Well, I said I would be back more often. As is often the case, life has seen to ensure otherwise.

I have spent the majority of the past few months satisfying training requirements for an upcoming deployment. I was also transferred to a sister unit to lead one of their teams and have to try and toughen up my troops for what will be a stressful mission. As a result of all of that I am no longer employed. My employer no longer had a need for my expertise.
So I am 4 or so months from a year long deployment and am searching for a job. I have put in a packet to become a temporary technician with the National Guard doing operations stuff. I may be gone quite often as the only way to make up the difference in salary is to volunteer for activities that put me on active status. That means I will be away from home often.
And to boot, I am still an Assistant Chief at the VFD. We are fighting for the survival of our department since the local city is trying desperatly to get our territory. I did finish my volunteer certification, so I am now an EMT and certified fire fighter at least.
With all of these things demanding my time, and the fact that I have neglected this page for a while, I will not be creating any further posts. It has been a pleasure to talk with y'all.

Take care and God Bless.

M9 again

I have had something occur that has given me new insight into the wonderfulness that is the M9/92FS. I have always felt that it was somewhat limited as a combat arm. You can look through the archives for my old opinions. I now believe that it is the perfect sidearm. Awesomeness in physical form. Everyone should sell their 1911s, Glocks, Sigs, etc. and go buy a 92FS pronto. CCW? Yes. Combat arm? Yes. There is nothing it can't do.

The reason for my 180? I now own one, so it has to be the most bestest pistol ever.

Actually I bought one for two reasons. 1. It goes with my modest military collection. 2. I need practice with it if my life is going to depend on it in a few months.

2 things that have got on my nerves this week

1. Anyone that took the story about the Iowa NG doing some training and used it to inflate your agenda about confiscation schemes can kiss my ass. I am absolutely amazed that people can sit there and tell me with a straight face that the training that was planned would herald in a new age of fascism. Insulting the guys that are your first and best defence against that happening is not a sign of intelligence. Have any of y'all even considered the fact that we are well enough trained and equipped to do those things already? We don't need more practice and if we were planning to do such things, I doubt that we would start in Iowa and we certainly would keep a better secret. Geez, you are pathetic.
We have a hard enough time getting quality training during weekend drills as it is, without a bunch of babies wetting their diapers over an exercise that is as tame as walking through a park. And y'all depending on the MSM for your information makes it all the more unbelievable. And if you are a member of the conspiracy club that believes that NG units are training to come take your stuff, don't bother commenting here as there is nothing that you can say that will take away the whiff of poo in your shorts and the look of be clowning on your faces. Dipshits.
Oh yeah, I saw where Micheal Bane was the big instigator in this over-hyped goat rope. So now I have to quit reading someone that up to this point I held in high regard. I don't often think that about media types and now I remember why. I'm not linking because if you know, you know. If you don't, it doesn't matter.

2. And so that you don't think that I am just a NG brainwashed automaton: I would like to take this occasion to make a statement that pretty well sums up my feelings toward near all S1 and higher state admin types in the TX ARNG (I can think of one that is worth a damn):
If you are not willing to do your jobs, let us know so we can quit doing ours. You set the rules for promotions. Go to WLC, MOSQ/T, BNCOC (Phase I and II), ad infinitum, so we go. Get awards, so we strive for awards. Go to college, so we go to college, and pass PT tests, so we do that. Everything that you demand, we do. But when it comes down to it, and all you are required to do is pass along a couple of sheets of paper or make one entry into a computer program, it comes out; we are just an irritation that needs to go away. If rewarding and promoting soldiers for performance is not a priority then just tell us. We can have a Division full of Spec. 4s and 1LT.s (the two highest ranks you can achieve without any obvious aptitude or ability). Because it is obvious that unless you are a ring knocking member of the Aggie Corp. Protection Society, you are worth less than a booger at a socialite's wedding. The term Chickenshit fits pretty well and it was created just for groups like you. I will not allow my animosity for you to affect my performance as an NCO, but don't coming looking for favors because you are REMFs without a cure.

I would like to thank the Readiness NCOs, COs and others that have made the effort these past many years. You are few and far between and deserve better from those you have to depend on to take care of your soldiers.

