But....What Does He Do??

Hey there loves! Welcome to the continuation of Hubby Week--the one week of the year when this little bloggity blog is devoted to all things Zach-related (as opposed to me related of course). 
My niece Kayci asked me once what her Uncle Zach did for a living. He had just finished his ten days of leave after basic and had just left for Hawaii so she was understandably confused as to why he'd been gone and returned and was gone again. "He's learning how to fight bad guys." I responded, grasping at straws and wishing desperately that she'd posed this question to her mom instead of me. Kayci stopped for a second and I could see she was mulling this information over. Then she lifts her eyes to mine and says, "Ok. But Auntie Bella, what does he DO??"

Thankfully, these days I can usually come up with a better response than 'learning to fight bad guys'. Most of the time I just tell people he's in the Army (hence the name of the blog) but just in case you were wondering exactly what the hubby's job is--here's the post for you. 
Zach's MOS--or specialty/job in military terms--is infantry. Pretty much that means that infantry soldiers fight on foot instead from a vehicle like a tank or an aircraft. You know the Roman legions? Yep they were infantry soldiers which pretty much makes infantry one of the oldest jobs in the organized army--pretty cool fact if you ask me! They also get to wear a super cute blue cord on their dress uniform--also pretty cool! 

Super cute picture of the two of us at Zach's basic training graduation

Another special thing about infantry is their basic training. Instead of it being separated into two parts, basic training and AIT (advanced individual training), infantry soldiers start their career by spending a complete 14 weeks in Fort Benning, Georgia, also called OSUT (One Station Unit Training). After an infantryman completes his basic training, he will be assigned to his unit--obviously for Zach it was Hawaii--or he might be able to attend a special school like Airborne or Air Assault. 
Because their main job is essentially a combat role, infantry units are literally ALWAYS training. There's individual weapons training and qualification, squad STX (sticks), live fires (obviously firing live rounds instead of blanks), and pretty much a ton of other kinds of training to get all the men combat fit and ready. The 25th Infantry Division, Zach's unit, has recently transitioned back to jungle warfare training, so they also had a special school/event for that not long ago. 

That's my hubby right there manning the gun!

Zach is a gunner which means he gets to man the M240, a machine gun. There's also an AG or assistant gunner (the guy to his left) and in other squads there's riflemen and radio operators and a bunch of other men who make up an infantry company. Zach always tries to keep me 'in the loop' of most of the things he and his buddies do so it's been really fun to learn more about all of their jobs! 
Just to give you a little taste of the kinds of things that Zach and his fellow soldiers do (and because it's Zach's all time favorite event they've done to date), here's a video from the brigade live fire last year! 

All videos and photos are from the Battalion's Youtube and Facebook pages and have been approved for the public domain therefore not in violation of OPSEC.  Remember never to release sensitive information about your soldier onto the internet!!!

Today I'm spotlighting one of my amazing sponsors, Amanda. This lovely lady is a fellow military wife, a new momma, a cancer survivor (five years cancer FREE!!), and a real inspiration to me! You might remember Amanda from her Chat with a Caregiver post or her guest post about the silver linings of being a military wife. I love following along with her and I know that you will too!!!

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1// Alright, Amanda, so you live in Alaska!! What's your favorite part of living there? Your least favorite? I absolutely LOVE the scenery here. Alaska is heaven on earth for anyone who loves the outdoors and crazy wildlife spottings. I also don't hate the cold; i'm super irritable when I get hot! You can always put more clothes on, but when it's hot, you can only get so naked. 
2// I have to ask this question because it's pretty much my favorite thing to know about someone!! Sooo what's your favorite color?  Lately, I've been drawn to white, which I know isn't really a color. Typically I'd say purple, but my favorite color is constantly changing.  
3// You blog about everything from shopping to your cancer story to your daily life with your hubby and adorable little one.......what is your favorite post that you've written and why? Hmmm. I dont know that I would call it my "favorite" post, but it is probably the one I'm most proud of is "My Experiences with Anxiety". 

I am sooo proud of my hubby and his career in the Army but now it's time to hear from all of you!!! So....what does your hubs do? 

Make sure to check out Amanda's blog!!!