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.