These are photos that I took throughout my time at Annual Training in Wisconsin earlier this year in July for 29 days.  The training was just okay, and nothing exciting whatsoever.  So to pass the time I would take photosgraphs and record a video log when I had a moment without being watched over by my peers and superiors.

I spent a great deal of time working out of a humvee.

Typical morning.  I would have to get up at 0430 to shower, dress, go for morning chow, come back freshing up, put on my battle rattle and head out for the humvee to drive my squad leader and peers to the forward operating base to start day shift operations.

I would spend several hours in he humvee sweating profusely while have to chug water continually.

Had a long drive back to the barracks each evening.

There were a couple beautiful mornings.

Here is where I spent my time.

Wore my boots out.  Need new ones.

Engineers 

These are the remaining video logs that I recorded while at Annual Training.

To change things up I decided to take my smaller camera with me to training for the first time and keep a video log.  I would strongly encourage any soldier, marine, airman, or sailor to keep a written and/or video account of their time in the military.  It provides a way to reflect and release.  It's good stuff! :)

For those that aren't familiar with what annual training is all about, to put it simply, US Army Reserve soldiers live predominately civilian lives in their home cities.  However, one weekend out of each month they attend drill at their respective reserve units.  Additonally, one particular month out of each year, reserve soldiers attend annual training, which can last two weeks or more, depending upon the closeness of a given unit's time to deploy (usually every five years, more or less).  That should bring you up to speed on what the frenchfry I have been talking about for the last month.

I returned home Saturday evening on August 6th and couldn't have been happier to get back.  I definitely learned a bit about my MOS as I stated in an earlier entry, but also learned a lot about my unit's overall function and it's members.  Working and living in close quarters with soldiers you like and dislike for a long period of time can be stressful, annoying and strangely beneficial all at once.  Annual training is deployment-like where you are not in control of what goes on around you nor what you are tasked to do, but you suck it up and get the work done.  I guess what I'm trying to say is annual training was boring, frustrating and afforded me the time to do a lot of soul searching about what I want to do and where I want to be in my army career.  Dear God!  If I could change my MOS today, I would do it with such a quickness that I'd leave a trail of fire behind me on my way to see a career counselor.

I have been asked on many occasions whether I am afraid, anxious or excited to go to Afghanistan.  Up until June my answer has always been to some effect, "I don't know."  But now I must honestly say that my answer has changed. I dread deploying to Afghanistan as an 88N, transportation management coordinator.  Going to Afghanistan doesn't bother me so much, but the MOS and the unit with which I am deploying leaves me very unhappy and unfulfilled as a soldier.  Be not confused, as I am quite capable of doing my duty with motivation, albeit false.  But deep down I am uninspired and less interested the longer I spend with my unit.  I have found myself praying for a way out almost entirely unaware--so much that my dreams reflect my feelings.  

All I want to do is be a photographer for the Army.  The only way to do this is to get an MOS in Combat Camera or Public Affairs (the Army is doing away with Combat Camera and blending it with Public Affairs).  At any rate, I have come to realize in the last two years that videography and photo journalism is where my heart is.  I wake up every single day, grab my camera and take photos of something or someone.  The sheer joy, fulfillment and sense of purpose couldn't be more fervent within me.  I still want to be an officer, but if it means giving up commissioning to be a camera on the ground, as it were, I'd do it! There is a reason for everything and it took a month of simulated deployment with my unit to Fort McCoy to realize it.  This epiphany that I have experienced in July has altered my focus and how I will go about shaping my future for the remainder of my Army contract.

To be continued...

We are finally in the last week of annual training and I very happy to be breaking everything down to return home.  Today we are running our MCT operations basically at 40% and working only until 1200 hours.  After today we are totally focused on recovery, as I said in my previous Annual Training post, such as cleaning weapons, washing our clothing, and returning unit items back to the conex.  Yesterday we washed and refueled the vehicles that we checked out and returned them--it was actually kind of fun at the washrack cleaning them. 

To some or maybe a lot of you, a lot of the things I'm talking about are probably foreign, since I have learned that the majority of my audience on this blog and YouTube are Future Soldiers (some future Airmen, Sailors, Marines and my family members and friends).  But I think you all will catch on if you keep up. :)

Right now I am sitting in the Forward Operating Base's MWR (Morale.Welfare.Recreation) tent where my unit's operations has been housed these 20 some odd days of our stay.  Most of our stuff is packed up and we're literally chillin'! lol  After we leave here at noon, we'll do an AAR (After Action Review) and then go to the half-mile running track to do 30-60s as a unit.  Originally it was just my squad leader and I that were going to run, then my platoon sergeant got wind of what we were planning to do for PT (physical training) today and therefore made it mandatory for the entire unit.  Sergeants are funny that way.

Tonight I want to relax and eat a big juicy cheesebuger!  I'll update this blog post (below) with a photo of it if I manage to get one today. ;) 

For the past few weeks I have been battling a cold and cough that wouldn't go away.  Yesterday, the symptoms reached such a severity that I was finally told to go to sick call.  I was examined, given medicine and put on 24 hours quarters yesterday morning and was sent back to the barracks to rest.  I felt very bad that I had to leave my unit short one person while we were already working with a skeleton crew of five, but I was equally, if not more, overjoyed at the fact that I could just lay down and sleep..  After about six to eight hours of sleep I eventually got up and read more of copy of Stephen King's novel "Under the Dome".  The book was intoxicating to read, scary and riveting!  I finally finished it today.

