Sour Swinger Predominantly follows my Army & Iraq Deployment. Also has some Geek, School, and other talk.

Having spent almost 2 weeks here, my mind has been blown away. In all my +8 years of service, this is the best training I’ve ever received. Camp Shelby is a joke in comparison. We’ve basically been doing a two day cycle. Day one, we prep for and receive an Op Order for a mission. Day two, we execute that mission and then repeat. Its kept everyone quite busy.

Our first mission set the standard. We had three objectives to take (towns to raid) and each one assigned to a platoon. I was part of the assault on the third and last objective. This entire exercise used live ammo. As we drove past the second objective, a rather large fire was burning it down. If brush is dry and enough rounds are put down range, you’ll eventually start a fire. Simultaneously mortars were raining down hell. Even though I was in the stryker, you could feel the impact of the rounds. A helicopter flying over head provided visual recon for us before rolling in on our objectives. Once at our objective we all dismounted and assaulted the entire town. AT4s, M240Bs, and 50 Cal machine guns provided cover. We even had an engineer to blow open a court yard wall. I was able to use the M249 machine gun. To burst into houses and light up targets with that puppy is an amazing feeling. At one point my squad leader did a superman. He jumped head first into a fish market kiosk, effectively tackling a target in the process. Haha. He got yelled at for that one but damn was that funny. I think he was having a flash back.

The rest of our missions used blanks and miles gear. Miles is the Army equivalent of laser tag. Everyone wears sensors and attach lasers to their weapons. If you shoot and hit someone they beep. You’re then handed a causality card stating your injury or if your dead. Everything is fully simulated with medics coming in and hooking up an IV and all. If a medivac is required, they fly in a chopper and transport you out of there. There’s also a ton of actors playing the terrorists, civilians, ISF, Iraqi Police, etc. They wear the miles gear too. Our engagements can get pretty intense even though everything is either blanks or simulators going off. Hell, they even have a RPG simulator. Pretty neat to see it fly 50 meters through the air and “hit” your vehicle. Btw, even our vehicles have the miles gear on them. That way you know when your vehicle is destroyed. For one of the missions, I was able to air assault in. Basically its what they did in the movie We Were Soldiers. We all loaded up in a Chinook and flew into a town. Made a quick 10 second touch town, dismounted, let the chopper fly off, and assaulted the town. That was my first helicopter ride ever and was probably spoiled a bit. Funny bit to that. My Lieutenant was the first man off the chopper. We were to set up a security perimeter where ever he stopped. While dismounting, he accidentally tripped and rolled head first on the ground. Haha. The security was set up where he fell.

All this training was to prepare us for going into the box. The box will be about 10 days long and will simulate being in Iraq. We’ll need to run base security, route security, conduct missions, etc 24/7. No one will be allowed to use their cell phone and I doubt I’ll even get time to go on my computer. I’m anticipating only 4 hours of sleep a night. Basically, I and everyone will vanish from the rest of the world for 10 days. Thus far, I’ve managed to never get shot. At one point, a sniper almost got me though one my soldiers unintentionally took the “bullet” for me. Will see if I can avoid being killed for the box.

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Hard to believe I’m already at JRTC. It is here at Fort Polk, Louisiana where the mission critical training happens. The training that actually prepares us for Iraq. From what I hear Camp Shelby is a joke in comparison.

Weather here at Fort Polk is just a bit colder then Camp Shelby, Mississippi but otherwise all the same. Freezing temperatures through the night, cold during the dusk/dawn, and warm during the afternoon. The surrounding land is more swampy and the roads are not quite as dusty. Our ATGM vehicles keep getting stuck in the mud so we are no longer allowed to go off road. This is because the ATGM strykers are several tons heavier then the other stryker variants.

There are 6 FOBs surrounding the main cantonment area. My platoon (2^nd) is on FOB Spirit. All the other platoons are on other FOBs except for 1^st platoon. Though my platoon will not be training with them, we’ll see 1^st in the chow hall and/or drop in on their barracks for a visit.

