A salute to my amazing wife

I was putting things into perspective today. The soldier gets so much respect. They are the ones that travel across the world to do what they have to do to support operations out here. Yes, some soldiers have it hard, but I guarantee you many wives at home have it even harder. As I was out running errands this morning I was comparing my day with Rachel's day and realizing how what she is doing is much more challenging than my day.

I wake up, exercise, shower, eat, work, eat, go back to my room and then go to bed. Anything I need is a walk away. My meals are free and served up to me and don't even have to do the dishes. I can take a 15 minute long shower uninterrupted. I can sleep solid through a whole night. I get a few hours everyday to myself to do whatever I want. I can go for a walk, read, play a video game, go watch a movie for free, go rent a movie for free or go to the library. Sure I "work" 7 days a week, but I can walk away from work if I need a break. So, that's a quick look into my daily life.

We have three daughters and Rachel is pregnant with our fourth. My oldest daughter is Ellie, she is 6. Vayda is 5 and Willa is 2. Rachel gets out of bed every morning as early as I do and gets Ellie dressed, fed and ready for school. After  Ellie leaves for the bus stop, Vayda is awoken and prepared for school. After she is dressed Willa is woken up and she is dressed so she can tag along for the ride to school. My wife and both daughters go to preschool where Vayda is deposited for the day. By then it's only 0730. Once Rachel and Willa get home they both have breakfast. You'd think there is time to relax after the morning rush, but there's cleaning and laundry to do. This is also the best time to get shopping done while the other two are at school. After that is done it's time to prepare lunch then try to get Willa down for a nap before they have to leave to go get Vayda from school. When Willa is napping during the day is Rachel's first chance to get a break. Only if Willa sleeps and there are no more chores to do around the house. Once all the girls are back from school it's outside playtime and Rachel goes out so Willa can join them. Before they know it, its time for dinner and homework then it's getting everyone to bed. IF Willa decides to sleep early then Rachel may get an hour to herself. However, that hour is usually after 2100 and Rachel is so tired it may just be spent sleeping. But most of the time it's talking to me right after I get up at 0500 to say goodnight.

The work and care that Rachel puts into the family is something only the most loving and devoted Mother could do. I can't believe that I am lucky enough to have stumbled upon someone in my lifetime who is so amazing. Thank you for all that you do at home, Rachel, and I can't wait to come back home to be Dad and husband again. I love you.

Driving Mission II

Sunday very well could have been the best day I've had since I have been here. I was given a driving mission to pick up a judge from the airport with another sergeant in my office. I've been to the airport before, really not that exciting. We drive to the "back door" military entrance and sit and wait in a parking lot for two hours for the plane to land and the VIP to get off and find us. Planes always land after dark so you can never see anything cool on the way and the drivers are insane. But I was then told it was a daytime mission to the civilian airport! Whoa. Sunday is my half day and we were scheduled to leave at 1300 and return by 1700, that meant I didn't even have to go to work and I could spend the day in civilian clothes.

We left the office a little after 1300 with our memos that stated that we could leave the Camp. Our first order of business was Starbucks. The SGT I was with exaggerated the arrival a bit to give us time to fill up on whole beaned goodness before we had to start our mission. Coffees in hand, we went through the many checkpoints necessary to clear the Camp and join the civilian world.

One thing I find funny is we aren't allowed to leave the Camp in Uniform. I understand that, we don't want people seeing we are soldiers being that we are targets outside the safety of the Camp. But, it is still quite obvious who we are. Two tall white guys with military haircuts, drinking Starbucks and wearing jeans and t-shirts. We really didn't blend too well into the surroundings.

Once we passed the last checkpoint I was eager to see what was out there! I had never seen the outside world around the Camp in daylight. The first thing that surprised me were the trees. Very dense olive trees lined the small highway that connects to the main freeway that leads towards Kuwait City and the airport. Also, lots of garbage strewn about. In the trees, shrubs, road and ditches that ran alongside it. As we neared our on ramp to the freeway I couldn't help but notice the horizon becoming a very deep blue, then it hit me. That was the Persian Gulf! As we drove closer the deep blue gave way to a beautiful sparkling turquoise. Distorted on the hazy horizon I could make out many ships on their way to different destinations in the world. I assume many of them were oil tankers being I was also driving by the biggest refinery I had ever seen. We exited onto the freeway and the gulf disappeared behind the urban sprawl of Kuwait City.

During the daytime the drivers recklessness doesn't give up! Our vehicle has a governor on it that doesn't let us surpass 120kph (just so happens to be the speed limit on the freeway) Other cars were passing us easily going 90 or 100 MILES per hour. We were behind an SUV and I was surprised to see two boys no older than my girls literally hanging out of the window. Their body's out of the window from their waist, gleefully waving and enjoying the wind in their faces. Looking around me I noticed that no car seats were present in any of the vehicles with small children. I guess this shouldn't surprise me but boy did that make me nervous.

I've been asked if the females here drive. They do. I never saw on the night drives, but in the daytime I noticed that many women here drive. I also learned that they vote and have all the rights that men to in the country.

I was brought along to learn how to get to the airport so I could drive the next time. There are no signs that say "airport" so we learn through landmarks. So, I have to make sure to exit at the amusement park, then again at the "Suzuki Bridge". If I see a Burger King I have gone too far and I will not find a good place to turn around. Instead of graffiti, all of the bridges have advertisements spray painted on them. I couldn't tell you what any of them are for, but us Americans only recognize the Suzuki symbol.

There was a major accident on the highway that ran around the airport. We saw the back up and all sorts of flashing lights. When we got closer we saw a semi had tipped and spilled it's load all over the highway. All of the lanes were blocked from the accident and debris, but that didn't stop the hundreds of vehicles racing for the airport. Everybody just went off road to get around the truck (including us). It's a good thing we had an SUV, don't think that would have worked in a sedan. The driver of the semi must have just gotten out. There was blood running down his face and he was on the phone. I couldn't tell what the load was, but it looked like plaster or chalk. We made it to the airport with time to spare and I was delighted to see that the waiting area for arrivals was a two story mall! We then saw that his flight was delayed two hours. We were in heaven. Getting off post, then realizing we had hours to kill in a mall instead of sitting in a cube all day. A Cinnabon caught my eye and before I knew it I was indulging in a sweet cinnamon treat. I was surprised to see so many American stores there, even a Bath and Body Works! My SGT and I spent the next hour or so just calmly shooting the breeze and enjoying our day out of "jail". Our judge found us and we sadly left to go back to the Camp.

On the way back I was trying to wrap my head around the size of this refinery I was looking at on the way to the airport. The freeway ran adjacent to it and it just went on and on. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of steel structures jutting into the dusty sky. Many of them were lit with bright orange flames shooting out the top. Behind the refinery were the oil tankers distorted by the emissions of the steel towers. They were floating around a Gulf that looked a dirty gray from the pollution in the air. I looked on Google Maps later that night and found the refinery is three miles long by about 1 mile wide.

We made it back safely to Camp by 1730 and to the office at 1800 on the dot. It was a perfect day. Instead of working a half day I got to go for a drive, finally see some culture, spend time at a mall and even see the Persian Gulf. Not to mention the Cinnabon and Starbucks!

Computers and Elk Jerky

What a busy week! I spent most of the week playing computer IT guy.

My section at work is split into two offices that are in different parts of the building. We were told it was time to move together into one area of the building and it fell onto my shoulders to get all the workstations moved and set up. You'd think that would be easy enough, but these workstations have been in one place for years and all of the cords and connections are jumbled into a "Lampoons Christmas Vacation" sized ball. If everyone remembers the scene where Clark pulls the ball of lights out of the box and hands it to Rusty, "Here son". That's how I felt. Also, the Army doesn't make it easy to just move a workstation to a different part of the building. You need to access a computer system and first request a change, then wait for it to be approved. If you don't, then all of the workstations would become locked and you would have to e-mail a network guy who would take days to actually unlock them. Once the workstation was moved you would have to wait for someone to "turn on" the ports the user was plugged into for access to the shared network and internet. Army bureaucracy at it's finest! I played by the rules and finally got the green light to move all these workstations to a different area. Of course I had to move all of the Colonels and Captains in the office who did not understand the process and expected everything to just work once they were moved and set up. I also had to help move all of their desks, bookshelves, file cabinets and other random things from their offices. We moved one person at a time so that way the others could keep working. It took three days and a lot of whining from the officers, but everyone was successfully moved.

