Kuwait to Iraq

Wow, I just woke up from an almost 2 hour nap, and it’s not even noon yet… Thanks for paying your taxes everyone. I guess I should give an update as to what I’ve been doing lately, other than sleeping. For the past two weeks I was in a large base that served as a hub for people coming into and out of theater (the region that Operation Iraqi Freedom encompasses). It was a constant buzz of people, helicopters, generators and sand. So much sand. We took classes about IEDs, Iraqi culture, and a pretty sweet medical class. The medical class was kinda graphic, but it was one of the better training sessions that we’ve done. They had mannequins that looked like they were breathing, the blinked, had pulses, and yes, bled. The focus of the class was on tourniquets and how to apply them properly, so of course the mannequins were all missing at least one leg or part of one. The class was taught by an ER nurse who had quite a bit of experience. After the classroom portion, we all went outside for a minute and then the nurse played battle sounds on the loudspeakers in the room, people shooting, shouting, screaming, explosions and it was really intense. We worked in 3 man teams to apply our tourniquets to our little dude, and of course mine was missing both his legs, and squirting all sorts of red water all over the place. We got the bleeding stopped (either that or they ran out of red water for ours) and called in a medevac helo to take him away. It was way intense, and some of the people who took the class were visibly shaken by it.

The time came to leave and attempt to fly up to Baghdad International Airport. I say attempt because I knew a few people who had been trying to leave for 4 days and still were stuck in Kuwait. They actually were on a plane and in the air at one point, about 15 minutes away from BIAP when the pilot announced that they had a mechanical issue and were going back to Kuwait. I guess he said that the parts or the right mechanics were only down there and they didn’t want to get stuck in BIAP. It only took us the better part of 3 days to get up here, and we’ve been living out of our carry-on luggage. Some people didn’t remember the efficiency of the military and didn’t bring anything to sleep in like a blanket or a change of clothes so they suffered. I brought that, so I didn’t have as much of a hard time. I did have to do laundry in the shower, which I haven’t had to do in quite a while. It’s amazing how picky some people can be when they don’t get their comforts. We had one female Major complaining loudly one morning about how she wasn’t woken up in time to take a shower. Heck, last time I was here I was lucky to get a 5 minute shower in which I did some laundry and you didn’t care what temperature the water was as long as you got some.
But anyway, the facilities from the time I left Texas till I hit Baghdad were pretty decent. A bit simple, but better than I had the whole time I was in Kuwait last time. My back is starting to really hurt again from sleeping on the cots, I’m going to have to figure something out about that. I find it amusing the things that we do to mark time, and how we break up our days. Everyone uses the meals as ways to mark the passage of time. Even though we usually aren’t hungry, we know we ought to eat and it gives us something to do for a little while. I really can’t wait to get to Taji so we can get into our rooms and get into our offices and such. I think feeling like I’ve settled into a place will help things all over.
Last night, my first night in Iraq, it sounded like there was a firefight taking place in the distance. You could hear the sounds of the different caliber weapons going off, and then our helos flying to the direction of the fight. It was an experience to be sure. I was never even close to being in any danger, but it served as a good reminder of where we’re at. Speaking of where I’m at, this base near Baghdad has massive concrete sectional walls everywhere. They’re like 16 or 20 feet tall, 1 ½ feet thick, so every time I go outside I feel like I’m in a maze and I should be looking for cheese. It makes it slightly harder to find the buildings that you’re looking for too.
We should be heading out tonight sometime. I’m skeptical as to if that will happen or not, but if it does, I’m excited to ride on a helo for the first time. We’ll have 15 minutes from the time it touches down to get ourselves and all our gear loaded onto it, or it will leave us. The first group of us that went up actually had 5 people join them since they were left behind. I’ll let you all know when I get there safely. I miss you all, and I hope to get in touch with you all once I have better communication.

