Adios Australia

Day 16

My last day in Australia. Such a sad day. Of all the places I have traveled, when it comes to big city feel with a lively night life, nice people and tons to do, Sydney is definitely at the top of my favorite list. It's sad to be leaving it as I have felt welcome everywhere I have been and it's hard to imagine I have to leave.

I woke up this morning and turned on the TV as I have every morning to check the weather and guess what? It's sunny and 76* in Melbourne today....and by the end of the week it'll be the same in Sydney. Seriously?!?! And what about Sydney right this very moment? I opened up the blinds and guess what? Rain. Awesome. I headed to Wynard station, picked up my last order of their delicious sushi, ended up at Circular Quay where I ate it while people watching and trying to enjoy the harbor. My flight isn't until late tonight so I decided to head to the casino to spend my last hours in Sydney. Time well spent huh? Don't judge me. Spent a little time at the roulette table and ended up winning $100. Not bad.

Overall I had a great time in Australia. Sydney's mass transit was amazing and cheap, Aussies are environmentally conscious, particularly when it came to toilets (there are two buttons, one for lots of water to push...well you know, down the pipe and one for less water), and I noticed that all students wear uniforms. Sadly, the worse part of my trip was hearing the weather man this morning say that Sydney just recorded its coldest start to summer in 45 years....that WOULD happen to me wouldn't it?

The flight back to Kuwait was a little rough. I was unfortunate in my seating assignment, which is always the case on a long flight isn't it? I was literally surrounded by kids under the age of 6. It felt like I was at a daycare. Sleep was tough to get with all the crying and kids running up and down the aisle. When I arrived back in Kuwait, I couldn't help but compare it to Australia.The differences were drastic. The entire drive back to Arifjan all I could do was think about how clean Sydney was and then I'd wake up from my daydream and see all the trash strewn about along the side of the road.

Welcome back.

Pollywogs and Shellbacks

Day 15

For those of you who have known me for a while and remember my time spent abroad in 2005 during college aboard the MV Explorer on my Semester At Sea program might recall that during those three months, I crossed the equator. What some of you may not know, is crossing the equator on a ship is a special occasion. There is a nautical tradition, an initiation rite, that takes place the day you cross it that includes running around like a crazy person, having ground up fish guts dumped on you, kissing a fish and finally the hand of King Neptune (God of the Sea) who is played by the ship's captain. Weird, I know. Moving on. The reason I bring this up is because those who have not traveled across the equator on a ship are called Pollywogs while those who have are given the name Shellback or Sons of Neptune. If you are fortunate to cross the equator at the international date line, you are inducted as one of the rare Golden Shellbacks.

Over the years I have been trying to come up with a design for a tattoo. About a month before I went to Australia I had finally finished what I felt encompassed becoming a shellback as well as my travels I have been fortunate to do. I decided to get it done at Bondi Ink in Australia....here's what I came up with:

Rain Rain Go Away!

Day 14

I had hoped that maybe today would have been different from the previous days since yesterday was so nice....no such luck. Rain. Again. WTF? Tried to go hit up the Botanical Gardens but couldn't stand the driving water pelting my face....so I stayed in (with the exception of getting more sushi from Wynard station.. yum yum!)

BONDI!

Day 13

Today was a relaxing day, spent it at Bondi Beach. So far it was the only sunny day since I got here so I figured I'd take full advantage of it. I bought a coconut at the shop behind the beach....delicious! I think I might have to move to a state or country that has coconuts readily available to me!

Opera House

Day 12

It took me nearly two weeks but I finally got around to touring the famous Sydney Opera House, maybe you've heard of it? As skeptical as I always am, I was surprisingly entertained by our guide who must have been or wanted to be a thespian. He was very energetic, lively and kept everyone on their toes with his wit. I realized during this tour, how little I really knew about the history and architecture of the Opera House and what it took to make the concept come to life. Many do not know, but back in the early 1900s where the Opera House sits, was once the last stop on a train line. In the 1950s the council members for the city of Sydney decided they wanted to build an opera house and opened up a friendly competition with well known architects of the time from around the world. Ideas ranged from typical square buildings, to a outlandish lavish ideas. In the 1950s the board assigned to deciding the design had tossed out all the submissions and decided on a modest design that was not what we know as the opera house today. The design for the opera house was tossed but fortunately, a member of the council who arrived late, dug it out of the archives and declared it, what is now the Sydney Opera House, the winner. Funding it was the next issue and construction wasn't started until 1959 and took 14 years to build (originally thought to take 4, guess every government gets screwed by contracts!). The feat of building the opera house, which is made up entirely of concrete, boggled my mind as I walked through it. Each of the three arches is its own theater and inside each of those are multiple stages situated behind the scenes for rehearsals. The main theater features a massive stage that has trap doors, hydraulic lifts to move flooring up and down, and a orchestra pit that hides beneath the stage and can be moved into view with an entire ensemble playing while being put into place.

If that didn't impress you enough, this might. The entire structure, as I previously stated, is made up entirely of concrete arches. When you are inside, you can see the concrete along the exterior walls as you walk around but once inside the concert hall, there is only wood. The designer ensured that the acoustics of the building were considered and how this was carried out was incredible. Walking into the theater there was wood, everywhere. The floors were made of wood, the walls were wood, the seats were made of wood. But this was no ordinary wood, the design called for two types of wood, brush box and white birch, both of which were harvested in New South Wales. Now, one might think that the wood would simply be hammered to the walls and all would be well. No such luck. Instead, the walls actually hang from the ceiling. Sounds odd and impossible but we were allowed to move along the walls and look up into the gap of about a foot between the concrete walls and the wood. To me that's a crazy move but later, I went to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra perform and it sounded like I was right there listening to them....hahaha......

After the tour, I headed to the Oz Jetboating pier and took a beating jetting around the harbor. They gave us all rain jackets with the caution that we might get wet. MIGHT? Talk about an understatement. Over the next 30 minutes we were driven around the harbor at neck breaking speeds only to whipped around as the drive performed what car enthusiasts call "whipping shitties". Every time the boat spun around, a tidal wave of ocean water spued over boat and all over everyone. Simply put, we were swimming in the harbor with a boat under us.

The day ended, as I mentioned before, with a visit back to the Opera House to see the Sydney Symphony perform and it was amazing. $30 for seats 3 rows back from the pit! Can't beat that!!