Beretta

First, let me state that I am not a good shot with the Army's M9. I am, in my opinion, a marginal pistol shooter to begin with and the M9 just accentuates my weaknesses in the regard. Oh, I have qualified with them and carried one as a backup arm the year we were in OIF. I have just never been comfortable shooting it. I have actually gotten better since I started shooting the G21 but am not where I want to be. So in the spirit of the thing, I am going to put down some money on a 92FS. I am not sure what they go for locally, I have seen them on Gunbroker, and will be calling around looking and I have put out feelers to my friends looking for a used one. The reasoning is two-fold. First, I have a small representitive collection of military arms. Nothing fancy, but the M9 would go along in the vein. Second, I need the practice as we are being assigned a mission on the next deployment that will find me using the M9 as a primary carry, and not just for sitting on the FOB. So I figure that the best way to improve is to shoot the thing extensivly. Anyway, maybe I will grow fond of it over time, stranger things have happened.

Nice to see someone else on the end of one of these tirades

Good times.

I got this from Defense Tech, a worthy bunch with good information. Give them a read.

Ravens at Benning

Well I made it home. I got to spend the best part of 2 weeks learning how to deploy the Army's RQ-11B Raven. It is a RC aircraft that has been turned into a nice little recon package. You can get the basic spec's here. It has a laptop linked to it that can set way points and orbit points for hands off monitoring. The software is designed to use the internal GPS to get it back home in case of a commo problem between the bird and the controller. It can be set to cruise at a set altitude so you can monitor targets without flying into the ground. Or you can set it for manual flight, but it is designed to not allow a stall during flight so you are relieved of a lot of the pressure normal RC flyers deal with. There are no ailerons so it can't roll and turning is a function of the rudder and stabilator (really just the elevator, but it acts in conjunction witht the rudder to do limited aileron functions). It is a simple piece of equipment. You throw it to launch it and it it has a contolled crash for landing. Landing is the funniest thing I have ever seen, sinse you basically crash it from 75-150'. Think about the concept like this: to stop your car you must (and I stress must) slam into a wall. Then the doors, wheels, transmission and differential all fly off. You get out, snap them all back on, get in and do it again at the next intersection. It is a hoot and never gets old. It has night and day camera capabilities. Go to youtube and search on Raven for several litle bits of it taking off, flying and landing. I got to see some pretty good crashes and none required more than a couple of minutes to repair. We did damage a tail section to the point that it will have to be repaired by the manufactorer, but since the whole thing is modular we had a new part on and the a/c flying soon after. The school uses a mixture of civilian contractors and Army NCOs. It seemed to be a good mix. We got some good training from both groups without all of the standard Army doctrinal fluff that usually detracts from training. We were allowed to relax and learn how to fly the bird. Our unit is supposed to be getting Ravens soon, so I should have my hands back on the controller in a bit. The only limit is that they are controlled by the FAA and Army avitaion, so we can't just go out to the park and fly them. If not planned for properly, these birds could cause a disruption to other aircraft since we can fly up to 10000' MSL and out of sight (but not out of line of sight).
It is a nice piece of equipment and I hope to get to do some combat missions with it once we are back in country.

Well that was 2 weeks well spent. Oh yeah, that was also the first time I had been on Ft. Benning where I did not have Drill Sergeants looking over my shoulder all hours of the day and night. It took 18 years, but there ya go.

The next adventure

Howdy friends and neighbors,
I am writing to you from Olson Hall, Fort Benning, GA. I drove 12 hours across 5 states to learn how to fly and deploy RQ-11s, better known as Ravens. I would be enjoying myself a bit more if I wasn't as sick as the proverbial dog.
This is my first time back to Benning since Nov. 1990 when I wrapped up 11B Basic and AIT.
The school is more laid back and congenial than most Army schools. They seem to be more intent on teaching you how to fly competently rather than playing Army. There are only 12 students and the instructors are a mix of Army and civilian. We were supposed to fly today for the first time, but the weather was not in our favor. So we will be out first thing tomorrow launching Ravens into the wild blue. So far, I am impressed with the system. I will update as we progress.
I am thinking that this is the first time that I have driven from Texas to a state other than Oklahoma with a concealed firearm. The link at USCCA helped make sure that I was compliant with the laws across TX, LA, MS, AL and GA. Give it a shot.

