Units of units

below is a quick breakdown of the division of forces in the army, at least as it applies to my division.

-team (ground) is 3 soldiers (2 riflemen and 1 SAW gunner) + team leader (E-5) / vehicle (mounted) is 2 crew members (driver and gunner) + vehicle commander (E-6 or PL or PSG)
-squad (ground) is 2 teams + squad leader (E-6) / section (mounted) is 2 vehicles commanded by one of the E-6s
-platoon is 3 squads and 2 sections + PL and PSG
-company is 3 platoon and a headquarters platoon (administration) + CO and 1st SGT
-battalion is 2 infantry companies, 2 tank companies, 1 enginer company, 1 headquarters company, 1 support company + LTC and CSM
-brigade is 3 battalions, 1 support ballalion (where the support companies come from), 1 headquarters company + COL and CSM

we deploy in brigade, so that's the highest that matters. i have to go now, but i'll explain the abbreviations later

2 Months into Iraq

and i'm still curious what being in a war is like.

Clarification

i guess i wasn't clear about my job change. i didn't misplace my MRAP, it was taken from me. bad men (with rank) took it from me to give it to other people. this is not robin hood, this is prince john. not happy with this mystery person.

Work harder, not smarter

the new army motto

The bad economy reaches the army

i've been laid off. i lost my job as the LT's driver when we lost the LT's MRAP. i've been moved to a dismount squad, but i'll often be gunning on the squads humvee. but sometimes i will actually have to walk like a lowly peasant. it's a rough life.

REM

when i was a kid i used to have day dreams about being a soldier in some great war. maybe we were fighting the soviet union or maybe the nazis came back through some weird time portal. whatever. now that i'm actually a soldier in a real war(kinda), i fantasize about getting 5 hours of uninterupted sleep.

Real men of genius

i want to know who the first person was to settle in this area. who walked into this vast wasteland and thought, "well, there's little water, little food, and my whole family will probably pass out from heat exhaustion twice a week, but look at all this sand!"

Blade

we had our first sand storm a couple days ago. not as bad as i expected it to be, but they probably get worse. one cool thing about it tho is that the storm gave everything a yellow tint. it looked exactly like putting yellow tinted sunglasses on. also, there was enough sand flying around to cause a haze that allows us to stare directly at the sun. looked like a really bright full-moon.



anyone who can figure out how the title of this post fits gets 500 points. i really want to see if anyone knows. using the internet is cheating, but if no one gets it before too long, i will allow it.

Good

Cliff Cornell fled the U.S. Army four years ago for British Columbia when his Georgia artillery unit was ordered to serve in the Iraq War.

On Wednesday, Feb. 4, Cornell was deported from Canada, arrested in the U.S. and booked into the Whatcom County jail.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/102/story/784599.html

HOO-AH!

hooah (hoo ah) adj., adv., n., v., conj., interj., excla.
Origin Unknown - Slang.
1. Referring to or meaning anything and everything except "no". 2. What to say when at a loss for words. 3.a. Good copy. b. Roger. c. Solid copy. d. Good. e. Great. f. Message received. g. Understood. h. Acknowledged. 4.a. Glad to meet you. b. Welcome. 5. "All right!" 6.a. I don't know the answer, but I'll check on it. b. I haven't the foggiest idea. 7. I am not listening. 8. "That is enough of your drivel; sit down!" 9. Yes. 10. "You've got to be kidding me!" 11. Thank you. 12. Go to the next slide. 13. You've taken the correct action. 14. I don't know what that means, but I'm too embarassed to ask for clarification. 15. Squared away (He's pretty hooah.) 16. Amen!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?page=term=hooah