Jenolan Caves

Day 11

On a recommendation from the same company that arranged for the Great Ocean Road Tour, I got on a bus to the Jenolan Caves where massive rock formations were boasted about. The bus took us along a very scenic 3 hr drive heading into the mountains and reaching a peak of 1030 meters. At one point, we stopped at a place called Scenic Skyway. It was a rail car ride that brings you down into the mountainside to a boardwalk. I should back up, this rail car was no ordinary rail car, it was a sheer straight down plunge, roughly an 80* drop for about 500 meters. Offered a pretty amazing view of the mountains though. After arriving at the caves, I ate some lunch at the chalet like building nestled into the mountainside before heading into the caves. The path wound around all sorts of incredible rock formations, stalagmites, stalactites and stories about the early explorers who came through the caves with evidence of their presence with left behind equipment like ladders, ropes and other mine gear. It's crazy to see everything in there with the help of electricity only to sit there and think about early explorers coming inside with a candle and not knowing how far the cave system went. At one point, there was a gradual slope that was used by the earlier explorers as a faster way to the bottom of the cave by sliding down on burlap sacks. I'm a curious person so had the guide not kept such tight reigns on us, I might have stayed behind in some places and done some exploring myself.

Dildo

Day 10

Today I flew back to Sydney. On the way to the airport the taxi driver was very curious about me. He had seen my backpack and started asking questions about what I did. Apparently responding with 'i work for the government' wasn't good enough for him. I had read about a ghost tour online so I decided to check it out. Three hours and $42 later I realized I was never getting either back. What a waste. At first the guide seemed like she could have been interesting since she was dressed up like she was going to a matinee showing of a Harry potter film, but no such luck. She tried to tell scary 'real' stories about people who had died or ghost that had been reported by others who had been on the same tour....we weren't so fortunate to have experienced such an event. We did, however, have the opportunity to watch a purple dildo get tossed onto the ground during one of her rants about a guy who had his genitals cut off...like I said, that time is forever lost. Hoping to save the night I headed to a bar and grabbed a Guinness....bad life choice. Unlike the delicious brew from Ireland, this tasted like someone had taken yeast, squeezed out any remaining ale out of it and served it in a glass. Night not salvaged. Went to casino to blow some money, ended up winning some. Ironically on my way back to my room I saw one of the huge billboards that are all over the city shaking a finger at all drinkers and gamblers....double whammy on me tonight.

Rene Zelwigger

Day 9


Today I decided to sit back and relax a bit so I headed to the golf course across from my hotel. It was a simple course, no frills but apparently the road that wrapped around it was in fact part of the Formula 1 race track that is in Melbourne every year. After hitting the links I got some much needed laundry done and headed back to the hotel with dinner in hopes of enjoying some tv. Not sure what the fascination is with Renee Zelwigger but the only channel that wasn't the news or a random soap opera was a movie that she was in. And it played over and over and over and over the entire time I was in Melbourne. Tonight was no exception. So I drank until she was hot.

Great Ocean Road

Day 8


As everyone knows already, I am not a fan of guided tours, I hate being and looking like a tourist. Not sure what it is, but I want to blend in with my surroundings and just enjoy things without the added distraction of a crying baby or a family arguing about someone not smiling in a photo. Anyway, today I caved and took a guided tour of the Great Ocean Road and am glad I did. The drive followed the coast, surprising I know, but along the way there were short stops in coastal towns like Torquay, Bells Beach, Lorne City where you could camp right on the beach, Apollo City, and  National Forest where I saw koalas and hundreds of birds that swoop down on you and sit on your shoulders, arms and yes, your head. Eventually we made it to the famous Twelve Apostles which reminded me a lot of the Cliffs of Mhor in Ireland. They were amazing. The tour didn't allow much time to enjoy it before we were off to the Loch and Gorge, London Bridge and other sights. For dinner we stopped at a small ma and pop joint that served some really good fish and chips. All in all, this was one guided tour I would highly recommend, but only if you don't have a car of your own. Sadly, like all tours, I was at the mercy of the guide and didn't get to spend the time I had wanted to at some spots. Beautiful though.

SCUBA

Day 7

Today I headed to ocean divers to meet up with Mark, a dive guide from the Netherlands. We geared up and headed to Blairgowrie Bay in the north side of the bay since there was an inland wind. We got into the water, which was still a little cold, and hit the sea floor. It took me a few minutes to get accustomed to the weight belt I was using since it was steel weight and not sand bags like I use. I was flopping around like a fish out of water to be honest, ironic I know. Eventually I got my sea legs and made my way around. Although it was no great barrier, I did see sea horses, a banjo shark, sea slugs, a fish with massive eyes, a decapitated shark head and at one point almost got bit by a fish protecting its young inside a tire. All in all it was a pretty amazing experience, wish I had been able to find an underwater camera to get some photos....oh well.

Creepy Christmas

Today was a relaxing day, headed back to the Casino to see if I could get my $20 back and after 30min, won $25 at the roulette table. When I arrived, I stumbled upon a Christmas show they were setting up for when I was there the other day. It wasn't anything spectacular and took place in the rotunda. Honestly, some of the characters were a little....let's just say not oriented for children. They had a giant tree, a Christmas carousel and a creepy elf that popped out of a box during the course of the performance.

After narrowly escaping the freak show, I headed to the Galactic Circus (basically a glorified Chucky Cheese but with good alcoholic drinks) and spent the afternoon with people playing video games, bowling and quickshot basketball. When we were getting ready to leave, I handed a random family all the tickets I had earned (815) and walked out. Good deed for the day; done.

Finally the evening was here and we all headed to the Comic Lounge for a dinner and a show. Had a great time, good food, good booze, funny comedians. All in all it was a good day.

Get Layered

Woke up hungry so I asked Jayson, the quarky concierge, where a good place to grab some breakfast was and he pointed me down the road to a string of hole in the wall joints. I ended up at a mom and pop joint called Get Layered and had an amazing breakfast. The place was run by a nice Indian couple who started the place up about 8 months ago and they could make a mean eggs benedict.

Decided to stop by the Shrine of Remembrance for post WWI Australian Soldiers as I had heard a lot about it when I was researching Melbourne. At first, it seemed like a simple pyramid shaped monument with a small room on the inside. I was fortunate to walk in just as a tour was starting up so I tagged along. Much to my surprise, there was much more to this monument than met the eye. First, there is a stone in the middle of the room with the inscription "Greater love hath no man". There is a small aperture made in the wall high above this rock and at precisely 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month (Australia's "Remembrance Day") a ray of sunlight shines onto the rock and over the course of a minute, makes it's way across the inscription. Every year, without fail, since 1934. Mind you, no computers were used to calculate such a feat. One man figured it all out. If this wasn't enough, the Shrine had sub-levels with different rooms dedicated to the various units that have fought for Australia. I was very impressed with how much dedication the people of Australia had to their service members. This entire Shrine was built (cost roughly $14.6million today) through money raised by the citizens of Melbourne. That's dedication.


From there I made my way into downtown, came across an Immigration Museum and stopped in for a bit. Nothing much of note here, just a typical museum. While in downtown I tried my luck at The Crown Casino and ended up losing $20 on roulette. I had a sweet tooth after that and came across Roule Galette, a small hole in the wall joint run by a few french guys and offered crepes. Sadly, they did not compare to the crepes I ate almost daily at the base of  the Eiffel Tower in Paris. But what can you do?

