Training at Ft Benning

UPDATE ON TRAINING AT FT BENNING

Im about half way done with the first part of my long 6 month training. Things have been pretty good I have been doing a lot of PT (physical training) both at the butt crack of dawn then in the evening when I am done with training for the day. There really is nothing for me to do so I figure why not.

The weather has been ok here but in the morning it is about 27 degrees. This week has been ok during the day it was about 65 degrees.

These past weeks I have also learning about all kinds of weapons. Some of which I had never seen. For me I will probably never have to man any of these weapons, but it is nice to know this stuff as an Infantry officer. Some of the weapons that I learned and got to shoot were ......

1. M4 rifle

The M4 is the new rifle that the military uses to replace M-16. In this picture I have 2 weapons the one on the bottom has a m203 Grenade launcher.

2. M203 Grenade launcher

3. MK 19

4. 50 caliber machingun

There were more weapons that I fired but I could not get a picture of the 240B which is a big machingun.

The final thing that we did this week was the Army combatives. The good thing about this was because I had already gone through the course I did not have to go through it again. I was able to teach other soldiers. So that was a nice break.

All is going well I miss my family but I get to see them in 4 days.

FT BENNING GA

OK OK I KNOW I have not been the best person to keep up with this stuff. There is a lot of things that we have done and I will get to those when I get a chance. I have to teach Christina how to input the pictures and do all of this while I am gone.

FT BENNING GA

Anyways as some of you know I am away from my wonderful wife for the next 6 months. I am here at the home of the infantry FT Benning GA. I have been here for five days and it has not been that bad. The only thing I can say is that this week is nothing but briefings and class room stuff which is a bore. Next week we will go out in the field and do what I love most and that is fire my weapon. There are a lot of things that I am going to be doing while here and although it has been about 5 years since I have been at an Army school I think that I am adapting pretty well.

Let me start from the beginning. I flew very early Sunday morning 02NOV and arrived late Sunday afternoon. When I got here The airline decided that it would best to leave on of my bags behind in Atlanta. I have yet to see that bag with a lot of my essentials. Hopefully I will get it today I found were it is located at. Then since I got here we have been getting up earlier and earlier....it went from 530 to 500 to 420 but today it was more like 545. So I have been really tired these last few days. I have been meeting a lot of new people from all over the us...some starting their careers some have been in for as long as I have if not more. It is weird to think that I have been in the Army for 10 years now. Some of the LT's here look at me and say man when did you get in when you were born.

Now that we are pretty much caught up. Today has been an ok day so far. We got some of the medical stuff done and tomorrow is shot day and because I could not find my shot records guess what....I get them all again...That is about 5 shots oh and by the way it is all at once. The Army is like that. The rest of the day will be more classroom stuff along with my field gear issued to me.

Once I find the other bag which has my camera in it I will post some pictures to show everyone how fun it is to be in the Army.

Anyways all is good here and hope the same for others.

Weekends of fun, enjoyment and much more with my wife

OK First of all I really need to do better with posting things. It seems that I get on a role and do well then I fall behind. So bare with me and get ready for a mouth full.




CHAMA DAYS







First a couple weekends ago Christina and I went to the famous Chama Days that her home town has every year. This year we planned to stay for the whole thing. In the past we just would visit family and not really participate in the Festivities that goes on at Chama Days. Lets just say it was a weekend of a lot of fun. Although we did not ride the train due to the time we had there. Plus Our Nino told us that it is better to ride it when the leaves are changing colors. Anyways here are some of the things we did. We went to the rodeo which was nice. I really didn't watch that much of because I was too busy riding around on a horse.






Then We went to the Parade to see all the many different things that Chama had to offer. We also saw Congressman Steve Pearce. Not that we really cared but hey it was cool to see him walking in the parade. Although we know why....Election Year.... Our Nephews also were in the parade riding horses. We know that T-Dog (Baby Anthony) is growing up because he can ride that horse like no ones Business. Christina got mad because when we saw him he said hi to me first and did not say anything to here. I told her that he is growing up and he has a cool Tio that he can fight with.















The there was the Water fights. Which some one that is not from Chama would think it was something totally different. I thought that there would be a lot of people fighting with water getting people wet. Well man was I wrong but it was still nice to see the local fire departments compete against each other.








Then there is my Father-In - Law in is Fire man Garb

Mainly it was all about spending time with family and having a good time.