Holler at y'all later.

Follow up

Pistolero,

You are right spec wise and thanks for pointing out my error. Anemic was not the correct word and I should have known better. If they allowed an expanding round, the NATO spec is quite satisfactory. I was thinking more in terms of ball stopping power, which has proven to be a weakness of the NATO spec ammo. I should have stuck with the point I was trying to make instead of trying to expand my vocabulary.

Now to the point I should have been satisfied making. A full size handgun developed to meet a host of endurance standards and pass a long list of tests should not have a load bearing piece fail in a weapon that has seen little use.

I know that you can expect a certain number of failures in any system, although having to depend on the 1 in 1000 weapon to save your life could prove problematic. I have heard rumors of this being a problem for M9s for some time and as much as a lot of people like to bash the M16/M4 series, I have never had one start shedding pieces. And that is with a lot more rounds than I have ever fired through M9s.

P.S. That order puts a round in the head of any hope for a replacement for the M9s in the US Army for the long term. M9s don't wear out like the long guns due to limited use so they are not going away.

amazing how time flies

I never intended to totally abandon this site, but other things became more important. Anyway, now that I have things to talk about again, maybe we can reconnect.
As a gesture of friendship and a desire for hope and change check this out:
M9

So much for a .45 handgun or competition in our future. It would be nice if they spent some of that money on reliable mags for the M9s instead of just buying new weapons.

One little story regarding the "reliable" M9. I was at the 11C (Indirect Fire Infantryman) MOST (Military Occupational Specialty Transition) in May (I will tell the story behind that later) and we had to go out to the range and burn off a bunch of 9MM ammo. Not sure how that relates to learning to kill the enemy with mortars, but there you are. Anyway I was up there banging away at the pop up targets and the weapon locked up. I got to fooling with it and determined that the barrel lug had sheered off. This with a weapon that has probably only ever had maybe 500 rounds total shot through it and weak and anemic military rounds at that.
Inspiring is what that is. I know, anecdote not fact, but...

edited: Baby Glock and Comp-Tac = awesome plastic and leather

Added 12/28/08: I just wanted to reiterate, several months later and a lot of carrying, that this review still applies. Maybe even more so.

I picked up a G26 for everyday carry. Took it to the range and put a couple of hundred rounds through it. As much as I am a .45 guy, this little 9 rocks. I can shoot this little thing better than the M9. It is perfect for tucked carry. I picked up a Comp-Tac Minotaur holster for it. This is the best concealed holster I have purchased yet. I can wear this rig all day long. I can sit around the house, drive the truck, go to calls and it never gives up. The new holster clips are great. They are durable and slim, so as to be inconspicuous. And it is a true tuckable. The technique I figured out takes no more time then threading and setting a belt holster, it is that good. I love this thing. May even get one for the G30 for winter carry.
Anyway, back to the G26. I had debated picking up another pistol, but the G30 is a bit to big for some occassions and I can't get the hang of the trigger on the PF9. So I took part of my bonus hit the gun show and picked up a G26 with the night sights. Great package. Same trigger and functionality as the other Glocks. Even with the pinky dangling it is easy to control. My buddy, another long time .45 man has decided to pick one up as well. I went with the 9MM purely on cost per round. I decided that being able to fire twice as many rounds and still have good hollow point performance was the way to go this time. I still use the G30 when wearing clothes that work with it, but the G26 is great for the summers down here. A t shirt, even tucked, covers this rig nicely. I am thrilled with this combo.

The real reason that I know it is perfect for me? I quit searching for hand guns the day I shot it.

Just need a .308 rifle and my gun life is complete. So to speak :-)

Y'all be good, take it easy. Things are what they are, but in the end we win.

God Bless.

It is what it is...

http://www.imao.us/index.php/2008/11/mr-president/

Ike update II

By the time the rain stopped the neighborhood was cleaning up the mess. I saw today during my rounds that folks are already stacking the fallen trees and installing new fences. Which, by the way, the fence was the only thing damaged at the house. Both sides blew down, but the neighbors propped them up while I was working and we'll get them repaired over the next week or so. It was good to see everyone so energetic and putting things back to normal.

