Day 10

I'm trying to download PureEdge Viewer into my laptop so I can do some office work here, so I have a few minutes.
Below are a few notes I make over the last few days.
I don't know if I mention it in my postings, but did you know it rained in the Pacific Northwest? Me neither.

Day 5

Woke up this morning in beautiful Ft. Lewis. I’ve been told that the unique thing about Ft. Lewis is when you get up on your first morning, you step outside and the first thing you see Mt. Rainier in the distance. I’m sure that somewhere behind one of those clouds is a beautiful sight, but this morning, not so much.
The trip here was uneventful, if only a little bumpy. How I do love flying. I had a few hours in the Cities and spent most of that time in the Armed Forces Service Center. Nice Place! Matching leather couches and high back chairs, free internet, free food and sodas, and quiet. They’ve got showers and bunks for a longer layover. If you’ve got your military ID on your person, and if you have time between flights, I recommend hanging out there.
They’ve got me housed, for the next couple of days, in a World War II era barracks in a room about the size of my bathroom. I’m not complaining; it’s clean and a private room. This’ll be the last time I’ll have privacy for a while. We have today off and start our in-processing tomorrow. I arrived here with one other soldier from North Dakota, Major Mike Bannach. He lives in Fargo and is the Executive Officer of the Medical Detachment of the North Dakota Army National Guard. My sister, Katy, teases me about all of the acronyms the military uses. As I know she and other non-Army people will be reading this, I’ll do my best to spell out things, rather than use the acronym.



Did anybody tell you it rained in the Pacific Northwest? I know. Me either.

Day 6
Got up from my tiny hotel room in the World War II barracks and started in-processing. I met the brigade staff and moved to the unit area. Turned out they arrived the same day as I and were housed three building behind where I was staying. I got bedding, a foot locker, and moved into different World War II barracks. I hung around for an hour or so and then we moved to get more field gear, including our body armor. We arrived at the Central Issue Facility at 1245 and I got into the building at 1615. Did I mention in rains here in the Pacific Northwest? At least we were under cover. I still don’t have a section or assignment. It’s just about 9 pm and the next thing I have to do is paperwork tomorrow; the bus leaves at 1400. All this free time is kicking my butt. The barracks are old and old, and we’re housed in this area by rank. Everybody staying in this barracks are all the same rank as me.

Did anybody know it rains in the Pacific Northwest? Me neither.