It's a long weekend for members of the 696th Forward Support Co., as pretty much all the people we support have the day off. Basically what we do is deliver supplies, food and water to the rest of the 214th Field Artillery Brigade. So it falls to us to maintain trucks and vehicles, as well as to haul the water buffalos. That does sound funny, but is the actual name of the water trailers. Essentially a 400 or so gallon drum, the buffalo has pipes and spigots for water distribution, either to a canteen or those funky hydration systems we wear in hot weather. The big drum sits on a trailer chassis, and hooks onto most any 5-ton truck. They are filled with a long, boom-like armature that hangs over the top of the buffalo. This is not the most exciting job in the military, but one of the most essential. On occasion, as primarily a transport company, the 696th hauls artillery or ammunition. I have an ammo handling class coming up in a week or so, which means basically wake up, go out there and learn how to stack boxes of rounds. These are explosive, however, and full-metal jacketed, so are pretty nasty little critters. Standard armament for the company consists of the M16 rifle, although in a combat situation it would include several .50 caliber machine guns as well as two M240B machine guns we have knocking around our armory. There are also a number of 9mm pistols, although these are not usually standard issue. Senior NCOs will wear a holster on their armor, though if there's any rhyme or reason to who wears one, I have yet to find it.
At any rate, we also have rescue capabilities, as we have access to several M88 tanks. They are smaller and more compact than an Abrams, yet can tow their larger cousin. They are equipped with tow cables, tow shackles, a front winch and a boom winch, which is a large mechanical arm that sits across the top of the tank and can be swung forwards by means of hydraulic lifters in the tank itself. The controls for these things are surprisingly simple, driven by a series of levers in the cockpit of the tank. It all looks very complicated, as most military vehicles do, but is actually surprisingly simple. The thing about the Army is, you go from looking at these things like some massively complex machine to simply looking at the controls. The Army designs these things to be run by a complete fool, so someone with greater faculties than a complete fool can easily figure these things out. In the case of the M88, the design is such that each lever is marked with its function- front cable payout, front cable retract, boom extend, boom winch cable extend. So all you have to do is read it on the panel, pull the lever and you're a hero for the day. Initially, though, we were all civilians, and looked at all these controls, (not necessarily in an M88, but any other vehicle) and were afraid to touch anything. It was the same way with firing a weapon- after a while, you learn that you can control this deadly force and use it for whatever end you want it to. Not that it's much of a power trip, it's just the job they pay us to do. Well, all right, driving a tank is a major power trip, but still, safety first.
In regards to deployment, the rumor mill abounds, but have I heard a definite date? Not yet. I know the Army will keep me up to speed on this, even when our communication is somewhat lacking, as is occasionally the case. I often get asked, am I scared/worried/excited? Scared? No. Worried? A bit. I'm not afraid of my own death, or whatever pain that involves. I always looked at death as kind of a relief, as I know I'll only die when my purpose here has been completed. When I die, I know I'll have done whatever it is I needed to do here. But I do worry about my family, that they will be ok without me. My greatest fear is letting them down. In regards to being excited, well, yes. I feel bad about being excited though; because it means being away from my loved ones for a while, I know it'll be a chance for promotion, a chance for lots of extra pay, and also an opportunity to excel at my chosen profession. I'll be honest with you, reader- Ft. Sill is a pretty backwater little nowhere fort, and the 696th is a pretty uninteresting and uneventful place. We get called on to move stuff on occasion, that's about it. I know I have a lot more talent than that (aced all my exams in training, aced the ASVAB), and am kind of itching to put it to use. I don't like the thought of taking a life, or multiple lives, but there are rules of engagement we follow. Such as- no one is shot or killed who lays down their weapons, and non-combatant civilians are not killed. This is not good military strategy, for one thing. Without the support of the civilian people, the Army's job is going to be a whole hell of a lot harder. It seems the Marines (not to point fingers, it could have just as well been anyone else) lost Fallujah for this reason- the way I've heard the story told was that the Army had set up shop there and was treating the civilians as well as they could, and working with them. But most of all, respecting them and treating them as equals. Then the Marines came, and were unused to this kind of collaboration, so treated the civilians like inferiors. So it was that the US lost their support, and once again all hell broke loose. Now, don't get me wrong- I've worked with Marines before and found them to be a little full of themselves, but apart from that a highly disciplined and skilled military force. Unfortunately, there were a few bad command decisions made, and the results are left to history. Like most soldiers, I wonder if this conflict will ever end. Perhaps, after all there's always hope of peace. But it seems like such a quagmire sometimes, that perhaps we will never get out of. I know I'll go do my job, and do it well, when the time comes. I just hope in the end it'll have made a difference. But then, don't we all hope that in the long run our individual lives held some meaning greater than just ourselves?
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