Of course that wasn't my only job last week, I also had my regular work to do. It made a for a few late nights and missed lunches. One morning I was getting out of bed. It was about 0630 and my plan was to shower, eat and get to work early to move more of peoples stuff. I grabbed my clothes, towel and bathroom stuff then quickly exited my room all while trying to figure out network issues in my head. I did my morning routine and when I finished shaving I put the razor back in my back, grabbed my towel and felt for my room keys in my pocket...."^%$&!" I had successfully locked myself out of my room. It was about 0645 and I called housing to admit to my embarrassing feat. They told me it was going to be an hour or more until someone would come..."&^%#!" I was sitting on the floor outside of my room, in shame, still holding my bathroom stuff and wet towel then it hit me, ROOMMATE! He works nights (2200-1000). He was still at work, so all I had to do was walk over to the security shack and call him to get his key. So, there I was walking around the Camp in flip flops, shorts and a dirty t-shirt all while still carrying my bathroom bag and wet towel. I was breaking so many regulations and was getting the stink eye from just about everybody I walked past. I got into the security shack and the guard new EXACTLY what had happened. Didn't have to say a word. Guess this happens quite often? He handed me the directory and I started calling random numbers in my roommates office. I finally got him and he saved the day! I got his keys, brought them back to the room to get myself in, grabbed my keys and finished getting dressed. I walked back to the security shack, called him again and he retrieved his keys. When I got back to the room I took some elk steak out of my locker and put it on his bed as a thanks.  I don't see myself forgetting my keys again, not after that!

What is Elk Steak you ask? It's actual Elk Jerky from the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It tastes great and for some reason it's free at the post office. Another one of my odd jobs is to get the mail and packages that come in daily. If someone sends a care package to the Camp it ends up there and open for the takings. Someone is sending that jerky to us weekly and I am okay with that!

I have another driving mission today to go off post. I will be driving this time and I am scared out of my mind. Let's hope the locals drive nicely during the day.

Well, a month has gone by since I have arrived here. I'm reaching deep to try to find new and interesting things to talk about, but it is pretty much same ol' same ol'. I work everyday, see the same people and do the same things. It's a little maddening being stuck in one place for such a long time. I don't know how some people do this for a whole year.

Over the past couple weeks I have made a few notes of things to mention. I usually write them on my hands, then when I get back to the computer I put it on the "stickies" program. It's like digital post-its you can put on your desktop and they just sit there until you erase it. Here they are in order.

Street Sweeper. The first is sort of an irony. I was walking to the DFAC for lunch on a windy day. The camp had deployed the street sweepers to clear the sand and dust off the roads from the prior days sandstorm. The sweeper would sweep the dirt up and it would go onto a conveyer belt where it SHOULD have dumped into the back of the truck. However, the wind just blew it right off the belt and back onto the road. That guy probably had a frustrating day.

Melons. Everyday when I go to get food at the DFAC I enjoy looking at the wonderfully carved melons on display. One of the workers there has quite the talent, carving scenery into watermelons. Flowers, clouds, landscapes and even faces. One day he carved his buddy (one of the other cooks). His melon doppelganger was astoundingly real looking. Somehow he even got his mustache right. Every meal there is a new melon on display and the worker that does it awards somebody with the carving when the DFAC closes at the end of the meal.

Fire Alarms. Now, this is getting old. Every room has smoke alarms on the ceiling. Makes sense right? Well, it's posted everywhere around here not to put any aerosol spray on in your rooms. No AXE, hairspray, body spray, colognes, or anything that sprays. Why? because it sets off the fire alarm. Now, do people listen? Of course not. SO, weekly, at horrible times, I find myself outside waiting for the FD to come and clear the building. They are not hasty at all with an average 10 minute response time. It almost creates a "boy who cried wolf" situation. Not even half the people leave so if there was a REAL fire? Not good.

"Nice". I don't know who is in charge of marketing in the middle-east, but someone came up with the idea of calling the potato chips "Nice" chips. That's the name on the bag. Us Americans must see that and think, "I want to eat that because it's Nice!". Now this was mildly humorous to me at first because I found some "Nice" candy at the PX and some "Nice" Pretzels at the Shoppette. It finally became blog-worthy the day I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom. While I was investigating my brushing job I looked in the reflection of the mirror and saw the cases of toilet paper in a storage closet behind me. What do you think was on that box? You got it, we even have "Nice" toilet paper. Thank goodness the toilet paper is "Nice". I would hate to see "Upset" toilet paper or even worse..."Disgruntled"!

Unfortunately that's it for my random observations from the past week.  I will have to keep my eyes open for new and interesting things to talk about.

I got a great care package from Mom and Dad (THANKS GUYS). More coffee, trail mixes, poppycock, movie theater boxed candy and some Valentines treats. Much appreciated! Hopefully, today, Rachel's package will come! I am really looking forward to that because the contents include beef jerky and mini pop-tarts.

Tomorrow is Valentines Day and from what I hear, I should get a greeting from Rachel and the girls printed in the "Stars and Stripes" tomorrow! Maybe Rachel will get a surprise from me tomorrow too ;)

Well, that's about it for my rambling update. I apologize if it lacks many interesting experiences. Until next week!

Comics

I want to take a moment to talk about something completely non-Army related. This morning I was enjoying my omelet and coffee at the DFAC while reading the Sunday Stars and Stripes newspaper. Now, anyone who follows me on facebook may have caught a comment I made about how happy I was that the newspaper here runs Calvin and Hobbes on Sundays. Now I am a die hard Calvin and Hobbes fan. I had ALL of their books when I was younger. (Wish I would have held on to that collection..) ANYWAYS, the Stars and Stripes runs another comic strip called "Frazz". It's about a 30-something guy who was in a band and recorded a few successful singles and has great personal wealth. While he was doing music he picked up a job as a school janitor to pay bills and after his success, keeps that job because he enjoys being with the children. Seems like an original idea right? Well, here is an example strip.

Notice a resemblance to a certain 8 year old with a stuffed tiger? I did some wikipedia-ing when I got back to my room and discovered this strip has been running since April of 2001.  He continuously fends off critics that say he is ripping off of Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin and Hobbes) and is trying to say he is writing his own original strip. He even references Calvin and Hobbes once and awhile IN his comic strips. I think the example I have is a good C&H reference, having his main character throwing snowballs joyously, (One of Calvin's favorite pastimes). The cartoonist also denies this being a sequel or extension of Calvin's life. I think this creates a nice resolution though. I could imagine Calvin finally getting his act together, finishing school and making it in the music industry to end up in a job, at an elementary school playing with other kids as an adult. My hat goes off to Jef Mallet for boldly starting a comic strip that, I think, is a continuation of Calvin's life. I will be getting more of these books so I can catch up from the beginning.

Half Day

Today was a much needed half day. This is the first chance I've had all week to catch up on laundry, cleaning my room, sleep and, of course, my blog. A solder left the office for training and another went back to the states so I have been bogged down with a lot of extra work. I like it though because it keeps me busy and time goes faster.

My goal today was to get a replacement necklace for Vayda.  I sent the girls camels and necklaces a couple weeks ago, and when they arrived in Georgia the box was completely ruined. Someone must have been playing soccer with it because it had a large hole on the side. When opened, the necklace I bought for Vayda wasn't in there. Speaking of packages...I have received my first packages here this week! How exciting. The first was from Rachel and it was very yummy cupcakes! The maker put them in jars so they stay fresh and I can eat them with a fork right out of the jar. The second package was from Mom and Dad and it had coffee, Valentines candy and a very entertaining book. My office appreciates the good dark roast blends.

