This blog is written in two parts. The first part being a couple of days ago right after my retention appointment. The second part being today (Tuesday).
The Army is an interesting organization. I spend half of my day just trying to figure out how this business works. Yesterday I had an appointment with the retention NCO, which means I am coming up on that time in my life where I have to decide if I want to re-enlist or get out. I went to this appointment under the impression that I still had two years before I had to make this decision, and that they were just jumping the gun. I get to the office and start talking to the NCO and she tells me that my name was on the list because my ETS date is Jan 2010. ETS is end of term service, aka your last day in the army. I tell her that's not right. My IRR date is Jan 2010 and my ETS date is Jan 2012. IRR date is Inactive Ready Reserve. IRR date is the day that I go from Active Reserve Component, which is what I am now, to IRR and that means I don't have to drill anymore or do anything. I am not out of the army yet, but for two years my name sits on a list and if they need me I can get called up. I would say it is unlikely to get called up to deploy on IRR, but this war has made a myth out of that rumor. People get called out of IRR all the time now. So, I tell them that my ETS date is not until 2012. They tell me that is not what their paperwork says and I need to show them my contract to prove otherwise, which is no big deal because I have it with me. We go back and forth for a minute about how it is impossible for my ETS date to be this Jan because I signed up when I was 17 and I only had six years in. At this point one of the NCO's (there are two NCO's in the office) realizes what has happened and tells me that when you are on active duty (which I am currently active duty) IRR does not exist, so that means my ETS date is Jan 2010. Wow. I feel like somebody should have told me that.
Since I am on active duty I have no 2 year IRR commitment anymore, and I have to decide whether or not to stay in by Jan 2010. Of course there is more than one option for re-enlistment. The army never makes it easy. I can elect to take stop-loss. That would be the equivalent of getting out. I would get 500 bucks a month from now until my tour is over, and when I get back I would be done. No more drill. No more army. If I decided that I wanted to come back to the army I would be bared from re-enlistment for one year.
I could extend my contract. That means I would extend my contract through the tour and then I would have 90 days before I had to report to my unit and decide on what to do at that point. I would not be collecting stop-loss, and I would just go on doing what I am doing and put off the ultimate decision until a later date and time.
I could re-enlist. This seems self-explanatory. I would sign a new contract with the army and they would own my life for however many years. Probably the standard 6 and 2. Six years active reserve, two years IRR (which doesn't exist if you are active duty).
I am really pissed at the Army for making me make this decision while I am over here. I am more pissed that I have to make this decision period. Every time I think about what I am going to do I have a near panic attack. The reason being, this decision is just one of many in regards to what I am going to do with the rest of my life. I keep trying to tell myself that I am not growing up, that I didn't just graduate from college, and that there is no need to make big decisions that are going to impact my life. However, the truth is I have to start making these decisions and I hate it. I hate it because I really don't know. There are so many options for what I could do with the rest of my life.
Option one is the responsible path of trying to be a successful contributing member of society. Take the GRE, go to grad school (hopefully at WVU), get a masters in counseling psychology, and a Doctorate in Sports Psychology and do something great with my life. It seems so easy when I write out or say it out loud, but it will require years of hard work and possible failure.
Option two is the army career that would be equally as successful and would also contribute to society. I could try and go warrant officer, go to flight school (one year long) and become a helicopter pilot and fly medevac's (hopefully). This would be a serious commitment to the Army, and would probably mean I would get deployed a lot. This also types easier than it would actually be. It would mean lots of time away from my family and friends...and having to deal with the Army.
Option three is go home to Columbia and find some sort of job that pays me money and work there and see what happens. Wait on the whole grad school thing, and see if I can be successful without it. This option wouldn't be so bad if the economy wasn't in the can and people were hiring.
Option four is definitely the best option. Move to Colorado and become really good at skiing and teach ski lessons and spend my life as a ski bum. I know I hate cold whether, but skiing makes it worthwhile.
Option five is a little more unlikely and that would be to win the lottery.
I know what most of you want me to do, and that is take the stop-loss money and get out while I still can. That seems very appealing, but I am still not certain that I want to be done with the Army. There are parts of it that I like, and other parts that I can't stand. There are two big things that keep me from wanting to re-enlist, and they are probably not what you are thinking. The first problem is, when I get home I go back to Jeff City. This unit that I am here with is not my original unit, and when I get home the Army will transfer me back to Jeff City and I won't have to go back to Little Rock, AK ever again. Four months ago that would have sounded great. Today that is not the case.
I don't want to re-enlist and have to serve without the battle buddies that I have made here. The thought that I might get deployed again and Cara wouldn't be my roommate well...that's not okay. A deployment without her would be terrible, and this also includes Marie and Shandi. Not to mention all the other people that I have become friends with here. After church today a group of us went to dinner together, and when I say a group I mean probably 14 or more of us were all sitting at one table together. It looked like a Thanksgiving dinner, and all the people at that table have become a sort of make-shift family for me. I am going to miss them when this is all over. Also, to make matters worse I am not close to my unit in Jeff City at all. I was with them for four years, and I made more close friends in two weeks at Ft. Hood than I did in four years in Jeff City.
So that is one problem with re-enlistment. I won't be serving with my battle buddies anymore.
The other problem with re-enlistment is something I should probably not talk about on my blog. Seeing as how I was brought into an office and questioned about it today. Some of you will know what that means...and if you don't know what that means then don't worry about it. I got really pissed about it though. I found Cara and threw a pretty decent temper tantrum about how fed up I was with stupid people, and I took off one of the name tapes on my uniform and threw it for dramatic flare and almost lost it in the process. Which was a good thing because it made Cara and I laugh really hard. So it was nice that my rage was brought in check by me trying to be dramatic, but instead I ended up looking stupid. We got my name tape back, because Cara is a good soldier and had her Gerber on her. If she didn't have it on her I might have ended up walking home missing a name tape...
So, I am not 100% sure of what I am going to do. After the events of the past 24 hours I have come closer to my decision and that is to take the stop-loss and be done with this organization. If I want to join back up at a later date and time I can. I figure I might as well make money off the Army if they are going to treat me like crap. Granted the money doesn't justify what has happened in the past 24 hours...but it helps. Oh, and if they ever give me the okay to tell you guys what happened I will. Don't worry. I will shout it from the mountain tops.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
More pictures...
A really big satellite dish. These things cost like 2,000 bucks. People go in on them together, but I think they are a little excessive. I have free internet at work.
Smaller satellites and lots of them.
Just thought I would show you guys how awesome my sunglasses are. They are prescription. Behind me is the street my CHU is on.
Harvester International? Someone has this flag flying above their CHU. I want to do this, but with a Texas flag of course.
That is a plunger. If you click on the picture you should be able to see what it says. "Use only in the case of a shit emergency." I will explain this later. All you need to know is the smartest man alive sent it to me.
Proudly displaying a Mizzou flag. It has helped the room tremendously.
Smaller satellites and lots of them.
Just thought I would show you guys how awesome my sunglasses are. They are prescription. Behind me is the street my CHU is on.
Harvester International? Someone has this flag flying above their CHU. I want to do this, but with a Texas flag of course.
That is a plunger. If you click on the picture you should be able to see what it says. "Use only in the case of a shit emergency." I will explain this later. All you need to know is the smartest man alive sent it to me.
Proudly displaying a Mizzou flag. It has helped the room tremendously.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Pictures.
Well the internet is being slow and not allowing me to put any more pictures on this post. So I will just post what I have uploaded thus far.
Here is a picture of me trying to look like a badass, but instead just looking awkward because all pictures taken of just yourself are awkward.
Our front door. Leave a message.
Looking down our street towards the walkway area that runs through the middle of the pod.
Mike. I live behind these big barriers.
Looking down the middle walkway of the pod towards one of the exits. My CHU is on the right.
Here is a picture of me trying to look like a badass, but instead just looking awkward because all pictures taken of just yourself are awkward.
Our front door. Leave a message.
Looking down our street towards the walkway area that runs through the middle of the pod.
Mike. I live behind these big barriers.
Looking down the middle walkway of the pod towards one of the exits. My CHU is on the right.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Spc. Michael S. Cote Jr.
That's the name of the soldier who died on Sept. 19th in the chopper crash. The other soldier who died passed away at the hospital in Germany.
We went to the memorial service yesterday afternoon, and that might have been the single most emotionally draining event of my life to date. The memorial services are held in the theater here, and there were probably close to 200 soldiers there. I don't know who they all were, or how they knew Michael and I am not sure they all did know him. I didn't. I think all of the commanders from every unit stationed here at Balad go to the memorial services, so that was quite a few of the people that were in attendance. About 20 people from my unit went. The medics that were at the crash site were there, and then there were a few of us that were there for moral support and to pay respect to a fellow soldier.
Michael S. Cote was born October 9th 1988. He didn't get to see his 21st birthday. He enlisted about two years ago as a helicopter mechanic, and was stationed in Alaska. Whie in Alaska he was given the opportunity to switch companies and become a crewchief on a blackhawk helicopter. Soon after that he was deployed to Iraq, and arrived here in March. He had 291 (I think) flight hours logged, 216 of which were combat hours.
He was married and has a six month old daughter at home. He got to see his daughter for the two weeks that he went home on R&R. That information knocked the wind out of all of us. When the speaker announced that, it sounded like someone had sucker punched Cara in the stomach and Marie looked like she wanted to put her fist through a wall.
They had a slide show of pictures and a few videos of Michael, and he seemed like a really fun guy. That was a common theme amongst the few speeches given. That he was the funny guy that everyone relied on to make them feel better. Soldiers in aviation are in small companies and because of that they naturally become a second family to eachother, and it was very hard to watch the commander and first sergeant talk about their soldier.
