![\"IMG_2358\"](\"http:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_2358-e1471045663694-225x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNavy Individual Augmentee Combat Training<\/p>\n
NIACT was HOT. Kevlar, plate carrier, elbow\/knee pads, gloves over a uniform and boots in 100 degree heat with 90% humidity ends up feeling like dawning 50 extra pounds of wet clothes. I learned a lot of army type things I was always curious about, such as weapons, weapon cleaning, convoy ops, building clearing, etc. I shot well enough to earn ‘sharpshooter’ ribbons on both the pistol and the rifle, which I am pretty happy about.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here\u00a0is an email I sent to shipmates who will meet me in Afghanistan later that describes much of my travel and training experience up until I got Kabul:<\/p>\n
Fellow deploying PAOs,<\/p>\n
Right now I am sitting on a c-17 loaded up with tanks of liquid
\nnitrogen and passengers (lots of new normals to get used to around
\nhere), headed to Bagram. I am now six weeks into this deployment and
\nhave not yet reached my final destination. The following is an account
\nof my experience thus far and collection of gouge that might be useful
\nto you as you begin your own journey forward.<\/p>\n
NMPS-
\n– Book your room at the Q early and request Maury hall. Several people
\nended up with CNAs and had to stay off base and it took ECRC three
\ndays to figure out shared rental cars, so they had to deal with lots
\nof taxis and otherwise avoidable reimbursements in their travel
\nclaims. Maury hall is really nice as Navy Gateway Inns go, and only a
\nblock away from NMPS, so even in mid-July-Norfolk-heat, walking was no
\nissue.
\n– When you arrive at the airport, get a taxi that has access to the
\nnaval base and a cabbie who knows where the berthing halls are. You’ll
\nhave to check in at Wall Manor first, have the cab wait for you to
\nthen take you to Maury, which cost about $35.
\n– Pack light and bring civilian clothes. There will be lots of down
\ntime and early release days, there are free, brand new washers and
\ndryers in Maury hall, and you will be issued all the necessary
\nuniforms for NIACT and deployment. So you could easily get by with one
\nset of type iii’s or blueberries for the week. Khakis are also
\nacceptable, but there are a couple days when you have to try on
\nuniforms and boots where khakis might be cumbersome.
\n– Bring a kindle. There will be A LOT of down time. The down time can
\neither be free time or time spent waiting in line depending on how
\nmuch of the medical checklist you can get done at your NOSC; PHA,
\nvaccinations, dental, eye prescriptions, ANAM, etc. If you have
\neverything complete before you get to Norfolk, then you’ll get almost
\ntwo days off in the middle of the week.<\/p>\n
JFTC – NATO Joint Force Training Center, Bydgoszcz Poland
\nThis is Resolute Support training that is conducted quarterly so the
\nnext session is not until January. I don’t think this will apply to
\nany of you because you’ll all be joining me before then, but if you do
\nget an ordmod to include this istop, let me know and I’ll give you
\nmore gouge. The training focused on the staff structure for the RS
\nmission, how the departments interact and overlap and protocols and
\ntechniques for training and advising the Afghans. Much of the
\ncurriculum seemed to not really apply to a media operations PAO, we
\nwere always the unique case of staff officer advisors, but the
\ntraining was still useful and I believe will give us a better chance
\nto hit the ground running when we get there, but we’ll see.<\/p>\n
NIACT –
\nAll I can say is I hope the weather cools down a bit by the time you
\nget there. South Carolina heat in August was a new experience for me.
\nMost days we reached category 5 heat (Navy equivalent is\u00a0a black flag)
\nby 10 am. I spent a majority of the two weeks in wet clothes because
\nwithin minutes of dawning the IOTV – Improved Outer Tactical Vest, I would saturate my shirt\u00a0with sweat. You’ll be issued combat shirts with the uniforms. The
\nbuilt in elbow pads on these shirts have a toxic funk, so wash them
\nahead of time, but whenever you are authorized to wear them, I
\nrecommend taking advantage. They are much lighter and more comfortable
\nunder the vest than the uniform blouse.<\/p>\n
Open bay barracks, nearly unpalatable DFAC, drill sergeants, buses
\nwith no AC… It is a pretty legitimate army experience that will
\nreaffirm your choice to join the Navy. But I got very familiar with my
\nweapons, shot a lot, and gained new experiences I would not have had
\nthe opportunity otherwise.<\/p>\n
The most important gouge I can offer is bring a headband or dewrag or
\nsomething to keep the sweat from running in your eyes under the ACH. A
\ncooling towel is also nice to have.<\/p>\n
ECRC FWD – Qatar
\nFrom FT Jackson, 13 of us headed for Afghanistan got on a chartered
\nbus for a 9.5 hour drive up to Baltimore to catch a rotator that went
\nthrough Germany and Kuwait before landing in Qatar. Qatar is another
\nnew heat experience for me; I had never before been to a place where
\nthe weather forecast predicts a wind chill factor of 122.<\/p>\n
The time spent in ‘cutter’ could vary. We arrived on a Thursday and
\nthe next flight up to Bagram wasn’t until the following Monday. But,
\nthe BOG clock starts when you arrive so if you do have to spend a few
\ndays there, enjoy the three beers a day, the good food at the defac
\nand the rest of the amenities the Air Force built on this arid desert
\nbase.<\/p>\n
With that, be strategic with your “72 hour” carry on bag because you
\nwon’t have access to the rest of your seabags while you’re there.
