He's baaack...

We're getting ready for the next deployment - to make things a little easier I'm opening a new blog here.

MOS Qualified

I'm now officially a UH-60 Blackhawk Repairer, MOS 15T. It's nice to be back home, and now I can start on my aircrew qualifications, not to mention continuing on my civilian flight instructor certification. It's going to be a busy year...

Training Update

I'm way over due on updating this, so here's some random thoughts on my field trip to Ft Eustis. The post is not very large, and in addition to housing the bulk of the Army's aviation maintenance training is the home of Transportation. Being big into training the command is a little more, shall we say nit-picky (another term comes to mind) than most places but even at that it's not bad for a visit. As an NCO I was billeted off post at a local hotel since there's something of a housing shortage so I certainly can't complain about the living conditions! We report each day to "H" Company for accountability and PT each weekday morning at 5:50 am. Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays we normally do a 3 mile run, and Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for strength training. As with most Army installations - even those down range - there's an excellent gym available. This being an active Army base I was a little concerned about keeping up with PT, but I'm happy to say that while I'll never be a PT stud my scores are decent and I'm running with soldiers half my age. Passing the PT test is a requirement for graduating from any of the MOS schools so "H" Company does everything possible to ensure that everyone is ready to pass when the test comes around. After PT we're released to shower and get ready for class. I usually eat in the Dining Facility for breakfast and lunch, and the food is pretty good although the menu is somewhat monotonous.
Class typically starts at 9:00. Our class has 9 Army and 9 Air Force students, 4 of which are already qualified in an MOS and are considered prior service. The remainder are right out of basic training and are still kept under pretty tight control by their Platoon Sergeants. They are allowed out on weekends, but for the most part they still have to march any where they go and are subject to basic training discipline. Our instructors are a combination of active duty Army and Air Force as well as civilian contractors who are generally retired military. Initially we spent most of our time in the classroom which was important but somewhat tedious while we learned the Army documentation process and how to navigate the technical manuals. Fortunately once past the first couple of weeks of the course most of our time is out working either on trainers for simple components like landing gear or real UH-60 helicopters. The course is broken into phases so we are usually tested about once a week. The tests have both written and practical components, and are timed. As we've progressed the systems get more complicated so the bar is raised each week.
We generally get weekends off except for the occasional duty assignment, so we have the chance to unwind. In my case I try to get over to Hampton Roads Helicopter on Saturdays and get a little flying in so I don't forget everything I've learned so far at Quantum... That leaves the rest of the weekend to take care of laundry, shopping, and usually a little walk to stretch out. That pretty much covers the routine here and I have to say time is really flying by.

A bleg

Last month Army Girl received a phone call - not the worst you can get, but a pretty rough one none the less. She's been working to help her soldier and his wife while they're at Walter Reed. Please check out her site if you can help, or you click on the image above this post if you care to donate to the couple.

A What-zit?

This is revenge for John's 347 gotcha...

Memorial Day, 2008

Donald Layman
Darrel Kasson
Charles Browning