Weekend in the woods

This past weekend I spent from 0500 on Friday, till 1300 on Sunday participating in Urban Warfare and Breaching exercises. We convoyed to Fort AP Hill which is a Combat Readiness base for the military, it is the location of our MOUT site which is where we train for urban warfare and perfect our breaching skills.

We conduct the training mission just like it were live, using other companies to fill the role as civilians as well as enemy insurgents, friendly militia, local police and tribal leaders, and other role players. We started the exercise off being dropped in to the ORP by Blackhawks at 0700 saturday morning. Right away set up a secure perimeter and began establishing comms. After the mission objectives were briefed to all the soldiers and we stepped out of the ORP in route to the MOUT site. We arrived at the site and set up security but were than engaged by enemy insurgents and forced to conduct a tactical withdrawal.

We returned to the ORP, and requested permission to return to the city and engage all targets. We were cleared and returned to the city. We were using simulation rounds which are basically normal rounds but instead of a legit bullet they are capped by chalk rounds. Now these rounds may not be real, but they hurt like hell when u get hit. We engaged several insurgents throughtout the city while in search of our primary target, a weapons dealer/IED builder. I was a member of the primary breach team so myself and 3 team members spent most of the time moving through the city blowing doors, walls, and roofs open so that we could enter and clear the buildings allowing the Intel geeks to come in and do their work.

Once cleared the city was secured and handed over to the local police and we marched out to our FOB. By the time we handed over control of the city and reached our FOB it was 2200. The company received a brief on the mission we'd be doing at 0300 sunday morning, which would be an assualt on the local embassy to oust the insurgents. The rest of the company got to bed down, but myself and the rest of my Advanced Breach team had to stay up and move out on a secondary mission. We were inserted into the city via Blackhawk and made are way across the city to a two story office building. We conducted a simultaneous breach on the two doors and engaged targets within the building. We located high value target on the second floor and arrested him the passed him off to MI for interrogation. By the time we returned to the FOB it was 0200, leaving us an hour to fall asleep and rest which isnt worth it to me because thts just enough time for your body to shut down, you hardly receive any benefit.

We woke at 0300, conducted squad level walk throughs of the mission than at 0400 we left to rendezvous with a Special Forces group that would be providing support. The call was given and snipers opened fire, taking out guards on the roof and gunners manning the 50 cals. We assualted the building using smoke to cover us then went in and cleared all 5 floors. It was soooo much fun, and when your with a group you love it makes the stress, and exhaustion from sleep deprivation bearable.

Bataan Death March

So the weekend before this past weekend, me and my roommate (who is also a freshman ROTC Cadet) participated in the annual Memorial Bataan Death March at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

My roommate had been training with 9 other Army Cadets, making up two 10 man teams, for 2 months in preparation for the 26.2 mile trek. The course, which wraps around the missile range, is considered by numerous marathon runners to be one of the most challenging courses they have experienced. The monday following spring break, the teams were informed that Army ROTC received a funds cut and would no longer beable to contribute any financial support to the teams. as a result the sponsors for the teams also withdrew their funding. This situation left the two teams with no money to cover the $1000 in entry fees and upwards of $3000 for transportation costs. As a result B team, the team my roommate was on, was cut and A team was told that if they could raise the money they would beable to attend the march.

After training for two months my roommate was not about to let funding prevent him from participating in this march. The Wednesday before the march he asked me if I would be willing to go march along with him even though I hadnt trained for it at all. I figured that it couldnt be any worse than combat patrols in Afghanistan so I said Id do it and we used our own funds to cover registration and travel costs. We passed it up our chain of command that we would be going and received go's from both Corps and ROTC so we figured it would be ok.

While we were packing our gear Thursday morning we were told by an upperclassman in our COC that we werent allowed to go. Having already spent $400 on bus tickets and registration we argued this. After receiving a long ass chewing from the Deputy Commandant we were told we could attend the march. Since the only available plane tickets were $800+ we opted to take a Greyhound... Biggest mistake ever, after 40 hours on a ghetto ass bus and being surrounded by ex-cons and lower class hillbillies we arrived in El Paso, Texas where we rented a car and made the 40 minute drive to Las Cruces, NM. We arrived to our hotel at 0600, showered, changed, than drove 20 minutes to White Sands Missile Range for registration. After being asked 10 times if we were doing the 12 mile march or the full 26.2 and receiving crazy looks when we said "the full 26.2" me and my roommate were somewhat demoralized, but still stoked.

