Pass!

How wonderful pass is. Im sitting in my hotel room with nothing planned for today and I really love it. Its incredible how much you appreciate the little things in life after they are taken away from you for a little while. I woke up today at about 0930 and was able to just lay in bed until about 10. Wow was it nice. I am planning on keeping my days open and without clutter. All I need is a good whiskey sour and my computer and Ill be set. 

Since my last post we actually got to do quite a bit of training. Everything from short range marksmanship with my M4 to a full on 4 day crew gunnery qualification. For our gunnery qual. we were sent out to Donna Anna base camp to stay a few days while we ran day and night tables. I was the driver, with Sgt. Roz as the gunner, and the Commander in charge of the truck. What happens is were all in the truck on a lane and we drive. As we drive targets will pop up, either vehicle targets or personell targets. We stop, the gunner gives them some high velocity lead poisoning, and we drive on. 

Besides that fun stuff weve just been packing our bags and making sure we are ready to roll when our plane is ready. Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed to be overseas before the end of the month. 

Before I head out i would like to leave you with this video by LTC. White. It was the same speech he gave at my graduation from Infantry school and it has always stuck with me. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbOcJ6kqJAA

Counting the Days

So life is pretty good here on COL McGreggor. I get 3 decent meals a day, a hot shower every night, and a ncie enough gym to workout in anytime I want. The internet in the barracks is finally working well enough to carry on conversations with my friends online and check my Email. I honestly thought I would miss home more than I do. The only things I find myself actually missing are my little brothers Jake and Noah, and sometimes my bed. 

I have some pretty good friends down here that keep me entertained and make me feel at home. We try to escape the reality of our location by getting some NA Beer every now and again and sitting around in our camping chairs. 

Its been hard to keep up to date with the blog. Im usually too tired to muster words to put into here this last week. Odd training hours and my nack for finding activities to occupy my time have put my sleep a bit off schedule so Ive been a bit too tired at the end of the day to write. 

And actually as I write this i realize i have to be up in 6 hours so Im going to get to bed. 

More to follow soon.

Parcels and Packages

So I have had a number of requests for my address. If you would like to send me anything use this address exactly as it is written. PLEASE no porn or alcohol. It is illegal for me to have either item and I will turn it in as to avoid any fray.

SPC Scheffler, John B.
MOB. Deployment BDE
B Troop 1-105 CAV Bldg. 2453
Fort Bliss, Texas 79916



On average mail sent normal post is taking 3-5 days to arrive. I would VERY much appreciate anything you send, especially letters. Having something to read from people back home helps the time pass and lets me get away for a few minutes mentally.

Today I was sent to the .50 Cal Machine Gun range to qualify with the weapon system. For those unfamiliar with the M2 (referred to as the Ma Deuce) here is a picture. Its a beautiful weapon.

Other then that there isn't too much to report. I have been trying to keep myself busy in the gym and keeping up with Arabic. Im hoping I can come home with a few more pounds on my skeleton.

Until next time, Ill be counting the days until my pass.

So heres an update of what has happened between 10 March 2009 and 24 March 2009.

After our training we actually got to spend a week running a detention facility. The training was as realistic as it can get. Everything from mock urine and fecal matter were thrown at us, prisoner riots, detainees throwing rocks at us, and being verbally abused by detainees was represented in the training. It doesnt matter much if its fake or real fecal matter, no one likes fecal matter in the face.

During one of the last days of that training I had to go in for my surgery. They were expecting a rather routine surgery, but it ended up being a little more serious then they anticipated. Once they had me under general anestesia a tube about as large around as my index finger and 4 1/2 inches long presented itself. It all had to be removed. To remove all of the tissue they also had to remove a small portion of bone from my throat. This resulted in having to be placed in the intensive care unit ( the ICU if you watch ER) over night for fears of my neck swelling or inhaling blood into my lungs. So you know... nothing to really worry about.

The next morning I was out of bed and able to move on my own. They observed me for a few hours an released me back to my unit in the afternoon. I went pretty much straight to bed and slept until the next day when I returned to training at the prison facility.

