Day 105; Shopping and Bonding

Sunday, February 27th


Spent the day with my soldier's girlfriend.  I like her a lot!

Went shoe-shopping together...  A silly pose!!!  (notice the socks?  They belong to my soldier!)

After our shopping excursion, I took her to my sister's house and we watched the Academy Awards.  While there, my phone beeped-- I received an email from my soldier:

One of the cooler things I have going on out here...my personal 6x6 Polaris Ranger ATV.  It's pretty quick.  I haven't had many occasions to drive it yet because everything is so close together here, but I got a sweet 6-wheel (weird saying that) drift coming around a turn one time when no one was looking.  Don't tell anyone because the speed limit out here is usually 5-10mph, hah.  And yes, the MPs give out tickets--even in Iraq.

Day 100; Lap 1 of 4

Tuesday, February 22, 2011


Whew!  100 days completed out of 400.  I equate this to running laps on a track.  Four laps equal a mile, so I feel as if I have completed one lap since my soldier was deployed... 3 more to go.

The care packages I have been sending have averaged 13-14 days to arrive in Camp Taji.  I feel like I have sent out packages about every 3-4 days.  By the time my soldier receives a package, I cannot even remember what I had jam-packed into that box! 

Day 102; The Bone Yard

Thursday, February 24th

Received a lengthy email from my soldier today.  Here goes:

Here comes another long one!  If you aren't interested you don't have to read it, but I try to explain as much as possible because I know most of this stuff is completely foreign to you and esoteric to me and the Army.

I passed by part of the Bone Yard today while I was driving in my Gator (my sweet 6-wheeled ATV golf-cart thing -- It's FAST!).  I surreptitiously snapped some pictures as I cruised by...not sure if I'm supposed to be taking pictures of this stuff but I figured it'd be interesting to see some of the aftermath of the heavy bombardment we did of this base in the late 90s before we took it over in 2003.  Most of these pieces of twisted metal are just vehicles...there is a row of beat-down tanks about a quarter mile long that I'll eventually try to get pictures of.

Also, not sure if I mentioned it, but this is the base Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid ("Chemical Ali") used to develop chemical weapons.  It was also one of the concentration camps Chemical Ali sent Kurds and Shia Muslims to be gassed during Saddam's ethnic cleansing era.  I drove by the building with the gas chambers.  No one is allowed inside it. It's a large, derelict brick building with broken windows.  It apparently has many underground levels and rooms.  Kind of disturbing.  If anyone is questioning why we came here in the first place, a large part of it was to get rid of the assholes who did this to innocent people.  Saddam and Ali will go down in history as the Hitlers of the late 20th century.  Look at this.

On a more positive note, look at the pictures of the MRAPs.  They are "Mine Resistant Armor Protected" vehicles.  They are taller than they are wide (which is not the case for standard HMMWVs, or "humvees").  They have a V-shaped hull which deflects IEDs away from the vehicle.  These things have saved countless lives in the past few years.  Some of them weigh up to 60,000 pounds!  That's about 10 times the weight of a standard HMMWV! 

The weird arcing bow looking things on the top of them are designed to deflect high-tension wires that insurgents used (unfortunately with much initial success) to decapitate or eject the soldier in the gunner turret.  The armor plates you see on the side are designed to stop RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) and any small-arms fire.  The cylinder-shaped antennas are part of the CREW system (Counter-Remote-detonated-IED-Electronic-Warfare).  They jam a range of radio frequencies from those emitted by a car's keyfob to garage door openers to radios to cell phones.  They work by blasting the surrounding area with "noise" so that the devices IEDs have that are listening for the detonation signal can't "hear" it.  They are programmed to not jam the exact frequencies that we know we are using ourselves for our radios.  The gunner turret is covered with camo netting and has 270-degree side and roof protection so the gunner can't get shot from the side or behind, and also to prevent passersby from throwing grenades into the turret without the gunner seeing it and having a few seconds to grab it and throw it back out.  There is a pneumatic hatch in the back of the vehicle that weighs several hundred pounds, which deploys once the vehicle is stopped so the team inside can exit quickly during a firefight or an emergency.

