Rule #21

Nothing really exciting has happened over the last few days. It's amazing how easy it is to forget what day of the week it is. And then, you can't even remember what you did two days ago. Not that it really matters. A lot of you have asked what my day consists of since I've been here. Here's a look into my day:

0515 Alarm goes off.
0530 Finally get up, get dressed and walk the length of the tent to wake up SPC Heibel and SGT Carrigan. Try to be really quiet since no one else gets up this early and the plywood floor creaks horribly.
0545 Walk 1/4 mile to the dining facility. Eat cereal. Unfortunately, no Grapenuts.
0615 Walk back 1/4 mile to gym
0630 Work out
0730 Walk back to tent and use the super fabulous shower facilities. Take a combat shower (get wet, turn water off, soap up and turn water back on to rinse).

From 40 Ways to Prepare for a Deployment:
#21. Keep a roll of toilet paper on your night stand and bring it to the bathroom with you. And bring your gun and a flashlight.

Instead of TP, I bring bottled water to brush my teeth. Also, the sun is up by this time so I don't need my flashlight but I have my weapon!!!!

0830 At the battalion headquarter's tent. Check email, both regular and secret. This requires logging on to two different computers.
0900 Battalion staff meeting.
1000 Make calls, send emails about stuff discussed during meeting and work on various projects.
1200 Walk 1/4 mile back to dining facility, eat lunch and walk back
1300 Work
1730 Walk 1/4 mile back to dining facility, eat dinner and walk back
1830 Pick up personal computer at tent and walk to Starbucks. One of the rules of camp: No bags of any type in the dining facility so it really is a pain in the butt to walk back to get your computer.
1845 Have a decaf latte at Starbucks and Skype family.
2100 Walk back to tent. Walk over to battalion headquarter's tent to check email's or call company back in Fort Lewis since it's a 10 hours difference.
2230 Listen to my IPod and try to fall asleep on a stupid cot! Sometime during the night, wake up because of the stupid cot and having drank too much water....now I have to use the flashlight and take my weapon!

To add to the above, I went to church on Sunday. Lots of great guitar music and the Chaplain gave a great service. Sermons, given by military chaplains, are some of the best I've ever heard. This one was no exception.

I've also had the chance to practice on the traveling guitar that Tom gave me.

Today, I went to the Troop Medical Center (TMC) since I've been feeling dizzy when I stand up. Sure enough, my blood pressure is the lowest it has ever been 109/67. Good thing I went on high blood pressure medication! So after having a lengthy discussion with the doc, I'm only going to take 1/2 a pill of my medicine and see how that works. It would be great if I could quit it all together since I hate taking pills everyday. If I had only known that all I needed to do was deploy to lower my blood pressure!

Oh, and it rained all day yesterday and into the night. It certainly was nice not to have all the dust in the air. But no earthworms to be found.


Our sleeping tent.

Birthday Greetings!

TO MY SISTER-IN-LAW, TAMMY:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM KUWAIT!!!!!

LOVE YOU, HONEY!!!!!

Road Trip

I got to leave camp today and I got my picture of a camel! Shortly after leaving camp, I started seeing camels off in the distance and then BAM! They were all over the place to include right up on the side of the road and crossing the road. We stopped to get pictures and they started walking up to the car. I'm sure if we had put our hand out we could have touched them but some of passengers thought we would get spit on by the camels. Not sure if this is an urban legend...guess I'll have to google it unless someone knows from experience. Supposedly, certainly colors of camels are worth more. I've heard the black ones are the most expensive...again, not sure if this is another urban legend.

We had left camp to visit another camp. For most of the ride, the scenery was that of nothing but once we got close to Kuwait City, there were certainly different sites like none I've seen before.


And out of nowhere, came a camel...




The water towers. I thought they looked more like a landing pad for the Millenium Falcon.


The homes.


Their other homes. I can't even imagine living in these tents. The garbage was all over as seen stuck in the fence.

The Writing On The Wall

If you're easily offended, don't read this posting.