Today I feel a little better now that I have an antibiotic, sudafed and other medicines to help me battle this sickness.  But I can tell you that it isn't going away without a fight.  My head aches throughout the day with any amount of strain on my body and I've been getting short of breath.  In fact, when I told the doctor (the lieutenant colonel) that I had shortness of breath, that is when he added the 24 hours quarters to my medical profile.  I'm still having trouble breathing, but I'm praying that it will a go away soon.

In a few days the FOB will be empty and my unit will be able to return our borrowed vehicles and equipment, and return to the contonement area to do recovery, clean, and pack to fly out by the end of next week.  I checked my LES (Leaves and Earnings Statement) and can't wait to get paid so that I my cover my bills.

Lastly, once I get home I plan to have a marathon movie day at the movie theater watching all the major films that I've been itching to see this month:  Harry Potter, Captain  America, Aliens & Cowboys, The Smurfs, Crazy Stupid Love and more.  Obviously, I won't be able to see all of these films in a day, but I definitely plan to start with Harry Potter! 

It's another beautiful day on the FOB. We have roughly 8 more days here during which we'll slowly begin re-deploying soldiers and equipment back to the contonement area so that we can all go home! Can't wait.

I have learned a lot about my unit and MOS, as annual training really gives one a feel for what they are supposed to be doing in the Army in a deployed environment--assuming all planned training works out, as some units didn't even achieve what they were sent here for unfortunately.

I have had the amazing privilege to work with, speak to and laugh with high ranking non-commissioned officers and officers alike and learn from them. There is a Sergeant Major here, who I must leave nameless, that is absolutely cool. He drove in one day, among many other times while I was on duty at the FOB RP Gate and I would be entirely formal with him, but he basically said not to worry, relax and "don't let this rank bother you," and added "take control of the gate". Since then we have spoken often in passing and offered each other help and ideas (at his prompting of course) on how we can better manage movement control operations while I am on duty.

On another note, perhaps the fact that we know we are in a training environment and not truly in harms way, FOB life these past two weeks has been relaxed. However, I would be to my own dismay to think that real deployed life will be the same next year.

We shall see.

Today was the hottest day yet, and the forecast for the remainder of this week is grim with hotter days to come.  I haven't felt this way since the first two weeks of basic combat training in South Carolina where there is no breeze whatsoever.  I am so not used to living in a landlocked city, meaning I live in a city where the coast is only a 20 to 30 minute drive away.  Therefore,I live where there is always some kind of cool air moving some way, some how.  This forward operating base we are on is literally in a place very much like a rainforest, with low land elevation, constant steamy haze in the air, a very large, hot motor pool of running military vehicles going in and out all 24 hours a day, 7 days week until this training is over in August.  It has been the day of days, not only due to the heat, but my iPhone fell and the screen cracked.  I slipped and fell down in the latrine this evening and I skinned my foot and sprained my left wrist in an attempt to head to the shower.  Finally, since we arrived the showers have been cold due to the water heater breaking for the third time.  I am not trying to be "debbie downer," but honestly I thought this would be more fun.  Dear God, please let things get better from here on out!

The moral of this story soldiers is that there will be days in the military where military life will seemingly or literally give you a hailstorm of lemons.  But I guess the way to look at this sour and bitter situation is to realize that one has the opportunity to make a lot of lemonade.  Or as the saying actually goes, "When life gives you lemons make lemonade."

Warrior Ethos

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade

Today I finally got a chance to see the forward operating base in all of it's desolate glory.  I got a short class on the operations that my unit will need to accomplish for the remaining 24 days and set up a place of operation as well.  From what I have been told there are only two showers for hundreds of people and small sleeping space in the tents.  Although there is a possiblility we may stay in the barracks and just commute back and forth to the FOB whereupon some in my unit complained that it's a very long drive from the barracks to the FOB.  I figure no matter how you shake up this situation there is simply going to be some major discomfort and we have to push through it and accomplish our mission.  As I said in my last post, this annual training will prepare us for deploying to Afghanistan next year.  We won't have definitive word on where we'll be staying until tomorrow, so this may be my last post for a while even though it was my hope to journal every so often while at annual training.  I guess I'll write it all down and scan it in later to post here afterward.  

Stay tuned.

I am currently at Annual Training and that is the most that I believe I can share without violating Operations Security (OPSEC).  So far we have been in a bit of a holding pattern, living in the billeting, and waiting for our Forward Operating Base to be fully set up.  My commander did some recon, so to speak, to see what conditions we'll be living in for roughly a month and it is quite rough!  It's huge tents, bugs everywhere, few electric outlets where we'll be sleeping in the tents, with no air conditioning.  It's summer and incredibly hot during the day and relatively cold during the nights.  I mean I get it, as this annual training has to be the longest because we're being deployed to Afghanistan, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm not looking forward to living like "Lord of the Flies".  My battle buddies and I were joking that only a few of us would return from the FOB--which is very, very far away--with our uniforms all torn, holding spears, speaking some barbaric derivative language with remnants of English and blood on our clothes.

In all seriousness, we'll enjoy the training and take it all in as it will prepare us for our deployment.  Meanwhile we'll laugh through it all to take the edge off the heat, stress, and harsh living.  OH!  And let me not forget that there is no cell phone signal, which means no internet.  Oy!  But again, we'll endure and learn to go without certain luxuries, after all it is only one month.