In country

Well it has been about 24 hours that I have been here and finally had a chance to update my blog. I can't get too specific on things but I am in Kuwait and will be here a while before heading to Iraq. I can say we have been re-assigned to Baghdad, but not sure if that is even correct. The weather here isn't as hot as I remember, though 64 in late December isn't cold either. It was a little chilly last night but tonight it is nice. The internet access is spotty and slow, so not sure if I will update or not until I get to Iraq. Our trip here from Kansas was long and tiring, and took us through 4 cities and 3 countries before arriving here. We flew from Topeka, Kansas to Rockford, IL; then to Gander, Newfoundland, Canada; then to Keflavik, Iceland; Leipzig, Germany; and finally on to Kuwait City, Kuwait. They fed us quite well on the flight, and I eventually couldn't eat anymore. The last meal I didn't finish and the flight attendant asked me if I didn't like it and if I wanted the other meal and I said "I'm just full!" I still have some of the snacks from the plane as emergency. Tomorrow we start training (it's 8 hours ahead of EST here) so back to work finally. Well, keep an eye on the blog and I will try to update as I can.

The time is near

Well it's about a week and I will be back in Kansas. I hope we can get out of Kansas on the earliest date, 28 December. Would be nice to land in Kuwait before 1 Jan, that way December is tax free, and all the bennies associated with being there. Some good news is that we are supposed to return 15 December next year meaning I could conceivably not miss a Christmas, yet. I also talked to my branch manager and it looks like I will not meet the board in the zone this year, but oh well, I will not pin on Major for another year. Another penalty for switching, but then again I did get a $35,000 bonus for being a transportation officer, if only for about 2 months, plus I still get a $10,000 bonus for switching which can't be collected until I get to Iraq (that means it will be tax free). Anyway, this next year will be a chance to get bills paid off, and without me here spending it all we just might come out of Iraq debt free. I am not sure if I will have a chance to update before I go to Iraq, so you may not get another posting until late January or later, but I will try to update as I can.

Changes

Well we finally know what days we are leaving for Iraq, from 28-30 December. That means we have to return 26 December. Our biggest news is that our boss was relieved of duty due to pissing off the wrong person. We hope they will let him come back and join us, but that probably won't happen. We are still going as a 10 man team, with our senior Captain taking charge (technically that is me, but I don't feel comfortable since I have 10 months in the Army). A bit of turmoil, but we were told not to make waves or they would break up the rest of the team and put us all on different MTTs. Anyway, haven't updated for a while but there really hasn't been much to say until now. Will be updating more when I return home next week.

Training or lack thereof

It's become apparent that we are here not to train but to get used to being away from home, since today our training in whole consisted of about an hour and 15 minutes. Worthwhile, but still a whole day wasted for 75 minutes of training. We even missed lunch and had to eat MREs. If they had done two things, one, stagger start (or as they say in golf shotgun start) 4 teams (there were four stations) at 0830, then have the other 4 teams come an hour and a half later at 1000 and again stagger start, all could have been done by 1130, and we all could have made it back for lunch. And we could have done another half day of training this afternoon, as it was we did nothing. Tomorrow, we have half day plus and hour in the afternoon. So far in about 5 weeks, we have wasted 9-11 days according to the boss' tracker.

This weekend I will be headed to Oklahoma City again to see my son again, and hopefully spend some quality time with him. Next week, I am going to my mom's house in Illinois for Thanksgiving, which will be nice because she just moved so I get to see the new house. After Thanksgiving, it's only two weeks until we are done here. We still don't know when we'll be back, but we're thinking due to our downrange guys return date we won't fly out until after the first of the year. Well, that is all for now, will update when something exciting happens.

Relaxed Grooming Standards

Today we got called out by a 1 star General (who turned out to be the division commander) about our haircuts. My SF boss says "relaxed grooming standards" and the CG says "not in the 1st ID!" Interesting. Didn't ask how the training was, nor anything important, just that we needed haircuts. Long time since last update, the only thing I have to say is I saw my son Casey last weekend, great time as usual. I plan to see him in 2 weeks, between going home for Veteran's day weekend and going to my mom's for Thanksgiving. Could be my last chance to see him for a long while.

Today we picked up our vehicles and weapons, what we will use for training while we are here. We won't take any of it with us, just use it for training. The only thing we take is our small arms (M4 and M9).

This weekend I get to go home for the first time since 26 September, and that will be very nice. Other than that, not much else to talk about. Will probably not update until next week after I get back.

Combat Life Saver

The term is used in reference to how we all become certified to help save lives by knowing a bit more than just basic CPR. We learned to put in a Nasalpharyngeal tube (goes in the nose), apply tourniquets & bandages, cover a sucking chest wound, relieve an over inflating lung (pneumothorax something or other) by plunking a needle in their chest, and the finale of giving and receiving an IV. I thought I wouldn't be able to put a needle in, but did well, the CW2 (chief warrant officer) who I stuck said it was painless. Anyway, it was an interesting day and though tomorrow is Saturday, we have to train one more half day. Good news is we are going to test before lunch and be done, so I can get going to Oklahoma city to see my son. I can't wait to see him, this will be the 5th time this year I will see him, and I hope to get a few more visits in before I leave Kansas. Well, that's about all I have for now, will update maybe next week after our specialized training.

Settling In

Well a week's gone by and we've survived the worst part, classroom training. It's always amazing how they can cram 3 days worth of information into 5 and a half days. We did get Saturday off since we covered everything by 2pm Friday, even after taking hour and fifteen to hour and a half lunches everyday (including Friday), and leaving before 3:45 everyday (class is supposed to be 8am to 5pm). Needless to say it was mostly worthless information especially since our boss is an expert in the subject. This week is driver's training and combat life saver, and advanced Arabic in the evenings (optional but we opted for the advanced training). The instructor for Arabic is funny and quotes Team America all the time, referring to Arabic as the "Derka Derka" language. Not sure what we are tracking to do next week, our schedule got a little screwed up with something that didn't happen, so I will have to wait until probably Saturday before we find out about next week. All for now.