Cara silently cried the whole time, and Marie looked like she wanted to break something the whole time. I leaned over at one point and asked Marie how she was doing, and she said "I am so pissed. I don't get mad I just get really pissed." I could have guessed that.
I asked her why she was so pissed, and she said that he was never going to get to see his daughter grown up. Emotionally draining.
When we left the service we all walked to the DFAC to eat, and on the way Cara comes up to me and says "I am not over it. I think people expected me to go this memorial service and that would allow me closure so as to be over the whole thing, and although going helped I am definitely not over it." Due to the situation that we were in I didn't say anything back...there were too many people around. I haven't talked to her since then because of work. I do not like the swing shift. I know she has been talking to the Chaplin, so I am confident that she will come out of all this a better person and it won't inhibit her ability to function in life.
On a lighter note, we were talking about the crash the other morning at about 6 am. We seem to have really intense converstaions at really odd hours...but we got on the subject of how you can't escape your roots. And her being from Arkansas would of course mean that she would run out to the crash site in a cut off t-shirt, basketball shorts, and tennis shoes with no socks. And Marie (also from Arkansas) ran out to the crash site in her boxers and a wife beater with flip flops on. She said it looked like they ran right out of the trailer park.
In this conversation she also talked about her converstaion with the Chaplin. She told me she feels like everyone is being overly-sensitive around her, and when she walks in a room everyone is like 'Cara just walked in everyone pull out your concerned face.' And if she leaves the room everyone jumps all over her and asks too many questions like "where are you going and when are you going to be back?" And if she doesn't return promptely they come looking for her. However, she told the Chaplin that I do not do this to her. When she tells me something like 'I am going the bathroom' I ask her if she wants me to hold her so she doesn't fall in. This is true. I do say stuff like that to her...
Well, I should go back to work.
We went to the memorial service yesterday afternoon, and that might have been the single most emotionally draining event of my life to date. The memorial services are held in the theater here, and there were probably close to 200 soldiers there. I don't know who they all were, or how they knew Michael and I am not sure they all did know him. I didn't. I think all of the commanders from every unit stationed here at Balad go to the memorial services, so that was quite a few of the people that were in attendance. About 20 people from my unit went. The medics that were at the crash site were there, and then there were a few of us that were there for moral support and to pay respect to a fellow soldier.
Michael S. Cote was born October 9th 1988. He didn't get to see his 21st birthday. He enlisted about two years ago as a helicopter mechanic, and was stationed in Alaska. Whie in Alaska he was given the opportunity to switch companies and become a crewchief on a blackhawk helicopter. Soon after that he was deployed to Iraq, and arrived here in March. He had 291 (I think) flight hours logged, 216 of which were combat hours.
He was married and has a six month old daughter at home. He got to see his daughter for the two weeks that he went home on R&R. That information knocked the wind out of all of us. When the speaker announced that, it sounded like someone had sucker punched Cara in the stomach and Marie looked like she wanted to put her fist through a wall.
They had a slide show of pictures and a few videos of Michael, and he seemed like a really fun guy. That was a common theme amongst the few speeches given. That he was the funny guy that everyone relied on to make them feel better. Soldiers in aviation are in small companies and because of that they naturally become a second family to eachother, and it was very hard to watch the commander and first sergeant talk about their soldier.
Cara silently cried the whole time, and Marie looked like she wanted to break something the whole time. I leaned over at one point and asked Marie how she was doing, and she said "I am so pissed. I don't get mad I just get really pissed." I could have guessed that.
I asked her why she was so pissed, and she said that he was never going to get to see his daughter grown up. Emotionally draining.
When we left the service we all walked to the DFAC to eat, and on the way Cara comes up to me and says "I am not over it. I think people expected me to go this memorial service and that would allow me closure so as to be over the whole thing, and although going helped I am definitely not over it." Due to the situation that we were in I didn't say anything back...there were too many people around. I haven't talked to her since then because of work. I do not like the swing shift. I know she has been talking to the Chaplin, so I am confident that she will come out of all this a better person and it won't inhibit her ability to function in life.
On a lighter note, we were talking about the crash the other morning at about 6 am. We seem to have really intense converstaions at really odd hours...but we got on the subject of how you can't escape your roots. And her being from Arkansas would of course mean that she would run out to the crash site in a cut off t-shirt, basketball shorts, and tennis shoes with no socks. And Marie (also from Arkansas) ran out to the crash site in her boxers and a wife beater with flip flops on. She said it looked like they ran right out of the trailer park.
In this conversation she also talked about her converstaion with the Chaplin. She told me she feels like everyone is being overly-sensitive around her, and when she walks in a room everyone is like 'Cara just walked in everyone pull out your concerned face.' And if she leaves the room everyone jumps all over her and asks too many questions like "where are you going and when are you going to be back?" And if she doesn't return promptely they come looking for her. However, she told the Chaplin that I do not do this to her. When she tells me something like 'I am going the bathroom' I ask her if she wants me to hold her so she doesn't fall in. This is true. I do say stuff like that to her...
Well, I should go back to work.
Monday, September 21, 2009
A little bit of time
I wrote that last blog post about 24 hours after everything had happened, and I feel like I should finish some of the story and update on what has happened with Cara, Marie, and Shandi.
For starters, I feel like I should explain the comment I made at the beginning of the last blog when I said I felt like there was something bigger at hand than just us that night. I never fully explained why I felt that way. After the crash (it was a black hawk), I kept thinking 'I can't believe I wasn't there...I should have been there with my battle buddies.' It only took one conversation with Cara to realize why I was not there and they were.
Cara told me that she didn't want to be around the other medics who eventually showed up on the scene, and she really didn't want to be around the second medic who showed up (i will call her Sgt. M) because she didn't want Sgt. M to think this was some sort of bonding experience between the two of them. Cara didn't really like Sgt. M all that much prior to this experience, and she doesn't want to Sgt. M to think they are best friends now or really close now because of what they went through together. She told my NCOIC (the person who asked me to come home early) the next day that when she was done talking to the Chaplin that night all she wanted was for me to be home, because if she had to be around someone she wanted it to be me.
When I got home from work last night Marie came over and said that she had missed me all day, because she is sick and tired of being around people she doesn't want to be around. I don't think I have some sort of amazing ability to make people feel at ease, but my battle buddies needed me to not be at that crash site because when they talk to me they know that I don't see the same images, hear the same things, or smell the same things that they did. I have no opinion of what did or did not happen out there. They can talk to me and I have no opinion or thoughts of my own about the situation. All I can do is listen to them.
The reason they were around for the crash is because they are the type of soldier's that you want to try and save your life. Honestly. Marie and Shandi are mechanics for the Army, but they are extremely self-less people and really do believe in the soldier's creed. I have heard that people from my unit made the comments "oh, well they weren't our guys that were in the crash so who cares." That is not an okay thought. They are soldier's...so you do not leave them. I don't care what unit they are in. The soldier's creed always applies. Marie and Shandi are the type of soldier's that don't need to be reminded of what the soldier's creed is because they live it naturally. I am sure you guys want to know what the soldier's creed is, so I will save you a google search:
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
Everyone knows the most important line is the last one. The other three are there to make us feel all hooah hooah and crap. But the last line is one to live by. The Army is so serious about it that after the whole Black Hawk Down (yes, the movie) incident happened they made in mandatory that every helicopter go out in pairs, so that hopefully something like Black Hawk Down will never happen again.
You may be wondering what happened to the other chopper then. One crashes here, so where is the other one? It landed safely at a base close by. It turned around and went back when they realized the weather had turned bad, and the other one went on to try and land here. I don't know if that was okay or what. But that is what happened.
So back to my original train of thought. Marie and Shandi would never leave a fallen comrade. Doesn't matter if they are part of this unit or not. As for Cara. She was there because she is a medic who knows her stuff. This was evident before any of this happened. This situation only made it apparent to everyone. She told me that she didn't really think much out there... that everything was a huge blur and she just remembers reacting. That means she was trained properly. The three of them were the right ones to be the first ones on the scene.
The Air Force has said great things about everything that they did out there. The Air Force is responsible for providing the emergency medical personnel when stuff like this happens, and they said they did everything right. There were about 15 people from my unit that were involved out there. I think. There might have been more. I don't know how many people it takes to roll a Black Hawk off of a person, but however many people that is, that is how many people were out there. That man survived by the way.
Marie said she thought he died because they rolled the chopper off of him and she heard him scream and then when they rolled it the second time (the first time was not far enough to pull him out) they didn't hear anything. So, she thought he had bleed out at that point. He didn't. He survived.
Well I have to go now. Work is almost over. I am hoping Cara is awake when I get home so we can watch Dawson's Creek. Mel sent me season 3 and I am going to make her watch it against her will. She will learn to love it...or at least learn to make fun of it with me.
For starters, I feel like I should explain the comment I made at the beginning of the last blog when I said I felt like there was something bigger at hand than just us that night. I never fully explained why I felt that way. After the crash (it was a black hawk), I kept thinking 'I can't believe I wasn't there...I should have been there with my battle buddies.' It only took one conversation with Cara to realize why I was not there and they were.
Cara told me that she didn't want to be around the other medics who eventually showed up on the scene, and she really didn't want to be around the second medic who showed up (i will call her Sgt. M) because she didn't want Sgt. M to think this was some sort of bonding experience between the two of them. Cara didn't really like Sgt. M all that much prior to this experience, and she doesn't want to Sgt. M to think they are best friends now or really close now because of what they went through together. She told my NCOIC (the person who asked me to come home early) the next day that when she was done talking to the Chaplin that night all she wanted was for me to be home, because if she had to be around someone she wanted it to be me.
