HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

For Halloween this year, (as in allllllll year) I decided to dress up as an Army Captain.  Combat boots, uniform, the whole thing.  I think it's going well.  (Could have something to do with the gun, though.)  So far almost NO ONE has realized that I'm really a Navy Lieutenant!

As many of my friends have told me...while you are in Iraq:  It's an Army world, you're just living in it.  How true, how true.

Speaking of guns, my new holster arrived today.  It's one that I can have looped through my belt, under my uniform blouse, with a quick release for putting it on my kevlar vest when I need to get ready in a hurry....woo-hoo!

It's much more practical than the holster that strapped to the side of my thigh.  I basically lost the use of the pockets on my right leg because of that damn thing.  (We aren't allowed to carry bags in to the dining facility (DFAC) here, and since I only go there on the way to and from work, it was starting to be a pain in the butt not having the use of that storage space.)  The only down side is that I no longer resemble Han Solo; my nephew William will think I am the coolest Aunt on the PLANET when he sees that thigh holster.

There is a Halloween party at the Palace tonight, but I have opted to stay in my 'hooch'  (no, that's not a dirty word...it's the nickname for the little trailers we all call home) and watch a little college football and surf the web.

If I can ever get some bandwidth, I'll upload some photos and perhaps a video. 

Monday Number Two!!

Well folks, Monday Number Two is in the books...the last week went by in a blur, believe me.

Last Tuesday, I was sitting in the USO in Kuwait having just finished my training evolution for the day when I got an email from LT Tom Gordy, the officer I am relieving.  He needed me to call him ASAP as they were moving me out of Kuwait early.  After speaking with him and some of the Navy admin folks in Kuwait I rushed back to my tent and had exactly 12 minutes to pack my gear to rush to the military airport so I could report in to Baghdad.

That 12 minute goat rodeo turn in to 20 hours of hell.  I got to the airport only to be told that I had been bumped off the flight that I was slated to be on.  MILAIR is not like calling the reservations desk at American Airlines.  There is a lot of waiting around, and quite frankly the moving of equipment and supplies often trumps the ability to move bodies.

I 'slept' in a chair that night because I kept being told that I needed to be there for roll call every couple of hours just in case I was able to get on a manifest.  I was Little Miss Grumpy...full on!  Finally, at 9:30 in the morning I was able to secure a seat.

About 90 or so minutes later, I was sitting on a military plane with my back pack on my lap, my IBA and helmet on, ear plugs in....waiting to take off for Baghdad.  And waiting.  And waiting.  Let me tell you folks, it was hot and stuffy on that plane sitting out there on the tarmac.  The air is stuffy and smells of jet exhaust and that back pack was just getting heavier and heavier by the second.

We finally took off and aside from the incredibly steep descent in to the airfield, it was uneventful.

Tom met me at the airport and drove me straight to Camp Victory where I will be spending the better part of the next year.  Plans changed a bit, so while I will travel in and out of the International Zone, I'll really be based elsewhere.

The first day was a blur, I was tired and for Christ's sake....everything is tan, so it all looks the same!  I love khaki as much as the next preppy, but enough is enough, People.

I was placed in a temporary housing trailer, got a few hours sleep that first night and hit the ground running Thursday morning.

As I mentioned earlier, I am the Legislative Affairs Officer for the Commanding General.  This means that I will track legislation on the Hill and act as the escort for Congressional, Staff and Governor delegations (for GEN Odierno) when the delegations are here.  I am slowly learning the job and I think that I will really enjoy it.  I feel a bit like Forrest Gump.  I am sitting in meetings with world leaders.  I am certainly witnessing history, and in a very small way I am a part of it.  Pretty heady stuff.

GEN O is amazing.  I've spoken with him a couple of times this week (my desk is about 15 feet from his office)....he is even bigger in person than he seems on TV. 

Okay...I have to get some sleep...I'll write more later this week.  Can't wait to tell you all about the food and my permanent housing situation.

Monday Number One

The clock is ticking!!! I have arrived in Kuwait and am now on day number 2 of my 350 day tour.

I woke up at 4am on Saturday to start the long and strange trip to the Middle East. I didn't really wake up as much as I just got up. I slept fitfully and not at all soundly.

Bag drag at 5am, chow, lots of waiting around, and then finally the short ride to the airport. Once we got there, we were surprised by a group of roughly 100 vets and volunteers who came to see us off. Perfect strangers taking time out of their busy lives to make sure we had a friendly face and a handshake or hug before we left the U.S. for the our journey oversees. This is just one example of why America is so great!

