Training at Fort Dix, New Jersey

Here is an update from Jason:








Gulfport was pretty frustrating with all of the mismanagement of the processing program. I was glad to say good bye. Carrie and I were tracking for a tour with the Seabee battalion there at the end of this year, but we decided to go the IA route and move to Connecticut instead. After spending a week there I am glad that we aren't going to be living there. For the most part the community bears the wounds of that devastating storm to this day. As you drive around you can see what improvements have been made, but it is also abundantly evident that much poverty remains. I don't think Carrie and Max would have enjoyed the area, particularly while I would have been deployed.

The first photo is me on the tarmac of the Boluxi International Airport awaiting our plane to New Jersey.

Since arriving here I've been through several lectures/classes on all sorts of topics ranging from combat first aid, IED, and gas mask to Arabic linguistics, Islamic beliefs and Iraqi culture. I've also been able to get my military Humvee license. The class actually ended up being a little boring since they have so many restrictions on the driving course for safety purposes. Also, the Humvee now-a-days are designed to drive straight, stop fast, very fast, and protect the crew from small arms fire. As a result they are very heavily armored, which makes them top heavy and very unstable off road. In reality they rarely drive off road In Country. The funnes part was a rollover training we did. They have a Humvee cab on hydraulics that we climb into and they turn us upside down (dressed in full battle gear, which is very heavy with stiff ballistic plates in it) and we have to release ourselves from the seat belt, plop onto our heads, and climb out of it. It was really fun. The first time was disorienting, but on the second turn I had a good feel for where I was upside down and it went much smoother. I had a good time with it.

Also, this week I had a good time qualifying on the 9mm pistol, which is the weapon I'll be issued. It was a lot of fun. The course is a series of pop-up targets that appear randomly with different scenarios, including shooting with a gas mask on. A perfect score is 40 targets hit. I scored a 37, which qualifies as "expert". In fact I scored the best score in our group with exception to one officer. He is a competition shooter--you know the type that has and knows every type of weapon in existence. I owe a lot of my success that day to him because I spent some time the night prior talking to him about how to shoot the pistol properly. It really helped and made it fun because I felt like I really had control of the weapon. He scored a 39. If they gave me another chance I think I could do better...maybe another day.

I share a room with three other officers. They are good guys. I get along really well with one of them. We have a good time joking around and working hard too. Another of the roommates is a Chaplain. He's a real joker. I like him a lot too and we also have fun together. I couldn't ask for better roommates.

It's been interesting to say the least. The really good news is that we are going to finish our training ahead of schedule so we have been approved to fly back to our commands for 9 days of leave. I am going to pay the difference to fly out to Idaho and spend that time. I can't wait to see everyone again! The only bad part is that I'll have to say good bye again, and that's never fun.