Life Deployed in the Middle East with the United States Army

Guest Post: CPT Chris Myers in Afghanistan

2010-02-22T07:56:00.000-08:00

A number of months ago I posted an email by a friend of mine, CPT Chris Myers. CPT Myers is finishing up his deployment in Afghanistan. He has a gift for prose and real talent at humor through sarcasm. I love reading his emails and enjoy sharing them here. This is his most recent email as he prepares for redeployment.

Dispatches from the Front Lines: 21 February 2010 - By CPT Chris Myers

21 February 2010
Kabul, Afghanistan

Salaam from Camp Phoenix, Afghanistan, where I find myself once again, gradually coming full circle enroute to redeployment at Fort Stewart, Georgia and, eventually, back home to San Francisco. In a way, it's hard to believe that I first arrived here in June, but lo and behold I've been in Afghanistan eight months now and you know what that means--time for Jay Leno to force me out of my job. Not much has changed here since I relocated to Camp Alamo back in August. Things are a little calmer, that's for sure, and there are fewer extraneous people lurking around--at least until the 48th Brigade's replacement unit arrives here in full force. Still, with nothing official to do until I board the plane out of country (any day now!), I once again find myself in the position of being a deployed soldier without a job to do. I am currently sitting in front of a computer, surfing the web and writing long-winded e-mails; proof that, even in the direst of circumstances, if you give an American Studies major enough time, he will eventually find a way to get paid for doing nothing.

>> Memories Can't Wait
With this experience preparing to fade into the rearview mirror, I suppose now is as good a time as any to look back on the past few months of life during wartime and fill you in on some of the details before they get lost in the blur of my impending post-traumatic stress disorder. Happily, I encountered very little of what one would consider dangerous, exciting or dramatic in terms of serving in an overseas warzone. Good for the mind, body and soul, I suppose, but it will leave me severely wanting when it comes to ripping-off a good wartime yarn. So if you ever hear me start rambling-on about the time "me and the platoon took the hill amid a flurry of dust, gunsmoke and bullets," you can be pretty sure that I'm snowing someone in hopes of either getting a free drink or getting laid. Possibly both. And since I'll be looking forward to those two things upon my return home, you can expect that hill-taking story to be a doozy.

In reality, though, my job (and I did, eventually, get a real one) may not have been the most dangerous, glamorous or exciting, but it was, by turn, both challenging and frustrating--and in the end, hopefully productive. Explaining this should probably involve alcohol, so for those of you who still need the prompt to drink while reading these e-mails, go ahead and pour yourself something now. The rest of you can use this opportunity to freshen-up your beverage and brace yourself for the next few paragraphs, which you will likely find ponderous, mundane and occasionally frustrating, but that I will try my best to enliven and infuse with interest and excitement. It will not be unlike this past season of Notre Dame football, so those of you who were able to endure that fiasco should have no problem getting through this, and because of such experience, you likely haven't stopped drinking since, oh, the fourth quarter of the Michigan game.

>> Road to Nowhere
As mentioned, I left Camp Phoenix in August, when it was eventually agreed upon by the Powers That Be that my role as an IRR recall would best be filled by occupying a job that actually existed, as opposed to one that they continually hoped would come into being. The politics of this are tedious and it involved a lot of high-ranking officers pleading their cases as to why there should or should not be a separate 48th Brigade staff in addition to the larger Joint Task Force Phoenix staff that was already in place. For my first two months in country, I was the de facto 48th Brigade Staff S6 (communications officer), but our Brigade Staff had not been approved as a separate entity, so literally, it was a non-existent job as far as most people around here were concerned. It was kind of like asking someone how they make a living and they reply, "I'm a blogger." I got the smile, a little laugh and a head-nod, followed by, "No, really, what do you do?"

I will say, however, that working at a non-existent job was a unique experience. Daily, I would report to the 48th Brigade's makeshift office, where the Brigade staff--all of whom also occupied not-officially-recognized jobs--huddled about and did things in the anticipation that, one day, Someone of Importance would see the error of their ways and officially bless-off on not only our existence, but dammit, our necessity, too. The novelty of this wore-off quickly, though, when it became apparent that inevitably we would all get farmed-out to other sections, locations and existing positions that needed our services, and no one really had much respect for the fact that we were trying to create our own little universe. As the weeks dragged on, there was palpable disdain between the hoity-toity Task Force Phoenix staffers and the annoying little revolutionaries of the wannabe 48th Brigade Staff. That's over-dramatizing a bit, but people actually got into heated arguments and fights over this--and these were people serving together on the same base in the same goddamn unit.

>> I Wish You Wouldn't Say That
The tedium of it all reached its zenith during a particularly sweltering August morning. Some of us on the fake-Brigade-staff were asked to attend a meeting to discuss long-term plans for the unit that would replace us in the spring (yes, planning actually starts that early). This was going to be a long, laborious meeting of vague ideas and unspecific plans--the kind of meeting that you don't have to be at but you're asked to go to anyways. There were about 30 of us crammed into a makeshift conference room of a wooden hut. One air conditioner did its best to cool the room, but everyone was drinking coffee (it started at 8:00 am) and within five minutes of "Let's get started now...," we were all beading with sweat. The affair kicked-off as virtually every military meeting is wont to do--with a parade of ponderous PowerPoint slides, apparently built with the hopes of conveying simple information in the most complicated way possible. The soldier giving the presentation clearly spent weeks preparing it--little arrows would slide in and out on pertinent text, and different parts of maps bulged into hyperfocus on his well-rehearsed mouse clicks--and when the final slide blessedly dissolved into view ("Questions?" in 48-point Helvetica, with a spinning question mark behind it), ninety minutes had passed and everyone looked ready to die.

I'm pretty sure he was talking about geography and different areas of operation that the incoming unit would be occupying. At least that's what he started out discussing. By the eighth slide (Header: "Geographical Concerns: Discussion") I began molding my oversized Styrofoam coffee cup into a square at the brim. Over the course of the impending geographic discussion, I found that, with careful handiwork, you can actually change an entire, circular Styrofoam coffee cup into a four-sided square without cracking the sides at all. You have to be patient, but if you are ever stuck in a five-hour meeting that does not require your participation, that is one way to pass the time. For general-use purposes, here are some other activities that can fill five hours of the day:

- Reenact "The Godfather" epic in your head. You can get to the scene in "Part II" where Moe Greene dresses-down Fredo in the Vegas hotel.

- Run a marathon in your mind. You'll even have time to warm-up and cool-down, and if you've done the San Diego Rock N' Roll Marathon, every nine minutes you can envision passing a U2 cover band playing "Vertigo" or "Mysterious Ways."

- Reimagine the classics. I got through the first half of "Alice in Wonderland" pretty straightforward, but at the mad tea party, I substituted the March Hare and Dormouse with Howard Roark and Lady Macbeth.

- As best you can remember, retake the Myers-Briggs Career Survey in your head, and then imagine yourself doing the most bizarre job that the results spit-out. Your imaginary life manually fertilizing livestock will have the hours flying by.

Alas, in the sweltering conference room hot-box, the hours did not fly by. Only about eight people at the meeting talked, and when they did, they tended not to stop until they were interrupted by someone else, who would then drone on and on until interrupted. By 11:00 (hour three by the clock, or the scene where young Vito sings to himself at Ellis Island before the dissolve to Anthony's First Communion), a look around the room indicated that everyone's soul had been summarily destroyed during the course of the proceedings. It was only now that things got somewhat interesting--enough to rouse everyone out of their stupor.

At one point during the fourth hour, frustrated by the lack of progress on anything, the Brigade S3 officer (another IRR recall tending-to a non-existent job) got annoyed at the continued discussion of brick-and-mortar building projects. He interrupted the guy who was talking and stated, "Oh, the hell with it. Sometimes I think the engineers are on the moon." Judging by the shared laughter, this was the most amusing thing said all morning, and it surprised me that so many people were actually paying attention to hear it. To me, though, it was a rather poetic image. "The engineers on the moon." Kind of sci-fi-mysterious, like the title of a Brian Eno album. Anyways, it stopped me from molding my coffee cup for a moment and I pictured little men with slide rules, bounding up and down in spacesuits on the cool, lunar surface.

The other remark was by far the best thing I've heard during the entire deployment, and the fact it was uttered publicly, amongst superior officers and in mixed company, illustrates the end result of a five-hour meeting where nothing gets accomplished. The Joint Task Force Phoenix S6 officer (the S6 job that actually existed) did not mask the fact he was annoyed at having to sit through four hours and thirty minutes of bullshit to eventually give his presentation, nor was he particularly pleased at the plans that the previous speakers had presented. In a rushed summary of his talking points, he said that all the plans had problems, pretty much none of them would work and "the whole thing is an abortion on rye bread."

THAT remark got everyone's attention, and an audible group gasp led to a rare moment of silence. The lone female soldier in the room looked physically ill after hearing it, and the rest of us had our mouths partially agape, as our brains still processed the words "on rye bread." Within ten minutes, the meeting was over. It was as if a tacit, collective agreement had been reached that nothing of any sense or value could possibly be discussed in the wake of that comment. As we peeled out of the room, the Brigade S1 officer (another IRR guy, another non-existent job) turned to me, exasperated but smiling, and said, "That comment made the entire meeting worthwhile." I'm not sure about that, but it did pretty much sum up my two months here at Camp Phoenix.

>> Found a Job
Eventually, news of my daily routine of reporting, Bartleby-like, to a job that wasn't there finally made its way to the Camp Phoenix headquarters, and the general in charge wisely decided to end this charade by relocating me to nearby Camp Alamo--a base that was about to lose its (real, existing) S6 officer to redeployment. After a few terse e-mails between full-bird colonels, the deal was done and I reported in mid-August to quaint Camp Alamo, home of the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) Mentor Group.

As you've seen from the pictures (they're on Facebook; e-mail me if you can't access them), Camp Alamo is a pretty small base here in Kabul, and when I arrived, only about 120 people called it their home. My S6 position there was a two-fold responsibility: As communications officer, I was ultimately responsible for all the communications assets on the base--computers, phones, radios and satellites. If you needed any proof that they don't ask for your resume when you're in the Army, my appointment to this position should provide ample evidence. Fortunately for me (and, for that matter, the residents of Camp Alamo who needed their communications equipment to work), the S6 office was also occupied by six civilian contractors who--let's be frank here--made an American Studies major look like he knew what he was doing with computers, phones, radios and satellites. The fact that they were civilians meant that I did not have to bother with all the military rank and mumbo jumbo and we more or less ran the S6 shop like a civilian IT office--right down to the morning coffee, tacky holiday decorations and occasional office party with Triscuits and summer sausage. Rounding-out our crew was Master Sergeant (MSG) Fred Castro, the only other military member of our S6 staff. With over 25 years experience in the Army, MSG Castro was another guy who made my job immensely easier and often provided sage military advice, such as, "Sir, I don't think the commander would approve of you having your Czechoslovakian bride sent here." Seriously, it is because of this staff that progress was made, work got done, and I will not spend the rest of my nights waking up at three in the morning in a cold sweat. Be it fate, karma, blessings or dumb luck, I was fortunate to spend the majority of this deployment in the company of these seven people; I honestly can't thank them enough for getting me through the year.

Staying on this aspect of the job for just another moment, you may ask what, exactly, the day-to-day work was for us. In a nutshell, it was pretty much what any office IT staff would deal with--creating e-mail accounts, mapping printers, installing software and generally having people come up to you asking "Why doesn't my computer work?" My role in this often ended-up being the first line of defense. When someone had a commo issue, I would immediately address it by examining the piece of problematic equipment, turning it off and then turning it back on. This line of troubleshooting, I found, had about a 60% success rate, and it truly is one of the only things that will stick with me as far as computer-savvy techno fixes go. When this failed, things were handed-off to the civilian contractors, who would type something into their computers, make a phone call to someone else and then--often just five minutes later--the dilemma would be remedied. I'm not sure of the specifics here, but usually the phone call involved the phrase "reset their account," which I think is system administrator code for "You won't believe what this stupid motherfucker did..."

>> The Democratic Circus
The other facet of being Camp Alamo S6 was assuming the role of mentoring my counterpart at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC). The Afghan National Army (ANA) S6, Lieutenant Colonel Jamil, was the communications officer in charge of the facility where over 100,000 Afghan soldiers are currently being trained. In many ways, this was the more important aspect of the job. After all, Camp Alamo is home to the KMTC Mentor Group--meaning that pretty much everyone there was acting as some sort of mentor to the Afghan Army. MSG Castro was mentor to the ANA S6 non-commissioned officer in charge (NCOIC); our commander at Camp Alamo, Colonel Quinn, mentored the Afghan commander of KMTC; the British troops ran the ANA's non-commissioned officer training team; the French contingent ran the ANA's officer academy; etc., etc. Whatever position you held at Alamo, you basically acted as mentor for your ANA counterpart across the street (which is where KMTC was in relation to our base).

This was, by far, the most intriguing part of the job (no similar responsibility was held by the Joint Task Force staff at Camp Phoenix, or the 48th Brigade Staff there, which, eventually, was recognized as its own separate entity, albeit after I was long gone). It was also the most frustrating, since the Afghan National Army...well...has their own way of doing things. That's not a bad thing, necessarily--after all, any military organization that can operate without the need to put every piece of information on a PowerPoint slide is doing something right--but nothing, it seems, in the Afghan Army moves particularly fast, gets done particularly quickly, or goes quite how you (or they) think it will.

If you step back and think about it for a moment, that makes sense. After all, establishing and running a facility that trains over 100,000 soldiers of a newly-developing army...just the logistics of it all is awesome to comprehend. Feeding them, clothing them, housing them, equiping them, training them--add to the fact that most of the trainees (over 75% by most calculations) are practically illiterate, and you can see some of the issues. Add to that the fact that most of the senior officers on staff (including my mentee, LTC Jamil) were brought up under the Russian Army, whose old-school ways of doing things conflict with modern, NATO/coalition sensibilities (one striking obstacle is that the officers pretty much don't trust the enlisted soldiers to do anything right) and there are more issues. Add to that the fact that the Afghan infrastructure is so weak, most of the supplies they get are through American or coalition contracts (rerouted through local contractors, when possible, but most of the big-ticket items of necessity are being paid for by your tax dollars) and there are even more issues. And on top of it all, there's corruption, nepotism, favoritism...frankly, if it wasn't for all the mountains and sand surrounding us, one might well confuse KMTC with Washington D.C.

There are many examples of the frustration involved with getting things done around here, and in summarizing this I'll invoke the Tale of the Light Bulb. A light bulb burned-out in an overhead projector for one of the KMTC classrooms. Such light bulbs are specifically tailored for that equipment and cannot often be found outside of office supply stores or industrial catalogs (because of this, they are rather expensive items). In America, you'd just take the company credit card, go to Office Depot, buy a bulb and be done with the matter. In Afghanistan, however, there are no Office Depots (but there are plenty of Targets! Rimshot!) and you can't just go online and order the bulb for them because "ANA problems require ANA solutions." So you do it their way:

You start this Kafkaesque process by submitting a supply request to the ANA Misistry of Defense. If they have the equipment, they will (usually) give it to you, but, alas, the light bulb was a piece of equipment that they did not have. So--theoretically--the Ministry of Defense clerk marks down that this is a piece of equipment they will need to eventually supply and--theoretically--eventually they will. But they didn't have it at the moment, so you then wait a few days and resubmit the same supply request to the Ministry of Defense, in hopes that:
a. the equipment is now in stock,
b. the equipment was in stock before but the clerk at MoD didn't realize it at the time,
c. the equipment was in stock before but the clerk at MoD was looking for a bribe or favor,
or--as was usually the case--
d. the item still isn't there.
Eventually, after doing this Kabuki dance a few times, you turn-in all the denied MoD request forms to the American supply officer (the S4 officer), who would then see that an "ANA solution" wasn't in place yet, and--for the time being--the problem would require an American solution. So you do it our way:

Back at square one, you can attempt to get Army money and try to purchase the item on the local economy if:
a. the item is approved for local purchase by the Army and,
b. you and a fellow soldier go through training on how to purchase items on the local economy and,
c. you acquire three competitive prices from local vendors for said piece of equipment and,
d. you fill-out 15-pages of paperwork to sign-for and purchase the item through the most-trustworthy and least-expensive local Afghan merchant.
Despite meeting these above requirements, no local vendors seemed to have access to the necessary light bulb in a timely manner. Eventually, it was reasoned that the U.S. Army S4 officer could set-up a long-term contract to supply KMTC with overhead projector light bulbs until the Afghan Ministry of Defense could supply their own, but that request would have to go through its own process of vetting, bidding and approval and could take weeks or, more likely, months if it ever received final approval. Sooo...in the end, we did it neither The Afghan Army Way, nor The American Army Way, but The Old Fashioned Way: We ultimately just found a spare overhead projector bulb in a supply closet and gave it to the ANA.

And that's how you get a light bulb in the Afghan National Army.

Sigh. In a nutshell, that illustrates the frustrating parts of the mentoring job. So much you wanted to fix, to help, to improve...but hopes and reality rarely play well together out here and you quickly realized that if you were indeed going to allow ANA problems to be solved with ANA solutions, the first supply you needed was patience. So after some expectation-adjusting, we--the ANA S6 mentors and mentees--focused on the things we could impact in the short-term and set realistic goals for progress during our time here.

