Update on military service, and new gear on order =D

[vvizard]

Been in the army for two weeks now. North of norway. Extremly great nature up here! And then I mean _EXTREMLY_ =D One week left of my recruitment period. Today I returned from the recruitment "hell-week". One week in the woods. 150 men/women, three bases, guns, light-rockets and tear-gas. Been having lot of action tonight =D Tired as hell though :P

So I ordered some new gear then, to cheer up ;)

17-40L
BIG-ED
Another BP-511
And a new charger

B&H didn't allow me to ship to other address than billing-address since I don't live in the US, so I shipped it home to my father (which matches my billing address). Next weekend my recruitment is done, and I'm heading home for a week, to pick up my new gear. Can't wait =D

After recruitment-training is complete, we start our educational training. Communications-battalion. We're beeing trained in the roughest norwegian terrain, with battles in Afghanistan as the main goal. Out of 150 men, half of us is expected to go to Afghanistan next June. Hope I'm one of those :) We're beeing trained to operate relay-stations from belt-wagons, to act as communication relay-points up on high mountains etc. Real cool, small teams, which consist of five men, and two belt-wagons, each with com-equipment worth nearly $1mill. Really looking forward to start the "real" traning.

Was the leader of a 6-man team on this weeks exercise. It was cool, and I'm really encouraged to try to obtain a permanent team-leader/sysop(radio-technician) possition, and then, hopefully do service in Afghanistan next summer.

The sergants have encouraged me to bring my equipment to the traning-operations, to cover them with pictures. I might even get "time off" from training-battles, just to shoot pictures from time to time they tell me :)

Looking forward to 10 days out of service, back home from next week though :) So how are you guys doing?

[Cadwell]

Hello mate. Great to hear from you and that you're still ducking the bullets ;) Congrats on your new purchases. :D

[Ballen Photo]

vvizard,
Nice to hear everything is OK with you. Are you taking photos of all this "Nature" you speak of? This would be interesting to see. :D
Take care,
-Bruce

[iwatkins]

Hi vvizard

Sounds like you are having a lot of fun.

I used to run a radio relay when I used to be a member of a mountain rescue team. My job at callout was to simply get to the top of which ever mountain it was as soon as possible and then setup a radio relay station (15.5Kg of kit plus my own personal stuff). I would then just sit there and wait to be called back down again. Once the rescue was over I would then carry it all down again (or get a lift from a helicopter if I was lucky :))

Used to sit and and have great views, sometimes be the first person to see the sun come up that day etc. Was a pretty crap job, but I really enjoyed it and I was super fit. Wish I had a camera then, would have got some great shots.

Of course, modern radio gear these days you don't need relays apart from in really poor/steep terrain, but i guess that is what you a training for.

Keep your head down mate.

Cheers

Ian

[Belmondo]

vvizard: You're a breath of fresh air. I don't know too many people who have endured their basic training with such good spirits. You are a remarkable young man. We're all awfully glad to hear from you.

Take care,

Tom

[Ronin]

Seems like you're feeling good and heck, I'd feel good having all that new stuff to play with even after enduring hell week. Congrats and good luck. :)

[Case]

If you do get to Afghanistan will you be allowed to take your camera gear aswell? That would be fantastic....Afghanistan is supposed to have some spectacular scenery.....
A friend of mine did a motorcycle trip through east and central asia and was hoping to get there but was put off by the ongoing security issues.
Either way, sounds like you'll be enjoying yourself, good luck!

Chris

[Bruce Foreman]

Good luck to you in your period of military service to your country.

I admire your attitude towards participating in your nation's contribution to bringing freedom to Afganistan. May God be with you and help you to know when to keep your head down.

Bruce Foreman
USAF Retired

[cmM]

I wanna see some pix VVizard! :wink:

Glad to see you're enjoying your service. Have fun with your new 17-40, it'll be awesome for some northern landscapes.

Cheers

[Panza]

I'll just say one thing: Storm Rules! :)

[vvizard]

If you do get to Afghanistan will you be allowed to take your camera gear aswell?
Chris

Yes I will. A friend of my sister have spent a lot of time in Afghanistan the last couple of years as a "medic". He have shot many pictures while beeing there.

[vvizard]

I'll just say one thing: Storm Rules! :)

Let me say one thing too: Storm's die.... very fast ;) We're beeing told Storms have an estimated lifetime of 30s after the storm is initiated. Although, the research on this includes the two great wars, so things might have become a little "better" in the modern age, but still... ;)

[vvizard]

Hi vvizard

Sounds like you are having a lot of fun.

I used to run a radio relay when I used to be a member of a mountain rescue team. My job at callout was to simply get to the top of which ever mountain it was as soon as possible and then setup a radio relay station (15.5Kg of kit plus my own personal stuff). I would then just sit there and wait to be called back down again. Once the rescue was over I would then carry it all down again (or get a lift from a helicopter if I was lucky :))

Used to sit and and have great views, sometimes be the first person to see the sun come up that day etc. Was a pretty crap job, but I really enjoyed it and I was super fit. Wish I had a camera then, would have got some great shots.

Of course, modern radio gear these days you don't need relays apart from in really poor/steep terrain, but i guess that is what you a training for.

Keep your head down mate.

Cheers

Ian

The job is pretty much the same, except you now got severl hundred KG's of equipment, and you drive belt-wagons to the mountain-top instead of walking ;)

Answers to others:
No, haven't shot much nature yet. Will do when the 17-40 arrive =D

Yes, we're training in rough terrain. Mountains everywhere, very many of them over 1000m high. Very cold ( - 30-40C ) in the winter, and basically, winter most of the year, as we're over the polar-circle. The winter haven't set in yet, so we're still able to go outside with t-shirts, but snow is expected to start falling in October, and to be permanent on the ground from November. It can be a couple meters of snow up here in the winter ;)

[Panza]

I'll just say one thing: Storm Rules! :)

Let me say one thing too: Storm's die.... very fast ;) We're beeing told Storms have an estimated lifetime of 30s after the storm is initiated. Although, the research on this includes the two great wars, so things might have become a little "better" in the modern age, but still... ;)

I know.. Still we had a good time up there in 95/96.
You should try to sneak into the Cavalery-camp at Setermoen during Christmas if you're there... The food... MAN!

[Mthorpe_Davies]

Hey Vizzard my brother-in-law Per Allan is back from Kosovo and will be going to Afghanistan next month. The pay is good and you get to buy anything you want duty free, that beats paying full price in krone.

How far up North are you, so far the furthest I've been in Norway is Tromsø, the Paris of the North, god knows why they call it that, Paris it ain't.

Good luck have fun, happy shooting (photos not bullets).

[vvizard]

[quote=Panza]I'll just say one thing: Storm Rules! :)

I know.. Still we had a good time up there in 95/96.
You should try to sneak into the Cavalery-camp at Setermoen during Christmas if you're there... The food... MAN!

located 20min north of Setermoen.. The food is amazing in our camp to! :)

Mthorpe_Davies: Im 120 km south of TromsÖ :)