Not Without My Laptop: A Signaleer's Journey in Iraq.

Journey's End

2006-12-06T15:04:00.000-08:00

The Final Months, Weeks, Days

I'd like preface this entry by explaining the excessive delay in this final post. Getting out of country felt like a very busy and rapid process. I admit it was and it wasn't for me. I had moments. Getting momentum to put to paper many of these experiences were rough because I didn't want to post raw feelings and emotions regarding some of the issues occuring around me and some of the relationship flare ups that occured. This was a pretty ugly time for us. We had a number of "Come to Jesus" sessions (one of which I will never forget) in order to get the staff working some what cohesively. It wasn't really a matter of our not getting along so much as it was politics was rearing it's ugly head and creating division and unnecessary hurdles.

The last bit of the tour consisted of wrapping up documentation (evaluation reports, awards, etc), training our replacements, getting personal effects and equipment loaded, packed up and there was some waiting. I was completely committed to losing a last bit of weight prior to exiting the country.

And the winner is...

Awards were an exceptionally political process. I'm glad it was managed the way it was managed because some people felt put out and some people didn't. There were moments of surprise (for some, shock, is a better word) and moments of truth with respect to awards and that's really all that can be said on that issue.

Big On Weight? Not Quite So Short on Awards...

Word came down the pike that if you were over the height/weight standards, expecting an end of tour award would be a doomed hope. A number of individuals, including me, managed to drop those last few pounds and we did manage to get our awards. This took, on my part, an excess of 60-80 minutes of running each day (rotation - 60 one 80 another), some dietary alterations, and lot of raw spots on my feet.

It was suggested a 'witch hunt' (deliberate effort to ensure some people didn't get awards) was in full effect, especially when everyone in the company was weighed once and then a "select few" were weighed again a couple days after without more than 1 days' notice. I'd like to stress, in spite of this, those of us that are overweight managed to pass the test and get our commendations.

Evaluation Reports

This took a long period of time for me, as the standards were never completely explained to anyone's satisfaction. So, this consisted of "trail and error". I knew that, again, politics were at work. I submitted my evaluations some 10+ times before they were accepted. I wasn't exactly sure why each time the document was rejected. I was told to change one or two words, rephrase or arrange some words, but apparently it passed the mustard after some light rephrasing and arranging.

I admit it was a hassle, but towards the end, I was able to get a sufficent explanation about what was unsatisfactory about my work to get the "gist". Thank goodness for small favors.

The Replacements

I initally didn't mind the replacement. The replacement seemed to be on the straight an narrow but over time I noticed a couple things. First and foremost, the person in question seemed more concerned about getting my building rearranged and less focused on tackling the training program my section developed. I took his previous experience into account, and figured it was the old "active army"-"national guard" kick. It was pretty clear this mentality was in full effect (especially when the rest of the replacements showed up). The situation escalated into a verbal confrontation when I noticed something was going on and it became very clear that politics were at work.

There was a flare up of emotion on my part. It was a culmination of some things being done behind my back, a general feeling of contempt being held against me, and I lost my cool. Unprofessional, but, considering the way I was being treated I felt it was somewhat justifiable. I've been amazed( on the two occasions I did loose my cool and got emotional) at how the individuals involved immediately became team players the day afterwards and wanted nothing more than to make me feel somewhat respected. It was nice that I had the support of my command and I learned a couple lessons from my side of the fence and the other side of the fence with respect to this situation.

Don't loose your cool. No matter how much that approach has been validated to me this year. It's unhealthy and it assists in the deterioration of your professional integrity.

Never behave as if you know more than the other guy. You probably don't, even when you do, don't go there. Take it in stride. Don't be/get self-righteous.

Always keep management notified.

There are probably a dozen of these lessons I could affix to this event but, it was a long time in coming.

I just *knew* you had secret internet lines!

I was accused of violating the policy for the commercial internet service. I had the feeling this was tied into the situation above in a more "holistic" fashion. In response to this, I defended my section and I took an internet cable placed it into a plastic bag, stapled the bag to a paper that had printed on it "Conspicuously Hidden Morale Internet Line". I then took this collage and placed it above my door in the hopes that the not-quite-so-tongue-in-cheek gag would at least crack a smile for whatever poor soul entered my building during this era of unrest.

Equipment
We had some serious issues with equipment inventory/tracking. Additional lessons, some I learned the hard way, others by watching dramas unfold, consisted of:

Make sure the final name on the liability chain is notified of requests for equipment. It's their decision not yours.

Follow up on the dates for hand receipts. Regularly.

Conduct your own monthly equipment inspections.

Always notify management when something uncool happens with regard to equipment.

"Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be home again..."

After mailing all my stuff home and getting the rest of my stuff into the connex, I moved from my trailer into an office building we had closed down. I was in there with 3 other officers (S2, and 2 S3 guys) and we had a pretty smooth ride after turning over our respective jobs to the replacements.

The last minute of the last day we were there - a "signal emergency" went down. It was more of an "I told you so moment" but, I kept the lips tight, did a quick fix with a stern warning about the way the fix was implemented and loaded onto a vehicle for my carting away to the airstrip.

We loaded onto the plane and during the flight down to our holding area near the gulf, the pilot gave us a roller coaster ride out of "dodge city".

In our holding area, it was particularly hot and sandy. I recall a day of sleep and food with a quick trip to the PX. We loaded up tractor trailers with our gear and then went to customs for our shake down. My part took quite some time because I loaded myself down with a lot of junk (another lesson I learned, travel light). After waiting another 8 hours or so for a flight we loaded on the plane, stopped by a european country to refuel and ended back up where this all started.

An Uneasy Holding Pattern

We were greeted to our outprocessing installation by officals of every type and feather. Suffice it to say, the drama didn't stop. Emotions flared up a couple times amongst our ragtag group. The two weeks that followed were long and again the political implications of what people said and did were rolling all over the place. I have to admit this was a pretty ugly time for some people - my group was not involved so, we kept to ourselves and stayed out of sight/mind.

Home Sweet Home

We managed to survive outprocessing and on the way back home, we were treated to XM radio (not bad!) and a nice solid sandwich/apple/cookie lunchbag. Once at the airport, we had a relatively quick rush to the busses and a full law enforcement escort to our release point. A couple hours of waiting for officals to arrive on site, a march into a gym, a formation, some speeches, and lots of cheering later, we were released from our tour of duty.

My parents had to travel down from their home a couple states away and they showed up, with a really old buddy of mine, after the festivities (most people dashed to the 4 winds). The trio picked me up and after a nice night in town, my family started it's the trip home along with the rest of my life.

I've more to relate in terms of my post-tour. I'll save that for my next post which will continue this weekend.

The Last Adventure

2006-08-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

Digging for truth

I was appointed last week to conduct a finiancial liability investigation for some "accountable gear" one of our subordinate units managed to lose a couple (7) months back.

When I got the word, I immediately thought "Alright! Now I can be like Vic Mackie from the Shield! I'll beat the truth out of them!"

We've been watching the Shield, at night, non-stop, for the past couple weeks.

I packed all my stuff for 2 days of travel into a backpack and caught a "Big bird" flight to one place.

When I got there I rounded up sworn statements from some "parties involved in the incident". I found out the other party was located in another place - I emailed the guy and he fired something back asking if I should speak with anyone else where I was...they gentlemen told me "nah, don't worry about it".

Remember this, "Keep your muzzle down"

I waited a day for a chin-hook flight. Had a pretty good time with the team I was staying with - late that night I managed to nab the flight I was keen on taking.

The flight crew was pretty aggressive. They were flipping people the finger for not falling into their respective places when we loaded the craft. I thought it was pretty funny until I was tapped on a shoulder to remind the captain next to me to point the muzzle of his A2 into the floor of the air craft.

Typically, people keep muzzles down in the event a round "goes off". Having a muzzle down for such an event tends to keep the propeller blades spinning and us from falling from the sky to our untimely doom.

After a little fuss, we managed to take off and I was amazed at how smooth the craft was moving. Given the time of day and the altitude it was friggin hot. Which came as quite a bit of a suprise to me.

Doah!

I managed that night and 2 days in the location the gentleman I need to speak with was staying. I had problems getting a time together to meet up with him and when I did manage to meet the guy, he wrote a name in his statement for someone I didn't have a statement from...meaning, I had to fly back to my previous location and get a statement...Doah!

Back in the hot night skies

So, there I was waiting on another late night flight back to where I had "just come from". After about 3 hours on the flight line, hanging out with our property book officer - she had to go to some other place, and on the chopper waiting for take off, we flew back. I was smart this time and managed to bring water with me - though I downed the entire bottle in 5 minutes. The flight crew was more subdued. Which made for an uneventful, but hot, trip.

Landing

I made it back and the sergeant from the team I stayed with had only been holding out 15 minutes for me. He took me back to the house and after some talking about what happened with me, I passed out in their back room near a couple of our supply guys.

One of the woke me up while he was getting ready for breakfast and we nabbed an NTV in our PT's for breakfast, which turned out to be a "mighty tasteful one at that".

After getting a shower and changing back into my now super filthy uniform (I wasn't expecting a marathon mission), I claimed the final statement and tried scheduling a flight out of town - back to "office land".

From what the flight management teams were telling me, it was going to be about 2-3 days until I made it back to "office land".

I talked with the team leader about up and coming missions and he invited me to ride as an "extra gun" on a simple mission they had a following day.

We moved out really early and after the hottest and longest ride I'd been on this year, we made it to a compound and unloaded.

As we rolled back I noticed the places we drove through were more of the same scenery I've seen all year by plane and ground travel. Destitute towns and people huddled around small shopping areas in exceptionally hilly, and dare I say, mountainous, terrain.

We got a lot of smiles from kids and men as we quickly passed through a couple places that reminded me of strip malls. I did manage to catch 2 unveiled women, walking off through their morning routines. That seemed a bit bizarre considering the state and nature of female civil liberties and rights in this part of the world.

We made it back into the installation, cleared our weapons, and I moved out to grab the guys tacos from "the bell" on post. The night we watched The Meaning of Life, Brick, and The Inside Man. All great films.

The next day was a DONSA (day of no scheduled activities) and the guys worked on planning and reports for the following week.

I did a little bit of shopping at the local stores (keepsakes and cleaning supplies) and got my things ready for a flight. I was pulled over at breakfast for driving "5 miles over the speed limit".

Well, my vehicle is in kmph and the speed limit signs are in mph. Okay, so I should do the calculations in my head...well, at the time I was heading to breakfast and wasn't really paying attention to speed signs as I was going at (what I felt was) a pretty solid rate of speed.

I brought up the issue of meterics with the airforce MP and he told me kmph was posted...well as it turns out it is...on a sign the size of an index card! So they took my name and that was about it. I continued on my way slightly agitiated but, safety is a big deal - especially with my return home coming soon.

As it turns out the following morning I discovered there was another "Big bird" flight back to "office land".

The rest of the day there was a bit of "drama" - some feelings were hurt with a senior NCO at a local unit and after the fall out from that, they got me ready and I wheeled it out to the flight line.

Memories

At the flight line. I stowed my things and went over to hit up the restroom. As I walked to the door, a guy, struggling with his gear (looked like all new stuff, I figured he was new to town) looked at me, as I dropped my head to avoiding colliding with him, and yelled "TAYLOR!"

My eyes widened as I could recall the voice but not the name. The guy dropping his stuff had captains bars on and ran over to me. Lifting me up as he gave me a big bear hug of a crush with multiple pats on the back. It's been a long time since I've gotten this much of a greeting from someone I knew a couple years back!

"BENSUN! HEY-MAN!" was about all I could cough out of my lungs.

He gave me "the release" and we started chatting about his deployment and mine. I could tell the years had been great to him.

It's been about 4 since we last spoke. I grabbed his body armor as he shouldered his backpack and laptop bag, and a few minutes later I was in the parking lot sharing the past 4 years of travel and a little history about the AO.

The newly wed and I chatted for a bit about people we ran into from college and his last tour in Afghani-land.

I extended him all the courtesies I could come up with - which didn't amount to much more than promises to send him stuff from CONUS when I get back or to hook him up with the guys I knew in town.