And, despite the frustration, some progress was made. For starters, we got the ANA S6 officers and enlisted soldiers to start talking, meeting together and planning their training events on a weekly basis. The fact they had not done this in the past illustrates the expectation-adjusting necessity; you take it for granted that people within the same office would talk about and plan what they are doing on a regular basis. Prior to my arrival at KMTC, I was told that a meeting between the ANA S6 officers and soldiers ended when one of the ANA S6 majors got so upset at the NCOIC, he threw a remote control at his head from across the room. The fact that none of our regular weekly meetings featured launched projectiles or head trauma was seen as a sign of progress.

Likewise, we were able to see some significant "Good Idea Fairy" projects through to their conclusions. These were complex, highly-involved undertakings for the ANA that previous mentors had started, apparently not realizing they were working in Afghanistan with the ANA, and believing instead that these projects were taking root in The Land of Oz, where workers would toil in round-the-clock efficiency and Glinda the Good Witch would wave her magic wand and, Poof!, everything would come together in a matter of weeks. Not so much, it turns out, as one particular effort--the notorious KMTC Phone Center, started in the Spring of 2008--is now being inherited by its fourth U.S. Army S6 mentor, with the sincere hopes that he can bring this damned Bridge to Nowhere across the finish line.

>> Television Man
Still, the mentoring thing was a good gig. I got to work directly with the Afghan Army and, hopefully, put some ideas in place, some things in motion, that will eventually lead to their improvement, prosperity and--eventually--independence, which is the ultimate goal of the KMTC Mentor Group. Our "Mission Accomplished" moment will come when all the ANA's problems can be solved with ANA solutions and coalition mentors are no longer needed to provide outside counsel, guidance, supplies and advice. Perhaps it is a somewhat Quixotic notion that my presence here made any lasting impact, but being involved at this level was more rewarding than, say, sitting behind an office computer for twelve-hours a day, seven days a week. And for all the frustrations we endured, the interaction with the Afghans was, in truth, a lot of fun. We'd meet almost every morning (except Fridays, which is their Holy Day), and after tending to whatever business matters were at hand,
we'd sit in LTC Jamil's office and shoot the breeze over hot chai--me, MSG Castro, a few of the civilian contractors who also helped mentor, LTC Jamil and our interpreters. We'd talk with mutual interest about the cultural difference between Afghans and Americans; about dating and marriage (apparently Afghan weddings are ridiculous--they invite over 500 people and the event takes three days), work habits, schools, news, politics and television.

Television was often the source of conversation, as LTC Jamil had a small TV set in his office and it was almost always on. (Suggesting he turn it off during our weekly S6 section meetings was seen as yet another bold step in progressing the Afghan Army toward independent status). There are a handful of Afghan TV stations now and, according to my interpreter, each of them has its own political ideaology (sound familiar?). Since many of the Afghan TV networks are nacent endeavors, most of the daily progamming is filled with music videos--usually clips of Bollywood musicals or Pakistani Top-40 songs. MTV hasn't yet cracked the Afghan market, so the videos are often innocently naive in their production values--you half expect Toni Basil to shimmy across the screen in pigtails. Tinges of Western culture abound, though, none more evident than the weekly airing of "Afghan Idol," as well as Dari-dubbed versions of "24" (which is huge out here) and "WWE
Smackdown" (John Cena is a particular favorite of ANA soldiers).

I, personally, got hooked on a daytime serial that always aired during our morning visits to LTC Jamil's office; a show that he regularly followed the storyline of (he would often zone-out during conversations whenever his program came on, prompting the "TV off during meetings" mandate). Uncreatively-titled "Mother in Law, Daughter in Law" ("It means that the mother-in-law was once the daughter-in-law," as my interpreter explained to me), the show was a half-hour Indian soap opera, dubbed in Dari, that featured the usual plot elements of familial secrets, lies, affairs and courtroom cliffhangers. I didn't understand a word of it, but you didn't really have to in figuring-out what was going on and, anyway, the show featured a thunder-and-lightning sound effect every time something supposedly dramatic was happening. This got your attention the first few times it occured, but the novelty wore off after the producers employed this device dozens of times during the broadcast, often to fill in lulls when nothing substantial seemed to be happening at all. I will say, however, that I'l never forget the scene when, during a bizarre masquerade ball where everyone was dressed in elaborate costumes, the bad guy climbed to the roof of a nearby building and shot someone at the downstairs party with a crossbow. If they had done more shit like that on "Guiding Light" that show would still be on the air.

And speaking of soap operas, that's an appropriate analogy for the weekly KMTC staff meeting of ANA officers and their mentors. Every Tuesday morning, we'd cram into the KMTC conference room to hear the ANA staff discuss their current projects, progress and--quite frequently--how the fact that everything took so damn long was invariably the fault of the American mentors. Occasionally informative, the meeting was more often than not accidentally entertaining, as the senior Afghan officers are an old, weathered lot. Not that a meeting of U.S. Army officers is any GQ fashion shoot, but the ANA officers have the look of perpetually-hemmoroidal, middle-aged men who were trained by the old Russian Army and have suffered through decades of war. Sitting around their conference table, they look like a chapter of the Del Boca Vista Elks Club waiting to down a fistful of Doan's Pills and a few boilermakers.

Highlighting this weekly congress was the KMTC commanding general's end-of-meeting comments. Often, he would focus on important matters of immediate concern, but he was just as likely to go off on some stream-of-consciousness rant that no one could anticipate. At one meeting, he animatedly berated the ANA supply officer for a good fifteen minutes. I asked my interpreter what the problem was and it turned out the general was upset because word had gotten to him that the Afghan soldiers-in-training were not getting enough cake with their lunches. "I will not stand for this! They must all get an equal piece of cake with their lunch!" I'm not making that up. Another meeting featured the general going-off on a 20-minute diatribe that "All grapes given to soldiers should be ripe! You must inspect the grapes!" You kind of looked forward to the end of the meeting just to see what trivial, inane thing he might pontificate about that week (you also looked forward to the end of the meeting because being enclosed in an unventilated conference room with three-dozen Afghans for an hour really does a number on your olfactory nerves).

>> The Big Country
Anyways, somewhere between expanding the size and independence of the Afghan National Army and giving them enough baked goods and fresh produce lies The Road Ahead. Given the difficulties in making headway within our little piece of the Afghan puzzle, it will be a rocky road, especially considering the pressure to obtain rapid results amidst the general instability that permeates all corners of this country's government and military. In an attempt to curb rising attrition rates within the Afghan Army, the Afghans devised the solution to announce that, if you went AWOL from KMTC, you could come back and, not only would you be welcome back to your old job without punishment, you would be automatically promoted as well. So basically, you can quit your job, come back a week later, and get a promotion and a raise to boot (An ANA solution to an ANA problem if ever there was one). Ah yes, had the U.S. Army adopted that brilliant re-recruiting pitch, I'd be a major now.

The feelings here seem to be mixed for long-term success. This past fall, in the wake of the corrupted Afghan elections and President Obama's decision to send additional troops, my interpreter told me that "People here are hopeless. We have seen war for years; people come and people go, but nothing ever changes." Without hesitation, a second interpreter walking with us said that wasn't entirely true, and a lot of people--himself included--saw signs of progress. "It is easy to destroy something," he remarked, "but it takes time to build it back up. Things have gotten better over the last few years. It will take time, but we are not hopeless."

I should note that the latter interpreter is currently applying for an American Visa, in hopes that he and his wife can move to the U.S. and raise a family "where our kids can go to school and be safe." He has worked as a ANA-coalition interpreter for over seven years now, a job that--if certain people discovered what he did--he could be killed for doing. Hopeless, no, but practical, yes. As Iris Crowe told Tommy Dolan, "Pray to God, but row for shore."

>> This Must be the Place
Only time will tell what the long-term results of our involvement in Afghanistan will be. There are far too many mercurial political and cultural considerations to debate, and for that, a drink in my hand will indeed be necessary. Since that option is not available to me at the moment, you'll have to wait until I get back for further discussion on that topic. But that won't be long now. From here, there are only one or two stops to Georgia, and after a few days of outprocessing, I'll be home free to San Francisco, where there better be a double Manhattan on the rocks and a doobie the size of a Cadillac waiting for me.

As I mentioned, all things considered, there's been nothing traumatic that has happened to me during this deployment; I won't be arriving home with any gnarly war wounds or psychic emotional scars, so hopefully my transition from Army of One to Civilian Slacker will be a relatively smooth affair. Still, I will have about a week of outprocessing to go through at Fort Stewart, and if it is anything like the inprocessing at Fort Benning, then there's still time for some psychic scarring after all. And I can honestly say that, surprisingly, the most dangerous part of my travels will not be--as expect--riding in a miltary convoy through the streets of Afghanistan, but instead riding home from San Francisco International in my sister's Prius Deathmobile.

Provided I survive that, I look forward to seeing, or at least talking with, all of you. Typing "Thank You" again in another e-mail doesn't begin to do justice to the gratitude I owe you all for writing, e-mailing, keeping in touch, shipping care packages or just sending good vibes. Ditto for the incredible people I've met and worked with along the way, from the fellow IRRians (who are also--at nearly 400 days--trickling back to civilian slackerhood as well), to the soldiers and contractors at Camp Alamo, to the ANA soldiers at KMTC, to the crazy 48th Volunteers here at Phoenix, this deployment can be chalked-up as an overall positive experience thanks to them. Looking forward to staying in touch with many of them upon our safe redeployment home.

To wrap things up, I'll invoke a well-known Bay Area muse in saying what a long, strange trip it's been. Almost to the end of it now, and can't wait to get back home where I can tell those real and occasionally made-up war stories over a Trumer and Rosamunde at Toronado or an Iron City and Roast Beef sandwich at Primani's. On rye bread, of course.

Peace.

--chris

Leadership Philosophy

2010-02-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

This is the last paper I wrote for the US Army's Intermediate Level Education (ILE) course. (This used to be the Command and General Staff (CGSC) course.) It was an interesting assignment and I thought I'd post it here to see if anyone has any feedback. Feel free to let me know what you think.

lead⋅er⋅ship: an act or instance of leading; guidance; direction.

This is a simple definition for a word that describes a human act that we struggle to understand and to quantify. I’m a student of leadership philosophy. I’ve studied the leadership styles of many different historical figures in politics, business, religion, and the military. Leadership styles derive from leadership philosophies. A leader’s philosophy is the frame for his/her leadership structure. Within this structure, a leader can then create a vision, core values, missions, and intent.

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”
~Warren G. Bennis

I define my leadership philosophy with three words….Dedication, Intensity, Patience. Dedication; “first you have to show up”. I reinforce this through example. I believe first you have to show up every day to have the opportunity for success. Intensity; once dedicated to the mission, focus is critical to staying on task and accomplishing as much as possible in a finite time period. A good leader extracts the necessary amount of intensity to ensure success. Patience; I teach that results do not always come over night. Patience allows us to wait for results of our hard work to develop.

From this framework, I created my vision statement. If my philosophy is the frame, the vision is the roof. We will be the premier unit/office/team. We’re professionals in our field and we will provide exceptional service through hard work, concentration on innovation, and dedication to each other and our community. I want those that follow me to be the very best. I believe part of my responsibility as a leader is to squeeze every ounce of potential out of every peer, subordinate, and supporter. We’re going to show up every day. We’re going to work hard. We’re in it for the long haul.

“Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better.” ~Bill Bradley

A leadership philosophy provides for a vision, which now helps produce core values. Core values help set the ethical compass and the emotional center for the group. A leader’s core values are part of the finishing touches in the structure of a leadership philosophy.
Core Values
1. Keep It Simple
2. Be Professional
3. Provide Exceptional Service
4. Be Involved with Each Other and Our Communities
5. Work Hard, Have Fun

These core values are guides helping me to help my people understand how we reach our destination. These values are essentially the rules to follow for achieving success. I teach those in my organization that I follow these rules, and if they do also, success is sure to follow

“Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. If you’re in control, they’re in control.” ~Tom Landry

Armed with a philosophy, a vision, and core values I can craft a mission statement or mission statements. A leader needs an overall mission statement for each organization, and individual mission statements for every mission. A unit’s or company’s mission statement tells the organization what road to travel. The individual mission statements for each mission tell which direction to travel and what resources to take.

My overall intent is to create an atmosphere that fosters positive attitudes and desire to work hard in a relaxed and patient environment. I try to create an atmosphere of success where we “keep it simple” and provide them with the best tools. My desire is for my organization to concentrate on the mission success and service rather than worrying about the little things that clog up a day.
My leadership philosophy and style continue to evolve, but this is my foundation. I believe in doing this the right way. I believe in taking care of people. I believe my responsibility is to bring out the best in myself and the best in all that work with me and for me. I’m always looking to learn and grow as a professional, and I expect the same from those I lead.

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” ~John F. Kennedy

Dedication, Intensity, Patience. These are the words I use to define my leadership philosophy. Whether in the office, on a sales call, at the gym, on an exercise, or participating in community service, I know, if I can get the people I live and work around to understand what these words mean, I can build a successful organization.

END OF 2009 & BEGINNING OF 2010

2010-01-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

OCTOBER - NOVEMBER

The first month back from R&R was one of the toughest in my deployment. Unlike when I first got here, I knew what I was doing. The first month here in May-June was tough, but it was also a blur. I had the fire hose plugged into my mouth and on full blast. The first month back from R&R just crawled. When you’ve got 4, 5, 6 months to go, it seems so far away.

I got back in mid-October and jumped right onto night shift. This is the first time in my entire life I’ve ever worked on night shift. I’ve done 24+ hour ops or been on exercises where we didn’t sleep, but I’ve never been assigned to night shift. I realized quickly it’s a matter of taking my day shift battle rhythm and flipping it upside down. I stayed with the same system. Sleep till right before I go on shift at 1800. Work-out at 2230. Chow at 0000. Return to desk and work till 0600. Go to breakfast. Go back to room, take shower, spend an hour or so of “me” time reading or watching a movie, go to sleep. Do it again. It took me about two weeks to settle back in. I don’t like night shift for the simple reason that there are just not as many people to talk to and not as much going on. It is a lot more laid back because most of the key leaders are sleeping, and you get to watch all the sports in the States real time. That’s nice, but I still don’t like it. I’d rather be in the action.

My 1st roommate left the beginning of November and my new roommate came in about 5 days later. My first roommate, CPT Bill Jennings a lawyer with the JAG Corps, heads back to Atlanta and my new roommate comes in, MAJ Jeff Breloski a lawyer with the JAG Corps, replaces him. Small world. J Jeff stays through the beginning of December.

Finished off October with another 5K on October 31, Halloween. This was my first one since returning and I could tell I’d been off. Gotta get back on track! J This was the first one we’ve done in the evening. It was really fun. I dressed up as hippy, though I didn’t go all out with the bell bottoms and boots. I still wanted to run a good time. As you can see in the picture, I wore a pink afro. My tribute to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You should have seen how all out some people went. We had the full complement of Super Heroes…Captain America, Wolverine, Spiderman, Thor, etc. There were a whole unit of guys in togas and much more. The most fun run yet!

We also had a pretty cool Fitness Challenge for this quarter. We had to do a full Triathlon in 45 days or less. That means 2.4 miles in the pool, 112 miles on a bike, and 26.2 miles of run. I was able to convince Corey (MAJ Gerving) and Jim (He’s now LTC Schultz. He got promoted at the beginning of the month.) to do it with me. Corey was in Atlanta and he had a tough time. I’m learning it’s tough for the guys in Atlanta, because they spend so much time commuting. (I know what that’s like!) Oh, and I put the challenge out on Facebook and lo and behold Ben Rao jumped in from St. Louis, MO. That was cool. In fact, Ben ended up being my greatest competition. I had two additional challenges while doing this. First, just like with the English Channel Challenge, I was determined to still do my usual weight lifting and just work in the swim, bike, run. Second, I had to go to Qatar to Al Udeid Air Base to help Corey on a mission. I lost a couple of days to travel, but kept going in Qatar. I finished in 20 days. Ben finished in 19 beating me by a day! As his prize, I sent him the t-shirt and then to my pleasant surprise, found out he sent me his t-shirt from a triathlon he’d done in St. Louis. Very Cool!

Back to the trip to Qatar. This was a really cool opportunity for me. Jim and I were given the opportunity for one of us to go now and the other to go to the Space Conference in February by COL Henderson and LTC Zellmann. I took the first trip, because Jim was just coming back from R&R. I went up to Ali Al Saleem Air Base (same place we fly out of to go back and forth to the States) to meet up with Corey. From there, we caught a C-130 to Qatar. Long day, because you sit there all day and have to wait and see if you can get on the flight, but still and adventure. Believe it or not, this was the first time I’d ever flown on a C-130. It was a long uncomfortable flight, but still interesting. We arrived on Sunday and checked in to the transient housing (tents). Al Udeid is an interesting post. It’s a lot more spread out than Camp Arifjan or Ali Al Saleem. They have a bus system, but they also have this really cool unwritten rule where anyone with a government vehicle that has room stops and picks you up. We were there for 5 days and never rode the bus. While accomplishing our mission (mostly classified) and checking out the Air Force’s command facilities (also mostly classified), Corey and I did a comparison between Camp AJ and Al Udeid. Here’s what we came up with.

Al Udeid is better because…..

* Free internet over the whole base
* Pub with 3 beers or cocktails per day
* Large common area with big screen TV and music
* Computer/phone center with free calling and internet
* People pick you up and help you get around the base
* Ladies can wear bikinis at the swimming pool
* Dairy Queen right on the swimming pool
* Better pizza at DFAC

Camp Arifjan is better because…..

