Week 9 of SBOLC III

Radios, Radios, Radios.. That was the theme of the week. We spent the past week first on antenna's (like this OE-254 Antenna that we are erecting here)

Then it was on to the actual radios. Pretty good instruction since I really did not have much experience with them before. We covered the most common radio, the SIGNARs, MBITR, and the FBCB2 (Blue Force Tracker). Actually was some of the most useful training so far given my lack of experience in this area.

In other news we started the paperwork for outprocessing on Thursday, less than 5 weeks (33 days from today) left.

I also got to shoot again and got 6 out of 6 so I can try for the Gold on the GPB.

Going to have to settle for Silver

I shot today for my German Proficiency badge. 5 out of 6 (2 from prone, 2 kneeling and 2 standing) with my 9mm. Qualifying me for the Silver assuming I pass the other events. I can't even blame the gun since I (unlike almost everyone else) was shooting my own pistol, my P95 Ruger (which I let a few other people borrow). I guess I will be "only" walking 20km for the Ruck March as opposed to the 30km for the Gold.... Oh wait, did I win or did I lose?

And on another note (and the more liberal readers may want to stop here).... I just bought an M4!!! I had bid on it at Gunbroker.com and it arrived at the gun store today (which I picked up before my test). So looking forward to getting this out on the range!! In particular since BOLC II really made me realize I need the extra gun time (and if it makes the liberals reading this happy, at least salve your concious that I am a Soldier and this is the weapon type I will most likely be taking overseas... and the once a year qualification is just not enough gun time).

Maps? I am in the Army, I don't need no stinking maps..

Oh wait, I am a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army, and as the saying goes, you can't get lost without LT.

So I am really missing my super-cool car that (STILL) remains in the shop... with my 2nd favorite feature (the first being the wonderful mileage that my Prius gets) being the built in GPS system. Which would have been bloody useful today as I wandered around Atlanta, in search of the Coca-Cola Museum (I was fine, I had directions and everything... until repaving of I85 caused that exit to not be available, nor any of the other ones for 3 miles... which is a lot in a major city like Atlanta). After much wandering I finally found some of the roads that matched what was on my directions and I was finally able to find the place.

Then of course I dead-reckoned a course that would take me straight to I-20 and went through some of the neighborhoods that had me VERY intent on not stopping (I got there eventually but I felt extremely concerned (and I know enough to be concerned about certain neighborhoods, this wasn't some suburb boy driving through an urban area, this section was Sketchy based on my extensive visits and living in urban areas))... Though that is a risk that a GPS would not have saved me from, it comes up with some VERY (read, not the safest) interesting routes at time.

BTW, Love you Coca-Cola! Free admission for Military! Y'all are awesome!!!! So I got to taste the drinks of the world, wander around a place dedicated to one of my favorite non-alcoholic beverages (trust me, based on the amount of Coke products I consume its like Mecca for me) and even got a nice little souvenier when I left (little coke bottle).