In previous posts, you saw pictures of our fancy toilets. They are all over camp and to some degree, they provide entertainment. One particular writing has caught everyone's eye and it led to a lengthier discussion: 'I've had more sex with men than my wife'. Following that, someone wrote, 'I had your wife'. Wow! Wouldn't want to be that wife. Some of the writing is actually humorous and it at least provides a diversion especially if it's a porta john you haven't ever been in. There are lots of comments about the current President; both for and against and comments about the war. 'No man loves peace more than the one preparing for war'.

About the only color in camp are the paintings on the gray barriers. These barriers are all over the camp and units paint murals usually representing the patches they wear on their uniform or their mascots. When we first arrived, we scouted the area for the different units from Minnesota. Most of the murals are done well but there are a few that are exceptional. There are definitely some talented service men and women.




The Aviation Support Battalion which is currently in Iraq. Captain Kline, my friend who's blog I follow, is part of this organization.


The Combat Aviation Brigade which is currently in Iraq.

White Day

So, I'm sitting in my other favorite oasis, Starbucks, when this lieutenant decides he needs to come up and start chatting with me. Doesn't he realize this is my time and my computer battery only lasts so long? I certainly wasn't feeling like chatting with him and I would have thought my short answers would have given him a clue...finally he got the hint. It's like you can never ever have any alone time once deployed. I suppose this is by design so you don't start feeling sorry for yourself.

We were given some "white" time today which is free time. It was a bad day to get white time since I had to be up at 0530 to apply for a driver's license for on camp. No sleeping in for me. Then I had the driver's license class at 0900 and now I have a meeting this afternoon. So much for kicking back. I'm hoping to catch a movie at the USO after the meeting. Chief Clunis and I were going to go get our nails done. Yes, they actually have a beauty shop here but she got tied up in meetings, too

Some more info about camp: the dining facilities vary in atmosphere. We particularly like going to #1 since it has flatware, china, nice decor and real toilets (and they're even clean)! The dessert area is not quite as nice as the selection at Byerlys but it certainly has some great ice cream! It's understandable why some of our Soldiers come back from deployment having gained weight. There is nothing other than pure self control to keep one from eating like it's their last meal every day. Good thing, I have my mother's voice in my head all the time! :)


You can't miss these sinks as you walk in...even those combat arms guys have to wash their hands!


Hub, send me a penny so I can make a wish!


The only thing lacking; there are no Grape Nuts :(


This guy was happy to have his picture taken!

Sand and Camels!

Woke up at 3am and couldn’t fall back to sleep. I had to use the fancy bathroom which is at least 100 ft from my tent. So with it being quite cool outside, by the time I got back, I was wide awake. Good thing I had all that water to keep me hydrated. I tossed and turned for about an hour and finally broke out the IPod to watch Mama Mia. Thanks, Peanut Girl for downloading the movie!

In the morning, we were scheduled to go to the range which was located off base. Once again, I was struck by how flat it is here and the monotonous color of tan. The wind had really picked up so the sand was blowing across the road much like snowdrifts in Minnesota.

We were at the range to confirm our zero on our weapons. Once on line, we fired six rounds and walked to our targets to check our shot groups. We had left our M4’s on the sandbags while we were down range. During this time, a herd of camels had moved into the area. All I could see were specks in the distance but the range personnel had to drive and chase the camels away before we could fire our remaining rounds of ammo.

Finally we could fire our remaining rounds-NOT! The wind had blown so much sand into our chambers that hardly anyone could fire. It wasn’t until I got back that I realized how much sand I had collected on myself with sand stuck in my ears and in the pockets of my clothes. Another reason not to live here.

On the way back, I got to see my first camel. In fact, I got to see an entire herd of camels. Unfortunately, I had left the camera back at the tent so I couldn’t capture this Kodak moment. I have a feeling; I’ll be seeing a lot more camels in the next coming year.

Initial Impressions

I have to say, the first full day here was really depressing but it's amazing how the human mind can adapt to the surroundings. I can't imagine anyone wanting to live in this God-forsaken place but the camp isn't all that bad. There are a number of amenities in camp to keep Soldiers occupied during their stay.

On the first night, I and two other Soldiers walked around to see the sights. Everywhere we go, we need to have a battle buddy. There are lots of service members to include foreigners at this camp and having your battle buddy with you at all times is a must.

I had the chance to call Bri to let him know I had arrived. It was great to hear his voice especially since I was feeling down. I got to use a complimentary AT&T card which I received before boarding the flight along with a complete bag of goodies to include toiletries, snacks and reading material.

