Good afternoon from Mississippi. It was an early start for Bravo Company this morning. The company was up at 0345 to make breakfast chow. Then the men were bussed to SRP, Soldier Readiness Processing.

SRP is a medical, dental, and administraitive check to make sure the troops are good for deployment. The medical part includes a blood test, immunizations, blood pressure check, and doctor's screening. The troops received immunizations for a variety of viruses from anthrax to hepatitis to name a few of them. The men who are on suscription medications received a four month supply of medicine.

The dental portion included x-rays and any dental work that needed done before deployment. Some of the men have to go back to have wisdom teeth removed, while others just need fillings.

During the administrative portion the men were able to update DEERS, which is the system the Army uses to track soldiers families. It is required for family members to be enrolled to ensure things from insurance benefits to dependent ID cards. Also the men who needed to change benefit information, HOR (Home of Record), or anything else in the personal file were able to do that today with personnel.

The soldier of the day is SSG Chris Catlin. SSG Catlin teaches at Meadville High School and is a recent graduate of CUP. He is from the Meadville area originally. This is what he has to say:

Hello from Camp Shelby! My name is SSG Catlin, and I am the 3rd squad leader for 2nd platoon. I would like to thank all of you for checking on our blog, and the support that you have shown all of our soldiers thus far. Today is a very beautiful day in the 80's. The past few days have been busy with administrative tasks and time for myself and the other soldiers to get settled in. All of our gear has arrived and soon the days of training will begin to grow increasingly longer and harder. I am personally looking forward to training with my platoon and squad on the live fire ranges that have been arranged for us, as well as gaining more experience with the mighty-mighty stryker armored combat vehicle! I hope everyone is having an ok time adjusting to life back at home without us. Stay well, and God Bless.

-SSG Catlin

PS
GO STEELERS! Beat the Ravens!