Playing Catch Up

Pre-Deployment

This is the first in what is hopefully going to be many updates to this webpage. I have been attempting to figure out how to keep all of my friends and family informed about what I am doing in Afghanistan. Luckily technology has come a long way in the recent years, allowing me the chance to setup a method to keep everyone informed. This blog starts with the transition from Bubblehead Joe to GI Joe.

3 July: I showed up at a medical facility in Norfolk, VA. I was joined by 31 officers that I previously met informally via email over the last two weeks. I am a bit annoyed that the powers that be chose July 3^rd vice July 5^th. For me, it really didn’t matter, I spent the day at the beach with my friends, and watched some fireworks from the beach. In fact you could see almost all the fireworks displays available. I must say that made the Ft. Story fireworks look a little weak.

17 July: I reported to NIACT, the Navy Individual Augmentee Center for Training in Fort Jackson, SC. Here is where the Army and the Navy worked together to turn Bubblehead Joe into GI Joe. I felt somewhat like a kid in a candy store. I got all kinds of cool stuff. Apparently the Navy wants me to blend in with these Army folks, so I got some cool new ACU’s (Army Combat Uniforms), some awesome Gore-Tex stuff (should be great for camping, and some new Oakley’s (the M-Frame). Oh yeah and my very own semi-automatic machine gun, though I’m still not sure what they expect me to do with that, but I guess I’ll figure it out.

These two weeks were quite interesting. I learned some Army combat tactics, some heat exhaustion first aid (practical experience), and that body armor is pretty darned heavy. In fact all that stuff I wear weighs more than a small child, so pregnant ladies, I no longer have any sympathy. In fact it was so hot the first time I had to wear all of that body armor that I have no sympathy for anyone who says they are hot.

29 July: Departed Columbia via our chariot enroute for Kuwait. We stopped in Bangor, Maine to refuel the plane. Here I met the Famous Maine Troop greeters, a wonderful group of people whose mission in life is to meet every troop carrying transport that stops in the metropolis of Bangor, Maine. It was truly a welcoming environment, they had phones and coffee galore.
30 July: From Maine we flew to Hahn, Germany (a dilapidated Air Force Base outside Frankfurt). When we got there it was breakfast time (in Germany) so many people took the time to get a bratwurst and coffee. Interesting combination! Leaving Frankfurt, we flew the short (5 hour) leg to Kuwait where we convoyed to Al Ali Salem Air Base. That day I made about $1000, as the tax free was then effective for the month of July.

Having arrived Sunday night around 1800, the first stop was food, the next internet, and finally to a rack that did not move and was not situated next to a slightly overweight P-3 bubba. I made about a thousand bucks that day, having arrived in a tax free zone, the whole month of July was now tax free.

The next several days passed with ease, a few movies watched and a couple of exams and papers written. Finally the point of our Kuwaiti layover. . . convoy training. This was an exercise in your ability to cope with heat exhaustion. The three days were spent in a remote location about five miles form the Iraqi border. During this time there was some classroom instruction along with simulated and live fire exercises. With no ice to cool the bottled water, you were stuck drinking the 120F water or not drinking water at all. Neither option was appealing, but at least one provided the much needed H2O.