Reality. Check.

The last 4 weeks have been eventful, more so then ever thought possible.

I’ve experienced:

...ridiculously high temperatures I thought I would melt my tires to the road…I guess some smart engineer thought of that one. 

mind you this was around 8pm

...crazier weather changes than Oregon. T-Storms that set a fire. Near flash flood?

The rain was gone too fast to help...

It was unreal...      

     

Then it was gone...

...Mud-rain…rain, so dirty that the clouds couldn't filter it all out, that leaves muddy rain spots on my car. Never thought possible:

mud-rain:

...A BFIST… Bradley Fire Support Team (tracked and wheeled bradley's) 

25mm main gun. Used solely for the FSO and his team to monitor the calls for fire.

...FREE Brad Paisley concert. (one of my favorite's of his "I'm still a guy" and "American Saturday Night")

Really classy fella...

...Not this…but someone did, and all this occurred in about 2 days. Who knew so many birds could live is such a small tree and poop SO MUCH! 

There is always poop on my car, thankfully not this much...

...One of Oklahoma’s hidden gems…

I'm a sucker for these things...

...My ceiling caving in. Don’t set your AC to below 60 for too long, it’ll burst pipes and leak to the room below (mine) 

He's lucky the ceiling tile didn't break my french press!

...High-Tech equipment the Army spent that actually works and is usefull! Ok, there was going to be a picture to post with it, the LLDR (Light-weight Laser Designator Rangefinder), but after searching google for a similar picture, I couldn’t find one, so to use common sense here, and attempt to not violate some security measures and end up like the wiki leaks guy, I’m not posting it, but here's a similar one  It’s a lot like the popular video game “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” We were on the ground though, and it gave us more information, like distances and directions. Maybe I'll show you when I get home...in 42 days (plus travel)

Normal everyday FABOLC stuff right? Check. Then a reality check:

On Friday, August 24th at 1:21 AM, here in Lawton, OK, my friend, 2LT Ryan Yancey died in a motorcycle accident. He was wearing a helmet, but was traveling very fast. No one will ever know why he always chose to drive his bike so fast. Was it his immaturity? Was he Racing? Could it have been his PTSD from his 2 past deployments and seeking a rush like he got while conducting missions? We'll never know, and knowing wont bring him back. I had to quickly learn how to cope with this new experience, how to remember the man, quickly conquer mourning, and instead, celebrate his life. He served 9 years is the U.S. Army as an enlisted soldier, before commissioning around the same time as myself.

Someone bought him a shot of whisky, in his memory

I had to escape "Reality" (Musical theme song for the remaining)...

We have a 4-day weekend for Labor day, so friday night, my 2 closest friends here and myself drove up to Oklahoma city (OKC) 

...Went to OKC with those 2 close friends. I escaped reality. Had an amazing burger, watched a movie like never before ( Push button service, motorized recliners, and heated seats), squeaked by a victory in mini-golf, smoked a cigar on the water front, people watched, and just hung out with the guys.

Anthony isn't as "reflective" as Blake and I.

watched "The expendables 2"

River in the middle, with restaurants and bars on both sides. On the right, on the second level, is a cigar bar, it was like a slice of paradise...ish

man-made "river" that runs through Bricktown.

...didn't go here...next time?

Really? This exists?

...Needed more of an escape...3 hour hike/ climb/ scramble on MT. Scott.
Mt. Scott, the 15th highest "mountain" in OK. I climbed up and down rocks and boulders all morning(there were no trails...just a paved road. No Thanks, I'll scramble), summiting at 2,461 ft. Mary's Peak in Corvallis sits at: 4,097. They call it a mountain, but it looks like a hill. Coincidentally, there is a Mt. Scott in Oregon, too, near crater lake. It sits at 8,934 ft. Take that Oklahoma.

mostly straight up...

it's bigger in person...

Remedies...

Wow, another 2 weeks. It quite honestly feels like I wrote my last post just yesterday. I don't know where the time went. We had three tests one week, and this last week of classes were very "thick."

Oh yeah, that's were all my time went.

We finally learned how to compute for just about everything that is measurable and/ or necessary (based upon how little it effects the ballistics) imputing it into the equations. It's amazing how the seemingly little things can really affect how accurate the round is. Who would've thought that the fractions of millimeters of steel that has been wore off by a couple hundred rounds fired could effect the distance? It's nuts.

