ITC

ITC is the Intensive Training Cycle Gunnar and his unit are in the midst of currently.  It's an 8 week program that should help them to prepare for the next deployment.  Basically they go spend a lot of time out "in the field" doing training exercises etc.  This is what it mostly looks like:

The guys have been spending several nights at a stretch out in the field and have only been able to come in for a couple of nights here and there and then off they go back to the field.

Gunnar is in a slightly different situation as the armorer.  He is responsible for all the weapons in his company and that's a pretty big deal.  He ends up going out to the field, spending a few hours then someone realizes they'd prefer to have him back in the arms room.  Here's the funny part.  Even though he's not sleeping out in the field with the others, they make him sleep in the arms room. 

Cozy concrete floor, don'tcha think??  It's not a matter of security for the weapons that he's been sleeping on the arms room floor.  More of a nobody-gets-to-sleep-in-a-bed-so-you-don't-either sort of thing. 

This morning Gunnar left and said he actually might be sleeping in the field, not the arms room this week.  Who knows if it will actually happen, but I think I'd prefer the outdoors to the concrete floor!

DRAMA!

I've been wanting to say something about this for a while now but because we've been without internet for several days, I haven't had the chance.  (Oh yeah, no cable or internet because we MOVED!!  Down the street.  Another post for another day.)

Did you all hear the grumblings about the military supposedly not getting paid because of a government shutdown?  Oh my if you live on an Army base, or have a lot of Army friends on Facebook, you'd know the level of ridiculousness that we hit last week. 

To sum it up briefly, Congress needed to reach a budget agreement in which spending was cut somehow, somewhere by last Friday at midnight.  If they did not, the non-essential government offices were to be shut down until an agreement was reached. 

Somehow this translated to people who likely can't read that the US military would not receive paychecks. 

Somehow this meant Obama hates our troops and doesn't want to pay them.

Somehow it turned into being pro-life or pro-choice or somehow about abortion.

Somehow the Dept of Defense completely jumped the gun, and posted the military's earnings statements online showing a reduced paycheck before the shutdown was even scheduled to happen.  Oh yeah, which it didn't, by the way.

Somehow I was actually glad I had no connection to the media for a few days.  I do support our president and I didn't think for a minute we would actually not get paid.  I wanted to tell everyone "I told you so" but couldn't find a more eloquent way to put it. 

The lessons to be learned here are big.  So big that I really hope everyone paid attention to what's really important like don't let 1 week's pay make or break you.  Try to have at least enough in the bank to buy groceries and not get the rims on your car repossessed if you can.  Don't believe all of the crap out there.  Try to learn what's really going on.  And for the love, if some gov't office writes a memo suggesting a military pay freeze, don't think that the world is against the troops.  Don't re-post bullshit Facebook statuses that perpetuate the misinformation just because you're a Republican and don't like our current government. 

So just to set everyone's mind at ease, we received half our paycheck today and the second half is pending deposit tomorrow.  Really.  Looks like a whole lot of worrying for nothing. 

"Even when they're here, they're gone"

My friend Bekah recently told me about a show on Lifetime called "Coming Home".  Basically it's about soldiers coming home and surprising their families.  It's a tear-jerker to top all other tear-jerkers.  One soldier was saying that even when he's not deployed he still spends very little time with his family.  His wife said "even when they're here, they're gone".

I get it now.

Gunnar is currently in ITC (Intensive Training Cycle).  It means that his unit is simulating a lot of combat exercises during the week, including sleeping out in the woods.  For about 8 weeks they are only able to come home Friday through Monday each week.  Gunnar's position is slightly different as the armorer so he has only had to spend a couple of nights actually outside.  So far.  He did have to spend a few nights last week on the concrete floor of the arms room, but hopefully he'll be able to come home this week.  Eventually.  He's been at work 14 hours and counting right about now.  I'd tell you what he's doing there so late but it's so dumb you might not even believe me. 

And the Booms Just Keep Coming

The last few weeks here have been the loudest, earth and house shaking I've ever heard at Fort Bragg.  I have grown accustomed to the usual kabooms but lately man oh man it's been nuts!  Like loud enough that I can't believe the kids are sleeping through it.  And loud enough that it's making me jump off the couch and think we're being attacked.  Well that explains it!

As it turns out, some friendly Marines have been using the area to practice blowing stuff up.  Here's the official info:

Marine training on Fort Bragg

Through Monday, the 10th Marine Regiment will conduct their annual spring artillery training on Fort Bragg.

