Something Else

Well, I was thinking maybe I will be changing the "T minus" posts for something else. I am not really sure.

I have been doing my taxes the last week or so, and it's a bitch. This year seems to be harder than some the previous years for some reason or another.

I have been informed that I have a menacing look, and people view me as a potential "asshole." I think this is rather amusing, since I have been told some variation of this for the past 6 years or so. The nifty part is that the person or people telling me this, say I am really a nice guy. Go figure.

Here is another surprise since I have been back, the "newbies or TFNG(s)" have been calling me funny names such as 'dad and grandpa' which may be due to my music choices from the '80s or my shnazy lingo, I am not sure.

Actually, the best fun I have been having lately, is Cribbage. I taught a few people and have been playing quite regularly. Good thing I have a board or two.

The List

We graduated!
Here is a list of those who received a "diploma." ( all are Sergeants)

1st Platoon

Joshua Allen ------------- Corey Bramer -------- Eduardo Hernandez
Robert Settle------------Courtney Donald-------- Martin Hernandez
Brandon Richard ------------Jason Day ----------------Allen Chua
Andrew Leslie ------------ Jared Kiesow------------ Sheila Moore
Carl Fletcher -------- Nathan Warnock-------- Andrew Willis
Ronald John---------------- Justin Taylor

2nd Platoon

Timothy Tye------------Troy Weidling------------ Marcus Jones
Bo Irving ------------Rashun Rivera------------ Matthew Bing
Adrian Cardenas ---------Herman Crawford--------Takeisha Dedner
Jonathon Duncan---------- Michael Foley------------ Gerado Hernandez
Marcus Jones ------------ Michael Knight ------------ Matthew Love
Michael Parker---------------- Joe Stone

3rd Platoon

Brian Dyer------------Theodore Wade ------------ Matthew Blackwell
Elda Castrellon------------ Michael Danner------------Jaramy Dodge
Brian Griffin ------------ Pablo Hernandez ------------Kevin Jackson
Brendan Keeter------------Ester Lawson ------------ Christina Martinez
Jorge Pereira ------------William Ross------------ Alberto Suarez
Robert Wilcoxen

Our Instructors were:
GySgt Pham
GySgt English
SSgt Eady
SSgt Lillie

The Family

The family consists of small and large idiosyncrasies that the various people took hold.

The Brain- one who know it all but would not help anyone
Alkie- self proclaimed, but was more of a binge(r)
Bob- name changed so often this ended up being easier
Loud Mouth- louder than a pack of ravished dogs
The Grunt - he wasn't one, but knew enough to help us all
Motivator- didn't get the award, but helped the spirits
Brother(s) - when calling one of there names, you never knew who you were going to get
The Indian - self explanatory
The Closet Alcoholic - drunk enough for the whole class
The Philanderer - nothing concrete just rumors
Pat- he or she
The Tramp - Same as above
Gung Ho - didn't get the award, but came close
The Cook- said he was one, hard to tell though
BA - it doesn't mean what you think
Silk- so smooth that he slipped by
AFN - could be a Dan Rather or Walter Croncrite in the Future
The Bitch - love and hate, if you know what I mean
Comic Relief - could make a room disappear or reappear at random
That Winger Guy - came down to 1 in 5 of us at any given time
The Cowboy - you didn't want to go in a dark alley without this one


~- there were several others that missed out on being seen and known, but since the family was there nothing would be amiss-~

Whew!

Just found out I will be graduating on the 17th.
Barring I do anything stupid in the last four days.

Mess Night is tomorrow.

That will be interesting.

Life Force

I feel the life force of my body has completely drained from me.

We, the Sergeant's Course were in the field for 2 days and practiced a "fake" war. We did some patrolling( actually a lot), ambushes, defensive perimeters, rear area security, envelopes, frontal attacks, and room clearing in an urban environment. Which all of that took place in about a 26 hour period, I myself, snuck in about 2 10 minute naps somewhere.

At the end, we hiked(humped) 8.75 miles with 85 pounds packs( I weighed mine), full gear(war gear), and weapons( I got lucky with only a M-16). Of course we didn't "walk" at nice comfortable pace, it was more a 6 to 7 miles per hour pace.

I slept from noon till now and I am fixin' to go back to bed soon.

Passing

I just got over the big hurdle, for me that is.
Drill.
I personally believe that the grading scale is flawed. But the main point is I passed. Not with flying colors, more like a flying mouse that was tied dyed.

We are also finished with about three quarters of the written tests and about half way done with the practical exams.

The real kicker in the rear is going to be the eight mile hump (hike at a set rate of speed, with a full pack and one or more weapons). That will be next week, we shall see how it goes.