One criticism of the MRAPs are their cost (some of them cost over a half million dollars).  But when you consider that they save lives, and that lives are priceless, you can also factor that our government pays the family members of deceased servicemembers $400,000 if they die.  So they are an excellent investment. 

Another issue is the menacing appearance of them.  The pictures don't do them justice.  They are HUGE.  You have to climb a ladder to get inside them.  And the thick, tinted ballistic windows make it near impossible to see the faces of the soldiers inside...which adds to the menacing impression they give.  The reason why this is bad, instead of good, is because the intent of COIN (counterinsurgency) is to show the local populace that we are there to help them and do our best to only harm the bad guys.

The last main issue with them, also because of their size, is their absurdly high risk of rollovers.  When I was in Texas, we all had to get trained on an MRAP rollover simulator, which rolls the vehicle 360 degrees several times and stops either on its side or upside down...we learned drills on how to grab the gunner and pull him inside the vehicle so he doesn't get crushed.  Especially in Afghanistan, where the roads are poorly built and these things often scale mountains using goat trails designed for loads extremely lighter than these things, rollovers happen too often.

Oh yeah -- see the water behind the MRAPs?  That's the putrid, unhealthy-looking water I mentioned before that is in pools everywhere around this base.  The water table is really high out here so certain parts of the ground never completely get sucked dry by the heat, which is why there is so much stagnant water.

Again, more to come later, but I hope this gave you a little closer of a look at what Iraq is like. 

I should get a chance soon to take a helicopter ride to Kirkuk to see a team of soldiers I have there operating some satellite equipment.  I had their equipment sent to them today (boy it is quite funny trying to communicate with the forklift drivers who don't speak English very well).  But on my way back from Kirkuk I'll have a chance to land at a few other bases before I return to Taji because the air transport out here is kind of like a bus route with stops at each base along the way.  So I'll do my best to take some pictures!

Love,

Richy

Day 95; Makin' a List (Care Pkgs)

Thursday, February 17th


Here are a few lists that you can cut and paste into a Word document and print out.  Depending on where your soldier is being deployed and what his/her role will be, some of these items will be necessary and some won't.  For instance, my soldier is not infantry and will not be out in the field, so things like T.P., a flashlight, or a compass probably won't be necessary.  He is involved in communications on an airbase in Camp Taji and sleeps in a CHU (containerized housing unit).  Since there is also a PX (store) on base, he is able to purchase many things on these lists, so the only thing I will accomplish by mailing them to him is saving his own money (and peace of mind, of course!)

Here is a list:



Here is another list I found on the Internet regarding gear and supplies, more for infantry-related soldiers.  The following list is from soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these items won’t be needed until your soldier gets to his/her destination, so you may want to set them aside and mail out once your soldier gets settled.

I would go over this list with your soldier first.  Many items on this list made NO sense to me whatsoever!

