I got up today and had a few extra minutes before I have to go to work, so I thought I'd post a picture for you all you all. I know it's one of my new favorites.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Day 65
We're slowly taking over our operations from the Active Army unit we're replacing. For me, it's been many inventories of equipment so we can get our people up and running and doing their job so the unit we're replacing can go home. Not much else right now, but enjoy the picture. I do!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Day 64
Hi,
Well, I've finally got an internet connection to my room so I can start keeping up with this on a regular basis. I took some time in Kuwait to make some blog entries without actually posting them. Feel free to catch up. Pictures will be forth coming, I promise.
Day 51 – Benchmark 1 met
Today I am writing my Camp Buehring, Kuwait. It’s flat, sandy, and there’s no beach bar anywhere in sight. We all got here ok, even on that DC10 built in 1970 in which we flew. If there’s one thing they did with great aplomb, it was food. I think we got fed every 3 hours. It was good food, but when you’re jammed into a seat built based on the average body sizes of Americans from the late 1960’s, and in a jet with no way of moving in order to work off some of that rich food, the flight gets a little tedious and, shall we say, a bit backed up? We’re here and living in tents. It’s kind of like living in a C-141, but at least it is air conditioned. I have roughly 15 inches of space on either side of my Army cot. What’s at the end of those 15 inches you ask? Why, it’s another bunk filled with a sleeping soldier. At least it’s not Ft. Lewis with it’s cold, rain and fog. Wasn’t it nice of the Army to send us, for six weeks, to a training area that was SO much like our area of operation?
If you notice, I have added a special marker to my day. I have some personal benchmarks for this deployment; things that will happen only by the passing of time and days marked on a calendar. Benchmark one; I got out of the United States and into theater. I am not yet in Iraq, but that wasn’t the benchmark. I figure that if anything happens to me from this point on, the Army will have to leave me on orders long enough for me to get to benchmark number two. I have no intention of spoiling the surprise of the other benchmarks; they’ll be announced as those dates are reached.
Day 58 – Thanksgiving Day
When you can’t spend this day with your family, or your second family, it’s best to spend it with friends. I don’t yet know if the 287th is my 3rd family, but they’re moving closer to that designation. My second family, for those in the dark, is the 188th Army Band. Yesterday was an interesting day. I had to go get some equipment that I couldn’t get here. It was at the next post over, Ali Al Salem. I got a tour of the Air Base; concrete bunkers built by the French that were not good for anything now except for catching water; the dining facility on the hill called “The Rock”, with a nice view; and a few local shops to get some stuff for our driver. There were Prada hand bags there for $50 and Air Jordan shoes for $75 and pirated DVD’s for $5 apiece or 6 for $20.
Day 60
It’s Saturday the 29th and I’m having an interesting day. Tomorrow I fly into Iraq to my duty station at Tallil. This morning as I was taking care of some personal bodily issues it dawned on me that tomorrow I’ll be in a combat zone. I may never hear gunfire or see the enemy, but I’ll be there just the same.
Day 62
Today is my first full day in Iraq. I’m stationed at Camp Adder, Tallil, Iraq. We’re living in trailers called CHU’s, pronounced “chew’s”. There are three each two-man rooms in each CHU, and there are two beds in each room. Each room is about the size of a college dorm room. My room has its’ own air conditioner/heater, 5 electrical outlets, a cable tv hookup, two beds, two wall lockers, and two night stands. My toilet is about 200 feet away and the shower is about 200 feet past that. Porta-potties have been replaced by flushing porcelain toilets. (Thank goodness). When I go 300 feet the other direction from the latrine, there is trailer with 10 washers and 10 dryers. I’ll get pictures out at a later date. I found my office and we worked all day doing inventories of the equipment we’re getting from the unit we’re replacing. My office is in a building that I think dates back to World War 1, I’m not kidding. But everything here is so dirty and beat up, it may be only 5 years old. I’ll look into seeing if I can find the age of the building. Pictures of my office and building will be coming at a later date, like when I get around to taking them.
Well, I've finally got an internet connection to my room so I can start keeping up with this on a regular basis. I took some time in Kuwait to make some blog entries without actually posting them. Feel free to catch up. Pictures will be forth coming, I promise.
