Army Reserves - 2 Week Annual Training

Well, we are back at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Virginia this year to practice what we learned here in school last year. I started out as a "44 Bravo" in the Army which is a Welder. When my Army Reserve Company switched from the 728th Amphibious Vehicle Unit into the 478th Transportation Company we all had to learn new a MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). For the majority of us in our new company, that was "88 Hotel", a Cargo Specialist.


As Cargo Specialists, we had to learn how to operate cranes and forklifts to load and unload cargo and vehicles onto ships and trains. It was pretty interesting, especially when we got to operate one of those 10-story tall cranes to practice removing the huge hatch covers from the hold of a merchant marine ship. Now that we are back in Fort Eustis, we are doing a training exercise to show off our new abilities.


This year's training didn't start out great because I had received a bad sunburn at the beach a day before we before we flew out here. I was amazed to find out that that could technically get me an "Article 15" for damaging military property. That meant that even though it was torture to stand out in the blazing sun, I had to make sure the sunburn didn't effect my work. I think that it is even hotter here in Virginia than it was last year, and the humidity is off the charts. This is bug heaven as well and they all love to bite. I don't know what is worse, the mosquitoes, ticks, clouds of gnats or the microscopic chiggers that leave a red rash.


We worked pretty hard this year with no time off at the end of the day or on the weekends. The weather started to get a little rough near the end of the exercise and we received a hurricane warning while we were out in the field. It was actually a relief because the strong winds help cut down on the heat and insects and allowed us to head back to the barracks a little earlier and relax.