One thing is for sure. Morphine is my new best friend.

Shortly after the surgery we got to move out of our tents and onto FOB McGreggor. We went from 12 man tents to 30 man open squad bays. We have bunk beds now and much less room. Were all making do and driving on. I had no shame and played the pitty card and used my surgery as an excuse to need a bottom bunk. I have no regrets.

Some of you know on the 18th of March I turned 21 years of age. But seeing as I am on Active Duty Federal Orders for deployment, I fall under a General Order which prohibits me from consuming alcohol. It was a wonderful birthday as any of you can imagine. Three out of the last four of my birthdays have been spent doing Army training. I am very much looking forward to my 4 day pass in El Paso...

Some of the great training I have received here has been a 4 day language battery. I actually learned a good amount of vocabulary to use while I am overseas. Some very usefull phrases:

"Stop or I will shoot!" pronounced in Arabic ( Ogaf, taraa-armee! )

"Im sorry, I dont understand?" in Arabic ( Anee mitessif, la tef-tehem)

And one that will be used probably more once Im home from the desert.

"Turn around, lift up your clothes, and lie on your stomach" in arabic ( Indaar, irfaa malabsek, in-bah-Tah )

On the 21st of March I had a little scare. I was put on a new pain medication that dehydrated me pretty good. I felt sick all morning with a throbbing headache. In the middle of an IED defeat class I had to run out to remind myself what my breakfast looked like. They tried to take me to the troop medical clinic on the FOB but it was closed since it was a Saturday. I ended up getting a free ambulance ride to the hospital to get a few IV's and 48 hours confinement to barracks. Im in top shape again now though and training harder then ever.

And speaking of IVs the other day i got to stick my buddy Detert.

And then I got to get stuck by our medic Grooms.

Ive been in Ft.Bliss Texas since the 22nd of February. We were scheduled to leave Ft.McCoy in Wisconsin around noon on the 21st but bad weather pushed us back until 2 AM on the 22nd. We flew in on a 747to the base down here. We were issued some new body armour and fire retardent uniforms for use Overseas, so don't worry anybody I am safe now! just kidding.

They have the troop staying in 14 man tents with twin size beds. Wehave A/C and Heat so its not too bad really. I'm staying in the command tent so there is really only 8 of us in the tent. Being close to the commander has its perks!

The training here has been up and down. I have learned a lot of really really cool useful stuff, but i have also had to put up with a decent amount of pointless training.

Some of the good stuff:

Unarmed self defense- Learned another unarmed skill set. How to defend against knife attacks, pressure points, wrist and arm breaks, and baton fighting. It was a mixture of akido and brawling. Very good stuff.

Forced extraction- Learned how to remove a person from a room without injuring them. We pretty much get 5 guys in riot gear stack up, charge into a room, slam a guy down, cuff him and drag him out. Its a good time.

Riot control procedures- Imagine 400 motivated troopers in riot gear with shields and shotguns coming at you in formation. Not good right?It was fun. They put on a training riot for us, about 50 or so people acting as rioters and we got to do our thing.

Some bad training:

OC Spray: Imagine military pepper spray. Its like mace but 20x more painful. We had to get sprayed with a stream into our eyes with it and then run a gauntlet of tasks. Without a doubt it was the most unimaginable pain i have ever been through. My skin felt like it had3rd degree burns on it and someone was pealing away my skin with sandpaper. My eyes swelled shut for about an hour and just burned like hot coals on my retinas. The pain lasted for about 2 days. I never want to be hit with it again, end of story.

The Taser: I was hooked up to a taser and shocked. I cant complain too much because i volunteered for it. It was a terrible decision on my part.

Death by Power Point- Any training we do is preceded by power points.5 Hours of power points. Enough said.



But besides all that I am in good spirits and good health. I'm anxious to get overseas and accomplish my mission. After I'm finished with Iraq I will get Afghan taken care of and come home.