Right outside of the calling center is a stage and that night they were having a version of American Idol/Karaoke with all of the cast members. Just like the show, there were good, bad and really bad singers. One Soldier in particular sang AC/DC’s Thunder. He was so bad he got dragged off of the stage.

The next day, we headed to the gym. It’s a huge facility with multiple variations of weight lifting and cardio equipment. This was the first time I had worked out since leaving Minnesota. Sleep had been more important when I was at Fort Lewis. It was great to work out again and surprising I didn’t die from the experience especially after being a slug for over a month.

The gem of this place is the United Service Organization’s (USO) building which is absolutely amazing. You certainly don’t feel like you are in Kuwait but rather a builder’s show room in the Twin Cities. Service members are able to take a break at this oasis during their off duty time. Everything from computers, phones, movies, books, video games, food and beverages are available at no cost to the service member.

The gym! There is another one near our tents that is smaller but less used than this one.


The USO! You can almost hear angels sing when you walk in!

On A Beach With No Water!

Arrived in Kuwait today. The flight took about 15 hours with a stop in Germany. It really wasn't that bad considering I have heard some people say that it can take upwards of two days depending on the number of stops. We arrived late at night and when we debarked the plane, it reminded me of a warm summer night in the Twin Cities. The only difference was the air was heavy with dust and it smelled of petroleum. It took quite a while to get to camp and as I looked out of the bus window, I was struck by the nothingness of the place. Miles and miles of nothing.

Once we arrived at the camp, we entered a large tent for a briefing about the do's and don'ts of base and information about our stay. Since we had traveled with another group of Soldiers, we had to unload our gear (3 duffel bags and 1 ruck sack), sift through it to find our own bags, reload our bags, move to the location we would sleep at, unload our bags and sift through all the bags once again to find our stuff. Got to love it! It's like throwing a needle in a haystack especially when everyone has the same bag. However, I took some advice from Sergeant First Class Boylan: Let everyone else look for their bags, first.

After we moved our gear into the tents, we walked to breakfast about a quarter mile away. By that time the sun had come up and I really had a good look at the surroundings. Everything, I mean everything is the color of sand; tan. What a shock to not see any other color. Even in the Arizona desert, there are cacti and other shrubs but this place takes the cake.

The dining facility was very nice and very clean with lots of great choices. Since we hadn't had dinner, all of us were especially hungry and the selection of food was amazing. No Grape Nuts, however! I had a Perkins style of breakfast with a made-to-order omelet, skillet potatoes and bacon. After we looked around, we went to lie down for a while but we were instructed not to sleep past noon or we would have a hard time adjusting to the time change.

We didn't have anything planned for the rest of day. Not working and having time to think about this deployment....reality has definitely sunk in.


Where do the boots end and the sand begin?


The really nice toilets.


Notice a theme on the color?!


My favorite coffee establishment! Thank God for the small things in life! Notice the Haskell barriers around the perimeter.

Say "NO" to Facebook!

Darren, my Canadian neighbor/newest US citizen asked Brian and I to sign up for Facebook months ago. In fact, he brought it up numerous times but Brian and I weren't interested. Then, I got to Fort Lewis and I had an entire company of Soldiers asking me if I was on Facebook. I decided to stay strong but I was getting harrassed from every angle. Even one of my high school friends, who I hadn't heard from in a year, emailed and asked if I was on Facebook. Just keeping up with this blog has been a challenge but I would soon find out the joke was on me...

My good friend, or should I say, the sneaky bastard, Gene, decided he would sign me up for a Facebook account. I got back to the office and my internet page was opened to my own Facebook account. Nice! Gene was having a good laugh especially of the picture he put on the opening page (yes, I'm wearing my super cute goggles). I immediately deactivated the account and felt good that I had been able to divert this disaster.

Once again, the joke was on me the following day at our training meeting. The meeting had almost concluded when someone mentioned that they were glad that I had finally joined Facebook. Of course, I told them I had deactivated the account but they insisted I still had an account. Sure enough, Gene had gone and set it up again. The laugh was definitely on me when he even had a picture of me sitting with him and he had labeled it, "Signing up for Facebook".