* The DFAC is much better overall. Better fruit, better salad bar, Gatorade
* Easier to walk across
* Much nicer work-out facilities with newer equipment
* PX, MWR and work-out facilities more centrally located
* Better surf and turf night
* Quarters walking distance to work
* 5Ks better organized and you get a t-shirt
* Transient quarters are not tents (I bldg)

The return trip was a real treat. Corey had asked Larry (MAJ Kimbrell) back in Kuwait to see

about getting us on a C-12 flight back rather than the C-130. Larry really came through. It turned out that a C-12 was available on Thursday…..the CGs C-12. For those that don’t know what these are (I didn’t know.), these are the small private jets the Army uses. The CGs jet is brand new. The jet was used to fly a COL and team up into and around Iraq. They’d just dropped everyone off and were headed back to Al I Al Saleem. We were essentially hitching a ride. Two majors lounging out in a 3-star general’s private jet. Very nice ride. The flight was 1 ½ hours rather than 3 hours. Thanks Larry!

Outside o f the trip to Qatar. November just crawled by, as I talked about earlier. Like in the first half, I’m trying to take this in bites. I’m thinking just get through Thanksgiving and then just get through Christmas and the New Year. I know that the Holidays is going to be no fun being away from the family, so I figure if I can get through it, it’ll smooth out from there. They folks at the DFAC did a great job with our meal and the decorations. Check out the different pictures. They really do go all out with the sculptures and the cake. Amazing what our cooks do with butter! Pretty good food. Not like home, but pretty good. Angela and the kids went to Bowling Green, KY to be with my family for Thanksgiving. I got to talk to everyone a couple of times. It was nice to talk, but also a painful reminder that I’m not there. I was glad to get through it.

We had multiple 5Ks in November. The Marine Corps birthday, the National Guards birthday, and a Turkey Trot run on Thanksgiving Day. I’d decided after I missed the Warrant Officer birthday in July that I wouldn’t miss another 5K or fitness challenge. Four 5Ks in a month is kicking my butt! That’s what I get! Definitely getting my behind whipped back into shape after R&R.

DECEMBER

I’ve picked up a new work-out partner. SGT Jeremy Coleman with AMD, the missile defense section that sits right behind us in the COIC, approached me about joining in. I was more than happy to take on another partner. I’ve fallen into a bit of a rut. I go every day. Can’t miss a day, but I wasn’t pushing myself like in the beginning. Having a partner to spot me and push me to do more is a good thing! And…being a social animal, it’s nice to have someone to talk to while working out! SGT Coleman leaves in February, so we’ve got 60 days to get him working in the program.

December came on with more 5Ks. I’m starting to lose track. I’ve got to collect up all my t-shirts to see how many 5Ks and Fitness Challenges I’ve competed in. There was also a 40 and over basketball tournament called “It’s Cool to Be Old School” Tourney. This one rather than officiating, I got to play in. I turned my name in as an extra and got picked up. There were only 4 teams, but surprise, surprise if we didn’t win the thing! We won a game, lost a game and then

had to come out of the loser’s bracket. We did it winning two games against the team that had previously beaten us. It was really funny. We all came out getting after it in the 1st game of the finals. We were down at the half, but went on a run in the second half. We ended up winning by about 10 and the score was in the 50s. The second game of back to back, not so much energy. You can see in the picture what the final score was. We were lucky to get into the 30s. There were a lot of guys sore. It sucks getting old!

I got right back into refereeing in November and December. MWR does not hesitate to start one sport right after the other. We picked up in flag football and had a couple of tournaments I worked in. There was a basketball tournament Thanksgiving week and a 1 pitch softball tournament Christmas week. I was originally surprised to see such a robust intramural program when I got here. I’m used to this at posts in the States, but didn’t expect it here in the war zone. What I’ve learned is that most all of us with USARCENT are on TCS (temporary change of station) or TDY (travel) orders, the support folks that run the post are mostly on PCS (permanent change of station) orders and the civilians come here for 1-3 year tours many times with their families. Those of us with ARCENT fight just like the folks in Iraq and Afghanistan with many traveling back and forth among the different war zones doing our jobs, but the folks here running the place are just like the folks running a post in Europe or the States. Thus, more continuity to support an intramural program. Good for me and other soldiers here more temporarily. This is probably what Victory Base in Iraq will turn into over the next decade or so when we pull most of the combat troops out of Iraq and the security continues to improve.

The DFAC folks again went all out. I don’t know where they get all the butter, but man do they go all out with the sculptures.

The weeks around Christmas were a real bummer. I’m a pretty upbeat guy and I’ve figured out how to survive and even thrive while here, but not being home for the Holidays got to me. The week leading into Christmas and the week between Christmas and New Years were the hardest I’ve had to deal with since I first got here in May. I was pretty down. Angela and the kids sent me a tree and ornaments and my mother-in-law, Olivia, and grandmother-in-law, Louise, sent me lights and some other decorations to put up in my room. I decorated our work area also. That helped a little, though I was glad to get through Christmas and I quickly took everything down.

Angela and her mother took the kids to Orlando and Disney World as a surprise. They were surprised and had a blast! They then drove up to Myrtle Beach to Olivia and Randy’s (father-in-law) house for Christmas. I got to record some messages on Oovoo video for t hem to watch. I read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” for the kids to watch Christmas Eve. I was able to get online for a short time via video conference and watch the kids open presents. I was glad that the link wouldn’t stay up, so I didn’t get to stay on long. Made me too sad. Better to get back to work and get through the day. The blues stayed with me the week after Christmas.

I was wondering what would happen when I got to New Years. New Years is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the idea of a fresh start. I love the idea of setting goals and preparing for a new year. I love the joy and celebration that goes with New Years. I wondered how I would feel being away during my favorite holiday. I was a little bummed out New Years Eve morning, but interestingly enough while watching everyone’s posts on Facebook my spirits started to lift. I started thinking about the New Year. I got to talk to Angela and the kids. I had some nice chats with friends via Facebook and email. I started getting fired up! I celebrated the New Year at the gym. I was actually on the treadmill right at midnight Kuwait time. I had this euphoria that swept over me. I was running full speed into 2010. Right then, while running, I prayed. I thanked God for everything wonderful in my life. I thanked Him for guiding me and I thanked Him for the amazing perspective I’d gained through this experience. I guess a combination of adrenaline and energy just filled me with this amazing euphoria. It was pretty amazing! I began the New Year on a truly high note!

I always write down my goals for the New Year. I always write them down, put them aside, and then many times forget what I wrote. This year I’ve decided to share them with everyone. I hope that by sharing them with my wife and my readers that either this’ll help me remember them or everyone will remind me. J Anyway, here are my ten 2010 goals.

NEW YEARS GOALS 2010

I believe in goals not resolutions. I’ll quote my brother John. “Resolutions are made to be broken. Goals are not.” New Years is one of if not my single favorite holiday. I love the idea of a fresh start. I love the idea of starting fresh. Fresh energy, fresh passion, fresh ideas. So….each year I list my goals. This year is no exception. Here are my 10 goals for 2010 in no particular order of importance.

* Marry my wife…again
* Get promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (LTC)
* Establish or join two local charity organizations
* Step up to the next level in my career
* Continue to improve credit
* Complete mini-triathlon
* Celebrate 40th Birthday with family and friends in June
* Begin traveling to new places on vacations with my family
* Learn to ride a snowboard
* Get fitness/wellness/nutrition certified

I don’t know what 2010 has in store for my family and I. I don’t know what 2010 has in store for our nation and our world. But…..I’m hopeful. I’ve seen such much of what is going on in the world in 2009. I’ve seen the good and bad, but I’ve really seen more good. I’ve seen what treating other respectfully does between Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc. I’ve seen that most people in the world want to raise their families and earn a living. I befriended the young Indian man at the DFAC that serves me breakfast every morning. He’s there every single day and when he sees me his face lights up just because I smile and say hello. He’s there every day earning in a month what many of us earn in a week or less. I see the Pakistani men that work for MWR at the gym that smile and come up to shake my hand when they see me, because I always take the time to stop and talk to them to ask them how they’re doing. It’s amazing what happens when we treat each other respectfully. I know there are those extremists out there that just don’t care about a smile and a laugh. I know there are some that are just too far gone, but I think I we isolate them and get the rest of the world behind us that we can make this world a better place.

I’m determined in 2010 to be better than I was in 2009. I’m determined to enjoy every minute, even those I’ve still got here in Kuwait. I’m determined to treat everyone with respect no matter how different our opinions may be. I’m hopeful for a great 2010 and I’m determined to do my part.

So….I’ll start out with my first positive thought of 2010. I’m going to be home in 2010 more days than I am deployed. Hooray! :)

One last thing I’d like to share…..

READING LIST

I haven’t had as much time to read as I’d have liked, but I have made a little dent in the library of books so many wonderful people have sent me. Here’s my list with each book rated 1-5 stars with 5 being the best.

Rating Title Author

***** Travelers Gift Andy Andrews
***** The Shack William Young
**** Lost Symbol Dan Brown
**** The Gathering Storm Branden Sanderson & Robert Jordan
**** A Man After God’s Heart Thomas Nelson
**** What Would Google Do? Jeff Jarvis
**** The Noticer Andy Andrews
**** The American Lion Jon Meacham
*** No Ordinary Time (FDR & Eleanor) Doris Kearns Goodwin
*** When I Relax I Feel Guilty Tim Hansel
*** D-Day: 24 Hrs That Saved the World Time Magazine / Tom Hanks
** The Simple Truth David Balducci
** The Cambridge History of Warfare Geoffrey Parker
** Makers of Modern Strategy Peter Paret
** The Rum Diary Hunter S. Thompson
** The Dynamics of Military Revolution Knox & Murray
** The American Presidents David C. Whitney
* Mongoose Theatre R.W. Meredith
* National Sunday Law A. Jan Marcussen

September in Kuwait, R&R and October in Kuwait

2009-11-08T15:33:00.000-08:00

For those that are really curious about where I'm working, check out this link. This is a pretty good blog post about Camp Arifjan and what a soldier needs here.

http://twowheelsburning.com/article/articleview/116/1/9/

It’s mid-November already. Time is rolling on past and for me right now….that’s a good thing. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned to try and appreciate every day and not to be in a hurry to go from one day to the next. They pass fast enough as it is. However, during this deployment, I’ve got no problem with the days passing quickly.

The deployment’s not been too bad. I’ve got a pretty good job in a secure location and I work with some good people. However, I just cannot stand being away from my family. I knew it was going to be hard. Ang and I had some long talks about it, and how we’d coop. We’re doing well, but it sucks. I really don’t know how soldiers do this over and over again. I adore my wife. I love to be with my children. I know I’m doing the right thing here, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Anyway, September brings me that much closer to my 15 days of R&R. I’m scheduled to head back to the states on September 29th. I cannot wait!

SEPTEMBER

Talk about counting the days…..for a minute I thought I’d never get through September, but I did. I finished the English Channel Swim Channel on Labor Day. That was 30 days after I started. I am definitely a much better swimmer now. I can swim a mile in about 45-50 minutes. That swim took me 1 hour and 10 minutes in the beginning. But….I’m sure glad that’s done. It was a bear. I got the MWR worker on duty to take pics of me just as I finished. He got some good shots that I posted on Facebook. We got a nice blue tee-shirt for our efforts. J

That brings me to Facebook. Wow! I was a pretty big user before, and I taught classes on social networking for Coldwell Banker United and the Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS, but now I’m an avid user. 12 hours a day in front of a computer will do that to you. It’s been a great way from me to keep connected with everyone back home. I love the pictures and I love the commentary. Unfortunately, I’ve fallen in love with something else on Facebook. I’m totally addicted to Mafia Wars. It’s a game application on Facebook. I’m not a big video game person and I’ve never taken the time to do any online gaming. I guess I’ve just been too busy on other stuff. But I’ve gotten into this one….I just can’t seem to tear myself away from it. Thank goodness you run out of energy and stamina. You can only play for about 15-30 minutes at a time and then you have to wait 3-5 hours. Oh well, just something else to help pass the time.

I spent September working on getting our sections equipment drawn and a work station set-up in the G3 operations area. Because I was the day shift soldier and one of the people with the longest time left to serve back in the summer, I got designated the property book person. Basically, I get to sign for all the equipment for our section. This includes an up armored HMMMV with all the bells and whistles. (No weapon, yet.) I also get to sign for all the computer equipment, which includes 3 laptops, 5 monitors and all the accessories that go with. I’m now responsible for about $150,000 in equipment. Oh well, it could be much more. Anyway, we’re working on getting a work station set up of the Command Operations Information/Intelligence Center (COIC) floor. That’s a good thing. We’ll have a computer and work center for when we have more than 2 people working at time. This is usually when the whole section comes into down for exercises.

I’ve pretty much got the job down. I can still learn a whole lot more about space operations, but I’ve got the current operations job here with ARCENT pretty figure out. Mostly trying to figure out what else I can learn about the world of space and 3rd Army operations. MAJ Corey Gerving has been a good teacher. He’s also been a great work-out partner. Since we started working out together at the end of August, I find I’m pushing myself harder. Having somebody watch over you adds to the motivation!

We ran a couple more 5Ks. Seems like we have one every couple of weeks. The weather has had an interesting impact on us this month however. All through the summer, we had dry wind out of the north (Iraq) and 110+ degree heat. We’d run at 5a-6a in the morning when it’d usually be 90-100 degrees. You got used to it. Ran a 5K in that weather early in the month. I ran it in 22:30. Feeling pretty good about myself. A week later, the wind shifted and began coming in off the Arabian Gulf to the east. That brings humidity, which if you’re not used to it is brutal. 50-75% humidity when you’re used to 10% makes if feel like its 150 degrees. We ran a 5K in this kind of weather that morning and I didn’t hydrate properly. I started out like I always do….really fast. About halfway through, it hit me. I couldn’t cool down. I felt like my head was on fire. At the 4K mark, I was toast. I was light headed and struggling. I soldiered through. I finished in 22:47. Realized as I was drinking water and hydrating afterwards that the humidity had such a huge impact. It didn’t just hit me though. One of the really fast runners collapsed at the finish and had to have medical attention. Gotta remember that. The humidity will be in Florida when I get home for R&R.

R&R

I left Camp Arifjan via bus on a Tuesday morning at 6.00am. I told Angela that since I was going back to the states I’d get back the 8 hours I’d lost and hopefully be at the Ft. Walton Beach airport sometime Tuesday afternoon. Boy was I off! I arrived at Ali Al Saleem Air Base around 8.30am. We had a 9.00am briefing where we signed in and then were told to return at 12.30pm to go into customs. I had some lunch, got my watch fixed. While wandering around, I met my friend, LTC Keith Farley, from all the way back at the first mobilization station, Camp McCrady. He was headed home to Annapolis, MD for his R&R at the same time. We reported for the 12.30pm formation. We then entered “lock down” until we got on the plane. We went through another briefing and then proceeded with our bags through Navy customs. This was painful! We had to take every single thing out of all of our bags for inspection. I had two bags (I took a bunch of stuff I didn’t need home for good) and a carry on. It took me about 1 ½ hours to get through all the scans and searches. We then sat in a little holding area where we could eat and watch TV. We finally boarded a bus for the airport about 5.00pm. The next stop was at the water point / holding area that they have between Ali Al Saleem and the Kuwait International Airport. I wrote about this back in the beginning. We sat there for about two hours. I’m still not sure what purpose this place has. Why couldn’t we sit back in the nice air conditioned holding area at Ali? Why stand out in a sandy parking lot with nothing but water for two hours. Anyway, we finally boarded the bus and headed to the airport. We climbed on the plane about 7.00pm. (Are you starting to see why the trip takes so long?) We took off about 7.30pm. The first leg was 5 hours to Leipzig, Germany. Coming through in May, it was only 2 ½ hours from Shannon, Ireland. Why the longer route? I was stressing by this time. I’d had no contact with Angela since the day before. I found a pay internet point and emailed her to give her a status update. (Internet was free in Shannon, Ireland.) She had been worried. I’d finally gotten my itinerary for my connection to Ft. Walton Beach by that time. I told her I wouldn’t be in until sometime Wed. We took off from Germany about an hour after we’d arrived. Really tired by this time. No first class seating this time through. I sat with Keith and we had a seat between us, but it’s still not very comfortable. Slept fitfully. Landed in Atlanta at about 6.30am Atlanta time. That’s 2.30pm Kuwait time the next day after I’d left. Went through customs and the Delta ticket line they’d had set-up for us. Got my connection ticket moved up to 10.30am. Yippee! Said good bye to Keith and headed to my gate. Starting to actually get excited now. I met a nice guy on the flight to Ft. Walton Beach to talk to. Helped to pass the time and settle my nerves. I’d been dreaming about this day since June. I can’t believe it’s here. I arrived in Ft. Walton Beach at about 10.30am central time. Walked briskly off the plane and through the gate terminals. Not a big airport. J As I came down the escalator to bag claim, Trey and Audrey saw me. Trey came sprinting to me and leapt into my arms. I cannot properly describe the joy in that moment, though Ang did a pretty good job catching it on camera. Audrey, interestingly enough was a little more hesitant, but after she saw me pick up Trey, she came to me. I got a huge twin huge. Kissed Ang and hugged everyone. Couldn’t stop smiling. One of the most unbelievable feelings in my life to see my family after such a long time. I didn’t lose that smile the whole time I was home.

I won’t go through all the details of my R&R here, just the highlights. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I’d resolved to just live each day one at a time and not be in any hurry to get somewhere or do something. I’d conditioned myself to have to expectations and make no demands. I just wanted to savor every moment. I did just that. The trip actually lasted longer than I thought it would. We get exactly 15 days from midnight the day we arrive at our home airport till midnight of the day we arrive in the Atlanta airport to return. Thank goodness they don’t charge us for traveling!

