Boy it would’ve been nice if my pass started today, payday. Not only that but it's also the weekend. The nightlife in Seattle would've been better. I was talking to one of the other soldiers and he told me I should’ve gone to Tacoma. He told me to check out Pacific Avenue. I think we should’ve checked Tacoma out. We went all over Seattle and there was basically nothing for us to see on the third day, especially with no money. We just found the cheapest bar that we could find and started drinking. In fact, the cheapest bar that we found, Pioneer Square Saloon, was my favorite.

We did check out some other places before like Cowgirls Inc. The place reminded me of that movie Coyote Ugly where are the girl bartenders danced on the bar and danced to the music. I did feel like getting on the mechanical bull a couple of times. I wanted to see how long I would last.

Today we had our culture brief. It was pretty good and informative. I think it’s really important because we’re trying to win a war. We don’t want to offend the Iraq people or we could be fighting this war forever. In my mind we have to win the hearts and minds of the people. I’ll be there to help them and kill insurgents. To anyone that wants to start a firefight I say, “Bring it On”. My fellow soldiers and me are ready for a fight. I’m sure there are plenty of us that are just waiting for a reason to unload all the ammunition. We weren’t trained for nothing. We’re getting ready and this Company is full of guys that are motivated and ready to do the job. I’m really glad to be part of this bunch.

Do I think I’m earning the respect of my fellow soldiers? I think so. Well, I hope so. I’m glad the guys listen to me when I tell them to do something. I haven’t had any problems and they are really making my life really easy. They do everything I tell the to do. I don’t have them do anything I wouldn’t want to do myself. I know my position and what I can and can’t order them to do. I think it works great when we all work together as a team to get the mission accomplished. It makes it easier for everyone. There is a little animosity that goes around and that’s because of perceived perceptions of others. I know no one is perfect but I like to see guys give 100%. Sometimes, I myself need some motivation to find the will that drives me to achieve 100%. I’m not always focused but when I’m on a roll it gets hard to stop this train.

Yesterday a fellow solider told me about an Arizona Guardsmen that got killed in action in Iraq. I knew who the guy was, SGT Howard P. Allen. He used to be in this unit that I’m in now. The reason it hits hard is because I knew him for one and because he used to be in this unit. My prayers go out to his wife and family. He will be missed by all and by a guy that hardly knew him. Sgt Allen and all the other soldiers that serve this GREAT NATION are heroes in my book. The Pope for humanity to me is what Soldiers are to this nation, the best men and women it has to offer. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND GOD BLESS THE TROOPS.

It’s been raining off and on all day today. Today was our last day off. I wasn’t depressed about it until we were almost back on post. For some reason I miss my family. I didn’t as much before then as I do now. I called my wife to say hello. The kids were already asleep. I’ll have to call back tomorrow and see if I could talk to the kids. I can’t wait to see how they’re doing.

We had to check out of the motel by noon today. We were all low on cash so there wasn’t much we could do today. We had pretty much been all over downtown Seattle. It’s a pretty nice city. The place is pretty old but it’s still pretty nice. I’d have to get used to living here if I moved. At least the weather was nice for two of the three days we were there.

We spent most of the day at a bar, watching a college football game. We did go to a coffee shop and have a cup of Joe. There’s a coffee shop on almost every corner in Seattle. It’s kind of funny. I guess people in Seattle really like their coffee. The city isn’t too much different from Phoenix or any other city for that matter. It’s very commercialized so a lot of places like McDonalds, Starbucks, and Krispy Kreme will be found in Phoenix as well.

I didn’t want to leave today. I wish our stay in town were longer. I would’ve gone home if that were the case. I did enjoy my freedom while I was gone. I miss driving too. It was pretty nice to be back in a city. It’s not like city living here on post. Everything on the base is spread out and there are trees and forest everywhere between.

Tomorrow it’s back to work. I’m not even in the mood to get back to work and tomorrow is Friday too. It sucks. I hope we don’t work too hard this weekend.

What can I say about Seattle? Well, for one, it’s different. If you miss a turn on a street be prepared to go a few blocks before your able to turn around. There isn’t a street sign on every corner like in Phoenix. They don’t let you drink when your drunk, it’s against the law. There is no nightlife during the weeknights. It’s too bad that I didn’t get any days off on the weekend.

I rented a car with a few buddies of mine. We got a motel in Sea-Tac. It’s about 16 miles south of Seattle. We went up the Space Needle yesterday morning. We also visited the Seattle Aquarium. Today we went to Pioneer Square; it’s a historic part of Seattle. I guess it’s where Seattle started. We also checked out Pike’s Market Place. It’s like a swap meet in a building that also goes into the street.

The weather hasn’t been all that bad. It’s been sunny for the past couple of days. It’s supposed to start getting cloudy tomorrow and raining by the weekend. It hasn’t been as cold as I thought it would be. I thought I might be freezing my butt off at night but I haven’t. Maybe it’s because I’ve been walking all over downtown Seattle.

I did get a chance to check out Safeco Field. It’s where the Seattle Mariners play. The Mariners are on their last home stand and their playing the Texas Rangers right now. The ballpark reminds me of Bank One Ballpark. I think Bank One Ballpark was built before Safeco Field. We also got to check out Qwest Stadium. It’s where the Seattle Seahawks play. Both of the stadiums are built right next to each other.