1. Any extra ClassVIII you can bring with you is good to have.
2. Wolfhook single point slings
3. Desert Tan spray paint
4. Space blanket(s)
5. 100 mph tape, 550 cord, TP, other expendables you think would come in handy
6. Drop Leg Holster (blackhawk or SERPA) and Uncle Mike’s Paddle-Holster for wearing around every day (drop leg will wear a hole in ACUs over time). I also have one for my IBA so I can have my 9mm handy when in the gun hatch going through towns.
7. Weapons lube that DOESN’T ATTRACT SAND.  (MILTECH or Remington Dry Lube only)
8. Two copies of addresses, phone numbers, account numbers, etc.
9. 2 pairs of GOOD boot insoles
10. A Good Tactical Flashlight (SureFire, even though you will get issued one with M4)
11. Red/White light L.E.D. headlamp
12. Spare pair of running shoes
13. MP3 PLAYER W/ x-tra pair of spare headphones
14. Enough batteries to last you 30 days
15. Chapstick
16. Lotion
17. 30 SPF or higher Sunblock
18. Bar soap- for some reason its in short supply….almost always
19. Small compact rolls of TP. A lot of places make travel size, half the time you get to a port-a-potty the jackA$s before you ganked the TP
20. Baby wipes- 30 days worth. Expect that the power and water will either go out, or the water will be contaminated at least once a month.
21. Gold Bond Foot and Body Powder
22. Small clip on LED light-clip it to your IBA….it will come in handy….quite often.
23. Drink mix for 16/20 oz bottles of water
24. Weightlifting supplies
25. Small photo album with pics from home.
26. Hand sanitizer (small bottles to put in ankle pockets)
27. More books/magazines than you think you will need.
28. DVDs, for you and to loan out for swapping purposes
29. Tactical gloves--military gloves are sort of clumsy ( I love the $9.95 whitewater brand gloves from the clothing sales). Also standard flight nomex are good.
30. Lens anti-fog agent. Shaving cream works in a pinch, but you have to apply it every other day or so.
31. Good pair of shower shoes/sandals.  I recommend the black adidas….lasted me all year.
32. Small pillow (air inflatable)
33. Cheap digital camera (at least 2.1 mp)
34. Boot knife35. Gerber multi-tool
36. Fabreeze-sometimes the laundry is few and far between.
37. Armor Fresh
38. Extra boot laces
39. Stainless steel coffee cup with screw on lid
40. Soccer shorts/normal t shirt to sleep in, hang out in your room in
41. Sweatshirts for winter times hanging around
42. A couple of poncho liners for privacy, nasty mattress cover, etc.
43. One or two sets of twin sheets with pillow case
44. Good regular-size pillow
45. One or two good civilian bath towels
46. Buy a good set (>$200) of winter desert boots. All they will give you is a regular summer set and a set of goretex lined for waterproof needs.  The desert is a cold place at these altitudes in the winter time.
47. Bring a laptop!!!  Also may want a PSP or some other handheld gaming device.
48. Get an external USB hard-drive (>120gb).  You will need this to back up data to, and to store movies and MP3s that you will fall in on from previous teams.
49. Get a Skype account and download the software from skype.com.  This is how I talk to home 95% of the time. If you call computer to computer it is totally free.  You can also skype out from your computer to a regular phone for $0.021 a minute.  There is nothing cheaper than that.  [I bought my soldier a "magicJack."  Go to magicjack.com and check this out.  It is an adapter that plugs into your computer's usb port that allows a standard land line to plug into it]
50. Decent headset with mic for computer (skype)
51. Webcam for video calls back home
52. Bring a min. of 18ea. M4 mags per person.  9 that are loaded and 9 that rest.  Plan to do M4 mag changeover once per month.
53. Bring 8ea 9mm mags, for same reason above.  Change these over every two weeks.
54. Order a LULA mag loader/unloader.  It will be the best $12 piece of plastic you every bought.  I have 12 mags loaded at all times and when I do change over it will do it in a fraction of the time and save your hands, and save the ammo
55. Try to get your state or purchase yourself one 12v DC to 110 AC inverter per man for your trucks. There are crucial on mission to charge personal items, cell phone, ICOMs, and especially ANA radios (they only have re-chargeable batteries).
56. Dump the IBA tac vest you get issued.  Get a Tactical Tailor MAV chest rig (does not matter if you get 1 or 2 piece one as you want to keep the front open for laying in the prone. You don’t want mags pushing into your chest making it hard to breathe).  I wish I would have bought mine at the start.  It makes a HUGE difference on the back and shoulders when carrying a loaded rig.
57. Get comfortable pair of desert boots.  I wear only the Converse 8” assault boots (non-zipper ones). Oakley, Bates, and several others are similar in style and comfort. 
58. Bring some good snivel gear for the winter time.  Extra poly-pro winter hat, gloves, neck gators, etc.
59. Lock de-icer for the winter time
60. Disposable hand and feet warmers
61. Canned-air, lots of it for electronics weapons, etc.
62. Lens wipes for optics
63. Screen wipes for computers
64. Firing Pin Retaining pins, Brownells is a good source
65. DVD ripping program for your laptop so you can transfer all your DVDs to electrons and store on a harddrive
66. A good assault pack, I have one from Tactical Assault Gear with aluminum stays in it for support. It's been a lifesaver several times,the one the Army issues is a P.O.S.
67. MBiTR pouch from Tactical Tailor
68. An aviators knee board
69. Personal GPS (Garmin, etc.)

