Fort Hood

I never met the shooter, don't know him, don't want to know him, and I'm tired of seeing his name and picture plastered all over the damn place. As far as I'm concerned, he doesn't deserve a name, so he can just be "the shooter" from now on. Let's remember these names instead.

(The list of wounded is obviously not complete, specific injuries and ranks may be a bit mixed up, as some were listed differently from one article to the next. One might think the reporters could have the facts straight by now. If anyone has information on the other wounded, please comment, and I'll update the list.)

Wounded:

• Spc Keara Bono: Wounded in head and back, already back to work and still hoping to deploy on schedule.


• PFC Amber Bahr: Pass-through wound to back, dragged another wounded soldier out of the area and provided first aid.


• PFC Justin Johnson: Wounded in back and foot. Was able to walk again within a few days.


• Sgt Paul Martin: Wounded in back, leg, and both arms. Was carried out by an unnamed soldier during the incident. Expects to deploy late.


• Sgt John Pagel: Wounded in arm and chest. Back at work.


• Pvt George Stratton III: Wounded in shoulder. Recovering.


• Sgt Joy Clark: Wounded in arm while rendering aid to another wounded soldier.


• Cpl. Nathan Hewitt: Wounded in hip and calf.


• Pvt Ray Saucedo: Wounded in arm. Back at work.


• Spc Grant Moxon: Wounded in leg. Recovering.


• PFC. Joseph Foster: Wounded in hip. Hoping to deploy on time.


• Spc Matthew Cooke: Wounded five times in torso and head while helping another wounded soldier. Recovering slowly.


• Maj Randy Royer: Wounded in arm and leg. Recovering.


• Pvt Alan Carroll: Wounded twice in arm and once in side. Recovering and hoping to deploy.


• Cpt Dorothy Carskadon: Wounded twice in hip. Recovering.


• Sgt Chad Davis: Wounded three times in shoulder and back while moving to subdue the shooter. Recovering.


• CWO Christopher Royal: Wounded three times in side and back, also while moving to engage shooter during a reload. Recovering.


• Sgt Alonzo Lunsford: Wounded in stomach and head. Recovering.


• Spc Logan Burnette: Wounded in hip, arm and hand. Recovering.


• Sgt Shawn Manning: Wounded six times in chest, abdomen, leg and foot. Recovering.


• 2LT Brandy Mason: Wounded in hip. Recovering.


• Sgt Patrick Zeigler: Wounded four times in torso and head. In neurological rehab, possibly paralyzed on left side.


• Sgt Patrick Blue III: Wounded in side by bullet fragments while running to the scene. Back at work.

Deceased:

• Sgt Amy Krueger


• Michael Cahill, civilian contractor


• Sgt Justin DeCrow


• Cpt John Gaffaney


• Spc Jason Hunt


• PFC Aaron Nemelka


• PFC Michael Pearson


• Cpt Russell Seager


• Pvt Francheska Velez


• LtC Juanita Warman


• Spc Kham Xiong


• Maj Libardo Cavareo


• Spc Frederick Greene

Revolver reload

Some people have asked about my backwards reloading method with a revolver, (loading with the weak hand, while maintaining a more-or-less firing grip with the strong hand, as opposed to the "normal" method of transferring the gun to the weak hand, loading with the strong hand, and switching it back afterward) so I figured I'd try a video to clear it up a bit.

The casings coming out are fired and unsized, so four of the five do not drop free without the ejector. The speedloader is a Safariland Comp I.
What I find is that this method allows me to fire (or simply cover an area) one-handed while I get the speedloader out and ready, then reload quickly and get back into action without having to change hand positions multiple times.
The closing of the cylinder looks a bit more violent than it actually is, though I have yet to hear of anyone being particularly gentle with it in an actual encounter.

Multimedia message

Nothing says "fire up the grill" quite like a bowl of raw beef swimming in bourbon.

What time is it?

Nap time!

Another one worth watching

Worth watching

Ooops

Thought I'd posted this one already. She dozed off playing with the elephant, and was so sound asleep even the flash didn't wake her.



Still working on crawling, though:

Libby update

Two month checkup and vaccines this morning. 10lbs 5 oz and 22 inches, and hungry as usual.



She's learned that the elephant makes a neat jingly noise when it moves, and she can sit and poke it for hours.

Hat etiquette

I'd like to raise a question, particularly to those who wear a hat as part of a uniform, but also to anyone who wears a hat on a regular basis: what rules of etiquette do you try to follow regarding your headgear?

For those with uniform hats, does your department publish specific rules regarding hat etiquette, and if your uniform includes multiple headgear options, (department ball cap, more formal brimmed hat, brimless knit cap, etc.) do they vary based on the hat itself? Are women in the same uniform hat expected to follow the same rules? Do you alter those rules to suit certain situations, or just flat out follow what your parents taught you regardless of policy?

For reference: Evil Swede's Guide to Hat Etiquette.

Sometimes film works best

I probably could have gotten pretty much the same shot with digital, and I wouldn't have had to wait a couple days until I dug out the developing stuff to see what it looked like, but somehow this just feels right with black and white film. Besides, I feel safe in saying that the negatives will still be fine in 25-30 years when her kids will get to see this.

Well, that's the first part done...

...just 18 years to go.

Liberty Elaine, 7lbs 9oz, 1744 Central time. Posting from phone. Pics soon.

Tomorrow...

...one way or another.

BP is back up, so she goes in at 5AM. If labor isn't progessing, they'll give it a little push as needed.

No change yet...

...still having the occasional contraction, but no discernible pattern, and not particularly frequent. She doesn't want to go jogging, for some reason.

Today's update

Blood pressure is down a bit, and the doctor doesn't expect to be inducing, but did confirm that she's pretty much ready to go into labor at any minute.

I was actually starting to look forward to having a set time, but they say inducing sometimes makes things a bit harder, so I'm sure we can wait.

Keep watching...may have some interesting stuff to post this week.

We should know Tuesday if they'll be inducing labor Thursday due to the blood pressure issue. OTOH, she's far enough along that it could start on its own any time now.