The first week was mostly settling in and trying to rest. I took great pleasure in driving the kids to school and picking them up at the bus stop. Ang organized a little party of close friends the first Friday I was home. Big cook-out by the pool at Kim Houdashelt’s Mom’s community. So many people to talk to. So little time. I did the best I could, but enjoyed every minute of it, until we had a little drama. Audrey slipped on a very slippery section of the pool deck by this manmade waterfall. She fell head first into the rocks in the waterfall. Split her head clean open. Ang and Kim rushed her to Sacred Heart Hospital’s ER, while Ritch Houdashelt and I held down the fort. Drama, drama. They returned hours later. Audrey with a nice doctor’s glue job and ice cream! She was the center of attention. The weekend consisted of the kid’s soccer game, which Audrey wasn’t allowed to play, because of the injury. The poor team had only 5 players and they needed 5. They all had to play the whole game. I was so proud of Trey. He played his heart out. We moved them up to U-8 this year, so at 6, he and Audrey are two of the youngest. He held his own, taking quite a few shots on goal. After soccer, as promised, we took them camping. We went to the Grayton Beach State Park just down the road. We did the beach that evening, set-up camp, grilled out, and had marshmallows and smores. That night….the kids slept like rocks while Ang and I chased off marauding raccoons again and again. The next morning exhausted Mom and Dad took the kids kayaking on the dune lakes. Beautiful. We also discovered at breakfast a place to get the world’s best Omelets. Red Bar in Grayton Beach. We then had raw oysters (at least I did) for lunch, and took the rest of the afternoon rest. (Ang and I needed it.)

The second week was pretty busy. The kids had school and Ang had just started her new job. She’s working part-time for an engineering company to try and build their business in the Panhandle. I worked around the house doing little chores. Wednesday I went to Audrey and Trey’s school in uniform. We had lunch with them and then I talked to their 1st grade class about what I do over in Kuwait. It was fun and the class was great. They asked a lot of really good questions. Thursday, it was time to head to New Orleans for our cruise. Ang had booked just the two of us on a cruise to Cozumel. Our good neighbor, Linda Cournow in conjunction with my parents, came to take care of the kids for us. Just a little couple time. We cruised out of New Orleans on Saturday and returned home on Sunday. What a nice trip. I hadn’t realized how easy it was to get to New Orleans much less to take a cruise. It was a little over 4 hours to the port in downtown New Orleans from our house. Not bad! We had an amazing time. I love my wife so much. I love spending time with her. I love seeing her happy.

We returned on Monday and so began the last of my R&R. We spent some good quality time with my parents. We had some great dinners and talked a lot. For the first time, I began to get apprehensive about leaving. Can’t believe I have to leave all this and go back to a war zone. Kind of surreal. Thursday was my last full day. We kept the kids out of school and had a kid’s day. Ang had to work half the day, so it was a whole lot of Daddy time. We rode bikes. We went to Fudpuckers (one of Audrey and Trey’s favorite restaurants) for lunch and saw the alligators. We played Putt Putt. We went bowling, where Ang met us. We bowled and then watched the kids play video games and air hockey. I didn’t realize they were so good at air hockey. We went home and then went to the swimming pool. We went home and changed again and headed to Baytown Wharf for dinner. We got there just in time to sit on the deck of the BBQ joint to watch the sunset as we had dinner. Perfect day, perfect evening. We finished up with letting the kids play on the playground to burn off the very last of their energy. Home finally to put the kids to bed and finish backing. Last night at home. Time just wouldn’t stand still for me.

The next day Ang and I drove the kids to school and dropped them off. There were hugs all around, but no drama. They really don’t like the emotion of good byes, especially Audrey. I got hugs and kisses and then they ran off with their friends. The next part was much tougher. Ang took me to the airport this time. The last time we couldn’t do it, and our friend John Schroeder took me. We thought we would give it a shot. We did really well until it was time to go through security. Too much. A quick hug and a kiss and we had to move on. I just don’t’ know how military folks do this for deployment after deployment. It’s so hard to leave.

Anyway, on to another trip across the pond. I wasn’t near as apprehensive this time, because I knew what I was headed back to. I met up with Keith Farley in Atlanta and we talked about that. It’s a bit easier when you know where you’re going. So, I went from Fort Walton Beach in the morning to Atlanta. We sat in the Atlanta airport until 7.00pm eastern time for the flight. Unfortunate surprise…no 1st class seating going in this time. Same set-up as coming out. We did fly through Shannon, Ireland just like last time to going in. That’s a much better way to go. We arrived Kuwait at 6.00pm on Saturday. We then went to the dirt parking lot and waited for 2+ hours, for what I’ll probably never know. That wait made sure I missed the last bus to Camp Arifjan that night. I had to wait around Ali Al Saleem from 1.00am till the next bus at 6.00am. Not fun. I caught the bus and finally arrived at Camp Arifjan at about 8.00am.

MY WIFE

I am a very lucky man. My wife, Angela, is an amazing woman. I talk from time to time about “soldiering on” and developing “battle rhythm”. Ang has done both of these things without any military training. She’s incredibly smart and gorgeous. She’s an amazing mother, sister and friend to everyone. But, what I’ve come to realize during this deployment is she’s tough as nails. She seems to have not missed a beat. I know me being go has been tough, because she’s got double duty, but the kids are thriving. Our home is just like it was when I left. They’re in the same routine. It’s amazing. So, on top of taking on single parenthood, my incredible wife has started working again. She’s working 10 hours week marketing for an engineering firm. Oh yeah, she’s also teaching a class each Sunday at church, volunteering with the PTA at the kid’s school and she’s taken over my coaching duties with the kid’s soccer team. But wait there’s more. She calls me the other day to tell me she’s just been hired to teach once a week at Northwest Florida Junior College. Amazing! She has such incredible energy and such a positive spirit. I know this has been tough on her, but she “soldiers on” and makes the best of it. I’m truly very blessed. I love you babe!

OCTOBER

I was back at Camp Arifjan on a Sunday morning, and right back to work Sunday evening. I’m working night shift now, so I slept all day and went in. Corey got me up to snuff. I really hadn’t missed much. The war kept on going. Everybody kept on doing their jobs. That’s one of the amazing things about this place. It goes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. People just keep rotating in and out, but things just keep rolling on. USARCENT is a big logistical machine. It just keeps cranking stuff out and taking stuff in. There is no stop. There is no day off. There is not rest for this people machine. It just goes and goes like the Energizer Bunny. Pretty amazing to watch.

Corey’s replacement is here. MAJ Larry Kimbrell. Jim Schultz and I know Larry from back at Ft. McPherson in May. We went through a space class with Larry the week before we deployed. Good guy. Air Force officer that switched over to the Army. I bit quieter than

Corey. J Corey’s been taking him to the gym and introducing him to our work-out. Larry seems into it. I hope he keeps it up. I know he’ll l be impressed with the results when he’s done

in 6 months.

Me, I’m working out by myself again. I’m night shift, so I work out around midnight. It’s really quiet. There are about 5 people in the gym when I’m there, which in some way is nice, because I don’t have to wait for something I want to work-out on to come available. I’ve pretty much

got the place to myself. Night shift is much quieter than day shift, as you can imagine. Only the current ops people have night shift duties. All the planners, primary staff, etc. work during the day. I don’t like it. I’m a people person. Day shift is much more difficult, because you’ve got to constantly be on your toes, but there are people. I link interacting. I like networking. I like talking. J You can talk to people during night shift, but it’s always the same people. Not thrilled with being on night shift, but everybody’s got to take their turn. I’ll soldier through. There’s just 4 months or so left.

I’ve worked out a soft date with LTC Zellmann for rotating back to the states to out-process at Ft. McPherson and move towards demobilization. The date is the 1st of March, give or take a week. I told him I’m would be flexible and work around when our replacements are coming through to make sure he/she is trained, but I’ve got to be careful that I make sure to have enough time to go through demobilization and burn up any leave that I need to take. We’ll see.

THE HOLIDAYS

My goal right now is just to make it through November and December. It’s going to be tough not being home for the holidays. I’m missing Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years with my family. The kids love Halloween. We go to Baytowne Wharf every year. All the shops give out the candy. It’s nice and secure with tons of other kids. They have a ball and we get to walk around with our adult beverages. The end of the night they have a show and then fireworks. I’m not a huge fan of Halloween, but I love how we do it in Destin. Thanksgiving Ang and the kids are going to Bowling Green to celebrate with my family. Lots of turkey, lots of BSing, lots of football. I’m going to miss everyone. Christmas is special because the kids really are into it right now. They’re going to Myrtle Beach this year to be with Ang’s family. No Christmas day golf with Randy for me. They’ll have fun with their Nana. New Year’s is one of my favorite holidays. I love the newness. I love the thought of starting out the New Year fresh. We always have a blast on New Years and then lie around and recover watching football and cooking good food on New Year’s Day. I’m curious to what it’ll be like here.

Oh well, everything’s just a new experience. That’s all I’ve got for now. See you all again after the holidays! Happy Halloween. Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year!

New MWR Fitness Challenge

2009-11-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

Anyone want to joing me for Morale, Welfare and Recreation's (MWR) next diabolical fitness challenge? In August, we had to swim the English Channel in 45 days. Guess what they have in store for us now? A full triatholon....but we do get 45 days. There's no way I could do one in 1 day, but 45 days....I've got a chance!

Who wants to try this one with me? Here are the parameters for the challenge.

Rules of Competition:

Each competitor may take up to 6 weeks to complete a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run.

Competitors may use a swimmingpool to complete the 2.4 mile swim. A total of 90 laps must be completed (down and back is considered 1 lap at our pool / 50m).

For the 112 mile bike ride, competitors may ride a Stationary Recumbent or Upright Bike (or a Spin Bike if it has an odometer affixed to it), a checkout bike from the MWR Services Warehouse (building 129, located behind the Zone 1 Track) or a personal bike. If competitors ride a bicycle, they must complete 35 laps of the 5k run course.

Competitors may run the 26.2 miles on a Treadmill, a Cross-trainer/Elliptical machine, or they may run outdoors on the track or the 5k run course.

The competition will end on 15 Dec 09. All competitors must have completed the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and the 26.2 mile run by this date. (We have to have a goal!)

Nutrition, Wellness and Fitness as I've Learned It While Deployed

2009-10-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

Before (March 2009)

After (October 2009)

A number of your have asked me for my fitness and nutrition program that I used to lose 25 lbs in 5 months and to get myself in the best shape of my life. Honestly, I'm flattered by the attention, but I'll tell you that I had little idea of what I was doing when I started. I had a goal to drop 20 lbs and max my Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) by the time I took R&R in September. I used some that I'd learned years ago combined with some that I'd read in Mens Health Magazine and the rest I figured out as I went. The biggest key for me (other than eliminating alcohol) was just plain consistency or stubborness. I knew I had to show up every day no matter how I felt and I knew I had to stick to my dietary plan. Anyway, it worked for me, so here it all is for any interested. I will say that I'll challenge any and all to try this for 6 months. I promise that if you do that you'll get results that'll surprise you and impress everyone around you.

NUTRITION & WELLNESS

FIRST: We set our target weight goals, and then we calculate our caloric intake. Here is an example showing how I came up with my numbers using a standard formula.

Target Weight: 175 lbs
x Base Factor: 10
Weekly Intake: 1750 calories

We now modify our factor based on how often we work out. Add 1 for every hour you work out weekly. I work out about 8 hours a week.

Target Weight: 175 lbs
x Modified Factor: 18
Weekly Intake: 3150 calories

Please note this is the amount of calories that can be consumed to maintain the target weight. To lose the weight, we have to consume less than this number.

SECOND: Set-up daily dietary goals. You don’t have to take your calorie counting calculator to the grocery or to dinner. Just get to know the general numbers and shoot to go lower for each meal. One big issue that is easy for me to deal with while deployed, but not at home is…alcohol! Alcohol consumption can easily add 500-1000 calories to a day. Think about drinking wine instead of beer with dinners and limit consumption except on special occasions.

These are my daily diet goals.

Breakfast: [30%] 2 Eggs
Wheat Toast w/ Margarine
Oatmeal, Grits or Yogurt
Fruit
Glass of Orange Juice
Glass of Milk

Snack: [5%] Energy Bar or Granola Bar

Lunch: [25%] Sandwich or Salad
Chips or Rice
Fruit
Pudding, Jell-O or Yogurt
Glass of Juice

Snack: [5%]: Piece of Fruit or Granola Bar

Dinner: [35%] Steak, Chicken or Fish
Rice, Potato or Pasta
Vegetable
Small Salad
Low Fat Desert
Glass of Juice

Weekly Tips:
1) Once a week eat whatever you want.
2) Eat within 1 – 1 ½ hours of working out.
3) Watch the “business lunches”!
4) Be consistent!
5) Cut down on carb heavy meals.

Wellness Words of Wisdom:
1) Have sex as much as you can. :)
2) Work to lower daily stressors.
3) Don’t check your weight every day. Make a plan and give it time to work.
4) Laugh….a lot
5) Find an active hobby and do it every week!

WEEKLY WORK-OUT SCHEDULE

Work-out Words of Wisdom:
1) Show-Up Every Day
2) Set Goals
3) Plan to Work-Out at Least 1 Hour Each Day

Daily Tips:
1) Do 3 sets of each exercise with 10-15 repetitions per set. Increase weight to get resistance. Work to muscle failure at the end of each set. Try to use free weights as much as possible.
2) Work quickly. Allocate 7 minutes per exercise with just 30 sec rest to move to the next exercise. The goal is to complete 8 exercises in an hour. If you have less time, simply eliminate an exercise or two.
3) Feel free to substitute new exercises. Don’t be afraid to experiment.

DAY #1: Chest & Triceps [1hr 20min]
1. 5-7 minutes of upper body stretching
2. bench press
3. triceps press with cables
4. incline bench press or incline machine chest press
5. curl bar overhead triceps press
6. decline bench press
7. dips
8. chest and triceps press down machine
[2 Mile Run]

DAY #2: Legs & Abs [1hr 20min]
1. 5-7 minutes of stretching
2. squats or leg presses
3. incline sit-ups & crunches (40+ per set)
4. leg curls
5. crunches (75+ per set)
6. groin press
7. leg/knee lifts
8. calf raises
[15-20 min on Bike]

DAY #3: Back & Biceps [1hr 20min]
1. 5-7 minutes of stretching
2. upper back pull down machine
3. bicep curl machine
4. lower back pull machine
5. bicep curl with cables or curl bar
6. rows
7. single arm dumbbell curls
8. dumbbell bent over row
[1.5 Mile Interval Run]
- Break the run into ¼ sections. Run ¼ as fast as you can and then jog a ¼ mile. Do this for 1.5 miles. Work to increase the intervals over time.

DAY #4: Shoulders & Abs [1hr 20min]
1. 5-7 minutes of stretching
2. shoulder bench press
3. swiss ball jack knife
4. lat pull downs
5. ab machine or crunches with weight on chest
6. single arm dumbbell shoulder lifts
7. lower back exercise (inverted, right side, left side)
8. chin-ups
[15-20 min on Bike Intervals or Elliptical]
- A tip for the bike intervals is to do it to music. Ride as hard as you can for an entire song. Slow down and rest on the next song. Repeat.

DAY #5: Mega Stretch and 5K [1hr 20min]
1. stretch entire body for 15-20 minutes
2. joint exercise – neck rolls, wrist rolls, knee rolls, etc.
3. run a 5K (approx 3.2 miles)

DAY #6: Sport / Aerobic Activity [1hr]
1. go for a swim
2. play a game of pick-up basketball
3. go for a hike or a climb
4. ride a “real” bike
5. play tennis
6. Do something fun, but get the heart rate up!

DAY#7: Rest

Some Random Topics

2009-09-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

#1. Some of you have asked for an update on what we'd love to have in a care package, and I am your humble servant. :)

- Tootsie Pops
- Tootsie Rolls
- Kit Kats, Hershey Bars, Reece Cups (It's down to the low 100s, so stuff doesn't melt as fast. :)
- Rice Krispie Treats
- Brownies
- Energy Bars
- Peanuts
- Kleenexes
- Tylenol
- iTunes Cards

Again, thank you to all that have sent wonderful care packages. I hope you all don't mind, but I take great joy and sharing the goodies and treasures you send with the soldiers I work with and work around. Share the love!

#2. My wife Angela sent me a copy of The Shack to read. I highly recommend reading this book.

http://theshackbook.com/

I had no idea what to expect, though I did know this was a book about faith. Wow! I have not been taken on a roller coaster like that from a book in a long long time. The last time I remember being emotionally impacted like this was readying Where the Red Fern Grows as a kid and then A Time to Kill by John Grisham in college. I went from shock to terror to anger to fear and then I was pulled up by my emotional boot straps into this amazing sense of love and reconciliation.

William Young grabbed a hold of me using one of my greatest fears and took me on a ride with my faith that I'll never forget. I could barely read last 3-4 chapters from the tears flowing down my face.

Those of you that know me well know that I'm a intellectual believer. I like to understand things and reason through the "hows" and the "whys". I like to think things through. I like to talk things out. I've grown in my faith over the last few years, because I've had opportunities to do this and I've seen the results. I believe. I believe because I want to and I love how faith makes me feel. This book fits people like me perfectly. It really makes you think. It makes you look inside yourself and helps rationalize why faith and love are important...and useful.

I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of The Shaft or ordering the audiobook. (It's available on iTunes. I looked.) Check it out and feel free to share any thoughts on it here. I'd love to hear what other think.