Musk Eau De Toilette

Today I hopped a flight to Melbourne, smooth travel for the most part except for the first few hours after I landed. First, the taxi took me from the train station to my hotel took me to the wrong hotel....so I got to get one extra loop around the block, at my expense of course, before I made it to my hotel. To make it more interesting, when I approached the counter and gave them my reservation information, they told me they had no record of me. What!?! I had handed them my printed reservation (learned to do this from previous travels) and after an hour of waiting around, I got my room key. This should of been the end of my issues but when I opened the door to my room, it smelled like a combination of cigarette smoke, mothballs, and a rotting damp rag. It did have a nice view of the parking garage in the back alley that I was sad to depart with. Headed back downstairs to get a new room and was moved to the floor above which had a much cleaner room.

The rest of the day, what was left of it, I spent walking around and ended up at St. Kilda beach. Hung out there for about an hour when a nasty cold wind came in. Headed back towards the hotel, grabbed a lamb burger at Cushions and went to bed. Slow day but it was good to relax a bit.

Gray Line

Today I did what I don't normally do when i travel, I went on a city bus tour. I'm never a fan of things like this but what's the worse that could happen? I'll tell you!

This was possibly the worst tour I have ever been on of any kind. When you think city tour, you think the guide might talk about the history of the city, who founded it, places to see, things to do, great restaurants, but generally they would provide insight into the city's history....right? Yea, not this bus driver. Wow. He started off on, and this should have tipped me off, by pointing out an office building and asked 'how many people do you think work in that building? Huh? How many? I'll tell ya how many, 15,000 people work in that building, isn't that amazing?' ummmm what? As we continued on, he pointed out things like McDonalds drive thrus, banks, schools etc. He pointed all these things out with pride, as though no other town in the world had gems like these. Oh, and as if it wasn't enough to ask us to guess how many people worked in a building, he later pointed out a parking garage and asked 'how many buses do you think can fit in there? I'll tell ya, 48! Isn't that amazing?' No guy, it's not amazing. Amazing would be fitting those 48 buses into a clown car. Amazing would be seeing David Copperfield take 48 buses and make them disappear right before your eyes. 48 buses in a parking garage, not so amazing. To make matters worse, he was not only a bad tour guide, he was a horrible bus driver. The entire three hours of him babbling didn't help with the headache his driving was responsible for as he jerk the bus around corners, slammed on the brakes and pressed the gas hard when accelerating. The company responsible for this trip, Gray Line.

The only upside to this day was late in the afternoon when I made my way across the harbor to McMakhon's Point to find a Tapas Bar. I had done some research before coming to Sydney to find good places to eat and this was one of the ones I had read about. I remembered in Spain one of their staple foods was tapas which I loved so I wanted to get some here. The place was called Delicado Tapas Bar and they had great tapas, very expensive but good. They also had a really nice smooth drink called Pisco Sour.....definitely had a few too many of these.

Turbo

It was raining on and off again today so I made my way back to the harbor when it stopped and was able to walk around the Opera House before it started to pour. When I travel I try not to do to much scheduling of things to do, rather I have ideas of things I'd like to see and when I can fit them in I will. Today was a day just like that, the weather is foul so I headed to the Sydney Aquarium which came highly recommended from both website reviews well as the locals I talked to. I must say, clearly those who commented online and the locals have never been to Sea World or the Baltimore Aquarium because it was average at best. I did see some glow in the dark jellyfish and a fish that acted like a lightning bug (firefly for you Midwesterners following along). Other than that, nothing really stood out. Just a few small sharks.

At that point i was a little hungry so i started looking for a place to eat. They have what appears to be a copy of Burger King here except it's called Hungry Jacks. It has the same logo, look and food...except for one difference, they have Angry Onions. Of course, like anyone else out there who knows anything about anything, my first thought was 'I guess those darn pigs didn't stop at just making birds angry'. Curious, I ordered them. Turns out angry onions are just spicy onions....Slightly disappointed I headed back towards the harbor and stumbled across probably what will end up being a place I will frequent a lot....a small sushi joint at a subway station. It was only $1.20 a roll! Jackpot!! I grabbed four shrimp tempuras....dericious! Wynard station. Making note of that.

Later that night I went to Sydney Sky Tower which has the highest view from anywhere in the city. It offered a panoramic view so it was pretty cool to see the skyline at night. One small issue, although I went late at night, there was a group from a local school that had gone to the top as well...so it was a little difficult to get the shots I wanted. Somehow one of them heard me talking and thought my accent was funny so a group of them swarmed around me asking me to say various things. Oe boy in particular was rattling off all sorts of words, pizza, his name...but one word that stuck out was 'turbo'. Not exactly sure why he picked this but as soon as I said it, none of them could stop laughing. Never quite understood why that was humorous but I nonetheless provided them with some entertainment for the evening.

Booze Cruises

Today was a rainy hazy day. Yesterday was warm and nice, today not so much. I found the subway system, had a station right outside my hotel which was nice, and headed towards the Harbor. Walking around the warf there are plenty of tourism locations to help book events, activities and whatnot. I spent a good amount of time seeing everything each of them had to offer and eventually booked a few things, one being a harbor dinner cruise with an open bar! Oh yea!

The boat was an old paddle wheel that held about 200 some odd people and what a night we had. The food they served was really good and while we ate, a magician walked from table to table performing simple tricks. The win event was a Vegas style show with some very attractive performers. Of course, everyone is free to move around the boat at any time and this gave me the chance to get outside and take some amazing shots of the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Im getting pretty good at this photographing inannimate objects thing, maybe I should go freelance for newspapers or something.

There was one group of people who struck my interest as soon as I saw them walk in because I don't think they knew what type of show boat this was...they were Indian. I couldnt help but glance over at them periodically to see how they reacted to the show and every time I did, I was not disappointed! All the husbands were sitting there starring at the show girls (hardly wearing anything at all) while their wives, who were wearing their full traditional attire o include some of them with their faces covered, would go from glaring at their husbands to giving the evil eye to the performers. They were not a fan of the Mulon Rouge type performance with the ladies strutting across the stage half naked.

Anyway, I somehow made it back to my room and passed out. Great first day.

Red Light

From the airport I grabbed a cab to take me to the hotel I was to stay the first few nights at and once I got settled in my room, I took out the bottle of Jack and had a glorious glass of Jack and coke. I went downstairs and decided to explore the area around the hotel. I took the first step out into the city, breathed in a deep breath of fresh and and turned to head on down the road only to be treated with the warmest of welcomes by Sydney; a semi blind woman's seeing-eye-dog taking a crap in the middle of the sidewalk. Funny part is I knew she knew it was doing the deed because she was trying to continue to walk but the dog wouldn't budge It didn't take me long, mind you this is around 10am, to realize the neighborhood surrounding the hotel was clearly a vibrant red light district. Within the first few blocks I chalked up seeing sex shops, gentlemens clubs, transvestites, prostitutes, drug dealers and hobos. Seems to me those hotel reviews I read must have been from people who never ventured outside their room.