Today was the first day that I've missed breakfast. I guess I needed the sleep. I couldn't believe it this morning when I woke up and my watch said 0930. I guess not having windows and a warm bed makes it easy to sleep late. (I find it funny that I consider 0930 late)

I craved breakfast meats and egg and remembered there's a Burger King in Zone 1. I hoped that they were still serving breakfast, showered, shaved and was on my way to "meet the king". It's about a half mile walk to the PX and food court in Zone 1 and the whole walk was spent trying to adjust to the bright morning sun. I feel like a cave dwelling hobbit in these barracks. My room is dimly lit with a floor lamp in a room with no windows, in a converted warehouse with no windows. When you walk outside you feel kind of like a vampire.

I arrived at Burger King and wasn't expecting the breakfast negotiations that I was about to endure. All I wanted was a croissant sandwich with sausage, egg and cheese. I was first asked if I wanted a meal, I declined. Then I was asked if I wanted an orange juice, I declined. I asked if they had coffee, no, they didn't. However, I was offered an onion ring for the price of a coffee. Because, when one doesn't get their morning coffee, obviously onion rings would suffice. I turned down the onion ring deal and was finally offered an apple pie. So, their theory of attacking you with food options until you gave up worked, I accepted the dollar apple pie and was on my way to find coffee.

I stopped at the green beans and got my "Cup of Joe" and was off to find a nice place to sit and eat my late breakfast. I decided it was such a nice day that I would eat outside on the dining pavilion by Burger King. I sat down, got my sandwich out, had a drink of coffee and started to eat. As I was eating I couldn't help but notice a sparrow sitting on the other side of the bench watching me. Then another arrived...and another, then a few more. Soon, I had an audience of about 20 sparrows intently watching me chow down on BK. It was quite an uncomfortable feeling, so, I gave in and took a small piece of croissant off and tossed it in their general direction. However, I didn't notice the whole flock of sparrows on an adjacent building. Before that crumb hit the ground I had at least 50 crazed sparrows all fighting over the same crumb. Once it was devoured they all sat completely still and watched me. I tossed a second morsel and sparrows that were behind me flew right over my shoulder to get their shot at some food. I was greatly outnumbered at this point and the birds slowly started getting closer and closer. They knew that if they wanted they could come in for the steal. I weighed my options and retreated to the indoors where I could eat in peace. So, that answers my question of why I never see people eating on the pavilion.

After finishing my breakfast inside I explored the PX for the replacement necklace for Vayda. I found a nice, over the top pink necklace that screamed princess. The guy started bartering and I really didn't have the patience, but I still ended up with a matching pink bracelet. I went to the post office and waited in line a good 45 minutes for someone to check my items. Once cleared, the box was taped up and shipped off to its final destination. I had just enough time to make it back to the barracks to change, then grab lunch to go so I could eat at the office.

Every other day this week has been work, eat, sleep, so this is actually the most interesting day I've had in awhile haha. It is getting late and I have to be up at 0500 to run tomorrow morning. Have a good night/morning/day everyone.

Spend a Morning with me.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
*BEEP BEEP BEEP*
*BEE-*
I try to push the little button on my watch to turn the alarm off. Successfully stopped, I instinctively reach for the computer so I can say goodnight to Rachel back in the states.   A quick conversation later and I am using the light from the laptop to peer into my closet so I can find my PT uniform. If you are out exercising anytime between 0500 and 0800 and are active duty Army the PT uniform must be worn. I try to stay quiet as I shuffle around, as not to wake my roomate, and put on my black wind pants, short sleeve ARMY t-shirt, and the ubiquitous PT belt. The PT belt must be worn with the PT uniform and anytime that it is dark outside. The PT belt is a reflective, glow-in-the-dark belt that can be worn around the waist or slung around your shoulder. If it is slung around your shoulder it must go from left to right (Over left shoulder going to the right).

I walk down the long corridor from my room to the bathroom. I live in a converted warehouse. No windows and the structure built to maximize space. There is a skinny hallway running along the perimeter of my quadrant. The quadrant is rectangular, about 150m long and 30m wide. Inside the perimeter hallway there are 12 short hallways going to the long hallway on the other side. The bathrooms are on hallway B12 and my room is on the B3 hallway. That means that I am a good hundred meters (football field) from the bathrooms. That is a LOOOOOONG hike in the middle of the night when you have to utilize. Needless to say, I try not to drink anything after dinner.

I brush my teeth and shave, take the hike back to my room to put away my stuff in my closet and exit the room so I can conduct Physical Fitness Training. "My room mate is lazy", I think to myself as I slam the door hard to wake him up as I leave to go on my run. He's going home in a couple of days so he doesn't do PT nor does he have to go to work. I guess I am sore that I am running and working a 7 day week while he just lays around all day. I make the long walk towards the bathrooms again because that is where the exit door is. The exit door is marked by a bright green "EXIT" sign with the Arabic translation underneath it. I exit and take my first breath of the Kuwaiti morning air. I wish I could say it was fresh, but it is heavy with exhaust from all of the generators running all night. The mornings are very cool and comfortable. It's humid and in the 50's and the cool breeze tickles my neck as I make my walk to where I will run. It's still dark outside, but the hundreds of lights on generators make it feel like it's daytime. I go walk back to Zone 1 where I run around the perimeter of the Zone. I used to live in Zone 1 when I first got here and that is where I learned that the perimeter is exactly a mile. It's a 5 minute walk and once I cross the main boulevard, I arrive. I find a nice place to stretch my legs and warm up. Once I feel loose I start running and let my mind wander.

I think about how the girls and Rachel are doing and how I can't wait to be back there to be Daddy and husband again. I know I am missing my daughters birthday in a couple months and the loss of her first tooth. I think about my other daughter and her princess world she lives in. Her goal in life right now is to grow up to be a princess and live in a castle. And, of course, my youngest daughter. Missing how she learns new ways to say things everyday and her cute dances she does as she sings, "Dooo doo dooooo". Thoughts of Rachel being a single Mom having to get all the kids ready in the morning, making all of their food, washing their clothes and working herself to the bone. Even giving up her personal time so I can pursue a career with the Army. She is absolutely amazing and I know I could never take her for granted. I think about my parents and sister back in Minnesota and how cold it must be there. I realize how I have probably lost my hardiness to the sub zero temperatures of the Northern winters and that makes me feel a little sad. As a Minnesotan I am proud to say that I live through -20F temperatures in January and February and the snowfalls of 12+ inches. I decide that the experience of being deployed is worth the hiatus of winter for 4 years.

I snap back to reality when I smell bacon and eggs from the DFAC. I know that just one more time around the perimeter and I can go back to Zone 2, where I live, to eat a nice hardy breakfast. The sun is starting to peek over the horizon in another spectacular show brought by Mother Nature. All the pollution in the air here creates brilliant sunrises. It's a little treat for getting out and being productive before it comes up. I like to think of it as my own private show. I finish up my two mile run as the sky explodes with reds, oranges and yellows while the blues and purples of night fade away on the other side of the sky.

My cool down is the walk back to Zone 2. I feel very refreshed and energized as I take my time walking back. I will have one of those, "WOW" moments as I remember exactly where in the world I am and what I am doing with my life. I jokingly imagine myself at 29 going back in time to talk to myself at 19. I would probably have found myself at a Perkins at 2am with a large group of slacker friends.

"Hey, John...it's me, yourself from the future...Just wanted to say in 10 years you will be deployed with the Army in Kuwait with a pregnant wife and three daughters at home."

My 19 year old self probably would have fallen over laughing never thinking he would amount to all of that. Or he would have just fainted. hahah Well...goes to show you really can do anything you want as long as you put your mind up to it.

I reach my warehouse and make the hike from the entrance to the door to my room. I go in and, of course, the roommate is still sleeping. "REALLY!?", I think to myself, "He was asleep at 2000 last night". Shaking my head I rummage through the closet for the computer. I use the laptop again for light as I get my shower stuff and clean clothes. I make the trek to the bathroom and shower off the sweat and dust I have accumulated from my run. Breakfast is number one priority on the mind so I quickly get my ACU's on and walk to the DFAC.

