Day 44 - Night Fire Exercise

I was nervous about my back so I went on sick call and got some aspirin. We went out to the range and did "reflexive fire" with M4s and Close Combat Optics (CCOs). This was cool. CCs aren't scopes. They're most like laser sights. If you're more than 25m away and that red dot is on the target, it doesn't really matter what you're sight picture is; you'll hit the target. At least, that's what they tell us.

For lunch I had MRE #22 Jambalaya. Winner.

While out at the range I bought a Gatorade and a Power Bar for $4. I've heard of people getting sick from drinking the whole bottle of Gatorade, so I didn't drink it all. Seems a shame to waste it, but it was fun being able to splurge on some junky food.

We stayed at the range for dinner; I had veal steak, rice with gravy, corn, salad, two slices of bread, an orange, a cop of powerade, milk, and orange cake! |-)

The night fire exercise was neat in that we got to wear night vision goggles (NVGs), but I wasn't really effective. It's hard to hit targets at night your first time.

When we were about to head back, it started to rain heavily. Rather than sleep in the open (the original plan), we went back to the barracks in whatever transportation could be mustered on the fly. Pretty memorable stuff -- sitting in our ponchos on our soaked packs during a storm in the middle of the night.

We finally got to sleep at 0300. Long day.