Silence

I have relearned that there is great value in being alone and having peace, quiet and time to think. For those of you who I managed to visit on my passes, you know that I didn’t really care to do a whole lot. I mostly just wanted to sit still, watch a movie or something, or just talk. Nothing really go and do type stuff. I have spent the past 2 and a half months living with anywhere between 40-60 other guys within 100 feet of me, constantly talking, playing movies music or just being loud. I have walked around this base during all hours, from 4 in the morning, to 11 at night, and there are always people everywhere. This place is going constantly. I know it’s the nature of what we do to run operations 24 hours a day, but I find now that I value the solitude and peace that your own space can bring. I like most of these guys that I’m with except some blessed few who manage to annoy me, but we can already tell its going to be a long deployment. I think being over here last time made me a slightly quieter individual, a bit more introspective. That’s an accomplishment for someone as quiet and shy as I was before I joined the Army. I believe that this time will be no different. I can already tell I don’t talk as much as I used to, and I enjoy just sitting and watching other people a bit more. I know that its mostly a phase to compensate for the lack of quiet here and I’ll go back to normal when I get home (whatever normal is) but for now, I’m going to shut up a bit and enjoy my own thoughts when I can hear them. But you can still talk to me. I’d like that!

Yeehaww!!!

Hey guess what!!! We’re having our first sand storm today! It’s just a baby one that looks more like it’s just cloudy out, but it’s blowing around more sand than usual. Even the smokers who haven’t been over here before are opting to not go outside to smoke. I think we all wouldn’t mind not having to go outside to use the bathroom like I just had to do. Good thing I knew where it was without looking! I’m going to have to re-master the art of walking with my head down staring at the ground only occasionally looking up to see where I’m going and what’s in my way. It’s always funny to see people’s reactions to things like this, just like it was funny to see their reaction to the heat. I didn’t have the heart to tell them we’re on the cooler side of summer, if it all works out well, we’ll be leaving right in the middle of the good heat! But, with the sand storms come bloody noses and irritated eyes, dirt all over everything, and probably a cough to top it all off.
And guess what else? My very first unit that I belonged to when I joined the Army is here! That’s right; the good old 363rd Military Police Company from Grafton, WV is here. I ran into one of my old mechanics in the chow hall. He looks exactly the same as he did when I left. Then I saw my very first NCO, and she hadn’t changed one bit. Except she did get promoted once, I tried not to make it a point that I achieved the same rank she’s at now before I became a Warrant Officer. I saw others, and it was great to see some of them. I know that a few of them don’t remember me, but it just proves how small the world really is.

Yet another post...