We boarded the plane and flew directly to Leipzig, Germany arriving about 8pm EST. We had about 2 hours to stretch our legs and fire up our computers. My time was a little bit shorter because I volunteered to have the first weapons watch on the plane.

I was able to call Jack quickly and fire up facebook for a bit. It's really amazing how restorative a quick conversation via FB can be. It lets you know that no matter where you are in the world, as my good friend Beth Klatwitter said, you really aren't alone.

Back on the plane, I knew I had to get some sleep or I would be in horrid shape once we got to Kuwait. I popped a tylenol pm and fell asleep almost immediatly. It wasn't straight through deep REM, but it was enough over the ensuing 6 hours to ensure that I wasn't entirely comatose when we finally landed in Kuwait at 4am EST.

Nearly 24 hours after I crawled out of bed at Camp McCready in South Carolina I stepped on to the tarmac in Kuwait City. It was like being on another planet. A surprisingly humid, bright and very dusty foreign land. (It became much MUCH drier as we traveled away from the airport which is very close to the coast.) We waited while our bags were unloaded and got on buses for the one hour drive up to Camp Virginia, my home for the next several days. The Navy puts us here so we can have a few days to acclimate to the temperatures and time zone. We have a few briefings to attend the first couple of days and some more training out in the desert at the end of the week, but for the most part no real responsibilities for the next 72 hours.

We are being housed in 60 man tents, but thankfully there are only 29 women in my group so we have a little bit of space. The hike to the Dining Facility, Starbucks, PX and Taco Bell area is about a half mile (I swear they put us as far away as possible on purpose)...there is no internet in the tent area, so anytime I want to fire up my web connection I have to make it out here. That's a blessing today as I am avoiding my cot like the plague. I really need to stay awake all day today so I can sleep through the night tonight.

Not much more to report here...here are a couple of new pictures: The first one is when I stepped off the plane in Kuwait...the second just goes to show that no matter where I am on this planet, I can find a little taste of home.

Packing....

No more time to dilly-dally folks. I have been packing over the last couple of days and am just about set. I am authorized 4 sea-bags when I leave and with all of the mandatory equipment and gear I've been issued that means I have about 3/4 of one sea-bag that I can fill with my own creature comforts. I am pleasantly surprised by how much crap I am able to stuff in to these things. Good tips and scoop from my shipmates who have gone before me has made the packing list much easier. Besides, Amazon.com ships to Iraq, right?!

It's been cold and rainy here in South Carolina for the last several days and I very glad that my combat boots are waterproof. We did our big Convoy Exercise in the pouring rain, and I must admit...while I was nervous about 'doing all the right things' (meaning: not letting my team get ambushed and killed), I actually had a really good time. The IBA was incredibly heavy after wearing it for several hours and jumping in and out of the HUMVEE and running around in the woods just about did me in. We performed fairly well and I sank in to a deep slumber at the end of the day. (Here's a picture as we got back to base after the exercise.)




By far, though, the highlight of the day was when my entire platoon surprised me by singing Happy Birthday to me. I NEVER in my wildest dreams thought I would spend my birthday in the backwoods of South Carolina, in full body armor, a 9mm strapped to my leg and an M16 in my hands. Very very surreal. (Here's to hoping that I birdie the Road Hole when I play St. Andrews on my next birthday!)

As I stated in my last post, my room mate left and we have spent the last 36 hours finishing up medical tasks and getting our gear in order. We'll be leaving soon, but I can't really say much more than that. There have been moments of extreme anger and deep laughter over the last month. It's been worth it. Every second of it.

Winding Down...

We have been running at full steam for almost 3 weeks now, it's starting to wear me down. As I am fond of saying: I am irritated.

It was bound to happen at some point. So many people, so many personalities, so little sleep. I have kept to myself most of the day, when possible. It's sort of hard to ignore your shipmates when you are doing convoy and IED training, but I managed not to punch anyone in the face. (I'll explain my Face Punch List at a later date.) A good night's rest and a hot shower should set me right.

I realized while eating dinner (alone, of course) that one of the reasons I am out of sorts is that my room mate leaves tomorrow for her next destination. We've only known each other for 2 weeks, but we hit it off immediately. She's pretty amazing and I know that she is going to be incredibly successful when she gets to her ultimate duty station. We have laughed A LOT.