When I got home from work last night Marie came over and said that she had missed me all day, because she is sick and tired of being around people she doesn't want to be around. I don't think I have some sort of amazing ability to make people feel at ease, but my battle buddies needed me to not be at that crash site because when they talk to me they know that I don't see the same images, hear the same things, or smell the same things that they did. I have no opinion of what did or did not happen out there. They can talk to me and I have no opinion or thoughts of my own about the situation. All I can do is listen to them.
The reason they were around for the crash is because they are the type of soldier's that you want to try and save your life. Honestly. Marie and Shandi are mechanics for the Army, but they are extremely self-less people and really do believe in the soldier's creed. I have heard that people from my unit made the comments "oh, well they weren't our guys that were in the crash so who cares." That is not an okay thought. They are soldier's...so you do not leave them. I don't care what unit they are in. The soldier's creed always applies. Marie and Shandi are the type of soldier's that don't need to be reminded of what the soldier's creed is because they live it naturally. I am sure you guys want to know what the soldier's creed is, so I will save you a google search:
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
Everyone knows the most important line is the last one. The other three are there to make us feel all hooah hooah and crap. But the last line is one to live by. The Army is so serious about it that after the whole Black Hawk Down (yes, the movie) incident happened they made in mandatory that every helicopter go out in pairs, so that hopefully something like Black Hawk Down will never happen again.
You may be wondering what happened to the other chopper then. One crashes here, so where is the other one? It landed safely at a base close by. It turned around and went back when they realized the weather had turned bad, and the other one went on to try and land here. I don't know if that was okay or what. But that is what happened.
So back to my original train of thought. Marie and Shandi would never leave a fallen comrade. Doesn't matter if they are part of this unit or not. As for Cara. She was there because she is a medic who knows her stuff. This was evident before any of this happened. This situation only made it apparent to everyone. She told me that she didn't really think much out there... that everything was a huge blur and she just remembers reacting. That means she was trained properly. The three of them were the right ones to be the first ones on the scene.
The Air Force has said great things about everything that they did out there. The Air Force is responsible for providing the emergency medical personnel when stuff like this happens, and they said they did everything right. There were about 15 people from my unit that were involved out there. I think. There might have been more. I don't know how many people it takes to roll a Black Hawk off of a person, but however many people that is, that is how many people were out there. That man survived by the way.
Marie said she thought he died because they rolled the chopper off of him and she heard him scream and then when they rolled it the second time (the first time was not far enough to pull him out) they didn't hear anything. So, she thought he had bleed out at that point. He didn't. He survived.
Well I have to go now. Work is almost over. I am hoping Cara is awake when I get home so we can watch Dawson's Creek. Mel sent me season 3 and I am going to make her watch it against her will. She will learn to love it...or at least learn to make fun of it with me.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Torn
Warning: this is a long post and an emotional one, because yesterday I didn't feel like I was on a paid vacation anymore.
I have been going back and forth all day on what I should write this blog entry on. I am torn between writing it on more mundane daily happenings that will keep you guys amused or if I should write about the more serious events of last night. I decided that I should write about the events of last night for a couple of reasons. The first being, I personally don't want to forget about what happened last night...even though I don't think that would ever be possible. Second, I told myself when I started this blog that I was writing it so that people at home could try to live vicariously through me, and to get a first hand account of what is happening here. Third, it's all I can think about right now so I probably couldn't write about mundane things like my blood pressure being 108/60 on Friday, although I bet it is much higher today.
I am usually very skeptical of "signs", but after everything that happened last night I can't help but think that something bigger than us was at hand. On that note I will start from the beginning.
First change of events was: yesterday was my first day to work the swing shift. The swing shift runs from 1700 to 0100 and it is a pretty boring shift in which all the work is completed in the first two hours and you spend the rest of the time monitoring emails and watching TV. I am working this shift for the next week to learn the ropes, so that we can start taking days off. I will be the person that covers down while the night and swing shift guys take a day off.
Second change of events was: yesterday was also the first day that the battalion aid station (BAS) was up and running. The medics from my unit run the BAS, which means that there has to be a medic on call all night. Last night my roommate was on call, so she was suppose to be in our apt from 1600 to 0700 in case someone in our company needed medical attention. Since my roommate, Cara, was confined to our apt and I was at work all night this caused the third change of events which was my other two battle buddies (Marie and Shandi), who are roommates, decided not go to the the gym at our usual time of about 2030. For the past three weeks if you wanted to get in contact with any of us four from the hours of 2000 to 2200 the first place you would have looked would have been the gym. Last night none of us were at the gym.
The fourth change of events was the rain, thunder, and lightening.
I work in a building that is like the brain of Balad. Someone makes an annoucement about there being a situation with an aircraft landing on the east side. The east side is kinda big, so we go about our business just waiting for more information to come in. We get the grid coordinates for it and they plot it on our map and it is right on top of my CHU. I mean there is no mistaking it...I am sitting there thinking "holy shit that is my CHU...my battle buddy is confined to her CHU and you are telling me that an aircraft may or may not have landed on my freaking CHU!!!!" No one else seemed too worried about it though.... of course no one else lives in that section. We wait a little longer and find out that in fact the air craft went down in the container field next to my housing area.
My unit decides that we need to do 100% accountability...I mean at first it looked like there should be an aircraft sitting on top of some of our soldiers homes. So, in order to do the 100% accountability I have to drive over to the housing area to find my co-workers. I find them all. They are okay, and I decide to go ahead and swing by to see how Shandi and Marie are doing (the roommates who decide not to go the gym).
Oh. One other important detail. There were about 5 annoucements for all medical personnel to report to the hospital for further instructions. So, I didn't expect to see Cara around because I figured she was at the hospital.
So, I stop by Marie and Shandi's CHU and find their first line leader sitting outside waiting for them. I find this strange, but it doesn't really concern me too much. I ask him where Shandi and Marie are and he says "they are at the crash site." I am confused. The crash site is behind a fence with barbwire on top and probably 200 meters away. All I can think is "crash site...no way, he probably means standing in that large crowd of people over there that got cleared out of their housing area due to the crash being originally plotted on top of the housing area." That's about all I think of the comment and decide to head back to work. At this point I have about 4 more hours left before I get to go home.
I get back to work and just sit around monitor emails and keep people updated on our 100% accoutability that we are doing. About an hour and a half later I get a phone call from my NCOIC and she asks me if I can come home because my battle buddy is locked out of our CHU. I think this is a little strange. The housing office can let people back into their CHU's if you go ask them. So... I naturally ask why they don't just go and do that. She says "yeah we know that, but Cara needs a battle buddy right now and if you aren't busy it would be best if you could just come home." I don't question it. I tell the guy I am working with that my battle buddy needs me and if he wouldn't mind taking me home. He naturally says "why?" I didn't have any details at the time, so I said well my roommate is a medic so maybe she saw some pretty bad stuff. He replies "well...I mean....she's a soldier she needs to suck it up." I use an insane amount of will power at this moment in time and manage to not kick him in the nuts or butt stroke him in the head with my weapon. Instead I very politely say, "I was told to come home, so I need to go."
When I get back to my CHU Maire, Shandi, and my NCOIC are standing outside (it's about 2300 or so), but my battle buddy is not around. I ask where she is at. They say she is talking to the Chaplin. This is both a sigh of relief and a sign that a lot more happened tonight than I currently know about. I ask them what happened. Marie and Shandi reply simultaneously "she is a hero, I can't believe she did that tonight, she just reacted it was amazing...you wouldn't believe what happened."
Now I am really curious as to what has happened. They haven't said anything as to what has happened at this point...they start to calm down and explain the story a little more thoroughly. This is what I have gathered from all three stories combined.
The rain caused my two battle buddies, Maire and Shandi, to want to go outside and play in the rain. Well, I don't know how long they were outside, but it couldn't have been too long, before they noticed that an aircraft was coming in too low and too fast. The aircraft crash landed in the field next to our CHU's, and Shandi and Marie instantly ran to get my roommate, the medic, to tell her what they saw. My roommate heard it, but thought it was thunder (this is apparently what most people thought it was) until Marie and Shandi told her otherwise. She put her tennis shoes on and grabed her medic bag and headed over to the fence line. Shandi ran and phoned in the emergency on one of the emergency phones, which look exactly like the blue light phones that they have all over Mizzou. It's the exact same thing. She pressed the blue button, and told the operator that there was an emergency in the housing complex and they needed medical personnel.
At the fence they saw one of the aircraft personnel and he said that he needed medical personnel over in the container field. Cara, Marie, and Shandi found a whole under the fence and climbed through it, and ran to the aircraft. When they got there they pulled out those who were unable to move and provided care to those that needed it. From what Marie and Shandi said, "Cara just jumped in the aircraft and started pulling people out." So it sounds like some of them may have been unconscious in the aircraft.
The traumatizing part for Cara was the fact that there was one death at the scene. She knew the soldier wasn't going to make it, so she pulled him away from the scene as much as possible so that everyone else wouldn't have to see him. And, she stayed there with him as he passed away. There was no way she could have saved him. He had a traumatic brain injury, and no amount of medical attention in the world would have saved him. She knows that, but it doesn't make it any easier. It was the first time she has ever seen someone die, and I can tell that she feels a lot of guilt about it. She was the first one on the scene, and I think she feels responsible for what happened to him...even though there is nothing she could have done. Last night she didn't say much. She asked me if I knew what happened. I told her that all I know is that she acted like a hero and was amazing. Her only response was "a guy died." That was about all she said last night.
