END OF 2009 & BEGINNING OF 2010

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

Events from July into August in Kuwait

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!

The First Two Weeks in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

(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!

My First Week at Camp Arifjan

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. :)