#3. My deployment reading list. I had a lot more opportunities to read prior to getting to Kuwait. The daily 12 hour shifts have really curtailed by reading time, but I've continued to work through a couple of books. Here's what I've read since I mobilized in March.

Title : Author : Notes

The American Lion
Jon Meacham
Biography of Andrew Jackson

A Man After God's Heart
Thomas Nelson
A great book for Dads!

What Would Google Do?
Jeff Jarvis
Comparison of Business Practices

No Ordinary Time
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Biography of FDR and Eleanor

Mongoose Theatre
R.W. Meredith R
etired NCO and One of My Instructors

The Rum Diary
Hunter S. Thompson
Story of a Reporter in Puerto Rico

The Traveler's Gift
Andy Andrews
Positive Thinking / Self Help

The Cambridge History of Warfare
Geoffrey Parker
Reading for ILE

D-Day: 24 Hrs That Changed the World
Time
Coffee Table Book

Dark Wraith of Shannara
Terry Brooks
Fantasy

The Shack
William Young
Fiction: Story About Faith

Events from July into August in Kuwait

2009-09-07T04:41:00.000-07:00

Wow! Where has the time gone? The 1st month took forever. The next month it started to speed up a little, but I was still getting my feet under me. 3 ½ months in and time is starting to fly. I can’t believe I’m already into September now. So…..what happened in July and August after the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th?

BATTLE RHYTHM

Some may have seen my posts on Facebook or just in reading this blog have seen where I refer to Battle Rhythm and are wondering what is Battle Rhythm? Think of starting a new job somewhere. You know how you spend the first month getting to know the office, getting to know co-workers, getting to know the job, etc.? It’s the same only we work here 24 hours a day 7 days a week and we’re in a different country. The assimilation into a job actually moves a little faster because of this.

My experience in the Army is in Armor (my original MOS/Branch), Armor and ROTC training operations, and the Signal Corps (my 2nd Branch). I honestly didn’t even know the Army had Space prior to this deployment. So….I’m not only dealing with being deployed overseas for a year, but I’m learning a whole new job in a whole new area. Needless to say, the learning curve has been incredibly steep.

We found out when we got here that our section put in a request for two reservists augmentees to assist with their mission from either the Signal Corps or Intelligence and with Top Secret clearances. They figured they’d had a better chance of getting a couple of smart soldiers this way. HA! The jury is still out. There is not yet a Branch for Space. It’s a functional area (FA), so Space has to pull in people from other Branches and train them in Space. On the clearance issue, Jim and I had Top Secret clearances, but no longer. They’re good for only 5 years. So, we’ve had to reapply since we’ve been here. It takes 3-6 months for the investigation.

So, we’re trying to establish a battle rhythm in a new place, learning a new job, and a new skill. For me, it all seemed to finally come together the beginning of August. That’s when I started to feel comfortable. I finally have a basic understanding of what I’m doing and what I’m supposed to be looking for. I’m a staff officer, so I don’t manage missions and troops. I do a lot of analytics

WORK –OUT RHYTHM

I thought I was doing pretty good working out 4-5 days a week before I got here. I’d improved my run time from 18 minutes for 2 miles to 16 ½ minutes. Little did I know that I wasn’t even close to what I was capable of. I set two goals when I arrived. I wanted to get down to 180 lbs and be able to max my PT test 2 mile rule. 13min 37 sec. Just to give you an idea of where I was starting from. …. I weight myself at 198 lbs in March right before I deployed. I was 192 lbs when I arrived in Kuwait.

I started first just making myself go to the gym every day, no matter what. (I took off 1 day a week to rest my body, usually Sunday.) If I couldn’t make it during lunch, I went on the evening. I cut my meal times down to 30 minutes or less to give myself more time in the gym. I first wanted to get in the habit of going every day. I wanted to get to where I’d feel bad if I didn’t get to the gym. That took about ½ a month to settle in. I then had to develop my routine.

You’ve seen in previous posts what I did with diet and work-out plan. The first month I saw results in my body hardening, but little weight drop. I weighed in at the end of June at 189 lbs. My run improved, but not a ton. I figured at this time it’d take me 3-4 months to really start seeing results. Wow! Was I off! It was like a switch went off right at the end of July. I started to fly on my run. I could see my body start to change. I kept having to cinch my belt tighter. Now, my rule was that I would only weigh myself once a month. I wanted to develop a routine, a rhythm. I didn’t want to be chasing a weight every day. Good plan! J I stepped on the scale at the end of July and weighed in at 183 lbs. I’d gotten my 2 mile run down to 13.45 for 2 miles. I’m already almost at my max time. I’m ahead of schedule.

August was where I really started to turn. I was settled into my work-out rhythm. I could feel my body changing every day. I could feel myself getting stronger. The MWR folks helped out but introducing a new short term program. They challenged us to Swim the English Channel. The shortest distance across the English Channel is from near Dover, England to Calais, France, a distance of 21.06 miles. That translates into 808 laps in the Camp Arifjan pool. The program started on August 12th. The incentive was a nice blue t-shirt and pride. Now, I thought I was a pretty good swimmer. At the beginning of August, I was swimming 18 laps a couple of times a week. HA! A mile was 38 laps! I had no idea what I was getting into. I was determined to keep up my regular work-out routine, so I’d do my normal work-out 4 days a week and swim the other 3 days or in the evenings.

Talk about watching the fat bleed off of your body. I’m wearing myself out, but I’m watching the change happen weekly. By the end of August, I could run 2 miles in less than 12.30. I can swim just short of 50 laps in an hour. The last week of August, 1st week of September, I was working out 1+ hour a day during lunch and swimming a mile every evening, so I could get done. My Space compadre, MAJ Corey Gerving, finished his swim on August 30th. I finished my on Labor Day (how appropriate right). I stepped on the scale at the end of the month last week, as is my rule, and weighed in at 178 pounds in my clothes.

REFEREE

Many of you know I referee basketball. For those of you that didn’t, I’ve worked up to high school men’s state tournament level and men’s junior college. I love basketball. I love the release I get out on the court. I was just starting to really start moving up the ranks when I got the call to deploy. I was really disappointed to have to take the year off. “Not so fast my friends”…. Camp Arifjan has a pretty robust recreation program, similar to that of a small college. I noticed the flyer one day and went to the Recreation Director to introduce myself. I found out there was a basketball tournament on the 4th of July weekend and I signed right up. I had Angela quickly ship me my gear. It was great to get back on the court! I found this also to be a great way to network on post and get to know more people. I followed up right after than into volleyball. I hadn’t done that since the University of Kentucky, but it was like riding a bike. I was lucky enough to get the championship game. I’m doing another basketball tournament through Labor Day, then flag football, and then back to the regular season for basketball during the winter. It all takes up some of the small amount of personal time I have each day, but it’s what I love. I won’t be as far behind as I’d thought for the 2010-11 season.

G31 SPACE SECTION

Now that I’ve been here 3+ months, I can talk more about the folks in my section. I’ve gotten to know them a lot better.

COL Henderson: He’s the Chief of Space and our top dog. He works in Atlanta, but has been forward for one exercise in June and now another exercise in August. He’s really tall and loves to tell jokes and stories. He keeps us going. He’s a big time horse enthusiast.

LTC Zellmann: He’s the Deputy Chief of Space and my direct supervisor. He worked as a physics instructor at West Point. He’s super sharp and tireless. He’s an absolute machine at work. He works out of Atlanta. He’s also been through for both exercises. He’s easy to talk to and doesn’t miss a thing.

MAJ Speth: Phil’s the Space officer Jim and I replaced. He’s gone back to Atlanta and he’s the lead for Space training. Phil’s one of those real attention to detail kind of officers. His work is tight. I got to know him pretty well when he was here with all the trips to Ali Al Saleem. He knows Army doctrine inside and out having worked in TRADOC.

MAJ Gerving: Corey’s been here since May, but I didn’t really start to get to know him until after the LW exercise at the beginning of June. He’s our Senior Space Officer forward. He’s here until November. He also taught physics at West Point. Super sharp, and he uses that brain power to remember everything, to include quotes from every movie he’s ever seen. Work-out partner and movie watching partner.

MAJ Kimbrell: Larry I probably know the least about. He’s been here a couple of times for the first exercise and the first week of July to fill in for Corey who went back to Atlanta for a short while for a conference. He came to Army Space from the Air Force’s missile program. He’s coming in October to replace Corey. Looking forward to getting to know him better.

SSG Holscher: The one and only NCO in our section. He’s a Signal guy (like Jim and I) specializing in SATCOM. Another super smart guy. He’s getting out of the Army in November. He’s at his 8 years. He’s already got multiple job offers. (Really good job offers) He works in Atlanta, but has been forward a couple of times now.

MAJ Jim Schultz: He’s my partner in current operations. I work the day shift right now and Jim works the night shift. We’ve been in the same place since the very first day. We mobilized at Camp McCrady on the same day and we’ve been together ever since. He’s an Arizona police officer in the “real world”. He’s married with two children.

That’s the crew! (We have a contractor in our section named Crawford Brown who I’ve only met once. I don’t know him, so I’ve got no info.) If you’d like to get to know Phil Speth, Corey Gerving, Jim Schultz, or Daniel Holscher better, they’ve got Facebook accounts. Go bug them there.

Basically a bunch of really, really smart guys. I mostly just keep my mouth shut and ears open. I’m absorbing from them everything I can as quick as I can.

COLD/H1N1

This is a big deal in the states and a really big deal in the military. Soldiers with flu symptoms are isolated, just like we do with the kids keeping them home from school. This is a major impact to operations, so as you can imagine, the top brass are really concentrating on it. I picked up what felt like a sinus infection at the beginning of August. It was concerning only because it weakened me and I did not want to pick up the flu virus. My partner Jim when down with what he originally thought was th flu for a week, but it ended up only being a sinus infection. I was concern with what was dragging on me, so I went to the TMC (medical center). I had not fever so flu got ruled out up front. So…I thought I had a regular bacterial sinus infection. The Doc said no that is was viral. Basically a cold. He prescribed Sudafed and rest. (Not much of a chance of rest. I can’t miss work or my work-out!) I wanted anti-biotic, but he wouldn’t give them to me. He said let it run its course and come back if it didn’t go away. I did not miss a day of work or a work-out, but it didn’t go away. I was still concerned because it continued to weaken me, especially at the end of the week. Two weeks later, I went back to the TMC. I got a different Doctor. He took one look at me and said….allergies. I hadn’t even thought about that. I had really bad allergy problems in Atlanta, but most of the problems went away when I moved to Florida. Good salt air! His first thing he said after examining me was that he wanted to treat this aggressively. Yeehaah! He gave me Flonase and Allegra for two months and said to come see him after that. Do you know that it started working after just 48 hours! Amazing! Apparently all the crap blowing out of Iraq through the desert into Kuwait was what was kicking my behind. I’m feeling great and I’m picking it up at work and at the gym!

TRIP TO KCIA

We don’t leave Camp Arifjan very often. We just don’t have the need to. However, every now and then we take a trip to Ali Al Saleem AFB or Kuwait International Airport (KCIA) when someone coming in needs a pick-up. I’d not had an opportunity to go to KCIA until this August. I’d only made the trip to Ali Al Saleem and Camp Buehring. I got my chance with the guys coming into Kuwait for the Lucky Strike exercise. SSG Holscher had come in with the lead element and he and I went to pick up LTC Zellmenn at KCIA. We had to change into civilian clothes, and due to a new policy that had just come out that week.

This trip was my first experience into Kuwaiti culture. First, I took a wrong turn and we ended up in a Kuwaiti neighborhood. It was what I would classify as a middle class neighborhood. Townhomes in a cul-de-sac community. They had swing sets. They had picnic tables. The cars were like any you’d see in a middle class American neighborhood. Really, the only difference was the architecture. All concrete with this sand colored stucco like finish. The second experience was in the airport itself. We didn’t want to go through a search upon running to Camp Arifjan, so I stayed with the vehicle while SSG Holscher went in to pick-up LTC Z. It was like any other bustling airport I’d ever been at only half the people coming and going wore the traditional white Arabic robes (men & boys) or the head to toe black burqa (women). Kids were still kids. They were excited and full of energy. Dads and Moms were just like us trying to keep them in tow while trying to get wherever they were going. There were the sprinklings of Europeans, American, or Middle Easterners not dressed in traditional Arabic outfits. It’s the first time I’d been in this country and actually felt like I was in a country with normal people rather than the isolated world that is a military post overseas.

LTC Z’s flight was late coming in and I had to take a leak so we switched. I got to check out the terminal. Everything was in Arabic…and English! Very interesting. The terminal was actually much cleaner and better organized than the ones I’d been to in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Turks & Caicos. We were both hungry, so we took advantage and grabbed some KFC. First KFC I’d had since early spring! (We just had to figure out how much change we’d gotten because it was all in Kuwaiti Dinars.

KIDS START SCHOOL

Audrey and Trey started 1st Grade on August 24th. I was so excited for them, but sad that I couldn’t be there to see them off. They’d had a great summer, but I know they were excited to. They love school. They love meeting people and making friends. They’re so not like me when I was a kid. J They got Ms. Patridge as their teacher. Angela sent me a picture from her camera phone right in front of school. I of course posted it right to Facebook. I’m so proud of them. Hard to believe that by the time I make it home for good they’ll be 7 years old and almost finished with 1st Grade.

LEAVE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!

OK, that brings me to here. It’s Monday, September 7th – Labor Day. I’m 191 days into the deployment (9 days short of halfway) and I’ve had 111 days “Boots on the Ground”. I’m scheduled for 15 days of leave at the end of this month. I cannot wait! I’m planning on resting, going camping with the kids, and going with my sweetie on a cruise. Man, I’m ready. I’m settled in here and in a rhythm, but no rhythm can get you over missing your loved ones. I can’t wait to take them into my arms!

2009-08-06T08:55:00.000-07:00

The next couple of weeks were just dedicated to settling in. Imagine picking up your entire life, packing it into 4 suitcases, moving to a foreign country, and living out of those 4 suitcases while trying to learn a new job. Oh, and no runs down to the local pub to blow off steam. It makes every day interesting. It really, really sucks living in an open bay barracks with no idea when I’m getting permanent housing. It’s not so much the open bay, but the fact that I could be moving any day, so I can’t unpack. I can’t put up the drawings done by my kids or leave out my computer. Everything has to be tucked away each day I leave for work. Also, lights are only on from 1700-2200. A lot of people work shifts, so you’ve got to be quiet and respectful.

Now, the really interesting adventure in the barracks had to do with post housing deciding to “upgrade” our bay. A couple of the many bays in our building, the “I” building, have these cubicle types of partitions that separate each set of bunks. Essentially, every two people get a little private area in the bay. They decided to install these partitions in our bay. For the better part of 3 days, they installed them. Most of the time in the afternoon, but Sunday they decided to start about 0800. I’m glad I was already getting up to go to church! When they started on Friday, I noticed this odor and my eyes would burn when I lay down in my bunk. I was exhausted and the sand was blowing around, so I just crashed and didn’t think anything about it on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday, it was really starting to bother me. I spoke with a couple of the other guys in the bay and they said the same thing. One guy said it felt like CS burning. I went to the housing office and reported it that afternoon. They had the fire department come through soon after that. They walked through the building and then left. Guess what they decided to do? They pulled the fire alarm around 2130 hours, right before I was getting ready to crash. I wasn’t thinking, and I threw on some shorts and my flip flops. I stood outside for about an hour and watched the fire fighters go through the building. They taped off a perimeter. A few more “official looking” people came in. I went over to the gym and watched the NASCAR race with some other soldiers. About midnight, they decided they weren’t going to clear the building for reentry until the entry until morning, and everyone needed to go across post and stay in the tent housing. I was in a t-shirt and flip flops. I got luck and I ran into CW4 Kono. He works right behind me in the command center. He had a car and drove me over to the tents. He gave me a pillow, sheets, and blanket, which was a god send. I crashed in these open tents in a bunk with the lights on. I think I slept about 3-4 fitful hours with all the other folks coming in and out. Chief Kono had agreed to pick me up at 0900. I had nothing to take a shower with or even brush my teeth. I obviously called into work and told them I’d be a little late for my shift. Chief picked me up and took me back over to my building. They still had it closed. They let me go in to get shower supplies and my uniform, but I had to go over to the gym to shower. The “experts” were in our bay testing the air. In fact, they were right next to my bunk. Apparently, I was at the epicenter. They about 10 people running around trying to figure it out. I stood there as I gather up my stuff and told them the problem had started when they installed the partitions. It was like light bulbs started going off everywhere. Man…I could have told them the night before. They let everyone back in the building about an hour later, except for those of us in that bay. We had to gather up all our gear and move. Pain in the ass! I finally got over to work about noon.

I got to take a 3rd trip off post to Ali Al Salem Air Base. Phil Speth and I went to meet up with the guys coming back from the Space Conference. They’d left all their gear at Camp Arifjan while then went to Qatar to the conference. We took all the stuff up to Ali Al Salem to synch up before they headed back to Atlanta. We had quite an adventure going from the Army side of Ali Al Salem to the Air Force side and back to the Army Side. It’s all the same air base, but you’ve got to go on and off and through check points each time. The Army side didn’t like the stamp the Air Force side had put on our secure to secure paperwork and we had sit around for a “higher up” to decide that one Colonel, one Lieutenant Colonel, and 4 Majors that had just been at the Air Force part of the post 5 minutes earlier weren’t a threat. Typical military security snafus. The crew we were transporting was COL Henderson, the ARCENT Chief of Space, LTC Zellmann, the Deputy (and my boss), MAJ Kimbrell, ARCENT Space Ops, and MAJ Gardner, 1st Space BDE reservist here for the exercise and conference. All stuffed into an SUV with Phil Speth and myself. Needless to say it was interesting. COL Henderson has a quick wit and he had all of laughing while packed into the car like sardines. It was a pretty funny site. Phil and I dropped them off and headed back to Camp Arifjan. We got back around 11.00pm.