We crashed out early and woke at 0300 to shower and get ready than arrived at the staging area at 0430. After a speech, a role call of the 3 remaining survivors of the Bataan Death March and those who passed away this past year. The cannon fired signaling the start of the march. The marchers moved out in waves marathon runners, than civilian light, military light, and lastly military heavy, my group. Me and my roommate stepped off using my iphone gps to follow a 12-14 min/mile pace. We began passing all the military heavy/light indiviuals and teams and made our way to the front of the civilian light. After 8 miles we hit the start of a 6 mile incline which took us up 1500ft in elevation. We made a huge mistake and under estimated this course and the hill kicked our asses. At mile 10 I began noticing signs of heat exhaustion which included tingles, shakes, and cramps. I ran out of water at almost the exact same time so I was in a bad spot. I pushed myself as hard as I could to make it to the water point at the 14 mile mark and collapsed. My roommate was an experienced outdoorsman so he began tending to me getting me water, bananas, oranges, and special gel shots designed to give the body a rapid recharge. As we saw the V Tech flag crest the hill behind us we stepped off because we wanted to beat the A team that Tech sent to show that they made a mistake not choosing him for the team. The next 6 miles were downhill so it was a time to catch some rest but than we went off road again. We read about the infamous sand pit and were warned of it by veterans of the march. The warnings did not prepare us for the mile of loose sand that destroyed our already battered feet and exhausted legs.

Every mile marker we passed brought us closer to the finish, but the course was full of hills and switchbacks which, in addition to our level of exhaustion, took a devastating effect on our morale. I dug deeper than ever before and kept myself going by thinking of two of my closest friends that were killed in combat while we were serving overseas. After following a wall surrounding the base housing we came to the final bend and the finish line was in sight. I was filled with excitement and a rush of energy and the urge to run to the finish but me and my roommate made the decision to speed up our walk and finish side by side.

It was the most amazing feeling to cross that finish line and hear the applause and cheers from the crowd. Ill never forget that feeling and the emotions that rushed through me but there was still no time to rest. We immidietly had to have our packs weighed to ensure they met the standard of 35lbs each. When they weighed they I was told that my pack, without the 7lbs of water, weighed 55lbs... This annoyed me because it meant that i carried an extra 20lbs which would have made the march alot less painful, but still would have been a challenge. As we walked to the car batered and broken I noticed a younger boy who i remember was behind us the entire march and I asked to take a picture of him. After talking to him I learned he was only 11 years old. This amazed both myself and my roommate and after a hand shake and a congrats to the youth he was approached by a Command Sergeants Major and was given a CSGM coin, for those unfamiliar with the military, this is a huge honor and sign of respect.

We hobbled to the car called a hotel and told them we would be needing a room for the night. Looking over my body i found that i received 2nd degree friction burns from my left hip, around my back, and around my right hip. The pain from them was excruciating, effecting me more then the blisters covering both of my heels.

This march was without a doubt the most physically and mentally demanding experience of my life, but I have never felt a greater sense of accomplishment. We finished 150th out of 5700 participants with our official time 08:05:11.

Fun in the Sun

So my first spring break was officially the best I have ever had. It definitely lived up to the expectations I had for a college spring break. Me and a group of 15 friends drove down to Panama City Beach for 7 days of fun. First thing we did before leaving Blacksburg, stop at the ABC store and purchase $375 worth of liquor. This let me know that our trip would be super eventful. Two of us switched off driving and we were so stoked to get to PCB that we turned what was supposed to be a 13 hour trip into a 11 hour trip. After we got there we had to wait in line for 1-1/2 hours to check in. Once we checked in and got to our room, the party started. We had a two bedroom, two bathroom condo to share between 5 of us. The girls got the beds and I got stuck with the couch bed.

Most of my days were spent getting inebriated from 0900-0100, which resulted in some not so fun wake ups. We would get up, grab breakfast and hit the beach with bubba-kegs full of mixed drinks and coolers of beer. Spending all day at the beach in the Florida sun can be bad, especially when you are intoxicated and have no sunscreen on. Needless to say I did get a nice tan. My nights in PCB involved having people over to the condo or going to another groups condo to party or going out to one of the popular clubs.

During one night at club La Vela (the largest club in the U.S.) Three 6 Mafia was playing. I talked some of the girls i was with into getting up on stage and dancing. This was the best move I made all break because after the concert Juicy J and Lil Wyte invited myself and all the girls to come to VIP and party with them. I freakin' love Three 6 so I was way excited. After about 5 hours of craziness Three 6 asked if we wanted to come back to their resort and party more but myself and the girls quickly declined the invitation because we were worn out.

After a week of non stop drinking and partying and a long 14 hour drive home, I collapsed into my bed and slept my sunday away. I was not at all looking forward to the coming weeks of class and the lame Cadet lifestyle.

