Halfway through Pre-Mob Training

Today couldn't have been better. We ventured out to one of the big ranges where there are old tanks and vehicles and took turns with a MK-19 (automatic grenade launcher), a .50 cal., a M240B and a M249 machine gun. It was cold and windy on that hill but after a few volleys down into the valley I was fired up.
After some hot chow and a weapons cleaning session, we had time to chill and pizza arrived for dinner courtesy of our commander.
We're a little over halfway through our pre-mobilization training here at Fort Dix. Hands-on training in Army combatives, M-16 and M9 qualifications, land navigation, and many, many more tasks that we're training on....all culminating in a field exercise.
The soldiers in the unit are jelling well. They know how/when to have fun and when to get dead serious in respect to what we're training on. So far, I have a hell of a team. 2LT Almodovar, who I met at BNCOC (Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course) is my Team Leader. I'm the enlisted guy who runs my team. My team consists of SSG Burrell (well-traveled English person like myself), SGT Taylor (can be relied upon in just about any situation), SGT Heise (very motivated and always in a great mood), SPC Fardette (from Hawaii, great guy!), SPC Anderson (she can kick your butt!), and SPC Alperin (the analyst who speaks Spanish extremely well).
I can't wait to get over the pond and tackle our real jobs. I think that my team and the rest of the soldiers in the unit will kick some butt.
Don't worry...pics are coming soon. I didn't bring my camera here but I will have it later and overseas. So, tune in later for another posting....oh and this blog would not be possible if weren't for our First Sergeant, 1SG Martinez, who got everyone set up to blog so their friends and families could keep in touch and track our deployment. Thanks Top!