So I know I’ve said to most of you that I’m not doing anything while I’m here. And technically that is almost true. I do a lot of walking around, just killing time. There’s a movie theater that plays a mix of movies, but they play the same ones for a week straight, and well, if you don’t have anything to do for a couple days, you can easily knock out the ones worth seeing in a day or two. I stroll around the PX, the military’s version of a mini Wal-mart. Of course it doesn’t have anything I need or really want, but you go there just in case and often stare at the long lines of people buying stuff, thankful that you don’t have to be in it. We have conversations about the latest graffiti on the porta potties and how stupid it is, or if it’s funny. We talk about if and when we want to go eat, and which chow hall we want to go to. Do we go to the closer one that has plastic utensils and plates and is closer, or do we go to the one that has nice tile floors, real sinks to wash your hands in, get this, a FOUNTAIN!!! But it’s really far away. It’s not like we have much going on so we just probably spend more time debating what we’re going to do than actually doing it. One of the most common things you hear is “are you going to lunch?”
We went to the range the other day, to shoot our weapons off into the distance to verify that they work. Well they dragged 250 of us out of bed at 3am so we could get out there and do it before it got too hot. Once we got there, they realized that they forgot the ammo back in my tent… we waited several hours while they went back to get it… Not the brightest move ever. I imagine the thought process went something like this:” ok, we’re going to go shoot, what do we need to bring with us? People? Check. Weapons? Check. Transportation? Check. Place to shoot? Check. Are we missing anything? Hmmm, um nope, we’re good, let’s go!” Sigh, duh. We did have to chase some camels off the range so we could shoot, that was pretty fun. Of course everyone brought their cameras to take pictures. As much as we all realize it’s stupid and “green” of us to take pictures of ourselves in our “full battle rattle” (that’s something that we did in Basic Training because we thought it looked cool) we knew we wouldn’t have much of a chance to do it later and in a fun setting so we took full advantage of the situation.
Ooh so my unit, other than being stupid for forgetting ammo, is a group of jokesters. Let me give you some background… Soldiers live off of rumors. You can forget to feed them for days, but as long as they have a good rumor to hold onto, they’ll be fine. Word of mouth around here is quicker than IM. One of the guys in my unit started a rumor that there would be a camel race last Friday, and even put up a poster in the chow hall and made a scene about looking at it. Well needless to say that there wasn’t any camel race going on, but still, somewhere between 600 and 1000 people showed up to watch it, including some people in my unit! We have pictures of tons of people standing around this gravel field waiting for something to happen. There were even two busses of people whose tents were a ways away that showed up. Oh it was funny. At least for us.
As you all know, or used to know, there are so so many contractors here in Kuwait and Iraq, Halliburton and its subsidiaries are everywhere. Well every Friday one of them sponsors a 5k run/walk here on base, and the first 500 people get t-shirts. My friend Danny (SSG Hanks- Legal guy and soon to be roommate) and I decided to run it. It was quite a bit of fun! We were hurting around the 2.5 mile marker, but we each got a t-shirt!
Hmm, what else… Two of my nemesis, or nemisisi? Got into a huge fight over the temperature here in the tent. They’re both lazier than the anyone else around, and about as worthless as byu’s run defense against Florida State. But depending on where you’re at in the tent, it can be either really cold if you’re sitting under the vent or decent if you’re not. Well apparently they got into a fist fight about how high or low to set it. Quite amusing if you ask me. On a not so amusing note, the same guy who failed the PT test while we were in Texas because he gave up on the run and left in the middle of it, got into a fight with a kid a third his size, and put him in the hospital with a concussion. Granted the smaller guy talks crap like you have never heard in your life, and is super super annoying, and it was dumb luck that he hit his head, but my guy shouldn’t have lost his temper, especially in that manner. So we’re not really sure what is going to happen to him, I’m pushing for taking half a month’s pay, and 12 hour work days, 6 days a week for two months and taking his mid tour leave. And that’s kinda light compared to what they could do to him. It would be a stretch, but they could throw him in jail.
I think that’s about it for now. We took some classes yesterday about stuff that nobody really wants me to talk about, and we have some different ones coming up this week. Basically we’re just killing time and trying to get used to the heat and the time change so we can jump right into our mission up in Iraq. Oh, I did get dates for my mid tour leave; sometime in early May, I don’t remember exactly what though. To be honest, I probably won’t take it, but depending on my financial situation and how I’m feeling about things, I could be persuaded to go if the location and company is right. And if I feel right about it, so if I don’t go, as much as I would love to go to a number of spots, don’t be offended. It would be hard to be over here, then head back to the states for a little bit and get out of the mindset that I need here, and then come back to Iraq and get back into the game.
Ok, it’s almost time for lunch; I need to go join the debate about which chow hall we’re going to go to. I need to decide which one I’m going to root for today… Miss you all, hope to talk to you all soon. If you want to do something for me, send me pictures of yourself and what you’ve been up to, or cookies and other goodies will work just fine. Take care, and keep me in your prayers.

Kuwait Part II

I really need to think of a new title, I can't just keep calling them part III or IV...

