My personal favorite

This job has allowed me to use a wide variety of lead or explosive slinging tools. Of all of them, I find the M203 grenade launcher (here mounted on the M16) to be my favorite. Theres something deeply satisfying about dropping a a can of "orange death" (a training round) in through a mock bunker window or the simple "puh-dunk" sound it makes when fired. All-in-all, lotsa fun.

Fun with cool toys

We had our night vision class.

'nuff said.

4.8 Miles on this

On Wednesday, we ran the E-course for our grade. Things started out well, and I was overtaking a Lt in front of me when a root, hidden in the leaves, caught my foot and brought me to the ground. I limped along (walked it off) and started running again. I was about 5-10 minutes slower because of it, but I still made a passing time. This is what I found when I pulled my boot off.

This pic is actually after 2 days of healing...and lots of ibuprofen.

Update: I thought I might have to explain to those that don't know my past, that scar is from when I broke my ankle back in 2001. There's a metal plate and 7 screws under it...so I'm sure that didn't help me any.

6-Mile Hump

Our platoon performed their 6-mile hump this last friday. We were actually supposed to do the double o-course, but the weather prevented us from doing that. So, how much crap do we wear on these humps?

Well, my roomate stepped onto the scale at 210 in his boots and cammies.

He put on all his gear and weighed in at a healthy 292...so 82 lbs of gear. Yes, it is about as much fun as it sounds.

A Walk in the Woods

My training has reached the very useful, but frustrating to master topic of land navigation. There is a plus to this course: the beautiful views of the middle of the Quantico hills.

Pugil Sticks

Pugil sticks are a blast. Looking like some sort of "American Gladiators" game, it teaches basic fighting skills. The stick, looking like a giant q-tip, represents a rifle. The red end is the bayonet and the black end the butt stock. To win, you must stab with the red end, or strike with the black end. Here's my pugil stick match. Unfortunately, a MCMAP instructor decided to stand in front of my cameraman. Oh, well. I lost anyway.

Boxing Again

I'm sure my college friends remember my boxing match with Bondy so many years ago. Well, the tradition continues with my body-sparring match with another Lt.