Yesterday's events included heavy weapons training. That is, training on weapons of large mass and firepower. Not heavy like intensive. Unless you're on the receiving end of the weapon. We worked with the M2 (50 caliber, in use since WWI), and the Mark 19 (in use by the Navy since Vietnam, adopted by the Army in the late 1990's). The Mark 19 is a medium-velocity grenade launcher, practically hitting anything you can see. l After a lunch of bbq ribs, corn, lima beans and apple cobbler (nice!), we received our flak vests with insert plates, designed to stop ammunition up to 7.62mm (squad-level machine gun caliber). The new helmets are a little tougher, and lighter, than the Kevlar I had with Va Tech ROTC.
I would have been signing for weapons this morning, but 7 of us needed to head back for our over-40 physicals. Officers get the 9mm pistol, plus the M-16. My understanding from the class ahead of us that the weapons are mighty old and very loose- meaning they're not very accurate. That's OK though: we want the accurate ones to be in theater, not here in training. This isn't a long-term issue: just for the remaining 8 days we're here at at Camp McCrady.
Last night, a buddy and I drove into Columbia for dinner. At a wifi hotspot in the historic downtown, I attempted a video call with Lisa, Eric and Ethan. They could see me, and we could talk well enough, but I couldn't see them. We'll troubleshoot that, but the news was pretty good: both boys are doing great in school. Special praise to Eric for straight A's this first grading period!!! And Ethan's grades will come out in about 3 more weeks. On the other hand, Ethan's recovering from a fever, and Eric is coming down with something.
It sounds like their weekend is just packed with activities: Cub Scout spookeree, paintball, and a Boy Scout popcorn sale at Walmart. I miss them already. The video call is going to be a great way for us to stay close once I'm overseas.
