JoshuasTravels

This is my first non-emailed post, and I expect at least a few problems. So if you’re on the notify-list and don’t want to be, email me. If there’s any other hiccups, email me.

March to September is a pretty big gap, I know. But I’ve been keeping busy and been kept away from the Internet. Graduating college, commissioning into the US Army Officer Crops, finishing up Officer Basic, and struggling through the Army’s very frustrating Tank School (which is where I currently sit).

To sum it up, Armored Warfare’s full of unpleasant difficulties. Precisely maneuvering a fleet of 72-ton tanks across hundreds of kilometers of undulating terrain is enough of a headache. Factor in the responsibilities of maintaining the well-being of each vehicle’s crew, weapon systems, and a host of other issues, and it adds up to one hell of a pickle.

They’ve got us working long days, and plenty of them. Weekends off are less than few and farer between, but we’re all surviving, and – with a bit of luck – we’ll make it to that glorious graduation day of 9 November.

I wish had the time to relate all the fun I had driving from Oklahoma (Officer school) and Kentucky (Tank school), but “swamped” doesn’t even begin to describe it. I’ve included a few pictures, which probably say more than I ever could. Click ’em to make ’em bigger:

Cruising around in the LMTVs during LT school.

twixt here and there.

Route 66 was decommissioned the same year I was born, and I don’t consider that coincidental. Eitherway, though, this is me. Enjoying a Cozy Dog in the best little dinner along what used to be the romeo-six-six.

Me, with an Abrams. Within a week of hitting Tank School.

I’d like to say ‘We work hard and we play hard,’ but mostly we just work hard. This during one of the few nights I’ve had a chance to enjoy a fine burrito in a non-Chow Hall environment.

I swear by all that’s right in this world, there’s few things sweeter than a tracked vehicle.

fini