Another week of fun

So this week started off pretty standard, woke up to more Corps BS and class. One perk though, my course load went from 19 credits down to 12 credits. Some may wonder why this happened;well first, I must thank the Governor of Virginia for declaring a state of emergency. This caused me to miss 6 days of classes, and for me missing chem. was crippling since its not my strongest area. When I returned to Tech and began meeting with professors to explain my situation and collect make up assignments, my Chem teacher explained that I would receive a 0 for the test and quiz that I missed. This caused my Chem grade to drop to a 21% which I knew was impossible to recover. After a long debate with myself and counsel from my older brother, I decided a change of major would be my best move. I did this not only because of my Chem situation but also because I was struggling with the courses required for a Environmental science.

I decided on a Sociology major with a focus on crime & deviance, fields that have always interested me. Im excited to start my new major and begin the studies of people. Another exciting even, I was called up again on tuesday so I missed another three days of class. This wasn't for a SOE but because I was asked to help train a unit preparing for Afghanistan. I instructed a class on Close Quarters Combat with the M-4 which is always a fun area. I also received my certification with the militaries new M320 Grenade Launcher. This system is amazing, it moves from the standard M203, manual aim tube to an all digital system. Its amazing how technology is being used to create elite weapons for our soldiers to use on the battlefield making them more effective and eliminating threats.

Ahhh I hate Canada, they just beat the USA in the gold medal match! This was one of the greatest games I have ever seen. And do my discontent the winning goal scored in overtime was scored by none other than Sydney Crosby, the player I despise with all my heart.

Random Story

So once again the power in the Frat house went out, story of my freaking life. It’s 105 degrees inside at 1:00am and I can’t get any cool air. To escape the sweatbox that the house has become I decide to head-out for a walk. I find myself stumbling blindly down the pitch-black street, my eyes flicking around, scanning the shadows for any danger. As I walk past a house that resembles a castle, I notice a Mercedes Benz loaded with after market modifications. I start looking over the car and after about 30 seconds I realize, I’m talking to myself. I am so drunk that I’m actually carrying on a conversation with myself about how ridiculous this Benz looks.

As I start to walk back to the Frat house I again begin to talk to myself, expressing my discontent with the situation. I even ask myself why the hell I am talking to myself, which seems like a stupid thing to do because it only adds to my feeling that I am either way to drunk or slightly crazy from the past week of finals. I decide it’s the alcohols fault, so I just go with it and start yapping away. I even find myself laughing at my own comments, which any other time would make me look like a crazy fool.

While walking back to the house, I realized I forgot where I was. I became so distracted with the conversation with myself, I failed to pay attention to where I had walked. Than I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 8:45pm. The Virginia Tech vs. Duke game started at 7:30pm. I ran back to the house with the Mercedes and decided I would have to borrow it if I wanted to get home in time to catch the end of the game. For some weird reason the car doors were open and the car was running, I took that as a sign from god and quickly sped away. After putting my address in the GPS I found the house, making sure to park the car a few houses down. I ran inside hoping the game would still be on the TV, but was confused when al the lights were off in the house including the TV. Than it hit me, the power was out, how dumb can I be to forget that.

State of Emergency

I never thought i'd be so relieved to be back at Tech after the longest week I have experienced since the war. It all started on the 5th of this month, weather forecasters were calling the approaching storm the fiercest to hit the Commonwealth of Virginia in over 30 years. Initial reports were up to 3 feet in different areas of the state. while sitting in my Military Science class I received a text message from Staff Sergeant Richey, "Governor declares state of emergency, were activated report to armory asap"... Right away I inform my instructor I have to report for duty and head to my dorm to pack all my gear.

After a 4 hour drive I make it to Fredricksburg and report in for State Active Duty (SAD is the acronym used which suits the detail fairly well). Come 0100 on friday I am ordered to take my Hum-v and my A-driver (assistant driver) to Mary Washington Hospital because they need some means of swapping doctors and nurses around. So myself and Sgt. Geir rol in one Hum-v in the second truck Sgt. Schmidt is driving with Pfc. Mohamed as his A-driver. We get to the hospital and spend all night/morning shuttling hospital staff and at around 1200 on Friday we were relieved by another group of drivers.