Today she talked more. I asked her if they teach the medics how to deal with the emotional trauma of the things they have to do. She said no. I am not surprised. This might be the new and more emotionally sensitive army, but people still expect the medics and soldiers to not be affected by the things they see. She said that she talked to the Chaplin and the two doctors that are assigned to our brigade, they both eventually got to the crash site too. They told her that the first time you watch someone die is always the hardest and you never forget it. Cara is the same age as me, 23, and she is smart and knows this. It's just that it's all so fresh and all she can think about is what happened and over analyzing everything that she did.
The combination of events last night were strange. Everything could have easily been different. I wasn't suppose to start the swing shift till Monday, but I told my boss that I didn't mind starting on Saturday evening. Shandi and Marie could have easily been at the gym, but instead got distracted by the rain and the idea of how much fun it would be to play in the rain in Iraq. There were 9 other medics that could have been on call last night, but Cara was the one who was picked for the first night.
There is only a half hour left of work. So, I am going to post this as is. If it was a little confusing to follow I apologize. Trying to write down everything in the sequence that the events happened is hard. I could have gone into a lot more detail too, but I wanted to at least attempt to keep your interest. I hope my next post is about more mundane things.
I have been going back and forth all day on what I should write this blog entry on. I am torn between writing it on more mundane daily happenings that will keep you guys amused or if I should write about the more serious events of last night. I decided that I should write about the events of last night for a couple of reasons. The first being, I personally don't want to forget about what happened last night...even though I don't think that would ever be possible. Second, I told myself when I started this blog that I was writing it so that people at home could try to live vicariously through me, and to get a first hand account of what is happening here. Third, it's all I can think about right now so I probably couldn't write about mundane things like my blood pressure being 108/60 on Friday, although I bet it is much higher today.
I am usually very skeptical of "signs", but after everything that happened last night I can't help but think that something bigger than us was at hand. On that note I will start from the beginning.
First change of events was: yesterday was my first day to work the swing shift. The swing shift runs from 1700 to 0100 and it is a pretty boring shift in which all the work is completed in the first two hours and you spend the rest of the time monitoring emails and watching TV. I am working this shift for the next week to learn the ropes, so that we can start taking days off. I will be the person that covers down while the night and swing shift guys take a day off.
Second change of events was: yesterday was also the first day that the battalion aid station (BAS) was up and running. The medics from my unit run the BAS, which means that there has to be a medic on call all night. Last night my roommate was on call, so she was suppose to be in our apt from 1600 to 0700 in case someone in our company needed medical attention. Since my roommate, Cara, was confined to our apt and I was at work all night this caused the third change of events which was my other two battle buddies (Marie and Shandi), who are roommates, decided not go to the the gym at our usual time of about 2030. For the past three weeks if you wanted to get in contact with any of us four from the hours of 2000 to 2200 the first place you would have looked would have been the gym. Last night none of us were at the gym.
The fourth change of events was the rain, thunder, and lightening.
I work in a building that is like the brain of Balad. Someone makes an annoucement about there being a situation with an aircraft landing on the east side. The east side is kinda big, so we go about our business just waiting for more information to come in. We get the grid coordinates for it and they plot it on our map and it is right on top of my CHU. I mean there is no mistaking it...I am sitting there thinking "holy shit that is my CHU...my battle buddy is confined to her CHU and you are telling me that an aircraft may or may not have landed on my freaking CHU!!!!" No one else seemed too worried about it though.... of course no one else lives in that section. We wait a little longer and find out that in fact the air craft went down in the container field next to my housing area.
My unit decides that we need to do 100% accountability...I mean at first it looked like there should be an aircraft sitting on top of some of our soldiers homes. So, in order to do the 100% accountability I have to drive over to the housing area to find my co-workers. I find them all. They are okay, and I decide to go ahead and swing by to see how Shandi and Marie are doing (the roommates who decide not to go the gym).
Oh. One other important detail. There were about 5 annoucements for all medical personnel to report to the hospital for further instructions. So, I didn't expect to see Cara around because I figured she was at the hospital.
So, I stop by Marie and Shandi's CHU and find their first line leader sitting outside waiting for them. I find this strange, but it doesn't really concern me too much. I ask him where Shandi and Marie are and he says "they are at the crash site." I am confused. The crash site is behind a fence with barbwire on top and probably 200 meters away. All I can think is "crash site...no way, he probably means standing in that large crowd of people over there that got cleared out of their housing area due to the crash being originally plotted on top of the housing area." That's about all I think of the comment and decide to head back to work. At this point I have about 4 more hours left before I get to go home.
I get back to work and just sit around monitor emails and keep people updated on our 100% accoutability that we are doing. About an hour and a half later I get a phone call from my NCOIC and she asks me if I can come home because my battle buddy is locked out of our CHU. I think this is a little strange. The housing office can let people back into their CHU's if you go ask them. So... I naturally ask why they don't just go and do that. She says "yeah we know that, but Cara needs a battle buddy right now and if you aren't busy it would be best if you could just come home." I don't question it. I tell the guy I am working with that my battle buddy needs me and if he wouldn't mind taking me home. He naturally says "why?" I didn't have any details at the time, so I said well my roommate is a medic so maybe she saw some pretty bad stuff. He replies "well...I mean....she's a soldier she needs to suck it up." I use an insane amount of will power at this moment in time and manage to not kick him in the nuts or butt stroke him in the head with my weapon. Instead I very politely say, "I was told to come home, so I need to go."
When I get back to my CHU Maire, Shandi, and my NCOIC are standing outside (it's about 2300 or so), but my battle buddy is not around. I ask where she is at. They say she is talking to the Chaplin. This is both a sigh of relief and a sign that a lot more happened tonight than I currently know about. I ask them what happened. Marie and Shandi reply simultaneously "she is a hero, I can't believe she did that tonight, she just reacted it was amazing...you wouldn't believe what happened."
Now I am really curious as to what has happened. They haven't said anything as to what has happened at this point...they start to calm down and explain the story a little more thoroughly. This is what I have gathered from all three stories combined.
The rain caused my two battle buddies, Maire and Shandi, to want to go outside and play in the rain. Well, I don't know how long they were outside, but it couldn't have been too long, before they noticed that an aircraft was coming in too low and too fast. The aircraft crash landed in the field next to our CHU's, and Shandi and Marie instantly ran to get my roommate, the medic, to tell her what they saw. My roommate heard it, but thought it was thunder (this is apparently what most people thought it was) until Marie and Shandi told her otherwise. She put her tennis shoes on and grabed her medic bag and headed over to the fence line. Shandi ran and phoned in the emergency on one of the emergency phones, which look exactly like the blue light phones that they have all over Mizzou. It's the exact same thing. She pressed the blue button, and told the operator that there was an emergency in the housing complex and they needed medical personnel.
At the fence they saw one of the aircraft personnel and he said that he needed medical personnel over in the container field. Cara, Marie, and Shandi found a whole under the fence and climbed through it, and ran to the aircraft. When they got there they pulled out those who were unable to move and provided care to those that needed it. From what Marie and Shandi said, "Cara just jumped in the aircraft and started pulling people out." So it sounds like some of them may have been unconscious in the aircraft.
The traumatizing part for Cara was the fact that there was one death at the scene. She knew the soldier wasn't going to make it, so she pulled him away from the scene as much as possible so that everyone else wouldn't have to see him. And, she stayed there with him as he passed away. There was no way she could have saved him. He had a traumatic brain injury, and no amount of medical attention in the world would have saved him. She knows that, but it doesn't make it any easier. It was the first time she has ever seen someone die, and I can tell that she feels a lot of guilt about it. She was the first one on the scene, and I think she feels responsible for what happened to him...even though there is nothing she could have done. Last night she didn't say much. She asked me if I knew what happened. I told her that all I know is that she acted like a hero and was amazing. Her only response was "a guy died." That was about all she said last night.
Today she talked more. I asked her if they teach the medics how to deal with the emotional trauma of the things they have to do. She said no. I am not surprised. This might be the new and more emotionally sensitive army, but people still expect the medics and soldiers to not be affected by the things they see. She said that she talked to the Chaplin and the two doctors that are assigned to our brigade, they both eventually got to the crash site too. They told her that the first time you watch someone die is always the hardest and you never forget it. Cara is the same age as me, 23, and she is smart and knows this. It's just that it's all so fresh and all she can think about is what happened and over analyzing everything that she did.
The combination of events last night were strange. Everything could have easily been different. I wasn't suppose to start the swing shift till Monday, but I told my boss that I didn't mind starting on Saturday evening. Shandi and Marie could have easily been at the gym, but instead got distracted by the rain and the idea of how much fun it would be to play in the rain in Iraq. There were 9 other medics that could have been on call last night, but Cara was the one who was picked for the first night.
There is only a half hour left of work. So, I am going to post this as is. If it was a little confusing to follow I apologize. Trying to write down everything in the sequence that the events happened is hard. I could have gone into a lot more detail too, but I wanted to at least attempt to keep your interest. I hope my next post is about more mundane things.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Don't get distracted
I posted new photos. They are below this post. I am sure I have lost your attention now, because all you can think is "I want to know what her room looks like..." and now you are looking at the photos instead of reading my very important blog post. You may be wondering why this blog post is so important, well for starters I am writing it. That makes it important. Secondly, I feel like rambling and rambling is only fun when you have an audience. So pay attention, and don't be like me and get distracted by shiny objects, things that move, things that go 'boom', or cool photos of my room posted below.
