Everyone Loves a Little Yak

Well, for the past 2 weeks-ish I have been in Yakima, WA at the Yakima Training Center with my unit getting ready for Iraq. It was really hot a few days, really windy a few days, and snowed a few of the other days. All-in-all, it was much better than being back on post -- the field is usually like that. My guys got some good training and it was a success. I threw in some pictures of our convoys from Fort Lewis to Yakima and back because I was put in charge of organizing them and coordinating it with the state. There were 9 convoys going up and 7 coming back. So, enough with the chatter, here are the pictures:

This is part of the convoy I was riding in on the way to Yakima.

Here are some of my guys relaxing during a rest stop. (L to R: Wissman, Kelly, Momberger)


Here is the inside of one of my MEVs (Medical Evacuation Variant of the Stryker) The litters (stretchers) on the left and right are about 7 feet long each and it's about 10-12 feet wide inside.


Here is one of the targets we used during training -- of course it's politically correct...


This is me in my gear with my M4 rifle, M9 pistol, Kevlar vest, etc.


This is one of the return convoys. This gives a little better view of what a Stryker looks like.

My guys were nice and let me command one of the MEVs on the way home. This is me standing up in the Vehicles Commander's hatch during the only dry part of the 5 hour ride.