There are probably many other things that could go on this list, but a lot of that is personal preference.  The purpose of this list is to provide some insight into things that could make anyone’s tour easier.

Day 94; Priority Mail

Wednesday, February 16th


Now that my soldier is settled, it's time to start making care packages.  I have been researching the Internet for ideas and lists.  There are many out there.  I will try to post some of these lists on a future post.  For now, I want to tell anyone interested the U.S. Post Office offers the most economical delivery to the troops at an APO. 

You can contact the Post Office (by telephone only) and request a free "kit" which includes the following: 

Day 91; Assume = ASS U ME

Sunday, February 13th

The email I received today was not what I expected. 

To all of you moms out there who take pride in your child and sometimes feel the need for "bragging rights" -- you know what I mean... Like, "My little Joey was student of the month," or "My daughter got the lead in the school play," or "Mary was accepted into Stanford/Harvard/Yale," etc.  -- I guess I did just that when I told my friends that my son is an officer in the U.S. Army, and I was admonished for it, because I made an assumption...

I forwarded my soldier's email regarding his arrival in Camp Taji to some of my friends.  In my intro, I stated that 'since he is an officer, he was fortunate enough to fly into Camp Taji instead of having to travel by convoy...'

I received many nice comments (via email) of support from my friends.  I then forwarded one of my friends' comments to my son, and he was able to read my intro to his email.  Here was his response to me:

I didn't fly to Taji just because I'm an officer.  My whole unit flew up here because there was no tactical advantage to taking a convoy and we are an aviation unit, not a combat arms unit, so we don't have dozens of vehicles we have to drive up there. 

I didn't get treated any more special than my soldiers, and if they had convoyed up I would be right there making sure they are okay.  Platoon leaders don't abandon their men.


Wow. 

No, Dear Mom, or Love Richy was on this message. 

I wasn't trying to imply that my son was abandoning his men... Honestly, I guess I assumed his rank allowed him to fly instead of travel by land, especially since one of the other soldiers' mothers told me that her son was traveling via convoy. 

I stand corrected.

I made an assumption; I took pride in telling my friend that my son was an officer and he was able to avoid convoying (convoys scare the crap out of me), and I ended up offending my son.  What is the old saying?  "The road to hell is paved with good intentions"...?

I may delete this post later, as I am feeling pretty crappy right now and I am just venting.   

Day 90; Home Away From Home

Saturday, February 12th


I received an email from my soldier with a Google Map page.  This will be his home for the duration of his deployment:

Attached is a map of where I am -- Camp Taji, Iraq.  I labeled the places I go to on any given day (DFAC is the dining facility, btw).  Everything is within a 10 minute walk of each other.  

Everything to the right side of the air field is manned by the Iraqi Army, and we are on the left side of the air field.

Here's the link on google maps:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=taji,+iraq&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Taji&ll=33.524689,44.251599&spn=0.005679,0.00839&t=h&z=17

 

The bone yard I was talking about in my previous email is at the following link...if you zoom out you can see how many abandoned vehicles there are.  And most of the buildings away from where I am are abandoned.  Keep in mind that this used to be a base occupied by Saddam's army.  Weird to think I'm working in the same buildings they did.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=taji,+iraq&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Taji&ll=33.542611,44.242491&spn=0.002839,0.004195&t=h&z=18

Day 89; My Eagle Has Landed

Friday, February 11th


Finally, word from my soldier during the wee hours of the morning.  Thank the Lord above...

Just got to Taji.  More to follow, but i'm really tired and I'm gonna rack out.

And later that night:

I arrived in Taji about 24 hours ago.  It's just north of Baghdad.  Finally got a flight from Kuwait.  It was on a C-17...a big cargo plane.  We loaded all of our duffle bags onto giant car-sized pallets, stacked them about 8 feet high, and cinched them down with cargo nets.  They were loaded onto the plane and we sat in airline-style seats.  Imagine how bad Southwest Airlines's seating is, and then imagine something 10 times worse.  The seats are more narrow, there is less leg room, and on top of that everyone was wearing about 50 pounds worth of gear, to include our body armor, weapon, and helmet.  Oh wait...I forgot to mention that we were sitting 5 abreast.  Gotta pee and you aren't in the aisle?  Too bad soldier, hold it.  