Day 51 – Benchmark 1 met
Today I am writing my Camp Buehring, Kuwait. It’s flat, sandy, and there’s no beach bar anywhere in sight. We all got here ok, even on that DC10 built in 1970 in which we flew. If there’s one thing they did with great aplomb, it was food. I think we got fed every 3 hours. It was good food, but when you’re jammed into a seat built based on the average body sizes of Americans from the late 1960’s, and in a jet with no way of moving in order to work off some of that rich food, the flight gets a little tedious and, shall we say, a bit backed up? We’re here and living in tents. It’s kind of like living in a C-141, but at least it is air conditioned. I have roughly 15 inches of space on either side of my Army cot. What’s at the end of those 15 inches you ask? Why, it’s another bunk filled with a sleeping soldier. At least it’s not Ft. Lewis with it’s cold, rain and fog. Wasn’t it nice of the Army to send us, for six weeks, to a training area that was SO much like our area of operation?
If you notice, I have added a special marker to my day. I have some personal benchmarks for this deployment; things that will happen only by the passing of time and days marked on a calendar. Benchmark one; I got out of the United States and into theater. I am not yet in Iraq, but that wasn’t the benchmark. I figure that if anything happens to me from this point on, the Army will have to leave me on orders long enough for me to get to benchmark number two. I have no intention of spoiling the surprise of the other benchmarks; they’ll be announced as those dates are reached.
Day 58 – Thanksgiving Day
When you can’t spend this day with your family, or your second family, it’s best to spend it with friends. I don’t yet know if the 287th is my 3rd family, but they’re moving closer to that designation. My second family, for those in the dark, is the 188th Army Band. Yesterday was an interesting day. I had to go get some equipment that I couldn’t get here. It was at the next post over, Ali Al Salem. I got a tour of the Air Base; concrete bunkers built by the French that were not good for anything now except for catching water; the dining facility on the hill called “The Rock”, with a nice view; and a few local shops to get some stuff for our driver. There were Prada hand bags there for $50 and Air Jordan shoes for $75 and pirated DVD’s for $5 apiece or 6 for $20.
Day 60
It’s Saturday the 29th and I’m having an interesting day. Tomorrow I fly into Iraq to my duty station at Tallil. This morning as I was taking care of some personal bodily issues it dawned on me that tomorrow I’ll be in a combat zone. I may never hear gunfire or see the enemy, but I’ll be there just the same.
Day 62
Today is my first full day in Iraq. I’m stationed at Camp Adder, Tallil, Iraq. We’re living in trailers called CHU’s, pronounced “chew’s”. There are three each two-man rooms in each CHU, and there are two beds in each room. Each room is about the size of a college dorm room. My room has its’ own air conditioner/heater, 5 electrical outlets, a cable tv hookup, two beds, two wall lockers, and two night stands. My toilet is about 200 feet away and the shower is about 200 feet past that. Porta-potties have been replaced by flushing porcelain toilets. (Thank goodness). When I go 300 feet the other direction from the latrine, there is trailer with 10 washers and 10 dryers. I’ll get pictures out at a later date. I found my office and we worked all day doing inventories of the equipment we’re getting from the unit we’re replacing. My office is in a building that I think dates back to World War 1, I’m not kidding. But everything here is so dirty and beat up, it may be only 5 years old. I’ll look into seeing if I can find the age of the building. Pictures of my office and building will be coming at a later date, like when I get around to taking them.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Day 48
There’s a phrase out there of which I only know the first part, “The best laid plans,…”.
So, I am not in Germany on my layover. We didn’t stop in Bangor, Maine for refueling. I am in fact at the airport in Shannon, Ireland. We left McChord Air Force Base, just outside of Ft. Lewis, with our wheels up time at 0610 and landed here at 1400 Pacific Time. Ah, eight hours on a DC10 with 260 of my newest best friends, our equipment, and not much sleep on top of it. We're hanging out in the airport for 4-1/2 hours total time before moving on to our next destination; Kuwait. We're here longer than scheduled because we bypassed the layover in Maine and the next flight crew has not yet arrived. One good thing about leaving Ft Lewis is that at least there's no fog here. Nothing like the Pacific Northwest's answer to smog to brighten your day. I don't know how many more hours we have on plane, but whenever it stops, I'll disembark and be there.
