In Blue phase, the drill sergeants actually let us as Soldiers begin to work and take care of things on our own.

Take the M-16 magazine and insert it into the magazine well at an upward 45 degree angle until it locks, now we're going to use the cheek to knuckle method. I am going to turn my head slightly sideways at a 45 degree angle, take my fine eye and line it up down the barrel, and aim my sights up on my target.

It was really cool to see everyone fire down at once, and how much firepower the Army actually has.

Whenever they do get over to Iraq or Afghanistan, they need to be situationally aware.

Our mission was to recover a hostage that was taken by hostile enemies. We encountered some friendly civilians, and a lot of insurgents.

There was a big explosion, and that was kind of a shock to get the insurgents to kind of lose their battle ground, so that we could move in and get our hostage back. And I was part of the squad that did get the hostage out safely. It was a lot of fun, things that I would have never experienced in the civilian world.