Warrior 9/08/09

I rose today at 0500 for Physical Training. Our company Chief was in a foul mood at the muster because a few members in our platoon were late. Really these folks were not even late, but in the Chiefs mind they were. It rankled me to see her get so worked up over nothing. Ironically tonight at the 1815 muster it was the Chief who was late. Just as old Bob Dylan sang the first one was later last. Enough about the Chief though.

So where does the word muster come from?

Today's joy involved getting our 9mm Beretta and our M16 rifle. The Berreta offers great performance on the range. This is a man's pistol. A true warrior that replaced the 45 ACP 1911 service pistol. The Beretta M9-A1 (or 92FS) is the most tested pistol since the M1911-A1. Used by the U.S. Military's finest. Now I can truly be called a "warrior" as the Army First Sergeant keeps calling the trainees. I sense a touch of sarcasm in his voice when he calls us "warriors", but I don't mind as I know I am not a true warrior and really pray, hope, and expect that I will not see any action in Iraq. After receiving these fine pieces of modern day machinery, we also received about four hours of training on how to fire and safely use these weapons. Safety is paramount as it should be.

It is ironic that the folks who are training us on how to fire the weapons are retired Army personnel who are now civilians. You would think that the warriors who are currently serving actively in the Army would be up to the task, but I guess it is not in the cards. I will say they did a good job training us. I had no problem dismantling my M16 rifle, and the Army staff certainly are a lot more pleasant than the Navy folks who trained me at Newport, Rhode Island.

On a bad note, I drew watch duty from 0200 to 0400 tonight which means that my sleep deprivation will most likely continue. Courty you're so far away from home...