It was great seeing him and it was good to know solid people like him were still working in the system.

I returned to the seating area and started working on my book The 10,000 when I heard another loud "TAYLOR!"

I looked up and saw Mass standing there sporting his body armor and boonie cap. I found out since he volunteered to extend his tour, they let him go to Qatar for a break.

We chatted about his trip, his extention, unit news, and exchanged our predictions for next year. I managed to find out he was planning to wrap up the next tour, go active and complete DS school. He figured it's in his best interest to wrap up the next 6 years full time since he's got 14 under the belt already.

An exchange of email addresses and hand shakes later, he was on the way back to his unit and I was getting all my gear on to catch my flight.

About 1 hour on the flight line later the plane was loaded and I was on the flight with a contractor - she was a bit peevish about the amount of time it took for them to load up the plane (we were wearing our body armor and she wasn't very comfortable with the situation).

I helped her adjust the k-pot she had loosely strapped on and after getting her armor in order, they had completed loading the "Big bird". We trudged up the ramp and after a quick nap, I was back in "office land".

I ran across two guys from my unit at the flight line and we walked to a bus station and caught a ride to our area. Apparently someone with a lot of rank took a vehicle to the gym at night...grrr.

The S1 NCOIC was still up working on NCO Evals and invited me to grab my mail. I told the SPC and SGT that rode the bus with me to tell the TOC guys we walked over here because we were "hardcore like that".

The joke wasn't missed on the SPC, he likes to make jokes about how tough he is in comparision to the other guys in the TOC. I remember him saying once, "CSM, when I grow up, I wanna be hard like you."

Office Land

My NCOIC was still up wrapping up his evening DVD when I stumbled into the office with all my junk on. He paused it and we chatted about the trip and what happened while I was out.

I went for my mail, got back in time for his movie to end and we both called it a night.

The Morning After

It was pretty much the same as always here. So, my last adventure in this country is over. Now the next plane I get on should be taking me home...

ct

Plague of...Crickets

2006-08-03T22:37:00.000-07:00

Loctus's my @$$!

Lately there has been a dramatic increase in the cricket population. It's grown from zero to a nearly infinate size! These little buggers are jumping all over the place in swarms and the screeching of their legs is enough to drive someone to the edge of madness, as if you were trapped in some type of twisted-Lovecraftian-pulp-detective novel!

Witness the Fitness

When I first came back into town, there was a lock of fuss about a duatholon. Basically, you swim 1/2 a mile in the pool and then jump out and do a 3 mile race. I was feeling a bit of the old wheaties spirit coursing through my limbs, so I gave it a shot.

I found out that it was a really bad idea to try this whole thing out, especially since I managed to dork up my right ankle so much that I had to loosen of the laces to accomodate the swelling.

I gave it my all. I was passed 1 time in the pool and, I think, once or twice in the road race. After escaping the water, I was greeted street side to some very tight hamstrings and quadraceps. My legs didn't loosen up completely until I was about 900 meters from the finish line!

It was a pretty sad performance but considering this was my first time trying something like this, I did manage to finish the race.

On the subject of lovecraftian-frog-people

About 3 weeks later, I was invited to a 56 lap swim in honor of the lead life guard's birthday. Coincidentally, he recently turned...56! Mr. Pepper really seemed pumped about the whole thing, as this was his first time swimming that far ever. Well, that made two of us...

The idea seemed like bit much to bite down on, but I didn't have a lot going on that Sunday, so I figured "why not?". Well, that ended up being 2 miles of swimming and we were taking a relay approach. So, we would rotate strokes. I managed to swim my portion of the race. Swimming through 3 cramps in my calves and in the arches of my feet. That seemed like an unusual place to develop a cramp but, I was encouraged to slam about 2 bottles of gatorade every 10 laps.

By the end of the event, I was completely "tuckered out" and the next 2 days consisted of some severe muscle pain in my triceps.

End of the Line

There's been a lot of "drama" lately. A lot of senior types seem to be bumping heads over what I would consider trival things. It's probably not my place to speak these things before the entire world but, I guess we are getting near the end of this trek and attitudes, agendas, and politics are starting to wear thin. Not much time is left and I really hope there won't be a lot more of the "mid day soap theatrics". We have come to far, and considering I'm not a part of it I don't forsee any of it effecting me in a direct fashion.

ct

Safety Comes in Cans

2006-07-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

I Can

It's been quite some time since I last posted. I've been on leave and since my return to the job, I have been busy trying to line up things for our return trip home.

You Can

Going home, I managed to get stuck in Kuwait for 2 days and the flight itself was about a day to a day and a half. I was pretty stinky most of the time, I managed to pack away only 2 days of undergarments.

The first day was a lot of shuffling and baggage dropping - then waiting for the flight. We flew a C-17 down to k-town, the entire flight was in body armor. I was the only guy in my chalk sporting D.A.P.s on my IBA. Daps stink!

We finally made it into k-town in the afternoon (1300ish) - the bus ride was short. I nabbed a quick bite to eat at the local DFAC and returned for my paper work processing. Processing our 2 leave forms took all of 4 hours of time. We then turned in our armor to a storage facility and nabbed our housing assignments.

That night I ran over to the local MWR internet cafe. The guiding light to that facility was a huge McDonalds sign (in arabic), it was really weird seeing that display out in the middle of a make shift shopping area.

I wrapped up some email and waltzed over to the USO building on the installation. It was practically next door. Inside I was treated to a Ben & Jerry's-esque display. This place had a large wooden bus that was painted in 70's "hippy" stylings. The stylings included the ever-so-famous etchings of Greatful Dead Bears holding hands, frolicking across the neon green and purple trim. The manager for the site was a lady who worked behind this large deco of a by gone generation that served as her desk.

The USO offered video games, DSN phone access, desktop computer access and movie viewing stations. The entire place was very very relaxed. Some type of Yanni or Chanting music was rolling in the background. The furniture consisted of cushion cubes for sitting, soft floor matts were conveniently placed near the video game and movie stations.

After awhile, I slapped my boots back on (there was a no-boot policy in the building) and made my way back to the tent area.

We Can

The next morning, I was up early, grabbed breakfast and picked up a shaving kit. From there we had a "formation" and moved to the briefing tent for a days worth of briefs covering "what you can/can't take home" (don't bring weapons back), "how to re-integrate with your family", etc. That wrapped up around noon. I had lunch and then we formed up and moved through the customs system.

I spent a lot of time talking with a medical flight chief that works in an area where we have people stationed. I had a great conversation with him about his job and the demands/requirements that come with that territory.

It was tough for me to pull that off because I managed to lug 2 duffle bags full of stuff with my day pack that was loaded with books and things I wanted to leave at home.

After customs, we were placed in "lock down". Basically we were placed in a tented area that had access to a "Green Beans Coffee" cafe but all around us were retaining walls and barbed wire. The idea was to keep us isolated in order to prevent us from violating customs laws.

We did a role call, got onto our buses around 5 and then off loaded our busses because there was an inconsistancy with the role call. We did another and re loaded the busses. After a 3-4 hour long drive, we made it to the flight line, moved onto the plane. And did another role call on the flight.

At this point, I figured we were free and clear! I was sitting next to two marines that were taking up asile seats. We chatted about home. I recall one was from St. Louis and the other was from Indiana.

The guy from missouri was a vehicle driver and the other marine was a signal support guy (much like myself). We had a couple of great coversations about the differences between our organizations and I was amazed at how very similar they are in form and practice.

At this point a very attractive, blond, stewardess came by to pass us drinks and snacks.

The marines to my left...well, let's just say he thought she was attractive. In anycase, she came over to our section and I reached for my cup. Well, I managed to "fumble" for my cup and it dropped onto the marine's lap and then to the floor.

She made a statement to the effect of "Well, I'm not reaching for that!" So, he picked up the cup and I nabbed my share of drink and food.

Afterwards, the marines both looked over at me. The one on the right asile seat said to me, "Thanks sir! That was awesome!"

"I don't know what you mean?"
"Dude, that made my leave!"
"Oooooh, ok. Yeah, well what can I say? I do what I can for the enlisted folk."

The marine to my left chuckled a little bit, and mentioned that I needed to keep up the good work. Apparently, he picked just the right guy to sit next to on his way back.

I seriously didn't intend for all that to happen, and I felt pretty bad for those stewardices. Some of these guys were acting like total dogs!

Just when I thought I was on easy street

We were on that plane for 6 hours before we were told the commercial airliner was experiencing "technical problems". Basically, the "reverse thurster indicator" was on when it wasn't supposed to be...so, we off loaded the plane, stumbled on to the busses and returned to our lock down site after another 3-4 hour long drive.

It was about 7 in the morning when we came back. We were released to get cleaned up and I shuffled over to the little PX to pick up more shaving supplies.

After cleaning up, I went back to the DFAC where I caught up with one of my 1SG's. We grabbed a quick breakfast and then hussled over to the lock down area.

The entire day was spent in lock down watching movies on tv and trying to catch up on sleep. For some reason, I was completely exhausted and faded into and out of my book.

By night fall, we reloaded onto the buses, and rolled to the airport. A quick pit stop later, we were on a different air liner and we were on our way home. These stewardices were a little older and for some reason they kept bungling up the head count.

I was sitting near a NCO that helped me a couple months back schedule flights to a place I was visiting. He looked at me and said, "Get on it LT!"

I guess he could tell from my facial expressions that I had enough of it. So, I stood up and tried to talk the stewardess into letting us take care of the head count. She insisted they manage that and it was suggested I take a seat...

Downtrodden, I stuffed myself back into my chair. I was sitting next to 2 other guys that were pretty buff. The flight home was uncomfortable to say the least.

When we got into the skies above k-town, everyone let out a cheer and we made a stop in Ireland to refuel.

I had to run through customs again once we hit Atlanta, and with 15 minutes to spare, I made my way through security, customs, etc and made it to my flight. I was running through crowds of people, doing the old "Duck, Dodge, Dive, and Duck!"

On my flight, a lot of people picked up on where I was returning from. I was offered a 1st class seat (which I turned down) and the lady next to me spent the entire 1-2 hour flight asking me questions.

In VA, I picked up all but 1 bag and called my mom. She was hussling over to the airport. While she was on her way, I went to the delta desk to ask about getting my other bag shipped to my parents place.

That took a bit of time and as I made my way back to the empty baggage claim I saw my mom crying her eyes out. She had been looking for me and was worried I was at a different airport. I gave her a big hug and tried to calm her nerves when some woman came by and with a very serious tone said, "You stay safe over there!"

Home Again, Soon Enough I'll be on the Road Again

My parents took me out to a couple of movies. I picked up some clothes and spent most of my time just trying to decompress.

Every morning I would spend walking with my mother and we would usually spend time out nabbing lunch at a new paneras up by the local university.

I was able to catch "superman" with my dad and we went to see the new "pirate" flick the day before I came back this way.

All-in-all, leave was pretty nice. I lot of people asked me if it was surreal. Considering my job is probably not the most dangerous thing you could do, especially if all I have to concern myself with is a random mortar striking near me, all I could really say is "not really".

I've also spent the past 3 years traveling to and from the middle east, so for me, this is almost business as usual. Even the impact of seeing the trees and the lushness of east coast vegitation wasn't as much of a shock as my first time back from S.A. to Georgia.

I managed 2 weeks at home, spending time with my parents, I managed to attend a great wedding, went to D.C., research the cost of scuba equipment, and I made a couple of purchases (books, video games, and music) for my remaining time here.

The wedding was excellent! It was a very interesting event, as it was a Jewish ceremony. I finally managed to meet all of the people that couple had mentioned in previous conversations and I even managed a dance or two with a Miss Ohio.

My sister was up in DC, she held a 4th of July party for myself and some friends. I brought up drinks, a grill, music, and a stereo - she's got a great apartment - we spent the first day prepping for the party and the next day walking around DC before the fireworks display on the 4th. The party was a big success - we held it on the roof tops.

Some of her friends came by and we watched fireworks with most of the apartment residents on the roof top - the explosions echoing through out the DC skyline was a little unnerving for me and while I enjoyed the display, it seemed as though the sounds were punctuating that I was going to be returning to my "other home" with in 3 days.