Anyway, I could go into more details about Artillery stuff and what not, but uh, I prefer to remember my fun weekends so here is a bunch of pictures I took on my excursion to Dallas, TX last weekend. It was initially just a trip to Six Flags, but ended up getting $10 tickets for a Texas Rangers game, so the group of 7 of us couldn't pass that up. Reason for celebration...we all passed out first two exams.

Here's the remedy:

(Scroll right to see the entire picture...) (My musical tie/ theme song for your for the post: The Remedy...)

Had to tackle this...

...in order to see this. 

Had to sit through this (took 20 minutes to get to here)...

...so we could ride this...

...and ended the day with this.

Ok, picture time!

Made in America

Wow, what a crazy 2 weeks!

First off, it's hard to believe I left Corvallis a week short of 2 months ago. Not quite half way, but soon! Last week was full of classes, as usual. I'm not sure if I've explained this before, but there are 2 main aspects to Field Artillery:

1) Fire Support- This is done in a 4 man team, spotting a target and calling for fire. This is definitely the easier part of Field Artillery, and will be the job I do at my unit when I come come...I'm okay with that.

2) Gunnery- This is the process of controlling the computational procedures, given by the 4 man Fire Support Team mentioned above, in order for the howitzers to fire. This of course involves 10+ items to compute that can have as many as 5 steps to gather the information. Yeah, it sucks. In a real world situation, there would be 4-5 guys doing the calculations and checking firing tables, and the Fire Direction Officer (my probable job in my unit eventually) would be clearing the data to be sent to the gun line to have 1 to 6-8 howitzers fire on a target. We just have to know how to do everyone's job, otherwise we would be a pretty ineffective leader.

Went to the lake again on the 14th...no surprise there. It's becoming quite a great break from the intense brain work...holding on to a tube while flying around corners at ridiculous speeds allows the important brain cells to rest. : ) Oh, and if you get a chance, buy Oakley sunglasses, mine were smashed, like both arms (the parts that rest on your ears...proper term? doubtful.) came off and both lens popped out. I looked on one of the arms and it read Made in USA, at that moment I KNEW they could be put back together. It did, and here is my motivational "Made in America" theme song for your time reading this blog post. Feel free to hit replay a few times if you want.

Wonderful day for tubing!

This picture below is priceless, in my opinion, so let's break this down. First of all, this isn't your typical houseboat. This is a Made in America "Red Neck Yacht." A shotty single-wide trailer, doubtfully well-mounted, to a flat bottom blunt-nose barge can't be found at your local boat dealership. Ok, let's work from the front of the "yacht" to the back, then top to bottom. 

1) Grill. Reasonable accommodation, I'll let that one slide.

2) Christmas lights hanging from the eve (on the second story too)

3) Air conditioner held up with 1 2x6 and the window sealed with cardboard from multiple packaging, including a Dr. Pepper box.

4) It's difficult to see, but there is a generator right above the float, which powers everything.

5) precariously small engine for the vessel size. It's a 70 hp : /

6) The American flag is a nice touch, very appropriate and appreciated.

7) The wooden cut out of the flip flops and palm tree are a little out of place.

8) Ok, the the best part, which is not only awesome, but a necessity if you're going to run a double decker: A SLIDE!

9) Can you spot anything else??

Made in America

Yes, of course I went down the slide!!! 4 times to be exact. This is the only picture to prove it, and I'm trying to "Tebow" It worked well until the slide wasn't there to help my form...oh well it was still a fun attempt : )

trying to "Tebow" but lack proper form

We were out in the field on Friday calling in fire. Let me tell you, there is just something awesome that happens within me when my words translate into a 155mm shell landing on a target. Oh, and it only took one horizontal adjustment to get close to hitting it steel on steel (when the round actually lands on the target), so that made me pretty happy. Tomorrow we will be in the field again, doing the gunnery side of sending rounds down range, which wont be as exhilarating.

James 1:2

85 days left...