All in all I took it easy the first day, at one point I did find a pizza hut but they serve quite a different line up of pies. I eyed one that struck me, appropriately called 'The Aussie', and orded it. It had tomato, onion, bacon, chicken, mushrooms, but the unique part about it was the fried egg they put in the middle. I remember having something similar to this when I was in Italy with Jody my last R&R. It was delicious!

Woke up in the middle of the night, darn jetleg. I was hungry so I went out and found a Thai place where I got pad thai. As my luck would have it, they also had sushi! Great find!

Heading to the Harbor tomorrow. Can't wait!

Jack

Left for Ali Al Salem at 0200 this morning, got to Ali around 0330 and began the long and arduous process of getting out of theater. There is only one flight a day out of Kuwait international airport (KCIA) and that was at 0400. Sadly, KCIA is over an hour away so I got to spend an entire day at Ali doing absolutely nothing. I wasn't in any mood to sleep so I spent the day at the MWR watching movies they were playing. Helped pass the time for sure. When I finally was bussed over to KCIA, I went thru their security with no issues....with a 6in titanium dive knife in my bag. Wonder what other people were able to pass thru with...the first leg of my trip was to Abu Dhabi, a short one hour flight.

Walking out of the gate one of the first things I saw...the duty free shops! Heck yea!! Found a nice bottle of wine and handle of Jack Daniels. I found an outlet and plopped down to charge everything while surfing the Internet. While I was doing this, I was constantly being starred at by those walking by. Not sure if this was because I looked foreign or that I was sitting up against a wall with one of those belt walk ways just an arms reach away so everyone had to pass right by me. Who knows. The flight from Abu Dhabi to Sydney was great! Although it was one of the longer flights I have been on, the attendants were very nice and the alcohol was free! Can't beat that. Since I've been deployed I have tried to keep up on movies as they come out of DVD but found that the selection on the personal tv screen had a lot that I have not so I spent the next 10 hours starring at the monitor.

I finally arrived in Sydney around 6am local time and as I was heading through customs, there was Pavarotti lacking photos of someone heading out the terminal. I had no idea who it was though. Oh well. Sydney, here I come!

On The Road Again

As my mission in Joint Base Balad, Iraq wrapped up, I saw massive changes going on around me; dining facility closed, water point drop offs discontinued, WiFi shut off, PX closure...all these things were great indications that we are in fact finally leaving this desolate country. However, these amenities are simple facilities to shutdown, all it takes is a few containers to pack all their goods up and load it on a few trucks. The most dramatic change I saw up in Balad was when logistic trucks arrived in mass and emptied out the combat arms motor pool which were filled with tanks, track recovery vehicles and other heavy machinery. In a matter of one week, two battalion sized motor pools were vacated. The base turned into a virtual ghost town.

Personally, I had an Iraqi General visit my motor pool to inventory everything I would be leaving behind. Slightly nerve racking considering what happened up in Mosul when my convoy was forced out of Contingency Operation Site (COS) Marez as the Iraqi Army was coming through the unmanned gate to take the base over. Within 24 hours of the base being handed over to the Iraqi Army (IA), COS Marez was completely destroyed. US Forces left everything needed for the IA to simply come in, fill the generators up with fuel, turn them on and they could live there. Not exactly how the IA saw it. The IA went in there, took everything valuable out (TVs, fridges, microwaves, equipment etc) and then started tearing things up. I had a convoy up there that was forced to leave before having a chance to get any rest because their safety was in jeopardy. When I say the IA destroyed the base, there is no exaggeration in that. Walls were torn down, windows smashed....take it how you want but they are a corrupt society and always will be. So now I have an IA General rummaging through the building in my motor pool asking what I'm leaving behind. I gave him a broken office chair out of everything in the building. Enjoy buddy.

 I enjoy being on the road with my Soldiers. It gives me a chance to get to know them more, especially the ones who's truck I ride in. You figure after going on an 8 hour drive with someone, you get to know quite a bit about them....but that 8 hours is only one way...still got to make the drive back. Its on the road when I get the opportunity to take off the rank and work side by side with everyone. Went on a mission to COS Erbil but had to stop in COS Warrior before moving up thru the northern region of Iraq that's controlled by the Kurds. Getting to Warrior takes you through downtown Tikrit which is never an easy feat in the middle of the day with all the traffic. Fortunately on the way up, nothing happened to us in a historically bad area. Once in Warrior, I got to sit down in a DFAC again! Had eggs to order and bacon for the first time in nearly a month. The unfortunate side of being at Warrior is the living accommodations. In nearly every base we travel to, transients like us are not exactly high on the priority list for the mayor cell to give nice places to sleep in (even though we're there to get us out of Iraq, still not helpful). So in Warrior, the only place for convoy drivers to sleep is either in/on your truck or the gym floor. The only convenience this provided us was the ability to play midnight basketball for a few hours before bedding down. As resourceful as Soldiers always are, it was soon discovered that the padding along the walls were attached by Velcro. Those pads turned into our beds and were spread across the gym floor. What the mayor cell seemingly forgot to tell us was that there was a speaker inside the gym that broadcasted whenever there was a mortar attack. That morning, from 0600-0730 we received 7 mortar rounds, two of which I heard impact and rattle the gym. In that hour and a half, that speaker was almost always blaring the warnings to "Take cover! Incoming!" Sleep eluded me that morning. While driving around the base, I did see something that I found a little comical (and read about a few weeks later in the paper). I drove by the airfield and saw small little cessna single propeller one man airplanes that had "Iraqi Air Force" stenciled on the fuselage. Didn't see any way for a weapon to be mounted nor bombs be attached....not sure how much of a force you can maintain without either of these. Surprisingly enough though, while we were getting ready to roll out and were prepping in the staging lanes, I did see one of these planes circle overhead. Probably could have shot it down with my 9mm.

We pushed out of Warrior after another solid meal and into the Kurdish region where COS Erbil was. It got a little crazy at some points but most of the Iraqi Police up there were helpful when we halted in various places even rerouting traffic for us. At one point, a truck was weaving in and out of our convoy trying to make it past us when it tried to slip in between one of our trucks and a civilian truck. The pickup clipped the front end of the truck in front of me with it's tailgate causing it to spin out of control and down into a ditch some 50ft off the roadside. We halted the convoy and before we could even get out to help, 6 or 7 other civilian vehicles stopped and ran down to help. Amazingly enough the truck was still right sided and was able to crawl out of the ditch. We sent up our medic to provide any aide we could but everyone was just a little shaken up (father, mother and young daughter).