Anyway, the flight was only an hour so it wasn't too bad.  The acceleration during takeoff is about twice as forceful as on a normal commercial jet.  This is because this giant plane needs to get up to speed quickly, considering it can carry two 60-ton tanks inside it.  The seats we were sitting on were bolted to metal pallets, which were sort of locked into the floor, but they shifted a few inches forward and backward everytime the plane accelerated or decelerated.

Now, to describe Taji...

Imagine living in the beat-down slums of industrial L.A., but more ghetto.  The roads aren't paved -- they are gravel and thick mud that, even while mostly dry, sticks to your boots.  It's rainy season right now so there are certain areas which are flooded with green foul-looking liquid.  I drove by the "bone yard," which is a massive field full of Saddam's tanks, trucks, and other vehicles which have definitely seen better days.  Some of them are twisted wrecks from being blown up, some of them are decayed with rust from sitting forever, and ALL of them have been tagged with spraypaint by soldiers.  For example: "I love you Sally" or "Fuck Iraq" or "3rd Platoon Rules!" The ironic and somewhat depressing thing about this place is that this general region in Iraq is widely considered the cradle of civilization...the fertile crescent...bibically significant...and at this point it's a complete dump.

There are big 12-foot-tall T barriers everywhere to protect against mortars.  Imagine something like the median on the freeway, just much taller.  Apparently, this base gets attacked by rockets and mortars about once a month.  It doesn't worry me that much because they usually land on the Iraqi Army side of the base and we have an early detection system which can tell when a projectile is on its way, where it is probably going to land, and will sound the alarms in that area of the base, giving people 2-3 seconds to get on the ground.  The unit that my battalion is replacing has not had any deaths in the year they've been here.  This includes the transportation company which goes on convoys outside the wire all the time.

There are a few gyms here...I haven't had a chance to check them out yet but I heard they are pretty good.  The DFAC (Dining facility) has pretty good food and dessert.  And lots of it.  My dinner tonight was jambalaya with rice, mixed veggies, pasta salad, vegetable soup, fresh-cut melon (literally, cut at the station you get it from), and a baskin robbins oreo ice cream milkshake.  Drinks range from many types of soda to many types of juice, gatorade, water, soymilk, and regular milk.  And the omelets are bomb.  The only shortcoming is that the milk is in little boxes, made of powdered milk and water.  I'll get used to it but I'm already missing being able to drink 3 mini bottles of fresh milk in Kuwait after my workout.  But considering I'm in the armpit of the world right now, I can't complain about the food.  I may be a lot of things, but hungry isn't one of them!

My CHU (containerized housing unit) is basically a mobile home cut into thirds.  My room is normally supposed to house two people but since I'm a lieutenant I get my own.  My captain has a "wet CHU," which is a mobile home cut in half with a bathroom he shares with the First Sergeant.  There is a bathroom mobile home building with shower and toilet stalls located a 30 second walk away from me.  Pretty nice inside, actually.  I got lucky because my room had a fridge in it, which is just because the person who lived in it before me didn't end up selling it to someone else and she abandoned it in here.  How did I know it was a she?  Because the place blasted me with that typical flowery girl smell when I walked in! But a little febreeze took care of that problem.  The pictures I attached show the result of several hours of rearranging furniture, sweeping, mopping, tearing down the second bed, and laying down three carpets I just bought.  Pretty nice situation considering the misery outside.

I really should stop complaining about the condition of this base because right now the weather is as good as it's going to get.  50-60 degrees during the day.  I've been told that during the summer it gets up to 120 and the heat index can feel up to 150 degrees! Whoa!  Apparently, when you step outside, the heat blasts you so hard that you feel like your face is literally melting off.  I was told that the comparable feeling is sticking your head into a clothes dryer right after you open the door and it's been running for a while.  So for now I'm trying not to take this slightly cold temperature for granted.

