Saturday, March 30, 2013

Spartyka Nation Wounded Warrior 5K Run

The runners waiting to start
At the moment I'm in an NCO school at Ft Eustis, Virginia.  On of my classmates found out that Spartyka Nation was running a benefit 5k run for the Wounded Warrior Project at Virginia Beach this weekend, and we decided to go.  As it turns out one of our group had been assisted by the WWP, so there was a personal element to the trip.  Virginia Beach, while a major tourist attraction, is no stranger to the military with a strong Naval presence at nearby Norfolk, Oceana and Little Creek as well as nearby Ft Eustis and Langley Air Force Base.  With those kinds of neighbors, it's not surprising there was a good turn out even though it was a little cool.
Everyone evened out by the turnaround point
The run itself was an out and back along the boardwalk which made for a nice running surface.  It was the typical gaggle at the start, but within a couple of minutes everyone was sorted out and running at whatever their comfortable pace was.  It was a pleasant run, and a great way to get off post and get a little fresh air. 
The group of us from class
For information on similar events check out http://www.spartykanation.com and http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Long Distance - the next best thing to being there...

Front to back - PSL-54, M-21, M-24 and M-40A1
Last year Remington announced that as part of the replacement program for the M-24 sniper rifle, they would be rebuilding the turn ins using new and turn in parts for a reconditioned rifle, which then would be sold to qualified buyers.  The first group was for graduates of military sniper courses only.  The current group is for active duty, reserve and National Guard.  Yeah, that would be me, among others.  The group opened up in September of last year, and my rifle arrived yesterday (though a proper FFL transfer process, thank you.)  To celebrate I decided a group picture would be in order.  While I have nowhere near the collection that the Castle has, I'm proud of what I have managed to piece together.

More after the break

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Faces of the Guard - Maintenance Test Pilot

Maintenance Test Pilot
Preparing to do ground tests and vibration checks after an engine upgrade. 

Olympus E-PL1 / 17mm at f11, 1/160 and ISO 200.  FL-36R flash camera left in RC mode manual at 1/8 power.