When those days burned out, I was saying good byes and back on a plane. I spent 1 day in Atlanta. Where I ran into the NCO that helped me line up flights over here. We chatted a bit, and ended up watching episodes of "the shield" and "smallville".

After doing another customs/security run, we were back on a flight and after another short stay in Germany, I was in Kuwait for 1 day. After getting my body armor and my temporary tent assignment, early that morning, I was back in line and waiting on my flight to my area of assignment.

One particularly long flight later, I was back in Iraq waiting to pick up my back pack and the bus to take me to my office/trailer area.

So, that was leave.

In a day or so, I'll comment on my time back here! Later and thanks for reading!

ct

As the heat rises so do our spirits

2006-05-29T00:06:00.000-07:00

Team Porky

The base I'm stationed at held a marathon race about a week ago. I found out about this event from the duatholon event and I became inspired to share this experience with some of my fellow soldiers at headquaters. After messing with Mr. McMuffin about how he was going to be on the team, I managed to draw together 12 people for two marathon teams.

I had a rough weekend to say the least. Prior to turning in for the night, I requested a soldier on the night shift to wake me up at the crack of dawn to prepare for this race.

That night I managed about 4 hours of sleep but, as it turns out, the solider kept to my request and I was up before the sun.

I made it to the competition about 5 minutes before they started letting teams an individuals sign up for the event. No one I knew showed up for forty some odd minutes.

When they did arrive, only three soldiers from my unit showed up and we were able to pick up another two from a swimming group that I am now share membership in.

I ran leg 4 and, to be quite frank, my legs were very tight up and until the 3rd mile of my 4.something-or-other leg of the race. Hearing encouragement like "way to go man, you've got 2 more hours left!" did do much for my motivational level but, we did finish the race and I was pretty excited with the experience.

I managed a photo after our teams run and a t-shirt.

Pre PT Test Run

We were warned about 4 months ago that we would have to run as a group three times before our PT test. No one thought that our leadership would wait until the week of the PT test to call us out.

The first run was a distance event, which wasn't too horrible. Two something miles. No sweat.

The second event was for "speed". That consisted of eight laps around the local track/field and then a 100 meter dash resulting in one casualty.

After the eight laps, our leadership said something about how we'll be doing 100 meter dashes until someone beats him. Needless to say that the "speed" training he had been doing for the past couple months wasn't enough to withstand the speed of one officer in our group. So, we did one of those but, not before our fifty-something supply officer tore his calf muscle after 6 paces down the run-way.

After completing that we did some stair sprints and everyone vanished from the scene. Our supply guy was hobbling his way to the medical clinic and I was a bit ashamed that no one was helping the poor guy. So, I joined him in his waltz and managed to get both a vehicle for him and breakfast.

The Mourning Of...

I spent the rest of the week swimming with my new "collective". I managed to survive about 3 workouts with them, one of which was a very humbling experience.

We held our fitness test and I managed to do exceptionally well on all events. One soldier was pacing off me in the run and managed to pass me at the last 200 meter marker bringing me to "second place" in the run.

I was humbled again to find out that I've only maintained my weight and I've yet to actually drop the pounds I've spent the past couple months working so hard to lose. It's obnoxious. I've altered my diet and I've increased my exericse - even cut back on serious weight training - only to find that I'm "stuck".

In any event, the chaplain approached me after the fitness test and convinced me that running a 5K road race about an hour after the fitness test was a great idea! So, I nabbed about ten bucks for registration and we knocked out the 5K. The registration fee was to support a YMCA back in Oklahoma.

Slow Daze

It's been very slow out here this week. Not much expectation wise besides running coax-cable into a bunch of buildings for AFN television service. I met with some people conducting the installation project on post and will be attending a meeting with them sometime soon. I hope it's worth while.

The heat is picking up to 106F-110F daily now. The nights cool off to a balmy 80F. You feel the heat coming off of every surface. The day time heat is oppressive and sweating out the litres of water consumed in doors is not a problem. The nights are steamy and usually at 4-5 am, things are back to "normal", preparing to cook for the next day.

We've had a couple of power issues but, new gear has come into town so, that's no longer an issue.

I've about 2-3 weeks until I go home on R&R. I'm pretty excited, to get the heck out of here for a little while, even if it's for two weeks.

Well, time to return to the grind.

ct

Post Haste

2006-05-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday. I've managed my third birthday away from the country that I call home. I decided to do something interesting for this day.

Typically, my coworkers would have a special cake prepared for me and we would drink what passes for real beer in this part of the world. Distilled near beer, gratis French or British contractors.

It's a harh drink. Requiring a type of patience...or desperation...not normally witnessed in America. Men do strange things when they are far from home and in pursuit of a cheap buzz.

Unfortunately, General Order No 1. states that, as a soldier, I am not permitted to partake in distilled alcoholic beverages. I'll have to settle for O'Douls.

In the past, I was exempt from this policy due to my contractor status. In any event, I heard there was a "duatholon" to take place a day or so prior to my birthday.

This event entails an 800 meter swim and a 10k run. A captain in headquaters mentioned doing a team version of this contest and he needed a runner.

At the time, I was thinking "What the heck! I used to do 5 miles a day in high school and 4-13 a day my junior year of college!" - note...it has been almost 4 years since my junior year of college.

The Rat Race

The race started off with the captain completing his 800 meter swim in, roughly, 12 minutes. I waited his finish at the starting line for the run...two gentlemen passed me as I stalled for the captain.

He appeared, tagged my hand, and with a loud hollar, I sprinted off after the two men who were, quickly, leaving me in the dust.

I passed the first one at the half mile marker. He looked to be in his fifties. I later discovered he was 53. This guy was in superb shape and as I passed him, it would anchor my pace and place in the race.

So I thought.

The man in the lead was a exceptionally lean individual who, by the end of the race, would have a whole 10 minutes on me.

I kept, what felt like, a good pace. By the mid-point of the run, a lady about my age passed me with a strength and confidence that told me she wasn't giving an all out effort and was saving her energy for this last half of the race.

She would have a good 400 meters on me by the time I finished.

My final time was a rough, 47 minutes and we completed the event in just over an hour and 4 minutes.

Keep in mind, we were the only team effort in the event. Making us first place for the team competition and 4th in the real race...if you counted us as contestants.

I was shocked at the atheletism displayed by the top three competitors. These people swam 800 meters and ran t0k (~6 miles) in less time than it took me to run my part of the race.

Oh the Pain!

I'm now writing this journal log and my legs are exceptionally tight. I stretch them every 30 minutes or so but there is some pain in my mid and lower back (poor posture, running long distances always corrects that for me), my quads burn near my knees, and behind my legs by the ham strings, there's a deep muscular pain.

I've learned a valuable lesson from that race. Treadmills and lunges can get you far but...sometimes not far enough.

It was a refreshing way to celebrate my birthday and I plan to spend more time at home training and participating in this type of contest.

ct

Have radio? Will travel...

2006-05-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

I've spent about a two weeks getting back into the groove of life at the big FOB. Fobbit life takes a little adjustment. Especially when you've been traveling as I have for the past three or so weeks. I had a pretty incredible experiences, some I will definately note forget.

My first week out took me to another super FOB. At this location I was helping out some people and attempting to get a very complicated radio system functional. I ran into a couple of problems as each and every possible variable involved in this setup went wrong.

The result involved my having to take an additional convoy to a location that is now...relocating. This mighty effort to gather up crypto that expired ended up being more pointless as the very keys I was collecting expired again.

Upon my return from this convoy, the officer in charge of this group recommended I take a break from this problem and collect the final components, at another location further north, and get them shipped back so I could reach completion with the task at hand. The idea was that the relocation would be completed and I could score some serious points for the team.

It took us roughly a week to leave the FOB. It appeared that every possible flight north was cancelled for rough weather or low visibility. This situation only solidified my personal opinion that the crashes from this past winter have significantly impacted FOB travel.

That week was a bit rough, I couldn't get access to a good laundry facility so I ran around "stinky mcgee". Catching up on my recreational reading as the hours tolled onward.

I did manage to complete some tasks for the group which was just a fraction of my inital plan. They recently had some new personnel move from another location and I assisted with some additional communications problems they were facing.

Eventually, the OIC and myself made it up north. It was a series of hops in a chopper - an experience I've had many times before but this was more unique for a number of reasons I can't really get into in this particular forum.

The Monkey House

At the end of our trip, we were welcomed into the "Monkey House". The soldiers staying there offered us a "stinky room" to stay in - they managed to be assigned an old office building and each soldier had his own room that would be about two to three times the size of my trailer.

The "stinky room" managed to get the better of me, and I moved to a couch that was in the living area these soldiers shared.

They had incredible access to AFN and the local FOB was running a streaming movie and music server off the network that tied into a closed circuit tv station. So, all day, every day, movies were playing in a very large rotation.

My nights on the couch were more comfortable than the one evening in the stinky room, but the mosquito bites that would great me in the morning probably weren't worth it.

I was encouraged to take up a bed in local soldiers room as he was on leave and not making use of the space.

I gathered my equipment together. The weight of this freight was roughly 350 pounds and my new quest to leave that FOB began. I was unsuccessfull for a week.

During this time, I did manage to find my way on to a couple of convoys in the area. It would be the second time I was off FOB during this tour. The invitation was extended to me more for a force protection issue than anything else - I was to take the place of the soldier on leave.

The missions I joined were very refreshing experiences and reminded me of how much I took my civilian job for granted - in the civilian world, I sometimes conduct international travel and the restrictions imposed upon my work team are almost non-existant.

I had have the opportunity to witness a religious gathering and it was very...unique. To put it lightly. I did manage to run security for another mission and I received a lot of positive feedback from the soldiers I was working with regarding my planning, briefing of the plan, and execution of the duty.

Each day I would wake up, check the flight scheduling, make a series of phone call rounds to every available form of air travel with out success.

I finally managed a sherpa flight gratis a Citadel alumni. It's amazing how far the South Carolina connection can take you.

My flight took me back to the FOB where I'm normally stationed and I was a very hesitant to return, I had a suspicion that if I came back now, even for a pit stop, my superiors would cancel the rest of my mission out of annoyance for the amount of time it was taking.

I spoke with the OIC I traveled up there with about the situation and came to the conclusion that I would have to take the flight - it was the best I could do.

Back in town for just one night...yeah right!

The sherpa flight was spectacular! Unfortunately, another officer on the flight had a serious case of motion sickness and spent most of the flight with his mouth in an air sickness bag.

When we landed, I notified my superiors that I was in town and in thirty minutes I was back in the old office.

My superior held a meeting with me, during which I became painfully aware that my emails regarding the situation I was facing with this mission were not being read throughly. This was a bit obnoxious because it was mandated I make this trip and it was mandated I see it through to completion.

The course of the conversation developed into my worst fear and as it happens a VIP was due into our area and I had to be there for the visit. To hell with the mission!

As it turns out the visit was cancelled two days later and the last leg of my flight, the one that I fought so hard to get, was long gone.

So, I was stuck at my main post. Mission incomplete. It was a bit of downer considering I had placed so much energy and time into this trip.

We were able to get a soldier back this way to pick up the remainder of the gear and my section trained him on the appropriate skills and tasks needed to operate the equipment. He should be ready but, support up at this location is very mediocre and I fear it won't happen cleanly.

By the time we had the soldier coming down to my location for training, my superior told me I could continue my travel but I had to be back for any other up and coming VIP visits. When I inquired about when that would occur, I was told that "we don't know but you have to be back for it".

With that type of constraint placed upon my ability to travel, I thought it nearly impossible to accomplish my mission and I was glad that we had a soldier making his way to our locale to complete what I had started.

ct

Speed of the Irish

2006-03-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

A couple days back, we had the St. Patrick's Day Fun Run. It was a 5K course that consisted of two and a half laps around a living area. It took place in evening, as that's about the only time you can block off some of the roads and streets on post without having to worry about people getting run over by heavy duty vehicles.

Long story short, it's pitch black outside and we start. Some 200+ people coraled into an exceptionally small road way.