Zone 2 DFAC is a large structure build from corrugated metal. It is nestled in the middle of a small community of more corrugated metal buildings, all with matching metal roofs. The whole commercial area is built on coarse gravel. The surrounding structures are much smaller. There's the shopette PX first, then Panda chinese food, Subway, Green Beans Coffee, Pizza city, barber shop, salon, mini-bazaar, qnet and a few administrative buildings. The DFAC is known for their great breakfasts and they have yet to fail me. All of the food here is GREAT. There's a smaller room in front of the DFAC with 6 sinks in it. It is mandatory to wash hands before eating, so you wash your hands then walk up a small staircase and enter the Dining Facility. I get my ID scanned so they know I can't come in again for seconds. All of the workers are what people call "TCN's" or Third Country Nationals. Since Kuwait runs the whole Camp they hire workers from third world countries. It's a mix of workers from India, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Philippines. I get my tray and silverware and to go the omelet bar. The worker quickly executes my ham, cheese and green pepper confection and sends me down the line to get my sides. I am feeling bacon-y today so I get some bacon and a biscuit. I grab a bottle of water and, of course, coffee. The DFAC is divided by TVs. One side is the fox news channel, and the other side is CNN. I giggle to myself as I sit down on the Fox News side for some great morning entertainment. One side must leave breakfast thinking Obama is trying hard and doing the best he can, while the other side must leave, excited to join the republican domination that is forecasted in 2012. Full of yummy eggs and hot coffee I make my way out of the DFAC and back to the room for the last time of the day to get my security pass to get into my work complex.

I get into my room, open the closet and take a minute to organize all of my stuff, make the bed, sweep the floors and throw away any trash I have laying around. I grab my ID and as I walk out I almost trip over the roommates clothes he has strewn everywhere. He is passed out, face down in bed, with his laptop still open and his role playing game still on. His character is just standing there in his fantasy world. Another shake of my head and I exit. Again, I give the door an extra hard slam to let him know it's almost 0900 and I am going off to be a productive member of the Army while he wastes his life away in bed.

I open the door to the outside world and the sun blinds me. I put my hat down further to shield my eyes and I squintily walk around my warehouse. I reach the road that goes behind the building and turn right. As I walk along the road I pass two more warehouses that are surrounded by a 20ft tall fence with barbed wire spiraling across the top, running the whole perimeter. It looks like a prison within the secure camp I live on. I go to the small security shack that's situated between the two warehouses on the outside of the perimeter. I enter and I am happily greeted by two armed guards who check my security badge and military ID. I am waved through to the other side and now I am inside one of most secured places in Kuwait. My badge is yellow which shows I have a secret clearance, so I can freely walk through the compound and not get hassled by the roving security that roams the complex. I walk into my building and navigate the maze of cubicles, wires and computers until I reach my office. We are in the very back of the building and I use my key to get into the office, sit down at my computer and start the process of checking mail and entering in packets that we have recieved since 1800 the night before.

And that is an average morning.

Detail

"Yes, he just got here...yup, he would be happy to do it!...Yes (spells my last name slowly)" My sergeant walks over to me, "You got a detail next week, you get to be ammo duty at the range".

Now, I did ammo duty a lot in basic training. It's pretty easy, figure out how many people are firing and fill all their magazines with rounds so they can just walk up, grab their magazines and start shooting. I had to be at the Special Troops Battalion (STB) building at 0500 on the 26th.

Back in the rear (CONUS, America, home) we don't have any details. No staff duty, no cleaning duty, no range detail...we can just come in and do our work and leave. However, when we are in Kuwait, ammo detail is the ONLY thing we have to do. Because I just got here I'm sure my office was more than happy to elect me. That's fine though, it's not hard and I get to play soldier for a day out in the desert.

It's Jan 26th and I roll out of bed at 0415. I get out my IOTV, ACH, eye pro, ear pro, first aid kit and make sure all of my plates are adjusted. The IOTV is the army's fancy acronym for bullet proof vest, ACH is an "action combat helmet". When all my gear is worn it probably puts an extra 15 pounds on. So, I get all dressed up and make it to STB at about 0450. I wait...and wait...and wait. Around 0515 a sergeant shows up and asks me if I already got breakfast. When I say I've been here since 0450 he asked why I didn't receive the message that we were to eat at the DFAC and to report at 0545. Great... so I walk over to the DFAC, get a quick breakfast and some much needed coffee in me and make it back by the time to leave.

To get to the range we had to take a series of weird back roads and go through a few gates. Finally we got to a very high fence and we had to have been about a mile off the Camp, but not outside the perimeter. Someone in the truck in front of us opened the gate and they posted an armed guard, we passed through and went off road until we reached the range. The whole area was about a square mile with sand berms built up about 30 feet on all sides. There was a parking lot and the little ammo shack and, of course, the range itself. The range consisted of about 25 lanes and it was a 25 meter range to shoot paper targets. The weather wasn't too bad. It was a comfortable 50 degrees with a slight breeze and we started filling the magazines for the M9's.

The M9 is your basic 9mm handgun, filled with 9mm rounds. Each person was to get 4 rounds for familiarization and 2 10 round magazines for qualification. We had 25 shooters that day, so that meant 75 magazines filled and they were arriving in about an hour. We cracked open the ammo crates and started the tedious process of filling each magazine as prescribed. After about 45 minutes and some cut up and sore fingers, we got it done. Just in time as a bus-load of soldiers unloaded and got their initial range briefing.

The only bad thing was during the past hour the wind REALLY kicked up and was throwing sand everywhere. At least 25mph sustained with gusts into the mid 30's, what a bad day to have to shoot! Also, what a bad day to have to fill ammo. The ammo shack had only two walls and unfortunately they were facing the wrong way. It created a wind tunnel effect and the wind just screamed through that little shack. I felt like I was in a sandblaster. The whole operation became a complete mess. People were complaining that they couldn't see targets, rounds were getting blown all over the place in the ammo shack. I took a few of the ammo crates and built a little wall on my table which stopped the wind from blowing all of my rounds to the floor.

While the soldiers were firing M9's we got a start on the massive amount of M16 magazines we had to fill. The M16 firers received 6 3 round magazines for zeroing and two 20 round magazines for qualification. With 70 something soldiers qualifying on the M16 that meant more magazines to fill than we had on the range.

The wind was tearing through the range still and I was becoming cold and miserable, as well as sore from the weight of my gear I had on. It really upset me when I saw the NCO in charge of the range hanging out in her truck with her friends having a good ol' time. Heat was on, music was loud and they were all dancing. REALLY? What a horrible way to set an example to everyone else of what kind of leader you are. If you are put in charge it's only fair you are out there sucking it with everyone else!

We filled all the magazines we had and sat back and shivered as we watched the first round of soldiers qualify on M16s. After some time enough used magazines came back to us so we could fill the remaining soldiers ammo. I could see everything slowly fall apart from this point forward. The people controlling the tower (soldiers who direct the firing the range) were getting short with the soldiers trying to shoot because the safety's weren't doing their job. The NCO in charge wasn't taking charge so a lot of the people on the detail were just winging it and not communicating with other areas of the detail. That resulted in soldiers just standing there, not firing and not doing anything for long periods because the tower wasn't telling them what to do.

When on the range, the person with all of the control is the tower. The tower tells you when to come onto the range, when to go "hot" (off safety) when to fire, when to stop, when to check your paper you fired at, and when to exit. I don't know if the tower guys were getting frustrated so they decided to drag everything out and purposely take forever or what the deal was, but it was lunchtime and the first round of M16 firers hadn't finished and a huge group waiting to fire next was stuck outside in the cold sandstorm with us.

FINALLY about noon somebody brought pizza, of course we could only have 2 pieces. Ugh. I scarfed my pizza then continued filling magazines until finally everything was set up for the second round of M16 firers. Again, more waiting in the miserable conditions and I got to watch the NCOIC just hanging out in her truck with her friends. In another truck next to them there were people in there that hadn't even come out when we first got there! Why were they even in there? Why weren't they helping us cold people and rotating in and out of the warm vehicles so everyone could have some warmth. I had sand in my nose, ears, mouth and in my teeth. I would have to wash out my mouth with a bottle of water here and there because I was feeling sick from literally eating sand. I remember wondering to myself what would be worse. Being out there in the cold sandstorm, or being out there in July when it was 120 with humidity. I decided I would have rather taken the cold sandstorm and felt a little better about my situation.