We did walk up and down the piers and check out some of the shots. Well, I’m getting tired now. Tomorrow is our last free day off. We have to be back for duty on Friday. I’m not sure what we’ll do tomorrow. We’ve been taking it as it goes.

For some reason or another we didn’t do PT this morning. I’m kind of glad. I’m think I’m wearing out of PT. I did enjoy the little game of basketball we had going on yesterday though. Another thing, it’s too cold to do PT in the morning. I’m glad we’re finally getting to change are PT uniforms. When we got here the uniform was a t-shirt and shorts. Since we’ve arrived the uniform has been changed and now we’re wearing a long sleeve PT shirt, pants, and jacket. I’m glad because it keeps me a lot warmer.

Right now the guys upstairs are having a party. I wonder what their doing. They’re making all kinds of noise and it seems like some of them are having too much fun upstairs. They’re starting to get a little rowdy. As long as they don’t continue the rowdiness after lights out, I’ll be fine. If they do get out of hand I’ll go up there and tell them that it’s time for them to get to bed or take it outside. I could care less if they don’t sleep. I don’t think anyone here needs a babysitter. If they want to go out and party that’s fine but they’ll have to be responsible for their actions. They’ll have to sacrifice sleep for fun. It’s all fun until the next day begins, I know. I usually end up regretting what I did.

We went to the other simulator today. This one was a lot better than the one we went to yesterday. It’s too bad I can’t post any photos of the place here. I won’t go into details after I already have about operational security. All I say is that this simulator was realistic and it was pretty fun. I just hated waiting for the other platoon to go thru first. In between some Airmen from the Air Force jumped in and took our simulator from us. It kind of sucked because we had to wait on them before we could continue. I’m going to bring that up if I ever get a chance. I didn’t think it was fair and they should have had to wait like everyone else. I don’t think they’re any more special then the rest of us.

While we were there we went to a chow hall of a fellow solider that used to be stationed here. I guess it was close to his old unit. The food was pretty good. The chow hall reminded me of my old chow hall from Campbell. Some of the barracks look like my old barracks from Campbell as well.

I have to get to bed soon. The lights are going to be going out. In fact, I’ve been turning out the lights almost every night. It’s a little weird getting older and going up in rank. I’m starting to feel like an older brother or father to some of these guys. I never felt like that before. I no I have to set a good example because I’m an NCO. I have to represent the NCO Corps. I also represent the US Army. Every in the Army does that. We want to display a good image. It’s part of what makes us a solider. But the point I’m trying to make is that the older I get the more I feel I have to become an example, a role model, for younger soldiers. I try to lead them the best I can. Hopefully, I’ll be able to gain their trust and respect.

I’m getting a pass pretty soon. That’ll be pretty cool. I can’t wait. I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. A few buddies and me are thinking of going into Seattle. We’ll see what happens. I’d like to go sightseeing. We’re only getting three days so it’s not worth flying home. It cost a lot of money for an airline ticket too.

We went to the simulator today. It was ok. I don’t know if it was worth it though. We spend all morning getting ready to go to the simulator. When we got there we froze our butts outside, waiting for the guys to get set up. Afterwards, we went into the classroom to wait some more. A few of the guys went over convoy operations to kill some waiting time. The guys that spoke were talking over their experience in country.

When we finally got to go into the simulator after the operator got everything set up. My squad got into position and started the scenario. The whole scenario only took like 10 minutes. We went over two different scenarios all together. The scenarios were all right. I can’t get into too many details about the simulators here because of military security. A few buddies and me joked that we like the HALO scenarios on the X-Box simulator better. LOL!

I’ve been getting hooked on that X-Box game console that we have in the barracks here. It’s been fun and it’s quickly becoming a nightly routine. I go over to see the guys once in a while, playing Halo. It’s a pretty cool video game. I’m starting to get better. I’m glad because they were kicking my butt at first. Now I’m starting to become the hunter. Mainly because I’ve watched the way they’ve played and I’ve learned a few mistakes from playing the game.

This afternoon we played some basketball for PT. We all sucked but it was real fun. One of the Sergeants is pretty tall so his game was pretty good. Plus I think he plays a little bit on his free time. I think he was the best player there. As for me, I’m terrible. I would help if I had more height. It’s ok though; I could work on other things like speed and skills.

Tomorrow we’re supposed to go to a different simulator. Hopefully that one is a lot better.

We packed and got ready to ship some of our boxes today. I’m kind of glad but now that just leaves me with less area to put away and store my stuff. Our lockers aren’t that big, so now I have stuff in a duffle back and a rucksack outside of my locker. I have to make sure I secure it pretty good. I don’t think anything will get stolen; it’s just good to have our stuff secured. That way we don’t have to worry about anything being lost or stolen. The locks are just a security measure for the belongings.

The medicine I got from the clinic is working pretty well. It’s better then the stuff the medic gave me. I’m glad I went to sick call now. It isn’t a cure all, I’m still a little congested, but I could breathe better than before. It might be from all the dust floating around the barracks.

I might end up going to the gym tonight. I’m not really in the mood to go right now though. Now I have a little headache. I don’t know what’s going on with me. I think I might need some more rest. Luckily, we don’t have formation until 0615 hours tomorrow. That gives us an extra hour of sleep, which will be nice. We got off early today to which was also nice.

