Lots goin' on.....

Well we are still busy, getting tasks marked off our list.....we finally finished up at the ranges, both the pistol and rifle. I am fortunate to have done pretty well, I scored 47 out of 47 with the pistol, and 30 of 40 with the rifle....officailly qualified with both. I think I got the highest score with the handgun, and one of a handful of folks to shoot in the 30's with the rifle. That was a tough course with the M4 rifle, all pop up targets from 50meters(53yds) to 300 meters(330yds) with just open sights(no scope). I was nervous but got by my first attempt. passing was 23, and many folks had to shoot 3,4,5 times to get qualified. We had 4 days of ranges, 2 of which were 18 hrs long shooting both day and nite modes. We were wiped out. Glad thats behind us.
We also had a day of land navigation where we were in teams of 4 with a map and compass, and had to find 5 waypoints by hiking crosscountry, about 5 mi. Being the DNR guy I am, I naturally had to be out front, following the headings called out by "compass boy" in the back. I was giving the guided nature tour, telling my buddies what plants and animals I could identify, hoping to finally see a rattlesnake(they warned us alot), ....never did see one, found a van that had washed downstream from the hiway, and we found all our points, They had to rush me along, seems "nature boy" here had forgot there was a time limit, and we had to hustle up to make it in. Turns out we made it in 2:20, the limit was 3hrs. There were a couple teams (washington) that didn't get done on time.
Previously, we had made a short 3.5 mi hike in lite gear up into the hills to sort of get used to the warmth, our boots and forced marching again. When we have had a couple hrs off, we have to run errands, get uniform stuff, items at the px(military walmart), and a haircut. Now most of the soldiers are getting nearly shaved heads, whereas I am not a fan of the skinhead look. I've had some difficulty xplaining my need for a trim, and not to look like Mr. Clean, on our bathroom cleanser. So far, the one lady was from Cambodia, very interesting family history, and the next lady was a local Commanche tribal member, and I mentioned I was part Native American myself born in Idaho,....didn't seem to matter much, she took off more than I wanted on the sides, but left enough on top to feel o.k. about the whole xperience.....last thing I wanted to do was start some intertribal battle over a haircut ....... We'll see who I get next week.
Speaking of meeting some interesting people, I've really enjoyed getting to know our fellow soldiers from HI. One of the other 6 in my room is named Clarence, and he is from Oahu. He's also a CW4, couple years older than me, and has very similar interests. He flew Cobras like I did, some -58 time , and has a couple civilian jobs like me....only he surfs, and I waterski and play hockey. He's an FAA flight examiner, and flys allover checking airline pilots, etc. I'm learning some pretty cool things so far about HI. Another guy is from Alaska, here to augment WA as they were short of pilots. He's a State Trooper from King Salmon, flies a R44 helicopter(small piston eng type), and has a bunch of interesting tales of being a bush pilot..... he drops in on unsuspecting violaters, issues a citation, then he's off somewhere else..... never has any officers on the ground for backup....pretty risky. We were in the commisary(cub foods) yesterday, I asked him about shopping in AK. His eyes were kind of big,(don't think he'd seen a store that large before), and he said, "see that 5lb bag of potatoes for 1.39? $15.00 in AK.....those apples? $4.00 for just one....(by now he'd called for cleanup in aisle 7, as I had fainted). I guess be grateful for what we have....he also said he'll land, buy his food, the produce goes with him in the aircraft, and he mails the rest home..... takes about 4 days. My, my,my.
I need to get to bed soon, have to get up at 5 and run some more.....I said earlier, this takes me a while to figure out what I want to tell you all, laugh at it, correct the spelling, think about all those I love and miss. It is tough understanding the way they do things in the army, I'm so grateful to be a proud member of the Guard.......I thought these anal retentive people all died off by now(last time I saw them was 37yrs ago!) Must be their descendents......
Anyway, we are starting to fly this week, no more army stuff til june. So back to studying aviation and nite vision goggle things. I hope to get to fly again by the end of the week. Things are looking up a little, ...I just keep telling myself it's an "endurance test", and I plan on making it to the end, only with God's help. I'll keep praying for you all, and stay safe at home...... Thanks.