I give up! However, beware Gene...


The Culprit!


My Home Page Picture on Facebook (Super cute goggles!)


The "Signing up for Facebook" photo.

PASS!!!

I got to the hotel in Tacoma about 10pm. Too late to have a beer since the Chinese place next door had closed. So I opened up my computer to finish some emails and that's when I noticed how filthy my computer had gotten in the course of a month. All I could think about is how I have been breathing in all that dirt floating around in that dirty World War II office. It didn't seem that bad when I was actually there but after removing myself from the situation, OMG! Mom, where are you when I need you to help clean. I fell asleep waiting for Bri and Lyndsey to arrive...it was great to see them once they did!

Sleep. What a wonderful thing. I don't remember what time we all woke up but I certainly felt better than I had in days. Took a shower without having to wear flip flops! We drove to Seattle and had a wonderful lunch at Ivars on one of the piers. I enjoyed some really great beer that is brewed in Seattle; Manney's. Spent some of the afternoon walking around, looking at the sites and then a trip to the Space Needle. Our hotel was only a few blocks off the main action so we had lots of choices for activities and dining.

More sleep...I can't seem to get enough. Drove through the Cascade Mountains to Leavenworth, WA; A small German town with great shops, great food and beer. The ride to and from was a bit to be desired with snow on the way there and a full blown snow storm on the way back. Brian wasn't too keen on my telling him how to drive! :) Sorry, Hubby!

Birthday the next day. Kept thinking throughout the day, "Where does time go"? I only hope it goes this fast once I'm in Iraq. We went to the Seattle Aquarium and I got to see my first giant octopus...that was cool. Bri and Lyndsey brought me to dinner at the Capitol Grille. I had a really great steak and topped it off with champagne and crème brûlée at the end!

I think I must have slept 10 hours this time. After checking out, we took a Monday drive and stopped at a few towns on the way. Later, when Bri and Lynner brought me back, I signed in and we sat in the car. I didn't want to see them go and once again, it really sucked. It was terrible knowing that I wouldn't be seeing them for a long time. I'm really beginning to realize how much I've taken for granted whether it's being able to sleep in my own bed, wear civilain clothes, shower without flip flops or most of all, spend time with my family. As Brian wrote to me, there have been countless Soldiers before me but now, it is personal. Yes indeed, this year will be very personal to our family.


On the pig at Pike's Market.


The Space Needle. Brian and Lyndsey were frustrated with me since I was trying some different settings with the camara. I took about 8 pictures to get this one.


At the top! Talking to Mr. Don!



Birthday Dinner

An Army Wedding!

We showed our unity by dressing just like the bride!

Staff Sergeant(SSG) Cory Bonebrake and Sergeant(SGT) Jolene Liedberg were joined in holy matrimony tonight at one of the Fort Lewis chapels. They had planned to get married after the deployment but they changed their minds and moved the date up by a year. As soon as we found out, we were busy planning to ensure the wedding would be a memorable one.

First, it started out with a bachelor and bachelorette parties last night. Parties were held for the couple in the their respective World War II barracks and will certainly be ones to remember since only non-alcoholic beverages were served! The guys had fun taping SSG Bonebrake to one of the posts and feeding him a concoction of baby food, Worcestershire sauce and whipping cream. This information was only received second hand since none of us females were in the male barracks. The ladies treated SGT Liedberg much better by having lots of great treats and a game to play. Lots of TP was used to decorate the bays.

The following day, we had lots of people involved...even our Unit Movement Officer: Lieutenant(LT) Samuel! LT: Thanks for driving the gals around to pick up all the stuff! The wedding was suppose to kick off at 7:30pm, however, there were still Soldiers coming in the door and the processional music had to stop. Finally, everyone was settled and the bride was ready to go. We (some of the female Soldiers) escorted her down the aisle and passed her over to SSG Bonebrake. Chaplain Rittmaster asked, "Who gives this bride" and we all shouted, "We do"! The Chaplain's remarks were not lost on the attendees as he talked about the couple not being allowed to spend their wedding night together. Of course, the entire company broke into laughter. Luckily, the couple is going on pass this weekend.

