Panther Brigade Sharpens IA Skills

Spc. Cesar Lopez, of Miami, Fl. gives pointers to an Iraqi Army Soldier appling a pressure dressing on a simulated wound during a training exercise in the midst of a sandstorm, at Combat Outpost Carver Iraq, located in Salman Pak, a suburb of southeastern Baghdad. Lopez is a combat medic assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad. (U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Jared Gehmann, 3rd BCT PAO, 82nd Abn. Div., MND-B


An Iraqi Soldier rushes his comrade to safety using the "buddy carry" technique as U.S. Paratroopers look on during a simulated combat exercise in the midst of a sandstorm, at Combat Outpost Carver, Iraq, located in the Salman Pak suburb of southeastern Baghdad. The Paratroopers are assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad.



A U.S. Paratrooper assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad, instructs an Iraqi Soldier on how to guard the rear of a squad formation during a training exercise in the midst of a sandstorm at Combat Outpost Carver, Iraq, located in the Salman Pak suburb of southeastern Baghdad. The week-long academy advises and mentors Iraqi Security Forces on their combat abilities in order to prepare them handle situation in a combat environment.



Panther Brigade Sharpens IA Skills: "BAGHDAD - After five long days of intense training and battling a pair of fierce sandstorms, more than 20 Iraqi Army Soldiers can now say they are graduates of Combat Outpost Carver's 'Cold Steel Training Academy.'"

A Hard Day's Night for Echo

A training video from the Ft Benning/Columbus Ledger Enquirer

armyvideo

armyvideo: "Live camera shots of US snipers taking out Taliban with 50 caliber sniper rifles in
Afghanistan.

Pay close attention to the beginning of the video. A Taliban is lying on top of the
peak in front of you... When you hear the shot fired... Watch what happens. Our
sniper is about a half mile away... or more.
These are some examples of the fight in Afghanistan. These video shots are not
made through the shooter's telescopic sight..... They are made looking through the
spotter's scope. The spotter lies right next to the sniper and helps the sniper to
find and home in on the target. The sniper is using a 50 caliber rifle. A 50 cal.
round is about 7-8 inches long and the casing is about an inch in diameter. The
bullet itself is one-half inch in diameter and roughly one and one-half inches long."

Ft Benning -- Echo 2-54

On Pins and Needles
A video from the Columbus Ledger showing the current Echo 2-54 group going green as they get fitted and issued their class A's.
Other videos from the Echo 2-54 training are archived in the September Archives in a blog called Basic Training Ft Benning.

On leave -- New orders

Its been good to have DJ visiting this past week. His new orders have him reporting to Ft Bragg.

The Soldiers Creed

The US Army Soldiers Creed...HOOAH

Army Strong

New Army PR -- Army Strong!

My son wears combat boots

Farmington Airport

Photo_#65.jpg
Originally uploaded by Wildflower Tech.

The storm was coming in quickly just prior to departure but Dallas has reported a lot of cloud with not much turbulence,

Notes from Wendy at Wildflower Studio

Another blog I have on the web
Notes from Wendy at Wildflower Studio

Jump photos now online

Check out contact sheet #13

Re-posted from Yahoo 360 (5/24/06)

My current (5/24/06) thoughts

Dallas is in Reception at Ft Benning and starts OSUT on Friday. His destination -- Army, Airborne Ranger. I am occasionally asked how I feel about this but even more frequently I hear 'that's too bad'.
Well I wouldn't go so far to say he has chosen the world's safest occupation but it has been his dream since kindergarten. In Grande Prairie he came home almost in tears one day because somebody said the war was over (Desert Storm) and he didn't get a chance to be there. Before we left GP I took him to a military vehicle show at the Armory there and watched his eyes light up at the sight of the soldiers in attendance. In Lethbridge he got even more excited about his objective because both Melody and Trevor were in cadets and he often got to come with us to the army surplus store and to the parades at the armory. We attended a Tattoo at Lethbridge that had both the Canadian forces and the US forces putting on various exhibitions and drills. He decided then and there (partly because I managed to sing as many lines of the US anthem as I did of the Canadian and he had asked how I knew it) that it was going to be the US Army or Marines that he joined as soon as he was old enough. Eventually he decided on the Army and has been a regular visitor to GoArmy.com since we have had the internet in the 90s. By the time he was in grade 5, in Hudson's Hope, clothes shopping meant getting something green or camo and gifts could be anything at all that came from a military surplus store. Even in cadets in Kamloops he frequently told them he would eventually be enlisting in the US Army and that was the reason behind my first contact with the US consulate in 2000 to find out how to establish my status so we could get him enlisted when the time came. Of course that was pre-9/11 so he didn't even have to prove his citizenship. I was assured that moving here and getting my status was simply a matter of moving down when ready and dropping in at an SSA office with my registration record from Taylor School in Sheridan and mom's SSN. Who knew how much THAT scenario would change following 9/11.
For the past 3 years Dallas has frequented the recruiting offices from Arkansas to New Mexico and has worked with me at using every resource possible to establish his citizenship and get the necessary paperwork to finally be able to enlist. It was no surprise he was at the recruiters the day before his SSN card arrived in the mail.
In answer to 'what I feel' I would have to say pride -- pride at seeing my son move closer to his lifelong dream, pride at watching him overcome all the obstacles that have landed in his way -- pride at watching him win out on the waiting game over the past 3 years. I also feel fear but no more than the fear felt watching him drive on his own the first time, or the fear of watching him climb the derrick at the oil rig.
What irks me most are the suggestions of his absolute demise or of being 'wasted' because all of these comments are political, opinionated and based on erroneous or misleading statistics. Dallas has not been given a life sentence, nor has he been sentenced to death -- I do not need, nor appreciate the condolences -- I am proud of his perseverance and his achievements. How many others are living the dream they had when they were 5?
I feel additional pride because he has not allowed others opinions to sway his decisions and he can cheer his accomplishments on his own without needing friends or family who agree. I wish I could do that.

Turning Blue

Turning Blue
Originally uploaded by Wildflower Tech.

August 31, 2006, Fort Benning GA

Taken with cell phone

Basic Training Fort Benning

Graduation Sept 1 from: At the End of the Desert...: Ft Benning



Enlisted May 2006










videos of Echo 2-54

Back to Basics part 2

Overcoming obstacles

Bayonets & Grappling

Marksmanship

My Son has Wings

From At the End of the Desert...: My Son has Wings

'Alone in the clear black darkness with not a sound other than the distant drone of the plane and the flutter of the chutes occasionally interrupted by a barked command regarding the target location -- and after landing I laid back to undo my chute and looked up into the night sky and stars and thought to myself -- I just came from up there."

Fort Benning Ledger-Enquirer

The video above is of the new Echo 254 -- immediately folllowing PV2 Hanson's graduation from basic training -- with an introduction to the training program.

Rocky Mountain Rangers Cadets

Nothing changes and everything changes...