Cowboys

I don’t know why or who came up with this idea. I think it’s a waste of money myself. I heard a rumor that they are going to get us cavalry hats and spurs to go with our boots. I guess it’s to fit our parent unit of the 11th ACR. I think it’s stupid and we’ll all look silly but I’ll go along with it. They can’t get us enough supplies but they could get us hats and spurs. We’re going to look like a bunch of cowboys walking around here. It’s already bad enough I walk like a cowboy already with my pistol at my side. We’ll see what happens. Maybe they’ll get us some horses to ride on too. I’ll believe it when I see it.

I was in for a couple of big surprises today. First off I was told that I was going to be vehicle commander. It’s not a hard feat. It’s pretty simple really. There’s not much too it and I’ve been out so much I pretty much know what to do. The other surprise was they told me that I was going to give the mission briefing too. That sucked. Not that it was bad. I did a pretty good job for my first time. It’s just the fact that it’s not something I’d like to be doing. I had to get up in front of a crowd of strangers and explain the mission and execution. There’s a whole lot to go over and I had to use some notes to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

I was surprised I wasn’t nervous. I guess those days are long gone. I displayed a lot of confidence and was very outspoken. I wasn’t bad for a new guy. I did a lot better than others did their first time. The notes helped out and I’m sure after time I won’t need them anymore. Still, I don’t feel like giving those briefs. But I’m sure that now that I’ve done some, they’ll be calling me to do some more. I understand why they’re doing all of this. They want to make sure that we’re all cross-trained and capable of handling other positions. It’s no problem for me. I’m flexible.