I lay awake each night on my cot, listening to a rumble in the distance trying to figure out what it is. I know it’s not the sounds of the 40 other guys I’m sharing the tent with, some snoring, others silent. It’s either the flight line with its choppers taking off and landing constantly, but more likely it’s the hum of hundreds of diesel generators powering the camp. Why can’t I fall asleep? Because I sat around all day doing nothing, or is it because of the nap I took earlier that afternoon. Possibly because I can’t get my loved ones back home off my mind. Likely as each of those is, I get up and stumble outside, making my way toward the porta potties. Usually if I can’t fall asleep, it’s because I have to pee, and I don’t even realize it. I drink so much water here that I’m constantly going. I don’t think anyone here sleeps more than 3 or 4 hours at a time because we keep waking up to go. Not so much fun. And I won’t even describe the smell of it, mixed with the fumes of all the vehicles and generators spread throughout the base, plus the dust and natural stink of Kuwait. It’s amazing to me that I’ve been here a week, and I haven’t really done anything yet. Granted after spending more than two months in Texas doing next to nothing I shouldn’t be surprised.
The accommodations here are quite nice actually, in comparison to my last tour 6 years ago. I’m living in tent that is twice the size of the one I lived in last time, and have more space than before. It has solid doors which are irreplaceable when it comes to stopping dust and sand from getting in. My tent is less than 10 minutes walking distance from almost everything I could need. We have two chow halls, a huge gym (so I heard, the building is large at any rate!) and quite a bit of entertainment available. There’s an organization called the USO which is solely designed to take care of Service members while we’re away from home. They have a free phone center, computers with internet, TVs, video game systems, comfortable chairs and couches, it’s really nice. Probably my favorite thing in there is a system set up where parents can read books to their kids, and they’ll record it and send the recording and the book to the child for free. That kind of stuff just warms my heart. They have aerobics and other such classes offered throughout the day, we did a P90X class the other night and I’m still sore, but loving it. Of course all this is open almost 24 hours, but with the hundreds of Soldiers here, it gets crowded. And get this, we have a Burger King, a Pizza Hut knock off, a Baskin Robbins, and yes, a Starbucks, and it’s a hotspot for the wireless internet that you can buy access to. Wherever Soldiers go, there’s always someone there to take our money for us!
I feel a great deal more peace being here than I did previously. I’m not quite as stressed about my job as I used to be. I know the visits to my family in the South and again to Salt Lake really quelled my anxieties and let me know that everything will be ok. I was very stressed about how I was going to fit into the lives of the people who were important to me, and as I said before, some of them seemed to be pushing me away for various reasons and I didn’t like it one bit! But now I feel more comfortable with where things are between my friends and me. I hope they all go and do, and excel as much as possible. I hope I can only improve myself as well. Last time I left to be over here, I missed out on going on a mission for the church and I felt like I was really behind my peers in several categories, and that is still a fear for this trip, that I’ll fall even further behind. I know that only I can do anything about it, and that wills me to do and accomplish more than I have thus far.
It will help out a good bit once I get up into Iraq (probably going to move north late this week, early next) and can get into a good groove. I didn’t feel settled at all in Texas, and there’s no way I can do much towards doing things I would like while I’m here in Kuwait, I’m too transient. I’ll let you all know when I get up there and get settled, I’ll try to give some of you a call when I get there, just to let you know I’m safe. I’ll have daily internet access and a work laptop when I get up into Iraq, and I’ll also have access to a free phone line back to the states, so I’ll be able to email and call people more easily.
I’m doing much better. I’m as happy as I can be. The stupid wonderful little blue pills are doing their job, and mixed with a good dose of the gospel (still need to step that up a bit more) plus getting peace and resolution about my life back home, I’m doing fine. I love you all, and miss you more than I can say. I can’t wait to get back home and get into my normal life, but I know I’m going to be taken care of while I’m here. I’m grateful for all your prayers, the cookies I already received and know are on their way (hint hint), and your thoughts. I seriously could not have asked for a better group of friends, and I know I don’t do nearly enough to earn and deserve your respect and friendship. I’m in your debt.

