Well we are at the end of out training phase. With the end of this night comes the end of all of our pre-mobilization training, and there is definitely and air of excitment about. However, there is also the realization that it is going to be a long, possibly boring night.

I have the pleasure of being on the night shift for this exercise, which is meant to simulate the job and positions we will hold during our mission to Iraq. The problem is, that this exercise is winding down and therefore this may prove to be a long and boring night. Hopefully the internet connection, which has been quite testy, will hold out long enough for me to order some Christmas presents online during any downtime we might have. The router at this particular location likes to take the night off every now and then, making work difficult when we have some to do, and making downtime painful.

There are other options I suppose. I do have a copy of the Army Leadership manual that I will peruse as a backup plan. A backup to that backup would probably be to try and take the static M7 Priest, a track-mounted howitzer that is on display outside of this building, for a little road march down to the shoppette to do a coffee run in the wee hours of the morning. Wouldn’t that be a sight. Of course, the odds of the success of that side mission might be a little low given the equipment is well over half a century old -but we can dream can’t we?

I will have to see if we can’t get a picture in front of the vehicle tomorrow at some point. It would be a hansome photo.  I can see it now: the commander standing in the gun turret with the guidon flying high with the proud soldiers of the 314th latent with excitement at the prospect of soon leaving Fort Dix below.