I’m starting to settle in more. The job is getting easier. I’ve developed a schedule for each day. The work-out and new diet is starting to work. I refuse to step on a scale, because I don’t believe in weight watching. I like to set goals and go after them. I’d rather just check myself once a month to see how I’m doing and not every day. My goal is to get in great shape and get my weight down below 180. I realized early here that they feed us to well. It’s way too easy to feed your face at the DFAC (chow hall) each day. I stop the TCNs (Third Country Nationals) who work at the DFAC from giving me the normal portions. I try to just get half portions. It took me a month or so to figure out what was available at the DFAC, but I’ve got a system down.

Here’s my typical weekly diet.

Concentration on the Following….
- Protein
- Low Carbs
- Fruit
- Smaller Portions

Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs, Omelet or Boiled Eggs
Hash Brown
Bacon, Ham or Sausage
3-4 Pieces of Fruit (Cantaloupe, Honey Dew Melon, Watermelon, Strawberries)
Gatorade

Snack
Peanuts or Nutra Grain Bar

Lunch
Tuna Salad, Egg Salad, Chicken Salad or Deli Sandwich or Taco Salad
Chips or Noodles
Jell-O or Pudding
Gatorade

Snack
Piece of Fruit

Dinner
Meat, Fish or Wrap
Vegetable
Salad
Pudding or Pie

Tea or Soda

Camp Arifjan is divided into multiple zones. There does not look like they have zones for any organizational purpose, but rather just added to them according to need. I currently live in Zone 1 in the “I” Building. I work in Zone 2 in Bldg 505. I hope to move to permanent housing in Bldg 507, right around the corner from my work soon. There is a DFAC in Zone 1 called The Oasis. It’s run by the Kuwaitis. There’s a DFAC in Zone 2 run by us. Zone 2’s DFAC is much better! The Oasis is nicer and you get to eat with real silverware, but the food is nowhere near as good. The Zone 2 DFAC is in trailers rather than a permanent building and you eat with plastic silverware (not good for always over cooked steaks), but the food quality and selection is so much better. Also, Zone 1 is where the movie theater, big PX, and gyms are. There’s a Zone 6 where the tent city is located for more temporary personnel and it has the biggest PX. I don’t venture down there yet. I’m still figuring out Zone 1 and Zone 2.

When or if I ever get a room, I’ll probably become just a Zone 2 person. I got a bike from MWR. I figure a bike will be good to ride to and from Zones to work-out and to go to the movies. It’s a pretty nice mountain bike. You sign them out. You just have to take them back one a month for maintenance and cleaning. They give you a helmet, lock, and lights on the bike for night ridding. I’ve not ridden a bike for years!

Father’s Day came and went. It was sort of a sad day, because I wasn’t with my kids, but I got to talk to them and Ang. I’ve realized that I’ve got to steel myself. I’m here and I’m not going home till September or leave. It’s part of what soldiers go through. You can’t let the separation get you down. You have to develop a rhythm, a daily system so that you can click the days off. You can’t dwell on what you don’t have. You have to concentrate on doing the job and moving on to the next day. I’m starting to settle in. I can feel myself hardening emotionally. I don’t like it, but I know it’s necessary. I’ve been through separation with the military, but never anything quite like this. This is really something new for me, and I’ve realized something new for Ang and the kids. We’re all cooping. For now, I’m really concentrating on my rhythm, so I can settle in and Ang won’t worry about me. That’s really the takeaway from my Father’s Day. Perspective….being away from family and friends on important holidays really helps you to appreciate better what you have.

The two big events (to me) for the months of June/July are my birthday on June 27th and the Kuwait version of the Peachtree Road Race. My birthday was no big deal to everyone else here, but it’s huge to me. The weekend of the 26th, 27th, and 28th was supposed to be the big weekend for my 40th birthday party down in Destin. I’d been planning the thing for about 5 months when I’d gotten orders to deploy. Postponed! Not cancelled! However, it was kind of a bummer to finally get to this date, and here I was in wonderfully hot Kuwait with no cocktails surrounded by people I barely knew. The nice thing was so many people back home reached out to me. I got tons of birthday wishes from friends on Facebook and Plaxo. I get birthday wishes via email and cards. I got some really nice packages from my family. Thank you to all of you. It made it all a little bit easier. I’m 40 years old now! (I did get to meet Wee Man of Jackass fame. Picture above. He signed my picture wishing me Happy Birthday. :)

Anyway, back to the run. The race is scheduled for 0500 on July 4th. I ran a 5K the weekend before my birthday and did pretty well. I’m definitely getting better. I found out that our Deputy Commanding General (DCG) is a big runner. MAJ Corey Gerving is the Senior Space Ops officer that is replacing MAJ Phil Speth. We’ve been getting to know each other. We were talking about the DCG at the morning shift change brief one morning being such a good runner. I told Corey I was running in the 10K race. He bet me a pizza I couldn’t beat the DCG in the 10K. Now, I’m 40 years old. The DCG is 51 years old. But….he works out like a fiend every day! Surely I can beat him right?

The day of the race came. There are a couple of significant things to report before I talk about the race. First, when I signed up for the race on the 23rd of June, I was given number 40 as the 40th person to sign up. How random is that? I then found out the morning of the race that this was the 40th running of the Peachtree Road Race. Now, this race in Kuwait is actually officially a part of the race in Atlanta. We’re timed group #12 and our results are sent back to Atlanta to include with theirs. Anyway, how about that for a sign! 40, 40, 40. I’m no Jose Canseco or Barry Bonds, but I’m part of my own 40-40-40 club! I can only see this as a sign that somebody wanted me here! J One more event that played into this weekend. I got my room assignment on Wed. I moved all afternoon and evening on Thursday. This was significant, because I actually got a good night’s sleep on Friday night before the race! My roommate is no here on Camp Arifjan. I’m not sure where he is, but I’m not complaining. I’ve got a room to myself right now.

On to the race….nice set-up, much like the one in Atlanta. Lots of energy and enthusiasm. They had music blasting and tones of volunteers. My unit, USARCENT, is based in Atlanta, so we’ve got a lot of people that are familiar with this race. The only thing really missing were the Atlanteans along the road handing out beer! There actually were some runners that dressed in costume just like they do in Atlanta. Anyway, the gun went off and there we went. I started out pretty fast, but the DCG took off like a rocket. I thought to myself “Oh Crap!”. He was fast, and I couldn’t keep up. My goal was to try to run in 48 minutes or less, so I just settled into my pace and let the race happen how it was going to happen. I did really well for the first 3-4 miles (5Ks). I was on pace. But…I started to tire. I started falling off pace by 10-20 sec for KS 6,7,8. However, much to my surprise, the DCG started slowing down more. I began to reel him in. I caught and passed him at 7 Ks. Now I just wanted to stay focused and get as close to my goals as I could. I knew I wasn’t going to get 48 min, but maybe I could make up some seconds at the end. I did have some energy left (a little) and picked up the pace over the last K. I ran it as fast as I’d run the first. I finished the race in 51 minutes flat. I beat the DCG by almost a minute. I was very pleased. I ran pretty well, and now I have a baseline to work up from. J (Though the race did whip my behind. I was a wet noodle at work that day.)

This pretty much sums up June and the beginning of July. I’ll check in again soon!

Guest Post: CPT Chris Myers from Afghanistan!

2009-07-15T04:29:00.001-07:00

This is a guest post from a friend I made while mobilizing. CPT Myers and I trained together at Ft. Gordon Signal school. This....is a great post! When I saw it, I had to share it with those 2 or 3 of you that read my blog. :) I asked and Chris agreed to be a guest blogger for us today. CPT Chris Myers is an Army Reserve IRR soldier like myself. In civilian life, he's an English teacher in San Fransico. Enjoy!

10 July 2009Kabul, Afghanistan

Greetings, all, from beautiful downtown Kabul. Yes, after over three months of inprocessing, integration and training in Georgia and Indiana, my deployment proper has finally begun. I am stationed here at Camp Phoenix, which (at the moment, anyways) will be my home for the next nine months or so. Phoenix, as some of you may know, is a mythical bird that self-immolates and then regenerates itself from the ashes—in a sense continually rebuilding itself out of dust. In a secondary sense, Phoenix also refers to a city in Arizona, best known for its scorching dry heat and population of displaced, disgruntled Republicans. Under either definition, the Camp Phoenix designator is appropriate.

In the limited communications I’ve had with some of you since my arrival, one word keeps resurfacing as a descriptor: surreal. Despite being in a warzone, I cannot write that I miss the honkytonks, Dairy Queens and Seven-Elevens, considering there is a Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and faux-Starbucks here on base—the latter serving a mean spiced chai triple espresso. Surreal. There are salsa lessons offered every Thursday night, sandwiched between karaoke Wednesdays and Hip-Hop Fridays. Surreal. I am living in a wooden hut with five other officers, across the street from the Romanians and next to the French contingent, which has built a small windmill amidst their barracks. Surreal. I currently have a job title for a position that does not officially exist. Surreal. The on-base, bi-weekly, local national bazaar offers gold lame Aladdin slippers with curled toes for three dollars. I am un chien Andalusia. As the time slowly melts away, here’s the latest from this edge of the world.

> You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack / You may find yourself in another part of the worldThe first leg of our journey to the East began as we left Camp Atterbury, flying out of Indianapolis International Airport. Our transportation was a commercial jet, serviced by Omni Air International (the Wal-Mart brand of international carriers). Given that the flight was not full to capacity, I was sharing a row of three with only one other person. The center seat of our row was reserved for our excess gear, to include our M9 pistols, while our M4 rifles lay on the floor beneath the seats—“with muzzles pointed toward the aisle” as the attendant casually announced over the speaker (Surreal.) Sharing my row was a fellow IRR captain who I work with regularly out here, and who has crafted his bitterness into something of an art form (he was called back a mere six months after getting out). As we taxied the runway out of Indianapolis, he mentioned to me that he was going to get up mid-flight, start waving around his pistol and screaming madly, eventually busting a window and sending us all to a fiery death. I told him it would be something to be part of an international incident like that, and to wake me up before he did it so, on the off chance I survived, I could attest to the tortured souls of the IRR recalls on Larry King Live. Alas, he chickened out and I spent most of the 23 hours in flight sleeping, waking up only for our mandatory fuel stops and a breakfast meal that resembled cat food on a sponge and tasted much the same. We had layovers at airports in Shannon, Ireland (pleasant) and Bucharest, Romania (less so) before finally landing at Manas Air Base in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

We stayed at Manas for three days before completing our final leg into Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan grabbed some headline space last month, when its president was threatening to force out the U.S., unhappy with our continued presence in using the country as a staging base for the escalating conflict in Afghanistan. This threat dissipated after the U.S. renegotiated our land lease with the Kyrgyz government, agreeing to pay more than three times our current $17 million annual rent, as well as an additional $60+ million for other Kyrgyz projects, illustrating that at least the government’s stimulus package is working in places like Kyrgyzstan.

Other than that recent turn in the news cycle spotlight, the only other claim to fame that Kyrgyzstan holds is, of course, The Great Vowel Pogrom. Back in the late 12th-Century, the Mongol Invasion led to a mass exodus of vowels from the country, resulting in a hostile, consonant-led dictatorship that is still firmly entrenched today. Threatened with violence that included the flogging of their serifs and amputation of their ligatures, the vowels fled the country en masse during the 1180s, seeking sanctuary in the remote mountains of neighboring Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. The traitorous Ys overran the country, burning entire villages of Es, Is and, occasionally the wayward Js, who were sometimes accused of being pro-vowel sympathizers. Numerous vowels relocated to Scandinavia, where they flourished after cleverly disguising themselves with umlauts, breves and other diacritical camouflage. Another sect of Kyrgyz Vowel refugees established themselves in Great Britain, where then blended in seamlessly (if needlessly) in words like colour, humour and cheque. Still others can be found in the United States, where a pocket of vowels with Kyrgyz decent settled in Fon du Lac, Wisconsin. They frequently visit the Wisconsin Dells, enjoying the fried cheese curd, as well as matinee performances of Tommy Bartlett’s Ski and Sky Show.

> You may find yourself in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife. On Tuesday, June 16, we departed Manas via military aircraft (a C-17, for those who know military aircraft…or who like to make SnapTite models) and flew into Afghanistan, arriving to Camp Phoenix that night. It did not go unnoticed that, as I was aboard the aircraft, proceedings were taking place a few time zones west of me and, by the time I landed in Kabul, I had gained a brother-in-law. (Yes, I know this may be the least romantic, least poetic way ever to describe a wedding. One should note, however, that there’s a reason there has never been a film or poem called “Honeymoon in Afghanistan.” Regardless, congratulations Melissa and Tom. You are now obligated to build a small wooden house in the woods of Northern California, so that if I ever have kids, I can take them to Uncle Tom’s Cabin).

Enroute to the camp from the airport, our driver shared this bit of trivia. This could be fact, legend or an over-embellished truth, but it has been repeated since my arrival here and, even if it’s complete BS, it still makes a good story: Apparently Camp Phoenix is “one of the safest bases in Afghanistan,” according to the driver, having gone almost two years without an attack. It seems that in 2007, the camp was attacked with indirect mortar fire. The local warlord—a supporter of the troops here—was incensed at the attack and ordered the perpetrators to be found. They were, and when they were, they were skinned alive and their families slaughtered. Since then, there has not been an attack on Camp Phoenix. Fact or fiction, it’s fair to assume that, right now, every death penalty proponent is licking his or her lips, wondering where the Tim Robbins/Sean Penn movie is dramatizing that account.

Our first few days at Camp Phoenix were filled with the joys of the ever-ubiquitous PowerPoint briefings, proving that if the world ever ends, only the cockroach and the Army PowerPoint brief will survive the Armageddon. Most of these briefings were tedious and repetitive, but one bears special mention as the most-discussed of the lot, as it featured the Army’s official policy on sex while deployed in theater. Usually, when the Army is against something, they put out the information in no uncertain terms. For example, General Order Number One whilst deployed can be summarized simply as “Don’t drink any alcohol,” followed by a litany of “or else” punishments that make mandated sobriety seem a rather obvious choice. Sex, on the other hand, isn’t quite as verboten, though the Powers That Be have found a way to make sure you can’t enjoy the otherwise pleasurable act of copulation without first wading through a morass of governmental litigious red tape. So I don’t misrepresent the policy, here is a summary, courtesy of Military Times:

“The new regulation warns that sex in a combat zone 'can have an adverse impact on unit cohesion, morale, good order and discipline.'

But sexual relations and physical intimacy between men and women not married to each other are no longer banned outright. They're only 'highly discouraged,' and that's as long as they're 'not otherwise prohibited' by the Uniform Code of Military Justice, according to the new order.

Single men and women can now also visit each other's living quarters, as long as everyone else who lives there agrees, and as long as visitors of the opposite sex remain in the open 'and not behind closed doors, partitions or other isolated or segregated areas,' according to the new regulation.”

Now, note that it doesn’t simply say “No sex while deployed,” so there’s a loophole there that absolutely no one could miss. Rereading the policy, however, more than implies that, Yes, you can have sex in your room, so long as you keep the door open and no one in the room minds watching you get it on. Essentially, you can read this as the Army endorsing exhibitionism and voyeurism, and considering what is NOT explicitly stated in the policy, that may be just the tip of the…uh, iceberg. Frankly, this is the kinkiest thing the Army has done since Lyndie England’s pyramid of naked detainees. The only downside to this pseudo Free Love doctrine is that the pool of people you could potentially couple with all look like they are deployed in a warzone in the middle of Afghanistan. To paraphrase an earlier reference, you don’t see many pornos titled “Army MILFs: The Afghanistan Mission.” Sex may be permissible, but—much like seeing a Dane Cook movie—just because you can, doesn’t mean you have to.

> You may ask yourself, “How do I work this?” / You may ask yourself, “Where is my beautiful house?”As a base that I will be calling home for the foreseeable future, Camp Phoenix is not bad. Comparable in many ways to Camp Victory in Iraq (albeit on a much smaller scale), Camp Phoenix has its share of creature comforts to remind us all of home (though, ironically, these touches also amplify how far from home we really are). Geographically, the camp is rather small, though it is in the process of expanding to accommodate the influx of troops. Much like a city that branches toward suburban sprawl, each section of the camp has its own urbane nickname. When we first got here, I was staying in a 20-man tent in part of the camp’s nascent “Northern Expansion,” a part of the camp that is being developed to house upwards of 1,000 troops. I have since moved to the East Side, located between the French compound—which they have christened Quartier Layfayette—and the Romanian section—which, to my knowledge, does not have a chic name, though does have a makeshift tavern that serves beer. (*Not to American soldiers, though. See General Order Number One.) My eventual goal is to get into LegoLand, a series of hardened single rooms, structured in such a way that they resemble a geometric block of Lego-like housing. As noted, my current living situation is not bad, as I have only five roommates, all of whom are senior officers and easy to get along with. It is a wooden building (a shack, really) with air conditioning and electricity. Ventilation leaves something to be desired, however, and I note this only because at the end of each day as we settle into our beds, the entire room assumes the unpleasant aroma of dust and feet. For good reason, the Glade people don’t market a “Dust & Feet” potpourri spray (“At last--the fresh scent of foot fungus and Middle East dirt!”), so if you are jonesing for care package ideas, a cardboard tree air freshener would be welcome. Like, REALLY welcome.