After returning to the armory we receive a new mission, head up to the Woodbridge area of Virginia and link up with Woodbridge Fire and EMS at Station 12. We would basically be assisting them as part of a search and rescue team as well as the standard fire/ems. They requested our assistance because with 3 feet of snow covering most neighborhood streets and several inches of ice/slush covering main roads, travel for the Engines and Ambulances was extremely difficult if not impossible. But our Hum-v's handled all those obstacles like champs, crawling effortlessly through 3+ feet of snow and handling fairly well on the ice. I responded to 5 house fires and about 15 EMS calls, 3 of which involved a fatality. I spent 6 days straight working with the men and women at station 12 and I now have a new found respect for all Firefighters and EMS, especially the volunteers. The bond that develops when living with such a respectable group of individuals reminded me of the bonds i developed overseas with the guys in my unit.

After 7 days of pure hell, I came away with more satisfaction from helping so many strangers free stuck cars or tractor trailors, shovel their driveways, escape a house without heat or power, and receive medical attention from EMS which otherwise would of been impossible. But on the negative side I also suffered a torn right tri-cep and exhaustion from getting less than 23 hours of sleep of a period of 7 nights.

just another week in paradise

Well damn, did this week suck for me. To start things off, I decided to lose my temper with one of the upperclassman Cadets who is basically at the top of my NCO chain of command. My training company was accused of not sounding off to the upperclassman in the hallway why on our way out to the morning formation. I knew that was a lie so I spoke up telling the 1st Sergeant "that is total bulls*@t" and in about 2 seconds the company CO grabbed my shirt and she took me down to the third floor and gave me a talking to. I didn't get in trouble but I felt bad for embarrassing the 1st Sergeant in front of all the other freshman. It is hard for me to let the upperclassman yell at me or disrespect me being that I am a combat veteran, and the same age if not older than the majority of them.

Now to top that, my 19 credit hour course load dropped a overwhelming load of assignments on me so I got to spent the time not in class, working out, or doing some Corp of Cadets crap, sitting in my dorm outlining chapters or working problems on paper. this may not seem that bad because it is during the week and that should be devoted to class, but imagine knowing that your weekend will not consist of any fun because the Corps does not allow freshman to stay out past 2300.

As the weekend approached things started to get brighter, till the snow started. Me growing up in Arizona and never experiencing snow, or temperatures below 70 degrees, i really do not enjoy the 20 degree and below temperatures. Then comes the +12" of snow which was not cool at all and made my saturday, miserable. But one highlight of the weekend was the Cadets vs. Civilians snowball fight. Even though we lost, which was expected because there was like 400 civilians and 90 Cadets. But we still had so much fun stealing shields, signs for rushing, rafts, and even someones boom box. The snow was way to powdery to make projectiles so I found it more fun grabbing people and dumping them into the snow.

Introduction to me

Ok, well this is my very first blog post ever and I must admit, I have not the slightest idea what the hell i'm supposed to do I mean I have never even tweeted. First off, my name is Matthew Barnette. I am a 20 year old freshman Army Cadet majoring in Environmental Science. Im sure you know the reputation of the Corps of Cadets, it is by far the most depressing organization here at Tech. I don't get to enjoy the so called "college experience" and I get to spend every day dealing with cocky, overconfident, and extremely ignorant upperclassman Cadets.

You may wonder what made me decide to be a Cadet at Tech, it all started in high school back in good old Casa Grande, Az. I was what many considered a "rebel" in high school, know around campus and town as somewhat of a trouble maker. But I also played 4 years of varsity football, starting all 4 years as a strong safety. My performance attracted the attention of the head coach at Hamline University located in St. Paul, Minnesota and I was offered a full ride to come play for him. This excited me but come the end of the year I hit a wall, I needed a minimum gpa of 3.6 and ended up having a 3.3 so i became ineligible due to the standards set by Hamline. I lost interest in college and knowing that if I stuck around Casa Grande I would end up in trouble, the choice was made and I joined the Army.

I graduated Combat Engineer AIT (Advanced Individual Training) 5 months after graduating high school and 2 months after that my boots touched ground in Afghanistan. I spent a year conducting combat missions in the Helmand & Paktika provinces of the country and in October of 2008 I returned home to the wonderful USA. I am now in the National Guard and continue to train with one of the top Sapper units in the nation. I am looking forward to returning to the war, some people call me crazy, but they will never understand the feeling of fighting side by side with your brothers.

When I have free time I love to listen to music as well as make my own mix's and beats. I am also a devote Paintball player and have been for the past 14 years. I used to play professionally and was ranked among the top in the country for solo players. I earned money through high school by becoming a Referee and eventually Head Referee at the local paintball field. I also love to ride my Gixxer 750, it is something I love to do and when I am stressed or angry all I have to do is turn on the Itouch, and ride where ever the road takes me.

I look forward to keeping up with everyone's blogs and seeing how interesting other Tech students lives our when not influenced by the Corps.