The last week and a half at BOLC II has been mixed. There were some good parts like US weapons. You’ll see a picture of me about to shoot a 50 caliber machine gun. We also shot a Mark 19 grenade launcher and a few other smaller weapon systems. That whole week we lived on a Forward Operating Base, which was meant to duplicate the kinds of conditions we would operate under in Iraq. There was not much training value to it. We did not learn how to run a FOB. I suspect the reason we were there was so that they could assert the training was realistic.

Yesterday I had a platoon leadership position which ended up being harder than I though just because they kept hitting us with one thing after the other. I liked the challenge though and learned a little from it too.

Other than that I have been enjoying my weekends off. The picture you’ll see is of me and a few platoon mates trying to strike a serious pose in Lawton, the town right off post. It’s not a nice town. There is a lot of crime and not much to do, but we still have a good time. This last weekend I went to Dallas with a few other people in my platoon. It was nice being in an actual city and there were plenty of people to talk to and fun to be had.