Not to digress into bathroom humor, but inevitably someone asks about our bathroom accommodations here in the middle of nowhere. There are trailers set up all around the base that house flushing toilets, sinks and showers. This may disappoint those expecting a collapsing shower tent a la Sally Kellerman in “M*A*S*H,” but I’m not going to complain about indoor plumbing and hot water showers (It is worth noting, however, that KBR—the contracting firm that installs and maintains the shower trailers—made headlines last year when it was reported that deployed service members were electrocuted in their shower trailers due to faulty wiring. I don’t know if you get a Purple Heart for that, though I imagine other body parts may indeed change to that hue.) Of course, like any dust covered construction site, you also have an assortment of portalets that litter the landscape, which—while fully functional as latrines—serve as mini private art galleries for military graffiti. Ninety-nine percent of this bathroom poetry is lame jokes about various Army units sucking, somebody's mothers blowing, or illustrations of penises with inordinately large balls. I did, however, happen upon one portalet that featured a chain of graffiti that Sacha Baron Cohen would have been proud of: Someone had started by writing “Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo Yankee Oscar Uniform.” Aside from demonstrating a perfunctory knowledge of the phonetic alphabet, with the words vertically stacked, they spell-out the acronym “f--- Hardly the most novel message for a bathroom wall, but whatever. Apparently, though, another person was particularly underwhelmed and decided to write “Foxtrot Alpha Golf” next to it (get it?) along with a little arrow indicating who the homosexual in question was. Not to be outdone, a third man of letters continued the chain, writing next to “fag,” “Romeo Echo Alpha Lima Lima Yankee Alpha Foxtrot Alpha Golf,” or “really a fag.” This is where things turn a corner, though, since the last writer put his first Alpha before the Echo, so it wound up spelling “Raelly a fag.” What brought all this nonsense to my attention in the first place (aside from the fact that it was all at eye-level while I was taking a leak) was that someone actually took the time to correct the spelling mistake by writing “switch these” next to the misplaced letters, adding the editorial comment “dumbass” as well. As an English teacher, I felt a pang of relief. Sure, we might be crass, grammatically-challenged homophobes, but the recognition of proper vowel patterns is always a welcome sight.

Having reached the point of copy-editing bathroom scrawl, you would think this last addition would have would ended things and we could return to cartoon genitals, but no, the chain continued thanks to a huge black arrow that pointed to the aforementioned graffiti. Affixed to said arrow was the message “Your all fags.” Alas, you see the problem here. Well, so did another English-savvy urinator, who made the astute correction—almost—writing “You Are Is Your’e.” Damn those pesky apostrophes, but this faux pas did not go unnoticed by the final vandal, who set everyone straight with “It’s You’re Dumbass” (circling the placement of the apostrophe for added emphasis). Alas, not every portalet so thoroughly illustrates this open-minded, literary side of the American military, and one hopes that future generations will have a better understanding of appositives, but keep in mind that the government decided my services were needed more as a soldier than an English teacher.

Outside of the well-decorated facilities, there are many other sources of entertainment here at Camp Phoenix. I mentioned the Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and coffee shop, but there is also an Orange Julius, a barber shop, massage parlor (sans happy endings), along with Morale Welfare Recreation (MWR) facilities like the gym, gameroom, computer/phone lounge and reading room. Most notable about Camp Phoenix is the weekly bazaar that comes on base every Friday. Run by local nationals, the event features everything from rugs and hand-carved chess sets, to antique rifles, pirated DVDs and high-end personal sundries like sunglasses and watches whose brand names are curiously misspelled (you are all getting a Roolex for the holidays). There are also bizarre curiosities, like the Aladdin slippers, a six-foot, hand-carved wooden giraffe and glass-encased scorpions with “USA-Afghanistan!” painted over them (you’re getting these, too). I have yet to fully immerse myself into the bartering madness, but I did succumb to purchasing a native hat (“Just like [Hamid] Karzai wear!”) and scarf for four dollars. When worn in conjunction with my sunglasses, I look like a thug terrorist. It’s not quite as goofy as the picture of me in the flying taco sandwich board, but it’s close.

> Carry the water / Remove the water. l this is background noise amidst the daily grind of my job—which, as I mentioned, technically does not exist. Without getting into all the details, I was deployed as the Brigade S6 (signal/communications/computer guy). The only problem is that, once we got here, we were told that there was not going to be a Brigade staff. The decision came from a two-star general. Our one-star general fought it. I was not involved in any of this, though I imagine the back-and-forth involved a lot of desk-pounding, cigar-chomping, the yelling of the phrase “No, YOU stand down, good sir!” and possibly a duel to the death with pistols at sundown. However it went down, I am a man with a title, but no job. At the moment, I may become a signal guy for the Task Force Staff, which—in layman’s terms—is akin to having worked as the manager of the Chic-Fil-A at the mall and then being told that you have been promoted to managing all the Chic-Fil-A’s in the tri-county area. Until official word comes down, I have anointed myself as “Task Force J6 Ambassador,” since my role is now going to the other bases in country and visiting with my signal counterparts to find out how their actual, truly-existing jobs are going. Lest you worry, my traveling is on a limited basis and mainly by air, not convoy. Seriously, mom, I'm okay.

I did this last weekend, when I visited a nearby base. At said base, there was a contingent of Afghan workers who were helping in the construction of the base’s expansion. Part of the base was being used for our troops to train the Afghan Army, which is really our overall mission out here. You always hear about the bombings and kicking-down of doors, but our primary goal is to train the Afghan National Army and Police Force to take control of their own country. Our soldiers are working with them, training them, living with them and helping them to develop infrastructure (wells, schools, etc.) And while the mission has met with a fair share of challenges and setbacks, most of the Afghans want this to succeed (as do our soldiers, so we can get the f---out of here). You can imagine, however, that the challenges—large and small—are unique, which brings me back to the construction workers. As they were working, two of the workers began getting into a rather heated argument. It escalated and—despite the supervisor and interpreter attempting to calm things down—things got physical. One of the workers lunged toward the other and, in a defensive maneuver, the second worker picked up a full bottle of water and chucked it at the other guy’s face from about two feet away. The bottle made contact right on the guy’s eye, producing a massive shiner that swelled nicely (the water bottle defense did, however, work. The initiator was startled enough that he never made contact with the water guy). The scene eventually calmed, everyone went back to work, and the workday was otherwise uneventful. Still, you've got to hand it to the Afghanis, who already seem to have our American version of civil discourse down pat.

> Letting the days go by / Letting the days go by. I don’t know what else to tell you right now. The weather is fine here. It gets pretty hot in the afternoon, but mornings and evenings are cool and, actually, pleasant. An annoyance is when the winds pick up, creating dust storms that make breathing all but impossible, not to mention covering you in a fine coating of grit. When the dust settles long enough, you can look around the base and see a picturesque view of snow-capped mountaintops. If it wasn’t for the occasional barbed wire or machine-gun-mounted watch tower, the view of the horizon is worthy of a postcard or, for that matter, a Coors Light ad. Time-wise, Kabul is eight-and-a-half hours ahead of the East Coast, and 11.5-hours ahead of San Francisco. I’m not sure where the wayward half-hour went to, or even how the 30-minute shift makes sense, but I suspect this odd half-hour time warp has something to do with the daily 4:15 a.m. sunrise. The food here is quite good—we have a full-service, 24-hour dining facility that has all the trimmings: Salad bar, short-order grill, sandwich bar, dessert bar, vegetarian selections, and the occasional theme night (every Friday is surf and turf—who-hoo!). Things get into a pretty regular grind with no days off and nowhere outside of our rather modest base to go, so there are special events and morale boosters (i.e.—co-ed sports tournaments; movie nights, etc.) to keep spirits up.

And they occasionally need the boost. It would be unfair and ultimately untruthful to not acknowledge the harsher realities of what is going on over here. While I may complain about the smell of a crowded room or joke about the four-dollar coffee, the truth is that I am quite fortunate. Most soldiers in the unit are spread out all over the country, with many living in far more austere conditions. We have some teams that are working to train the Afghan Army in desolate parts of the country. They are sleeping on the ground outside in more extreme weather; they are without showers or toilets and have no internet or phones, let alone hot meals or gourmet coffee. Many soldiers are on bases that do not have the benefit of a real or imagined warlord protector, and are fired upon on a daily (and nightly) basis. A number of our soldiers are out on the roads every day, driving convoys through crowded villages in less-welcoming areas, or worse, travelling along dangerous roads that are easily ambushed. And, as always, there is the constant threat of IED attacks—an unfortunate fate that has already claimed the lives of seven of our unit’s soldiers since we arrived in theater this April. I may gently mock the creature comforts and relative safety of Camp Phoenix, but I do not take these aspects for granted. According to the Associated Press, we are on pace for a record month of violence in Afghanistan. It will be a rough summer, that is for sure. Please know that I am as safe as one can possibly be in such a situation, but there are many who are not.

Today was a microcosm of all that is good, bad and otherwise about the whole deployment thusfar.
The sun was in full blast at 5:00 a.m.; it was 70-degrees.
I grabbed a morning coffee and reported to my non-existent job.
With nothing to do today, I spent much of the day typing this e-mail.
At 5:00 p.m., hundreds of soldiers on base assembled outside for a memorial ceremony.
We honored two of our unit’s soldiers that were killed by an IED last week. One was the brother of my roommate.
It was the third memorial service I’ve been to since June.

Despite being in the middle of Afghanistan, tonight they serve crab legs and shrimp for dinner.
A helicopter lands in the middle of the half-mile track that I’m running on.
The Romanians are drinking beer by their outdoor barbeque.
It’s Hip-Hop Night.
Surreal.

Peace.

--chris

June Update from Camp Arifjan

2009-06-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say very quickly...Thank You, Thank You, Thank You to all that have sent me packages. It seems like a small thing, but believe me I look forward to opening the smallest piece of mail. My admin section is amazed by the amount of mail I get. SFC Moore, who handles the mail for our G3 section gets tickled. I've developed a nice relationship with her because of all of you guys. It's good to have your admin people know who you are! They handle my mail, finance, leave requests, etc.

I've had 30+ days now to get a better feel for the things I need month in and month out here. Many of you have asked, so here's the newest list. Nothing is every expected. A simple card, letter, or postcard (Thanks Brad) is enough to brighten my day. However, many has asked what they can send, so here goes.

- Irish Spring (blue) soap
- Colgate toothpaste
- 30 SPF sun screen
- Gold Bond body powder
- Dental floss
- iTunes gift cards
- AAFES gift cards
- Any candy in individual wrappers so I can share
- T-shirts (Yes, I didn't bring enough civilian t-shirts to work out in. You want to advertise, I'll wear your shirt while I run or work-out. Nothing "questionable" please.)

That's all for now. BTW, if anyone would like to send a care package to another soldier here, let me know. I've got some good friends sprinkled throughout Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Iraq, who I know would love contact from home.

I'll have an update on the last 30 days out before long. For now, I'm wanted to share my work-out schedule. With not much to do but work, most all of us work-out at least once a day. I've created a work-out schedule for myself 6 days a week. So far, so good. I usually work out every day during lunch. I'm actually starting to see results. Imagine that....no alcohol and working out every day. Guess what happens? :) I'll have pictures out in another month or so when the results really begin to show.

A work-out week in the life of a deployed soldier.

DAY #1: Chest & Triceps [45min – 1hr 15min]
Notes: Do 3 sets of each weight training exercise 10-15 reps per set. Gradually increase weight each time to increase resistance. Try to use free weights as much as possible, but the machines are just fine.
- bench press
- triceps press
- incline beach press
- dumbbell or curl bar triceps press
- decline bench press
- dips
[2 Mile Run]

DAY #2: Shoulders & Abs [45min – 1hr 15min]
Notes: Do 3 sets of each weight training exercise 10-15 reps per set. Gradually increase weight each time to increase resistance. Try to use free weights as much as possible, but the machines are just fine.
- shoulder press
- incline sit-ups (as many as possible in one try)
- shoulder pull-downs
- ab machine or crunches with weight on chest
- single arm dumbbell shoulder lifts
- 3 sets of crunches (75+ per set)
[15+ min on Elliptical]

DAY #3: Back & Biceps [45min – 1hr 15min]
Notes: Do 3 sets of each weight training exercise 10-15 reps per set. Gradually increase weight each time to increase resistance. Try to use free weights as much as possible, but the machines are just fine.
- upper back press
- bicep curl machine
- lower back press or rows
- bicep pull-down
- lower back exercise (3 reps. Inverted, right side, left side
- single arm dumbbell curls
[1.5 Mile Sprint Run]

DAY #4: Kegs & Abs [45min – 1hr 15min]
Notes: Do 3 sets of each weight training exercise 10-15 reps per set. Gradually increase weight each time to increase resistance. Try to use free weights as much as possible, but the machines are just fine.
- squats or leg presses
- sit-ups (simulate the PT test)
- leg curls
- 3 sets of crunches (75+ per set)
- hamstring curls
- groin press
[15+ min on Bike]

DAY #5: Joints – Neck, Wrists, Ankles 45min – 1hr 15min]
Notes: Do 3 sets of each weight training exercise 10-15 reps per set. Gradually increase weight each time to increase resistance. Try to use free weights as much as possible, but the machines are just fine.
- push-ups
- neck press
- single wrist dumbbell curl
- shrugs
- calf raises
[5K Run]

DAY #6: Sport / Aerobic Activity [1hr]
Notes: The goal is to get the heart rate up while doing something fun!
- swim
- basketball
- etc.

DAY#7: Rest

I'm also going back to my refereeing roots. I'm refereeing intramurals here on Camp Arifjan. Right now we're doing volleyball. I've got a basketball tournament coming up this weekend, which I'm excited about. Thanks Ang for sending me my referee stuff!

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and I'll see you all next time.

June - July Continuing Update w/ Pictures :)

2009-06-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

OK. I’ve been gone a little longer than I intended. Today is Monday, July 6th. It’s a little over a week after my 40th birthday. I’ve been here in Kuwait with US ARCENT for 37 days. I’ve now been on active duty for 120 days! Only 280 days to go!

I’ll start my catch up here with the 1st week in country. We went right to work on that first day. MAJ Phil Speth is the guy Jim Schultz and I are replacing and our trainer. Still struggling from jet lag, Jim and I staggered into our first day on the Command Operations and Intelligence Center (COIC) floor. We definitely could have used a day or so to at least try to get our bodies somewhat on track. Oh well.

Now, I have to be very careful here as I speak about my job and where I work. To gain entry to the floor, you have to at least have a secret clearance. About everything that happens where I work is secret / need to know. However, I can give some overviews. (To put it in perspective, there are no cell phones, Blackerrys, iPhones, cameras, recording devices, etc. allowed on the floor.) You have to go through two levels of security to even get in. We working a desk area at the front of the command center close to the projection screens. When we go there, we had 3 computer screens with programs we monitor.

That first week Phil Speth turned the fire hose on us again. He jumped right in and went at us with all the things space soldiers due for current operations here on the floor. We rolled on Friday, Saturday, Sunday afternoon, and Monday from 7am to 6-7pm each day. This is also when we found out that we’re going to work 24 hours a day 7 days a week, 12 hours shifts. Jim volunteered for the night shift, so I’m working 6am-6pm. Not thrilled about working 12 hours a day for the next 10 straight months. I fear that burn-out will happen much quicker working this kind of schedule. However, we were given Sunday morning off to sleep in a little and go to church. I needed just to try and catch up to the time change a little.

The following week we continued training on Monday and then started our shifts on Tuesday. My entire concentration right now is on learning the job and trying to get into a battle rhythm. Survival deployed is dependent upon developing a schedule, a system, a rhythm to each day. It’s the only way you can get over the “suck” and get the days clicking by. Here’s a look at a typical day I’m trying to organize for myself.

0500 Wake-up
0500-0530 Personal Hygiene
0530-0600 Breakfast
0600 Report for Shift
1130-1230 Physical Training
1230-1300 Personal Hygiene
1300-1330 Lunch
1800 Off Duty
1800-1900 Dinner
1900-2000 Return Emails, Write Letters, Blog
2000-2200 Personal Time (Wash clothes, watch movie, phone calls, etc.)2200-0550 Sleep

The rub is that any deviation to the schedule like a long day at work because of a significant event, or I miss my lunch time work-out because of a meeting and I’m off. I’ve got to make it up. I’m told that we’re not going to get Sunday mornings off, but that’s BS. I’ve got to work on that. I need at least one sleep in day to recharge for the next week.

I actually took this scheduling issue to my network of Army friends that I’ve made over the last few months. Every person that replied said that no soldier could maintain 12 hours a day 7 days a week and mentally survive the deployment. From the infantry soldier that walks patrols every day to the commander to the support folks, all take a break. You have to have rest, even a short one, to maintain any focus.

I took the issue to my boss. He didn’t agree with me on a better way to sustain ourselves during this tour, but he agreed to sit down with me after the 1st quarter (3 months) to re-evaluate. That’s something at least.

The first week in addition to trying in our job, we in-processed. We had to go by the STB to get a checklist. (The military loves checklists.) Here’s where we go to the armorer to get assigned a weapon. Because we in Kuwait and not Iraq or Afghanistan, and because we don’t carry a weapon here, I got assigned a 9mm pistol. Yay! We go to the transportation office and get our driver’s license. You have to sit through a class about how bad a place Kuwait is to drive in. I’d already seen that first hand. We have to hit the admin folks, the supply folks, and the security folks. One of the things that has always drive me crazy about the military is you have to give the same paperwork to different people (and many times the same people after they loose it) each time. Everybody wants a copy of the same orders. You’d think we’d be able to give one copy and they could share it, but not in the military. Anyway, it’s a lot of trudging around in the heat.

