Day 12

I have the day off today and finally got some laundry done and have some time to check my emails. I know I've already said it, but I am in the HHC Supply section as a supply sergeant. We have weapons in a storage area with no alarm, so somebody has to sleep with the weapons every night. After I did it my first night I volunteered to sleep with them every night. It's quiet, quiet, and quiet. I love it. The only thing about it is there is no shower so I've got to wait for somebody to relieve me before I can leave the building to eat and shave and get to class on time. We'll figure it out.
Yesterday I was on the SRM, small rifle marksmanship range. We fired live rounds into targets from a standing and kneeling and walking stance. Too much fun!! It's too bad I couldn't qualify for the last couple of years; it would have helped with my zeroing. I put about 50 rounds into the paper before I got that stupid thing where I needed it. It is what it is.
I made some notes two nights ago; here they are.
The end of Day 10

It’s 10 pm here in Ft. Lewis on Friday the 10th of October. As a member of the HHC Supply office, we need to have a person sleep in the same building as the weapons. Tonight is my night. I am going to sleep on a cot in the supply building, guarding the weapons with my life. Hey, at least I have a private room for the first time in a week. Too bad there are no curtains on the windows.
I know I posted for day 5 day 6, but I’m going to try to run a recap of the week, since I didn’t get to post every day.
Monday 6 October; arrived at the brigade area, got a bunk, and went to CIF, Central Issue Facility, to get my body armor and new chemical protective suit. It rained. Did I mention that it rains in the Pacific Northwest?
Tuesday 7 October; spent all day at the Soldier Processing Center, checking paperwork and getting shots. That night I had a class on Call for Fire, CFF. I learned how to call in an artillery attack. Not that I’ll ever use it, but it was fun to learn. It didn’t rain. Later on that night it rained. I got assigned to the HHC Supply office.
Wednesday 8 October; spent the morning learning how to apply field dressings and treat wounds. We got done a bit early so I started to pack my foot locker to be shipped ahead of us. I worked in Supply receiving weapons from about 200 people. It was a nice day, but later on that night it rained.
Thursday 9 October; what the hell did I do yesterday? I don’t know, but if I remember correctly, it rained.
Friday 10 October; got removed from the training schedule for a day so I could stay in supply while the other NCO could run some errands for the Brigade. Spent all day helping out people with their needs and their questions. Overall, a productive day.
I understand I’m back on the training schedule for tomorrow and will start training again.
My mantra; it is what it is. Whenever people start complaining to me, I just try to tell them that the bosses and supervisors and command staff have to deal with not just the unit, but with the training brigade here on Ft. Lewis, and with the company that’s actually in charge of our training, and on top of that, they’ve got to take care of us. I’m not sure if it’s actually helping them to see this with a better attitude, but I can try.
I remember now why I hated Basic Training and AIT, I mean besides the obvious. I am not a person that lives in a barracks. Everybody snoring and tooting and moving all night means I don’t get much sleep. And then I’m in a building with all the people who have the same rank as I, so you know we’re all up in the middle of the night peeing at least once, so it’s more noise. And the other reason; there are some people here who are depriving their village. Enough said on that.
I will take some pictures of the area where we are and of the inside of some of these old buildings. I think I’ve said that we’re living in World War II era barracks, and I had a thought; the old 164th Infantry of the North Dakota Army National Guard was stationed at Ft. Lewis for a year or so before they deployed to the Pacific. I need to get these pictures back to North Dakota so the guys from the 164th can look at them and see if they were in barracks like these. These buildings may be old enough that they may actually be the same buildings. It’d be nice for the 164th guys to look at the pictures and let me know.
I had an odd thing happen to me while in-processing. I got pulled into the main office to do some special paperwork. This is a bit strange so please read at your own risk.
For the North Dakota Army National Guard to mobilize me, they created a detachment of my unit, the 188th Army Band, giving it its’ own UIC, unit identification code. I am in the 188th AG Band, Forward. They put me in this detachment and then mobilized the unit.
So, I had to do paperwork with the Army stating that I was in this unit, and the unit was then attached to the 287th Sustainment Brigade of the Kansas Army National Guard.
Thing is, when I signed this official Army form from the US Army, my signature block reads;
SSG Hugh Grindberg, USA
Commanding
So, I am technically, by policy of the US Army, a detachment commander. Granted, I am in a detachment of one person, but I’m still the commander.
Now, if I am the commander of this unit, isn’t there a regulation somewhere that says I should be promoted as the commander while in theater? If the commander of the main company is a Chief Warrant Officer, doesn’t that mean that I should be a Warrant Officer 1 or a at least a Sergeant Major or a First Sergeant? I don’t know how, but I want to look into this and see if there’s any way to get something out of it. Even if they don’t or can’t or won’t promote me while I’m overseas, perhaps the document that I have that says I’m a commander of a detachment will count for command time somewhere down the line, at least on paper; maybe for promotion points or something. I need to look into this.
Alright, it’s 11 pm and I have a private room and need to make most of sleep. I need to have the supply room door open at 0530 tomorrow so I can issue MRE’s. It’s the Columbus Day holiday weekend, so maybe I’ll get some time to write some personal emails, or maybe I’ll just end up in class.
It is what it is.