As we took off into the night, I rounded the first corner with our s3, I quickly managed to notice something was a little bizarre because airmen and soldiers were crowding around carefully positioned tables near the road.

The three and me passed the first one and hit the second on the back stretch. Low and behold, the cups we collected didn't contain green gator aid. They contained green near beer!

We continued our pace trying to splash what we could from the cups into our mouths but it seemed as if we only succeeded in spilling more and more of the beverages on to the street.

The three gave up and ditched his cup, I held on tightly and after completing the back stretch, tossed my cup aside.

We had to complete one more circuit of the course.

After finishing the race, we worked our way through the crowd and signed up for t-shirts. The other two individuals with us came in a bit later and after a short dinner, called it a night.

It was an excellent experience and I'm probably going to follow up with any additional fun runs that come up at this location!

ct

The Muffin Man

2006-03-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks back, my roomate, the BMO went on leave. Leave can take between 3 and 4 weeks to complete and during his departure I had come up with a perfect prank to pull on him.

The ops captain is a pretty funny guy and for the past few months, he's refered to the BMO as 'McMuffin' (the guy has a scottish name and some people can't resist the temptation when someone's got a "McLastName"). He's sounds kinda like kermit the frog and inspite of the hard time people give him, he does have good come backs and we get along perfectly.

Each day he was gone, I would go to breakfast in the morning and collect 4-5 muffins from the dining facility. I would then return to my trailer and spread them around his bed.

Long story short, after about 3-4 weeks of doing this, the BMO had a blanket of muffins!

One morning at 2 am, I woke up because of some ruckus, a crunching sound, and a burdened, "Ah man!"

I got him! I got out of bed and walked over to the BMO's bunk and said to him, "Great to see you made it back! We really missed having out around here!"

I helped him get all the muffins placed into a plastic bag and as it turns out - he had enough muffins to stay in and do breakfast in the trailer for an entire month and a half!

It's time to move

This past weekend I was moved out of my trailer. I no longer have a roomie. The BMO is in his own place now and I've my own space. It's not too bad. I was a little worried about losing what little social life I had out here but, I now have time to read, study arabic, gre prep, and well focus on all those little things I wanted to do out here.

It took all of saturday to shuffle people around rooms but, when it was over with, I started to sift through my worldly possessions here and managed to weed out what I am going to use for the next 6 or so months from what needs to go into permanent storage in my foot locker.

I'm ready to get the heck out of this place!

The Big Sissy

We had a surpise visit this weekend from a General and Congressman of my unit's state. They were here to visit another unit but, since we were in the same vicinity, my command managed to weasle in seats to dine with these two, prominant, individuals.

The day prior to the visit we were notified and my XO told talked a little bit about who these men were and why it was important for the staff to attend this function.

The general was the commanding general for the GA Guard. The congressman is from GA and at this point in time, the XO told us that he was part of the "sissy".

I guess that's how you're supposed to pronounce an 'SSCI' but, hey, I think there's probably a better way of pulling that one off. A way that involves less comedy.

One of our captains thought that was kinda funny and for the weekend he kinda joked about how a big and important georgia 'sissy' was coming into town. You had to have been there. It was a riot.

The function consisted of chow at one of our dining facilities. I ducked out because, to be frank, I had other things going on (I'm in the middle of a great book!) in the evenings and hearing a congressman tell me he's proud of me and what we're doing over here is something i see on AFN everyday. No offense but, watching the booty kissing and politicking that was also going to happen was not something I wanted to see anyway.

At this juncture, it was mentioned to the command that most of the staff officers weren't from GA in the first place and so an exemption for going to the function was posted. The phrase 'highly recommend' means "you are going if you like it or not and unless you're deathly ill, expect to be there".

I opted, instead, to scope out the turkish place and see a movie. Both were better than I expected and I got back from my event to pick up my now messy-from-the-move trailer.

The next day, I asked about the event and it turns out I had been correct. There were a lot of "we support the troopisms" (Hey, if you REALLY want to support us, enlist! That would increase my dwell time between deployments and we'd stop over taxing our already stretched out force!) and politicking. I didn't miss much.

Mind your grammar

We had a number of investigations this tour. I recall staff meetings where the XO and BC would complain about the status of these investigations and then calling specific senior officers aside to 'council' them on the way the reports were finished.

Things like word choice or whatever. Long story short, the XO has a penchant for fine grammar and the Army Writing Style is something he, apparently, loathes.

On occasion, I have been told that he places the red pen to sworn statements (which I have also been told are supposed to be presented as is because it's an exact accounting of events in a witness's own words). A couple of people have also told me they have had to make multiple trips around the country to have people redo the sworn statements and long story short, this guy has a specific way he wants to see these documents and if you don't do it his way, you'll spend a couple months redoing them over and over again. I also hear the standard isn't well defined.

Well, in order to improve upon the writing quality of these reports, we now have a mandatory English Grammar class that we are required to take during the week. It's hosted by (let the angelic trumpets cry out) a west point graduate.

Which I guess is supposed to be a gauge of how 'high speed' the quality of the training is - I don't know, I haven't had to do a report and that means I'm exempt. Basically, the audience consists of any and everyone who did an investigation thus far.

That's about it for now. It's the start of a beautiful spring day here in Iraq and I've a couple things to start working on.

ct

The more things change...

2006-03-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

The more they stay the same.

The days are more and more a like since there was a big mission change for us. Since then, there really hasn't been much demand for my skills beyond the usual IT disruptions. Even then, DOIM (I mean Big Brother still manages to keep me in middle man status.

Lately, DOIM has decided to shut down our ability to use "unmanaged" (non-Cisco) switches on the network. Apparently, some regulation, somewhere states they are unacceptable. Well, we're in Iraq and my battalion lacks the funding (and desire) to purchase these devices. So, the past month or so has been spent applying more and more band-aids to a much larger problem.

A couple days back, a fiber line truck showed up - soldiers from "some other unit" started running fiber through sewage ducts and into our buildings. The NCOIC came by telling me it'd be a short while until the switches showed up. So, my month of ductape solutions and prayers will soon be replaced by the required (cisco) equipment.

I think it's a conspiracy and I also believe this is just another reflection of how long the US will be running operations. People out there, in spite of what you hear at home, this place is going to become another Korea or Germany.

Seriously Officer, I Fell

So we have mandatory runs and they aren't a formal thing. I was running the other day and in an attempt to cut a concrete corner, I managed to slip on gravel. The slip became a full out fall. I recovered and noticed that my fall managed to impact a pebble (or rock) the size of my pinkie finger nail into my shin.

I immediately fished the rock out of my leg, checked the wound for other bits of rubble, hopped back up, and finished my 3 miler.

After completing the run, I jogged to our CP looking for a medical kit to sterilize my wound. Someone coughed up iodine and after a couple minutes of applying that to my leg, another soldier drove me out to the TMC for more 'professional' care.

The wise cracking nurse dumped peroxide and some other cleaning solvents into my wound, he applied gauze and tape. Told me to return if it became infected.

So, my driver and I returned to the CP and I went to my room for a little relaxation.

It took about 1 day for the pain to settle in and now I'm over the majority of the pain. I think it's healing up nicely, and I should be able to make it back on the road ways soon.

This isn't the first time I've crashed and burned running and from the looks of it, not the last. Some soldiers out here cracked a couple jokes at my expense:

"Sir, you know it's going to take more than that to get your medical leave back to Germany!"

"So I take it sir, that you'll be putting in for the Close Action Badge now?"

All I could really respond with was,

"Well an LN (local national) was looking at me funny. So, I think I can get some mileage off that...then again, I should probably omit that he asked if I needed help from the report."

Bad Joke, I Know

All lameness aside, the "Ground Hog" day effect is in play here. My arabic studies continue to be fruitful, as are my gre preparations, the reading i've been tackling ('Lords of Discipline' is excellent! As was 'Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way'), still fiddling with the occasional video game and dvd movie - mostly save those for particularly slow nights. I've also continued my software development hobby - making a lot of progress in graduate-degree-style work.

Incoming!

I was on my way to the gym awhile back and a strange siren went off. I wasn't on army turf and it was an alarm that I wasn't used to hearing. I dashed across the pallet side-walk and into the gym-tent that was a good 25 feet from my position.

As I moved into the tent, I noticed airmen and soldiers sprawled under weight lifting equipment. Civilians behind desks and wash towel carts.

A man managing the gym told everyone to stop and take cover.

We were in position for about an hour and a half. During this time, some people became fed up and walked out the tent as others slapped on head phones and rocked the time away.

Someone mentioned to me that the incoming fire impacted some 2 blocks from the gym I was sprawled out in. I thought that was strange because the usual thud and vibration that follow a "danger close" round were never present.

I guess I'm luckly and missed it.

Eventually, the "all clear sounded". I started up my work out and walked back to my trailer. Seems like an insignificant story to me, but it probably explains best how things work out this way.

This is the command post...

Before I break until the next post, I'll have to relay one more story. I'm a bit suprised this one almost slipped my mind.

I was going to the gym the other day (post fall) and started hearing the warbling charlie brown voice over the loud speakers positioned around out FOB.

"Attention FOB...blah blah blah blah blah"

Was about the most I could make of it. I continued my journey to the gym, did some upper body work and on my way back, I recall hearing the same message,

"Attention FOB...blah blah blah blah blah A Positive blah"

I thought about it for a bit and figured it must have been a call for A Positive blood. I mean that's the only thing that could make sense! The FOB is low on blood, holy crap! I need to high tail my booty to the dining facility (it's Lent, I'm Catholic, and I'm fasting), grab a quick bite to eat and haul butt to our TOC!

I dashed (as much as one can) through the DFAC and grabbed some choice fruits (bananna and apple) and a sandwich.

I made my way quickly to my TOC. The "Incoming message from the Big Giant Head" (for all you 3rd Rock from the Sun fans) repeated, this time with a new voice,

"Attention FOB all soldiers and air men with A Positive Blood that are willing to donate, please go to the nearest medical facility. I say again..."

It took about an hour to hear a clear message about this need, and I jogged back (wincing) to my TOC and requested a ride.

The NCOIC told me that they had called the medical office and the need for my blood was no longer an issue - yet the incoming messages continued to emplore personnel that wanted to donate to hurry it up.

We were confused and started with more phone calls and emails. Within 10 minutes we confirmed that the hospital no longer needed blood and after another 50 minutes the incoming messages had started to relay that the demand for blood was no longer a big deal.

That was a downer for me. Everytime I had gone to the hospital to take other people or for my check ups, I have overheard doctors prepping their areas to care for incoming iraqis and soldiers.

So, I'm going to explore blood donation more on post now, and may try to make a regular effort to donate. There are people here that have a true need for my small contribution.

That's all I have for now, I'll continue the good word and take care everyone.

ct

The Biggest Loser

2006-02-18T21:26:00.000-08:00

Weight Control

When we first came to Iraq, it was published that you could get a 4 day pass to Qatar as a break from the combat enviornment. A lot of guys during the first couple of rotations had combat stress problems. The Army figured that to mitigate this issue, they'd offer soldiers a 4 day stay in Qatar and you could hang out at a pool on post or something to that effect.

Well in my unit, it was decided that the 4 day pass would be reserved for soldiers who have been exposed to a horrific or life-altering event (basically the people who really need it get it) - to this day no one has used the 4 day pass.

At headquaters, we have a number of soldiers who came into this deployment over weight and many of them have not lost any weight - due in part to the dining facilities on post offering lots of sweets (ice cream, candy, power bars, fried chicken, etc).

Over the weekend, the entire headquaters unit was told to stay in late for a nutrition class. The concept was to get some training on how to eat properly and this was geared toward everyone to get people to make 'healthier choices' in the dining facilities on post.

During a staff meeting earlier in the week, the XO proposed that headquaters use our day Qatar passes as an incentive to lose weight. As a large number of soldiers in the headquaters company could probably use some other type of external motivator for losing those dangerous pounds. The sales pitch for this idea was to hold our own 'Biggest Loser' competition.