These units fire significant amounts of 155mm ammunition, which can be associated with loud explosions and reverberations upon detonation. While engaged in simulated combat conditions, the Marines will comply with existing requirements that prohibit them from massing fires larger than battalion size between the hours of 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., daily, or from firing during the hours of 10 a.m. to noon, on Sundays.

Well that explains it!

 

A Good Read

I admit I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article about what not to say to a military wife.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Intolerance, Injustice, Infantry!

The soldiers receive safety briefings what seems like every other day around here.  Certainly on Friday afternoons, and before they can be released to go do just about anything.  They are lame usually, and generally include the guys in charge telling the guys that aren't in charge not to drink and drive, don't beat their wives, and don't smoke spice, and wear your seat belt.  Blahblahblah.  I appreciate the intention but I'm genuinely skeptical that just telling people not to do these things would effectively prevent them from happening.

On a recent weekend, there was a more in depth safety briefing given, especially to soldiers going out of town for the weekend (we went to Myrtle Beach for a retreat).  Gunnar and the other soldiers received an actual form describing what behaviors they are not permitted to engage in. 

Some prohibited acts included:

• Drinking and driving
• speeding
• proper and consistent use of seatbelts
• drug use
• underage drinking, providing alcohol to minors

*here's where it gets really interesting

• Adultery, statutory rape and ... homosexuality (including watching homosexual pornography) are illegal  

Whoa there, hold on a second!  Somehow they just grouped watching homosexual pornography in with raping minors and cheating on your spouse.  After that part it goes on to say that being a Paratrooper means you are expected to do the right thing, morally and legally etc.  It stresses that misconduct will be severely punished.

What happened to repealing DADT?  And all of the equality?  Apparently it hasn't trickled down quite far enough if it is still considered as bad, morally and legally, as raping a teenager.

Where do they come up with this stuff?!?!

By the way, this info was taken straight from DA FORM 4856.

B+ to an A-

No, not talking grades.  But personalities.  My personality.  I'm usually pretty laid back, not too wound up in general.  Don't get me wrong, I can get pretty fired up and I try to keep a reasonably organized home.  You get the idea.  The Army is turning me into a freakazoid about details.  Because they never give me any!!

Case in point.  We had some inclement weather in the last few weeks.  Nothing like the winter storms of the Midwest, just enough to make some slick spots on the roads.  And since the mass population around here is driving inept in perfectly fine weather, you know there's going to be dozens and dozens of minor fender-benders around here if there's a trace of snow or ice.  So Fort Bragg likes to preemptively close the base and the schools or delay them so no one has to drive until the snow melts.  I'm only kind of joking here.  By 5pm they had officially put Fort Bragg on a 2 hour delay for the following day because of potentially hazardous conditions.  (The high of the next day was forecast to be 44 degrees - I'm not sure anyone here has been told that ice and snow melt oh somewhere in the 32 deg range.)

My son goes to part-day preschool.  I'm not a total dummy, but if there was a 2-hr delay, he'd only have "school" from 10:30-11:30.  Seems kind of silly, so I called his school to clarify.

The lady at the main desk at school told me that if Ft Bragg schools are on a delay, then he would go for the 1 hour.  If the Ft Bragg whole entire base is on a delay, then school is canceled for the day.  Are you following?  Yeah, I'm not either.  So I tell the lady that the Ft Bragg Facebook page (yes truly, that is where we are to get all of our information from, FACEBOOK) says all of base is on delay so no school tomorrow, right?  I like to clarify, repeat things etc because the story always changes.  The lady says she hasn't heard of base being delayed.  Right.  Of course not.  She didn't know what to tell me so she says call back tomorrow morning. 

Apparently I wasn't the only person they told to call in the morning because it took me 98 tries to finally something besides a busy signal.  The lady I talked to had no idea what the lady from the previous night was talking about.  None.  She's never heard a distinction between school delay and base delay.  Now I shouldn't be surprised by this but it still stresses me out.  These two ladies stand behind the same desk all day and have totally different information to give out.  It's ridiculous.  Long story long, I took the boy to school for 1 hour.  I don't mind that part, the place is right down the street.  I mind that no one has a damn clue what is going on, what the policies are, what to tell people ever!  No consistency, no reliable sources for information, nothing.  These are the scenarios when I'm not so good at just going with the flow.  I want to know where we're supposed to be and what we're supposed to be doing. 

Is that really too much to ask??