The day has finally arrived,

Most of Alpha Co. is leaving late tonight. I'm left with my new favorite sergeant and a bunch of new guys.

Anyone know any cats with the last name "Tran"? I've managed to work with no fewer than four since my first activation two years ago. They're strange. I mean "something's disconnected up there" strange. One guy I knew was over here for OIF 1 and refused to put his gas mask on during all the bio/chem alerts the troops experienced just prior to the invasion. A couple months later he decided he was tired of carrying his rifle around and left it out there. Er, *somewhere*. It was eventually found by a Seal Team unit and shipped home.

In case this isn't apparent to some of you, Marines *are* actually married to their rifles. Unless it's in an armory, it's with you all the time. You even have to sleep with it inside your sleeping bag so no one can take it without "getting through you" first.

I've never seen anyone lose a rifle to an "enemy," even in practice combat ops where other Marines are playing the opposing forces. The only people who steal rifles are senior staff members, like our 1st Sgt, which means if I didn't like the guy before for all the grief he's piled on us, this little filching habbit of his hasn't helped.

Okay i'm not going to pretend to have anything witty or important to say.

God bless,

:D