posts I made, cut dry and to the point. Some of them are rants, but hey, it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't give a good rant from time to time. Labels: Army, Blogging, Kosovo -Risawn: # 10:17 PM - |

3.05.2006

Drill Weekend This weekend was drill weekend for me. It also confirmed some facts for me as well. One, I discovered that I don't like working in an Army Hospital at all. Well, I knew this to be true, but this weekend all but confirmed it. I just sat there in formation wondering what I was doing. See, technically, I don't have to drill for 90 days. I just came to drill today because I have to drill out my contract and I felt the need to find something to do on those weekends. So this weekend's mission for me? Find a home. However, keep in mind that unless I stay a 91S, wherever I find a home at is expecting me to commit to their unit by doing the training necessary to qualify in the needed job skill. Which = possible reenlistment. So I'm looking for a home that fits my perameters and I can drill with for a while until I get the knack for what they want and I can reenlist or maybe just drill out the remaining contract. I went to the hospital yesterday seeing how things were back there and noticed it hadn't changed much. Now, don't get me wrong, I like a lot of people in the hospital here. I just don't like being in a hospital. It doesn't fit me. I knew of another unit however that had always seemed to catch my interest. So I checked them out. And I really liked what I saw. And if I reenlisted with them, I don't think it would be that bad. I'm still within my 90 days however, so I might not be able to switch over to them by next month, but there is a good chance I'll be a part of them by May. Now I have to put in some hours of my own time, commit a lot of stuff to memory, and relearn everything I learned in basic. Next month I get to help run a range. Good times! Today I got dropped for anticipating a command. I hate it when I do that. But in the meantime, I also think that I'll have fun with this assignment. Labels: Army -Risawn: # 6:19 PM - |

2.23.2006

The Problem with the 91 Sierra For those of you who don't know, my job within the army is 91S, Preventive Medicine Specialist. In theory, this job is really important to the army. The job itself is the prevention of Disease and Non Battle Injuries. Anything dealing with the prevention of Disease and Non Battle Injuries is detailed by my job. The problem with this is it doesn't necessarily need a soldier to do the job. As is evident by the fact that more and more parts of the job is being contracted out to the civilian sector, leaving the crap parts of the job to the soldier. One of the reasons why I didn't particularly enjoy my times in Kosovo. Another problem with the job is nobody knows what a 91S does outside of the Preventive Medicine Unit. In a hospital, often times everybody looks at the 91S as the red headed step children of the unit. Because we don't deal directly with patients or what not, we often get tasked to do other things. One of the job listings of the 91S should be 'Mundane Details' and 'Peon'. If the first sergeant needed something to get done, she would look first at the people who don't have patient care issues. More often then not, this would be Preventive Medicine. Because nobody knows what Preventive Medicine does, it is somewhat of a Sham Job. That has its positives, to be sure, but because it is a sham job, it also gives an air of being a job that isn't very important. We could make ourselves as busy or non busy as we want to be. Unfortunately for me, I prefer to be busy when I work. With a goal in sight. I never really felt like I got this from my unit. So, one of our main tasks in Kosovo tended to be Inspections. I hate inspections. I loathe them with a passion. I even mentioned this. But I didn't complain about doing inspections, I just mentioned that I didn't like them. More of a statement then anything. I just made it to the wrong people. One of the reasons why I hated doing inspections is because a lot about the inspections is its a judgement call on the part of the inspector. I like things to be written down, black and white. when I did inspections and found people telling me that I shouldn't do something, or somebody else putting something down as being a bigger deal then it was, I was always the one who wasn't listened to. My opinion never seemed to matter. And it seemed when we had one big joint inspection, the only person who made any mistakes always seemed to be me, according to the infinite judgement and wisdom of my former NCOIC, who I have mentioned time and again, is an enormous pompous Asshat. I loathe the man with a passion. Just thinking of him makes my blood start to boil and I want to bash his head in with the buttstock of my M16. Other people in my section often made mistakes too. I noted them, I mentioned them to the enormous pompous Asshat, but he didn't seem to care. He would turn around and point out my mistakes, because the other people in my section were angels that could do no wrong and I was the bastard stepchild. Which brings me to another point of what was wrong with my section. It consisted of a number of soldiers from another unit (I can't mention exact numbers because that would be telling unit strength) who had all worked together and knew each other fairly well. Then there was me. I was the bastard stepchild from day one and I never fully fit in. What makes this worse is that this unit was overstrength as it was. The head sergeant, (who is he who I greatly loathe) never really did anything because he was incredibly lazy. I did mundane jobs here and there that really were not that big of a deal, but looked like a lot on paper (I was never really trusted to be able to do my job I think). The other soldiers in the unit could have easily took over my job duties and did their own with plenty of room to spare. What am I driving at? My section was overstaffed. By two soldiers. I was one of those two soldiers, the idiot who supervised me was the other. Considering how small my section was, this was a lot. And often times we were made to stay a certain length of time just because we had to have somebody man the office. Often times I sat on my ass surfing the internet with lack of nothing better to do. Another problem with my job? A lot of time is spent cooped up in an office. You know why I joined the army? Because it's the freakin' army! I love the army for the shooting of things that go bang, for the dirt and marching around and doing grunt hooah army stuff. I don't like sitting in an office staring at a screen all damn day. I could never be an office peon because I would so quickly get bored with that. I need another freakin' job! Unfortunately for me, I'm in a job that is understrength according to army standards. I'm limited to the jobs that I will be allowed to do. You know, I would go on another deployment in a heartbeat, honestly I would. I just don't want to go as a 91S, which in my opinion, has grown into one of the most pointless jobs in the army. Apparently, there is a lot of that to go around. Labels: Army, Rant -Risawn: # 3:31 PM - |