\nThings like a hat, sunscreen and even a bathing suit are recommended.
\nIf not a bathing suit, you will want civilian clothes; shorts, t
\nshirts, workout gear. Everyone in the area where you’ll stay is
\ntransient and there are no uniform or footwear requirements around the
\nbase. The only clothing rules I remember are no sleeveless shirts and
\nyou can’t go into the defac straight from the gym in sweaty clothes –
\nnot that anyone could tell because walking from the barracks to the
\ndefac is enough to make anyone look like they just came from the gym
\nwhen temps are in the 120s.<\/p>\n
The ECRC staff is very helpful, have good gouge and make sure you know
\nwhere you need to be to get to your next stop. It probably helped that
\ntheir CO went to NIACT with us so they picked up their new boss when
\nthey picked us up too.<\/p>\n
That’s all I have for now. If you have any questions, I’ll be here.
\nLook forward to seeing you soon.<\/p>\n
V\/r
\nChris<\/p>\n
PS – this was drafted on the c-17 but I didn’t have a connection to
\nsend it until now – sitting in the PA shop at RS. We had to stay
\novernight in Bagram; transient berthing here is a little rough – far
\nmore army than the Airforce berthing in Qatar, but it was only for one
\nnight. Seabags still stay at the airfield, so 72 hour bag became a 1
\nweek bag for us. Helo flight from here to RS is a short ride on a civ
\ncontracted 12 pax Chinook. Pretty easy day. In Bagram, start drinking
\nmore water than you think you should to help with elevation
\nacclimation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training NIACT was HOT. Kevlar, plate carrier, elbow\/knee pads, gloves over a uniform and boots in 100 degree heat with 90% humidity ends up feeling like dawning 50 extra pounds of wet clothes. I learned a lot of army type things I was always curious about, such as weapons, weapon cleaning,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s9IVlY-niact","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":325,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/29\/180-degrees\/","url_meta":{"origin":29,"position":0},"title":"180 Degrees","date":"January 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been about six months since the last time I wrote anything here. My relationship with writing resembles my love\/hate relationship with running, especially in the winter: I agonize about starting, I\u2019m slower than I\u2019d like to be, but when I finish I feel better about myself and am glad\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "life is life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/06\/new-blog-category-triathlon\/","url_meta":{"origin":29,"position":1},"title":"New blog category: Triathlon","date":"March 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As I described on the about me page, I started this blog at the beginning of my deployment to Afghanistan in 2016. But, by the time I reached the second half of my time there, I was too busy to stop and write about my experience. Now that I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":187,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/08\/14\/cvc-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":29,"position":2},"title":"Chula Vista Challenge Half 2018 Race Report","date":"August 14, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Chula Vista Challenge Half, 2018 \u2013 Long Course Aquabike (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike) official time: 3:13:23 swim: 34:38 bike: 2:37:40 overall: 5th of 37 1-49 age group: 3rd of 11 A day of firsts\u2026 This weekend was supposed to be my first 70.3, half Ironman distance race. Instead,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/img_0419-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":165,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/26\/polish-wedding\/","url_meta":{"origin":29,"position":3},"title":"Polish Wedding","date":"June 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple weeks ago, I had the great honor to travel to Poznan, Poland to attend my brother's and sister-in-law's wedding. If a typical European vacation could compare to a 5 year courtship, I did the speed dating version. It was a four day round-trip that included about 50 hours\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "life is life"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/MG_5897-1024x683.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":39,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/09\/07\/pbs\/","url_meta":{"origin":29,"position":4},"title":"PBS","date":"September 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There has been a lot of terrorist activity in Kabul since I arrived. My first night at RS, the team was dealing with media inquiries regarding the first American casualty from hostile fire since the beginning of the year. This didn't occur in Kabul, but it was a significant event.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/image-300x225.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2016\/08\/31\/salty\/","url_meta":{"origin":29,"position":5},"title":"Salty","date":"August 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I've now been at Resolute Support headquarters for a week, feeling like I belong. The folks I am working with now are great which makes it weird to think that by November, most of them will be redeployed and back home with their families. The base is incredibly small; the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "AFG"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29\/revisions\/111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}