It is Thursday morning for me, which for you means two more days til the weekend. For me it means absolutely nothing. We don't have weekends here, so that means the phrase TGIF is lost on us. We haven't started our days off yet, and I have no idea when we will start. My co-worker (that makes me feel old) says it will start when our boss, OIC, (that is what we call them in the army, 5 bucks to whoever know what that stands for...and using google disqualifies you) gets tired. My boss happens to be an Army Ranger. He won't get tired. Oh well. At least I get to drive a car. Why yes, there are vehicles here that are not tactical vehicles and I so happen to have access to one. We drive it every night to chow. We could take the bus or walk, but driving is more fun and faster. I learned the other day that pedestrians here do not have the right of way. Which is really quite surprising, because the Army stresses safety in EVERYTHING!!! So you would think they would give the right of way to the pedestrian just as a matter of safety. But I don't write the rules...
So, I am am wondering how many people are going to make comments on my room being messy. Everyone that comes over to our room says it is messy, but Cara and I don't see it. We have the same mentality on room cleanliness. We sweep everyday, and we never make our beds. I made my bed in the photos because I wanted you guys to see the quilt. The coffee table also upsets people, they think it should be put someplace (there is no place for it to go) and they want me to take the coffee maker off the floor. I like it on the floor. It gives it personality. Long story longer, Cara and I see eye to eye on the room situation, but everyone else gives us crap about it. When they leave our room, we look at each other and say "umm I don't care do you care?" Nope. And just so you know, I asked my NCOIC (once again 5 bucks to whoever can tell me what that means)for the SOP (standard operating procedures, I thought I would give you guys that one) on room regulations. I am officially an Army nerd. Or just defensive about my living conditions...
Last night at work was pretty uneventful. Actually it was eventful, but I can't talk about it. Which sucks, but the enemy could be watching. There are signs posted everywhere that say that... so I guess I should listen to them and not tell you about what happened until the information becomes unclassified. Which will happen in 2019, or once CNN gets a hold of it. Although I have noticed that the news does not report on Iraq very much, and there is much more attention on Afghanistan. Which is good, because I saw today that the CG (commanding general) in Afghanistan wants 40,000 more troops. That's a lot. I just wish the news would report on what happens in the streets of Iraq more. Not so much what is happening with the soldiers, but what is happening with the Iraqis. I know what is happening because I see the reports, and either no one cares or no one knows (probably the former). I will say that its disheartening. I think that is about all I can say.
Okay, on to happier thoughts...
Hey there is cake. Stop laughing. I am in the break room, and I looked over at the kitchen area and there is a big cake. Ohhh yeah its someone's birthday today. Duh. I want cake, but I am about to go home and go to sleep. Frick. I love cake.
What else, what else. Oh! A friend asked me if I looked like G.I. Jane yet. She said that her friends who come home from Iraq look like her. No, I don't look like her because I refuse to shave my head. Hahaha, just kidding. I don't have a six pack yet. We do workout a lot here though...its the only thing to do. Or at least it's the only thing that my friends and I want to do.
Well that's all I got. Hope you enjoyed the vehicle information, long room tirade, slight political soap box, and lack of information on last nights events.
It is Thursday morning for me, which for you means two more days til the weekend. For me it means absolutely nothing. We don't have weekends here, so that means the phrase TGIF is lost on us. We haven't started our days off yet, and I have no idea when we will start. My co-worker (that makes me feel old) says it will start when our boss, OIC, (that is what we call them in the army, 5 bucks to whoever know what that stands for...and using google disqualifies you) gets tired. My boss happens to be an Army Ranger. He won't get tired. Oh well. At least I get to drive a car. Why yes, there are vehicles here that are not tactical vehicles and I so happen to have access to one. We drive it every night to chow. We could take the bus or walk, but driving is more fun and faster. I learned the other day that pedestrians here do not have the right of way. Which is really quite surprising, because the Army stresses safety in EVERYTHING!!! So you would think they would give the right of way to the pedestrian just as a matter of safety. But I don't write the rules...
So, I am am wondering how many people are going to make comments on my room being messy. Everyone that comes over to our room says it is messy, but Cara and I don't see it. We have the same mentality on room cleanliness. We sweep everyday, and we never make our beds. I made my bed in the photos because I wanted you guys to see the quilt. The coffee table also upsets people, they think it should be put someplace (there is no place for it to go) and they want me to take the coffee maker off the floor. I like it on the floor. It gives it personality. Long story longer, Cara and I see eye to eye on the room situation, but everyone else gives us crap about it. When they leave our room, we look at each other and say "umm I don't care do you care?" Nope. And just so you know, I asked my NCOIC (once again 5 bucks to whoever can tell me what that means)for the SOP (standard operating procedures, I thought I would give you guys that one) on room regulations. I am officially an Army nerd. Or just defensive about my living conditions...
Last night at work was pretty uneventful. Actually it was eventful, but I can't talk about it. Which sucks, but the enemy could be watching. There are signs posted everywhere that say that... so I guess I should listen to them and not tell you about what happened until the information becomes unclassified. Which will happen in 2019, or once CNN gets a hold of it. Although I have noticed that the news does not report on Iraq very much, and there is much more attention on Afghanistan. Which is good, because I saw today that the CG (commanding general) in Afghanistan wants 40,000 more troops. That's a lot. I just wish the news would report on what happens in the streets of Iraq more. Not so much what is happening with the soldiers, but what is happening with the Iraqis. I know what is happening because I see the reports, and either no one cares or no one knows (probably the former). I will say that its disheartening. I think that is about all I can say.
Okay, on to happier thoughts...
Hey there is cake. Stop laughing. I am in the break room, and I looked over at the kitchen area and there is a big cake. Ohhh yeah its someone's birthday today. Duh. I want cake, but I am about to go home and go to sleep. Frick. I love cake.
What else, what else. Oh! A friend asked me if I looked like G.I. Jane yet. She said that her friends who come home from Iraq look like her. No, I don't look like her because I refuse to shave my head. Hahaha, just kidding. I don't have a six pack yet. We do workout a lot here though...its the only thing to do. Or at least it's the only thing that my friends and I want to do.
Well that's all I got. Hope you enjoyed the vehicle information, long room tirade, slight political soap box, and lack of information on last nights events.
The drawers in the middle of the room is our coffee table. We have no room anywhere else for it, and we need the drawers because our food and DVD's are in there. So I put the coffee, my coffee mug, and the filters on it and called it our coffee table. It's staying there. If you look closely my (really it's Liz's)Army duck is sitting on my bedside table looking over the room.
My room decorations thus far. Please send more things for me to hang on the back of my wall locker. The two photos on the right are U2 pictures...in case you were wondering.
My room decorations thus far. Please send more things for me to hang on the back of my wall locker. The two photos on the right are U2 pictures...in case you were wondering.
More Pictures!!!
This is Cara's side of the room. That is her way of saying hi. Please note the ugly Arkansas flag.
This is my awesome side of the room.
This is my awesome side of the room.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Take Over!
Today is the big day. We officially take control of our mission here in Iraq. For the past two weeks we have been working alongside the unit that we are replacing, and as of tomorrow morning we are officially in charge and they are no longer welcome here and will be leaving soon. The guy that I am replacing has been really nice and helpful with everything, and I am very thankful that he was the one to teach me my job. Some other people have not been so fortunate with who they are replacing and have had a rough time. My guy is a Lieutenant Colonel and has been in the Army for over 20 years, so he is a wealth of information. I am a little apprehensive to take over because I am a sergeant...essentially at the bottom of the food chain and I am replacing someone who is at the top of the pyramid. I am nervous.
I am excited to officially be in charge, because then my email box will be labeled correctly. =) Oh, getting my email set-up was a huge hassle for me. They missed spelled my freaking name!!! WTF?! I have one of the easiest names in the world, but of course they lost my paper work and didn't tell me. Do they just filled out the forms on my behalf and spelled my first name with one "n." So for days I thought I didn't have an account, only to find out I did have an account they just misspelled my name. Ugh. So that took another day to sort out, and yet another day to sort out my email account. It has been a huge pain in my ass. Huge.
So, Shelly made the comment that I should explain the "mortar the heck out of us" statement. I thought it was self-explanatory, but then I realize you guys don't hear that terminology everyday. JBB is huge. Huge base equals lots of soldiers and equipment, so naturally the bad guys would want to attack this place. However, there are too many of us to just try and run up and storm the gates, so they fire mortars at us. Mortars are like bombs...and they try and shoot them over the fence and hit something inside. Well generally they suck at hitting us. They shoot them at us and they either, don't make it past the wire and explode outside, or they shoot them at us, they cross the wire and don't explode at all. So then our EOD team has to go out and blow it up themselves. That happens a lot. I don't know why they don't explode...but thankfully they don't. Everything around here has barriers and anti-mortar roofs to try and protect us in case one does explode...but I have yet to experience one actually going off. We also have a defense system that is suppose to shoot them down. It works pretty effectively, and I would love to see one of them in action, cause apparently they shot off insane amounts of ammo every second. Of course, if I saw one going off then I would be really close to a mortar heading at me....so I guess I will have to youtube it or something.
I loved the mixed reactions to the Colt McCoy comment. =) I am of course a true Mizzou fan, and when Mizzou plays Texas I always cheer for Mizzou. I just wanted to clarify that. However, I will never be an OU fan and if I recall correctly OU lost opening weekend to BYU...hahahaha. AND Sam Bradford got hurt, so much for that national championship... Sorry Tracy, I had to make a comment.
So our commander is all about physical fitness, and he has made an incentive for everyone to run at least 300 miles, walk 315 miles, or bike 750 miles before we leave here. If you accomplish this you get a couple cool things. You can try for one step higher and run 600 miles, walk 630 miles, or bike 1500 miles and you get even more cool stuff. Or you can be an outstanding soldier and run 900 miles, walk 945, or bike 2250 miles and get lots of cool stuff. When I say cool stuff it is all army related (except for the 'Tough O'mbres' T-shirt) so if I were to say what you get I would spend another three paragraphs explaining what the cool stuff was. So I am going to try and go for the 900 miles. The worst that happens is that I don't run that many, and maybe only get a moderate amount of cool stuff. I think I have about a 100 miles already logged. The start date was Aug 1st.