Fire Hose

2 weeks of classes done, and the best way to describe the level of knowledge being taught is like trying to get a drink of water from a fire hose on full blast. It's kind of like this:

Except my instructors don't ask if we're ready, we just have to take it. It's not so much that the information is impossible, it's just that it's such a foreign nature that it takes so long to adjust. 20 isn't pronounced "twenty" it's "two-zero." We get "bingoed" each time one of our instructors hears us saying it wrong and owe a dollar to the pot. I haven't had too much trouble adjusting, but some others have. I owe a dollar...some are upwards of 10-12! At the end of the year we have a "Bingo" party with all the money that we "raised."He talks at such a high speed that it's hard to understand. He's a Marine, so some of their lingo is different than mine. Couple all of that together with a domineering instructor who makes you feel stupid for no knowing the answer to his question, even when you knew the answer, but weren't asked the question...I had no idea one man could posses so much power over 30 students. Each class is about 4 hours long, sometimes longer, and most students, including myself don't really fully understand the content until the last 30 minutes, haha. The homework can take upwards of 2 hours, so it's a real time consuming course. It's the hardest intellectual class I've ever been in, and has one of the highest failure rate for intellectual Army courses. I'm keeping my head above water, maintaining a 90+ and that's all that counts. 

My brain is already fried...

Weekends and Holidays are my saving grace around here. this last week we got the 4th and the 5th off, but had class friday. Saturday the 30th was by far one of the better days here. Alan Jackson with Easton Corbin and Gloriana came to Ft. Sill. He's an iconic country music star. 

Alan Jackson

He song my favorite song of his...It's kind of emotional, but how could you not sing it on an Army base? Rumor has it Brad Paisley will be playing here in mid August...FOR FREE! Those tickets could easily go for $100 when he has openers like Miranda Lambert and The Band Perry.

It's not an Oklahoma country concert unless you buy Coors light by the pitcher.

I of course spent some more time on the lake on the 4th of July. This time my uncle Mark is over from Nevada to visit his 2 kids (Shannell and Mark jr.), their spouses, and 2 grandkids, and brought his son Josh with him as well. When Josh and I get together, things get a little rowdy...we like jokes and to harass our family...it's pretty great, plus the others just cant keep up! : ) Mark used to pull me and some friends around on my dad's boat when he lived in oregon. I haven't seen them in a long time, so it was some good family time. In fact, today, I'm going back up to Sentinel to have a BBQ and maybe help install some accessories on the Shannell and Rodney's boat. 

Well that's about all I've got for now, I think I've covered it all. I miss everyone back home and only have 100 days left!!

Common core...check!

Friday marked my last day of common core! This is what we call phase 0. It got everyone at a baseline for all of the standard Army briefings on everything from equal opportunity and sexual harassment to base skills in rifle marksmanship and hand-to-hand combatives.

Monday was pretty boring after combatives in the morning...we did some more combatives, which of course involved me getting guys to tap out due to loss of blood to their brain, and maybe a couple taps from me. Some of these guys have some prior experience in Jiu Jistsu, so they're a tad bit more experienced than the rest os us.

Tuesday was the worst day here so far... woke up around 2:30 to go trampling around the wilderness in the dark, and eventually daylight, to work on our land navigation skills. I attempted 7 our of 8, and found all 7 successfully. The Army saying is "you can't spell 'lost' without LT" (my abbreviated rank of lieutenant), so we tried to prove them all wrong. In my adventures however, a snake tried to bite me! I always try to come off as the tough guy, but I HATE SNAKES...much like Indiana Jones. I will mess with gardner snakes, but i'm always a little apprehensive at first. I was almost bit by a rattler snake when I was little, so I think that may have something to do with it. Story time: I was walking in some grass when I heard a slithering behind me...no rattle, so I sped up. The next thing I know, the snakes strikes the bottom of my left boot. It felt like it made me take a bigger step than I had planned. I began to run. I looked back about 3 seconds later to see it, but it was gone. My heart was racing and was glad it hit the bottom of my left boot and not the back of my right calf. It may have ruined my day. I had a dream about snakes that night, it wasn't pleasant.

Wednesday they let us sleep in a little bit, then went to the Ft. Sill Artillery Museum. Basically each Army post in known for something, or home to something, and Ft. Sill is the home of the Artillery and Artillery schools. The museum was very interesting and had very knowledgable people to lead us through the tour, but out guide was boring and it didn't help the situation that everyone was tired.

