FIX BAYONETS!

Today, I attended the formal mobilization ceremony for the 1st Battalion, 186th Infantry, of the Oregon Army National Guard. I have a bit of emotional attachment, as I served in this Battalion for a total of 18 years.

As a former member, I had received an invitation to attend and planned to take half a day off work to drive down to Central Point (the county Fairgrounds) for the ceremony.

I had also recently signed up for the Patriot Guard Riders and they put out a notice that they needed riders to escort Charlie Company from their Armory in Roseburg down to Central Point. Well, that sounds like fun, so why not?

I had finally gotten my Sportster back in good running order last summer and this seemed like a good time to finally make a trip out of town, so I adjusted my schedule and took the whole day off.

Since it’s May and the weather forecast was 80% in favor of rain, we saw no reason NOT to make the run.  In the event, the skies were grey on the way down but for 90 miles, there was no rain. A few sprinkles just as we arrived but nothing worse.

Great ceremony. I had the chance to talk with quite a few of the soldiers. The Lieutenants that I knew when I was the XO are now all Majors. The Staff Sergeants I knew are either First Sergeants or Command Sergeants Major.  Good to see them all.

The ceremony didn’t even take a horribly long time. (Rehearsals ahead of time don’t count. They took all morning.)

And then, back on the road for the 90 mile ride home. Well, that 80% prediction finally kicked in 100%. My old rain pants tried to work. From the knees to mid shin I was dry. Below that, the wind blew water up the pant legs. Above that, water simply ran down from above.

My leather jacket was effective. It kept the rain from pummeling me but it didn’t keep it OUT. By the time I reached Grants Pass, my elbows had become very heavy, as there were small ponds in each one. My Gore Tex gloves worked as advertised and resisted the rain but, when it’s coming down that heavy, “resistance is futile.” Each glove wound up weighing a pound or more.

My shooting glasses worked surprisingly well. Combined with a sniper’s veil to protect my neck and an Afghan shemagh wrapped to protect my forehead and lower face, I suffered very little from rain impact. The worst problem was visibility, so I picked a truck and stayed about 50 meters behind him, trying to stay nominally within his ‘draft’ but avoiding the spray he was kicking up.

Definitely wet by the time I got home, and cold and tired. But overall, a pretty good day.