So I saw Serena Williams lost to Kim Clijsters at the US Open because of a foot fault and then cussing out the line judge. I laughed out loud when I saw it...I don't like the Williams sisters and I think Kim Clijsters is a great underdog in this tournament. So I am happy she won it all. Sorry if that upsets you Hayley. If I remember correctly you don't like Kim Clijsters (and I hope I am spelling her name correctly).
Well I am very very tired right now, so I am going to go back to my apt and get some much needed sleep.
I am excited to officially be in charge, because then my email box will be labeled correctly. =) Oh, getting my email set-up was a huge hassle for me. They missed spelled my freaking name!!! WTF?! I have one of the easiest names in the world, but of course they lost my paper work and didn't tell me. Do they just filled out the forms on my behalf and spelled my first name with one "n." So for days I thought I didn't have an account, only to find out I did have an account they just misspelled my name. Ugh. So that took another day to sort out, and yet another day to sort out my email account. It has been a huge pain in my ass. Huge.
So, Shelly made the comment that I should explain the "mortar the heck out of us" statement. I thought it was self-explanatory, but then I realize you guys don't hear that terminology everyday. JBB is huge. Huge base equals lots of soldiers and equipment, so naturally the bad guys would want to attack this place. However, there are too many of us to just try and run up and storm the gates, so they fire mortars at us. Mortars are like bombs...and they try and shoot them over the fence and hit something inside. Well generally they suck at hitting us. They shoot them at us and they either, don't make it past the wire and explode outside, or they shoot them at us, they cross the wire and don't explode at all. So then our EOD team has to go out and blow it up themselves. That happens a lot. I don't know why they don't explode...but thankfully they don't. Everything around here has barriers and anti-mortar roofs to try and protect us in case one does explode...but I have yet to experience one actually going off. We also have a defense system that is suppose to shoot them down. It works pretty effectively, and I would love to see one of them in action, cause apparently they shot off insane amounts of ammo every second. Of course, if I saw one going off then I would be really close to a mortar heading at me....so I guess I will have to youtube it or something.
I loved the mixed reactions to the Colt McCoy comment. =) I am of course a true Mizzou fan, and when Mizzou plays Texas I always cheer for Mizzou. I just wanted to clarify that. However, I will never be an OU fan and if I recall correctly OU lost opening weekend to BYU...hahahaha. AND Sam Bradford got hurt, so much for that national championship... Sorry Tracy, I had to make a comment.
So our commander is all about physical fitness, and he has made an incentive for everyone to run at least 300 miles, walk 315 miles, or bike 750 miles before we leave here. If you accomplish this you get a couple cool things. You can try for one step higher and run 600 miles, walk 630 miles, or bike 1500 miles and you get even more cool stuff. Or you can be an outstanding soldier and run 900 miles, walk 945, or bike 2250 miles and get lots of cool stuff. When I say cool stuff it is all army related (except for the 'Tough O'mbres' T-shirt) so if I were to say what you get I would spend another three paragraphs explaining what the cool stuff was. So I am going to try and go for the 900 miles. The worst that happens is that I don't run that many, and maybe only get a moderate amount of cool stuff. I think I have about a 100 miles already logged. The start date was Aug 1st.
So I saw Serena Williams lost to Kim Clijsters at the US Open because of a foot fault and then cussing out the line judge. I laughed out loud when I saw it...I don't like the Williams sisters and I think Kim Clijsters is a great underdog in this tournament. So I am happy she won it all. Sorry if that upsets you Hayley. If I remember correctly you don't like Kim Clijsters (and I hope I am spelling her name correctly).
Well I am very very tired right now, so I am going to go back to my apt and get some much needed sleep.
Friday, September 11, 2009
9/11
Today is September 11th, 2009. Which makes it 8 years since the fall of the twin towers, and some would say the start of this war on terror. Although the Obama administration does not call it the war on terror, because that implies that it will never end... Some of you might be wondering what it is like to be in Iraq on 9/11, and it feels like any other day of the week. I slept all day and will work all night, and will keep thinking that I am on a paid vacation. Maybe tonight when I go to work I will learn of a bunch of crazy stuff happening to the troops today, but I was talking to a guy who has been here awhile and this is his second tour and he says that the 29th of the month is the day that they seek revenge and mortar the heck out of us.
I have no idea if this is true seeing as how I have not been on JBB to celebrate the 29th of the month. I didn't have to work last night because of construction going on in my office, so only one of us showed up. Tonight I get to work, and my counterpart will take the night off. It was great having the night off. I finally feel well rested. Last night I watched the rest of season 2 of 30 Rock, and now I must get my hands on season 3. I realized that the Office season 5 should be released any day now, and this is very very exciting.
Not a whole lot has changed in my life since the last post. I posted pictures last time, and the room is still not complete. We can cover the walls in whatever we want as long as we don't damage the fake wood paneling. I already hung up a photo of Colt McCoy (the starting QB for the Longhorns)from ESPN magazine on my wall locker along with a U2 photo that I found in Spin magazine. And my roommate bought a coffeemaker and a glade plug-in (our place smelled like feet) today, so the place is coming along nicely.
The weather is turning really really nice, and I am so excited about this. Last night there was a breeze, and it was actually cool. We were all impressed. In the mornings a couple of my friends have to wake up early because they have to do PT (physical training) every morning...even though it is pretty weak PT, but that is not the point. This morning they went to the pool to go swimming, and I wanted to go swimming with them but my goggles are packed away in my tough box which won't be here until October! Crazy. They told us to pack up anything in the tough box that we wouldn't need for 30 days while in country, and yet they managed to mess things up again and we are getting out tough boxes about two weeks after the initial 30 days. So I probably won't get to enjoy the outdoor pool this year, but will have to swim in the indoor pool when I get my goggles. No, I will not go out and buy new goggles. One I am too cheap for that, two I love the goggles I have, and three I am too cheap for that. The goggles I have I acquired from summer camp about three years ago, and they are really nice...there is nothing that nice here on post.
Enough about goggles. I am about to go to dinner once my friend gets off work, then I am going to go workout, maybe go to the PX to buy coffee filters (the roommate was so excited about the coffeemaker she forgot the coffee and filters), shower, and go to work. Should be exciting stuff.
I hope everyone has a good Friday.
I have no idea if this is true seeing as how I have not been on JBB to celebrate the 29th of the month. I didn't have to work last night because of construction going on in my office, so only one of us showed up. Tonight I get to work, and my counterpart will take the night off. It was great having the night off. I finally feel well rested. Last night I watched the rest of season 2 of 30 Rock, and now I must get my hands on season 3. I realized that the Office season 5 should be released any day now, and this is very very exciting.
Not a whole lot has changed in my life since the last post. I posted pictures last time, and the room is still not complete. We can cover the walls in whatever we want as long as we don't damage the fake wood paneling. I already hung up a photo of Colt McCoy (the starting QB for the Longhorns)from ESPN magazine on my wall locker along with a U2 photo that I found in Spin magazine. And my roommate bought a coffeemaker and a glade plug-in (our place smelled like feet) today, so the place is coming along nicely.
The weather is turning really really nice, and I am so excited about this. Last night there was a breeze, and it was actually cool. We were all impressed. In the mornings a couple of my friends have to wake up early because they have to do PT (physical training) every morning...even though it is pretty weak PT, but that is not the point. This morning they went to the pool to go swimming, and I wanted to go swimming with them but my goggles are packed away in my tough box which won't be here until October! Crazy. They told us to pack up anything in the tough box that we wouldn't need for 30 days while in country, and yet they managed to mess things up again and we are getting out tough boxes about two weeks after the initial 30 days. So I probably won't get to enjoy the outdoor pool this year, but will have to swim in the indoor pool when I get my goggles. No, I will not go out and buy new goggles. One I am too cheap for that, two I love the goggles I have, and three I am too cheap for that. The goggles I have I acquired from summer camp about three years ago, and they are really nice...there is nothing that nice here on post.
Enough about goggles. I am about to go to dinner once my friend gets off work, then I am going to go workout, maybe go to the PX to buy coffee filters (the roommate was so excited about the coffeemaker she forgot the coffee and filters), shower, and go to work. Should be exciting stuff.
I hope everyone has a good Friday.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The Apartment
My roommate and I decided that we need to call our living space something other than a CHU because that is such a depressing term, so we have decided to call it the apartment. These pictures are from the night we got here and before we started putting things in the apt. to make it more homey. This is the front door/living room.
This is my bedroom.
This is the family room, kitchen, and dinning room.
We are still in the process of making our place look decent, and we have rearranged the furniture since that first night here. I will take more pictures once we are done with everything...As you can see the walls are bare, so send me stuff to put on them. =) Right now I have to stare at Cara's Arkansas flag everyday and that is just unnecessary.
This is my bedroom.
This is the family room, kitchen, and dinning room.
We are still in the process of making our place look decent, and we have rearranged the furniture since that first night here. I will take more pictures once we are done with everything...As you can see the walls are bare, so send me stuff to put on them. =) Right now I have to stare at Cara's Arkansas flag everyday and that is just unnecessary.
Monday, September 7, 2009
At Long Last
This is the plane we flew on. It freaked me out that there were no windows. I managed to keep my food down though because I took Dramine before the flight so all was well.
Two of my friends Ruscin and Newton. Ruscin the one on the left is my roommate.
Another plane view.
This is me and LT before we took off.
Two of my friends Ruscin and Newton. Ruscin the one on the left is my roommate.