Heading into the Kurdish region there was a drastic change in just about ever aspect of my opinion of this country. The Kurds were not a part of Iraq but were taken over by Hussan years ago. They have their own flag they fly, their military and people are still very hospitable to US Forces as they have not forgotten that not long ago Iraq was run by a dictator and still view us as liberators, not occupiers. Just driving through the region you can tell that they care about what they have, cars were well kept, houses were spread out, saw quite a few houses with GRASS lawns and sprinkler systems....very strange to see. At one point we passed through farmlands...with full blown irrigation systems and giant sprinklers that you see in the plains of the midwest. CRAZY.


Our trip back from Warrior and into JBB we were not as fortunate in terms of being safe. Between Warrior and JBB there is the city of Tikrit which as I stated before, has a lot of traffic and at one point the road winds up and around causing a separation between trucks making them more vulnerable to attack. About 12 trucks in front of me, one truck was struck by two RKG-3s that ripped through the up-armored drivers side door. Ballistic glass was cracked like a spiderweb, pieces of the projectile bounced around the cab striking both occupants multiple times, door wouldn't stay shut and swung wide open exposing the two soldiers inside. What would your initial reaction be if this happened to you? Would you freeze? Would you yell STOP! TIME OUT! at the top of your lungs? Or would you do what these Soldiers did, lock and cock their M4s, point them out the door and get ready to engage? These two were extremely lucky, mostly the driver for had his head been an inch higher it would have blocked where the main body of the projectile exited. The driver, regained his momentary lapse of composure, realized his truck was still running, grabbed the door, held it shut, brought his truck back onto the road (ran up the curb after impact) and drove another 20miles to the safe zone where he finally received medical attention. It really hit home when we finally made it back to JBB where he was taken to the hospital and I was allowed into his room to see how he was doing. Shrapnel along his cheekbone, left arm and left leg and the passenger had some on her left arm. Based on the pattern of gashes had he not been wearing his eye protection he probably would have lost his eyesight. It could have very easily have been me. He was my driver two missions prior. I was in a truck just a few behind him when they were hit. I am not allowed to post photos of this on any website, nor will I, but the photos of the truck show just how lucky they both were. Combat truckers have to either be insane or avoid thinking about the fact that every time we roll, people are trying to kill us.

Anyway the mission my Soldiers and Airmen were tasked to do when we came up to Balad was to shutdown three bases in northern Iraq keeping to a strict timeline and we did just that. Prefect timing too because as we were rolling out the gate in Balad, the Iraqi Army was rolling in yet again (Ford F-350s with a mounted machine gun strapped to the roof and an IA soldier sitting in the bed on an office chair). It was a bitter sweet end rolling out the gate at JBB knowing that this was the last time this group of Soldiers would roll together.

As much as I wasn't looking forward to getting back to Camp Arifjan, I was ready for a steady diet and internet once again. But I will not soon forget the Soldiers I had the privilege of leading, time spent sitting on the roof over my motor pool at night shootin' the s**t with new friends over near-beer, playing basketball with young enlisted, and lightning storms over the staging lanes in VBC. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

October Skies

My truck....mirror

Shutdown mode. That's what gear everyone is in. Finally.

Small town

Tent (with working A/C!)

I took a convoy up to Marez (near the city of Mosel in northern Iraq) last week with a crew of about 87 Soldiers to grab some cargo and bring it south. Usually my convoys run with gun truck security that belongs to me as well but this time, we had to outsource to an external unit.

Some of the trash

The agreement we made with them was to allow them to be in charge of the tactical movement while we are on the road. Big mistake. These guys are mandated to travel a top speed of 35mph compared to our 45mph. To those of you reading this, neither sounds very fast but it makes a world of difference. The distance to Marez from here is 242miles one way so on average it takes us about 6-7 hours. Nope. Not this time. We spent 15 hours on the road traveling a top speed of 30mph. Obviously there are vehicle breakdowns that we have to deal with, Class I downloads (bathroom break) and things of that nature but still, our normal drive time was 6-7hrs and this trip we doubled it. Once we arrived at Marez, we sat in the upload yards for another 6 hours until our trucks started to be loaded. Finally, after just over a 25 hour day, we headed to our billets. Wow did they spare no expense for transient lodging!

Outstanding

I'm not one who really cares where I lay my head so cots don't bother me since it's expected when you're on the road. I was referring to the area surrounding us. The place was a mess. Trash all over the ground. Newspapers thrown about inside the bathroom trailer. No toilet paper. That's right, no toilet paper....guess that explains the newspapers. Fortunately I was an Eagle Scout once so I brought a supply just in case but still...lucky for you all I decided not to take pictures of the INSIDE of each of the toilet bowls....

Nothing more romantic that a sun setting over a military convoy

Moving through a checkpoint

After we finally did get some rest, we got up at 2am to get ready to move back south only to find out that the loads they had placed on our trucks were wrong. Spent the next 6 hours taking loads off and putting new ones on. We finally were able to leave Marez with the hope of traveling faster than 30mph. No such luck. It took us another 15 hours to get back. It was painful.

I will tell you all this: The only Service Members tax payers are getting their monies worth are the combat truckers who work for me. The trucks we drive have very little room to move around in. Your legs stay bent at 90* with your knees right up against the sheet metal where your tracking/messaging system is mounted. Every bump along the road, no matter how small it is, jostles your body so you're in constant battle for control, especially of your head and neck. Your knees are banging up against the sheet metal causing them to be raw, bruised and very tender by the end of mission. These trucks are not designed to be lived in yet all of them find a way to contort themselves into a semi comfortable position to catch some much deserved shut eye after putting in a 20 hour day and waiting in the yard for loads. Each of them spent over 15 hours crammed into a vehicle driving along the most dangerous roads in the world where before they roll out they know there are people out there trying to kill them, got served horrible food at the DFAC, got put up in tents that were trashed on the outside and inside, showers that didn't have warm water, newspaper for toilet paper and still they laugh and joke and the very next day they do it all over again. Who does that? Who gets into a vehicle every day knowing that there is someone out there trying to kill them? It takes guts which each and every one of them have. These are the ones who put their lives on the line daily without hesitation.

Catching some shut eye

Things are getting pretty scarce around here. Last night was the Last Supper which was an utter disappointment. Over the last week or so there has been a dwindling supply of food altogether in the DFAC (dining facility) but I woke up yesterday with the hope that maybe they were holding back on a stash of food to go out with a bang on. When I entered the DFAC there was a very long line, much longer than usual so my spirits were lifted. Unfortunately the line was only long because everyone knew the DFAC was serving the last meal and could run out at any time. I walked up and down the serving line I opted out of it in hopes of getting a sandwich. Got to the sandwich bar only to find that there was no bread to put any of the toppings on to even create one. It was at that point that I walked back to the main serving line and ended up getting a few stripes of chicken gyro and some stale pita-like bread. I then walked over to where a 2 gallon vat of soup stood simmering, took a thin plastic bowl and dipped the ladle in.  The ladle hit rock bottom without so much as finding either noodles or chicken. I scrapped the bottom of the bowl and carefully lifted the ladle nearly 10 times to fill my bowl up. As I approached the table where everyone was sitting, each of them looking just as disheartened as I did, I wished I had a camera to take a photo of my tray. Looks like I'll be starting that crash diet until I get out of here.

