Garrison, on the left; Coughenhour laying back; and Orozco; -- probably Smith lying back on the bunk behind Orozco. The guys are taking a break from the life-fire range the battalion put on.

And Smith is down! The card there on the ground next to his head says, "Sucking chest wound" -- so the medic applies a bit of plastic to the wound to keep his lung from collapsing (inset). We each go into the training scenarios with these 'action cards'; some everything from 'collapsing lung', to others that say 'genital lice' -- and I'm not kidding.

Lieutenant Jenkins takes a kneeling position in the midst of this convoy run. The LT's job in this situation is to coordinate with higher, and ensure his QRF and team leaders keep an eye on his troops. In this case, he keeps an eye on his casualties, too.

The medics, under simulated fire, get Smith back to the ambulance as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the Observer/Controller from within the battalion (ACUs) tries to figure out his camera and his walkie-talkie.

Live rounds, with every fifth round a tracer, coupled with dry grasses...

When a wildfire breaks out during a training mission, the training stops so that we can contain the brush fire, and ensure that the smoke doesn't get out of control. In this situation, the smoke was interfering with a training lane happening in parallel to our own training lane.

Here, Garrison and I (my back to the camera) help get one of the joes (this time, Smith, again) onto the back of a truck. When the ambulance fills up, or when its too far away, we have to get our guys out on our own. SFC Poole and SSG Strait (left, and right) assist.

Not only does Garrison have to monitor our downed soldier, he also has to help with the vehicle that got hit with a simulated IED, which we'll have to tow out of the blast zone. Time is critical, and hollering helps.

SSG George and SSG Strait carry Coughenhour to Garrison's vehicle, while SFC Poole rushes to grab the wounded's weapons. Lots of O/Cs from the battalion stand around in the background.

Me and SSG Strait hook up the tow bar on the 'damaged' vehicle. The tow strap worked to tow us out of the area where the simulated IED went off, but once clear of the blast area, a tow bar would be needed to get the vehicle back to base without a driver.

Orozco, Hamwright (behind the SAW), Hernandez (with the IV bags), and Smith, with the back of Coughenhour's helmet, as we head on down the training lane. Incidentally, those are live rounds in the SAW.

Hernandez checks Coughenhour's pulse. It's not unusual for our medics to 'lose' someone on the way back, so they can take a nap.

In all the hoopla of pre-training training to train for the training event wherein we'll train to train to deploy somewhere... I neglected to make sure all our guys knew the SAW inside and out. Smith's our left-handed M203 gunner, and so we tend to keep him in that position. Oops?

F L2R: unnamed medic (kneeling), SSG Marshall, PFC Smith, 1LT Jenkins, PFC Hamwright, SSG George, PFC Keelor, PFC Coughenhour, SSG Strait, SGT Jones
kneeling, F L2R: SFC Poole (kneeling), SGT Parker, PFC Garrison, SGT Snyder, PFC Orozco, SGT Rankins, PFC Hernandez (blurred, kneeling), SSG Parish (kneeling, far right).

Fourth Platoon (callsign Rough Riders) stands around 'shootin the shit' and conducting an After Action Review regarding the day's live fire lanes training.

On another mission's training, we joined one of the units going through the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) gauntlet. Here, Coughenhour, West (facing), Gleason (back to the camera), and Hernandez play spades in between missions.

Our equipment has an annoying flaw. Some 'genius' decided to put an oversized 5kW generator on an undersized trailer -- such that only four bolts take all the stress and torsion of the entire generator's weight. During one convoy op, we got lucky when an O/C noticed that two of the four bolts had already sheared off, and the other two were only holding on with a prayer. Getting the mess repaired was an annoyance that required the convoy take off without us, after dropping Smith and I off with a maintenance unit out on the rotation.

During yet another train, train, train, train... Something or another, we managed to squeeze in some platoon training out near the main parade field. Here, Skoglund and Orozco (to the left) look on as Smith and Coughenhour (right, helmets) prepare to set up the systems in a hurry. Hernandez sits inside the vehicle, and SGT Maglothin (soft cap) looks on.

Coughenhour rushes to put up some of the meteorological systems, while Smith enthusiastically waits for the thermals to be handed up to him, for the top of the truck by Hernandez (hand).

Garrison goes over our schedule, while Coughenhour and Smith look on.

We had a semiannual event within the company called 'BIDS Stakes', wherein the lower enlisted would compete for the title of 'Best BIDS Operators'. The competition consisted of a grueling road march, a land nav course, computer sims, and this final event: the setting up of the entire Biological Integrated Detections Suite.

Our platoon's resident artist, SGT Betancur, takes a chance to sketch the day's events.

The teams take a break during the night portion of the land nav course.

1LT Jenkins takes a break from his cast, while he talks with SSG Strait (top row); below them, SFC Poole rolls his eyes at one of his squad leaders taking pictures, and 1SG Hilaire eyes the camera with tolerance.