Well,  It has been about 1 month since the local Oxford National Guard unit, Alpha Company 2/198th AR, was mobilized and sent to Camp Shelby for training in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.  Since that time, the soldiers have been very busy preparing their barracks, reviewing common soldier skills, inventorying and inspecting equipment, qualifying on individual and crew serve weapons, and training on theatre specific tasks.  The days and nights have been long, but the soldiers of Alpha Company have met the challenges with little or no problems.  Recently the leadership of the Company selected an NCO (Non-commissioned officer) and a Soldier of the Month for the training that was conducted during August.  The NCO of the Month was SGT Andrew "Billy" Adams from Southaven, MS.  The Soldier of the Month was SPC Gene Bolden from Olive Branch, MS.  These two individuals displayed the qualities associated with effective junior leadership and professionalism.
          During their first week at Camp Shelby, soldiers spent most of their time going through a process called "SRP" (Soldier Readiness Planning).  The SRP process includes three main areas:  Medical, Dental, and Administrative Readiness.  During the Medical process soldiers are evaluated on their physical readiness for the training and execution of the real world mission to follow.  Each soldier waits in line to see a medical doctor, blood is drawn and checked, eye sight and hearing is evaluated, and soldiers receive briefings on the medical dangers that they will need to be aware of once they arrive in the country of Iraq.  Next, each soldier is sent to see a dentist to have their dental health evaluated and any potential problems corrected before deploying to a country where very little dental help will be available.  (Oxford Dental Clinic in Oxford actually helped during this process by seeing soldiers while they were drilling at home station - no pun intended)  Finally, soldiers waited in several more lines in order to complete their final SRP station - Administrative.  During the Administrative SRP process, soldiers received a new Active Duty Identification card, filed through the Finance line to ensure that their pay would be handled correctly, met with JAG officer for a Will and Power of Attorney, set up an AKO (Army Knowledge On-line) account in order to receive e-mail from loved ones over seas, and set up a Family Care plan to cover their loved ones in case something happened while they were away from home. 
          Once the soldiers completed their SRP process, many headed straight for the PX (Post Exchange), which is similar to a local Wal-Mart.  Here soldiers purchased fans of every shape and size to try and help cool off their hot barracks at night when they slept.  Some even purchased small air-conditioners  to place in the windows of the old Cinder Block barracks.  The soldiers were happy to learn that Camp Shelby is currently installing new air-conditioners in most of the living areas on post, however there are many buildings and the work is a painstakingly long process.  Soldiers also have enjoyed playing Play-station 2 and X-Box games or watching movies on personal laptop computers when they are allowed some personal time.
          The rest of the month soldiers were involved in numerous training events including:  Personal Weapon Qualification, Crew Serve Weapon Qualification, Driver Training, NVG (Night Vision Goggle Training), Leader Training, Theatre Immersion Training, Common Task Training, NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) training, Media Awareness Training, and other individual and collective training conducted at the platoon level.  The soldiers of Alpha Company 2/198 Armor have been very busy this past month but are still going strong and are looking forward to even more challenges ahead.  Please keep the men of this company in your prayers and support their family members left behind.  Until our next month's National Guard update, God Bless.