Economic Crisis; Victims of Our Own Success

While everyone is floundering around asking when the current recession will end and turning to our president to create jobs out of seemingly thin air, I can only sit back and laugh at just how ridiculous the general populous is. Take a moment if you will and chew on this thought for me:

Back in the early 1900s a man by the name of Henry Ford started his own automobile company. Having amazing foresight, he realized that in order to be successful he needed to do two things, the first was pay his employees enough to be able to afford the cars he was trying to sell. The second, and most importantly to his success was his "creation" and application of the assembly line to keep the price of his car low. Whether or not he created the assembly line is up for debate but he perfected it. Soon his factory was spitting out relatively cheap cars that the middle class could afford with the speed off the production line that keep the market happy.

Little did he know with the application of the assembly line by Ford Motor Company, that at the time brought many jobs to millions of Americans over the coming years, he had inadvertently created the very thing that is now crippling our country: wealth by speed.

You see, no matter what you're selling, producing, creating, the bottom line of a company is to make a profit, however possible. As technology increases, the need for human employment decreases. On top of that, humans are starting to live a lot longer which means people are not retiring as early or if they do, the cost to the government to uphold it's Social Security is increasing. The population is by no means going down, in fact it's increasing at an alarming rate. Remember those jobs Ford created with the assembly line? Robotics which are faster, more efficient, make no mistakes, don't take smoke breaks, lunch breaks, clock in late, need maternity leave, holidays off, require no sleep, and very little maintenance, it's no wonder companies pay a lot up front for something that basically pays for itself in no time. It all boils down to money. Jobs aren't being 'lost' they're just being given to something that can do it better.

In the end, we are suffering the inevitable; more machines equals less jobs. More people equals more competition for what jobs remain. No one can create jobs out of thin air to solve our current unemployment situation. No, not even the almighty Obama.

Never forget 9/11

Steel Scorpions

It's been a while since I last was able to get on this thing and fill you all in on what's been doing on so bare with me as I try and recap the past month or more....

On the 18th of July myself and 4 Airmen went to Ali Al Salem to head up to Joint Base Balad (JBB) and start prepping for our mission up there. After waiting for 4 hours, we found we were bumped off the flight and would have to stay the night at Ali. I've spent a few nights at Ali before and I was not looking forward to being put up in another tent with poor air conditioner. Fortunately being around Air Force guys, we were able to head over to the Air Force side of the Airbase and got put up in billeting....much better billeting than what we'd of been stuck with on the Army side. Guess it pays to know these guys.

Iraqi Kids Day....they loved my iPad

When we finally did arrive at JBB, the original plan was our Brigade (who had been at JBB for 8 days already) was going to arrange for our permanent housing, CHUs (container housing units) but when we got out of the terminal, we were told that the All American billeting (open bay bunk bed housing) would be our lodging accommodations for the night. Awesome. I've been there before so I knew what to expect but it's not a place to stay for longer than a day or two. In the middle of the night, the C-RAM went off just outside the billeting...welcome to Balad.

Another thing our Brigade was suppose to arrange for us was a motor pool to stage our trucks, an office to operate out of, vehicles to drive around base, and billeting for the 121 Soldiers and Airmen that I would have under the Task Force I am in charge of. No such luck. Turns out if we wanted anything to happen for US we'd have to do it ourselves since their focus was on themselves. First thing first, transportation. Once again knowing Air Force guys helped us get a pickup truck to use for the short term. Unfortunately the air condition in the truck wasn't stellar. It took 10 days for Brigade to hand over a vehicle for us to use because they figured since we had managed to get one that we should be ok....guess they didn't understand that our living area, office, motor pool, and truck maintenance support were all over 2 miles apart from each other so with no cell phones or way of communicating it isn't possible to just drop my commo guy, maintenance guy and truckmaster off at their various locations since at any given time they might have to head somewhere else. After 10 days of not being fully functional, Brigade handed over the keys to a vehicle allowing my guys to do their jobs.

My room

Next was to get out of the transient billeting and into our CHUs. This became a process! Took nearly an entire day to get everything worked out but after spending a day in them, we realized we had moved into the ghetto to the point of trying to decide if we should go red on our weapons (chambering a round) before leaving to head to the laundry facilities. Speaking of those...Senior Schraner and I spent 3 hours there doing our laundry with the air conditioner not working. That was the breaking point. The next day we headed to the Air Force housing office and once again, knowing upper level Airmen pays off...they arranged for us to have CHUs in the gated community...yea, that's right, the Air Force has a sectioned off gated community with cipher locks that are changed constantly....I think I need to transfer to the Air Force!

The Office

Our office space has slowly come together. I brought up two computers to use but what good is a computer without a desk to set it on, a network connection, chairs, you know..things for an office? It took us a few days to scrounge these up and now we’ve got a semi decent looking office space. We moved into room that has expose wiring all over the place, the plywood floor boards sag when you walk over them and somehow there are boot prints on the warped ceiling…we ended up getting some chairs….rolling ones….but they didn’t roll. Small challenge.

After the first week here, we started receiving our convoys who will be operating out of here and that’s when things started getting hectic. Sleep became a luxury (as difficult as it was with my loud neighbors and a/c unit that sounds like a car going through a garbage disposal) as did food. Breakfasts consisted of a handful of trail mix and a protein shake, lunch was normal and dinner ceased to exist.

This is what my schedule for that week looked like:

Monday

0630 Get up

0700 Breakfast

0800-1700 Work

1800 Dinner

2000-2330 Get some sleep

2330 Get up

Tuesday

0001 Visit the TOC (Tactical Operation Center) to verify inbound convoy

0100 Link up with new convoy team

0130 Escort convoy to yard

0145 Welcome brief

0230 Escort convoy to billets

0330-0730 Get some sleep

0800-1800 Work

1800 Eat

2000-2330 Get some sleep

2330 Get up

Wednesday

0001 Visit the TOC to verify inbound convoy

0100 Link up with new convoy

0130 Escort new convoy to yard

0145 Welcome brief

0230 Escort convoy to billet

0330-0800 Get some sleep

0800-1800 Work

1800 Eat something

1900 Get some laundry done

2300 Visit TOC, find out convoy is delayed

0001 Get some sleep

Convoy Loading up

Thursday

0800 up

0900-1800 Work

Skipped dinner

1830-2030 Get some sleep

2100 Visit TOC

2330 Finally find out convoy is delayed

2345 Grab some food at midnight chow

Friday

0030-0230 sleep

0230 Link up with new convoy

0330 Escort new convoy to yard

0345 Welcome brief

0400 Escort convoy to billets

0630 Work out

0800-1300 Work

1300-1630 Nap

1700 Daily meeting

So there's just a glimpse of how sporadic that week was. I think one day I remember sitting in the truck waiting on Chief Schraner and I had a crossword out on the steering wheel...I fell asleep (sunglasses on) and when I woke up to him getting in the truck, the my hands hadn't moved keeping the crossword up as if I was still awake. Overall, it's not too bad. The crew I brought up here to support this mission have been really good to work with. It's different working strictly with Air Force guys but I've learned a lot from each of them.