I remembered how in basic training 200+ soldiers would qualify in a matter of 6 hours, I didn't understand how only 70 soldiers could take over 8. It was 1630 when the last two soldiers finally qualified. Everyone was tired and crabby. I helped with all of the loading back onto the trucks, cleaning up the shells (brass) from the sand around the range and the final sweep. Now, the final sweep up was a little comedic. We actually had to sweep the sand from the concrete where the firers stood. So, we would sweep it into piles and someone would shovel it up and throw it back onto the range, where, inevitably, it would blow right back in our faces and back onto the concrete. At that point we were all so miserable (except the one in charge...in her truck) it was just funny how crappy that detail was. I got a ride back to STB from an annoying young soldier and a female he was trying to impress by driving the truck like a maniac off road and listening to loud music. I wanted to beat the crap out of him, but I figured it wouldn't be the best idea.

I got out of the truck and walked to my office and I didn't have to say a word. "Wow...go take a shower and get some sleep soldier" my sergeant said to me. I took probably the longest and most deserved hot shower in the history of showers, had some dinner and relaxed in bed. I was so glad to finally be in a better room at that point.

The whole detail took 10 hours but what are you going to do. I figure whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger right? If anything I hope that everyone out on that detail learned something so next time it runs smoother. I know senior NCO's saw the NCO in charge not really doing anything so she will get what she deserves. I guess I felt like I earned my deployment patch that day. I worked outside for 10 hours in a sand storm, wearing my battle gear, not eating much food and feeling miserable most of the time. All while live ammunition was being fired all around me. It's the closest I ever want to get to true combat.

Moved

Yesterday I received a very happy e-mail at work. "Good News! Your room is ready, please visit the housing desk to receive your key."  They closed in just a half hour after they sent the e-mail so I sprang from my desk and told my NCO I got a room and had to use the truck to move my stuff. Before he would answer me, I was running out the door.

Now, the Army loves bureaucracy and they didn't skimp on it one bit with moving from a cubicle to an actual room. I showed up at the housing desk where the cubicle I've been living in for the last two week was. Before they would let me sign out I had to get all of my stuff out. I ran upstairs and quickly packed my belongings, bedsheets, blankets, pillows, backpack, plastic bag of random stuff I accumulated since I got here and two large duffel bags (One weighing about 75 pounds). I waddled down the stairs with everything and put it in my truck. I walked back in and filled out the paperwork necessary to get me the heck out of that cramped living situation. They gave me an inventory of everything in the room I was going to be living in, a welcome packet with rules about living in the new place and more randoms I had to sign off on. Once that was complete I was told to go to the housing office in the new building to get my key and do a room inspection.

I drove to the new building and found the office and we took a look at my room. I was quite impressed. I have my own pillowtop mattress on top of a frame that has pull out drawers for storage, an oak closet, desk, chair, lamp, fridge and TV (cable)! Wow! The fridge is shared, but it's plenty big for two people. I have a roomate, but our room is separated by the two large oak closets for privacy. Everything in the room wasn't damaged and I checked everything off on the list claiming responsibility if anything happened to the things in my side of the room. I was directed to go to the key room to get my key. I was confused because I got a key to the closet in my room...not the room itself. I was told I had to go BACK to my old housing office to get the key to my room here. REALLY!? So, still having everything in the truck I drove back to my old barracks and waited until someone showed me to the key room there.

Anyone ever play the Atari game Adventure? You are this square walking around a blocky square world and the object is to find keys that open castles. Bats that look like flying letter "Xs"  fly down and take your stuff and bring it to other places in this world and you are always left trying to find things and feeling really lost...if you are REALLY unlucky dragons will eat you! (see below) I think of that a lot when I am trying to accomplish things in the army.

At least no dragons eat me in this world haha.

ANYWAYS, I waited around and the key dude finally came in and in horrible english explained to me that if I lose the key I could pay anywhere between $10 and $50 depending on how badly I "lost" it? So, I guess he just makes it up as he goes, I've never heard of something being more lost than something else that is already lost. I got my key and drove all the way back to my new housing and took two trips to get everything in the room. Then I had to drive the truck back to my office parking spot, fill out the travel form for using the truck and return the binder to my office. After it was all done it was almost 1800 and I wanted dinner.

I had to be up at 0400 the next morning because I had to do ammo detail at the range (more on that later) and I hadn't gotten any of my protective gear ready and unpacked. My roomate works nights and he was asleep when I got back from dinner. I was polite and waited all the way until 2000 to start going through everything. It took me a good hour to get settled and ready for the next day and my roomate never even woke up!

I just have to say that it feels so nice to feel like I'm in a normal living space again. Kind of college-y but it's the first time since I've gotten here that I've felt that I can really relax. I watch the Al-Jazeera network for news. I don't know why but I kind of fell like a traitor or something. Like I should be watching CNN. I don't know.

As far as the questions post, I haven't forgotten about anyone, I've just only received 4 questions and I don't think I could make a very entertaining post out of that. Keep em' coming.
 

Mission

One of the first things you have to do when you get here is get your Kuwait drivers license. It's good to have one so you can drive the office vehicles around the camp and so you can pick people up from the airport. I had to go to a class where they taught about Kuwaiti driving habits and the various road signs that this country uses. Everything is pretty similar to America and all the signs would make sense to anyone trying to drive here. During the class, they warned of different things you will see the locals doing while driving outside the "wire".

Excessive speeding
Tailgating
Road rage
Passing on the right
Passing on the shoulder
Driving the wrong way
Hopping the median to go the other direction
Reversing on the shoulder
Driving without headlights
Stop signs are considered optional

No different than driving around Atlanta...got it.

So, I pass the test and receive my license. When I get to work that day my NCO tells me we are going on a driving mission to the Airport to pick up an officer from our Atlanta office who is stopping through before she goes and checks on our office in Qatar. We were to leave at about 1930 that night. He wanted to bring me so I could become familiar with the route to the Airport. After work that night I went to the DFAC real quick to grab some dinner and went right back to the office so we could get on our way.

No one is allowed to leave without a reason, so earlier we had to get a memo signed by our senior officer saying we had to pick up someone from the airport (that was our ticket to get out). We are also not allowed to wear our ACU tops while driving around outside the camp. That way people can't immediately see that we are American soldiers. Wouldn't want to get kidnapped or anything! We go through the many security checkpoints we have here until we finally reach the outside world.

As we were approaching the main highway to the airport a pickup with no headlights on blows past us going at least 80mph, hops the median and drives the wrong way down the other side of the highway and off into the distance. "That driving class wasn't wrong", I thought to myself as we exited onto the main highway. Over the course of the next 20 minutes I managed to see ALL of the things they warned about in the class. Driving out here is like playing Russian Roulette, it's not if you get in an accident, it's when. When there are accidents the cars are just left. So, every few miles you will see a wreck just sitting there. Like a shipwreck on the bottom of the ocean. Undisturbed and you have to ask yourself if there's people still in there! Another interesting habit, is the act of slamming on your breaks, taking a sharp turn and driving off road into the desert. People would just fly off the highway and keep the same speed while they cruised around brush and over hills into the horizon. The opposite was also true, you would be driving along and a car or truck would all of a sudden fly onto the highway from out of nowhere. I guess people here like to make their own exits. So, somehow, we made it to the airport and waited for the flight to land. Everything was on time and we picked up who we were waiting for and navigated the roads back "home". What was funny was how used to the driving my NCO and officer were. People would blow by us doing 100 and they wouldn't even flinch. Or someone would just go around us on the right hand side (on the shoulder) and my boss's wouldn't even acknowledge. Thank goodness the mission went off without a hitch. I was told the next time we have to go to the airport that I will be driving. Wish me luck!  