We have a natural gas generator at the station which more than paid for itself. It allowed us to work at peak efficiency throughout the power outage. A little bit of AC can do a lot to get you ready to go back out for the next call.

My real job is on hold as both offices sustained damage and are closed to workers. I will probably work from home the rest of the week, balanced with responding to emergencies. Oh yeah, the weather cooled off as the front moved through, so even though a lot of folks were without power it has been nice yesterday and today. Hopefully that helps them a bit.

So, going to bed, hopefully for the night. See y'all when I see ya.

Ike update

12 hours out and it looked like we were going to get hit head on. Well the high met it further out and pushed it farther east. Just like a lot of things, our benefit was another's detriment. We were on the clean side, so we experienced high winds and some rain. Our neighborhood has a lot of older trees and so there was a lot of natural pruning going on. We had to suspend operations around 0200 Saturday when the winds got to high for us to safely operate. Our calls were queued and we starting rolling at 0700. We manned our two engines and a squad and set out to drive every street in our coverage area. We mixed in fire checks and EMS calls throughout as well. And of course within15 minutes of starting my sector, I was face to face with a large pecan tree. I spent about an hour in the rain using a 18" Stihl to create a lane for POVs and Emergency apparatus. So the rest of the day was spent with wood chips in my shirt and bunker coat. It all worked though. There were a lot of trees down and the power was out but there were no major injuries in our area. We had a good turn out from the vollunteers and were able to alternate trucks so that one crew did not get overloaded. We have been working through an extended period of increased call volume, so I have been working 24/7 since Friday morning.
The power has mostly been restored around here, so I am able to stay at home at night and respond direct with our rescue unit. So I have that going for me. Which is nice.
Uniform reviews to follow.

Ike

We are about 30-45 miles from where the storm is supposed to come ashore. It appears that I will be the senior guy at the fire department. I will try and set up a play by play if it looks entertaining.

We have had a lot going on around here, and none of it can be blogged. Simple answer is that there are forces trying to shove our department out of the way. One day I will give y'all an idea of what is going on. It has kept me busy. Between my full time job, the Army national Guard and the fire department my typing time has been severely impacted. I am hoping to get back on track soon.

Went to FRI (IAFC)

Spent a good part of last week in Denver. It was a blast. I really love big, shiny trucks. I like them all, dump trucks, cement mixers, OTR, whatever. But, I really lose it around fire apparatus. Check that. I really lose it around all emergency services apparatus. From the little Polaris with a skid mount grass rig all the way up to the big Pierce platform. I enjoyed seeing the new arrivals in the industry by Dodge and Sterling. The Ford rescue rigs and ambulances were gleaming. I would like to thank Sara at Blauer for her time and efforts in helping us line out our new uniform standard and to the nine1one guys as well. Y'all are awesome. And, if y'all from HAIX see this, so far the new boots are sweet.
Won a hard hat from TEEX, hopefully they can mail it to me as I did not have my cell at the show. Got a bunch of trinkets for Baby Girl to lose and hats for the guys at the stations.
We just sold our 2000 Quality Engine, so we were looking at possible replacements for it. I want to congratulate Kyle, TX on the purchase of the $660,000 Engine. That rig is what a fireman's dreams are made of. Where did y'all get the money for that thing? Saw Houston's big new hazmat truck. Seems like a lot of truck to manage diesel spills, but it's cool none the less. Hawaii has the truck with the most yellow on it I have ever seen. Very eye catching.
Ate at the Denver Chop House and Brewery, might be one the best bought NY Strips that I have ever eaten. And I have eaten a bunch of steaks from a bunch of places. Anyway, it was good. The pilsner was good as well.

A good time really was had by all. Hope to see you in Dallas next year.

Gun Shows

In years past, the gun show was the place to be. It was an opportunity for private parties to sell and buy from each other. And, better yet, it was the place for gun store owners to clear some inventory. You could find the stuff that had been sitting on the shelf and needed to be cleared out. Weapons and accessories could be had for a substantial discount and there was an atmosphere of good natured bartering. And the later in the day, the more deals that could be had.
The shows only happened once or twice a year and were the place to be for all gunnies.