There is a PX here (the typical military general store) that sells stuff from deodorant to protein powder to backpacks to cheez-its to shoes to PS3s to flatscreen TVs.  There is also a little store run by some shady middle eastern people that sells pirated DVDs for $2 each...I've been told that they usually have new movies within a week or two of their release.  Some of them are the crappy bootleged kind where you can see people walking in front of the camera in the theater, and some of them are better versions ripped from DVDs...but they have a DVD player and TV in there so you can skip through them really quick to decide if you want to buy them.  There is also a barber shop, alterations shop, post office, fedex, and DHL.  I've been told USPS takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 45 days to arrive.  The platoon leader I'm replacing, said that the fastest he's seen something arrive is 1 week.  

My office is a 5 minute walk from my CHU and the DFAC is about 7 minutes away.  My office is actually a large closet in one of the rooms at the end of the hall where my company has a few offices.  Can't complain too much -- up until this point I haven't even had an office.  I've been borrowing desks in common areas.  Once the unit here leaves I'll be able to move in there...I'll have an unclassified computer and phone as well as a secret computer and phone in my office, which only happens in theater. In the states, computers and phones at the secret classification level are kept behind double doors and electronic devices like cameras and phones aren't allowed in.  Here, they're pretty much lying around all over the place.  No wonder that soldier was able to siphon all of that information out of the secret systems and put it on wikileaks...

It's 10:14pm here right now and I'm going to be up for several hours because half of my company still hasn't arrived yet and their plane lands at about 1:30.  I'm going to meet them and help them bring their bags to their CHUs because they'll be just like the lost sheep I was last night.

More pictures to come once my footlocker arrives with my camera charger.  My footlocker was sent from Texas a few months ago and didn't arrive in Kuwait until a few days ago!  Took the slow boat across the Atlantic.  Can't wait to get my little TV, PS3, memory foam pillow, and books out of it.  Ahh, the simple things we take for granted every day...

Hope this didn't bore you.  Please stay in touch.

Love, Richy

Day 87; Hop, Skip, and a 2-Hr Jump

Wednesday, February 9^th

My email:

You mentioned last night that you would be leaving soon for Iraq.  So, 2 hour flight, then what? 

Do you caravan (or do you call it convoy? I can’t remember).  Do you travel by land vehicle from airstrip to base? 

Please tell me about your relocation and when we can expect to get the 'all clear.'  Kinda makes me sick to my stomach to be honest with you.  Your guardian angels will be on full alert, helping me to cope with this.
 

His Reply:

I have to stage my bags at 2000, in 10 hours.  At some point after that I'll probably be getting on a bus to a nearby air base, where I'll most likely spend the rest of the night sitting around waiting for an Air Force pilot to show up and fly us to Taji.  I think the flight is supposed to be wheels up at 0400.

When I hear the word caravan I think of a long line of nomad a-rabs on camels, hah.  The Army uses the word convoy.  But no, I won't be convoying anywhere.  I'll be taking a bus to the air base in Kuwait, and the airstrip I'll be landing on is inside the confines of Taji.  My equipment is getting there via convoy.

My email:

Thank you for the info. 

We use the term 'caravan' for real estate.  We don't all get in our vehicles and form a single line, following each other from house to house, but that's the idea behind it.  

haha, camels.  You already have camels on the brain after being there a week! 

Hope to hear back from you as soon as you get there to ease my misery.  143.

His Reply:

If you have been having problems getting a hold of me, it's a problem on my end most likely because my internet was shitty. I'm stuck at a base in Kuwait called Ali Al Salem right now...was supposed to be on a plane to Taji by now but the flight got canceled.  No indication yet as to when the next flight is, but there's free internet if I walk to a nearby tent so I'm going to try to give you an update if I can.

Love you

Day 86; A Starbucks Like No Other

Tuesday, February 8th


I received the photo of Starbucks in Kuwait from my soldier today.  Here is his email:

The fabled starbucks in Kuwait.  Notice the Hesco barriers protecting it from mortar shrapnel.  Ironically, this is the only building I've seen on base that is individually protected by Hesco barriers. 

