Coming home was a long trip. Someone decided that everyone had to go through one last range, so that day started at 3:30 in order to draw weapons, ammo, and vehicles. The training didn't have any real value for us, but someone was able check it off a list somewhere. The day ended on a good note though. Six of us had early morning flights so we all went into Philadelphia to stay close to the airport so we wouldn't miss our flights. Our driver was from Philly and took us on a quick tour, including a stop at Pat's for a Philly Cheese Steak. All eight of us ate on the house, so if anyone is ever in Philadelphia, stop for a bite at Pat's on 9th and Federal. I slept at the USO. I really appreciate the volunteers who staff them at airports around the country. Not every airport has one, but I like having a place to stop and sit for a while when I travel. I got back to Utah in the early afternoon.
The next day I got to see some of my coworkers at work. By coincidence the department was having a BBQ, so I got lunch too. I am pretty out of touch with what is happening there now. By the time I get back it will be like an entirely new company. It was good to see everyone again though.
I finally drank the Facebook koolaid and opened an account. I needed a place to host photos and video and audio clips. Blogger will only host photos. So sooner or later I will start experimenting with my own videos and audio clips too.
I dont have nearly enough time to do what needs to be done around here. I have given up on getting a new front yard until I get back. My goal is to knock down the weeds before I leave. I also need to replace a section of fence that is about to fall over into my neighbor's yard, but even with that I may have to settle for bracing it and hope the wind doesn't get it until I am back.
Mom and Dad will be coming up to visit soon. That means there will be five people in my little house for a couple of nights.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
A Little Sunday Fun
Nothing to say just now. Just experimenting here with embedding a couple of videos that might appeal to a few you.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Memorial Day
We will be working this Memorial Day. The very last step of our mobilization validation will be a short field exercise that will run over the weekend. Our little group is not likely to be very busy, but since we are still restricted to the base we might as well play as we can.
Our i-stop is set now. I will be back home again on Wednesday of next week and stay until the following Sunday. So I have a week and half of down time coming. I will travel back to Fort Dix on my birthday, and within a week I will be in Kuwait.
Today makes four months since my return to active duty. That means that I have less than a year to go. I cant really start counting days yet. Once I set foot in Kuwait, it will be 285 days, and that is certainly less than three weeks away. I haven't decided yet if I should actually count the days deliberately. That could be counter productive. I know back in my mission days that for some Elders, counting down to home coming made them think too much about home and not enough about their work. I think for me, it is probably better to be surprised that it is time to go home because I am too busy to worry about it, but i haven't decided yet.
I am looking forward to seeing Mom and Dad again. This time I will be able to go to Church. it was General Conference time last time, so I didn't get to see much of my ward. Hopefully, there will be some sort of family party too.
No one should send any more mail to the address that was previously posted. It probably wont reach me in time. I should know my permenant APO address soon and will post it as soon as I do know it. That one will be good for as long as I am in Iraq.
BTW, I just added SiteMeter to the site so I can have an idea of who is visiting. It doesn't show me your names, but i can see data that seems to show visits from Clorinda, Jesselee, and Charles. I cant tell who else is visiting unless you leave a comment, or send me an email, if you dont want what you have to say to be read by everyone else.
Our i-stop is set now. I will be back home again on Wednesday of next week and stay until the following Sunday. So I have a week and half of down time coming. I will travel back to Fort Dix on my birthday, and within a week I will be in Kuwait.
Today makes four months since my return to active duty. That means that I have less than a year to go. I cant really start counting days yet. Once I set foot in Kuwait, it will be 285 days, and that is certainly less than three weeks away. I haven't decided yet if I should actually count the days deliberately. That could be counter productive. I know back in my mission days that for some Elders, counting down to home coming made them think too much about home and not enough about their work. I think for me, it is probably better to be surprised that it is time to go home because I am too busy to worry about it, but i haven't decided yet.
I am looking forward to seeing Mom and Dad again. This time I will be able to go to Church. it was General Conference time last time, so I didn't get to see much of my ward. Hopefully, there will be some sort of family party too.
No one should send any more mail to the address that was previously posted. It probably wont reach me in time. I should know my permenant APO address soon and will post it as soon as I do know it. That one will be good for as long as I am in Iraq.