I didn't post anything on my blog last night. That's because I got caught up in watching the movie Crash. Everyone seemed to call while I was watching the movie too. Crazy, I couldn’t even finish watching the movie before lights out. It's a really good movie, I really liked the music, and it set a different sort of theme. I do think it makes everyone in L.A. seem like a racist, LOL! I'm going to start stereotyping everyone from L.A. as racists. LOL! I’m just kidding. I love L.A. and I like movies that feature L.A. as a character in the story, like Collateral with Tom Cruise and Jaime Foxx.

Well, yesterday we were training on squad movement tactics. It was on a virtual reality simulator called X-Box! LOL! No but it was pretty fun. One of the guys bought an X-Box and some of his games. The guys have started a nightly routine of playing Halo every night. Sometimes we group in twos and sometimes we battle with everyone against each other. It’s a pretty cool game, I like hiding, sniping, and getting the guys by surprise. We all have a pretty good time together and it kind of reminds me of my days in the regular Army when we all used to play together.

Talk about video games, I have to quit playing the Command and Conquer game I have. That game takes too long to finish and doesn’t go fast enough. It’s really fun and enjoyable. I’m almost finished with it. I haven’t played any of the harder levels though. I don’t think I’m going to because I have other things I have to do.

It seems like the days are going by really quick here. I waste too much time playing Command and Conquer on my computer when I have other things to do. I have a few Iraq books I’d like to read thru. I still want to go thru my Ranger Handbook too.

This morning I went to sick call. I wanted to go yesterday but on of the Sergeants wanted me to help him out just in case he needed it during PT yesterday morning. So I stuck it out for another day. I got congested two days ago, along with a stuffy nose, runny nose, and a slight cough. Sick call is usually during PT in the mornings. I don’t know why they do that. Some guys just go to sick call just to get out of doing PT in the morning. And some guys go to sick call to get a profile that limits them from physical activity that they’re allow to do. That way they don’t have to do any strenuous work like push-ups, sit-ups or any work for that matter. I think it’s an embarrassment at times and I don’t respect people that abuse the system to kick back.

I think I’m going to go to the gym in a bit. I want to get some more of a work out since I missed PT today, or I just might take the day off. I also have to get down to the PX (Post Exchange). It’s like a Target where they sell goods. I didn’t bring that many clothes and I need some clothing. Me and two other buddies are going to Seattle next week and we’re going to stay at a motel while we’re there. We’re going to go around and go sight seeing. I can’t go in my Army uniform, so I have to get some civilian clothing.

I didn't post anything on my blog last night. That's because I got caught up in watching the movie Crash. Everyone seemed to call while I was watching the movie too. Crazy, I couldn’t even finish watching the movie before lights out. It's a really good movie, I really liked the music, and it set a different sort of theme. I do think it makes everyone in L.A. seem like a racist, LOL! I'm going to start stereotyping everyone from L.A. as racists. LOL! I’m just kidding. I love L.A. and I like movies that feature L.A. as a character in the story, like Collateral with Tom Cruise and Jaime Foxx.

Well, yesterday we were training on squad movement tactics. It was on a virtual reality simulator called X-Box! LOL! No but it was pretty fun. One of the guys bought an X-Box and some of his games. The guys have started a nightly routine of playing Halo every night. Sometimes we group in twos and sometimes we battle with everyone against each other. It’s a pretty cool game, I like hiding, sniping, and getting the guys by surprise. We all have a pretty good time together and it kind of reminds me of my days in the regular Army when we all used to play together.

Talk about video games, I have to quit playing the Command and Conquer game I have. That game takes too long to finish and doesn’t go fast enough. It’s really fun and enjoyable. I’m almost finished with it. I haven’t played any of the harder levels though. I don’t think I’m going to because I have other things I have to do.

It seems like the days are going by really quick here. I waste too much time playing Command and Conquer on my computer when I have other things to do. I have a few Iraq books I’d like to read thru. I still want to go thru my Ranger Handbook too.

This morning I went to sick call. I wanted to go yesterday but on of the Sergeants wanted me to help him out just in case he needed it during PT yesterday morning. So I stuck it out for another day. I got congested two days ago, along with a stuffy nose, runny nose, and a slight cough. Sick call is usually during PT in the mornings. I don’t know why they do that. Some guys just go to sick call just to get out of doing PT in the morning. And some guys go to sick call to get a profile that limits them from physical activity that they’re allow to do. That way they don’t have to do any strenuous work like push-ups, sit-ups or any work for that matter. I think it’s an embarrassment at times and I don’t respect people that abuse the system to kick back.

I think I’m going to go to the gym in a bit. I want to get some more of a work out since I missed PT today, or I just might take the day off. I also have to get down to the PX (Post Exchange). It’s like a Target where they sell goods. I didn’t bring that many clothes and I need some clothing. Me and two other buddies are going to Seattle next week and we’re going to stay at a motel while we’re there. We’re going to go around and go sight seeing. I can’t go in my Army uniform, so I have to get some civilian clothing.

Another easy day, I’m glad. I got worn out after the long day yesterday. I was glad to get a little rest. Granted, the PT this morning was good. I was the PT instructor this morning. I decided to conduct circuit drills. Problem is I didn’t set up the events for each station. I asked my Platoon Sergeant, Bowers, if he would do it for me. He a pretty good guy and I like having him as my Platoon Sergeant. I should have laid out each event to even out between push-ups, sit-up, and cardio workouts. It was my fault, but it was a lesson learned.

