Land Navigation Training

Below are photos of a Cadet and a Specialist reporting to their company commander after successfully completing a land navigation course in the dense woods on the north end of Fort Indiantown Gap.  They were the first to finish, completing the course in 2 hours.  

While we were waiting for them to finish, I found out that the Warrior Leadership Course no longer includes land navigation and no longer makes the PT Test part of the grade for the course.

The change is recent.  I think it is stupid.  This course is supposed to train enlisted men and junior NCOs to be leaders.  Land Nav combines fitness with calculation and concentration.  The fitness test is an Army standard.  Even if Land Nav is no longer a skill in common use, it surely shows a lot abut the abilities of those who master it.  And the fitness test, leaders should be at the front, not be lagging.

OK  Done bitching like and old guy.

Combat Life Saver Training -- "Victims"

Combat Life Saver training puts a squad of soldiers in a realistic setting with victims both unconscious and screaming for help.  The soldiers have to treat the victims and get them out of harm's way.  Here are some of the "victims" at a CLS training site. 

Soldiers on their first flight

Pictures from my flight two days ago.

New Facebook Page, More Photos

I started a facebook page for my unit.  I am going to be putting photos up and info for soldiers.  Please go here and "Like" the page.  Thanks

http://www.facebook.com/pages/2-104th-GSAB-Army-Aviation/222631574431291

Flying with the New Guys

On Saturday I took a routine flight 30 miles northeast of Fort Indiantown Gap to a remote fuel site set up at the Joe Zerbey Airport near Pottsville PA.  They airport had an open house to let local residents see the army fuel trucks and the Blackhawk helicopter we rode up in.  The flight up was better than I expected.  The pilots took an indirect route through valleys at 100 feet of altitude rather than the normal 500+ feet of level flight.  The doors were open and I was sitting in the seat next to the open door so I had a great view. There were five young soldiers on the aircraft who were getting their first flight on a helicopter.  They had a ball.

None of us knew the flight back would be even better.

After an hour at the airport, we took off fast.  First we flew level gaining speed then went up hard.  When we got to 1000 feet we circled.  I had asked to take aerial photos of the fueling set up.  The pilots gave me a level circle to take the pictures, then they turned the Blackhawk almost completely on its side on the next pass over the field, then flipped it to the other side so the soldiers on both sides could have the experience of looking straight down from the open doors.

We were all laughing like we were on a roller coaster--which we were in a way.

On the 30 mile trip back we climbed, dove down hard and pulled back up turning almost sideways 50 feet above the trees.  At one point we landed briefly then climbed almost straight up to 2000 feet.

Below are the other soldiers on the flight and the two who sat opposite me:

Air Assault Training in VA

Here's photos of air assault training in VA.  Briefing American and German infantrymen before flights.

Flying to Virginia in the Door Gunner's Seat of a Blackhawk

Today I flew to VA on a Blackhawk in the door gunner's seat.  I never had a chance to do that in Iraq because the real door gunner's had to be on the guns.  It was lot's of fun.  I put my feet on the window ledge to stretch.  One of the flight medics in Iraq put his feet out the window on take-off.  I flew over a big quarry and three-mile island.