FYI:  I'll be in Taji about 24 hours from now.  I'll be leaving on an Air Force C-130 plane to get to Taji, in full gear, weapon, ammo and all.  Should be like a 2 hour flight.  I'll try to find some internet asap once I get there.

More to come!  Love you.


I read this email from my cell phone.  The photo of Starbucks was small, but I could see the doorway and the Hesco barriers.  Upon closer inspection, it appeared that there was a soldier patrolling in front of Starbucks with his weapon. 

So I replied to my son's email and said:

Thanks for the Starbucks photo.  Is that soldier, with the gun, patrolling?  What the heck?


His reply:

haha. 
Zoom in on the guy and tell me if you think he is patrolling. 
Hint:  I wasn't the one holding the camera.


So I zoom in on the photo...  and...  HUH?  

That's my son, holding a weapon in one hand and sipping a Starbucks coffee in the other!  Oy.

Day 79; Welcome to the Sandbox

Tuesday, February 1st

I received an email from my soldier tonight.  He was safely in Kuwait and had actually found an Internet café – something that surprises me, as I was not expecting to hear from him at all for the next 1 to 2 weeks. 

Here is his email:

Hi all,

I got to Kuwait about 10 hours ago.  Got a welcome brief, ate midnight chow (The Army invented the "Fourthmeal" before Taco Bell did), went to sleep, took a quick shower (only 15gal allowed!), ate breakfast, and found this internet cafe. 

I'll be here for a couple weeks before I move into Iraq... I haven't figured out where everything is yet, but I found the two most important things:  food and internet!  I am guessing I'll have brief access to the internet once every day or two... this internet cafe only has about 20 computers and there are a couple thousand people here... I'm guessing that not everyone knows it exists yet.

The mythical Starbucks that I heard about is definitely here!  Looks just like a normal Starbucks, except it has Hesco barriers around it (big 6 foot tall baskets full of gravel to protect against shrapnel from mortar attacks).  There is also a big gym which I haven't checked out yet, a PX general store, a few fast-food joints, and some other places typically found on a military base.

All of the workers here are some sort of Middle Eastern and Asian type... I heard most of them have been brought here from Bangladesh and live near the base, but that didn't come from anyone official.  The front-liners know English enough so that you can tell them what you want on your omelet. 

It's raining here...weird.  If you want to look at the weather or where I am on Google Maps, you can probably find it if you search for Camp Buehring, Kuwait.

That's all I've got for now.  Drink an extra beer for me the next chance you get... I'll have to wait a while... :/

Hooah!

Rich

I looked up "Camp Buehring" on Google Maps and it took me to a place on the map in Kuwait named “Camp Udairi.”  It was a square area with an airstrip, surrounded by a lot of sand.  Nothing for miles around it!  Anyway, I was a bit confused since the camp names were different, so I looked up “Camp Buehring” on the web. 

This explanation is from Wikipedia:

Camp Buehring is a staging post for US troops in the northwestern region of Kuwait.  The base is used for military troops heading north into Iraq as well as the primary location for the Middle Eastern Theater Reserve.  The areas surrounding Camp Buehring, known as the Udairi Range Complex, are largely uninhabited, but for a few nomadic Bedouin tribes raising camels, goats, and sheep.

Camp Buehring was named after Lieutenant Colonel Charles H. Buehring who was killed in Baghdad on October 26th, 2003.  Buehring was one of the highest ranking U.S. casualties of the Iraq War.  Camp Buehring had formerly been called Camp Udairi.

Ahhh.  They are one and the same.  Also labeled on the Google Map of Camp Buehring was indeed the Starbucks my soldier mentioned. 

Then I looked up "Hesco barriers" and found this photo on the Internet:

Hesco bastions stacked two high around portable toilets in Iraq

 

Interesting.  Here's a little information on Hesco barriers:

The HESCO bastion is both a modern gabion used for flood control and military fortification developed in the late 1980s. It is made of a collapsible wire mesh container and heavy duty fabric liner, and used as a temporary to semi-permanent dike or barrier against blast or small-arms. It is used on nearly every United States Military base in Iraq as well as on NATO bases in Afghanistan.  

