Hello everybody!

All is well here in Wisconsin. Actually, its damn hot and humid. Seems summer is starting early here. High 80s with what feels like 90% humidity. Take a look at the pics to get an idea of what I look like every day now. The group pic was taken before the haircut. The cut was my choice, but it was a great idea.

I am starting this blog late into the training, but will try to get you caught up here. Lots of great training finised; lots more to go. On Wednesday, we finished four days of Combat Life Saver (CLS), which teaches how to treat a serious casualty on the field of battle. It is not so much a first aid class as it is a “slap a bandage on them and move them out” class. (It was realized after Vietnam that a large percentage of KIAs were a result of bleeding out or airway issues.) This class teaches the basics of tourniquets, nasoesophageal tubes and IVs. And, yes I stuck a needle in my friends arm and started a saline IV. Pretty cool, actually. Wednesday was our test exercise where we simulated treating wounded soldiers. First we had to grab them from the fire zone and drag them to a safe place for treatment. Once there, we laid them out, assessed the damage and treated accordingly while waiting for medevac (simulated, of course). It was hot and we had to wear the full battle-rattle (as seen in the picture).

We also went through HEAT training the other night which is HUMVEE Evacuation Assistance Training. There we sat in a HUMVEE mock-up (see picture) that rolled to simulate a roll-over. After an orientation class, we went in as teams of four (no gunner) and they rolled us over four times. Then we had to egress the vehicle, remembering to take our weapons (fake foam rifles) and other sensitive items, such as a laptop. What a trip! Felt like an amusement ride at first, but once upside down, all hell broke loose. (On the second or third time around a foam ammo can smacked me in the head and bounced my helmet off the window. Thank God it was foam! If it were a real ammo can; I’d be dead.) I was in the front passenger seat as the troop commander. As good as I like to think I am at puzzles, I was completely disoriented once upside down. As always, we had our full gear on, so we weighed about 40 more than usual. I found the seatbelt clasp easy enough, but it wouldn’t let go. So I gave a little pelvic thrust and immediately fell on my head. Imagine a headstand with a child strapped to your chest. Plus, my feet were stuck in the foot well. Not comfortable; amusement ride definitely over. Once I extricated myself from that mess, I had to find my fake rifle and fake laptop. Remember that there were three other guys attempting the same feat, with an Army Sergeant yelling “Egress! Egress! Egress!” at us the whole time. Felt like quite an accomplishment once it was over. Then we got a chance to watch the other victims go through it.

Today (Friday), we had vehicle training. Basically we had HUMVEE driver refresher training. It is a up-armored HUMVEE, so it weighs a ton. (Six tons, actually.) For its size, it drives rather easily. But it is large and the windows are small. You have to use your gunner as your eyes for anything past your side windows. Everybody got a chance to drive and sit inthe gunner hatch. (The pic is not of me, but of friend of mine during the same drivers class.)

So as you can tell, I’m having a blast! (Ha-ha.) Access to a computer with an internet connection is spotty. There is one community center with lots of computers, but also lots of folks waiting to use them. So, accordingly, updates to this blog will be spotty. Comments are welcome, though, so come along for the ride!

Later,

-Dave