Command Family Day Picnic

Brandon's command put together a family day picnic last Friday.  We'd never seen Brandon's workplace here, so we went in before the picnic to have a look around.   He's an instructor at a training facility, so a lot of what we saw were just classrooms and offices.  If you've seen a class room and an office before, then you know what they look like.  Just imagine military gear piled up here and there, along with some large, official looking manuals, and you've got it.  But a lot of their training involves hands-on practice, so much of it happens outside a classroom.  That was the really interesting stuff.

They call this the climbing tower.  One of the courses they teach here requires that students be able to climb this 30 foot rope ladder while wearing weighted vests, to simulate being weighted down by full gear, in 2 minutes or less.  It looked easier than it actually, was, I'm sure.  I found myself wishing that I hadn't worn a dress that day, because I wanted to know if I could do it.

This is the "ship on land",  a mock-up of an actual ship, with orange cones to designate "piers", used for practicing certain security techniques.  (They also have a real ship in Norfolk that they practice on.)  The best part, though, was getting to check out the FATS system.

M4, top; M9, bottom.

The FATS, or Fire Arms Training Simulator, is basically a giant video game.  Real weapons were modified for use with this arcade-style target practice simulator, which is controlled by someone at a computer set up at the back of the room.   On the opposite wall, there is a floor-to-ceiling screen, divided into several narrow sections, each with its own target, so that multiple people can practice all at once. When "fired", the weapons recoil and you hear the sound of a gun shot, and a "hole" appears on the "target".   It was really neat!  And I did pretty well, for someone with approximately 0 weapons experience, no glasses (I'm near-sighted), and 2 children pulling at her skirts.  But then Brandon picked them up and squeezed off a few rounds, and I knew precisely how awkward and inexperienced I am.  Is it odd, that I hate violence, but I think my husband's obvious expertise with weapons is sexy?   There's just something about a man who knows how to handle himself--and a weapon--that is incredibly attractive to me.  But I digress.

He showed Elora the pistol and let her "shoot" it, but she only did it once because she didn't like the noise.  Kaylie didn't like it either, for that matter.  That's why she was clinging to my skirt while I shot the M4, and why I was holding her when I shot the M9.

The picnic itself is barely worth mentioning.  The food was good, and they had several corn hole stations set up in the shade, and a fire truck for the kids to check out, but it was so ridiculously hot that pretty much everyone just ate and then went home.  

A few of us stuck around and went in the pool to cool off, but we didn't stay too long.  It was just so hot!