With how things have been going with my higher unit, we as a group have to find comedy in whatever we can...at any given time. Just last week, as I was walking towards the shower trailer I thinking about how much it would suck to take indirect fire (mortar attack) right then because I had to go to the bathroom so bad and having to duck into a bomb shelter until the all-clear was sounded would have resulted in an unsanitary bunker....fortunately for me, just as I opened the door to the trailer, the Klaxen (siren and 'take cover! take cover!') sounded. I turned to see that another army guy was just a few steps away so I held the door for him. As I step into the trailer, an Airmen dove for the floor, sliding towards me, toothbrush in hand, and covers his head. The other Army guy and I step over him like nothing happened. Might sound dry or whatever but if a round hits exactly where we were (a trailer surrounded by concrete barriers), it was our turn to die, no use getting all worked up.

One day earlier this month the base sponsored what they called "Iraqi Kid Day" where the youth of the surrounding towns/villages were allowed on base to hang out with volunteers. They had the rec center set aside for games, face painting, food, and dancing (hokie pokie, macarena etc). I hadnt volunteered and didnt know it was going on so when I walked in the door, it was a littler weird. The reason I had gone there was to get on the internet with my iPad. As soon as I took it out, there were little boys asking me what it was, how it worked....so I opened up the camera and showed them pictures and took pictures of them. Bad idea! As soon as I did this, all of them wanted to take it and make video, take photos of themselves....which isn't the part that I minded, it was when they were playing tug-o-war with it to the point where it almost got dropped multiple times....on top of that, they stole my soft cap and worse yet, my sunglasses! In the end, I got everything back, some good photos/videos and a good story to tell.

Lieutenant General Goldfein

Although things have settled down a bit and we have found a routine, things are always coming up to change things. For example, this mission is very high visibility...it is so much of an interest that an Aif Force 3-star general who had flown in to Iraq to check up on the operations of this base that he etched out a small piece of time to come down to where my Airmen and Soldiers live to meet them and say a few words. This general has literally thousands of Airmen who fall under his command (He's the highest ranking Air Force in all of Iraq), and he took time to come talk to us. Pretty sweet.

All in all, it's hard to think that a month has already gone by since I first got here and the progress that has been made. We couldn't have gotten where we are had it not been for the Air Force guys I'm working with. It's been a good experience so far and I am always learning. 

Perpetual Haze

So it's been an interesting month. As I get closer to executing the plan I orchestrated, more things come up to make sure it runs smoothly. I know that no matter what, no matter how much planning and preparation I do before it begins, there will still be things that are out of my control that will need to be dealt with when they arise. The A/C in our tent keeps going out so over the last few weeks I'd say nearly 10 days of those have been without the A/C working (today is another of those days). June/July are also the dustiest months of the year and the last 30 days has kept that streak going....we've had sand storm after sand storm, one of which lasted 2 days. I realized this deployment, and cannot remember if i mentioned it last time I was here, that the stars are not visible at night when you look up. There is so much dust/crap in the air, a perpetual haze, that the stars are completely blocked. To continue my current rant on the weather conditions here, we had a few days this week of premature humidity levels. So to add to the already 110*+ temps I had the pleasure of walking out of buildings/tents and into air that was heavy and thick. I remember it being humid during the 'winter' months out here last time but we got a sneak peek at what it'll be like in a few months. Can't wait.

Finally, now the 'war' can end!

I was able to drive about an hour from here to Ali Al Salem Airbase a few weeks ago when Kyle flew in to start his deployment. Took me a while to find him since no one at the terminal had a manifest nor knew when the flight was due to arrive. After spending a few hours waiting, I saw a group walking into the tent and he was one of them. We were able to hang out for most of the day, grabbed some food, hit up the USO/MWR and whatnot. It was good to see him and I expect to see him again in the near future after I move.

Yes, I am moving. Remember that plan I had designed? Well, I was tapped to execute it since I know everything there is to know about it. Thing is, I've learned that what I came up with was not what Big Army had wanted but a two star general bought off on my plan and stuck his neck out to get a three star general to go with it so now I'm suppose to go and make it work.....soooooo if all goes well, I'm a genius.....if I fail, I'm a scapegoat and Obama will be able to blame me for not meeting his timeline. Basically if I fail, I should just hitch a ride to nowhere....no pressure right? I have no doubt that with the individuals I will be working with and have working for me (roughly 120 Airmen and Soldiers that could flex up to just over 200) will be able to make it happen. I'll be gone for about two months, give or take, which I am looking forward to as it is currently 122* outside which is roughly 10* hotter than up north. I think I may have once made the comparison of a 'breeze' here being like someone taking a hair-dryer on its highest setting and blowing your face with it (toss in some sand too).....well lately, with the humidity it was more like that moment when you open an oven door and you get blasted with hot air....only continual....for 2 days....

Anyway, internet will be a little more sparse while I'm up north but I'll try my best to keep in touch and get another edition pumped out when I can! Hope all's well back home!

In Remeberance

Taken November 2007

Today marks the 5th anniversary of the death of 1LT Forrest P. Ewens who was a senior when I arrived at Gonzaga in 2003. My first interaction with him was at Drill and Ceremony during the first weeks of ROTC. He was a light hearted, fun loving individual who took it upon himself to mentor and develop myself and two others (Annie Gerding and Seth Wilkin). He was killed when his all-terrain vehicle struck an improvised explosive device during combat operations in Pech River Valley, Afghanistan. Every day since I heard about his death, I have worn a KIA bracelet to remember him.

It's finally starting to warm up out here....last weeks averages were right around 115*. As odd as it may sound, sometimes it feels good to walk out of an air conditioned building and into that heat. The last few mornings on my way to the gym it has been unseasonably cooler though, probably around 80-85*. But that's at 5am so there's little time to enjoy it since by 715 on my way to chow its not as pleasant. Mother nature definitely tries to stay balanced out here....the clear, cool mornings have been followed by afternoon/evening dusts storms. Trying to decide if the morning calm is worth the evening storm....

