Hey guys, home on leave again, just a long weekend at home before I head back up north. The last few weeks hasn't been that exciting, but I've learned a lot about the CV90.
Oh, and I can't believe its been 80 days already, time flies.
As I mentioned last time, myself and six of my teammates got chosen to be a gunner on the Infantry Fighting Vehicle CV90, and after three theory-intensive weeks I graduated with the title "Master Gunner Dragoon"

The first two weeks really reduced my desire to become a gunner. 15-hour days with classroom education and almost zero combat exercises can get quite boring, and with tests every single day there weren't much time left for sleep. The last week we spent on Rena, a camp further south in Norway, training in a combat simulator and that was really awesome. The simulator is basically a CV90 tower hooked into a lot of computers and put in a room with 360* projections of the area on the walls. It provides a realistic training environment without the need for logistics like fuel, ammunition and available firing ranges. I guess we fired about 1500 shots every day and because one round cost 400$ the army saved some money. We finished the course with both a practical and a theoretical exam and I guess my late night studying payed off, with 98% on the theoretical and 92% on the practical I placed second best in my class.  
 
As a gunner I control all the weapon systems on the vehicle, a 30mm cannon, 7.62mm coaxial MG and smoke grenades. I also monitor the environment using the thermal camera, which makes it really easy to spot targets at night. 
 
I am really excited about the coming months, this is when the fun stuff begins. Next week we'll take a trip to the firing range and fire some live rounds for the first time, and move on with some formations, tactical driving and thermal observation. I'll make sure to get the shooting caught on tape and try to get some awesome pictures if I find the time. I didn't take any pics this time, since pictures of a classroom is quite boring. Enjoy this video made by members of Assault Squadron 3 who served in 2008 instead, it shows some of the stuff I'll get up to during the next 9 months. (the clip ends around the 5min mark)
 
Take care.
VIGGO123