A Sailor underneath

Challenges are around every corner for IA Sailors.

MC2 Casey Amdahl used to be stationed on the Nimitz.  He left a few months ago to begin a tour in Afghanistan as an individual augmentee.   Unlike the previous two IAs I blogged about (Timberlake and Nguyen), Amdahl is currently in theater, so he couldn't give many details.  I know many of you are interested in this aspect of Navy life, so here's a quick glimpse into his world.   He's using all his MC skills, and working with people from several different branches and countries.  As you read, keep in mind he volunteered for this assignment.

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Hey guys,

Going IA is extremely different than going underway, or deploying with a ship, which is what most Sailors are used to. Instead of deploying with a unit, IAs deploy by themselves.

The first step is Navy Mobile Processing Station either in Norfolk or in my case, San Diego. NMPS is a week-long death by powerpoint/medical screening/briefs/admin processing stop prior to reporting to NIACT (Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training).

NIACT is either at Fort Dix, NJ or Fort Jackson, SC which is where I went. NIACT is a three-week course that teaches Sailors how to be Soldiers.

There's tons of shooting, humvee rollover 

training, gear issue, and briefs...

What's the news on the ship?  Oh wait.  That's right, I know.  I read the Nimitz News on
the site.  Because you guys are big news over here by the way.  All the Navy guys I'm working with can't believe you're doing a 12-page paper weekly. 

Afghanistan is pretty cool for being a third world, war-torn country.  I'm working with a good group of folks out here, telling the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan story.

Scorpions and beetles own Kuwait. 

That's all there is to it. I opened my sleeping bag getting ready to go to bed and a scorpion climbed out. At this point I did three things; 1) Scream "Holy sh*t!" like a little girl, 2) spazzed out, and 3) spent the rest of the night in a tent four down from mine awake.

I am actually enjoying being out here, beleive it or not.  The work kinda means more to me. I feel more purpose in what we do over here.  Let me know if you need anything else. Internet is actually pretty decent right now, but I don't know how long that's going to last.

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Thanks for taking the time to write us, keep up the good work MC!