Because a lot of the day to day things I do really can't be blogged about, I'm going to have to get creative with my writings. I thought it would be fun to try to answer any questions anyone has. Please, comment any questions and I will try to answer them the best way possible. If you don't see your comment right away, it's because I have it set up to where I have to approve the comments. There's a lot of idiots out there who like to post negative things on deployment blogs, so I thought I would nip that in the bud now. You should see your comment within 24 hours of making it and my next blog will be answers. Have a great day everybody.

I don't think I have ever slept as hard as I did the night before. I had been awake for a total of 28 hours and traveled over 7,000 miles. I looked at my iPod which was in EST and attempted to figure out what time it was. It said 2:14am...hmm so that means It was just after 10am. I was being picked up for lunch at noon. I turned around and peered through the curtains behind my bunk.




I must have stared out that window for a good five minutes. I couldn't even believe or comprehend where I was. I was really here.

The first order of business was to organize my stuff I threw on the ground haphazardly and FINALLY take a shower. I slept in the ACU's I had been wearing since Monday morning EST (It was already Thursday morning Kuwait time...disgusting eh?) I found clean clothes and methodically put everything in my locker the EXACT way it had to be for Basic Training and AIT (Funny how that training sticks with you). I took a shower and shaved, put on clean ACU's and I felt like a million dollars. I still had some time before I was being picked up so I watched pre-recorded CNN news in the waiting area by the entrance to the barracks. I also put myself on the waiting list for permanent living quarters.

I was temporarily staying in the barracks until there was room for me in the permanent quarters. Big difference between the two. Barracks are large open rooms with about 60 bunks in them. All the bunks are in these little cubicle-like squares probably about 8'x8'. Each room sleeps about 100 men and there are 4 rooms per floor over three floors. They can cram us in here like sardines! The permanent living quarters is a converted warehouse with rooms in it. Each room has two beds, TV, desk and lamp with lockers for each soldier. Much more space to spread out as well as privacy. I was number 7 on the list to move to the permanent quarters (As of today I am number 2).

It was about 10 to noon and I decided to venture outside. I walked out was surprised at how dirty the air was. Lots of pollution in the air and everything smelled and tasted like the exhaust of a school bus. I figured it was due to all of the generators everywhere with the lights on them. They must run thousands of these every night and they must all be diesel fueled.

My ride showed up and I went to eat with three specialists in my office. The plan for the day was to eat and then in-process some more. It makes sense, because you have to go all over the place to fully in-process into my forward unit which means I learned where everything was. It's pretty easy to navigate this place. One main road going through the middle of what is sort of like a big circle, as long as you hit the circle or the main road, you can't get lost. Everyone always says, "If you get lost just go towards the water tower". You can see that water tower from anywhere here so it's a helpful clue in getting around. Along all of the roads and buildings there's huge concrete barriers and mortar shelters. Included are pictures on how to protect yourself in case of indirect fire or rockets. A friendly reminder of exactly where in the world you are in case you forget.

I went to all of the places necessary for my unit to know where I was and I was given the rest of the day to go get things that I need and to get settled. The PX here is really nice. I bought bedding and pillows (the bedding issued to me had to be returned after 7 days), a couple more essentials and my internet card. We have to pay $35/month to get the wi-fi access here. I spent a lot of time wandering around afterward. You have to walk everywhere and it's spread very far apart. Its about a mile round-trip from the office to the barracks, add in the walk to the dining facility three times daily and my 2 mile run every morning and I am clocking about 4 or 5 miles a day on my feet. Good place to be if you want to get in shape! That day went very fast and I wasn't fully adjusted to the time so by 7pm I was exhausted. I got on the internet and had a brief chat with the girls before they had lunch then went to sleep.

Arrival

After we left the pit-stop area, tiredness set back in and I fought sleep while I was getting a look at the cities. It was so surreal, less than 24 hours prior I was in an American airport and now I was cruising down a highway in the Middle East. Kuwait lights its highways well, they must have a lot of money to pay for a streetlight every 10 feet on both sides ;) It's not like they have the fifth most oil reserves in the whole world or anything. A lot of locals don't even use headlights at night. (I will get to the amazing driving habits of the locals later.)

The neighborhoods that I saw consisted of large apartment complexes cuddled right next to each other. Most were thee or four stories tall and had flat roofs. From what I've been told, whole extended families will live in one of those. The elders get the best room in the complex and their kids live on a different floor, uncles, aunts and cousins all live in the same building. These were built VERY nice, a lot of them had marble exteriors and looked like museums on the inside complimented by lush landscapes outside. The only reason I could see everything so well was because EVERYTHING was lit well. Kuwait isn't all about energy conservation haha. Once we got out of the city I got a better look at the odd lit-up squares that I saw from the airplane.

They were surrounding little tent cities. From the airport to the in-processing center there must have been thousands of tents scattered throughout the desert, all surrounded by lights on a string, or lights placed into the ground. I asked later about this and here is the explanation. So, from October to February all of the males will leave home and go live in these large tent communities to get back to the way life was back in the day. The irony of this is, they are all lighted by hundreds of fluorescent lights on the ground, have electricity inside and there's satellite dishes everywhere for TV. The males still commute to work but will go back to their tent every night. Some live out there for months. They pack up in February because it gets too hot during the day, so they escape back to their air conditioned homes. Roughing it huh? HA!

We arrived at the in-processing center and had a short brief. My senior NCO was waiting to get me and the other soldier I traveled with. After waiting what felt like forever, they finally opened the semi with all of our checked baggage and everyone started going through it. It wasn't long before we found our stuff and threw it all in the truck that my NCO brought. We all got in and attempted to leave base. The only problem was the soldier from my office that was with lost his ID somewhere between Atlanta and Kuwait. No one can enter or leave a base in the mid-east without a military ID. We were turned around and had to wait for him to fill out an MP report for losing an ID (Security Violation) and wait for a new one to be made. By now it was going on 0100 and I just wanted to get some sleep! We all waited in the truck for a good hour until he was all taken care of. FINALLY we were on our way. Being tired and it being night, Sarge took a wrong turn and we went the wrong way for a good half hour before he turned around and got us back on track.

Other than the millions of lights lighting the highway, the desert was pitch black except this bright area off the horizon. The closer we got to it the more I thought that maybe the sun was coming up, it was so bright. We took a turn, went over a hill and we were all blinded by the military installation that was going to be my home for the next several months. That was the light off the horizon that I saw. You can walk around here at night and it feels like an eerie daytime. Generators are everywhere with bright spotlights attached. We had to go through three security checkpoints before we even got onto the camp and we finally made it to where I am sitting right now. The temporary barracks. It was 0330 and I was beat. I was told that I didn't have to come to work the next day and I should take a day to catch up on sleep. I got to my bunk, called Rachel to say I finally made it safe and passed out. In the matter of 24 hours I had one of the most amazing journeys of my life and it had all JUST started.

Another Planet

"This is your captain speaking...please fasten your seat belts as we are hitting a few bumps." My eyes focused and for a moment I had no idea what was going on. It was dark on the plane and another movie was playing. I looked at my watch and realized I must have been out for a good 3 hours. I looked out the window and the clouds were gone! I looked down and I could tell I was on the edge of a sea. I could see a very large city that lit up the edge of the water. Small towns and streetlights must have lit the coast for hundreds of miles. It hit me that I had no clue where in the heck I was and I tried to hard to figure it from the air. Without a map it was useless. (Now that I've looked at a map I can tell it was either Istanbul or Samsun in Turkey on the southern edge of the Black Sea). We flew along the coast and it sure lived up to it's name. You could see all of the tankers and large boats bobbing around in the large black mass. The pilot turned south and we were headed over land.

It was hard to make anything out. There were small towns here and there with a couple lights on and there was snow reflecting off the surface. At this point of the long trip, even though I was surrounded by other soldiers, I felt very alone and lost in some weird foreign land. I was the furthest out of my comfort zone than I have ever been. Getting frustrated that I couldn't recognize or even speculate what cities I was flying over, I closed my eyes and tried to catch a few more Z's. I woke up and I could tell that not too much time had passed. I looked out the window and instead of small towns and a few lights I saw something very odd. It was an amazing sight, a pitch black landscape dotted with bright orange lights. It almost hurt to look at the lights, they were so bright. I would see one, then two, then dozens. It felt like I was flying over a huge black birthday cake. After a few minutes of pondering, it hit me that those were oil refineries. That was a very good indicator that we were definitely in the Middle East and getting close to our destination.