Assembling the HESCO bastion entails unfolding it and (if available) using a front end loader to fill it with sand, dirt or gravel. The placement of the barrier is generally very similar to the placement of a sandbag barrier or earth berm except that room must generally be allowed for the equipment used to fill the barrier. The main advantage of HESCO barriers, strongly contributing to their popularity with troops and flood fighters, is the quick and easy setup. Previously, people had to fill sandbags, a slow undertaking, with one worker filling about 20 sandbags per hour. Workers using HESCO barriers and a front end loader can do ten times the work of those using sandbags.

I am hoping to get a photo from my soldier of the actual Starbucks in Camp Buehring.  Stay tuned.

Day 78; Holding My Breath

Monday, January 31st

Holding on and waiting to exhale... Just lying here in bed, staring at the phone, and willing it to ring...

Ok, almost midnight and I just received an email.  It will suffice:   

"At the airport in [classified location].  Gonna be leaving here soon for [classified location].  Shitty Internet, but enough to get a message across.  Love you."  

Thank you God.

:')

Day 73; Passing the Time

Wednesday, January 26th

Waiting, waiting, waiting. 

We are still here in beautiful Kona, Hawaii.  It's so difficult to truly enjoy my time here.  Can anyone out there understand that?  Each time I am alone, whether it be lying in my bed, sitting on the lanai, even today when I was riding my bike! I think about my son and pray to God for his safety.  Tears streamed down my face today as I rode toward home, occasionally taking my hand off the grip just to wipe my face. 

Sheesh, I am truly pathetic sometimes. 

Soon, my soldier will depart, but I as I mentioned before, I cannot disclose the date.  I talk to him almost daily, but the dark cloud still remains over my head. 

C Company waits to depart as well.  I often think they are, like me, crossing each day off the calendar as it comes, dreading the day they leave. 

Silly me. 

Here are some photos my soldier sent me, as they pass the time until departure.

That's my son in the middle.  You guess it, he's going down...

Just look at the expressions on their faces as they dump their officer into the mud.  Do these guys look depressed and low-spirited?  Obviously not.  My son tells me they are anxious to go and do their jobs.

God, I love soldiers.  They are America's finest men and women, don't you agree?



Day 60; Departure Date

I asked a question, and I got an answer.  My soldier has been given a definitive date for his departure to Kuwait.  They will spend a couple weeks there, then onward to Iraq. 

Although I cannot publicize the departure date on this blog due to confidentiality and safety, a dark cloud looms over the date on my wall calendar.  

Day 53; What Is It You Really Want To Do?

I received an email from a good friend of mine today.  Her son is attending a university and is involved in ROTC. 

I told her of my son's upcoming deployment to Iraq and asked her if she was feeling any apprehension about her son's decision to serve in the Army.  Here is her response:

Are you kidding???  We've talked about this, cried together, talked more about this, and cried more... My son constantly reminds me..."this is my life Mom--not yours!"

 

"But what is it you really want to do?" I asked him.  He responds..."blow up shit!" 

 

Isn't that lovely!?  My sweet little boy.

 

He is all about being the best he can be in life... He spent last summer qualifying in the Army's Special Forces Underwater Dive Team.  Currently, he's an EMT (certainly not for the money, but for the excitement) and says that saving lives is what makes him feel like he is really doing something. 

 

Bob has told him... you CANNOT be a medic in the military cuz they are unarmed!!!  That's why he is pursuing the dive training...and hopefully that will keep him out of Iraq and Afganistan???  This is scary shit!

 

I don't have the heart to tell my friend that I have heard diving operations are just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than going to Iraq or Afghanistan... 

 

God bless her son.  My heart fills with pride to know that our sons have made such an important decision to serve our country.

 

 

Day 50; Daydreaming

A boy and his dog. 

A friend sent me this photo on the day my soldier was leaving for Fort Hood.  He had stopped by with our dog, Tank, to say goodbye to their family. 

I like to dream when I see this photo.  I close my eyes and imagine the day when I will take another picture just like it when my son returns home, and boy and dog will be reunited. 

Or rather, man and dog.