1.27.2006

Home Free! The army is done. I just have to clear hand reciepts at my home unit, request for a transfer to the IRR (inactive ready reserve), and then its home free, via car ride with the family. These last couple weeks consisted of a lot of hurry up and do nothing. They could have easily gotten us through this process in four days, but they chose to spread it over eleven. A lot of days consisted of doing one thing and then we had the rest of the day off to go to the mall and. . . walk around and gawk at how easy we've had it for the last year. Anyway, I will be home tonight. Its kind of strange to think that these people I've been hanging out with for the last year I may very well never see again. . . and with a few exceptions, I'm totally fine with that. Well, now I get to continue on with my life and manage my money so I don't go into debt. First things first, I need a car. Labels: Army, Meanwhile -Risawn: # 8:37 AM - |

1.23.2006

My Rack Get your head out of the gutter already! I just wanted to display my rack. There may be an exception to this rack, and when I discover exactly what that is, I'll update it. Now, it is easy for any soldier to have a chest full of medals. And I'll tell you why. Army Achievement Medal - (w/ 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters) I came on my deployment to Kosovo with three unsung AAMs. Although the Army Commendation Medal is more prestigious then the AAM, they give at more ARCOMs then AAMs. Fancy that. I got my AAMs from the POLLEX in Devens Massachussetts, Golden Medic Excercise in Camp Parks, California, and a Mederette in Suriname South America. And I got them all before I hit E5. Because after I got E5, things didn't go as smoothly back in the unit. Army Good Conduct Medal - This is a Kosovo ribbon. Meaning I got it for not getting in trouble while on Active Duty in Kosovo. Normally I wouldn't get this ribbon because of my lack of being on Active Duty normally, but they make an exception for Reservists who serve on active duty for more then 9 months with no prior military experience. Its a ribbon you get for not getting into trouble. Though some would contest. Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal - I got this for being a good girl for three years while in a Reserve Unit. I've had this ribbon for a bit now. As long as you behave, the ARCAM is a gimme medal. National Defense Service Medal - You get this one while serving in a time of war, on Active Duty. You don't have to actually serve in the war, as long as you serve in the military. You would think I would have gotten this a long time ago, but I finally got it when they mobilized me for Kosovo. Kosovo Campaign Medal - (with Bronze Star) I would consider this medal unique to a lot of the others, in that you specifically have to serve in Kosovo to get it. You don't have to do a lot in Kosovo, just as long as you serve for a period of time in order to get it. Not a lot of people have actually served in Kosovo, so its one of the few medals that I have that is kind of rare. Global War on Terrorism (expeditionary) Global War on Terrorism (service) Um, I'm at a loss. I got one of these. I just don't know which one I have. Go back and do some research I guess, I got a piece of paper which tells me which one I got. YOu get this for being involved in the Global War on Terror. In some way shape or form. They are a little different. Armed Forces Reserve Medal - (w/ 'M' Device) I'm not exactly sure why I get this medal, but it is another Kosovo Medal I got while serving in Kosovo. I don't think I did anything but serve in Kosovo but there was something involved with that that earned me this. Hmm. I'll call it a gimme. Army Non-Commissioned Officer Development Ribbon - Every time you go to an NCO school, you get one of these. I've been to PLDC. So I have one. I could have gone to BNCOC while I was in kosovo, but I forego the experience on account that I lost all motivation for staying in (another blog post that I will discuss later) and decided it wasn't worth my time. I kind of wish I had now. But the timing was always off and I could never seem to fit it in. Army Service Ribbon - This ribbon has acquired a whole lot of nicknames. Fruit Loop Ribbon and Gay Pride Ribbon being a couple. You gra