The theme of the week is operation security. The commander came up with the theme after some operation security concerns. I won’t mention it here but I didn’t think it was problem. So we reviewed some information on operational security in my squad. Most of the guys were looking at me when we went over the material. Reason being was because I have a blog. Some of the other guys wanted to set up their website as well, but they’re not too sure how to go about it.

Operational security was just another reminder that I have to watch what I post on this website. It was mentioned that most of the intelligence doesn’t come from classified information but from information that is obtained from the public. I kind of figured that. There is lots of information out on the Internet for anyone that wants to look for it and that information could jeopardize our mission. So, I have to make sure I watch what I post on my blog site. I’ll have to keep things general and I’ll post more on me and my buddies than on my equipment and unit.

We’re starting to pack. I don’t know why, we still have some time here. We started labeling our Job Boxes too. Those things are cool. They’re really big, mobile, boxes that we use to put our personal belongings into. Some of the guys put their labeled their stuff with no concern for neatness. Me on the other hand, being a perfectionist, had to make my box look good.

Another easy day, I’m glad. I got worn out after the long day yesterday. I was glad to get a little rest. Granted, the PT this morning was good. I was the PT instructor this morning. I decided to conduct circuit drills. Problem is I didn’t set up the events for each station. I asked my Platoon Sergeant, Bowers, if he would do it for me. He a pretty good guy and I like having him as my Platoon Sergeant. I should have laid out each event to even out between push-ups, sit-up, and cardio workouts. It was my fault, but it was a lesson learned.

The theme of the week is operation security. The commander came up with the theme after some operation security concerns. I won’t mention it here but I didn’t think it was problem. So we reviewed some information on operational security in my squad. Most of the guys were looking at me when we went over the material. Reason being was because I have a blog. Some of the other guys wanted to set up their website as well, but they’re not too sure how to go about it.

Operational security was just another reminder that I have to watch what I post on this website. It was mentioned that most of the intelligence doesn’t come from classified information but from information that is obtained from the public. I kind of figured that. There is lots of information out on the Internet for anyone that wants to look for it and that information could jeopardize our mission. So, I have to make sure I watch what I post on my blog site. I’ll have to keep things general and I’ll post more on me and my buddies than on my equipment and unit.

We’re starting to pack. I don’t know why, we still have some time here. We started labeling our Job Boxes too. Those things are cool. They’re really big, mobile, boxes that we use to put our personal belongings into. Some of the guys put their labeled their stuff with no concern for neatness. Me on the other hand, being a perfectionist, had to make my box look good.

Another easy day, I’m glad. I got worn out after the long day yesterday. I was glad to get a little rest. Granted, the PT this morning was good. I was the PT instructor this morning. I decided to conduct circuit drills. Problem is I didn’t set up the events for each station. I asked my Platoon Sergeant, Bowers, if he would do it for me. He a pretty good guy and I like having him as my Platoon Sergeant. I should have laid out each event to even out between push-ups, sit-up, and cardio workouts. It was my fault, but it was a lesson learned.

The theme of the week is operation security. The commander came up with the theme after some operation security concerns. I won’t mention it here but I didn’t think it was problem. So we reviewed some information on operational security in my squad. Most of the guys were looking at me when we went over the material. Reason being was because I have a blog. Some of the other guys wanted to set up their website as well, but they’re not too sure how to go about it.

Operational security was just another reminder that I have to watch what I post on this website. It was mentioned that most of the intelligence doesn’t come from classified information but from information that is obtained from the public. I kind of figured that. There is lots of information out on the Internet for anyone that wants to look for it and that information could jeopardize our mission. So, I have to make sure I watch what I post on my blog site. I’ll have to keep things general and I’ll post more on me and my buddies than on my equipment and unit.

We’re starting to pack. I don’t know why, we still have some time here. We started labeling our Job Boxes too. Those things are cool. They’re really big, mobile, boxes that we use to put our personal belongings into. Some of the guys put their labeled their stuff with no concern for neatness. Me on the other hand, being a perfectionist, had to make my box look good.

Well, I’m not going to keep this too long. It’s past lights out and I have to get to bed. I’m a little tired from combatives today. We were doing combatives all day and I don’t know how I did it. I don’t know where I got the energy. I think it might have been the breakfast that I had this morning, I don’t know. But for some reason, I had this drive in me to keep going, like I was on speed or something. Maybe it was because I was having fun. Maybe it was because I liked what I was doing. I couldn’t believe that work could be some much fun and these instructors get paid to do this on a daily basis. It must be nice. I think part of the reason they made it fun is because they motivated us and we ourselves were motivated. We all felt part of a team. I wish we could do combatives more often.

It’s not like I didn’t get hurt, because I did get punched and my jaw and teeth were knocked around a bit. I’m really going to feel it in the morning when I wake up. We did some strikes, kicks, grabs, throws and everything else. They really didn’t want to get into technique because they only have one day with us. They basically taught us how to kill someone if it got down to it. It was very dangerous stuff and I had to watch and make sure that I didn’t hurt my partner. He had to do the same with me. Using minimal force, we were able to get some good, realistic training out of it. I’m sure if it were the real thing, the opponent would not be as lucky.

The techniques were simple and easy to learn. It wasn’t Martial Arts but a combination of it, wrestling, and boxing. It was pretty much ingrained into my forehead so I don’t think that I’ll be forgetting it anytime soon. I’ll only forget it after not using it for a while.

