Long time, No Update

Sorry it's been a while since I've written last. I could say that it's because I have been too busy or because my Internet was down for a period of time but it's really because I got lazy with it. Anyhow, things have been a bit better than they were before. We finally got to go out to a few ranges where I qualified on numerous weapon systems and used new optics on them for the first time. This was especially neat because with those weapon sights, we control the night. Looking through those optics, we were able to shoot at targets a very long distance out accurately because of their heat signature. Our weapon training makes the shooting part of combat fairly one sided. The enemy isn't disciplined in their firing techniques as we are. I'm also working on getting an ACOG weapon sight for my M4 rifle. This should allow me to reach out and touch targets accurately at 700-800 meters. Outside of that, we really haven't done much else exciting. We sit through class after class from people who have gotten back from Afghanistan in the last two years or so and tell us what they did and what to expect. Pretty much this is what to expect: The police aren't going to do the right thing most of the time, you equipment is falling apart, the roads(if you have any) are terrible, we're out in the middle of nowhere all by ourselves, and other little things. Despite how bad this all sounds, which it is, I'm still looking forward to this. As messed up as it sounds, I'm actually forward to this. Being out by ourselves means we're our own bosses. We don't have to worry about people on FOBs (forward operating bases) whose sole purpose in life is to enforce uniform rules, like don't smoke and walk, don't drink a water and walk, don't walk outside without your hat. Not that I'm a rebel and don't want to follow those rules, I mean, I don't even smoke. It's just that, we'll be by ourselves and have more important things to worry about than if you can walk and drink water at the same time. The problem is though, if and when I go on future deployments after this one, I'm probably going to be stuck in the mentality of being off by ourselves and not pleasing the fobbits(people who live on the FOBs and never leave the security of the FOB).

Right now, myself and three other guys are camped out inside Kansas City International airport waiting for our fight in the morning. We are the only people in the entire terminal. Everything shuts down here at 8:30 so I now have plenty of time to update my blog. We are on leave this weekend and going home for Columbus Day. I'm pretty excited to see Marcy and my family again. This week has really gone on long since we all new we'd be leaving at the end of the week to go see our families. Plus, we've been sitting through a really dull power point led class the entire week for 8 hours a day. I'm not sure when the military decided that power point was an acceptable replacement for practical application. anyway, I'll get off my soapbox on that issue, it's just wasted air. well, that's all I've got for now. Until next time....