Speaking of barracks, boy did we get downgraded from Camp Shelby. I’m staying in a giant circus tent which houses about 200 soldiers. It’s a very tight squeeze. We have no wall lockers, no shelf space, no wall dividers, no beds. Only a small cot with about 3×6 foot area of personal floor space. Jamming all our gear in and around our area is a bitch. The only heating is what’s generated off everyone’s own body heat. Electrical outlets are slim so a ton of surge protectors and extension cords were used to distribute power. Fire hazard anyone? Since we can only use our bags to store our items theft is on the back of everyone’s mind, especially considering the number of people in the area.

The rest of the FOB is just as down and dirty. We have 4 conexes that act as showers. Not all of them supply warm water though one of those Rubber Ducky Mobile Showers trailers rolled in. Those are pretty nice. The only toilets are Porta Johns. There’s a couple more large tents and a bunch of wooden buildings that act has our chow hall, arms room, and other smaller barracks. Two squadrons (battalions) are squeezed onto this tiny FOB. Our vehicles barely fit. We have to park the strykers so tight that you can’t walk in between them. A large continuous mound of earth also surrounds the FOB, acting as a sort of wall.

The food is alright. We get two hot meals (breakfast and dinner) served to us via mermites (a thermal container used to transport food). In terms of food diversity…well lets just say dinner meals seem to repeat every 7 days. Breakfast is always the same. That’s typical even at Shelby. Since we get mermites, there’s only a set portion of food allowed to be served. Its almost never enough and I (and many others) leave still hungry. No PX runs for food or delivery exists out here so its hard to come by additional food. Well there’s always MREs but one gets sick of those quickly.

Cell phone service is spotty. My Verizon cell only works in certain spots and my Sprint internet doesn’t even show any bars. By some miracle, I am able to connect however my speed is only about 1.5 kb down. That’s slower then dial up. I easily get disconnected and find myself timing out when trying to load websites. Simply checking my email is quite the time consuming process.

Though the word comfort doesn’t exist down here, the high speed training will hopefully make up for it. For the next month, this shall be home.

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GOODBYE CAMP SHELBY!!!!  WOOO!!! Celebration.  This place sucks and I hope to never return.  To its credit the temperature is pretty nice during the fall as compared  to back up north.  Next up is Fort Polk, Louisiana for JRTC.  Before I jump to there, allow me to explain some upcoming changes to Delta Company.

For the past 1.5 week each platoon has been doing a FTX with their new respective home.  Since the beginning of our mobilization we knew that our Company would be separated and split among the rest of the Brigade.  I couldn’t specifically say here until it was happening.  For the longest time, most everyone was upset about it.  Our family would be torn asunder, and most likely not see each other until the end of the deployment (as of now we’ll come back together in Ft. Dix).  However, after dealing with the chain of command our disappointment turned to a sigh of relief….well for not everyone since head quarters is staying with Delta and not leaving those specific individuals.  Its sad when being split up is a good thing.

My platoon’s new home is B Troop 2/104 Cav.  We first joined them during FTX which was 5 days long though due to several mechanical issues with our Strykers we were sent back early.  Basically our vehicle defeciences made us non-mission capable.  Our “Welcome to the scouts, you’ll get no sleep” wasn’t far from truth.  FTX was very taxing and gave a very clear picture of what my platoon’s mission in Iraq will most likely be.  For OpSec I won’t go into it, but know I’m elated my job will not be tower guard.  Though we haven’t interacted with B Troop’s chain of command too much, they have been very warm towards us and seem pretty awesome.  Infact, one of their platoon leaders I know and deployed to Germany with back in 2002/03 though he was a staff sergeant then.