One of the guys is going home soon, it's kind of sad. He’s being kicked off the mission. I wish him the best of luck. He’ll be with us on this mission in sprit.

We woke up at 0200 hours this morning. This has been a pretty long day for me. This was to be the last day of our CQB training. I think we’re getting there. It looked pretty good today and there’s just a few things to work out with the leadership and planning. As for the Joe’s, they did a fine job today. A few mistakes here and there but everything went all right.

We left here at 0300 to head to the set up town of Leshi. It’s about a 30-minute drive from the barracks. I didn’t mind because it gave me more of a chance to sleep on the drive over there. Once we dismounted the trucks we had a plan for the platoons to take up their sectors and establish an assembly area. That went ok. It helped out this morning because we had a full moon and lots of night illumination. It would’ve been harder to walk around in the dark if it were pitch black.

One of the Sergeants that were responsible for ammo detail misplaced our smoke grenades. That was a big mess up because later we had to give away our position by turning on our flashlights in the darkness and start searching for those smoke grenades. It didn’t take us too long to find them.

From there we moved to our objective rally point. The whole process took a couple of hours. We were ready to attack our objective. It was to secure two of the buildings in the town. Other platoons had their own objective and together the company, as a whole would liberate the town and re-establish order. The movement into our first building went smoothly. 1^st squad was the first one in and they did a fine job of securing our first objective. After that was the next building which were two stories. 3^rd squad would take the bottom floor while my squad, 2^nd, would take the top floor.

After 3^rd squad cleared the bottom floor we were given the signal to head into the house and take the top floor. We took a lot of fire in the stairwell but Alpha Team managed to make their way upstairs. My team, Bravo Team, headed up the stairs and assisted Alpha Team in securing the rooms. My team then got set to enter the last room in the building. When we entered we encountered some hostiles and we began to engage our targets. Our first guy in, Holzer, was wounded and I had to end up treating him.

All in all we ran thru the town twice today. It made for a pretty long day. Tomorrow is combatives. I can’t wait for that. It looks like it’s going to be fun.

Today was full of surprises so say Taloney and I have to agree with him. It started out when we were both woken up for Arms Guard Duty. We weren’t informed of it earlier and the company wasn’t going to have formation until 0800 because we were having a long day today. Taloney was happy because he didn’t want to do PT and I didn’t feel like doing it in the rain. We both knew that today was going to be a company run which means that they would all run for a couple of miles. We had our take out breakfast in the arms room while everyone else was still sleeping. I knew that the rest of the company wouldn’t get up for breakfast unless they were told to wake up at a certain time.

When Taloney and me got off duty we went back into the barracks to get our stuff ready for the training today. I just had to make sure my MILES (Laser Tag) equipment was on my weapon and my vest and ready to go. We were all a little pissed off in 2^nd squad because no one informed us that we were supposed to eat lunch at 1000 hours before the 1100 formation. We would not be eating hot lunch or dinner in the field. So, some of the guys missed out on breakfast because they were too lazy to get up in the morning and they missed lunch because we weren’t informed that we were supposed to eat before we left.

The training in the field made the day drag by so slowly. The movement wasn’t too fast and the communication was pretty messed up. It’s ok, I’m used to it. I’ve been through this in the Army before. It’s not always perfect and I think that a lot of guys, especially the leadership, need to work on their communication skills. Half of the time we didn’t even know what was going on or what our mission was. I wanted to take initiative at times but then I figured, what if I had my team do something that we weren’t supposed to do. So I would just wait until we get yelled at for no doing what were supposed to be doing when we don’t know what’s supposed to be done. It’s funny, they want the Sergeants to start showing some leadership but it’s hard to do that when we don’t know what is expected of us. I had some sense of what the mission was today, the company would be going into the town to root out insurgents, but I didn’t know when and how we would go about it. I think it’ll get better as we go along.

PAY DAY!!! YES!!! Not only that, we have wireless Internet in the barracks now as well. Woohoo!!! Yippee!!! So this day has turned out pretty good, not only that, we went to the Shoot House today and we didn’t do too bad. It’s the first time that I’ve shot live ammo in such a close proximity of other soldiers. We entered a building and shot targets going from room to room. It was very dangerous and the risk was pretty high. It’s something that we have to get used to doing before we go to Iraq. I have to learn to trust my buddies.

There really isn’t any room for any error. If we don’t watch what we’re doing someone could get killed. We always check our buddy’s weapons to make sure they are on safe. We check to make sure that they aren’t masking, pointing their weapon, at someone else. It’s a dangerous job but someone has to do it.

I had lots of fun going thru the Shoot House today. I think that’s because I’m a SAW gunner and I get to fire off more rounds than the riflemen. The only problem is that the SAW get really heavy after awhile. It’s ok though. I guess I’ll have to do some working out at the gym so I could handle that baby.

Another day off. I don’t mind at all. I’m glad. We don’t get weekends off so any day that I could enjoy I try and take advantage of. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s a day off, it just that my platoon is not going through the training at the range today. I’m kind of relieved about that. I need a day off from carrying that SAW. I hope I don’t have to carry it all around Baghdad.