Military Dinning In

The following weekend Christina and I got to participate in a Military Dinning In. I had a Military Decision Makeing Process Conference (MDMP). It was nice information but the fun parts were in the evening with the dinning in. It is along military tradition that honors the fallen and the present soldiers. The is a punch bowl that is called the Grawg that My self and may others had to visit. The tradition is that the "Grawg" out ranks you no matter how high you are. Overall it was a fun night and Christina got to take part in a military tradition. Along with getting to meet my commander and brigade commander. There were also some Alumni from NMMI there that she got to talk to and see what they have done since they left the hill.

Weekly Gordies













There is not much to report on her she actually has been very good for the most part. so she wants us to know that and so she showed us her job...see picture below pictures are worth a thousand words.






Chama Days Water fight

To my Brother-In-Law

I would like to say having a Big TV there is nothing wrong with that. My sister and her Husband just got a nice size TV If you want to see it check out there blog at http://www.mcrushtons.blogspot.com/. My sister wrote how she has a contract.... well open contract with her husband about gifts and things. Well Mike all I have to say I got your back brother. For your birthday/Christmas... count on my Christina and I to hook you up if you see something that we can help you out with as far as accessories for that nice TV.

With way that My sister acts sometimes you just know that we came from the same seed. She is very firm and has a very large command Presence . "Dig" I love you.

Anyways after I heard of this nice TV I wanted to check it out or at least check some out for myself. I have a big TV right now but it just is too wide for out living room. So I have been talking with my wife about letting the one I have go and getting a new one that would fit better in our small living room.

This past weekend we went to my moms house which was really nice. We were eating at the famous Rosa's Cafe and My wife had been telling my Mom and my sister that I would not go to the Dentist. Bad mistake! Then I had my mom and sister telling me that "you need to go, she's paying for it, and I am going to have bad Gums and teeth." I think that is were we got that command Presence (thanks mom lol). I made my own contract, lets say deal with my wife...since I don't like the dentist at all ....(Long story for another time). The deal was that I would go to the dentist and then I would get a prize after I went. You see were I'm going here. After all the wheels were turning... I figured that I would get a new TV. To make a long story short we ended up buying a 60 inch TV from AAFES. We spent more but that was ok it was all worth it. All that TV for just a trip well two trips a year to the Dentist. Here is a picture of it. Not the real one. The real one I will get on Tuesday.

So Mike I got your back...... All kidding aside I know that you work hard and you take care of my Sister and Nieces very well so you deserve that TV. Thanks again. I am glad you took my advice I gave you when I first met you in the temple.......lol

Weekend in Herford Texas

This past weekend we were able to go and visit some of our friends in Hereford Texas. Lets just say I have never seen so many cows in my life. I am from Texas and still have never seen so much beef. We are talking thousands and thousands of cows. For those that don't know what Hereford means the definition is hardy English breed of dairy cattle raised extensively in United States . We had a wonderful time there. Although our friends thought that we were never coming back. I say this because we got there on Saturday early afternoon and left on Sunday evening. In the time that we were there we went Bowling , ate at a steak place, went to play pool and then also played golf the following day. They also wanted to take us to the Harley Davidson Store......and the list goes on. My response being the smarty pants that I am was " we don't have to do everything we will come back you know".

You know it is really funny how the lord puts people in your path and then it all turns in a big circle. I say this because our friends Roy and "Ya Ya" Dianara (I think that is how you spell it) Have been friends with Christina since her days at NMMI. Know I meet them because of Christina. When we were in Hereford Dianara showed us some pictures. It turns out that she was my Military Science 4 instructor. Well at least in PT. I did not recognize her without her glasses. Like I said it is just funny how this circle hits us.

When we went bowling we had a great time. It was a time to relax and enjoy the company of friends and Family. We had a little bit of friendly competition. There was a lot of trash talk and needless to say Roy and I won as a team. BOTH GAMES I MIGHT ADD.

Christina trying to go in for the kill

And then there was two.

The kill was a failure

Paul enjoying the defeat of the other team.

The next day was a good one we got to sleep in which was great and then went to play golf. I am not the best golfer and have only been doing it for about maybe a couple of months. I had not done any golfing since my accident about 9 months ago. So I was very rusty when it came to play the game of golf. Roy on the other hand was very serious about the game. Quite different then the people that I normally play with. I know that I am not good so I just practice hitting the ball straight, which is not very often. It was nice and we had a great time with them. Although I think Roy wished that I was better.......