Familiarization

Thursday and Friday were IED (Improvised Explosive Devices, or simply referred to as roadside bombs) classes. We got to do simulated missions on the computers. I got to drive on each one : ) They had a steering wheel and gas pedals...It was pretty fun until it turned into our cadre being the bad guys and just killing us off. They said they wouldn't shoot us until we did something wrong...they lied. It's was still really fun, we all had a good time, but in the end received very valuable training. Friday we were taught by a retired Army soldier who had served 21 years and had survived 11 IED attacks. I guess that makes you an expert! He was very knowledgable and loved the training. I had heard a lot of it before, but his was very current and told us the new ways terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan are targeting Coalition Forces and ways we can stop it. Best class of the past three weeks.












WEEKEND! 
Saturday was a pretty relaxing day. I worked out a little in the morning, caught up on things I needed to get done during the week that I couldn't, and hung out with some of my new friends I'm making.
I went to see "Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter" with some of the guys and it definitely looked cooled in the previews. I don't recommend it, some of the serious moments only made me laugh. On our way out though, we nearly got ran over by these two dudes on hourses...I guess Lawton is the real "Wild, Wild West." We are realizing quickly that Lawton, OK is a breed of it's own and I've never experienced a town like it.

Sunday was a bit more exciting. I went to the Foss Lake with the cousins and their friends. I'm beginning to really enjoy this habit. It was a lot hotter today, 101 to be exact. I used sunscreen a lot, between 50 spf and 110 spf....One would think this would be sufficient. One would be wrong. I'm burnt and not loving it.

Some Giant catfish that are used to getting fed by the kids...

Week 2

What an exciting week! Lots of new experiences for me.

This week was full of early mornings and late night. It was getting old, fast. I would be up at 4:30am and wouldn't get back to my room until typically 8:00pm, with the day's temperatures averaging out in the mid-90's. Each day, we jump in the back of a LMTV (big triple axle Army vehicle to carry cargo or about 16 troops, that requires a ladder to get up in it) which usually felt like a sauna, and went to different ranges with our M4, the Army's current assault rifle of choice. Not sure what it is about those LMTV's, maybe a combination of the heat and vibrations, but it always made us fall asleep. 

Friday was qualification day. I qualified on my first try, shooting 30 out of 40 targets. 5 less than when I first qualified at basic training 3 years ago, but my top excuses are: time prep differences, wind, and (the classic) there was dirt in my eye...take your pick. Not pleased with my score, but it was just a box to check on the list towards graduation, and not evaluated for class rankings or anything. Here's a picture of the qualification range, which is the nicest range I've ever seen on an Army post: 

Last weekend, I went to my cousin's (Rodeny and Shannell)  BBQ at their house about 70 miles from Ft. Sill. Rod cooked some amazing Oklahoma grub, and Shannell and I got to reminisce about old times with another cousin, Mark Jr. 

Mark Jr., Shannell, and Mark Jr's kiddos

This weekend, I met up with Shannell and Rodney at Ft. Cobb State Park to jump on the boat. The weather here can be unpredictable, and as you can see below, can be VERY different on each side of the road. As we're rolling, you can see lightning flashes nearby...not the most settling thing. We don't stop, and neither do the other 50 boats, so I guess it's normal around here.

 They brought me a "tube," in case it was too rough to knee board (It was too rough, but we did it anyway). This isn't your typical tube...this is something you float down the Willamette on. It had 8 points where rope went through, attached to the tow rope with a stainless-steel carabiner. I had my doubts, but it worked! As you can see below, I'm leaning a bit too far...This tube isn't very forgiving, and about 1 second later, I leaned over too far and drank some dirty Oklahoma lake water.

The lightning was right behind me and a little more off to the right.

Ok, I may have led you astray...The week wasn't that exciting. The weekdays were very repetitive and fatiguing. Weekends were way better, and that's where the new experiences come into play. I do however love the sunsets and sunrises here in OK. This place smells funny, it seeps out of the ground when it rains, but there is some beauty out here, but the beautiful colors at the beginning and end of the day makes it worth it. Here are a couple examples: 

Sunrise just outside Sentinel

The camera doesn't do it justice

Walking up stairs...

