EOBC 8 weeks down -- Forward, March
Sunday 24 MAR 2002
Hello!
Greetings again from beautiful Fort Leonard Wood Missouri.
Really though, the part about it being beautiful is no lie.
It is gorgeous here. Trees EVERYWHERE! And very hilly.
I am glad I live in the city though. I miss being able to
get a decent meal out. Without exception, every restaurant
I have tried here is poor. Food is edible at best and
service is horrible across the board. What is wrong with
this state? A few of us went to a restaurant and ordered
saut�ed mushrooms. What came to the table was a bowl of
Del Monte mushrooms fresh out of the can. Not even put
into the microwave. I just smiled at my buddies with that
knowing smile. Of course, I wasn't going to say anything.
But LT Reynolds pipes up: "What is that?"
"Those are your saut�ed mushrooms."
"Those are NOT saut�ed mushrooms."
"They're not?" The waitress says with a look of wonder.
"No, they're not."
"Oh," long pause with blank look "Should I bring you
something else instead?"
Needless to say, if you are ever in the area, I don't
recommend "The Hub"
Tuesday marks the 1/2 way point. I can't believe that we
are only half way through this thing. I am fighting it,
but I can slowly feel the civilian in me slipping away.
I am talking in nothing but "army lingo" and acronyms.
Imagine having had taken a German language class in high
school. Then imagine that you are sent over to Germany
and put into a school where they speak nothing but German.
It's almost impossible not to start thinking in the other
language and adopting the culture.
The bridging class was good from the standpoint that we are
now getting into Engineer specific material. But I am
disappointed at the depth of the classes. Fort example,
we were taught how to build an MGB (Medium Girder Bridge).
But mainly in terms of "You place Peg F 0.6m from the far
shore, then measure the length of the river gap and select
the number of bays you will need from table 1."
Most of the skills here are taught like this. I asked one
of the bridging instructors a question about one of the
tables that was difficult to read. I had figured out that
by using an equation you could come up with a value much
more precisely than trying to read it off of the graph in
the book.
The instructor agreed. But said, "If that bridge ever failed,
would you rather explain that you followed the doctrine
exactly? Or that you used a formula that you came up with
and explain to a bunch of non-engineers why that formula was
more precise than the book?" Good point. I smiled and went
right on reading off of the graph.
By the way, I got 100% on the bridging exam.
The next week was demolitions. Wow, that is neat stuff.
I had no idea that C4 looks like the middle of a Three
Musketeer's bar. But it has the consistency of Play Doh.
It will also give you bad gas and diarrhea if you accidentally
ingest some (as some of my fellow lieutenants found out.)
I know what you are thinking..... How in the hell does
someone eat C4? Good question. But it's easier than you
might think. We were out on the range all day handling
C4 and had to eat lunch (an MRE) on the fly. (Mainly in
the bunker when we were setting off the explosives.)
Well, in most MRE's you have to squeeze out your food
from a packet. You can see where I'm going with this.
We had an entire week of demolitions training. And we
practiced tying all sorts of knots in detonating cord. Det
cord (made of an explosive called PentaErythrite TetraNitrate
PETN) explodes at 27,000 ft/second so that is why it is so
useful in military demolitions. I can now tie a det cord
in all sorts of knots: A Ulli, double overhand, Gregory,
and British junction knot. Not to mention the "Girth
hitch with an extra turn and six inch tail"
We had two exams dealing with demolitions. One was a written
test basically dealing with calculations, terminology, and
safety stuff. The other is what is called the supervisory
practical exam.
That was the tough one as there really wasn't a good way to
study for it. The exam consisted of a mock set-up of
five demolition scenarios. You have no idea before hand what
will be set up. Each set up will have a certain number of
deficiencies. Something wrong with the initiation system, or
with how the firing system was set up, or how the charge was
primed or placed. Out of the five stations, there are 20
gigs (things that are "wrong.") Not too difficult right?
So here's the kicker. You have exactly 15 minutes to find
and write down all 20. That comes out to 45 seconds per gig
which includes the time to write it down with enough description
so that the instructors know what you are talking about and move
from station to station. Basically you RUN through the whole
thing. This is why the practical is difficult. I missed
three of the gigs (85%). But I was more than happy to just
have passed. One third of our class failed. Three of them
had to speak to the battalion commander and justify their
continuation of EOBC.
The three things I missed?
1) The saddle charge to cut a steel rod with a diameter of
six inches must be 1 inch thick. (the model was 1/2
an inch thick)
2) The charged that are placed on a steel I-beam must be
offset by the width of the web (middle piece). The ones
on the model weren't offset.
3) On a dual initiated system: blasting caps on det cord from
the primary and secondary systems must be placed six inches
apart. The model had a 3-4 inch separation.
The written wasn't too bad. It was an open book exam. But
as with most open book exams, you rarely open the book. I
really just made some stupid mistakes on this exam. (didn't
have my morning coffee I guess).
The most idiotic question on the exam was:
On DA Form 2203-R "Demolition Reconnaissance record" under
which block would you put the equipment and transport
required?
A) 10
B) 15
C) 18
D) 9
E) 13
The correct answer is 15. But you would not know that if
you hadn't memorized the form or brought it with you to the
exam. I was one of the ones who didn't bring the form.
Most of the questions were something like this:
How much explosive is required for breaching a concrete block
3' wide x 3' thick x 15' high using a counter force charge?
Another question I missed was:
How many firing systems are recommended when preparing
a reserved target?
1) 4
2) 3
3) 2
4) 1
The correct answer is two. Which I knew. So I circled
the second bubble. Oops.
I scored an 87.5% on the written demolitions exam. I don't
know my class standing now. But it can't be good.
OK, I know that I am really boring you with all of this demo
stuff. But after a week of it, you ending up having dreams
about tying a knot wrong or putting the wrong kind of blasting
cap in to a certain kind of charge. glad it's over.
This week we are studying mine warfare. Nasty stuff. I'll
save that for the next update.
My leadership week went really well. I appointed two team
leaders. That really worked out well. Rather than me trying
to keep track of 10 people, I only had to keep track of two
who kept track of 4 each (much more manageable). We had no
problems.... so I was a happy camper. I think that those of
us with prior service have an easier time with it. We have
nothing to prove and already know what works. As well as
when (and mostly when not) to get bent out of shape. People
will work 10 times harder if you treat them with respect
rather than yell at them.
Well, time to pack my ruck sack for the road march tomorrow.
Quotes of the week:
"Build a habit of having everyone doing something at all times."
--CPT Triplett
"Hey Sarge..."
"Yes, sir?"
"I need some of that tape."
"Why do you need tape sir?"
"I broke my dynamite."
--LT DiCaprio and SSG Rodriguez
>
As you were,
Lt Nick