Army Combatives Course





This week I had the opportunity to go to the Army Combatives course. It was nothing like I expected. There was a lot of physical contact. Lets just say at the end of the day I was gone...I would go to bed at 800. There was still light outside sometimes when I would go to bed. During the week we learned many different grappling techniques that at the end of the week we would be tested on. There was on day that we would all well most of us dread. On Thursday we got knocked out. Now I have been hit in the face before. Never this hard. The drill was that we needed to achieve the clinch four times. A clinch is when you grab your opponent or enemy not allowing them to punch or hurt you any more. As for me I did great the first time, as for the second and third time I had two bloody noses a cut lip and a small concussion. The final time I just took one hit and then dove right in and achieved the clinch. After all this I was glad that I finished the and passed the course. I mean if i did not pass that would have sucked. Being hit that many times and not pass would again sucked. So I was determined to pass not matter what. Well I did and that made me very happy. I felt like crap for then next couple of days...but it was all worth it all.














The Weekly Gordies

Gorda has always been a dog that loves her toys. They normally are all over the house. When she gets a stuffed animal the "stuff" that is in the toy ends up all over the house. When we were in angel fire NM there was this big red bulldog that now one wanted, so Christina and I took it home to Gordies. Since then she has been nibbling on it. I think she thinks that it is Chula..... Anyways she just ripped into it this week. Of course all of the "Stuff " was all over the place. Although she has no idea what is going on she killed the dog.

We think this is so funny but like the other dogs we need to teach her not to do this. So we were told that if we spray her with water then she will stop. All the other dogs hate this. Well not this ADHD dog, Gordies loves it. She drinks the water that we spray in her face.



And this has been another insight on the weekly gordies

Alien Festival

This week has been a long one. Well for me at least. I had to work a booth at the Alien Festival. This was the first time that I had ever seen the festival. It actually was better than I thought. I had heard many myths that there were nothing but a lot of freaks out there. Some of which that stated that they had been probed or that they came from Mars. Don't get me wrong but there are people that dress like aliens or think that they are aliens . For the most part there are a lot of different people that are passing for vacation. The booths also are of different types from alien stuff to crafts. As for our booth it was about the SROTC program along with the promotion of the Institute. It was fun for me to meet so many people. We also took pictures of anyone that wanted to put on some military equipment that included a flack vest or a ruck sack. On the last day Christina was with me till about 12 then I was done with the Festival.

4th of July

This 4th was nice because we just stayed home and spent it with some friends here in Roswell. It was nice being able to not have to go anywhere and just stay home. We went to the park and BBQ'ed with some friends. We were also able to honor those troops that gave their lives in Iraq this past year. Each of them were from Roswell. It was a nice deal. After the presentation the fireworks went off. That was cool. We also had all three dogs in the house that night. Chat is a big chicken and hates thunder , gun shots and fire crackers. So we let them all stay in the house with us. Chula hated that and was pretty mad about having all the dogs in the house.

Farmer Pablo

Well the grass is growing nice and I am learning how hard it is to keep the grass nice. I am not looking forward to doing the back yard. I know I am going to have to tackle that one later this summer.

Family time

Christina and I have been married now a year and an half. It has been fun. We do a lot of things together. One of these is play XBOX 360 together. Now Christina doesn't play any of the game that I like. For example Call to Duty or any game with war in them. She likes to play the Basketball Games and of course ROCK BAND. She plays the drums and I sing or play the bass or lead guitar. In the pictures Im trying to do the drums and she is trying to play the guitar. I feel that when couples do things together a marriage will last forever. One of the many things that I love about my wife is that she will do things with me as do I with the things that she likes to do like watch her chick flics or on Sundays in the summer watch her show "Army Wives". It is these kinds of things that keep our marriage alive. We like spending time together. Even if it means a little competition. Our band's name is C 'n' P and at the end of each song it lets us know how well we did. There are times when Christina is the top preformer and I am better. When it comes to the Basketball Games there is which of our team wins. I think she is betting me on the basketball games.

The weekly Gordies

Today on the weekly gordies She did something that she knew she was Wrong. Christina had made some dinner for us and she stepped out of the kitchen for a while. When she got back Gordies had jumped on the table chairs and ate some of her food. The when we yelled at her she ran underneath the table. Once again this dog makes us laugh. This has been another weekly Gordies.

Me with my two friends Mr green and Mr Grey (I think they are illegal...dont tell anyone)