As I was walking up three flights of stairs to my room in this "lovely" building called Allin Hall:

                             This is Aultmann Hall, but it's next door, looks just as bad, but without the giant overhang

I realized I do this physically twice a day, but metaphorically all day. 

I climb a set of stairs to get to our main briefing room. Metaphorically, however, during the briefings I "climb stairs"fight to stay awake during the many hours of briefings. 

Even today in combatives training. At the end we "rolled around" which I swear is just so the instructors can laugh at 104 Lieutenants trying to use the moves we were JUST taught. It consisted of a lot of choke holds and arm submissions. I got to choke a few, but I definitely also received some choke holds, which aren't fun. While I was getting choked, I felt like I was climbing stairs to stay conscious before I passed out due to lack of blood flow to my brain. 

I see this as the case for when the real class starts. I'm in the platoon with the 17 marine officers who train "with us". In reality, us 10 Army officers in 3rd platoon are getting taught by the Marine's instructor. The Marines ALWAYS get better grades and have higher standards for passing their class. This will come in handy since failing their class with a score of 79, will pass my school's standards of a 70. 

My faith, always climbing stairs. Sometimes it's literally to climbing stairs in the building at Grace City to listen to Trim Shady share Jesus in a real and practical way, or for Zauner, Jack-daddy, or even Jessie lead me in Worship through AMAZING music. I'll climb those stairs for them any day! For me, often times it's metaphorically, climbing stairs to hang out with Jesus...sometimes those stairs can be the toughest.

Whether it's literally or metaphorically, just climb some stairs with me. This is just life right? Always climbing stairs...sometimes it feels like an escalator...but is it worth it? I'd rather climb the stairs and finish with my head held high, than have a machine get me to the top instead. Check out this video to see an example of why stairs are FUN!!!! : )

                                   

                    Do me a favor, and climb some stairs!!!!!

                                  there's plenty of room ; )

Don't be the 99%

You know you're NOT from Oklahoma when...

I've only been here 3 days, however I've noticed there are several things that are different than from beautiful Corvallis, Or. Similar to Jeff Foxworthy's Red-Neck Test, I've assembled some proof to know I'm not from here. You know you're not from OK when:

1. For some reason, the daycare just off post on the main road named their business "creepers and crawlers" and tinted their windows. It's like they purposefully made the place super sketch so they can ensure no one would mistakenly drop their kids off at the meth manufacturing facility. It's a great business front for a drug lab. There will be a picture in a follow up.
2. I quickly understood that the concernedly large average size of people off post is (not proven, but most likely) directly proportional to the amount of restaurants that have the word "chicken" in their name. Did I mention they offer a cheap lunch AND dinner buffet?
3. The temperature outside feels about 15 degrees hotter than it really is. Can't wait for it to be 100+ for 8 weeks straight like last summer!
4. Parking in the shade is more important than closest to the door.
        OK- reduces car temp upon return to vehicle
        OR- reduces how much rain you soaked up to and from
5. I'm Not sure how it can be 101 and have T-Storms...at the SAME TIME (tomorrow's forecast).
6. They play NASCAR on the radio and comes in crystal clear on several channels!!! Mr. Gatimu would love it here! They barely broadcast that craziness on TV in Corvallis, which is fine with me.

What did I learn from the past three days? I definitely don't want to spend much more time here than I have to. 

Bad news: 

I have family here...you know, the kind you rarely talk to, except for holidays, cause they're so "different", ya, those. I'm sure they think I'm pretty "different" too. 

Good news:

I still love them and they told me they're proud of the red-neck-ness, so I'm excited to explore what they mean. On saturday, I'll get to learn the ways of the red-neck BBQ and a boat trip...if I'm lucky it will include more.

Oklahoma 101

One for every hour I spent on the road or in public today...

1) When a turtle is trying to cross the road, it's going to rain soon

2) A red light means three more cars are allowed to go

3) Standard light signals are sideways

4) Don't venture into Lawton too far, it's scary in the middle of the day!

5) Tint your windows...everyone else has.

6) You'll pay tolls on I-44 (the Turnpike) more than twice

7) There is no shortage of country music radio stations

8) Bring a translator, or you'll have to ask the locals to repeat themselves or talk slower.

Coming soon...Oklahoma 102, register now!