We have been concentrating on IED detection this week. Monday was all class time and today we spent today in the field patrolling the desert canyons. My squad managed to get through our route unscathed until the very end of our patrol. Then, yours truly stepped on a pressure plate and was blown up in a cloud of baby powder. I guess learning the lessons on complacency just because you can see the FOB (forward operating base), is best learned here when the worst that can happen is a nose full of white boogers.

Our instructor said we did a decent job since we successfully found and avoided three IEDs and switched to our alternate route when we can to a scary looking choke point. He told us the choke point, which was a narrow canyon pass, had multiple IEDs in it. We avoided getting the entire squad covered in baby powder.

Yes, Marines train with baby powder. Not a word Randy!