So, I am not in Germany on my layover. We didn’t stop in Bangor, Maine for refueling. I am in fact at the airport in Shannon, Ireland. We left McChord Air Force Base, just outside of Ft. Lewis, with our wheels up time at 0610 and landed here at 1400 Pacific Time. Ah, eight hours on a DC10 with 260 of my newest best friends, our equipment, and not much sleep on top of it. We're hanging out in the airport for 4-1/2 hours total time before moving on to our next destination; Kuwait. We're here longer than scheduled because we bypassed the layover in Maine and the next flight crew has not yet arrived. One good thing about leaving Ft Lewis is that at least there's no fog here. Nothing like the Pacific Northwest's answer to smog to brighten your day. I don't know how many more hours we have on plane, but whenever it stops, I'll disembark and be there.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Day 44
Did you know it rains in the Pacific Northwest? Me neither. The day after election day the local radio stations announced that the citizens of Washington state voted to allow physician assisted suicide. I don't know why they bother. This is the most depressing place I've ever been. With all of the constant rain and clouds it's a wonder people aren't taking care of that issue themselves on a regular basis.
My oh my, how the time has just flown by. It's hard to believe it's day 44 already. Where has the time gone? Input all of the sarcasm you've ever heard in my voice and turn up the volume. It's been ok, just a bit of an arduous trek getting here.
I've finished training (yeah me) and am at my sisters place outside of Sacramento enjoying my pass days with her. First night; 14 hours of sleep and a nap the next day; and last night, 11 hours of sleep, and I'm writing this before I nod off for my mid-day nap.
I have to report back to Ft. Lewis, in the rainy Pacific Northwest, tomorrow, the 14th, do some administrative stuff, and we leave at Oh-Dark-Thirty the morning of the 17th. I'm thinking that my next posting will take place from a hallway in an airport in Germany. (I'd have a cold one for all you all, but sorry, we're not allowed to drink.) It is what it is.
My oh my, how the time has just flown by. It's hard to believe it's day 44 already. Where has the time gone? Input all of the sarcasm you've ever heard in my voice and turn up the volume. It's been ok, just a bit of an arduous trek getting here.
I've finished training (yeah me) and am at my sisters place outside of Sacramento enjoying my pass days with her. First night; 14 hours of sleep and a nap the next day; and last night, 11 hours of sleep, and I'm writing this before I nod off for my mid-day nap.
I have to report back to Ft. Lewis, in the rainy Pacific Northwest, tomorrow, the 14th, do some administrative stuff, and we leave at Oh-Dark-Thirty the morning of the 17th. I'm thinking that my next posting will take place from a hallway in an airport in Germany. (I'd have a cold one for all you all, but sorry, we're not allowed to drink.) It is what it is.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Day 35
I'm here in the computer lab on election night. Ah, let me tell you, one of the perks about being here now is that I haven't had to listen or watch or hear any political ads for the last month. It does a body good. I started training again this past Saturday. After receiving many much more Army gear, I went to the Land Navigation course. Not that difficult to find your way through an abandoned gravel pit. Hey, at least I passed. Then Sunday we started training on how to defeat IED's, from a walking and from a driving posture. Yesterday I got into the HEAT trainer. They have a HUMVEE body hooked up to a motor and pivot and they turn you around and flip you and then you have to get out. I get sick on a swing set so you can imagine how much fun I had in a blacked-out vehicle with my weapon and three other people getting tossed around like croutons on a salad. The second time we did it the control valve on my Camelback broke off and leaked into my crotch. I woke up quickly when the cold water hit my warm innards. Then as we were being spun around like yesterday's laundry, it started spraying everybody else with water. I have more and a half more days of training, then a few days on pass, and then we fly out. I can't come home until I leave, so now I just need to leave. It is what it is.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Day 28
It is 9 am here in Ft. Lewis and I am recently returned from the Soldier Readiness Center, SRC. They are they ones that clear us for mobilization. Yesterday my Company Commander spent all day at the SRC figuring out what the problem was clearing me and 11 soldiers of the Brigade. He did all the leg-work so today all I had to do was sign my name on a sheet and I was cleared. I am back to being depolyable and will resume training this afternoon. I have an interesting appointment at 1000 today with the Regional Analyst at the Vaccine Agency. His job is to interview people who have had adverse reactions vaccinations and enter the information into the big computer in the sky, looking for patters and re-occurrences. After that, I can start training, again.
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