We did some PT this morning. I hate doing PT in the mornings when it’s cold. I’d rather do it in the afternoon but that’s not how the ARMY works. The ARMY likes to do PT, breakfast, and personal hygiene before the sun comes up. It’s real weird because if feels like I’ve already done a ton of things and the day hasn’t even started. In a way I don’t mind but I’m hate getting up at 0430 hours each morning.

I’m glad that the post has this Internet café to get online from. I don’t know how I’d go without it. I guess I wouldn’t be able to communicate. I barely found out that we have a TV in the dayroom. It’s a small TV and I don’t know if we have cable. I’m going to go one of these days to check it out but I doubt that I’ll have time to go in there. Every time I try I bet I’ll run into something else I have to do. I’d like to see the news and see what’s happening in the outside world.

Well, today I got busted. Well, not really but I was told that I cannot put confidential photos on the Internet. Something I already knew but it was sort of a reality check. The reason being was because I was taking pictures of the Strykers at the time. There are a few Stryker brigades up here so it was pretty cool to check out. I never saw them at Campbell. Well, I’m not going to make this long, I have to get to bed. We also did some more CQB. So anyways, I have to watch what photos I post on my website. There was another cool thing that I saw today, but I’m not going to get into details. It’s too bad I can’t share that much with everyone else.

Well, I’m going to keep it pretty short tonight because the night is going by pretty quick. We went to the range today to do some more firing. The SAW of mine is no joke. That thing gets heavy after awhile. We got some good training today. The coaches pretty much wore us out. Afterwards we went back to the barracks and cleaned our weapons. We were off for the rest of the day. I took that time to enjoy and relax so I play my Command and Conquer Generals computer game.

We’ll be training on CQB for the next couple of days. I can’t wait until it’s over because my back is killing me.

The excitement of the day was when we got our mail. I didn’t get anything. I haven’t really received any mail yet. I feel a little jealous of the other guys when they get mail. I feel good for them but I really didn’t realize how good it would feel. Anyways, one of the guys, Tydings, got a package of goodies from his work. His co-workers sent him a package of goodies to share with the rest of the squad. It made all the guys faces light up with joy and glee. Tydings willingly offered his treats to the rest of the squad and we were all happy to enjoy. A BIG THANKS goes out to Tydings coworkers. It felt real good.

Well, today is the 4^th anniversary of 9/11 and what better way to remember that then to learn how to kill terrorists. We did some close quarters combat today, CQB, but the highlight of my day was watching the Airborne Paratroopers jump from the sky. There is no better sight. It would’ve been better if the whole company were jumping instead of a squad.

We finished CQB about an hour and a half ago. It was an all day affair. Heck, right now I’m tired and ready to hit the sack. I just finished eating chow. I had some baked chicken with peas, carrots, and a glass of milk. I have to start getting into good shape. As for right now, I would say my shape is alright; it’s not the best. I did go to the gym to other night to work a little on my stomach and my love handles, which won’t go away. Since I’m the SAW gunner I’m pretty sure that my arms will be getting a little bigger from carrying that heavy weapon. It could be worse; I could be carrying a M60.

They have an awesome CQB course out here. The Army has built a mock up town with street signs and everything else needed to simulate a little town. It had a mock hospital, gas station, hotel, church, and everything else. It’s good training those of us that aren’t used to urban combat training. I’m sure that we’ll see a lot more urban combat style fighting in the future.

We had a road march today. Luckily it was only four miles. We had to do it with our Kevlar, IBV Armor, and weapon. I didn’t think it was going to be that hard since we weren’t packing a rucksack. I found that one thing is for sure, that vest is no joke. That thing is heavy.

We started out at the barracks. Our first formation was at 0800 hours this morning. I’m glad, that gave me a chance to sleep in for the first time. I skipped breakfast just so I could get some extra sleep. I really didn’t feel like going on a road march on a full stomach either.

We drew our weapons from the arms room and went back into formation. From there we marched out. We went to the west end of North Fort, thru a little bit of forest, and right back. It was like we went in a big circle. This is just the beginning of many more road marches to come. This was only four miles. Next time I’m sure it’ll be a little tougher.

We were given the rest of the afternoon off. It’s the first time that’s happened since we’ve been here. I’m kind of glad. I was beginning to feel like I was being worked to death. Some of the guys decided to rent a car and go off post. I would like to go but for one, I don’t have money to spend and two, I need some more winter clothes. I left my jacket and sweaters at home. It’s too cold to go out at night here.

So tonight I think I’m just going to hang at the barracks. There are a lot of guys staying there. We have plenty of movies to watch and the game I have is keeping me entertained. I also have some books I could read.

Day off. It felt like that today. In fact I’m glad it felt like that. For some reason or another I wasn’t on the list to go to combatives today. So I have to occupy myself with other things to do. I’m kind of self-motivated so it doesn’t take much. I really don’t like to just hang around and do nothing. I like to keep busy all the time.

After breakfast most of the company boarded the cattle trucks and headed out to the gym to begin combatives. There was hardly anyone left here at the barracks. My squad leader didn’t even say good-bye or give me any instructions on what to do. So I figured I’d start off with laundry. There were three of us left from the squad left in the bay. Since Fridays is our day to do laundry I had Holzer and Martinez do their laundry before the rest of the squad got back from the gym.

