13 July 2007
I'm finally back from Gunnery. Three weeks out at Rodriguez Live Fire Complex, also known as KTC (Korean Training Center). It's about 30 km from Casey and takes well over an hour to drive to when traveling in a convoy of 20 tactical vehicles that are only authorized to drive 20 mph. It's a little scary driving on the roads here in some of these vehicles, tactical vehicles are just about as wide as a normal lane in the States, and Korea, especially up here near the DMZ, does not have normal sized lanes.
KTC has barracks with shower and laundry facilities, and has three different places to eat as well as a small store. Living out there really isn't that bad. We live in bays that hold 50 people. We were split by company and gender, so all the females in my company stayed in one bay and since there are only about 20 of us we each got our own bunks giving us more room to spread our stuff. It's fun going to the field because everyone has their own way of dealing with it. We learned that all the females in our company bring sheets to the field while all the guys bring their sleeping bag and wooby. (A wooby is a poncho liner that's more like a blanket and keeps you warm. Along with poggy bait a wooby is another other comfort item one has to have in the field.)
Gunnery's are for tanks (Bradley's Abrams, etc, tanks are tracked vehicles with a rotating turret and gun on top) to qualify with the guns. Our battalion doesn't have tanks so we didn't really have a Gunnery, it was more of a US Weapons range field exercise. US Weapons include most of the crew served weapons and individual weapons the Army has. We fired the M16, M9 (9mm), M203 (single grenade launcher attached to the M16), M240 and M249 (machine guns), M2 (.50 cal), MK19 (pronounced MARK19 which is the automatic grenade launcher), AT4 (rocket launcher), hand grenades, and did urban and convoy training.
Over all it was fun, and I can say that now that I'm no longer in the field. It's monsoon season here, but it only rained 3 days on us. It wasn't ever too hot either which was amazing, I don't know how we lucked out with the weather, but it wasn't too bad. Now that we're back we have to clean all our gear and restock all the medical chests. It's a week long process but luckily we have the weekend so everyone can have a break instead of working for 5 weeks straight.
I personally don't have a whole lot going on in the next month that I know of. Unfortunately a lot of my soldiers are heading straight back to the field for medical coverage for other units, but nothing quite as long or as unorganized as what we just went through. I have 26 people in my platoon, just two away from maxing out which makes things so much easier. It's fun to stand behind a formation of 26 people rather than the 6 I had for a while! I should have a better idea at the end of the month, if not a decision, on where I'm heading after this.
Hope everyone's staying cool in the hot summer months.
Happy 4th since I missed it.
Picture 1: Live fire range for mounted .50 cal on trucks
Picture 2: Range for stationary MK19 and .50 cal for qualification
Picture 3: Hand grenade course
Picture 4: AT4 range
Picture 5: what I can see as the assistant tank driver
Picture 6: Becca shooting the M240
Picture 7: Our Aid Station with a mountain in the background (the tents are camouflaged on the left side about the middle of the picture)
Picture 8: Our gunner with blank .50 cal rounds on our convoy training
Picture 9: M203 range
Picture 10: computerized M9 range
KTC has barracks with shower and laundry facilities, and has three different places to eat as well as a small store. Living out there really isn't that bad. We live in bays that hold 50 people. We were split by company and gender, so all the females in my company stayed in one bay and since there are only about 20 of us we each got our own bunks giving us more room to spread our stuff. It's fun going to the field because everyone has their own way of dealing with it. We learned that all the females in our company bring sheets to the field while all the guys bring their sleeping bag and wooby. (A wooby is a poncho liner that's more like a blanket and keeps you warm. Along with poggy bait a wooby is another other comfort item one has to have in the field.)
Gunnery's are for tanks (Bradley's Abrams, etc, tanks are tracked vehicles with a rotating turret and gun on top) to qualify with the guns. Our battalion doesn't have tanks so we didn't really have a Gunnery, it was more of a US Weapons range field exercise. US Weapons include most of the crew served weapons and individual weapons the Army has. We fired the M16, M9 (9mm), M203 (single grenade launcher attached to the M16), M240 and M249 (machine guns), M2 (.50 cal), MK19 (pronounced MARK19 which is the automatic grenade launcher), AT4 (rocket launcher), hand grenades, and did urban and convoy training.
Over all it was fun, and I can say that now that I'm no longer in the field. It's monsoon season here, but it only rained 3 days on us. It wasn't ever too hot either which was amazing, I don't know how we lucked out with the weather, but it wasn't too bad. Now that we're back we have to clean all our gear and restock all the medical chests. It's a week long process but luckily we have the weekend so everyone can have a break instead of working for 5 weeks straight.
I personally don't have a whole lot going on in the next month that I know of. Unfortunately a lot of my soldiers are heading straight back to the field for medical coverage for other units, but nothing quite as long or as unorganized as what we just went through. I have 26 people in my platoon, just two away from maxing out which makes things so much easier. It's fun to stand behind a formation of 26 people rather than the 6 I had for a while! I should have a better idea at the end of the month, if not a decision, on where I'm heading after this.
Hope everyone's staying cool in the hot summer months.
Happy 4th since I missed it.
Picture 1: Live fire range for mounted .50 cal on trucks
Picture 2: Range for stationary MK19 and .50 cal for qualification
Picture 3: Hand grenade course
Picture 4: AT4 range
Picture 5: what I can see as the assistant tank driver
Picture 6: Becca shooting the M240
Picture 7: Our Aid Station with a mountain in the background (the tents are camouflaged on the left side about the middle of the picture)
Picture 8: Our gunner with blank .50 cal rounds on our convoy training
Picture 9: M203 range
Picture 10: computerized M9 range
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