BTW, I just added SiteMeter to the site so I can have an idea of who is visiting. It doesn't show me your names, but i can see data that seems to show visits from Clorinda, Jesselee, and Charles. I cant tell who else is visiting unless you leave a comment, or send me an email, if you dont want what you have to say to be read by everyone else.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Counting the Days
I am usually not one to wrapped up in things like counting the days until something happens. For one thing, I am usually too absent minded to remember that that something is about to happen. Just ask my brothers and sisters how often I wish them a Happy Birthday. Sorry. But I am counting the days until I go home for the last time before heading into theater. It isn't that I am planning on doing anything exciting. Chances are, without someone pushing me to do something, I will mostly stay at home and maybe do a little work on my house. It isn't even that I wont see my family again for a while. That has happened before. Refer to my previous statement about birthdays.
I think that right now it probably has more to do with the general incompetence that seems to pervade too many government bureaucracies. I need a few days away from the Army, and the people who are arranging my travel can't get a simple thing a return flight right. Someone didn't think I would notice or mind that they had me scheduled to come back three days early. I am pretty sure that they would mind if their vacation was cut short by three days without their knowledge. One way or another, this will be fixed. I could live with one day, if there was no other way to get back in time, but there is no excuse for three days.
I think that right now it probably has more to do with the general incompetence that seems to pervade too many government bureaucracies. I need a few days away from the Army, and the people who are arranging my travel can't get a simple thing a return flight right. Someone didn't think I would notice or mind that they had me scheduled to come back three days early. I am pretty sure that they would mind if their vacation was cut short by three days without their knowledge. One way or another, this will be fixed. I could live with one day, if there was no other way to get back in time, but there is no excuse for three days.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Every Silver Lining...
Has a touch of gray, but I will get by.
We finished all of our required FOB training and managed to get out of there and back into baracks early. All along, we were expecting someone to come along and stop it and insist that we stay one more night without anything to do. It would not at all have been unexpected. Sleeping in the standard Army issued bed in baracks was surprisingly good last night.
Sunday was looking like it would go the same way. We had a thoroughly relaxing morning, and then karma caught up with us. We got a phone call that summoned us to training that we had not received any notification for. The initial call would have had us in class over lunch, but that was turned off. Still, it was the most useless three hours of training ever, and that is saying a lot.
Tomorrow will at least be somewhat interesting. We are going to shoot one more time. Hopefully, the weather holds out and stays a little bit cool, but not wet.
We finished all of our required FOB training and managed to get out of there and back into baracks early. All along, we were expecting someone to come along and stop it and insist that we stay one more night without anything to do. It would not at all have been unexpected. Sleeping in the standard Army issued bed in baracks was surprisingly good last night.
Sunday was looking like it would go the same way. We had a thoroughly relaxing morning, and then karma caught up with us. We got a phone call that summoned us to training that we had not received any notification for. The initial call would have had us in class over lunch, but that was turned off. Still, it was the most useless three hours of training ever, and that is saying a lot.
Tomorrow will at least be somewhat interesting. We are going to shoot one more time. Hopefully, the weather holds out and stays a little bit cool, but not wet.
Friday, May 16, 2008
We Hurried. Now We Wait
Today, we really had nothing to do. 353 CACOM Det 5 is finished with all substantive training requirements. We have a small number of classroom power point drills left, but nothing that would keep us from deploying if they were not finished. At worst, they would only delay and shorten our leave period. We are on a FOB again, just like at Fort Bragg, but not quite as bad. We have hot water for showers here and two hot meals each day. There is also wireless internet that is actually faster out here than back at the baracks on post.
The actual training we did is still giving some of us fits. The schedule was changed several times on the fly. We did what was arguably classroom training outside in the hot sun, which required full battle dress, even though it was only lectures. The weather eventually did us a favor and cooled off, clouded over and rained, but not before two uniforms were soaked with sweat. I still dont know the real purpose of being here other than to check a box on a list somewhere that says we spent a few days on a FOB. It is only five days though. It could have been thirty or more days with fewer amenities.
I can survive even this for five days. Two more weeks and I can have a break for a week or so. I will be in theater in less than a month. I have been on active duty now for almost four months. I have less than a year now (more or less) to go.
The actual training we did is still giving some of us fits. The schedule was changed several times on the fly. We did what was arguably classroom training outside in the hot sun, which required full battle dress, even though it was only lectures. The weather eventually did us a favor and cooled off, clouded over and rained, but not before two uniforms were soaked with sweat. I still dont know the real purpose of being here other than to check a box on a list somewhere that says we spent a few days on a FOB. It is only five days though. It could have been thirty or more days with fewer amenities.