Now, it is just a big retail fest. Most of the dealers are not even local. They act like you are bothering them, and they have more inventory there than they could ever hope to sell. I know that margins are slim in the business, but when a customer asks if anything can be done to help on the price, a simple sorry is sufficient. We don't need the snide look and curt response. It was a simple and honest question that deserves a simple and honest answer. If you are a dealer at the show and get pissed about people trying to get a bargain, then why are you there?

I drove 45 minutes, paid $10 for parking and $8 to get in. I still have to pay taxes on the purchases, so a little bit back for the trouble is not to much to expect. And besides, what happened to winning a customer for life (which could be a result of the fact that they are not from around here and don't give a crap whether I get good service)?

There are so many retail shops hogging all of the space, and it is so crammed together, it is impossible to see the private party tables.

I went through the entire show, making notes of the tables that had what I was looking for. When I made my decision, I went back to make the purchase. I did not bother the staff at any of them until I was ready to buy. When my first choice acted indifferently, I went to my second choice where I stood at the table for a good 10 minutes before even being acknowledged. We had completed the paperwork and she was working on the sales ticket when she mentioned that some Glocks were marked down and wanted to make sure that the 26 wasn't one of them. She waited for the owner to show up and when she asked him, his body language was so hateful that I almost just walked off right there. Since he was not the only one that acted like we were bugging him by trying to give money I decided that it was just part of the new gun show model and would have to live with it.

As an aside, Academy has decent prices on hand guns down here by the way. Within $30 of the best gun show prices if you count parking and the ticket but not fuel, which is another $10 I bet.

With all of that said, if that is how it is done and the businesses and customers are satisfied with the arrangement, which seems to be the case considering the crowd, then maybe I am the out lier and need to change my expectations. I am being more nostalgic than anything else.

I first saw the change right before the original assault weapon ban that Clinton instigated went into effect, gun shows became a weekly thing so that people could buy their AR or AK before the ban. I guess that the AWB bubble ruined dealers from then on because it has just gotten worse since.

The local shops seem to be filled with know it alls, so no help there. I can drive for a good 45 minutes to an hour out of town and there is a decent shop with guys that are tolerable, so I have that going for me. Which is nice.

Gun Shows, your experience my differ. See y'all on the flip side.

A G26 on the hip

Went to the gun show this weekend. Found a decent deal on a Glock 26 with Tritium sights. I have always been a .45 kind of guy but needed something to carry that was a tad bit smaller. And, I decided that I need at least one good 9MM just in case. I assume there will be 9MM all over when the worst occurs and besides it is half the cost of .40, .357 Sig and .45 to boot. I'll let you know how it shoots when I get to the range, but it carries nice. It absolutely disappears on the hip and the weight is less than my old .357 snub nose.

Gun shows just aren't what they used to be though and I will discuss that with y'all tomorrow, hopefully.

A racism free zone

If not voting for the half Kenyan Obama is a sign of continuing racism, can I just not vote for the Kansan half? Same affect, no racism. So from now on, if I say anything negative about Obama, it is about the Kansas half.

Want to know what reminds you to carry as often as you can?

A drive by shooting, that's what.
Not at me, across the street and 2 houses down. 0230, 5 rounds that I heard, speeding off into the night. And this in a neighborhood of quiet, tree lined streets. A place where neighbors argue over whether a new fire station should be built or whether your yard meets their exacting standards, not whether they should go outside and risk getting shot.

Of course I went outside, radio in one hand and Glock on the hip. I had to make sure there were no casualties and I wasn't going to do that unarmed. 2 of the shots hit the front door and the other impacts had not been found, probably in the yard would be my guess. 0230 means the bars just closed so the shooter was probably a bit impaired. There is the possibility that it was an escalation of an incident at a bar a while back rather than a random event. Which means the shooter is probably already known. We'll see.

Oh yeah, 5-8 minute response, easy. And that is with a contract deputy paid for patrolling the neighborhood. My point being, they can not protect you as an individual. Not at 0230 in the morning and not at 1430 in the afternoon. It is just impossible. Until there is a 1 to 1 ratio of protectors and protected, it's not gonna happen.

No one was hurt and life goes on. Be careful y'all.