I’m definitely not getting climatized quickly. It’s hot and I sweat. My undershirt is usually sopping wet a couple of times a day. It’s amazing to, because the humidity is only like 10%

I had one of those random events happen to me. My big brother in my fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, at the University of Kentucky’s name is Derek Duncan. He’s the guy that convinced me to join LXA. I later also become very good friends with his brother Jon Duncan, who was my brother John’s roommate in the fraternity house. Many, many years ago I’d met most all of Derek and Jon’s extended family. One of their nieces was Meena. She was quite a bit younger than me, cut I remember that she was a college cheerleader. Anyway….she’d found me through Derek and Jon on Facebook. She’s now living in California and a cheerleader with the Oakland Raiders. We started chatting, because she’d read that I was being deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and she’d been to Iraq on a moral trip with a group from the Raiders. We agreed to stay in touch and try to link up if we could. There are 130,000+ troops in Iraq and about another 25,000+ in Kuwait. What are the chances? Well I was sitting at my desk doing my usual stuff one day when I get a phone call. She and her group were on Arifjan. She’d used the information I’d posted on Facebook and asked the LTC escorting them if he could find me. He said no problem, and he did. She and the other Oakland Raider cheerleaders were staying in the very same building I was staying in! We agreed to meet for lunch. I got to sit and catch up with her among the rest of the cheerleading squad who’d come on the trip at the mess hall. It’s not every day that 5-6 beautiful women sit down in a military mess hall.  It’s was a nice little break in the day.

We got another nice break in the training and in-processing that same day. The Space team from Atlanta is in for an big exercise the unit’s doing. MAJ Speth, SSG Holscher, and myself drove up to Camp Buehring to check out the exercise and meet everyone. MAJ Jim Schultz wasn’t able to catch a ride with us, so he got to catch the Blackhawk helicopter up. It just do happened that Meena and her group were going to Camp Buehring to perform that night. Small world! However, I didn’t get to watch the performance. My unit’s base camp was set up a good distance from the center of Buehring out in their own tent city.

It’s interesting driving through Kuwait during the day time. I took my camera and got a good handful of pictures. The whole country’s a desert. Even close to the Arabian Sea it’s arid. You know how you drive through certain parts of the US and each has a color signature? You go through Georgia and you see green trees mixed with colors like from the azaleas and the dogwoods. You go through Florida and you get the light green of the palm and pine trees mixed with the blue skies. You drive through the mid-west and you get either the combination of colors from the leaves in the fall or the new buds in the spring. Even in the winter, you’ve got the drab gray, but you’ve still either got white or green. In Kuwait, it’s just brown. It’s sandy, dusty brown and it’s everywhere. Even the few trees and bushes they have are brown, because they’re usually covered with a layer of dust. I’m was just struck by all encompassing the brown layer of dust was.

It was neat to get to see some of the architecture. They build everything out of concrete. Even the water towers are made of concrete. You’ll notice from the picture that they look like martini glasses. That’s because they’re concrete instead of steel like the ones we build. Heck, we’ve got a regular round steel one at Camp Arifjan, but when you leave they’re all these martini glasses.

We drove north towards Iraq for a good part of the trip, but then turned west from the coast. We stopped by Ali Al Saleem AFB so that I could pick up a 9mm holster from RFI. I was carrying my pistol with a clip of ammo in my pocket. RFI is you get new equipment from. I’d gotten everything but a holster issued from the RFI at Camp Shelby.

From there, we headed north again for Camp Buehring. This post is located right on the border of Kuwait and Iraq. This is where all Army personnel that go into Iraq start from. Here they go to the range for more weapons training and prepare to move into Iraq. CPT Rob Disney and CPT Warren Read are just a couple of my friends who’d already been through here. One of our landmarks was a dead camel. I’m serious. Apparently, camels lay down and die in the desert. Folks here just let them lay and let the desert claim them. This one had been dead a couple of weeks according to Phil and you could only see about half of it. It won’t be a land mark much longer! Our “turn left just past the dead camel” will only work for a short time!

We got to Camp Buehring, jumped through hoops to get on the post (which is standard practice), and then headed to the airfield to pick-up Jim. He’s just made it in time to catch the chopper. He wasn’t to happy, because he’d had to wear his body armor and helmet. We then headed over to the tent city. It’s amazing what the Army can do on just a patch of dessert. They’d set-up this huge command center. Absolutely amazing! COL Henderson, LTC Zellmann, and the rest of the Space team were there. We also got to meet the ARSST team. They’re a group of reservists from Colorado. MAJ Brett Garner was the team leader. Really nice guy. So, we got the group together to take a picture. COL Henderson wanted an entire group picture. Realize that’s this is not easy to pull off. You have to get special permission from the Public Affairs Officer (PAO) to take a picture inside a classified area, but we got one. We’re all right outside the command post. Pretty cool group pick, except Jim forgot to take off his reflector belt, which we all have to wear at night, and the flash lit it up like a light bulb. That was about it for our trip to see the exercise. We had dinner with the group, and then the four of us headed back to Camp Arifjan. We got back around 2300.

That's what I've got for now. I'll be back shortly with more on getting settled in, my birthday, getting a private room, and the 4th weekend.

The First Two Weeks in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

2009-06-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

(Sorry for some of the redunancy. I wrote this at work and then uploaded it at my bunk.)

Quick note: I’m back in the Army now, so I’ve got used to talking in “Military Time” or using the 24 hour clock.

Convert Military Time: http://www.spacearchive.info/military.htm

We arrived in Kuwait City late on Thursday the 21st of May. 8 hours of a day gone just like that! We loaded up on buses for the trip to Ali Al Saleem. It was interesting because we were told no personal electronic devices and we had to keep the curtains closed on the bus. Most of the soldiers (as soldiers do) just went to sleep, but I’m the curious type, so I peeked. Airport, desert…..not much to see. It was dark by this time. What I did notice was that everything was so lit up. They have artificial light all over the place.

Kuwait City Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait_City

We had a sort of strange stop mid-way through the trip. They had an area in the middle of no where secured with concrete barriers. We stopped here just for a break. It was simply a gravel area with lines of porta johns and stacks and stacks of bottled water. We spent about 30 minutes here and then headed on.We arrived at the Ali Al Saleem Air Force base around 2000hrs. We went thru formation and then a quick in-processing. My first experience on a desert post. Big warehouse type buildings and lots and lots of tents. We were starving, so MAJ Jim Schultz and I went to find dinner. We just had missed chow, which closed at 1930hrs, but guess what we found on this little dessert Air Force base? McDonalds! They really are everywhere. Quick dinner and then it was time to find our bags and look to catch the bus to Camp Arifjan. We were told that one of our guys was supposed to meet us to help us get to Arifjan.

Ali Al Saleem Air Base Info: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/ali-al-salem.htm

We found our bags and then we found MAJ Phil Speth waiting for us in the MWR tent.

What is MWR? http://www.armymwr.com/

Phil had a nice surprise for us. He’d been able to get an SUV with a co-pilot to take us and our gear to Camp Arifjan. Very nice! I had not been looking forward to lugging 4 very heavy bags on a bus to another post. We policed up our gear and headed out about 2200hrs.This ride was my introduction to Kuwaiti highways and Kuwaiti drivers. We wound our way out of the security gates at Ali Al Saleem and jumped on the highway. What struck me at first was how well lit the roads are here. You seriously don’t need head lights. They have very bright street lights that line up and down the center of these 3-4 land highways. The second thing that struck me was how everyone drives here. It’s like driving in Atlanta only faster and they pass you any way they can. Phil was giving us the low down as people were flying past us, and we were riding with the flow. They pass on the shoulders. If they can’t pass, they get right up on you and blink their lights until you get over or they find a way to pass. On top of all that, driving down the road and we go from three lanes to zero lanes. There were no lane lines! That’s when everyone decided that 4-5 wide was OK. It was like being in a Daytona 500.

Kuwait Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait

It took us about 1 ½ hours to get from Ali to Camp Arifjan. Ali is on the northern border close to Iraq. Camp Arifjan is on the south western border near Saudi Arabia. The entire country is about the size of Rhode Island, so you blink your eyes (or miss and exit) and you could be at the border. We rolled into Camp Arifjan about 0030hrs. It took us about 15 minutes to get through the gates. We had to check our IDs and paperwork 3 different times. Being a combat zone there are some pretty stringent rules, even though this is an allied country. You have to have two people in the vehicle to leave post and both have to be armed with ammo. You have to have a signed letter. You have to have a risk assessment and you have to document all leave time, mileage, etc. every time you leave and enter a post. Finally, you have to get out and clear your weapon before you drive on to post.Anyway, we finally got to the housing office late that night. It’s called the “I” building simply because it’s shaped like an I. We checked in and of course they could find none of the paperwork that had been turned in on us, but they found us nice little bunks in the open bays. Apparently, t his is the transition barracks where everyone stays before the deploy into Iraq, re-deploy, or for short stays. We’re told that we get on a waiting list and we’ll get to move into Bldg 507, and residential building for ARCENT folks staying here for the long haul. They have two person rooms w/ TVs and fridges in this building. So, for now we’re in the open bays. We moved in to our bunks in the dark of course. Thank goodness for Phil and MSG Stewart who road along as Phil’s TC. They helped us haul all our gear.I was given an upper bunk, but there were a lot of bunks available, so I went back down to the desk and had them switch me to a lower bunk. I wasn’t to interested in jumping up and down out of bed each day. We each one locker…..picture this….we have all the gear the Army’s issued us since we mobilized. I have 4 large bags. No way this’ll all fit in a wall locker. They have these cages for extra stuff going up and down the middle of the bay, but they were all full. I was too tired to worry about it. I just laid down and crashed. (Even with the snoring and people moving around at all hours.)

The next morning Jim snagged a cage and we threw all our stuff in. One less thing to worry about…your stuff disappearing. (BTW, they logisticians estimate they issue soldiers deploying today about $17,000 worth of stuff. American tax dollars!) We cleaned up and headed right to work for the 0800hrs morning shift change brief. No chance to fight off the jet lag! Phil jumped right in and started training us. Again…just like in Atlanta…put the fire hose in my mouth and turn it on. Neither of us had every done this job before, so everything but how to use the computers was brand new. These are the points where my stories get very vague. Jim and I are going to work at US ARCENT’s forward command center. It’s highly secure and most everything we look at every day is classified SECRET. (This is already driving my Dad crazy.  I can’t give him many details.) I leave this part with it’s a desk job, and I look at a lot of screens all day until something happens in my area and I have to spring into action.Anyway, this was the next couple of weeks. Sleep (fitfully), eat (good chow), work, and work-out.

They have fantastic facilities here. They’re as good or better as any post I’ve been on since mobilized. That includes Ft. Jackson, Camp McCrady, Ft. Gordon, and Camp Shelby. The gyms are equipped with every piece of equipment you could want. They have flat screen TVs all over the place to include the gyms and mess halls. They’ve got fast food joints like Taco Bell, Burger King, and Pizza Inn. (I’ve avoided them so far.) The chow halls have salad bars, specialty bars, tons of fruit, and Baskin Robbins ice cream (which I’ve also avoided so far). That part is as bad as Camp McCrady from the beginning.

And I digress back to the parts that are no fun.....you have not privacy. Someone always snores. People work on different shifts. You have no space for your stuff. And, lights don’t go out until 2200hrs. I really can’t wait to get a room. How long will we have to wait is the question….I’m just trying to settle into a rhythm. We’re working 12 hours shifts 6.5 days a week. Jim volunteered to take nights, so I’m working 0600hrs – 1800hrs.

I’m trying to work into a system where I work out and shower at lunch. I then have my time after shift change and chow for laundry, phone calls, checking e-mails, and ultimately sleep. We’ll see. They say the first 30 days is the toughest part.

It is hot, hot, hot here! The average temperature since I’ve been here has been about 115 degrees. When I walk across post at lunch time (about a 15 minute walk) it feels like I’m cooking. The thing is…there is 0 humidity. I sweat, but just from the heat. You carry a drink around or lay it on a desk and there never is a ring. That freaked me out the first time I saw it. I’d forgotten about a fountain drink that I got from the mess hall and when I remember I was like, oh damn, I’m going to get paperwork wet. No condensation!

Items to Send in Care Packages

2009-05-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

Many of you have asked what items you can send to me while I'm deployed. I want to first say thank you in advance. I would never presume that anyone would send me anything other than their love and support (except for Ang and the kids...you guys have to send me stuff:)), but know that if you chose to anything you send is always appreciated and shared with other soldiers I live and work with.

I'll share a quick story about a gift I received that moved me more than anything (except maybe those wonderful pieces of artwork that Trey and Audrey like to send me LOL). For those of you that don't know, Derek Duncan is my big brother from my fraternity at the University of Kentucky. He's the one that recruited me into Lambda Chi Alpha and recruited me into officiating basketball (which I still do today!). We spoke for the first time in many years on the phone while I was mobilizing. Wonderful conversation and baseball and politics the two topics that we both love so much. Well, a couple of weeks later I received a small package. It was filled with individual cards written my the youth volleyball team coached by Derek's wife Jenny. Each was inidividually written and signed by about 8 players. I'm sitting here with tears in my eye even thinking about those little notes right now. I pull each of those notes out one by one and read them at night and my spirits soar each time. Amazing stuff....

Anyway, little things like that are many times what a soldier needs to remember why we're here and what we're fighting for. The future of freedom for young children. However.....if you would like to send other nice goodies, here's the kinds of things that I need or would enjoy.

First, the don'ts...... no magazines with "suggestive" material and no alcohol. These are stricly prohibited "in theater" (war zones).

The Do's.....

- colgate toothpaste travel size
- gel shaving creem travel size
- sun screen
- enery bars/breakfast bars
- iPod gift cards (I can get music and rent movies.)
- paperback books
- hard candy
- any homemade goodies wrapped or ziplocked very well
- phone cards (Domestic cards are fine. I can call through a US switch to use them.)
- other than that's the rest is up to your imagination :)

One more....many of you have probably heard of the PX. The full name is AAFES Post Exchange. It's about the only place we spend money. :) We buy snacks, drinks, esstentials, stuff like that. You can buy gift cards at https://thor.aafes.com/gcs/default.aspx . These are great to include in care packages. It's interesting here on post that they don't have any change. They have bills, but no coins. You get these silly little AAFES card board pieces for coins. They look like play money. I've found it better to shop with gift cards or my credit card to avoid these things that I'll never use.

Don't worry about sending DVDs. I snagged about 600 movies from another soldier and put them on an external hard drive, and we get to see all new releases for free at our theater.

Please do me a favor and should you read this and send something, post what you sent on this blog. This could be a wonderful way to share and for all of us to talk about the wonderful ideas you guys have to help soldiers like me.

Thanks again to any and all. I look forward to conversing with you in some shape or form over the next year.

(BTW, I'm limited on what pictures I can take, but less load up. They're pretty weird about taking pictures here. However, should I go into Iraq at all, apparently you can take all the pictures you want there.)

My First Week at Camp Arifjan

2009-05-25T09:37:00.000-07:00

My trip began by reporting to Atlanta Airport at 12.00pm to check in on Wednesday, May 20th. 8 hours later we climbed in a plane. Thank goodness for the USO and WiFi. :)

http://www.uso.org/

We flew on a DC-10 charter flight with Omni an airline I'd never heard of till then. The nickname of the flight is the "Freedom Bird". It's the flight that takes soldiers to and from the states for leave/RR. I was lucky enough to get a first class seat. These seats were based on first come first serve by rank. They started at Colonel (O-6) and had seats all the way down to O-2 (LT), E-8 (Master SGT), and W-3 (Chief Warrant Officer). I fall about in the middle as an O-4. We flew 6 hours to Shannon, Ireland, took a break to refuel and change crews for 2 hours, and then flew 5.5 more hours to Kuwait City, Kuwait. Combine that with the 7 hours we lost from Atlanta and that's a 18.5 hour trip. Not to bad. :)

We loaded up on buses at the Kuwait International Airport and headed over to Al Al Salem Air Base for our initial inprocessing.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/ali-al-salem.htm

It was a strange ride in that we weren't allowed to open the shades on the bus or listen to personal music players. Strange rules in a much, much different country.

We unloaded at Ali Al Salem Air Base and grabbed a bite to eat at McDonalds. (Yes, they had McD's even in the middle of the desert.) Here we caught a really nice break. We were supposed to take a bus from the Air Base to Camp Arifjan. Each of us had 3+ bags filled with all the wonderfully heavy equipment the Army had issued us. Our compadre with Space Ops, Major Phil Speth, acquired an SUV to pick us up. No small feat when you consider he had to borrow the vehicle (not easy), get someone to come with him as VC (vehicle commander), come armed with ammo (you can't leave post without being armed), and get a mission letter from a LTC (O-5) or above. Great job Phil!

The trip to Camp Arifjan was about 1 1/2 hours. Crazy trip. No real speed limits. Kuwaits pass on shoulders and many times there were 3-4 lanes of traffice doing 120K (about 90 mph I believe) with no lines.

We arrived a Arifjan about 0030 (12.30am) Kuwait time. Now keep in mind that this is 7 hours ahead of est and 8 hours ahead of cst. We checked into the open bay transition barracks in the dark. Thanks to Phil again and to MSG Stewart (VC) for travelling with us and helping us lug our stuff to our bunks (2nd floor). I finally crashed about 0130.

That was the trip. I'll be back to talk about the 1st week later. :)