We Got Ourselves a CONVOY!

Remember that cheesy CB-radio tribute song from the 70's? Somehow that dumb tune kept running through my head as I drove an armored Humvee at the tail end of a convoy exercise today. We encountered role playing mujahadeen with RPGs (Rocket Propelled Grenades), a couple of simulated IEDs, and "shot up" a pickup truck which wasn't an insurgent suicide car bomber, but rather a fisherman who had made a wrong turn and overtook our vehicles at a high rate of speed. I'm getting used to driving the Humvee...it's a real pig on wheels, but on the other hand, it's cramped and noisy. The rest of our training today was a rehash of classes we've already had, yet even with all of the filler, we finished by 2 p.m. After going en masse to the USAR finance office (we are all due a refund for subsistence allowance debits, which should be a decent sum), it was time to clean weapons, and relax until tomorrow's fun. (We get to attack an urban area mock up, which means lots of SWAT-type room clearing drills.) The following day is scheduled to cover Iraq cultural awareness, which caused everyone to rejoice...not because of the topic, but rather because we don't have to wear all of the heavy body armor and helmet all day.
Final bit of good news...looks like I'll be promoted within a month, thereby relinquishing my title as the "Oldest Buck Sergeant in the US Army Reserve". Somehow, I think that I'll survive the loss.