We started our decent to Kuwait City, local time was about 1915. I was trying to wrap my brain around the time change. At that point It had felt like I had been traveling for 24 straight hours since we took off from ATL around that time the night before, but I had actually only been traveling for 16. The plane was making all sorts of odd maneuvers. We would drop a few thousand feet, then we would bank left, then right, then left again, drop another thousand feet, speed up, and then down again. After that we must have been at about 5,000 feet and we just stayed there for a good 20 minutes.

I couldn't help but notice odd shapes on the ground in lights. It looked like squares, rectangles, triangles, and other random polygons. They were spread across the desert so it sort of looked like a mis-shaped checkerboard. There would be large groups of the lighted shapes clustered around a very bright light. I felt like I was landing on another planet. (It took a week of being here to finally figure out what those were).

The plane landed and the process of getting everybody off had started. All of the VIPs (High ranking officers) leave first and are brought immediately to their final destination. The rest of us filed out of the plane and onto a convoy of buses sitting on the tarmac right next to the plane. It was planned and orchestrated with military-like precision...obviously, and before I knew it we were convoying to our in-processing station. They let us take a pit stop in a controlled, heavily guarded, military area to use the port-a-potties and get some bottled water. The air was very polluted and I had the taste of exhaust in my mouth, being that close to the airport didn't help much. We quickly left our "oasis" and headed off to in-process.

Across The Pond

I had so many thoughts rushing through my head. The most apparent was still not believing where I was actually going. It didn't even feel real. I was also disappointed because I couldn't see any of the cities below me. Whenever we flew over a large city it was just a brighter glow from beneath the clouds. The same storm that dropped inches of ice on Atlanta was now busy terrorizing the East Coast.

I couldn't believe the level of service we received. The moment we leveled off from take-off we were brought hot towels and drinks (non-alcoholic, of course). About an hour into the flight we actually got a hot meal. I chose the turkey, mashed potatoes and vegetables. It was very tasty and helped me settle into my seat and try to sleep. I drifted off here and there but it was not solid at all. The excitement of actually getting to Germany and experiencing some culture was just too exciting. I took German in high school and knew a lot about the country. I imagined getting into the bustling airport and seeing all the advertisements and signs in German, everybody speaking German and the chance to get some authentic German food.

I watched the clock and spent a lot of time trying to figure out where I was and exactly what time it was. My ipod had EST still but it was too cloudy to see anything on the ground. I drifted to sleep again and woke up halfway through the second in-flight movie. It was something with Jennifer Anniston. I opened the window shade and couldn't help but notice the sun was rising! I looked at the iPod and it was 315am. Weird. SO I knew I must have been at least 4 hours ahead of the East coast, so I assumed I was over the North Atlantic maybe approaching Ireland or England. The clouds never let up so I was kept guessing the whole way. I tried hard to sleep again but the plane was bumping and bobbing around, so I gave up and watched a movie on the laptop.

The Ambien guy next to me slumped over and fell on my shoulder, as I was trying to pry him off I noticed that they were serving breakfast! Not a bad gig. I ate my breakfast sandwich while still battling with this guy who was all floppy and drooly. We were told that we would be in Germany soon. We slowly descended through the clouds and little German villages became visible through the cloud cover. Small villages with red roofs and windy roads, farms with livestock roaming around and lot's of wind turbines! Go Germany for utilizing wind energy. It had been 7 hours now and I was ready to get off that plane and experience some Germany. After a descent that felt like it took forever we touched down and taxied toward the gate.

I was imagining strudel and rouladen or finding a German coffee shop and watching people. We deplaned right onto the tarmac and buses swept us off to the terminal. We got inside and the first thing I saw was "WELCOME TO GERMANY" on a big sign over a large waiting area. But, it was in English...Where were the strudels? Where was my restaurant with the Rouladen? Why was there another sign that said "GIFT SHOP THIS WAY", "BUY SOMETHING FOR YOUR FAMILY". Oh man...We were brought to an American military holding area. I just deflated. I walked through the gift shop and looked at overpriced German chocolates that I could buy at Walgreens for $5 cheaper than what they were selling them for. Dumb plastic trinkets with Octoberfest figurines on it. Yes...it was spelled "Octoberfest". They were selling Brats so I bought one. No different than a Brat you can buy at Cub or Rainbow. Across the runway I could see the REAL airport. We wouldn't even get close to it. While waiting in line to buy my overpriced hotdog, TV's came on playing Raummstein. For those that aren't familiar, Raummstein is a German metal band that was huge in America in the 90's. Germans don't even like them because they sold out to America. The DVD that was playing was a concert of them playing in New York. That was the last straw. This wasn't Germany at all, this was an Americanized pit stop for soldiers who don't appreciate what other countries have to offer. I didn't buy anything else, I didn't want to give whoever ran this place anymore of my money.

Not sleeping the night before caught up to me and the combination of not seeing real Germany and the Jet lag just made me miss home. Where was I? What was I doing here? Then I realized what was next. The Middle East. WAY out of my comfort zone. After a layover that felt like 10 years we quietly filed back onto the bus and back onto the plane. No one said much after that point. We all knew where we were going and the dangers that lie ahead. A lot of these guys were going back to Kandahar and Kabul. It went from excitement in Atlanta to Amused in Germany and now everybody was just in their own worlds. It was afternoon and another 6 hour flight lay in front of us. I was so tired I fell asleep before take off, woke up briefly when the engines roared, and was right back asleep again not even a thousand feet into the air.

Goodbye

I woke up from a very restful night of sleep about 0800 the next morning. Trying to be quiet, as not to disturb my room mate, I shuffled around to try and find the hotel information binder. Once found I was astounded to see breakfast there was $12 a plate. I wanted to freshen up, but I realized that all of my bathroom items were still in my checked baggage, on the plane. I had to put on the same socks, t-shirt and everything I had been wearing all day yesterday. Then I realized, I was going to have to have this on for at least another 24 hours until got to my final destination. Ick. I took a shower and put on my dirty uniform from the day before and went down to get my overpriced breakfast. I found the restaurant in the hotel and waited to be seated, the gentleman working the front came and whisked me away to a ballroom filled with tables and food. Ahhh yes, the Army did not fail me. Eggs, bacon, biscuits, coffee and oatmeal. I could have as much as I wanted and it was free. I figured this would be my last full meal for awhile so I ate up and returned to my room to await further instructions. 

My room mate had woken up and already heard that we wouldn't be going to the airport for hours. I didn't want to sit in a hotel all day knowing that just 30 miles away my family was just sitting around the house, so I decided to go against what everyone else was doing and break free for a couple hours. I was only 1 of maybe 10 that was local Atlantan. Everybody else was from different units in different parts of the country all in Atlanta because it was the last stop before they went back to work in the mid-east. I say back to work, because I was on a flight bringing hundreds of solders back to the mid-east from their R&R break. If you are deployed for 365 days or more, you get two weeks of R&R leave to go back to the states and enjoy time with your family. All of these soldiers decided to take their R&R over Christmas to be home for the holidays. I called Rachel and we arranged a pick-up at the hotel. We decided not to tell the kids so they would be surprised and go out for some lunch before I had to be at the airport for check-in.

It worked great. Rachel came to get me and I hopped in the van and the girls were flabbergasted. Ellie says, "You're back already!?" It was cute, but bittersweet because she then realized I was still going away. Because Atlanta doesn't have snowplows or treat their roads everything was closed. We ended up eating at the airport. After lunch I wasn't satisfied with my family time and I knew of a Target close by we could waste more time at. We got there and walked around and enjoyed the last hour we had together. I got some plane snacks and reading material and headed back to the airport. Timing was impeccable, because when I walked through the doors to the check-in point, my bus was being unloaded from the hotel.