The idea received a lot of chuckles at first. Then 'serious' questions came up like, well what do we do for soldiers who aren't over weight? The CSM proposed giving a pass for the 'Biggest Loser' and then a pass for the 'Most Fit' (most fit defined as a soldier that maxes or exceeds the Army Physical Fitness Test - APFT standard).

At this point, I'm not sure how much credibility can be placed upon any of this suffice it to say, the next day I went to the gym for my treadmill work out and noticed that the gym was holding their own 'Biggest Loser' competition. It took no stretch of my imagination to find the origin of my unit's contest.

I Want My Mickie Dee's!

A day or so later, word got around headquaters. During a shift change briefing, one of our specialists was reading the news,

"And today Saddam announced that he and his co-defendants are on a hunger strike."

The battalion commander asked her, "Well why would he do that? What's that all about, specialist?"

"Well sir, I think he's trying to lose weight and get to Qatar."

...

This particular instance of humor excited one of our battle captains and he grabbed the news article and posted on a wall in the TOC "Saddam enters Biggest Loser contest for trip to Qatar".

Field Day

In another series of conversations I had with some enlisted soldiers in headquaters, I discovered that the most senior NCO in the battalion (the CSM) wants to have a field day to improve soldier morale.

Granted a number of people think is a bit strange considering our location, it really isn't overly dangerous but for the occasional mortar attack. Which is not to say people don't keep their eye's open, we just know that - for Iraq - we got a pretty sweet deal.

I inquired about what they meant by 'field day'. It was explained to me that we'd basically have a bunch of events like the PT test, except they were named differently to sound cool and we'd have to do something called 'The Salamander Crawl'.

At this point, I stopped the soldier and asked what the heck that was and before he even told me it occured to me that "The Salamander Crawl" was the ever dreaded "Low Crawl".

At this point, I asked if this was a mandatory event and they soldier told me, "Yes, sir. Everyone has to participate. He's even picked out the teams, they are by staff section."

I thought about my section of two. My corporal and myself are the smallest section in the entirety of headquaters and we are often called by the battalion commander the "Center of Mass" for the entire battalion - i'm often confused by that but, whatever. I started to get the sinking feeling that the signal corps in this battalion was getting the short end of the stick.

So concludes this installment of "Not Without My Laptop". Take care everyone and I'm hanging in there.

ct

Fire in the Sky

2006-02-05T04:12:00.000-08:00

Black Snow

I've mentioned before the quality of air at my location. All our trash and waste is burned. This occurs frequently and there's a never ending cloud of thick, black smoke, billowing over our area.

This foul air floats across the post and into our living areas. I'm now acquainted with the smell of burning plastics and organic waste.

In any event, my unit's officership has mandatory runs through out the week. I'm mentioning this because, as one of my fellow lieutenants and I rounded the last corner to the straight away of our run, we could see the cloud was darker than usual.

No less than 3 minutes after we completed the last stretch of the run, black chunks of ash started to float over our work area and billets.

Someone started shouted, "Look! Black snow!"

I ran back to my billet to grab a camera and by the time I returned the wind had shifted directions and the ash along with it.

Well, They Called It A "Test Fire"

From time to time we have test fires on post - you can hear the anti-air protection guns screaming across the base.

I'm noting this experience because outside of chaff, dropped from the sky by aircraft , shimmering from the heavens and the off chance a flare goes off from base defense, there isn't much that happens at night.

During one of these test fires, I was moving to do a late night work out. I heard the guns initiate fire.

I was trying to figure out what was going on and when I looked up to the sky, I saw a fountain of fire billowing up and into the night sky. This went on for a couple of minutes and you could hear the crackle of the tracer rounds either impacting on something in the sky or detonating - it sounded something like fire crackers.

An amazing sight to say the least.

Earlier in this deployment, I had wrapped up a morning work out and moved to a shower trailer. When I heard the high pitched scream of the anti air cannons opening up. I had just stepped out of the trailer on to the porch when this went off and I was in a state of confusion because,

A) I had never heard that sound before.
B) I didn't know how to react
C) It was so freaking loud I couldn't think - when this thing starts shooting imagine those shrieking fire alarms in most buildings constructed today and magnify that noise by about 50 and you have a comparable experience.

The trailer door closed and my roomate was next to me. I yelled,

"What the hell is that?"

He tapped my left shoulder and pointed to the sky on the other side of the shower trailer - I could faintly make out a copper stream - almost like tiny birds moving toward a large object in the sky. At about that time, the screaming had stopped.

"Mortars?"
"Yeah! That was the defense system kicking in!"
"Wow."

At that point you could hear the rounds crackling and see the incoming mortar fragment into small pieces that ended up (fortunately for us) missing post.

Range Fire

I've also managed to get on to a range to re-zero my weapon and get re-acquainted with my weapon. A great experience and, I think I'll try to work some time into my schedule and get on to a range more frequently.

And with that, I move on to business as usual.

ct

Bad about updates.

2006-01-31T05:16:00.000-08:00

The majority of early part in December was a bit uneventful. It was mostly filled with meetings and slow days pushing papers to satisfy information requests from "on high".

Toward the end of the month, my section got word that we needed to travel the northwest part of iraq to distribute equipment and ensure it was properly configured for use. Not to mention train the users.

My first day out, I managed to swing up north to a major hub city. From there, I moved by convoy, to a small encampment just north of the hub city. I spent a day working on a couple of minor issues before catching a flight east to an area between the hub city and the syrian border.

My flight was a bit complicated as I had no idea where the transfers were going to take place. Once we reached the hub city. I asked the flight crew if I had reached my location. They told me "Yeah!"

I moved to the flight line and asked a number of fellow travelers if this was the location I was shooting for - again all heads bobbed up and down with a bit "Yeah!"

I immediately grabbed a seat dropping all of my gear (fully loaded rucksack and duffle bag) in front of a small store and waited.

About two hours later, I figured something horrible had happened with my travel. I asked a passerby if he could give me the name of the post I was located on and his response was "Well, you're back at the hub city!"

I couldn't believe it! I was shanghighed!

The reason for my lack of recognition was that the region I had landed at I had never seen before - long story short I spent a day in the hub city waiting to catch a flight out to the middle city.

Fortunate for me, we had people near this city, I spent a night with them. Some soldier from the unit had started up a fire in the burn pit and the most senior officer and non-commissioned officer invited me to split wooden pallets to feed the fire.

Eventually they lost interest in the fire and I continued to stoke it with more chopped pallet wood.

After about 30 minutes of intense heat, a group of nearby soldiers (having just finished a mission) mosied over to my bon-fire and we traded stories about our times at home and abroad.

It really brought a sense of unity to my heart because inspite of my lack of experience out in the cities and towns, these guys - who travel out everyday on missions - treated me with a type of equality that's very hard to find back in the states.

One of the guys was a hulk of a man. He had a good 2 feet on my 5 frame and shoulders much more developed and broader than mine. He looked about 18 and spoke with me about his desire to become a states patrolman when his active duty tour was up.

A couple of his squadmates passed him my axe and he cut through a pallet in about 20 seconds - where it took me a good minute to split that wood up into small enough chunks for the pit.

The guy was just naturally strong. A real behemoth.

I got tired of the fire after a while and peeled back to my room.

The next day I spent reading and working on the networking issue I had stumbled upon. My flight was in the afternoon with the senior non-commissioned officer.

We flew along to about 5-8 different locations before they dropped him off. We flew over mud huts smack in the middle of what I'd consider no where. We flew through a dust storm that was so thick, you couldn't see but a few inches outside of the passenger windows.

This country has a lot of varying terrain, small hills to mountains, to dust and mud flats along the river banks. It's really quite a sight.

The aviators made me leave my gear, after we dropped of the senior non-commissioned officer that traveled with me, on the chopper while they moved out to refuel and relax. A couple of soldiers were stuck with me and we spent our 2 hours of transfer time joking about how the flight crew probably had sold our stuff or were rooting through our gear taking all of our prized possessions and unit equipment.

When they returned, it was late evening, and I made it to the middle town.

When I touched down, I moved to the flight scheduling area and met up with a sargeant waiting for me there. He told me I had 15 minutes to make my next flight to a border town. I dropped off the gear and caught the flight without trouble.

I made it into the border town later that evening and was immediately ushered to the rest area. The soldiers we had at this location gave me a quick run down on their duty day and after a night of solid rest, I woke up and started working on the problems they were facing.

I got a lot of good support from the communications guys at this place.

The senior soldier that met me at the flight pad took me to the border. I grabbed some photos and then spent the rest of the day relaxing before my next hop back to the middle town.

This is one of the few places in iraq where soldiers that cook actually cook. Most places are catered by contracting firms (KBR, etc).

I was also introduced to some more people on post and that night caught a convoy to the middle town.

During my trip, there was a couple of shots fired at a car that was suspiciously cutting into our convoy directly behind my vehicle. It was exceptionally dreary that night and as we approached a small town, the car peeled out of our convoy.

It turns out the rounds I noticed were bouncing off the car.

Once I made it into the middle town, I was taken to a sleeping area.

The next day, I worked on some problems at this location and I wound up shocking myself about 6 times trying to splice telephone wire.

For about 3 days I was stuck here because of weather and due to a chopper crash. My next flight was north.

Once I touched down I spent a couple of hours answering questions that people had about what was going on back in headquarters. I was introduced to more people at this location and attempted working on some problems here. Turns out I wasn't able to get really solid support.

I left the next day after meeting a couple of locals over a cup of hot chi tea.

My flight was back to the middle town and from there I was stuck for another couple of days due to weather and flight scheduling problems. I started my attempt to rewire the phone with some more "shocking" results.

I was able to catch a movie at this location, the following day, I moved back toward the hub city. I flew into a location north of the hub city. Spent a day there and I managed to get a tour of a bombed out palace. The story was that this place had been bombed back in desert shield/storm and Sadam never got around to repairing it. That evening, I convoyed back to the hub city.

From the hub city, I caught a medevac flight to my headquarters. It was a bit somber, some people who'd been severely injured by a mortar attack were at my destination awaiting a flight to a more sophisticated hospital. One of them, was a senior non-commissioned officer and, from what the rumour mill had to say about his circumstances, he had brutally lost his vision.

The real horror I felt, was that prior to the flight, someone asked how long we'd be waiting on the flight line because it was cold out there. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Here we were catching a flight on to an aircraft specifically a portioned for men and women who've either died or have been severely injured in this operation - and someone was about to start complaining about having to wait out in the cold for them to move the injured on to the plane...unbelievable...

I had missed a couple of things while I was out and this past week has been spent getting caught up with my work load here. It's been a bit challenging but I'm getting along fine.

Mosul and Turkey

2005-11-28T21:29:00.000-08:00

Many apologies for not having posted in the past...oh...month or so but, I've been going back and forth on if anything particularly interesting and postable has happened on the blotter. So, I'll start off with my trip to Mosul and then wrap this up with a memento of thanksgiving.

Mosul

I flew in on a C17 - this aircraft is notable because you can load a couple of Abrams tanks in the sucker. It's enormous. In fact, there was a large tractor strapped down about 2 feet in front of me for the duration of the flight. Watching it shift during take off and landing was an event.

Once I made it into town, we were taken to a small area where my unit is working. It's not a bad place. I could easily say it's probably a better location than where I spend my days of late but, for the most part there was a large international presence (Albanians). That right there just has a certain positive feel to it. I could genuinely say, "well at least we aren't the only ones here".

This reminded me of Kuwait. We had another international unit from a different former soviet republic at our camp with us. They were placed on lock down because they managed to steal about 500,000 dollars worth of gold from a bazaar that was being held by Aafees. Prior to their lock down, they were all over the dang place. The PX, the internet cafe', the dining facility. For most of them this deployment was a turn of good fortune upon them and it only accentuated the dire straights many of the former soviet republics still face to this day. Now...back to Mosul.

The dining facility was leaps and bounds beyond what I experience on a day-to-day basis. They had a mongolian bbq, weapons racks at each table, the amount and types of food were just mind boggling. I had problems figuring out what to eat because of all the options!

The gym was pretty typical for the area. Bubble-dome setup with every type of weight/cardio machine you could imagine, a room for classes, and a basket-ball court.