Another plane view.
This is me and LT before we took off.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Battle Rhythm
Well it has been a few days since I updated my blog, and the reason for this is that I have been slowly adjusting to my new schedule. Right after my last blog post when I said I thought I was going to get the job I wanted, I was quickly placed back at my old job position. Craziness! It has been a very interesint weekend. Long story short I am back at the job I have wanted all along, and I am working the night shift. 1 am to 8 am...which translates to 5 pm to midnight you guys time, so I will probably be able to call people at a decent time of day. I don't know if I mentioned that before, but with the job that I have there are phones that I can use in the break room to call home. Trust me it gets boring enough that this is possible around 3 or 4 am, which is 7 pm US time.
I am slowly adjusting to the night shift, or as we call it getting my battle rhythm down. At this point I go to bed at about 10 am and sleep til about 5, wake up and go eat dinner, come home and hang out for a little bit, go to the gym, shower, and get ready for work. Head off to work around 1230 am and start the whole cycle all over again. The one thing with the Army is that normal stuff always takes forever. Showering for instance takes at least 45 min, beacause we have to get all of our stuff ready for the shower (I am still using my sleeping bag cover as my shower bag) walk to the shower, shower, get dressed, and walk back to the CHU. Laundry is also a very long process, and here they do not allow you to do your own laundry, so it takes three days because you have to turn it in so someone else can wash it. Which might sound nice (someone else doing your laundry) but I don't like people doing my laundry, and I am high maintenance about my clothes and what can and cannot be dried in a dryer...so for me it sucks. Plus three days!!! Once I get my laundry back I have to turn in another bag just so I have enough clean clothes.
Hayley...please send me a picture of you in your bridesmaid dress because that may or may not make my week. =) I looked at the website you gave and needless to say I can't wait to see the wedding photos.
Atrain...you and Smalls getting along? I don't believe it. Pigs are flying somewhere. Shelly showed me pictures of you and Em's apartment and it looks awesome. I wish I was there to play beer pong and cookout on your deck.
This past weekend was the first time I actually felt homesick, and the reason for the homesickness is college football. As most of you know college football is my favorite time of year. October is the best month ever becasue the world series is happening and it is the heart of the college football season. What more could a sports fan ask for? Well this past weekend was kickoff for the college football season, and I got to watch the Mizzou v. Illinois game because there are two big screen tvs at work that are constantly playing sports and the news. So it was great to watch Mizzou stomp all over Illinois, but it made me extremly homesick. Thinking of Columbia and how much of a college town it is, and knowing that all my friends (that don't play rugby) where watching the game and probably tailgating all day and just being awesome college students...it made me miss home.
Alright enough of me being emotional, I need to go shower and then go to work. I will be able to check my blog while I am at work....so post comments. =) It's the highlight of my day. Oh, and I can't talk about what I do at work. Seriously. =) All I can say is that I had a moment at work the other day when I was overwhelemed with the thought "this shit is real now." It is no longer practice...or a game...or whatever other training scenario the Army can come up with to prepare us. What we do is real now. It was an overwhelming moment.
I am slowly adjusting to the night shift, or as we call it getting my battle rhythm down. At this point I go to bed at about 10 am and sleep til about 5, wake up and go eat dinner, come home and hang out for a little bit, go to the gym, shower, and get ready for work. Head off to work around 1230 am and start the whole cycle all over again. The one thing with the Army is that normal stuff always takes forever. Showering for instance takes at least 45 min, beacause we have to get all of our stuff ready for the shower (I am still using my sleeping bag cover as my shower bag) walk to the shower, shower, get dressed, and walk back to the CHU. Laundry is also a very long process, and here they do not allow you to do your own laundry, so it takes three days because you have to turn it in so someone else can wash it. Which might sound nice (someone else doing your laundry) but I don't like people doing my laundry, and I am high maintenance about my clothes and what can and cannot be dried in a dryer...so for me it sucks. Plus three days!!! Once I get my laundry back I have to turn in another bag just so I have enough clean clothes.
Hayley...please send me a picture of you in your bridesmaid dress because that may or may not make my week. =) I looked at the website you gave and needless to say I can't wait to see the wedding photos.
Atrain...you and Smalls getting along? I don't believe it. Pigs are flying somewhere. Shelly showed me pictures of you and Em's apartment and it looks awesome. I wish I was there to play beer pong and cookout on your deck.
This past weekend was the first time I actually felt homesick, and the reason for the homesickness is college football. As most of you know college football is my favorite time of year. October is the best month ever becasue the world series is happening and it is the heart of the college football season. What more could a sports fan ask for? Well this past weekend was kickoff for the college football season, and I got to watch the Mizzou v. Illinois game because there are two big screen tvs at work that are constantly playing sports and the news. So it was great to watch Mizzou stomp all over Illinois, but it made me extremly homesick. Thinking of Columbia and how much of a college town it is, and knowing that all my friends (that don't play rugby) where watching the game and probably tailgating all day and just being awesome college students...it made me miss home.
Alright enough of me being emotional, I need to go shower and then go to work. I will be able to check my blog while I am at work....so post comments. =) It's the highlight of my day. Oh, and I can't talk about what I do at work. Seriously. =) All I can say is that I had a moment at work the other day when I was overwhelemed with the thought "this shit is real now." It is no longer practice...or a game...or whatever other training scenario the Army can come up with to prepare us. What we do is real now. It was an overwhelming moment.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
My reply
This morning I had to go to a class on how to be an escort for the
contractors that work on base, and it was only a 30 min class so I
have had the whole rest of the day off. This is very exciting. I have
to be at work in the morning at 5 am, but I only have to stay until 8
am. We are easing into our new routine. Right now it sounds like I am
going to keep the job that I want and will be on the night shift.
Yay.
I thought I would take the rest of this post to reply to comments
people have made.
Shelly- If I get 10 Texas flags that would be just fine, because then
I can share the love with other people…or just hang them all over my
room. =) You are right the Missouri state flag is better and I would
even take one of those flags over Arakansas. As always I am glad to
hear you are working for peace, if someone wasn’t I would lose all
hope.
John- Thanks for reading the blog, and also thanks for the post. I
don’t know what my experience will be like with the graveyard shift,
but I have a feeling there may be some similarities. The guy that I
will be working with is an officer (1LT) and he is way older than me,
because he is a former 1st Sgt. This is good news for me, because he
has lots of army experience and can teach me where to find information
and will help me out when I have to go knock down someone’s door
trying to get information from them.
I am very confident that we will all become very close (not just the
four other people from my unit that will doing this job, but everyone
on post that has the same job as me) because that is what we keep
hearing from everyone. We are a small group of people and if we don’t
help each other out it can be a very miserable experience…this is what
people keep saying.
As far as nothing happening at night…well that isn’t true for the
military. Everything happens at night in the army, but my job will
probably still be very low key late at night because I am doing a desk
job, but it may get busier towards the end of the shift when people
start going to work and stuff.
There won’t be any senior management on the night shift, which will be
nice. Too bad anything and everything I do will still be tracked first
thing in the morning by senior management. Including what websites I
go to because the tech guys will be monitoring that stuff constantly,
so I probably won’t be visiting youtube on my work computer. That
doesn’t mean I can’t go take breaks in the break room and use the
computer there to play on youtube and facebook. =) I will just have to
see how it all works out, and I get to start tomorrow morning at 5 am.
I am going In from 5 to 8 am to witness the shift change and maybe see
how the shift runs when it starts to get busy.
Bev- Where is Mike? Is he still afraid of blogging? =) Thanks for the
news updates. Figures the Cards are still winning…oh well. Maybe next
year they will lose and the Cubs will take their playoff spot. One can
only dream. =)
I didn’t clarify when I said organic…that means her orginal unit is
the unit from Arkansas. Mine orginal unit was up in Jeff City and then
I got moved to the unit in Arkansas so they could fill a position that
was open. Good job with the Army lingo too, and just so everyone knows
CHU stands for Containerized Housing Unit (they are smaller than a
dorm room). And a Mizzou flag would look great in my room. I know
exactly where I would hang it.
I am going to try and post pictures ASAP…like maybe tonight if I have time. The problem is finding internet that is fast enough that it
will download the pictures. Thanks for all the comments.
contractors that work on base, and it was only a 30 min class so I
have had the whole rest of the day off. This is very exciting. I have
to be at work in the morning at 5 am, but I only have to stay until 8
am. We are easing into our new routine. Right now it sounds like I am
going to keep the job that I want and will be on the night shift.
Yay.
I thought I would take the rest of this post to reply to comments
people have made.
Shelly- If I get 10 Texas flags that would be just fine, because then
I can share the love with other people…or just hang them all over my
room. =) You are right the Missouri state flag is better and I would
even take one of those flags over Arakansas. As always I am glad to
hear you are working for peace, if someone wasn’t I would lose all
hope.
John- Thanks for reading the blog, and also thanks for the post. I
don’t know what my experience will be like with the graveyard shift,
but I have a feeling there may be some similarities. The guy that I
will be working with is an officer (1LT) and he is way older than me,
because he is a former 1st Sgt. This is good news for me, because he
has lots of army experience and can teach me where to find information
and will help me out when I have to go knock down someone’s door
trying to get information from them.
I am very confident that we will all become very close (not just the
four other people from my unit that will doing this job, but everyone
on post that has the same job as me) because that is what we keep
hearing from everyone. We are a small group of people and if we don’t
help each other out it can be a very miserable experience…this is what
people keep saying.
As far as nothing happening at night…well that isn’t true for the
military. Everything happens at night in the army, but my job will
probably still be very low key late at night because I am doing a desk
job, but it may get busier towards the end of the shift when people
start going to work and stuff.