Kuwait part 1

Hey how’s it going? I’m really at a loss as to what to say about these past few days. I guess I’ll start from when I got back from pass from Utah. The bus back to base almost hit a cow, which was pretty cool. We almost didn’t stop in time. Cows out there are pretty expensive. A good steer will run you upwards of $30,000. If you kill one on base, you owe for that cow and for the next three generations that it might have produced. Not cheap! When we woke up the next morning I put together some training for my guys to do, it was an exam based on what we should have learned in that waste of a class we spent two weeks in. I think the guys learned a bit more about what we were supposed to be doing overseas, at least I hope so. At any rate they said they learned more about the subject than they did in that class.
Oh yeah, most of you didn’t know that I had another pass to Utah. I knew I was going to have one for a little bit before hand, but I didn’t tell too many people I was going to be in town because I knew I wouldn’t be able to visit everyone I would have wanted to. I barely had time to visit the people that I told! I had a wonderful time though; I went to a US Men’s National Soccer team World Cup qualifier against El Salvador which we won. I was one of the very few white people in my section of the stands, and I didn’t speak Spanish so that was interesting. Everyone was there to have a good time and enjoy a great game. Such amazing soccer! I’m glad I went back to Utah, not only for the soccer game, but I was able to say goodbye to some people that I didn’t feel I had properly said goodbye to. I have more of a sense of closure now than I did before. I feel I’m able to hopefully focus on myself and what I’m doing here now. I am still going to miss the ones I love back home, and I’m still hoping to be a part of their lives when I get back. This had been a huge source of stress before this trip home.
Anyway, I got back from Utah on Monday and found out that I was leaving for Kuwait that Saturday. We hurried up and packed everything, except for me. Those who know me know that I usually wait till the day or night before I leave to get everything taken care of; this time was no exception. We flew out Saturday night around 7 pm from Texas with a two hour layover in Minneapolis, then another hour and a half in Frankfurt Germany. We arrived in Kuwait around 2am Monday morning, and Kuwait is about 9 hours ahead of Salt Lake. I’m still not sure how long we flew for, but I’ll let you do the math. Kudos to the first person who tells me how long I was traveling. I only slept a few hours over the Atlantic, but it was actually a pretty decent flight. I’ve had much worse cross country flights. I think everyone who hadn’t been to Kuwait before was really excited to be there, and those of us who had been there before were like eh, it’s still Kuwait. And it’s very much still Kuwait. I do have to say that I’m grateful that we were in Texas for July, August and part of September. The heat there prepared us well for the heat over here! Yesterday it was around 120, and today is pretty cool, only 108 right now! And of course our AC is broken in the tent. The tent isn’t bad at all, really nice actually. I’m on a cot with about 50 or so other guys with plenty of room to spare. About 20 of them are headed up North this weekend so we’ll have just that much more space. The thing I was most excited about was the doors on the tent! Last time I was over here I had a tent flap that would blow open any time there was even a slight breeze. If you want to know what it’s like, with the wind and heat, just turn on a blow dryer, put some sand on your hand, and holds it out in front of your face and turn the blow dryer on high. Make sure you keep your eyes open so you can really get the sand in there!
But really, it’s not too bad. I just can’t wait to get up to Iraq later this month so I can get into my own place (with a roommate) and get my stuff settled. The guys from my unit who have been here for a few weeks already say that it’s going to be quite boring the next few weeks till we leave. Then it’s going to get really hectic. We’re going to take over for another unit, and try to figure out what they’ve been doing and if it’s the way we want to do things. I’ll try to keep this updated as much as I can, but to be honest I don’t think I’ll have a whole lot to say. Well there was something I wanted to comment on. After I got off the plane, for about 12-16 hours afterwards I felt dizzy, like I was still moving up and down. I haven’t felt like that since I was on the boat in the Florida Keys and then stepped on land. I’m not feeling too well right now, they gave us a flu spray right before we got on the plane, then we spent all that time with some 350+ other people with recycled air, then thrown into this environment. I’m not the only one feeling less than superb, but I’m sure we will all start feeling better shortly. So far there isn’t anything to do other than eat, sleep and relax. Anyway, I hope that you all write me and keep me updated on your lives. I won’t have steady access to the internet till I get up in Iraq, but there’s a wireless internet place around here that you can buy access to for a month for about $30, so one of my buddies and I may split that even though I doubt we’ll be here for more than two weeks. Oh, and I know I told just about everyone that I would be home late June/early July next year, but I’ve seen some unconfirmed reports that we’ll be there till September, I’ll let you know when I know.
Well I miss you all and I hope that everything is going well for you. Please keep in touch, and I’ll do my best to update this as much as possible!