We were taken on a tour around the post and during this ride, we went past the iraqi part of the compound. A little further up the road and I had pointed out a bunch of boxes sitting there for what looked like months. We pulled over to inspect the area and as it turns out, the boxes contained voting materials from last winters election. We found ballots, offical election commission stamps, posters, etc.

I was under the impression that the Mosul post we were located at was a voting location, which make sense. It helps that these materials were located right next to what was once a Duty-Free shop for the Mosul airport. The voting kits had been rummaged through prior to our arrival. The Coleman-electric lamps had all been taken, probably by scavengers from the installation.

The following day, I managed to catch a stryker convoy north. When we made it to the final location, I was greeted by more soldiers from my unit. We talked communciations gear for about an hour and then I was taken on a whirl wind tour of the compound.

This compound, at one point, was a palace get away for the Hussien family. There were 5 palaces located on this facility. One large one for business. On the side of the building was a curious alcove which lead to a concrete room that contained PVC pipes sticking outside of the walls.

Numerous posters were aligned on the door to this room expressing that absolutely nothing should be stored in the room for longer than 1 week. It was a barren room and if the walls could speak, I'm sure they would tell stories of pain and indesency.

Inside the main palace, large mosaic murals of Saddam hanging out with children were set into the walls. One of his son's had a palace for himself, and his daughter. There was a smaller structure out of the main view of things that people had called the 'love shack'.

There was a nother structure located near the main palace and it featured a swimming pool spa area on the second tier of the building overlooking that part of Mosul and the Tigris. The remnants of a Ramada Inn were within view. The university of mosul was nearby.

The last palace featured a hole in the roof from an allied bombing run on this part of the city. A field artillery unit had placed it's banner of a deaths head outside of a window in the 10th level of the building. Kinda added some ambiance to the place.

I took a ride that day back on another stryker convoy to Mosul. Spent some more time there with out unit. I managed to see a detention facility going through the process of adding more residents to it's manifest. Seeing that building suddenly explained the calls for prayer that echo through the camp five times a day.

I also stopped by a "7-11". Some local national had painted his store in the 7-11 motif. He was selling all sorts of dvd's legal and illegal copies not to mention Saddam dollars and other trinkets that one can usually find in other middle eastern countries.

I flew out the following evening back to my current base.

Turkey Day

Well thanksgiving was really busy for me. My shop of 3 soldiers (that includes me) has been reduced to two. One of my soldiers was placed on night shift working in the operations team. My other soldier is currently traveling Iraq giving assistance to some of our teams out there. Leaving me behind to handle the worst week of signal disruptions that we have yet to experience. I managed but, it took a couple days to get things back together.

Thanksgiving featured bottles of non-alcoholic spritzer, non-alcoholic beer (which is *always* available), cake, pies, turkey, pork, etc. They went all out at our dining facilities. They had a whole pig on a spit and one of the dfac workers was slicing off pieces for soldiers to snag. The dfac workers also made intricate carvings into the sides of water melons and created giant display pieces. I saw a castle made out of marshmellows, churches (christian) made out of cake ingrediants. It's hard to explain how they made this stuff without showing photos so, I'll work on getting them posted soon.

So, that kinda covers the past couple of weeks. I've been getting a lot of mail of late and will get back with all of you as soon as I can. I'm enacting a 1 letter a morning quota upon myself because it's getting hard to find time to reply to everyone within 1 day. That's about that! Take care and I'll post as soon as something else interesting happens!

Dodging mortars,
ct

And there I was, without my laptop

2005-11-07T08:10:00.000-08:00

While I was in Kuwait, I managed to blow out the AC adapter on my dell inspiron. I had it plugged into a power converter and then plugged into a 220 wall socket, unfortunately there was a voltage spike and that managed to blow out *just* my adapter. So, I went about 1 month without my laptop. So there you have it. I made it into Iraq, minus 1 laptop.

Since then I've been able to order/procure another of the same make and model so I'm back up to speed. Since our sister unit rotated out, I've been able to get a lot of work/video game time in, much to the neglect of my enormous book collection.

I've started up again with East of Eden, it's still spectacular, I can't believe I put the book down in favor of text books. For those of you who remember or didn't know, I started reading the book back in my Junior year as part of a poor attempt at coming to peace with all of the stress I was encountering in the various facets of my life. Unfortunately the call of my keyboard ended up pulling me away from this book so, I promised myself that once I made it into Iraq, I'd knock it out first thing.

It really is an amazing novel. Probably one of the best I've read in the past 2 years.

Hmm. In other news, I managed to discover a John Coltrane novel while out here - it was about 18 bucks but the tunes are so right on. We're talking a 30 minute renditions of some of his best. I also discovered the new PX on post - they have *the* DVD assortment to kill any boredom from a soldier's heart.

I just need to find time to get out there!

Halloween wasn't too horrible. A unit on post held a costume party and another did a Hawaiian festival. I missed out b/c we had some network issues. So, I donned my vampire disguise kit and had SGT Cameron, my partner in crime, slap some fake blood on my cheeks as I popped fangs into my mouth.

I got a couple of great reactions from people around here. So, I'd like to think the comic relief paid off and brightened everyone's day.

I've ran into a fellow signal guy from my training school last winter, it was great seeing him and he's already out and out. It was one of those 'hey man how-ya doing' in the PX line (Ok I made it there 1 time this past week) - I found out his family is well, has a kid on the way, and he left for CONUS the day after we ran into each other. Boy, it's a small army.

In anycase, I'm going to be out of the loop for about a week or so - I'll be busy getting some work knocked out. So, thanks again everyone for the mail and the packages, I really appreciate everything all of you are doing for me!

Chris

Mistaken Identity

2005-10-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

Finally, I've been here about a week now and there is something half way interesting to recount.

I was making my way from the laundry service on the airforce side of our installation. It was early evening. I could start to feel the sleep monster climbing onto my shoulders, preparing to put me down for the night. I was carrying a 6.25 kg parcel of laundry back to my billeting (about a 20 minute waltz) when an air force enlistee came up behind me and said "Looks like your walking heavy tonight!"

"What was that," I replied as I made my way across the gravel strewn walk way. The street lamps cast a yellow and red hue upon the pebbles as this airman moved in closer to respond.

"I said, looks like you're carrying a lot tonight, but it's probably not an issue for you - you are a Marine after all."

I could not believe what I had just heard...me? Mistaken for a Marine? Never! I'm sporting the light foliage green, tan, and dark foliage green of the US Army's ACU (Army Combat Uniform)! How could he confuse the Corps duty uniform for the Army's!

I responded to this egregious error of identification with, "Actually...I'm in the Army...Hooah?"

The befuddled airman took a moment to reply in kind. I could almost feel the "oops!" pop into his cranium as he just entered into one of the largest and longest running inter-branch rivalries to face our nations Department of Defense.

"Oh - sorry about that!" was all he could come up with - I said, "Not to worry, it's probably the new uniforms."

"I didn't know you guys had those yet."

"Well," I replied, "now you do!"

Made it to the starting line

2005-10-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

Get Ready, Get Set, Go!

So I've made it to my end point, which is kind of where this blog is supposed to begin. Iraq.

It's a lot like some of the places I've encountered in my civilian job. A lot of civilian contractors running around wiring up the electrical systems (more like cleaning them up - one told me today that a building in my area had zero grounding - so all the wires were 'hot'), building up the compound, feeding people, managing housing, etc.

The air quality is really poor here. I was told that during my clean up, I'd find soot in almost every nook and crany in my shelter. That means a lot of coughing and weezing on my behalf. You can tell who else is new by the hacking and spitting that people do.

I did a little running this morning - just a mile and I performed pretty well for having been away from it for 2.5 months. The air quality really impacted me while running and then again after the run when I was cleaning off.

A soldier here is going to give me a couple of good running routes for this area and I'll be taking a jog with the soldier later on this week to get a good feel for where everything is - the same soldier gave me the down low on educational opportunities here. The Education center is phenominal! They have GRE prep courses for free (it depends on instructor availability - usually a soldier teaches the classes) and the testing is done in Kuwait 2 times a year. So there's no excuse for me not to have taken the exam at least once while I'm here.

As for dining, we have a lot of selections/choices here. KBR is treating us well. I can find soy based rice bowls (with chicken/beef terriyaki), and they even have Kashi cereal bowls for breakfast! (fruits, and beverage options are really spectacular).

So, I lucked out. A lot of people expected the worst situation and many are and will be suprised by what they'll find here. I was very skeptical of the doom and gloom description of the place, based on my experiences overseas in the region but, at the same time I had to maintain a certain mentality that was equally skeptical of my own experiences.

I learned here that my intuition is probably a good thing to fall back on - so I'll need to stop challenging my own expectations.

There's a theater here I'll need to check out - those of you with a good list of shows, I'd like to hear back from you on what's worth seeing - we're about 2 months behind (they're showing Flight Plan and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory here) US theater schedules.

Well, that's about it for now, I'm sure I'll have more to talk about later. I'm fine, I'm well and this hand off for rotation is going to be pretty smooth. My counterpart is a really sharp lady and she's done a great job of getting me introduced to my new network of signal personnel.

later,
ct

ku wait

2005-10-06T03:13:00.000-07:00

I've been in Kuwait for about a week now and it's been a busy one. I've had to run a bunch of machines through a baselining process inorder to ready them for some training.

No sweat right? Well. It's all cool until 15 machines come up missing. I didn't sign for them (owner-reliability type stuff) so supply begins it's quest to hunt them down. After about 4 challenging hours, the supply officer (who is busy getting other business taken care of) asks me to help is troubled team out.

Thus begins my quest to complete my primary mission by doing someone else's primary mission.

I found out that computers weren't accounted for prior to shipment here (well they were but it was pencil whipped) and, long story short, I manage to find some 35 of them by walking obscene distances in the heat out here while, the supply staff basically dumps the job on me.

Lame huh?

Well. Now I've pretty much let those last 2 "go" it's really some one else's job and I'm not quite feeling the team spirit anymore.

I'm also going through the process of making myself less accessible through invisibility. Which means, I tend not to eat with my fellow staff, hang out with them, or basically do a whole lot of anything near them.

They tend to confuse favors for responsibilities and they also tend not to understand what my job really entails.

Less pain for me and my peace in my mind.

I managed to get all the machines through the mill and this afternoon I plan complete my personal check on all the serial numbers and whatnot ensuring what I checked in has successfully made it back to my unit from the IT department.

There was a lot of other drama regarding an access roster. 20 of the 25 machines I've been pushing through are for a training event. Those 20 took priority over the 5 I put in when we first got to the camp and so we've only had 1 computer to work off of in our TOC (tactical operating center).

It was registered under my name and I allowed free use of it to other staff peoples and their subordinates provided they maintain an access roster.

I bought a book of paper and explained to everyone how this was going to work and what would happen to me (I could get in big trouble, b/c of the circumstances, the roster covers my booty). So for 1 day it worked out great. Then people stopped maintaining the roster. Then the roster disappeared. Then I told a corporal on duty to secure the laptop for me, guard it, and tell anyone who asks about the computer why it is no longer useable by staff and who told him to do it.

Suffice it to say, he reveled in this task. I also swipped my plugadapters from the TOC b/c for 4 days supply has failed to resource me with 220 plugadapters for our laptops (we can't plug the laptops into the wall sockets without them).

Let's not forget this isn't much of an issue b/c the installation has more than 40 computers freely accessible in the library (where I am currently) and a computer lab.

I think staff wants this machine for shamming (army term for slacking off) purposes. It makes them look busy, they can contact home, all without having to be around other people and, good Lord forbid, having to wait for access.

In any case, I'll be out of here soon. Gmail is having issues for me here and I'll respond to emails soon.

I'll repost when I get settled in my next locale. Thanks for reading - oh and I finished "Gates of Fire" it was a fun, entertaining, and amazing read. I highly recommend it.

ct

Moving out

2005-09-27T05:30:00.000-07:00

For some reason I keep thinking of the Billy Joel song of the same name. Well, I apologize about the much delayed update here but, it's been crazy trying to get everything in place for the movement OCONUS. Here's a quick run down...

