Crazy Schedule

I'll be kind of busy for the next little while. I'm going to miss my girls for sure.

26 OCT-1 NOV more grunt training in Savannah

2-7 NOV workshop for leadership in Leavenworth KS

8-9 NOV drill

15-22 NOV staff battle sim in Louisianna

All is quiet

I've been really busy lately but I've been home. It is the "calm before the storm." Next week I will be at Ft. Stewart near Savannah and the week after that I will spend at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. I look forward to the training and knowledge. It's nice to watch the battle-focused training step up as mobilization nears. It's harder and harder to find some quiet time.

Yesterday we talked about irony and how to explain it to 8th grade students. Today I ran across several ironic situations. A guy that is unemployed but has no time, a guy that gets a raise but has no desk or computer, a fuel pump for a 79 corvette is over 10 times cheaper than for a Nissan Exterra. Weird

I'm looking forward to a lunch with Dusty tomorrow. No one is more excited about discussing God's word. There's a range 10 minutes away from my new job too. Dusty and I might be hanging out a lot soon. 

I'm also ready to see Mom and Dad.

Replacement for the M4

The Army is looking for a replacement for the M4. Word on the street is that it will start showing up in summer 09. Realistically we can look for it about 2011. In the 60,000 round stress test the XM8 outperformed all other models. All three prospects combined malfunctioned less that the M4 alone. I'm very excited about this transition. Researchers are also testing terminal ballistic effects on target. That makes a lot of sense. It is very obvious that it was not done before. The 6.8mm SPC is also swirling around. I think it will be fielding inside Special Operations Command but joe will keep the .223. Here's a look at the three. I personally think the XM8 will reign. Now if we can just get the M9 replaced with ANYTHING.

From left to right: H&K XM8, FN SCAR, H&K 416

Hard Times

I'm in one of those unique professions that you become more important as situations get worse. The awesome thing about my job (optimistic?) is that I often get to see how little it takes for a person to survive. Do we need flashy cars, huge houses, and the latest in technology? I don't think so. I sometimes get by living under canvas, eating mass production food, and sharing a few cars with 100 dudes. If you bought a house too big, drive too much, eat out too much, and don't budget there are hard times now and in your future. I'm not saying I don't enjoy these American tendencies. I'm saying that we need a strong plan B. A stronger sense of community would also help (church).

The masses are too comfortable and this is our greatest weakness as a country. Terrorist cells abroad will not let this opportunity pass. Some analyst are saying an attack could be planned after the election to greet the new president. I hope they are wrong.

The gas crisis and the recent financial issues have made me wonder how many current North Americans can process their own food. Much less, keep themselves healthy enough to get by if needed. I'm not a survivalist freak by any means but the government can only do so much. The last thing we need right now is more reliance on government systems and money. Anyone can see how carelessly it is thrown around right now. We'll see what happens.

It's been a while

Generally I don't have enough for the bulleted list but here it goes:

- Went shooting today with Steven and Scott, I shot well and so did everyone else. We should. My .223 reloads shot the tightest with zero malfunctions. The .270 reloads were perfect as well shooting .5 in groups all day.  Scott got laid-off from the engineering firm so he's going to do America's dirty work for the big dollars again. I could tell he wasn't too upset. What a stellar guy.

-Steven, good luck at ranger school, drink the cool-aid and embrace the suck. Good luck trying to be the grey man. (The grey man goes unnoticed; he's not the best and not the worst)

-Catalyst was unlike anything I have ever seen. Leadership is leadership in any capacity but none is more important. It's been a long time since I was inspired by someone. I need to study more. I look forward to Dusty coming to work in Calhoun. We get some serious Bible studying in just about anywhere with any amount of time.

-Driving to Calhoun is rough, I'm excited about gas going down for sure.

-It's been great hanging with the family this weekend. I love picking up Ellie from next door a little early. We get some quality time in before mom gets home.

-We missed the Sauls at church this weekend. We've been praying for Jason's brother's quick recovery.

-Looking forward to starting back on my training program tomorrow. It's great after a long drive.

223 cost analysis complete

Well I've finally done the cost analysis on reloading the .223. Here's the roll-up on how much it costs per shot:

Brass: .21        Remington Bulk

Bullet: .07      55 gr. hornady FMJ

Powder: .06  Hodgdon 4895

Primer: .03    Winchester Small Rifle

That's right. .37 a shot, initially. Commercially loaded ammo runs about .50 a round so this is a huge savings. Also keep in mind that the brass can be used multiple times. So you can divide the price of brass by 8-10 depending on the number of uses I can get out of a given case. This brings the cost to between .18-.20 per shot.  So we're looking at a difference of .50-.20 = .30 per shot savings.  It'll take me only 1,000 rounds of .223 to pay off my Dillon 550B. I also reload for my .45 ACP. I haven't done a detailed cost analysis on the .45 yet but that further reduces the cost of my reloading.

And by the way, the Dillon 550B is metal so I will be able to sell it one day for at least what I have in it. Reloading the .223 is worth it if you shoot over 1,000 over the life of your .223. This doesn't include the extra ability to customized your own ammo.