An anti-satellite bazooka? Uh-huh. Ranks right up there with left-handed screwdrivers. :-)

Welcome back, Ethan. What was it? AIT?

That was at basic training...I was pounding in a stake for stringing concertina wire. We trained on operating a Traffic Control Point on our FTX's, and part of that was constructing it!

Though as far as weapons go, that is a real M16A2 strapped to my back! Talk about living in a different world...can't do that at the office, that's for sure!

Congratulations Ethan. From your writings I know you have a good mind and a good heart. I’m sure these qualities will take you far in your new endeavor. Thank you for your service.

Yep, Ethan, FTXs are quite a ways from the real world. :-)

I was a platoon leader in a HAWK anti-aircraft missile battery at Fort Bliss, Texas, from 1985 to '88.

A lot has changed, I'm sure.

(Your insignia of rank threw me off-- most of the EMs we got fresh out of MOS school were PV2s or PFCs, so I wasn't expecting to see the SP4 insignia.)

Gone (I hope!) are deuce-and-a-half trucks dating back to Korea and Vietnam; and the militarized Chevy Blazers we called "cut-vees"..... At least you never sampled those culinary delights known as "C-rats".....

Actually, most of the C-rations weren't really that bad-- though you wanted to avoid the scrambled eggs-- and the fact that most everything was in cans meant that you could stuff the little tins of crackers, cheese spread, peanut butter, or chocolate into your pockets and not worry about them getting crushed.

A lot of us who went through ROTC in the early '80s were bummed out when we went on active duty and found that the "real, live" Army was issuing MREs. The food in the MREs was a big improvement over the C-rats in a lot of ways-- Chicken a la King? Yummy!!-- but we missed having all those little tins.....

I know all about carrying a '16, too. My battery didn't have enough .45s go around, so only the BC and the XO carried them. The rest of us lieutenants had to lug '16s around... Jeez, they got to be a pain in the butt after a while, though maybe it's not so bad if you carry them upside down like you do...... we always carried them muzzle-up in regulation "sling-arms" fashion.

Sorry for the drivel-- I must sound like a cranky old veteran of long ago-- but that picture of you on the FTX made all those "all-expenses-paid vacations in the desert" that my battery went out on at Bliss come roaring back in my memory..... I hope they let you play with lots of "toys"!

Again, welcome back, Ethan, and best of luck with the Army Reserve career!

Hale
ex-1LT, AD, USAR
Battery A, 1st Bn, 65th ADA Reg't ("The Fighting Ocelots"), 11th ADA Bde
Fort Bliss, Texas
Feb 85 - Aug 88

You know, I was really pleasantly surprised by a number of things - among them:

- How good the food was. I'm a pretty darn good cook myself, and my wife and I are pseudo-foodies back in the real world, so I know my way around a quality plate of food...and while the DFAC won't ever be mistaken for fine dining, they did a really good job. Lots of variety, a decent salad bar, lots of fresh fruit...you had to eat quick and silently, but the food was good. Even field chow was tasty most of the time.

- MRE's - they're really good. As long as you avoid the Cheese Omelet (which I managed to get for my first two MRE's in a row, damnit).

- The uniforms - the ACU's are amazing. They resist water, as long as it isn't a downpour; they're cool in hot weather, and warm in cold weather; they're extremely comfortable; pockets EVERYWHERE; they hide stains well; and every surface will clean your glasses without streaking. No idea how that works, but it does.

- The organization. I know it's a standard joke to talk about the bureaucracy and inefficiencies of the Army, but having spent a dozen years in the real world before enlisting, I know something about organizing large projects, and wrangling groups of people, and getting stuff off the ground, and man, the Army does a hell of a job with it. Throughputting a couple hundred idiot punks and turning them into soldiers in nine or ten weeks? They do a fantastic job.

Regarding the M16, we only got to sling it when actually on a detail that involved using your hands, or when actually consuming food. At all other times, we carried it at the low ready. Builds the muscles in the arms, it does...

We did get to shoot a .50 cal, a 249 and a 240B, an M203, and throw two live frag grenades - that was pretty cool...

Still, few things in my life thus far have exceeded FTX's for pure Suck...I'm sure that'll change with experience, but yeah, I'm glad that's over...

Oh, and if you have a college degree when you enlist, you come in as a SPC...pretty cool!

And Mike - thanks for your kind words and encouragement! Trust me, a few words of support really do go a long ways...