In The Rear With The Gear

A grandson is in the South Carolina National Guard. Some units (MPs) are being activated and sent to some foreign hellhole. His response to my inquiry is he is assigned to the rear of the rear units; one unlikely to ever be deployed. That makes me happy!

Xiben and his woke appointees couldn’t pull off a proper guard mount inspection let alone putting their asses on the line in any manner to back up our troops.

91 Bravo

Grandson Connor called this morning to let me know he graduated A.I.T. and is on his way back home to South Carolina. He is a National Guardsman. What he was trained to do:

https://www.operationmilitarykids.org/army-wheeled-vehicle-mechanic-mos-91b/

Naturally I’m proud of him. The services today are not nearly as easy as in the past despite what many think.With smaller forces, the selection criteria is much more stringent.

Connor is a 5^th Generation soldier.

The call was bittersweet. He sounds so much like his late father.

Being in the Guard will give him a financial floor of around $4k a year to start.

Soon Spartanburg will have another qualified mechanic working on their cars and trucks.

Bad Granddad

 

My grandson Connor is about halfway through Basic at Fort Jackson, SC.  I sent him a big bag of M&Ms. Seems those are regarded as “contraband” and brought scrutiny from his Drill Instructors. My bad! The contraband goes into a “personal” bag until he graduates. He tells me he is looking forward to eating them.

AIT will be training as a mechanic on Armored Equipment which will lead to being a diesel mechanic as a civilian plus the Guard will help with his college.

He graduates Basic April 29^th. At the moment Fort Jackson is closed due to Kong Flu. Hope that changes; I want to be there as I was for his father.

He becomes a fifth generation soldier.

Great great Uncle Leonard White served as a Cavalryman during WWI fighting the Mexican border war.

Great grandfather Bob White, Quartermaster, Army/Army Air force, WWII CBI

Grandfather Frank White, Combat Engineer 1963-1966, Germany

 Father Travis White, Combat Medic, Afghanistan

 Connor is a good man. His father would be proud.

 

11B

Oldest grandson shipped out to Fort Benning this morning. Enlisted for Infantry.

When his mother and my son married, her daughter and son asked,

“What should we call you?”

“Whatever you want”, was my reply.

“Can we call you Grandpa”, they asked?

“Sure”, I said. I’ve been Grandpa every since (and happy to be so).

He will have a couple of things going for him. Army brat, and a high school marching band sousaphone player.

With him towering at 6’9”, this cynical former EM expects him to end up in the weapons platoon lugging a mortar base plate.

The young man has a temper problem that I hope doesn’t derail him. If things work out will be there to see him graduate, basic or A.I.T, depending.

His biological father was both a Marine and Army but couldn’t hack either. Fervently hope his son does better.