I snuck right in line and checked-in as if I had never "escaped". Once I was good to go with a new boarding pass I headed back to the USO for snacks and free wi-fi. I made a little corner for myself, charged all my entertainment devices and watched the local news. The story was about GDOT and why they never did anything about the roads. Their excuse made me giggle. "Well, we started to plow the roads when the snow started, but when we went to plow the secondary roads, the main roads iced up again!" It was like they had never done this before hee hee hee. "Soon, the ice got so bad, our plows were flying off the road, so we pulled them". Interstate 285 had 3" of ice on it by the time the storm was over and it had to be closed, along with numerous other highways in the metro area. The whole city just had to sit and wait for everything to melt. After a good laugh at northern weather happening in southern locations I realized it was time once again to get to the gate. This time I didn't feel so sad and lonely. Everything just seemed okay. I went through security and, once again, made the long walk to the last terminal where my plane awaited.

"This is really it" I thought to myself as they called for my section to board the plane. I grabbed my backpack and filed into the jumbo jet. When I entered the plane, a sergeant put his arm out so I couldn't go any further, "This one's the start of section 2!" I waited until everybody sat down in the rear of the plane and I got my pick of seats in the second section. I got the window seat right over the wing. The seats were very comfortable with plenty of legroom in front of me and no one behind me so I could recline all the way. They gave me a little blanket and pillow and I was pretty satisfied with my luck. It must have taken another half hour before the plane was filled. We quickly taxied to the end of the runway and the pilot instructed us that it would be a bumpy flight to Germany and we would be landing at our destination in 7 hours and 45 minutes. The engines howled and I watched Atlanta disappear under the fog beneath me. In my mind I said I love you and goodbye to Rachel and the kids and watched the moon and stars come out from the clouds.

Iced In

It's been a week since I left my house in Atlanta. Funny though, because I didn't take off until Tuesday night EST. It was too bad that my flight was scheduled to leave on the day that Atlanta froze over...

I have the girls their "last" hug and kiss until Spring, dropped them off at the neighbors and Rachel and I slowly navigated the icy Georgia roads. The snow started the previous evening, then the freezing rain fell for a few hours creating a skating rink on Georgia's Highways. It was slushy by our house, but the further north we drove the ice got harder and thicker. Here's the problem, Georgia doesn't plow. They don't even treat the roads. The only snow plows the City of Atlanta owns were at the airport that evening. I believe they own 10 or less.

The main highway that ran to the airport was closed due to ice so we were put on a different highway. One lane out of three on the other highway was sort of cleared but still had bumpy and rough areas of ice. We seemed to be the only people out on the roads and we couldn't help but notice that no traffic was coming from the opposite direction. Sure enough, a half hour later when we made it to the intersection of our detour highway and the highway to the airport, we were stuck behind a line of vehicles that was going nowhere.  Five minutes went by, then ten, then thirty and then people just shut their cars off and sat in them. It was nearing closer to the time I had to be at the airport to check-in and I was worried I was going to get in trouble for missing movement.

After sitting there for a good hour people in their big trucks were driving the median to get to the other side to go back. It makes sense if you drive a huge truck, but when we saw people with cars do it, we knew we were in for some good entertainment. A guy driving an Altima attempted first. Now, no one in Georgia knows how to drive in the snow, (nor how do drive in deep snow) so he thought he could just gun it and go up the small hill to freedom on the other side of the interstate. We watched him successfully get into the median and halfway up the hill where his tires just spun as he slowly drifted backwards down the hill. Well, he never tried to just reverse back to the side he came from (which was a much smaller hill, AND he had front wheel drive, so it would have been much easier to just reverse up a much smaller hill and join the rest of us. He was determined to get up that hill, so he just kept gunning it forward and created large divots in the soft ground underneath his front tires and really got himself stuck. At this point Rachel and I were completely amused and wished we had some popcorn to go along with our entertainment. The genius got out and attempted to push his own car up the hill. Because obviously his shoes had more traction in the snow than his car tires? Eventually he just gave up and sat in his car.

Two hours had gone by and we hadn't moved an inch. However, FINALLY, a few semis way up in line slowly started to move forward. It took another half hour before we actually saw that the freeway that led to the airport from the other direction (the one we were desperately trying to reach on our detour) was also closed. We drove over it and saw 10 lanes of glare ice with maybe 4 or 5 semis on the ice but no drivers. I guess they just got out and gave up? We fired up Garmin and took back roads the rest of the way to the airport. When we finally got to the airport it had taken us three and a half hours to get there. Three and a half hours to travel about 25 miles. Rachel went in with me as I checked my baggage and signed in (2 hours late).  She didn't stay with me too long since she knew it was going to be a long drive back home and wanted to get the kids from our neighbors. We had our goodbye and I was on my own.

There was a good 4 hours before I had to be at the gate so I somberly wondered the Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, already missing Rachel and the girls. This is always the hardest part to adjust to. I remember leaving for basic training and feeling the same way. You just feel empty. I went to the USO and feasted on free sandwiches, chips, snacks and soft drinks. THANKS USO! I spent a lot of time on the second floor of the big rotunda they have there and watching all of the stranded travelers. Delta and Air-Tran had canceled ALL flights that day. People were everywhere, sleeping on benches, laying on the ground and pouring out of the restaurants. I watched two little boys play legos with their Mom on the floor. They were later interviewed by CNN and I watched them live from the TV in the USO.

It finally came time to get to my gate. There's a train that runs underneath the tarmac in ATL, so you can get to one of the 5 terminals. My gate was in the last terminal and I decided to walk it. It was a good chance to chat with Rachel and make sure she made it home safely. It took about 15 minutes to walk the half mile to my gate and when I got there it was filled with soldiers. There were about 330 of us flying out that night. The word was our flight was canceled but they weren't telling us. A half hour before we were supposed to board, that rumor came true. The flight was canceled and they needed to figure out what to do with 300+ soldiers and the baggage that was already loaded onto the airplane. We waited at the gate for two hours before it was decided that we would be bused to a nearby hotel and we would try again the next day. I was not allowed to just go home. That was so frustrating. All I wanted was one more night with the family but I didn't get it. They wanted to make sure we all made it back to the airport safely the next day. They only had one bus that fit 40 soldiers and it took that bus an hour to make a round trip to the hotel and back to the airport. I was on the second to last bus. I didn't hit the pillow at the hotel until well after midnight. I was beat, the journey had begun.

Introductions

I have been contemplating for awhile whether or not I should start a blog about my experience being deployed with the US Army. OPSEC makes it difficult for me to go into detail about some things, but I want to keep family and friends aware of what's going on.

I am on my first deployment to Kuwait until Spring. My unit deploys on a quick rotation so I can expect to be back here probably in the Fall.

Compared to most deployments you can hardly call this a deployment. I have a soft warm bed to crawl into every night, large PX to do all of my shopping, a dining facility that serves excellent meals around the clock (that's right, open 24 hours!) and there's even Starbucks. What makes it feel like a deployment is being 7000 miles away from my 3 beautiful daughters and wonderful wife who is expecting our fourth.

I've been here for almost a week and I am finally starting to adjust to the deployed life. I have a 7 day workweek now with two days working half days. I can sleep through the night finally (thanks Melatonin) and I am starting to get a hang of where everything is here. I can't leave the Camp that I'm assigned to. We have direct orders to stay put, unless it's an escorted MWR trip to Kuwait City. I will definitely be signing up for that when it comes around again. This place is HUGE. Much bigger than where I'm assigned to stateside. There are multiple zones that are at least a square mile each and there's even have a bus service to cart us around the camp as we need to go to different places.

This time of the year the weather is very comfortable. It's in the 50s or 60s during the day and drops into the 40s at night. Reminds me of late April back in Minnesota...except the lack of trees, and grass, and snow, and the fact that I am in the middle of the desert....you get the idea. By the time I end my deployment it should be in the 110s during the day dropping to the low 90s at night. Weekly there are dust and sand storms. They can really make a day miserable, I had my first yesterday.

I'm sure everyone would like to know what it was like to get here. That will be the topic of my next update. Thanks for reading and I hope you find my story interesting.