Everybody is working for the weekend literally this week as we have land navigation and if we can’t get 5 out of 8 points, we don’t get our Memorial Day passes for a 4 day weekend.  The way land navigation works for those who are unfamiliar with it is that we get a map of the area (large maps) that have grid lines which make squares of 1000 meters by 1000 meters.  The map has contour lines, terrain, roads, and dirt roads on it.  You get an 8 digit coordinate which can get you approximately 10 meters from your point if you plot correctly.  They look like GA 76940538.  You use a protractor to plot the point on the proper grid square and then a string to go from pt to pt to find the degrees you need to walk (1-360) on an azimuth to get there.  You also use the protractor to find out distance so you can cant your steps and know when you should be there.  After that you use a compass to get the right direction and off you go.

Monday morning we went out to a course and went out in groups of about 12 with a sergeant who would let us plot the pts and do a pace count to see if we could find pts.  We found 3 pretty easy and then walked back for lunch (although he did manage to get us briefly lost by trying to use an electronic gps).  That afternoon, we got 5 points and had to do it on our own to find out who the stronger and weaker land nav people are.  I learned something real fast (and one of the cool NCO’s hinted to this)-it may be more high speed to go trudging through the woods on an azimuth, but it’s slower and your pacecount can get thrown off.  Instead, get as close as you can via roads or dirt roads and then head over on a straight north/ south or east/ west with a good pace count.  Or follow the higher terrain and don’t try walking up 30 ft of wooded hills when you can go across.  Using the more common sense, I plotted my 5 points and found which ones I would attack based on their distances and where they were on the map.  At each pt there is a pole about 5 feet tall with a number on top.  You have to write down the number on a score sheet and punch it with a puncher on the pole that is unique for that point.  Without both, it doesn’t count.  I found all 5 in about 2.5 hours and was on my way back, but I did pass others, including a girl who was crying and hadn’t found a single pt. Although we were on our own, I had found 2 people with the same last pt and we were walking back together.  We calmed her down and then one of my buddies went with her to help her on the last pt.  Although we were supposed to be done by 3pm, we didn’t leave till 4:15 as many people got lost or just too far out.

Everyone went to bed early Monday morning because Tues was a simulated test.  We started off at 4am on the course (3:20 wake up) and were partnered up based on our previous performances.  I actually got a guy who also got 5 out of 5.  We started in the dark and had 5 hours to get 5 out of 8 points (there are over 60 on the course and its MUCH bigger).  After plotting, we started off finding ones near to the road that way the dark wouldn’t be as much of a factor as it can be very disorienting in the woods at night.  Not to mention the bugs, snakes, and wild boars that I saw.  We ended up doing a lot more off roading that day to mix it up and test ourselves.  We got 8 points, and 7 were correct with about 15 minutes to spare before being late.  Overall, we walked 13 miles in our fatigues and boots and it was hot.  After we got everyone back, we headed back and had the rest of the day off for those who did well.  I got to celebrate with Cici’s pizza J

Proper planning is essential here and so I had a plan.  Although we had turned in our maps after the course, we got to keep the coordinates and anything we had written down.  I got together with others and used their pts to create a master list of coordinates and sign numbers (about 40 of the 65).  Although we all would still have to find the pt and get there for the punch, now at least we would know if we were at the right pt since someone had already gone there and been graded afterwards if it was right or not!  And so we set out at 4:12 am with our 8 pts on our own!  I plotted and was off in 9 minutes.  I had 3 pts all clustered together off a trail around 1000 meters or less apart and started with them since they were closer to a dirt road.  However, to get to that dirt road, I had to go around 2.5 miles on the outside of the course (trying to use roads at night instead of just walking straight through the woods).  This was the way to go as I got 3 pts before day break and it had just rained the night before, so the creeks were up, the grass was soaked, and all the dirt roads were a muddy mess!!  I ended up getting 7 pts in 3.5 hours and didn’t try for the 8^thas my feet were SOAKED and blistered with suds coming out of the side of my shoes from leftover soap.  I finished with all 7 pts correct with an hour to spare. 

Our officers in charge informed us later that usually the infantry men have around a 25-30% fail rate and that is considered pretty decent.  Out of 105 lawyers, 96 of us passed for a superior rating that got us bragged about a lot!  They were so pleased that they gave everyone passes.  Some of those who failed had bad luck, as my partner from the day before failed because he lost his score sheet somewhere in the woods where it was really thick foliage.  Another guy failed who got 8 out of 8 correct but was a minute and a half late.  One guy was counted as failing but then passed as he had gotten his 5^thpoint, punched it, and as he was going to write it down was attacked by hornets so he ran off and accidentally wrote down the wrong number (but the punch was correct).  Once they double checked his score card, he was a go!!!!!  All in all we walked another 12 something miles and were covered in mud and water.  I had to cross a creek and some other thick areas but made my way without ever having to run and never got lost!

The next day (Thurs) we had combatives in the morning with the normal warm-up and review time.  Then we did the concentric circles were we go 6 times in a row for 2 minutes each.  Then each platoon chose 4 people and one girl to represent them against the other platoon.  I was chosen and was matched against a taller muscular guy who was my same weight.  When we started off I got him into a guard position (I’m on my back with him on top of me but my legs are wrapped around his waist so I can control his body)  What no one had told him is that my guard has been broken yet and it wasn’t that day.  Every time he tried to get out (squeezing like an anaconda), I would go for a choke or try to do an arm bar to make him tap.  After 3 minutes they started us over as he couldn’t get out.  This time, we were both really tired but I managed to get him into a Guillotine choke as time was expiring giving us the win.  This gave my platoon 3 out of 4 victories and the girl I trained also won her match!

Then it was barracks cleaning and weekend started!!!  Although we did have a 90% + pass rate, that won’t be what we are remember for as next week is the gun range and qualifying and we will be forever known as the group that had a LT shoot herself in the foot with an m4!!!  But that’s for next time J