There won’t be any senior management on the night shift, which will be
nice. Too bad anything and everything I do will still be tracked first
thing in the morning by senior management. Including what websites I
go to because the tech guys will be monitoring that stuff constantly,
so I probably won’t be visiting youtube on my work computer. That
doesn’t mean I can’t go take breaks in the break room and use the
computer there to play on youtube and facebook. =) I will just have to
see how it all works out, and I get to start tomorrow morning at 5 am.
I am going In from 5 to 8 am to witness the shift change and maybe see
how the shift runs when it starts to get busy.
Bev- Where is Mike? Is he still afraid of blogging? =) Thanks for the
news updates. Figures the Cards are still winning…oh well. Maybe next
year they will lose and the Cubs will take their playoff spot. One can
only dream. =)
I didn’t clarify when I said organic…that means her orginal unit is
the unit from Arkansas. Mine orginal unit was up in Jeff City and then
I got moved to the unit in Arkansas so they could fill a position that
was open. Good job with the Army lingo too, and just so everyone knows
CHU stands for Containerized Housing Unit (they are smaller than a
dorm room). And a Mizzou flag would look great in my room. I know
exactly where I would hang it.
I am going to try and post pictures ASAP…like maybe tonight if I have time. The problem is finding internet that is fast enough that it
will download the pictures. Thanks for all the comments.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Routine
I don't have a routine yet. We are still in the move-in/get settled in phase, and so we have not started our job training yet. That is suppose to being on Saturday, but mine will probably begin Friday just because I have a lot to learn. I am still not sure what section I am going to be in. A.k.a. I don't know what my job title is still...but if it stays with the current job and I don't get taken back to the old position I will be working the night shift. The "graveyard" shift as it is more commonly known. I don't know how I feel about that...only time will tell.
There is a chance that I will work during the day, but I think I would have more to do at night. The building that I am working in is pretty sweet. I took a tour of it today and meet the people we are replacing. They were very nice and helpful, and the building is nowhere close to where I live so getting there everyday is going to be a hike or a bus ride away. I am still trying to work the bike aspect, and hopefully I get one of those. Yes, we are allowed to have bikes here. I am very excited about the idea of taking a picture of me in my ACU's, weapon, and helmet while riding a bike. I think that picture will be a keeper.
Everyone is here now. I said in the last post that we were not sure when everyone was going to get here...well everyone suddenly showed up on the same day and not far apart from each other. One of the flights waited on the runway for about five hours before they got to leave. Poor guys. Communication has been a serious challenge here, because we can't text eachother and we don't know where everyone lives...so finding people is more a less a treasure hunt. It took me all day to find my battle buddy that came in on a later flight (Sgt. Brown for those of you who know names), and when I did find her she said that she had been stuck with different battle buddies that wanted to go shopping all day. She is very much like me, and desperatly wanted to go to the gym.
Dad, you wanted to know about my phone. I have it with me, and it is of no use to me over here. You can put a hold on my phone number if you call the Verizon help desk and it will save you about 10 bucks a month. I won't be using it at all while I am over here. Once I get a routine down I will be able to make phone calls pretty easily. The building that I work at has phones that I can use fairly easily.
I would also like everyone to know that my roommate, Ruscin, is from Arkansas (she is organic to the unit) and she brought an Arkansas flag with her to hang on her wall. I happen to have left my Texas flag stateside...so if someone would like to send me a Texas flag and/or a Longhorn flag feel free. =)
There is a chance that I will work during the day, but I think I would have more to do at night. The building that I am working in is pretty sweet. I took a tour of it today and meet the people we are replacing. They were very nice and helpful, and the building is nowhere close to where I live so getting there everyday is going to be a hike or a bus ride away. I am still trying to work the bike aspect, and hopefully I get one of those. Yes, we are allowed to have bikes here. I am very excited about the idea of taking a picture of me in my ACU's, weapon, and helmet while riding a bike. I think that picture will be a keeper.
Everyone is here now. I said in the last post that we were not sure when everyone was going to get here...well everyone suddenly showed up on the same day and not far apart from each other. One of the flights waited on the runway for about five hours before they got to leave. Poor guys. Communication has been a serious challenge here, because we can't text eachother and we don't know where everyone lives...so finding people is more a less a treasure hunt. It took me all day to find my battle buddy that came in on a later flight (Sgt. Brown for those of you who know names), and when I did find her she said that she had been stuck with different battle buddies that wanted to go shopping all day. She is very much like me, and desperatly wanted to go to the gym.
Dad, you wanted to know about my phone. I have it with me, and it is of no use to me over here. You can put a hold on my phone number if you call the Verizon help desk and it will save you about 10 bucks a month. I won't be using it at all while I am over here. Once I get a routine down I will be able to make phone calls pretty easily. The building that I work at has phones that I can use fairly easily.
I would also like everyone to know that my roommate, Ruscin, is from Arkansas (she is organic to the unit) and she brought an Arkansas flag with her to hang on her wall. I happen to have left my Texas flag stateside...so if someone would like to send me a Texas flag and/or a Longhorn flag feel free. =)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Ta Da!
I am here. Here being the war zone. It doesn't feel like a war zone...but I am sure at some point that will change. I can see outside the wire, and honestly I had it looking all different in my head. It kinda of looks like Vietnam out side the wire. Seriously. Of course inside the wire it looks very much like the desert and if you go down the road a little ways it also looks like the desert, but from where I am at it looks very tropical. I think the trees out there are palm tress, but I am not an expert.
We arrived here a couple days ago, and it has taken me a day or two to adjust and get settled in. Flying in here was a huge fiasco and probably the single worst part of the trip thus far. Not as terrible and stressful as the day before we left for Kuwait, but more along the lines of long and tiring.
We left Kuwait in the afternoon and drove to the airbase and then had to wait around for a long time before we could fly out. My flight got to leave when we were suppose to, and we were here according to plan. However there were two other flights that were suppose to leave before us, but for various reasons they were delayed and the one flight got in this morning and the other flight is still in Kuwait. They don't know when they will be leaving either. I have never been so thankful to have a last name that starts with a "W." Thanks Dad.
Once we got here we had to go through housing to get assigned our CHU, and this was at about 4 am or so. We had already been up all day, and moved all of our luggage numerous times so I was exhausted. I ended up on every baggage detail that we had... I volunteered for it so don't feel sorry for me. Anyway, I get assigned my CHU and head down there only to find that there are two people already living in my CHU. There is suppose to only be one. Awesome.
I go back to the housing managers and tell them, they are at a loss as to what to do, so someone tells me to just find a friend and stay in their CHU if they don't have a roommate. I do this, and turns out it was okay for me to live with this person anyway so at 530 in the morning I am told to go back to the housing office to sign for my room. It was a miserably long night, and I finally got to sleep around 630 am and slept til noon.
I have been taking pictures of my living area so you can see the before and after photos. We haven't started working yet, and won't until sometime this weekend or next. Turns out my job position is not for sure anymore...my old boss wants me back. Great. So now I am still in limbo as to where I am going to end up, and this is very upsetting for me. If I go back to my old job I have no idea what I will be doing, but with the new job I know I will be busy and have a purpose for being here.
The food here is good. Better than Kuwait. The showers are really freaking nice, and we have toilets that flush!!! Which that also means we have sinks with soap. This is all very exciting. Of course we have to walk there with our shower bag... and if you forget something that can really suck.
I am starving, so I am going to go eat lunch. The internet is better here, so I will be able to communicate with everyone easier while I am here. Feel free to comment and tell me what you are up to, because I like to hear what people are doing in the real world.
We arrived here a couple days ago, and it has taken me a day or two to adjust and get settled in. Flying in here was a huge fiasco and probably the single worst part of the trip thus far. Not as terrible and stressful as the day before we left for Kuwait, but more along the lines of long and tiring.
We left Kuwait in the afternoon and drove to the airbase and then had to wait around for a long time before we could fly out. My flight got to leave when we were suppose to, and we were here according to plan. However there were two other flights that were suppose to leave before us, but for various reasons they were delayed and the one flight got in this morning and the other flight is still in Kuwait. They don't know when they will be leaving either. I have never been so thankful to have a last name that starts with a "W." Thanks Dad.
Once we got here we had to go through housing to get assigned our CHU, and this was at about 4 am or so. We had already been up all day, and moved all of our luggage numerous times so I was exhausted. I ended up on every baggage detail that we had... I volunteered for it so don't feel sorry for me. Anyway, I get assigned my CHU and head down there only to find that there are two people already living in my CHU. There is suppose to only be one. Awesome.
I go back to the housing managers and tell them, they are at a loss as to what to do, so someone tells me to just find a friend and stay in their CHU if they don't have a roommate. I do this, and turns out it was okay for me to live with this person anyway so at 530 in the morning I am told to go back to the housing office to sign for my room. It was a miserably long night, and I finally got to sleep around 630 am and slept til noon.
I have been taking pictures of my living area so you can see the before and after photos. We haven't started working yet, and won't until sometime this weekend or next. Turns out my job position is not for sure anymore...my old boss wants me back. Great. So now I am still in limbo as to where I am going to end up, and this is very upsetting for me. If I go back to my old job I have no idea what I will be doing, but with the new job I know I will be busy and have a purpose for being here.
The food here is good. Better than Kuwait. The showers are really freaking nice, and we have toilets that flush!!! Which that also means we have sinks with soap. This is all very exciting. Of course we have to walk there with our shower bag... and if you forget something that can really suck.
I am starving, so I am going to go eat lunch. The internet is better here, so I will be able to communicate with everyone easier while I am here. Feel free to comment and tell me what you are up to, because I like to hear what people are doing in the real world.
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