Exercise
...because it's good to, we had a 'big one' that lasted about 2 weeks (1 to setup, 1 week to execute, 2 nights to break it all down). It consisted of my team of 3 donating some equipment for this exercise and the entire thing was a practice run of how we are supposed to conduct business overseas.

For me this consisted of hunting down and nagging at contractors who are doing the real 'communications work' and telling them about our problems. A very frustrating experience for me b/c that type of work should be something I can do.

It's also tough being the sysadmin for the entire battalion and having to negotiate with contractors for administrative passwords for computers (we had to go down to getting a specific list of computers that we required passwords for - talk about a pain - it's not like there are trade secrets on this machine that I'm going to steal!).

The exercise was deemed a success by the superiors so someone got a feather in their cap. And so I smile and move onward.

4 Days Liberation

We were granted a couple days off, I went home and spent the time watching movies and having some fine dining with my parents. I managed to see 3 movies and purchase a couple more games for the deployment. Also nabbed a copy of Crash (great movie). It was good seeing Mom + Dad - this good bye was a lot more challenging than the other 3 we've done so far b/c this is the real deal. (I've only said that 3 times before now. so this was tough despite the practice.)

Packing To Go

So, we had a last minute uniform swap to conduct, which meant most of my gear couldn't fit into the number of bags we were allowed to check. You should see this pile of stuff! (I'll need to remember to get a photo of it all) I've maxed out 2 duffle bags, and my MOLE rucksack - I had to start using a carabiner to get a couple of items secured onto the dang thing! The duffle bags acted as counter weights for the stuff in my rucksack. I look kinda like Atlas... or something.

I also had to hand off a couple knives (Gurber and boot knife) to an NCO at the last minute (he managed to find his rucksack in the trailer we loaded everything into while mine is probably crammed under the entire groups!) b/c knives aren't allowed on the flight but, we can bring firearms...is it safe to say the tail is wagging the dog here?

Anyway, I'll repost when I manage to get over there and settled. Thanks everyone for the emails and I'll try to write (email/snail mail) when I get time!

Take care, it's going to be a long flight.

ct

Photo update!

2005-09-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

Photo Pool
I've decided to post some long over due photos of the past couple weeks. The first couple are from my Philly trip from Labor Day.

The one to our immediate left is of a couple soldiers. I felt it was a moment to commemorate M.C. Escher. I'm still working on a title for it. Tenatively, 'A View of Rusty Blue' seems fitting. Rusty Blue is the van we took into town.

After that photo, my travel group moved on to the Liberty Bell! I snagged a shot nearby, notice the crack! It was a pretty impressive experience. Soaking in all of the history. There was a certain energy in that area.

After some shopping and other touristy adventures, we stumbled upon the tomb of the unknown soldier. The soldier within was from George Washington's army of the revolutionary war. I found the writing on top of this tomb chilling and to a certain extent sad. I was feeling varying types of identification and appreciation.

On a much happier note, one of the good soldiers joining me on the trip wrestled the jaws of a mangey beast while I just sort of stood there and smiled for the camera.

So that concludes photos from my trip to Philadelphia for Labor Day '05.

Back on site

Here's a quick look at the living conditions out in the wood line. This was one cold September morning out in the woods. A couple guys lacking watch caps went for an improvised shall. I think it's catching on!

While we were out in the woods, my crack team of signaleers taught a class on radio antenna set up, while they executed the training, I snapped a couple of shots of the team at work. This shot is toward the end of the practical exercise.

That last shot was completed a couple days ago. This past weekend, we set up a couple of additional antennas to support additional training on our installation.

I'll work a couple more photos into the blog for this week, until then...stay sharp!

ct

My Day in Philly

2005-09-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, we managed to get Labor Day off - I grabbed a couple soldiers together and we went into Philly with much gusto. It turned out to be an incredible trip and I managed to grab a couple books and CD's along the way.

We spent most of our time doing touristy things in the historical district. I'll post some photos here soon.

So we saw the Liberty Bell, location of the 1st Congress meeting, 1st House of Representatives meeting, the location where the Constituion was drafted, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier etc. It was pretty incredible. I had a blast and the weather was spectacular.

The night before, we managed to hit up a Wally mart and I nabbed a couple games for 10 bucks a pop (and a Miles Davis CD).

So, now I'm all set. I had 1 disappointment, a couple CD's containing ripped music (that I made prior to deployment) display the songs in 'Windows Explorer' but when I do a copy to my new external drive, the copy fails because of some cyclic sync buffer error or something. It's strange and annoying as some of my most favorite tunes are broken. I figured it's copyright protection but, I could be wrong.

ct

Hooah! Army Training!

2005-09-02T12:41:00.001-07:00

So the past week has been spent learning staff work. Quite possibly the most non-physical training a soldier can do in todays mighty...US Army.

This has amounted to spending most of the week in a class room learning how the military shuffles paper and makes decisions.

To say it was the most exciting material to review is like saying watching golf on TV is more action packed than, say... a Terminator movie.

The past couple of days have been more a drill on how this process works. Despite these intense class sessions, I have managed to get a lot of thinking about my not-quite-so-immediate future knocked out.

Beyond this training there's a little more and then a validation process to contend with - this process involves a collective test of our ability to conduct our business. Once that process is complete we move forward to the near objective.

Labor day should be pretty sweet. I'm planning to head into town for a couple hours, catch a movie and then do a little R&R in a local cafe or something. In anycase, I'm still a couple days out - until then...this is ct wishing all of you out there in 'reader land' the best of wishes.

Deadspace

2005-08-28T13:12:00.000-07:00

Well, the past couple of days have been spent either in a class room or on a range. So, not a whole lot of explaination to do there. Our camp has kinda mellowed out a bit - no more prayer calls 5+ times a day. The training we're taking tries to acclimate you to the culture, so we'd have different songs running throughout the day.

So this lack of tunes from the speakers, makes for an improved day and morning! I continue to get good vibes from the soldiers I'm working with - many of them seem to really respect me and they seem to take my advice seriously.

While cohesion continues to develop, we draw ever closer to movement to the objective. This Labor Day I'm considering spending a little time in Philly. A couple guys and myself are going to rent a car and wheel our way over to the city. Scope the sights and sounds, have a couple drinks, kick back and relax before our cycle intensifies and continues to shuffle us overseas.

I gotta get going now, back into the woods for an evening filled with adventure and war games.

ct

Finally, I sport the military fashion of the year

2005-08-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

So I've managed to get my DCU's - a photo will follow in a couple days in another post - and now I look and feel like I'm apart of the team. Or something like that.

My time in the field has been minimized of late because I've so many administrative actions to take care of - what they are is more paperwork-shuffle related than direct, hands-on, computer work.

So, "it's a good thing," to quote family guy.

Well I must go. I'll post later, back to the woods for an evening with bugs. later all!

More training, because I can't get enough!

2005-08-18T08:32:00.000-07:00

In the woods after some Individual Movement Technique (IMT) training

So I've made it back in after a couple weeks in the woods. It's been ok. We've done a lot of what I'd consider "basic skills" training. So, that's amounted to a lot of crawling under barbed wire, shooting with a cornucopia of weapons, and some tactical stuff.

Beyond that, I've been working more communications issues, I had to play platoon leader for a couple days. They called it Convoy Commander - well when all the senior NCOs and junior officers are nowhere in sight, the formula calls for moi to run the show.

One of the soldiers in my adopted platoon told me the other day, "LT, you're the shit". I got a bit quiet and looked at the kid - he's about 18 - and started laughing as I asked him "Why is that?"

So, that was a good moment. I've also noticed a lot of other soldiers think they're being micro managed and I guess they feel I've been really liberal with my management style.

Well here's a picture of yours truely.

The Signaleer

Now that I've covered the past couple weeks, I must depart for more office-style work for my organization. Tonight, back to the woods! Until next time - stay tuned to this page.

ct

2.5 hour clean up.

2005-08-13T17:55:00.000-07:00

We've had a rough week in the woods. There's more to come so I'm in dropping a line real fast while my clothes get washed. We had a couple of heat injuries this week (2) and beyond that everyone's spirits are up. The training is pretty good. Very physically challenging for the entire group which is a bonus. It's pretty hot up here. The temps are in the upper 90's but with the humidity it feels like 110/120. So, it's been heat-category 5 (the max limit) all week for us.

Beyond that the soldiers are starting to come together as a team. It's always a real treat to see that happen.

The photos below are from my dad's cell phone. He took them during our going away ceremony.

This shot is of our company forming up for the speech by our Battalion Commander and a couple of Generals.

Yours truely with mom.

Okay, that's it for now, I'm off to check on my laundry, get changed, and get my hind parts back to the woods!

ct

Going out for a couple weeks

2005-08-08T19:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I'll be in and out of the internet access area on post for the next couple of weeks. We're on the move here and it looks like I'll be spending a lot of time in the woods.

I'd suggest checking in once a week. I can probably promise atleast 1 post every week or 2 until August.

We've been busy doing more weapons orientation type stuff. Did some urban warfare training - now I know the difference between movies and reality when it comes to checking buildings. It's been a pretty solid experience so far.

Take care everyone and I'll post when possible.

ct

Rex Quan Do

2005-08-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

NBC - not the TV station

Last weekend we conducted Nuclear, Biological, Chemical (NBC - yeah, not the TV station) training.

That consisted of learning how to use a chemical suit (see right - those poor souls are in what we call MOPP Level 4) suit, learn how to properly use our chemical protective mask, we learned how to properly use chemical identification tape, and how to properly apply charcoal pads to our bodies.

The rest of the weekend was spent in briefings, trying to coordinate some type of radio training for my soldiers and the battalion and getting some supply issues ironed out. So far, I think I've been doing well.

I have photos and will track them down from my Corporal for posting.

Automation Project

I decided to help out the my administrative brethren by writing a little web based application that they can use to track personnel and supply data. Writing software isn't something my job as a staff officer requires me to do. Since everyone has a communications plan and everyone has internet access, I've been left with a lot of free time on my hands... long story short, I started thinking...

I noticed that our administrative personnel have been having problems with getting their work completed in short periods of time. I asked them about what types of issues they've been faced with and it seems like they burn a lot of time shifting through some of the Excel files on their computers. Then they started asking me a lot of questions about Excel. I couldn't answer most of them because they seemed to be asking me questions related to a database problem. Then someone said Access.

Since I lack user experience with Access, I thought about all the instances that I saw people using Access and it just seemed to be really painful. Combined with what admin wanted - it started to sound like a custom software product might be more appropriate. So, I started exploring...

I did some research on this problem and I managed to dig up a couple of really cool Python modules that can read/write Excel files.

With this source in my hand I started writing code that would process infomation from Excel spreadsheets, correlate it, and then dump it all into a database for simple queries, editing, and output (in Excel format no less!). I think it'll help them increase their efficiency b/c a lot of their problems are related to information consoldiation.

They have too many Excel files floating around and they lack a good (and by "good" I mean "quick") mechanism for tackling report generation. Python's been really great for this project and getting it to work on Windows has been really painless!

Ok, so now that I managed to geek out in this purportedly non-geek blog... the time has come to discuss...

Rex Quan Do

On Monday, we were told to be ready to take a 0430 bus ride to a big parade field on this installation. We would be conducting 'Combatives Training'. In that field, we created a massive circle for all the soldiers in my company.

After a couple minutes of confusion, we were introduced to Rex Quan Do. Let me start by saying, this is by no means the man's real name. Nor is it how he introduces himself professionally. My roomate here is another Lieutenant named Curylo. He has christened our instructor with this name. I think it suits the guy. So as it has been spoken, so it shall be - now and forever!

I have no idea why but, the name is funny and notable. I think that's because the instructor shows up wearing a black short sleeve jujitsu gi that has a couple Ranger regiment patches sewn on it along with a Ranger tab and some patches from various martial arts schools.

Our instructor told us he used to participate in the Ultimate Fighting shows that you can catch on pay-per-view. He's refereed for that show a couple of times and despite his robustness he is very fast on his feet and he has a lot of proficency with his material.

