IRT (Individual Readiness Training)

Even though this all happened about 2 weeks ago, I still wanted to share it with everyone!

IRT was a blast… I am not trying to be sarcastic—I really did enjoy myself! Wait, let me back up… Morgan and I arrived in Mannheim, Germany on the 3rd (thanks mom for taking us to the airport at the crack of dawn!). I was there for the evening and stayed in the cozy Weber Inn, right outside of Colemen Barracks (that is where the CTC Headquarters is located for this region). The following day I drove up to Grafenwoehr with Kristen (a fellow co-worker) to start IRT. We got there on Saturday evening and made it with only getting “a little” lost. We stayed in the Tower Inn on the base for one more night of warm, comfy sleep! I also experienced Schnitzel (type of German food) for the first time… a lot different from Italian cuisine, but good!

(Above: Representing a good football team! I was obviously at IRT on

Superbowl Sunday... but I still showed my spirit!)

Sunday was the real beginning of IRT and the beginning of a long, cold and snow filled week! The training covered a lot of material and was broken up into classroom lectures and field experience. We covered everything that one could come in contact with while deployed downrange. Below it an email that I wrote while I was there, it kind of gives you an idea of how I felt while in the experience.

(Above: This is what we rolled around in all week long! It was

actually very pretty... kind of peacful at times.)

So... it has been really cold... highs around 2c and lows around -14c... but I am making it. Snow covers the ground and ice has become my worse enemy. I am one of 2 civilians (the other is my co-worker Kristen) and we stick out big time! In all fairness though, the soldiers have accepted us and actually respect us for what we are doing. Most of these troops will head for Iraq or Afghanistan after this training and will be downrange for at least a year.

(Above: Dressing warmly was key... it was REALLY cold!!!)

I have met a ton of new friends and the experience in this short time has been priceless. I cant really put into words the feelings I have had over the last few days. In a way, it is like a culture shock, sure I have been raised around the military... but when you are thrown in with troops that are your age and younger, you get a totally different perspective. There are guys that are 18 heading for war and you can see the fear in their eyes and the uncertainty in every move they make. The most impressive thing I have noticed is that the older more superior guys taking the younger ones in and mentoring them!

(Above: My lovely living quarters for the week! Not too bad... really!!!)

My barracks consist of all the females here and the plastic mattresses are to die for! No, really... the best part is when I have to go to the bathroom and I have to bundle up from head to toe like the little boy from "A Christmas Story," so I wont freeze when I make my trek down the sidewalk about 100 yards to the "latrines" (those are the bathrooms for all you non-military folks)!!! Honestly, the experience has been awesome. No complaints!

(Above: Oh yeah!!! Man... all that gear weights a lot and makes

it really tricky to shoot a M-16, on target that is!)

Today was a little more graphic than I was expecting. We talked a lot about IEDs and close gunfire. We watched some movies and saw some pictures. I never heard a room with 80 people be so quiet in my life. At one point our instructor read several emails from the Dept. of Defense that announced the deaths of US troops. He covered the last month and probably named off 20 soldiers plus. Three soldiers were killed on my birthday and 2 of them were younger than me... talk about hitting hard. I felt guilty and selfish... I kept thinking over and over again about the families they left behind and the life and experiences that were taken away from them. It was hard listening to him read these names and I could sense that I wasn't the only one who was feeling a little uncomfortable.

Well, that is IRT in a nut-shell! I loved being there and I think it was a GREAT experience for me.