Lunar eclipse

Last night on December 21, 2010, me and many others got to witness a lunar eclipse. It was totally worth waiting up for. It is amazing just to know that the last lunar eclipse to appear was back in 1638. Just beautiful.

Warrior Leadership Course

On September 2-17, I attended SSG Todd R. Cornell NCO Academy at Ft. McCoy, WI for WLC (formally known as PLDC). While at WLC, I learned way more than my brain could absorb. Since WLC is still fresh in my mind I figured I would share my experience with you...

September 2, 2010: Today was a travel day. My stomach was in knots on the entire way to Wisconsin. Many thoughts came across my mind such as... did I pack everything on my packing list? My packet said to show up in summer PTs... what if I'm the only one in summer PTs? Yes, I know, I worry about the most simplest things. As I got onto the bus to Ft. McCoy, there were only 3 of maybe 20 of us that were in summer PTs. haha. But it was for a good reason because the moment we arrived there, they took our height and weight. Then we started in-processing.

September 3,2010: Today we did more in-processing stuff and also got assigned to our classrooms and got to meet our SGLs (Small Group Leaders). I was assigned to Battleroom 8, and my instructors were SSG Write & SSG Nixon.

Ok folks, don't let this picture of my instructors fool you. They were both very knowledgeable, honest, a little intimidating, but they definitely lived up to the army standards. They made sure we didn't just slide through the cracks.. we earned our grades. Who ever said WLC was a piece of cake was WRONG. Well at least I didn't think so. Then again, I heard Ft. McCoy was one of the toughest NCO Academy's. I was very fortunate to be assigned to a great classroom. I thought we all got along pretty well. I had two roommates, SPC Williams and SPC Stanley. I loved my roommates. I couldn't have asked for better roommates. I won't forget the laughter we shared, especially when SPC Stanley fell off the top bunk while asleep. She hit pretty hard. After seeing that she was okay, we laughed for a good hour and for days to come. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. haha. There were 3 females in my class and 12 males.

Below are just a few of the guys in my class.

September 4-5, 2010: Over the weekend we crammed in a lot of classes. For those of you who do not like coffee... you will by the end of WLC. This is when the stress starts building and the sleep deprivation is at a start. I remember having a lot of assignments due such as a Warrior Ethos Essay, Land Navigation worksheets, individual training outline, along with preparing for our PT Evaluation on top of our daily cleaning duties and After Action Reviews. Everyday, each of us would have the opportunity to be a squad leader. As a squad leader, you march your class to and from chow, and is in a leadership position. I never thought I'd hear cadences again after basic training.

During our duration at WLC, we all got to check out a laptop which was very helpful. Everything we needed to know was basically on the computer. Even cadences. After every meal, as a class we had to recite the NCO creed, Soldier's Creed, and the Army song. My class apparently had a lot of motivation because we would, as we would call it, "say it with your chest."

September 6, 2010: Today is Labor Day! Today was also the day we had our PT Evaluations where my partner and I got evaluated on the way we lead PT. We each had to extend the formation and lead the rotations, stretches, calisthenics, and the cool down, and of course close the formation. We got a GO! Because it was Labor Day, we got the afternoon off which most of us spent finishing up the load of work that were assigned to us and due the following morning.

September 8-9, 2010: On the 8th, we had a PT test. Don't worry, it wasn't graded since schools no longer give graded PT tests. But my instructors thought it would be a great idea to administer one to us. I failed by 5 sit-ups. Seriously? Totally ruined my entire day. For the rest of the day we worked on land navigation. We learned how to plot points and use terrain association. Like SFC Ley would say, if you can't plot, you can't land nav. Each of us also had to prepare for our individual classes where we would have to teach a class. Mine was over heat cramps, a type of heat injury. I had to show a demonstration... lets just say I got SSG Nixon laughing.

September 10,2010: It's finally Friday. During PT this morning, we played butt-ball. It was fun. Furthermore, today we got assigned our weapons. Most of us got M-16's while some got the M-249 (SAW) and the AK 203 (grenade launcher). Needless to say, I left my weapon unattended and my SGL wasn't pleased with me one bit... I never did it again.