People are starting to go on to other training and our little group is starting to fall apart. Our forced support group is splintering and the hard reality that we are going forward is setting in; at least with me it is. We still have a few days of training, and then I, too, will get on a plane and head to the Middle East.

I am sooooooo not looking forward to Kuwait, but then again...God willing, next Monday or possibly the Monday after will be Monday Number One. Then I'll only have 47 more until I come home.

Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training....

I feel like I am living a different life. The last two weeks have been incredibly challenging, exhausting, exhilarating, frustrating and thrilling all at once. I miss my family, I miss my friends and I really miss my king sized bed.

When I arrived at Camp McCrady, (a small training center on the outskirts of Ft. Jackson in the area of Columbia, South Carolina) I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The bus ride from Norfolk, VA was uneventful yet long and most of us were just plain ready to get this started.

We were assigned berthing, given our bedding and told to go pick out our ‘rack’. I opened the doors to the barracks and quickly realized that I would be sharing a large room with about 30 other enlisted and officer females. Wow. I was able to find a rack in a quiet corner and set up my stuff.

The first week of training was a lot of briefings and gear issue. Four sea bags later I had enough equipment to last a lifetime on the North Pole. Interestingly enough, I am going to be stationed in Baghdad where the average winter temps are somewhere in the 70s. Hmmm.

Part of the gear we were issued was a Kevlar helmet, weighing approximately 8 pounds and body armor (IBA), which weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50 pounds. Throw in the full camelback and the M16 and what you have is a sight to behold. Let me tell you folks, it’s heavy. Nearly 50% of my body weight. Right about now I’m really wishing I had taken Coach Debi’s advice about core work outs seriously. Having all of this, plus knee pads (shout out to my Log Cabin peeps), elbow pads is what we call “Battle Rattle”. (I look like a mean ninja killer….except that I have alligator/dinosaur arms because the IBA vest is so big.)

Weapons. We were issued our M16 rifles and M9 pistols and given instructions on how to clear them and clean them. I have had those weapons next to me every second since then, aside from when I was able to sneak away to the Post Exchange to buy a new camera and other necessities. We’ve done all of our weapons training “heavy” (in full battle rattle) and I am proud to say that I qualified on the M16 and was actually able to shoot Expert on the pistol. We were also given training on heavy weapons and we were able to shoot the .50 caliber machine gun. That gun will knock your socks off.

We also trained in first aid, IEDs, and basic cultural awareness. There was much less "white space" than I had heard, but that may be because our Drill Sergeants were able to set up rotating training so that there was really very little down time.

The training that our Cadre has given us has been long, hot and tiring but it’s also been outstanding. Two weeks ago I never would have imagined that I could hold a M16, much less clean it OR shoot a bull’s eye shot on a target 300 yards away while wearing all of the equipment. THAT, my friends, is a testament to how good the training is if you take it seriously.

Anywhooooose, after 3 nights of suffering in the open bay barracks hell with little to no sleep, I won the billeting lottery. Most of the female Lieutenants were moved out of the barracks in to a small ‘dorm’. I now have one roommate (she’s awesome) and even though our muster times are incredibly early (Friday morning’s muster was at 0345) it’s so nice to actually be able to sleep through the night. Incredibly restorative. The only minute downside is that we don’t have an internet connection in this building which is why I haven’t been able to update the blog recently. (When I am able to sneak to one of the common areas to fire up my computer, the bandwidth is so third world that I can't even really upload photos.) Still, it’s more than a fair price to pay.

I really wish I had been able to write daily about what I’ve been doing, I can’t possibly do justice to all of the things I’ve been experiencing. Things that seemed so foreign and out of the ordinary just two weeks ago now roll off my back. I promised myself when I came here I wouldn’t complain out loud and I would be early for everything. So far, I haven’t been able to not grumble a bit here and there, but I have been able to maintain a positive mental outlook most of the time. It has really saved me. There are some people here who have succumbed to the bitterness and they are not pleasant to be around.

Make no mistake: while the training is outstanding, this place sucks. I swear they design it to be so miserable that you actually look forward to being in a war zone. But you know what? This training is also designed to save my life. I have no idea if or how I will be in danger once I get to Iraq, but I truly believe that I know have a good foundation for survival.

At some point in the next few days or weeks I will transition away from South Carolina and over to the Middle East. We are a bit in limbo right now, and further to that I am really not allowed to talk about how or when I will leave here. I'll keep y'all updated once I am able.