I’m leaving Camp Shelby Now … I’ve done all I can here

      Well folks; Camp Shelby has come to an end, and let me tell you it’s tough to hold back the tears as I think of leaving this place. It has been a whirlwind of ups and downs, good times and bad times, and a whole lot of in-betweens. Simply put Camp Shelby has created in me one super can of whoop ass, and now I am prepared to head out on my mission. I do not believe that I will spend a whole lot of time looking back and reminiscing about Camp Shelby in particular, as it hasn’t been my favorite place on the planet, but I will remember all the fine soldiers I have met here, especially the fifteen other Iowans who I have grown very close to. I look forward to the future with them, as we move forth to the challenge of helping the people of Afghanistan. Before I can do that though, I get to come home for a ten day stint, and spend time with my family and friends.

      Let me tell you about the last set of events that have occurred here at lovely Camp Shelby since the last time we talked. We spent our last few days in the field at another FOB (Forward Operating Base), and this one went by the name of Black Horse. I am unsure as to the origin of the name, and I thought it to be quite original, but alas when we arrived it was no different than any other FOB we had spent time at. The middle is lined with tents for us to sleep in and operate out of. There was a building to eat chow, not of the highest level cuisine that I have experienced in my life, but none the less it was good enough to keep us going. There was a building that acted as a shower facility, and one evening I went in to take a shower. Just as I was all soaped up all the water quit running, as I stood there all soapy and naked, I notice that I am standing next to this Major who experiencing the same situation and we try to small talk. It just seems a bit odd to try and chat during such an discomfited time, so I look over at him and say “well …. This is a bit socially awkward.” We laughed for a bit, and thankfully the water started back up. The water is stored in giant black plastic bags that sit on the ground, and the idea is that during the hot Mississippi days the sun will heat these bags up, and provide water that should be warm, and I stress the should part, because every night I went in for a shower the water was so cold that one could almost see the icicles form as the water dripped of my body.

      Anyhoo; I digress…the idea behind us going to the field this time is to again prepare to train the Afghan National Army, and to replicate this environment the Mississippi National Guard decided to help by donating the time of several of their soldiers for us to train with. They were a good group of military police, and together we had a brilliant time training. My mission was to teach them how to shoot their individual weapons, the M16A2 rifle. The first phase of the training plan was the Pre-Marksmanship Training. This is where the soldiers learn all the techniques for good shooting. Items such a breathing, trigger squeeze, and sight pictures are all a parts of this training to prepare them to shoot live rounds on the range. What I did was rally our team of trainers, and we taught them each these techniques during the morning of the first day. During the afternoon the soldiers from Mississippi then got to use a laser shooting system called the Beam Hit. The laser sits in the barrel of their weapons, and they shoot at various laser receptor targets. A computer then can tally their scores to see how well the techniques are working for them.


       The next day we spent running an actual live range. It was awesome, and it actually ran quite smoothly. I had our guys in the tower calling out the commands, and a group of us stood on the firing line coaching the shooters and making sure everything was safe during the event. It was a finely tuned, well oiled, humming machine to see us all work together like that. We just had a lot of fun with the Mississippi National Guard; however they were not the best shooters in the world, and it some time to get everyone shooting well. Now one would think that military police men would be incredible shooters, but to their defense the military police usually carry hand guns, and are not accustom to shooting rifles so we didn’t give them to hard a time.

      To pass the rest of the time in the field I helped teach a class for the other guys who had a mission to teach the soldiers on Common Task Training, helped keep the communications equipment running, played a few practical jokes, and I watched a couple of movies. All in all a pretty good time in the field.


      After getting out of the field I spent my time packing up most of our gear, as that stuff is going to leave before we do, and hopefully it will get there when we arrive. Then we spent the next day practicing for our graduation. It is a huge get together of all the big wigs, and they are all coming to see what cans of whoop ass Camp Shelby has turned us into. There will be state Governors, Generals from all over, and of course friends and family who are able to attend. Now they say that the whole ceremony is for us, but the entire time this ceremony is taking place we have to stand with our body armor and helmets on in the hot Mississippi sun. I’m thinking that maybe it’s not totally for us. I’m thinking standing in the hot sun with all that stuff on isn’t my idea of a good time at all. But as you can see there are some perks, here I am with a couple of Generals. The one on the right is from Iowa (Deputy Adjutant General), me in the middle, and the other is a Minnesota General. Not to name drop, but I have hung out with a lot of Generals so far as you have noticed. When I take the pictures most of them ask; “now who are you again?” For some reason or another I get the feeling they’ll remember my name, as I am sure it is not everyday some captain just waltzes on up to them out of the blue and snaps a picture with them. I try to make this journey as fun a possible I guess.

See you all soon,
Mark