In the late morning I went to Battle Bean to send and receive my e-mails and check out my bank accounts. Battle Bean is the name of the Internet café here on North Fort. I hate using the Internet there because it’s so slow. It bogs down from everyone using the Internet at the same time. I figured they’d get the best bandwidth and router for Internet access since there is so much demand for soldiers to use the Internet but I guess not. Not only that, Battle Bean is only open until 1600 hours! So in the evening there are all these guys freezing their butts off because they have to use the wireless Internet outside. I can’t image when the fall begins and the weather gets cooler.

This afternoon Holzer and me decided to go to the South Fort. It’s the main part of Ft. Lewis. It has all the amenities like the PX, Post Office, Post Theater, Library, and Recreational Facilities. He wanted to go to the PX and I had to go to the Post Office and I also had to find a copy machine. We rode the reserve duty bus that gives free bus trips to and from the PX and Hospital area. It was a piece of cake catching the bus to go over there, getting back was the problem.

We waited for a bus for 1½ hour! And it never came! There were some other guys from the Arizona Guard that showed up to ride the bus as well. Their unit is in Tucson and they just got back from Kuwait. We told them that we had been waiting for a while and we all decided to get a taxi since there were four of us. So we got a taxi back to North Fort, which only cost us $3 each. I’m starting to hate this transit system.

Left…Right o’ Left…Right o’ Left…Right o’ Left…Right ‘o Left Right Left. Your Left Right…your Left Right. A marching we will go along. We’re starting to march and sing cadence everywhere we go. O’ the old Army songs. I got a book on cadences since I’ve forgot a few. I love to get up there and march the platoon to cadence. I’ll have to do it more often when I have the opportunity.

This morning we had a few more briefings on Army Values, Military Justice, and Equal Opportunity. I don’t remember so much emphasis on the Army Values when I first came it. I think it’s good that the Army if focusing on values. The acronym is LDRSHIP. L stands for Loyalty: Bear true faith and allegiance to the US Constitution, the Army, my unit, and other soldiers. D is for Duty: Fulfill my obligation. R is for Respect: Treat people as they should be treated. S stands for Selfless-Service: Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and my subordinates before my own. Honor: Live up to all the Army values. Integrity: Do what’s right, legally and morally. And Personal Courage: Face fear, danger, or adversity (Physical or Moral).

I think they are good principles to live by. Like I said before I think it’s about time the Army is putting focus on these principles. I might come in real handy sometime in Iraq if we’re in a sticky situation.

This afternoon we did some PT and afterwards we were introduced to some combatives. We’ll be spending the whole day tomorrow doing combatives. Hopefully, we’ll have so much combative training that I won’t have to worry about what moves to execute and how to execute them.

This morning we had briefings on cultural awareness, suicide prevention, rules of engagement, code of conduct, and a bunch of other stuff. It’s the beginning of many more briefings to come. It was an all day affair. We skipped PT this morning just to make it over to the auditorium for the briefings at 0700. And they lasted until about 1600. Some of the instruction was good and important and other stuff just boring. I wanted to fall asleep because some of the instructors were so boring.

We were informed this morning that thousands of people from Louisiana would be coming here to relocate at Ft. Lewis. I guess they’ll be putting them in some of the old WWII barracks like the ones we’re in right now. Our 1^st Sergeant told us to make sure that we have all our stuff locked up and secured because a lot of these poor people have nothing left. So I’m sure I’ll be seeing a lot of Louisianans pretty soon. I’m really glad the Army is doing its part to help them out. Gives me more pride in the Army.

We ate an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) for lunch. Our usual meal when we can’t make it to the chow hall. Then this evening we went to the gas chamber. That was the cool part of the day, getting exposed to CS gas.

Our platoon was luckily the first ones into the gas chamber. I was glad because that just meant that we’d get back to the barracks sooner for chow. The worse part about the gas chamber was the ride on the cattle truck back. I’m the one who initiated it when I began to shake all the CS dust from my BDUs inside the truck. It was so funny but I was the one who got exposed to the dust first. My eyes begin to tear up and snot began to run from my nose. I was cracking up while watching the other pull the windows down and stick their heads out the windows. I was cracking up!

Some of the other guys started to shake their BDUs too because they thought it was funny. I thought it was funny when the truck was going down the road with all the guys’ heads sticking out the truck.

These are the nice barracks. I wish we could stay in these.

The Internet café doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for the past two days. And I thought this part of the country was supposed to be the Internet café of the country. What’s up with that? Starbucks was founded in Seattle. Come on! I went to the Internet café yesterday and found no one else there using the Internet. I guess there was a problem with their router. The day before the Internet traffic was moving at a snails pace. I couldn’t even log on.

Well today we didn’t do too much. Some CTT (Common Task Training) and MOUNT (Urban Ops) training in the morning and then this afternoon I had guard duty. I guess we’re posting a guard at the arms room now. I kind of hate guard duty but today it wasn’t that bad. I had to do it for 4 hours from 1300 to 1700. Tydings and me took our laptops to keep us occupied. He watched some movies and I was working on the PT schedule. I also read a little bit of the PT manual.

Here's our frige. We keep it full of beer and water.

Tomorrow we’re supposed to go to the gas chamber. We’ll see how that goes. This morning we were practiced putting on our masks and getting them fit for tomorrow. I’d like to see how it goes in the gas chamber. I hate that stuff but it’s funny checking everyone else out when the come out with snot in their nose and tears in their eyes.