September 11, 2010: After taking a moment in silence, we loaded the 5-ton to begin our ride out into the fields. Today is the day we take our land navigation evaluation/test. For those of

you who do not know, land navigation is when you plot grid coordinates, referred to as points, onto a map, and have to navigate your way to these points by using a compass, and knowing your pace count. You also have to know how to find your azimuth in order to know what direction you need to go. The reason you need to know your pace count is so you know how many meters you have to walk to get to your point since you can measure how many meters are from one point to another. That morning, my squad did a practice run with our SGL. For the first two points, we were partnered with a battle buddy. My battle buddy and I didn't do too well on the first point, but were able to finally find our point due to terrain association. We did better on the second point. The following 2 points were to be done solo. I totally got lost on the 3rd point, but found my 4th. At this point I was totally discouraged especially since the actual test was scheduled for that afternoon. So the test of course finally came and we received our maps and 4 coordinates. We were then dropped off at our starting points. There we plotted our points and began our journey. To pass the first time, you have to find all 4 points within 3 hours. If you fail, you have two more chances and you only have to find 3 points to pass. The good thing about this land navigation course is that it's a self correcting course. After walking up and down steep freakin hills, and through shrubs and thorn bushes, I managed to find all 4 points in about 2 hours.

September 12, 2010: Today we learned about combative orders and operations which would come in hand during our tactical evaluation that would be given during the next two days during our STX.

September 13-15, 2010: Today we geared up our ruck sacks and headed out for our STX. I personally think this was the hardest part of WLC for me. The tactical stuff was very new to me especially since majority of my class have been deployed and I haven't. But I couldn't have done it without their help and the help of our instructors. We had to know how to react to IEDs and how to call in the UXO report. Furthermore, we had to know how to react to a near and far ambush and be able to call in the 9-line med-evac and SITREP. On top of all that, each of us were going to be in a leadership position where we would be evaluated on our performance. We were each given a mission where we had to plan out our strategies and complete the mission. So we had to know what formations we would form and even draw it out in sand. We basically took everything we learned the previous week including land navigation and put it all into action. There were even OP4 people set out there to attack us. So everything went into play. It was definitely a learning experience for me.

For the next following days, we did plenty of missions and even got to play OP4. At the FOB, we got to stay in tents with cots. They even provided hot meals for us that were surprisingly really good. And we also had to rotate shifts and pull guard duty throughout the night. On the last day of our STX we had to police the entire area where we did our missions. Meaning picking up a lot of blank rounds and trash.

After policing there area and cleaning our tents, we finally got to return to the academy and take showers. We spent the rest of the day cleaning our weapons.

September 16, 2010: It's the day before graduation. This morning, we did a company run. Apparently we ran about 4 miles. Then for the rest of the day we did a lot of cleaning. We also began out-processing and prepared for graduation.

September 17, 2010: It's graduation day... these two weeks felt like a month. We have come a long way and have accomplished a lot. I met some amazing people and it was hard to say goodbye...

... next school: BNCOC.

Ft. Hood, TX

This year's Annual Training was held at Ft. Hood, Tx. My unit replaced the 1st Cavalry band for 2 weeks of real Army. We began each day with PT at 0530 and ended each day feeling very exhausted. We worked hard in preparing for several Army change of commands and also an Air Force change of command. Many of our buglers also had side performances as in playing in several funerals. On top of it all, we played in a public performance in the German town of Fredericksburg, TX as well as in a baseball game for a double A team in Round Rock, TX. Although it was a busy two weeks, we managed to fit in some quality fun time with great people. Ft. Hood was an interesting experience, but could have been better if my brother Frank was still there. He deployed a month prior to us arriving. I felt so close to home, yet so far away. Here are some memories of Ft. Hood:

There is nothing better than living in the army barracks... not. Actually, it could have been worse, way worse. While many of our soldiers shared

rooms with roaches and ants, my roommate and I were very fortunate that the only bug we shared our room with were moths. After several hours of cleaning our room with loads of pine-sol and 409 cleaner, our rooms were ready for a little touch of home. Like I said, it could have been worse. Don't mind my pink bed sheets... after wearing camo all day, it's nice to see a touch of feminine.

We spent many hours in the baking sun practicing and perfecting our march and commands to prepare for several change of command ceremonies. We did great considering it was our first change of command ceremony in 4 years. During the Air Force change of command, many of us questioned ourselves on why we didn't join the Air Force? The Air Force change of command was the complete opposite of an Army change of command. While in the Army we bake in the sun with the rest of the troops for hours and parade across the field hoping there aren't any casualties. On the other hand, the Air Force change of command was short, simple and relaxing. They provided us with chairs, shade, water... you name it, we got it. However, I've got to say that we have better props:

This here is an Apache that we got to see take off and show off above us. I have to admit, it was pretty cool and would have been even cooler to fly in it. On the other side of the field was a Blackhawk. These were on the field for the change of command ceremony we did for an aviation unit. A week earlier we did a change of command ceremony for a MP unit where they shot off 13 cannons. It was pretty bad-ass.

Although we worked so hard, we also learned how to party hard. A group of us went out to Wild Country and had ourselves some refreshing drinks and some dancing. It was a great night with great people. This pretty much caps it all until next year, destination: Alaska.