We have been conducting this hand-to-hand combat training for about 3 days now with our body armor on. It's kinda tough moving with all of that stuff on but, once you adjust it's not so bad. The training is superb. He's really cut through the basics of fighting in a short order (movement, kicking/stomping, choking, etc) and my experience as a judoka and wrestler seem to have made a name for themselves with the rest of the battalion officership. They seem to think I'm some kind of rock-solid ninja or badass. Yeah, at this point I can imagine a couple of smiles breaking out.

Anyway. The instructor made sure to explain (on many occasions) that fighting for your life and fighting for sport are 2 different things. He's right. He's also managed to show us some interesting 'dirty tricks' that seem to make sense. His emphasis is on pinching in order to loosen up your opponent. Suffice it to say, I now have managed to experience enough pinching and shin kicking over 9 hours of this training to say that I am a battle hardend fighter. Now, if I could only rid myself of these darn bruises - I may actually look like one!

I managed to single myself out the other day at the end of practice. Rex asked if anyone was a wrestler in the crowd and I raised my hand only to notice mine was the only one up. I was then asked to enter into the circle with him from there he had me try a couple single leg take downs at a very slow pace. He showed how to stop those types of moves - his counter consisted of snapping the person's neck when I would normally throw a cross face. He also managed to pinch the hell out of my inner thigh and the under part of my tricep. Not too shabby and I figured the Private First Class that has been the Rex's "dummy" for the week needed a break. I know know that soldier's pain.

In all seriousness he's kept it simple and continues to stress simplicity. I think the guy is a jujitsu artist because many of the techniques he's showing us are similar to the child art of jujitsu - judo. No throws but, they are more take-down/joint/lock oriented.

Tomorrow we start knife fighting for dummies. While Rex was giving us requisette preparation training today I kept remembering Cable Guy. More to the point, the fight scene in the movie at Medieval Times. Fighting music from the Original Star Trek kicked in and I think I had half-way managed to create a joke. One of the company commanders seemed to pick up on it and we had a good laugh on the bus ride back to our billets.

Friday we conduct the ever expected live fighting session - boy, I'm excited! I will ensure that my Corporal is there with my camera this time to take the photos of this event so that I may capture it in time for posting here later in the week. Speaking of which - I'll be out of the loop for "a while" we're going to be really busy this weekend so keep tracking this site, when things slow down I'll post more about it.

ct

Task Complete

2005-07-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Mission Complete

Well we did it. I got a lot of flack for not doing it faster but, I'm not too good at replicating myself in about 5 different places at the same time. I'm working it but, since I know understand the amount of authority I have...it seems like I shouldn't have too many more complaints.

Okay. That sounded a bit strange. To quote good old Dr. Cho "Aaaanywaaay".

Here are some action shots of my crack team of IT specialists at work.

For my first photo, we have a solid signaleer running CAT-5 cable from the MWR room into our office space. Notice the small hole he is running that cable through.

That would be the product of about 5 minutes of drilling through about 2 inches of chalk board and cinder block. We had to punch about 3 of these holes and I think we ran into about 1-2 hundred feet of CAT-5.

In any case we were pretty content with the results.

In this next photo, we have a "trance shot" of my signal operators working cable out of ceiling tiles. As we manage to setup yet another room in the building with access gratis MWR. Man those guys are so great!

Well we attracted a lot of attention and we managed to get the internet access window pushed back. Originally, we were kicked off MWR's feed at 2230. Now the access is limitless. Hence the late time of this post.

I'll try to post more photos later. I may even get a shot of me completed suited up for my biochem training tomorrow.

I'm sure it'll prove to be a tight set of shots with my sinuses draining forth all of their worldly treasures. Should be fun for you and me!

I'll keep posting may get one out Monday. Later all,

ct

My First Mission & CIF

2005-07-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

My First Mission

We've been in New Jersey for a couple days and it looks like my section has just gotten funding for a mission to wire up the operations work area.

For 4 days I've tried to work with the Department Of Information Management (DIOM) to hook us up with NIPR access (NIPR is a non-secure military network). On NIPR, personal PC's aren't allowed to draw a connection so we have to get authorized military/government machines for use.

DIOM is like the IT department for military installations. My contact there sent me to two people who could give us this asset and I have had no luck with them as those people are never in their offices.

Oh and in order to use NIPR, each user has to turn in a request sheet with proof of security clearance, and a certificate of Information Assurance Training (IA Training).

IA Training is basically a way of saying you know enough not to do completely silly things to give unclassified users access to a military network. In other words, this is a lot of paperwork for something that's vital. We have now reached a time crunch.

As of tonight, we still have not received NIPR or authorized machines for internet access.

This isn't much of a problem since there is a Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) day room that is located inside our billets.

Long story short. Since we can't access the military net, my boss basically told the installation we were going to "borrow" access from the MWR room.

This MWR room has wireless and 100 Mbps lines provided to soldiers for free. It's really great.

Now for my mission.

We have to drill through about 4 cinder blocks and run cat-5 from the MWR room into another room about 20 meters down the hall. The line also has to run into an adjacent room.

My soldiers are really excited about this mission. It doesn't seem like much but, if we can pull this off, then that means we've proven ourselves on a toy task.

So this is a street cred oriented task.

I'll post photos and more about what we did later.

Oh, this MWR point we're uhm...borrowing...from was populated with soldiers on laptops within 12 hours of our showing up on cite. Of course, yours truely was one of the first. Not sure if that's a good thing but, when there's a will...

Clothing Issuing Facility (CIF)

Today we also received our inital issue of gear. So now I have my battle rattle. I also got my body armor issue. It's pretty sweet. I'll post photos when I get some time together!

Oh and on the matter of photos... I have offically posted my monthly quota of photos into flickr. The photos I've posted for this month are from my trip to Jordan last summer. Hope you enjoy!

ct

Day 1: Jersey Sun

2005-07-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

So we took off around 12 am and landed in Jersey around 1 pm. The process was pretty painless... minus having to say good bye to my folks.

I've been up since about 5 am and it looks like I've a boat load of work left to do. Yeah, and here I am blogging. Go fig. So here's a quick recap for interested parties:

Got up at 0500.

Hit the armory in Atlanta by 0600.

0630 formation, practice farwell ceremony until 8.

0800-0900 farwell ceremony.

0900-1100 family time.

1100-1330 travel to Jersey. (We got 3 meals: Subway, an in flight box meal, and dinner in Jersey!)

1330-Present (2147) meetings, dinner, getting people hooked into a communications net. Blog started.

I managed to find some sweet connectivity in the barracks (wireless!) and installation is...at the risk of sounding like a valley girl...*totally* hooked up. So there should be no excuse for me not doing my own brand of computing while I'm here.

Well, I'm off to conduct more office type work. I'll post sometime on Wednesday. If I manage to get photos from my Dad's cellular phone camera, I'll post them.

Thanks again to Mom, Dad, John, Erica, Joey, Ester, Edric, Neil, Kelly, Josh, etc. for meeting up with me and making my last couple nights in town enjoyable.

That's it for now - signing out,
ct

Last week in town

2005-07-20T06:17:00.000-07:00

This is my last week - starting tomorrow I'll be on active duty for the Army and working various issues all in the name of getting my happy little self back here in (God willing) 14 months.

I had a blast in Clemson last weekend. It was probably the most fun I've had in about 2 months. It also felt like the first free weekend I've had in about as much time.

I'd like to say thanks to Casey, Joey, Ester, Andrew, Sarah, Tom, Brie, Adam, and Mitchell for taking time out of their summer schedules to kick back and join me in the last "real weekend" I'll have prior to my going off to OIF.

I'd also like to say "thanks" to everyone that has been reading the emails, listening to me on the phone, and (as the kids say) "showing the love".

This is my last week in Atlanta, GA. By next week, I'll be a Jersey Kid for a couple days and then it's off to OIF.

I'll try to post some photos of all my stuff and I need to get the list of what I'm bringing along with me up here. Stay tuned!

2 More Weeks and I'll be Moved

2005-07-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Looks like I'm getting nearer to zero hour. I've two weeks remaining and I'm still moving slightly-faster-than-snails-pace with my packing.

My parents came up this past weekend to spend part of the 4th with me. So by the time I see them again, I need to have accomplished the following:

Packed up all my stuff for storage

Moved out of my apartment

Gotten my car insurance relocated

Made badly needed repairs to my car

Hit the bank for some more information updates

Get my account with Verison placed into 'stasis'

Changed my address with the post office

Gotten a copy of my orders and have duplicates sent to my apartment, cell phone company, insurance company, storage company, and boss

Packed up all my gear for Iraq

So far, I'm almost done getting the gear packed up. I need to purchase or acquire some packing foam for my foot locker.

My apartment packing is getting close to completion too. I just need to buy some bubble wrap for my furniture and break down some of my collapsible furniture.

Beyond that I have a bunch of new DVDs to see me through next year. I also have a bunch of video games stored up for the coming `winter`. Or maybe that should read 'summer'.

In any event, my flickr account is going to get updates this weekend. Which means, whenever I need a break from packing, I'll be 'flickring'. I'm almost 80% finished with "The Great CD Ripping of 2005".

When all is said and done, I should be ready to go by next Wednesday or Thursday. I'll be going up to Clemson, next weekend, to say my good-byes.

After that, my folks come into town and drive me to the unit where I'll begin my 14 month (or greater) `adventure`.

Next week's installment will include my entire packing list.

Packing is nearing an end.

2005-06-29T08:35:00.001-07:00

Well looks like I'm about 90% done packing! I managed to get my entire collection of worldly possessions stuffed into about 10 plastic tubs (of varying sizes).

I've been flattered a couple times this week by some of my friends - just keep in mind everyone! I'm not out the door...yet!

I've got a couple weeks to burn off. I'm pretty solid on personal entertainment gear for the next 14 months (so I think!), and I really just need to get my hands on a rockin' footlocker. So, I'm searching far and wide for a footlocker that fits my bill of specifications.

Once I winnow my selection down to a couple, I'll post what my final choice will be - might be good to note somewhere for future reference. You never know!

I'm working through a stack of books that I want to take, but judging by the amount of stuff I have in my must take list, I'll have to cut down on my book options. They just take up a lot of space.

I also have to get my duffle bags all packed up.

In other news, my car will be out of the shop this afternoon, which is great because the 3 garbage bags of clothes I'm planning to drop off at the Salvation Army have become a severe road block to my living room.

I've spent the last week running a large loop in Buckhead, sporting my ultra cool WileyX sun glasses.

They fit extremely well and I have almost no trouble with fogging and shifting when I'm moving up and down the hills near Lenox Square Mall.

Considering the "battle-rattle" I'll be wearing (LBE, K-Pot, Body Armor, etc) from time-to-time, I'm sure they'll retain a steady fastening to my skull.

They were a bit hefty in price, because I had to get perscription lenses but, I am still amazed by how well they get the job accomplished.

That's about it for now, the postings shall continue as I move ever closer to my next phase of mobilization.

Prep For a 14 Month Deployment

2005-06-15T11:46:00.000-07:00

Big news is coming down the National Guard pike. I found out a week ago that I will be deploying to OIF (operation iraqi freedom) with my upper eschelon unit.

A lot of people have asked me how I feel about it and the only real way of describing my mentality is "detached". I'm more worried, at this point, with getting my things together and out the door than I am the whole "in country thing".

I spent a lot of time in the Middle East this past year. So culturally, I'm ready for it. Mentally, I'm prepared - the past 6 years I spent in the Guard were focused upon preparing for some type of warfare.

Sure it was mainly Vietnam-style patrols in the woods but, I know - or at least I believe I know - that I'm prepared for this upcoming deployment.

My mood is pretty resolute. I get irritable pretty swiftly but it's never for extended periods of time. I feel anxious to make this happen. Mostly because the sooner I'm out the door, the sooner I'll be home.

First Post!

2005-06-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going to give this particular site a shot. I have a more 'professional' oriented blog on http://www.advogato.org but, I'd like to make this a 'personal' blog.

I'm going to try to make this blog oriented on my travels around the globe and happenings at and around my current residence in Atlanta, GA.