Today a bee on the M249 range stung me. It got my left ring finger. I was getting ready to qualify when it stung me. I swept it away like a fly with my hand and that’s when it happened. It wasn’t that bad. I did feel a little bit of pain and to this minute I still feel some pain in that finger. I’m glad I’m not allergic to bee stings.

We spent the rest of the day qualifying on the SAW. I guess I’m going to be a SAW gunner now. My position is assistant squad leader/SAW gunner. I sure won’t mind this position in Iraq, as long as I don’t have to walk everywhere. The only fact that I don’t like is that the Humvee is a soft target. It’s not like being in a tank.

We did some more PT today. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot more PT. Yesterday afternoon I conducted PT for the platoon and I really worked the abs. I know because I could feel a little soreness in my abs today. We did a little stretching, some calisthenics, and we went on a run for like 30 minutes. It was like 0515 in the morning when we started our PT. We decided that since we were everyone else in the other barracks was sleeping and we had to be up to do PT we’d wake them up. So we did. We were loud and motivated during cadence this morning. We ran all over North Fort waking everyone up. We were pretty motivated too.

Afterwards we had our breakfast, shit, showered and shaved. We got prepared to head out to the land navigation course. It wasn’t a bad course. In fact, it was one of the easiest courses to walk that I’ve ever had in the Army. The only problem was that a few of the points were a little hard to find. I paired up with my troop, PFC Holzer and we headed out to find our four points. We got side tracked finding our first point because we listened to the advise of another team. They had good intentions but the information they gave us was wrong. We would come to find out later that the point we were at was not the right one.

We finished the course in 2 hours. We had a 3-hour time limit to find 3 out of 4 points. I’m glad this course wasn’t like Camp San Luis Obispo. That land navigation course was a pain in the ass. This one was basically flat.

The only thing about this land nav course was going thru some of the brush. Another thing that surprised me was the anthill. I could not believe it when I seen it. I’ve heard about them before but I didn’t believe it. I wish I would’ve taken a picture of one to post on the website here. I’ll try to get a picture of one later. They were huge! I heard some went up to 5 feet! They were anthills that were covered with ants! And they were huge! I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. I was expecting to see some giant ants too but they were just the regular sized ants.

The guys want to watch Napoleon Dynamite. In fact, we actually have a guy in the company that looks like Napoleon Dynamite. It’s kind of funny. We just got finished eating dinner. I never eat this good at home. Three square meals a day. It’s pretty nice. I thought about that when I came out of the mess hall. Damn, I kind of miss this shit. Not the long days or getting up at 0400 hours and going to bed at 2300 hours but the other stuff. Things like the chow, the comrade, and the sort of lifestyle. I’ve thought of it many times today. I think I’m Army material. I certainly don’t mind doing this shit. When I was younger I use to wonder. I was searching myself. I wasn’t sure what was going to become. Heck, I might end up staying in here. I might change my mind after coming back from Iraq. I’m looking forward to it though. From the stories I’ve heard, it doesn’t sound that bad. I’ll just miss a few things like television and the movie theater.

I’ve noticed that a lot of guys around here like to play strategy games on their computers. Some of the guys have IPODs, others have PSPs, and camcorders. In fact this one Private I know, Penney, has a freaking small ass head cam. This thing is sweet. He paid something like $600 bucks for it. He’s single so he has all that money to himself anyways. He says he’s going to go to the PX later today to get a computer.

We went to the range today to qualify. The targets were pop-up targets. I haven’t shot on a pop-up target range in a long time. I was a first time No-Go and I was certainly surprised. Although I don’t have a gun and I hardly ever shoot on my lieaser time I almost always qualify as a Sharpshooter. They gave me a print out of my results and I know right then why I didn’t pass. The 150-meter target didn’t work and I could see it on paper. It never registered a hit on that target. So I had to re-qualify and guess what I got? Sharpshooter of course. I shot 32 out of 40 targets.

We got back to the barracks, cleaned our weapons, and did some afternoon PT. I did plan on going to the gym but now that we did PT I’m having a change of plans. I’m going to go to the Internet café to send and receive my e-mail, take a shower, and read the Army Physical Fitness Manual for a little while. I might take a little nap between now and then. It’s 6:18pm right now and outside it looks like its 5pm. I think the sun goes down later here in Washington than it does in Arizona.

Sleep. I need some sleep! We wake up at 0400 hours every morning and it seems like we don’t get to sleep until 2300 hours. I’m glad we didn’t do PT this morning. I really wasn’t in the mood for that. It’s too freaking cold in the morning to do PT here. We did PT yesterday morning and I did not want to get down on the grass. It was all cold and wet from the dew that was condensating on it. Luckily we didn’t have to do it because we were going to the range early in the morning.

I was glad we didn’t have to do PT. We just stood in formation and had in-ranks inspection conducted by the 1^st Sergeant. He basically wanted to make sure that all our equipment was correctly worn and that we weren’t missing anything. He’s a pretty cool 1^st Sergeant and I like him a lot.

I was a first time go on the range today. I had to zero my rifle in first. It only took me 9 shots to do it. Afterwards we had to qualify on another range with our gas mask on. That was the hard part because for some reason my mask didn’t seal correctly. So one of my eyepieces was covered every time I exhaled. It just made it harder for me to see through my right eyepiece. I still got all of my shots because the target was only a 25-meter target. I’ll have to check my mask tonight and make sure it’s ready for tomorrow because I think we’ll be using the mask again on the range.