I can survive even this for five days. Two more weeks and I can have a break for a week or so. I will be in theater in less than a month. I have been on active duty now for almost four months. I have less than a year now (more or less) to go.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
All Up
Mobilization has finally happened. 353rd CACOM Det 5 officially exists now. Best of all, it means that we are now at least somewhat in control of our own destiny. We have already taken over our training and movement preps, and as near as we can tell, we are miles ahead of any other group. The Navy, and even some of the Army, in the other groups are envious of our progress. In typical Navy fashion, we are pushing through the requirements in order to maximize liberty and personal time. We have managed to give ourselves almost an entire weekend off. At least it is much more relaxed than weekends have been up to now. It is somewhat easier because we are so few in number, but it is also easier because we are motivated to do the work. No one seems to be stepping up in the other groups.
I am the only LDS in the MOB group. I still haven't been able to go to church and wont again tomorrow. The others are complaining about other things. Mobilization puts us under General Order One, which among other things restricts us to the base and forbids the consumption of alcohol. The first weekend we have significant downtime, and they cant leave the base or have a drink. This is really hard on some of my roommates.
We got a new guy today as well. He is our token Army officer and was mobilized out of the IRR from Germany. He is going to fit right in with our group.
I am the only LDS in the MOB group. I still haven't been able to go to church and wont again tomorrow. The others are complaining about other things. Mobilization puts us under General Order One, which among other things restricts us to the base and forbids the consumption of alcohol. The first weekend we have significant downtime, and they cant leave the base or have a drink. This is really hard on some of my roommates.
We got a new guy today as well. He is our token Army officer and was mobilized out of the IRR from Germany. He is going to fit right in with our group.
Monday, May 5, 2008
A Slow Sunday
I haven't yet had a chance to go to church, since this phase of my training started. The local service starts after training commences. Since the group is trying to finish all of the 1st Army required training before Memorial Day, there isn't time to take a half day off anywhere. I miss going to church, but I would miss going home one more time, if we didn't finish the training. Today was a pleasant break from the usual sunday training. We finished in time for dinner, and my group didn't have anything else scheduled, because a couple of weeks ago, we used some waiting time do take care of some simple power point training. The other group didn't, so they are still training.
Yesterday, we completed some training called Combat Life Saver. It isn't first aid, because the main focus of the Life Saver isn't to help the wounded. Helping the wounded comes after the combat is over and the threat is eliminated. Statistics on combat deaths show that only a small percentage could be saved if they survive long enough to reach a surgeon. A big chunk of the first lesson was dont even try to save them if... Combat Life Saver is to keep a small class of the seriously wounded alive, because an it can be done by a marginally trained amateur with a couple pounds of gear and a few minutes of relative quiet. The whole thing culminated with the requirement to start an IV on a classmate. Sticking someone is easier than I thought it would be, but a few people had some difficulties. Mostly it was because their partner had very small veins. A few people had to endure multiple sticks, sometimes into muscle. I set the record for blood loss, because my partner didn't properly block the vein when he pulled out the needle with the catheter in place. It wasn't a lot, but it is an intersting sight to see your blood running out of a whole in your arm at that rate. I did a pretty good job myself.
I am going to try to go to sleep early tonight. I haven't been sleeping as well as I ought to, but there are eleven guys in my barracks room, and even though we are all in our thirties, we might as well be in college again.
Yesterday, we completed some training called Combat Life Saver. It isn't first aid, because the main focus of the Life Saver isn't to help the wounded. Helping the wounded comes after the combat is over and the threat is eliminated. Statistics on combat deaths show that only a small percentage could be saved if they survive long enough to reach a surgeon. A big chunk of the first lesson was dont even try to save them if... Combat Life Saver is to keep a small class of the seriously wounded alive, because an it can be done by a marginally trained amateur with a couple pounds of gear and a few minutes of relative quiet. The whole thing culminated with the requirement to start an IV on a classmate. Sticking someone is easier than I thought it would be, but a few people had some difficulties. Mostly it was because their partner had very small veins. A few people had to endure multiple sticks, sometimes into muscle. I set the record for blood loss, because my partner didn't properly block the vein when he pulled out the needle with the catheter in place. It wasn't a lot, but it is an intersting sight to see your blood running out of a whole in your arm at that rate. I did a pretty good job myself.
I am going to try to go to sleep early tonight. I haven't been sleeping as well as I ought to, but there are eleven guys in my barracks room, and even though we are all in our thirties, we might as well be in college again.
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