First platoon has been attached to FA while third is going to 1/112th.  As I mentioned before HQ is staying with Delta.  All of our jobs will differ as each battalion will use us differently.  HQ left for Fort Polk last week.  My platoon leaves tomorrow and the other two leave within the week.  This all throws a curve ball to you my readers.  Those family members looking for pictures and videos will only find 2nd platoon people.  I’ll try to give updates of the other platoons as I hear things.  Hopefully you’ll still like to continue reading my blog.  Be advised, I still have a ton of videos to upload from Camp Shelby which will happen around Xmas.

Fort Polk is very isolated with nothing around.  Cell phone coverage is extremely spotty so there’s a good chance my Sprint Mobile internet and cell phone will not work over there.  With that said, I’ll post my mailing address here.  This is ONLY valid for soldiers in 2nd platoon.

SGT Sour Swinger From D112
B Troop 2-104 Cav Rotation #09-02
7700 Alabama Ave Bldg 1947
Fort Polk, LA 71459

Btw, replace “SGT Sour Swinger From D112” with appropriate soldier’s name and rank.  If you don’t know my name just use “SGT Sour Swinger From D112“.  If you haven’t notice I’m trying to avoid using my real name on here.  Haha.  Don’t worry so long as you include “From D112” it’ll get to me.

In other news, we got a text from our HQ about Fort Polk.  A Stryker from 1/111 rolled during training, injuring 11 some soldiers.  Two soldiers were knocked unconscious and a lieutenant broke both his legs. The tow bar (100lb 9ft metal bar) bouncing around on the inside didn’t help much.  Not sure what company it was from but the 1/111 is the same battalion that had the 9 stryker pile up on the PA Turn Pike.  Hopefully this trend doesn’t continue.

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About one week ago, Delta was given our first day pass.  We were all elated but then quickly disappointed when the uniform was ACU.  Meaning we weren’t allowed to wear civilians.  To date, I nor anyone else has worn anything else besides our PT Uniform or ACUs.  Why we couldn’t is beyond me.  Someone up there doesn’t realize how big a difference it is to take a break from the military uniform.  Otherwise its hard to feel relaxed.

The pass was only from 1000 to 2100 hours.  Half of that was spent being bussed around to different shopping stores.  That was getting annoying so most of us broke off and walked every where else.  We went to the local mall and enjoyed a late lunch at a sit down restaurant.  My taste buds appreciated experiencing flavor.  Unfortunately a no alcohol policy was and still is on us.  I really could have used a nice glass of wine and I know many of the guys wanted to enjoy a can of beer.  Oh well.  Speaking of restrictions, since this pass further restrictions came down and now we are no longer allowed to even be in a restaurant that serves alcohol!  Fast food only.  I guess us children are not responsible enough to handle ourselves.  We’re only training to go to war.  Training that requires us to handle weaponry with live ammo.  Good call 56th, start treating us like kids, and we’ll start acting like kids.

Anyway, following lunch a bunch of us walked 1.5 miles to the movie theatre.  Everyone watched Saw 5 except me.  I hate that movie series.  Instead I watched Max Payne.  It was an alright movie.  Afterwards we all walked back to mall for what was left of our time.  While walking back we decided to take a shortcut.  Boy was it a crazy idea.! We first had to hop a _____ _____, then proceeded to ____ a 4 ____ _____ ______ with ____ _______ __ at __ ___.  There was quite a bit of _______ and all I could see was the newspaper heading “6 Crazy Soldiers Die While ________ _______”.  Just imagine camouflaged ______ _______ in between ____ and all of us _________ and _______.  Felt like _______ for a bit.  HAHA!

I blanked that out because my chain of command reads this and I certainly wouldn’t want them to know exactly what we were doing.  Especially since I got grilled about the porn comments in a previous posting.  If anything, it adds a certain mystery now.

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LT Price is the greatest PL ever.  He plans really cool missions and we kick butt when he does.  One time I saw him take out a building with 12 insurgents in it by himself while carrying his wounded driver on his shoulders.   His driver went in the building by accident because he did not sleep like the LT told him to.  That is another story……

FYI: I left my computer briefly and found that LT Price wrote this as a joke for my blog.  I decided to keep it and post it.  HAHA

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