Deployment Week #2 - CROWS training

I spent this past week training on the Common Remotely Operated Weapons System.

As a remote control for a gun truck's turret, it allows a vehicle's gunner to stay inside where it's safe. Unfortunately, it also causes him to get car sick incredibly fast (especially on Afghanistan's bumpy roads) but that's beside the point.

It can mount the M249, M240, M2 .50 caliber machine gun, and my favorite, the Mk19 grenade launcher. That's the one that shoots grenades like a slow machine gun up to 2100m away.

The training was actually rather fun. We learned how to mount the weapons, boresight the system, and operate it. When we weren't climbing all around on armored trucks we were playing shoot 'em up on simulators. Ostensibly, this was to improve our muscle memory of the control stick.

I got a box from my grandfather on Friday, which was a welcome surprise. The Korean War veteran sent the Afghan War vet some snacks -- when I put it that way, it almost sounds historic.

And today the company leadership went over to the construction site where we'll be hosting an Afghan military unit. Not a lot of details on this yet, but I'm excited by the cross-cultural nature of the assignment. With any luck, I'll get some good experiences for later use.