After the ceremony, Cannonball drove the couple in a decorated car to building 6D12. Another fine building that we get to occupy! The gals had taped off the floor to create a dance area and had the cake and pop ready to go. Once the couple arrived, they shared in their couple's dance and cake cutting. A couple of the female Soldiers broke out their lighted Yo Yo's and had a mini performance of their newly acquired skills.

As happy as I was for the newly married couple, I was excited to see my own husband and daughter since I started my pass following the wedding.

The ceremony.


Blowing bubbles...yes, you see it here...


SSG and SGT Bonebrake!


Cannonball the chauffeur.

Stay Alert! Stay Alive!

Busy day today. Myself and two other Soldiers from the company had to be in formation at 0630 this morning. Imagine that, we didn't get the message that the formation time had changed to later......as one colonel said, we must maintain "Rigid Flexibility"! No better way to describe it!

Got the chance to take a ride down memory lane by riding in the cattle truck. I had forgotten how hard the wood bench seats are and how terrible the drivers are that bring you to the training locations. Once we got to the site, we broke off into different groups to participate in a round-robin training exercise on various means to protect ourselves from the enemy. Some of the training was a repeat from the previous summer at Camp Ripley but it certainly was a great refresher.

One part of the training led us through the different types of Improvised Explosive Devises (IEDs) and other weapons used to cause us injury. The instructor had deployed four times so he certainly brought a wealth of knowledge to the subject. After his portion, we entered a shack where two Soldiers were role playing being the enemy. It was a sobering reminder that not everyone likes us.

While I was waiting for the cattle truck to take me back to the barracks, I ran into one of the TAC Officers from Class 42. I hadn't spoken to him since I left OCS 10 1/2 years ago. At least he was one of the decent TAC Officers and not one of the two that we referred to as "Pure Evil".

After getting back to the barracks, it just never stopped. I had to rush off and sign for more gear. While I was in line, waiting for gear, I was told I'm the flight captain for the Torch group. So I rushed to the Torch meeting, followed by another meeting, followed by a meeting with an investigator for a Soldier's clearance, followed by another meeting and two classes this evening. What makes matters worse is; as a Soldier, you shouldn't walk and talk on the cell phone. The only free time I sometimes have is going to and from meetings and this rule about the cell phone, sucks! Sorry for not returning calls today. :(

At one of the IED lanes: Suicide Bomber


The bad guys.


Cornwell the Window Licker!


Hopefully, my last ride on one of these trucks or at least another 10 year break!

Hello March!

One month down!!! This morning about a dozen of us stood around as we had a count down to flip a month on the calendar. This calendar happens to be the fun one Brian gave to me before I left. In addition, he gave me a calendar with works of art by Gustav Klimt. Klimt happens to be one of my favorite artists and The Kiss is my favorite work of art. Anyways, I've never been so happy to see a month go by. Well, maybe when I was at basic training or better yet when I went to Officer Candidate School (OCS) and thought I was in the pits of hell. I know Class 42 will agree with me.

In some respects, I feel like I'm back at basic training. Some of the training events require transportation and the vehicle they use to transport us looks much like a cattle truck. These are the same types of vehicles that I was carried to and from the range back in 1990. More recently, the leadership is concerned with Soldiers washing their hands so now we must post guards at the hand washing stations to ensure Soldiers wash their hands prior to entering the dining facility. There is always a few that ruin it for the rest of us. At our meeting tonight, we received a diagram of how our bunk areas need to be set up. Everyone has to have their gear displayed the same way. This too, reminds me of basic training and OCS. I just hope the TAC Officers from OCS don't show up...

I went to a meeting for the Soldiers who are leaving on the Pre-Torch and Torch parties. I don't know what the acronym "Torch" stands for other than it means I'm leaving early. If one of my smart military friends could help me out, that would be great. Anyways, I'm looking forward to leaving here and starting the next part of this trip. There is still so much to do and pack and pack and pack. I'll be taking my 3 duffel bags, 1 ruck and 1 carry on. I'll have 2 duffel bags waiting for me in Kuwait a long with my tote. Speaking of, I better go and start organizing all this "stuff" since I'm being issued more "stuff" tomorrow. Luckily, I get to turn some of the old stuff back into the warehouse, tomorrow.

The new month!


The Kiss by Gustav Klimt