Ready, Aim...Fire

Yesterday was great! I am so glad I went. I almost thought about not going. There was a special FRG Leader Day for our Brigade. We started off in the Eagle Conference Room. We had the Ft Campbell/Clarksville Briefing. It is the same Briefing they give to visiting dignitaries, famous visitors, etc. It was really informative and fun. There were all kinds of facts and info. One piece of info that I thought was interesting was that in the Clarksville/Ft Campbell area, there are over 3 times as many retirees as there are full-time soldiers. Yeah, no wonder why the commissary is always packed with q-tip heads--but I digress.

It was also interesting to learn about the building plans on Ft Campbell. And that it takes SO long for things to be built because it all has to be approved by Congress--practically down to the last doorknob. They are currently submitting plans for 2013!

Next we went to the Engagement Skills Trainer. That was pretty cool. I know-- not really the same as shooting a real weapon, there is more kickback, it is louder, plus the fact that you are holding a gun with REAL bullets. But it was real enough for me. First we did some shooting.

Our situation was a rock yard/industrial area. We did pretty well. As a 10 woman team.

My favorite part was the "Shoot/Don't Shoot" Situation. We did two different situations. Our first situation was in Iraq with a terrorist. We 'walked' into a building and 4 arabic men were there. One was holding up a cell phone and yelling something in Arabic. We were all talking and joking with each other--then we got blown up. They replayed the scenario and this time we listened to our translator who was standing behind us.
Here is something I learned yesterday (oh, the stuff you learn every day) If you shoot someone, center of mass (in their chest), their body tenses. Not so good if they are holding a detonator to a bomb. However, if you shoot someone in the head, their body relaxes. Once we heard what the terrorist was yelling, Amy Zemp (the Battalion Commander's wife) put a bullet through his left cheek bone. She is a good shot :) This is us after we found out who made the shot. I am in peach and Amy is in peach next to me.

The next scenario was a commissary robbery. Um, yeah, something else I learned about ROE (Rules of Engagement), you can't shoot someone if they are running away from you. Which I think is complete BS, because if someone has been pointing a gun at you, grabs a bag of money and runs away, through a grocery store, they are a threat and they deserve a bullet. I am just saying :)

From there they drove us all the way out to Cassidy Mout Site--The Iraqi city in the middle of Ft Campbell. It was so weird--spooky. The burned out cars, trash lined streets, dilapidated buildings. The facilitators at the site told us it gives a good hint at what Iraq looks like, but it is missing the smells. We wandered around the streets and the buildings. They showed us the cameras and talked about how they video the troops, so they can go back and do it better. They also showed us some of the built-in pyrotechnics and had an explosion on top of the city building. We heard the call for prayer and a few of the other sound effects they had. We finished off there and went to eat lunch at the mess hall. It reminded me of Helaman Halls Dinning Room. Nothing too unusual, but I did enjoy the chocolate/vanilla twist icecream cone.

After Lunch we went to the Pratt Museum on Post. The Museum curator walked us through. One thing he focused on was the man "William Campbell" It was cool learning about the man that Fort Campbell is named after. Amazing man. Maybe I will do a blog about him....Anyway, the Curator showed us a few new items. My favorite was the little girl's dress (from Holland? I think) made from the Parachutes of the 101st. There was also a Wedding dress made from a parachute. It was a very new addition to the museum. During WWII, a this soldier had met a girl in Belgium. He fell in love with her and married her. She made her wedding dress out of his reserve parachute (which he had to use when he was jumping in because his main chute didn't open) The couple has been married ever since.

Our last stop was at the UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter Simulator. Yup, I got to take off, fly and land a Blackhawk Helicopter. I am pretty good, too ;) The instructor told me that if I ever see a Helicopter with its blades spinning and no one it the cockpit, I can jump in and fly it. Our instructor was very cool. Some of the ladies were a little nuts and tried to crash the Helicopters. It just sounds so much cooler when you can say, "I flew a helicopter," instead of "I crashed a helicopter." The simulators are set up on hydraulics. They didn't turn on the hydraulics for us. The cabin vibrated and the screens in front of us moved--it totally felt like we were moving and flying. I even felt woozie a few times.
Like I said, I had a great time.