T-Birds...

Just got home from Day 2.
New soldiers look OK so far...

Good questions on both sites, I'll answer em as soon as I can.

Some idiot hanging around the xanga site... wish I had time to mess with him, he sounds like a real winner.
At 9:05 on pickup day, I looked at all the suggestions and decided to go with Thunderbirds. I have my own reasons that I'll explain later. Partially because I'm from OK and the NG unit there is the 45th INF (Thunderbird patch).

Somebody suggested a couple of Thunder-something names I think. Kinda surprised nobody put it together with the bird thing but I guess if there is a winner it would be him. Too tired right now to go look up who it was lol.

Oh yeah... I have a soldier with the same last name as me (I have a fairly uncommon name)... very unfortunate for her lol.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

I came to the realization today that, although the probability is small, it is theoretically possible that I could someday have a soldier in my platoon who reads or has read this website. Therefore I determined that this public advisory should be released for the safety of the general public.

Should you end up, through some cosmic tragedy, in my platoon, you should know this...
You will be crushed. From the moment you step off the bus until I finally get rid of you 9 weeks later, I will hold your writhing, struggling soul beneath the sharp edge of my thumbnail until I see fit to release you into the wild again. That is nothing special... that is the standard for all soldiers in my platoon. If you give me some reason to notice your existence, other than some type of outstanding performance, I will be forced to unleash the nuclearosity on you. (Believe it or not, I didn't make up that word, an old friend of mine did... I wish I had though.)

Your best bet would be to avoid me entirely, but since you will have no choice in the matter, you should at all costs avoid speaking, eye contact, breathing loudly, or twitching any muscles (not designated for twitching by me) in my presence until you are safely on the bus going through the gate towards AIT. Then, if you feel brave, and think you have enough of a head start that I won't catch you, feel free to shout over your shoulder that you read this site. My work schedule will most likely prevent me from spending much time trying to hunt you down and destroy you.

There...

Future soldiers take heed of this warning and we should have no problems. (Do you think I made it clear enough lol?)

Name that platoon...

This is my life. Apparently I needed a lesson in being grateful for what I have, because just as I was feeling sorry for my self for only getting a 6 day cycle break...
WHAM! You're picking up tomorrow. A 6 day cycle break sounds pretty good now doesn't it you little sniveler? lol

Oh well... FIDO

So it's down to the wire as far as Platoon names go. I thought about keeping the name War Pigs, but last cycles War Pigs were good enough that I think I'm going to retire it in their honor. Also... it was a unique set of circumstances that let us pick War Pigs in the first place, so I'm not sure it would mean as much to the incoming soldiers.

There have been several names suggested that I wish I could use... (Combat Wombats and Battletoads come to mind) but I think I am going to go with something bird related since we are part of Echo company (Eagles).
You gotta be quick with this... I gotta decide by around 9 AM tomorrow.

The other platoons so far are War hawks, Falcons, and either Blackhawks or Dirty Birds lol. So if anyone has any ideas let me know. And if I use your suggestion you will win absolutely nothing except the pride of knowing that you named the best platoon in E Co.

Oh yeah, and we lost our second softball game last night... so that sucked. But I also went out and caught a bunch of catfish AND got my new space shuttle... I mean new stove (I was thinking about the control panel... and price tag)... installed, so I guess it averaged itself out.

Ideas...

Well, the War Pigs have all shipped out either to their homes to begin another school year or to their respective AIT stations to learn their jobs. It was a good cycle for the most part and pretty successful considering it was my first Platoon Sergeant gig in an IET environment. (I was an acting PSG in the 101st for about 10 months, but that’s a whole different story). The mistakes I made this cycle, and I did make some, were not terrible and I know a few things to tweak for next cycle that will hopefully make my next platoon even better.

I am staying in E Co for another cycle. Among all the things which I have to think about for next cycle though, few are as pressing as this…

I have not decided yet whether to go with the name “War Pigs” again or retire it and come up with something else. I am leaning toward retiring the name though. I like the idea that there will only be one platoon of War Pigs EVER to graduate from Ft Jackson. My intent is to not use anything that I have heard before. There are a thousand names that get used over and over for platoons. If I can come up with something original that sounds good I will use it.

Some of the names that get used over and over are; Warhawks, warlords, war dogs, death dealers, vipers, rough riders, renegades, wolfpack, pit bulls, mad dogs, bulldogs, falcons, cobras, diamondbacks, bushmasters, etc, etc, etc

I am open to suggestions… stupid suggestions are not only welcome, they are encouraged.
(This should be entertaining… )