I've gotten into a good rhythm, been at my new position for going on six weeks now and have already made a decent impact on the 'game plan' for getting equipment out of Iraq. Without going too into detail here, I was tasked out with creating a plan to relocate a FOB (Forward Operating Base) to assist in the draw-down of Iraq. After receiving guidance from my boss and Battalion Commander (BC), I put the plan together, briefed my BC who gave the thumbs up. After this point, I had to brief the brigade plans staff (5 Lieutenant Colonels) for approval to present it to the Brigade Commander. They gave the nod on the plan with small recommendations and the next day, I was at briefing the Brigade Commander and his boss, a Brigadier General. Long story short, the General wanted a copy of my plan to brief to his boss....not to toot my own horn but it's kind of a big deal.

Since transitioning to day shift, I've finally gotten into a good workout rhythm (P90x again), hitting the gym 6 days a week. Since I'm typically too tired after I get off work to spend time in the gym, I have been getting up around 5am, get to the gym by 520 and workout. This past week I added new pre/post workout recovery drinks as well. After my workouts I'm pretty beat up but it feels good. The new program I'm doing along with only eating specific foods (breakfast: egg whites scrambles with veggies and a few strips of bacon; lunch/dinner: huge chicken salad) will hopefully make a difference. I'm already feeling a difference in energy and whatnot, we'll see about the rest eventually.

It looks like Kyle will be heading this way within the next few weeks into western Iraq. I'm working on getting to where he'll be at some point in August hopefully for a few days.

Anyway, the upside to the heat is the family of birds that have been nesting just above my bed in the building's gutters has finally moved on relieving me of the constant chirping and scraping of claws as they scurry about. Yes, scurry. Birds here don't fly much and when they do, it's a very very short distance. As it has gotten hotter, it appears that the distance from the ground to the gutter is too great of a flight....fine by me! Of course, the downside is that the A/C in my work tent hasn't ran in 4 days turning our tent into a lukewarm oven. I was looking to shed a few pounds but seriously...not what I had in mind.

Sunday is Father's Day so Happy Father's Day Dad. I'll see if I can squeeze a phone call in somewhere. Things here have been going pretty well, staying busy and as always there are things to complain about but when Soldiers aren't complaining, something is wrong....

Comfortable Familiarity

It's already been a month. Hard to believe but just like last time, the first few months tend to go by quickly. Being back here has been a little weird, but at the same time it's like I never left. Some things have changed, a few new buildings (a new dining facility), but mostly it is exactly how I left it August 2009.

When I was here last, I befriended a barber from India. When we first met, I asked him where he was from, a town west of Channai. As soon as I told him I had been there only a few years ago, his eyes lit up and he immediately said "It's nice, no?" Every two weeks I would go for a haircut and I would be sure he was the one to do it. It wasn't because I felt he did a better job, or that he spoke good English (because he knew only a few words, "Hello Sir", "How are you Sir?", "Same cut Sir?"), I did it because I knew that he took the job here to support his family back home and that every cent of the tip I left for him was going right back to India. As I was entering the barber shop to get my first haircut for this deployment, I scanned the room hoping to see him again. I didn't see him. But within seconds of stepping foot into the room, out of nowhere his beaming face called out to me and directed me back to the same chair he had been using for at least 3 years now. After exchanging "Namaste", in broken English he said "It's been long time" and to my surprise, "Same cut Sir?"

Along with finding that my usual hair cut was remembered, the all too familiar Stars and Stripes Newspaper is again part of my daily routine. Best part of that is the crossword I do. Nothing like the New York Times in difficulty rating but it's something that keeps my mind sharp.

One of the more noticeably waste of money spent by our government was on upgrades made on port-a-johns. I scratched my head and continue to mull over how this upgrade had gotten through the bureaucracy when the US has been in a recession the last 3 or 4 years. What's the upgrade? Figure this one out: All port-a-johns now have porcelain toilets and urinals with full flushing capabilities (self contained though which still requires a sewage truck to pump it out and a potable water truck to refill the water tank above the port-a-john). A quick Google search for pricing (literally just checked this @ plumbingsupply.com) shows that a brand new porcelain urinal is around $175 each and a porcelain toilet bowl according to newtondistributing.com is around $137 each. There are literally thousands of port-a-johns here alone...who the heck approved this to waste money like that??

Oh, and of course, just like last time, I got the Kuwaiti Krud again...love it.

One of the things I had to deal with the first weeks being here was living in a building that did not have unit integrity, meaning that myself and 2 other Captains were the only ones from our unit it in. Everyone else was from various other units deployed here. Being that I was the only one on night shift in the entire building and since there was no way to set down rules on being quiet at all times, my first weeks here for sleeping was miserable. I get off work around 10 or 1030am, head back to shower and get in bed by 1130. Problem was, the other people who lived in the building would come in during their lunch break, talking loud, turning up their music and turning on their TVs and lights. I spent the first few weeks getting very little sleep, being woken up multiple times by people shouting at each other from across the building. I finally got fed up with having to go into various areas and asking that TVs/iPods etc be turned down so I could sleep so I moved out of that building and into a new one. I hated having to pack all my things up and move them to a new building a few hundred yards away and all the work it took to get set up in my new place but I am thankful I did and have gotten really good sleep since. I have a bigger area to spread out in (lived in a 6ftx6ft in the old building). I'd say its probably about 6ftx20ft. Much better.

Oh, and going with the seemingly normal way the military works, I will be starting new job Sunday. I was originally slotted to be the Night Battle Captain for the first month to fill in for LT Turk who is arriving in the next few days and once he did I was to work a swing shift to oversee the day and night shift battle captains since I did the job last time I was deployed. However, my boss has informed me that with the current draw down plan upon us, he needs someone to take over the planning portion of how we will be executing the withdrawal efforts of the remaining units (approximately 100,000 Soldiers). Apparently the captain covering down on that job isn't getting it done and based on the bragging my previous bosses had done for me about my abilities, I got plucked out of what was planned originally and now I will be thrown into a job that I am an entire month behind in the knowledge power curve. Should be fun. It's a challenge and even though I'm sure its going to be tough, I know it's a good way to progress in my career.

Its going to be a busy 11 months....

Old Basic Training Blog

In the process of moving out of my house before I deployed a few weeks ago, I found an old journal I kept when I went through Cavalry Scout Basic Training at Fort Knox, KY back in 2002. I have recently finished typing them out, keeping with the accuracy of what I wrote and when I wrote it as best I could. My writing style has evolved over the years (thank God) but rememeber, I wrote these 'memoirs' in the middle of the night with a red-lens flashlight, pausing as Drill Sergeants and Fire Guard personnel walked by (since I should have been sleeping). Anyway, just thought some of you might want to take a look at them. Wish I was able to put more down as I was going through it to really give you all a picture of what I went through, but it's something. Enjoy.

Welcome Back!

So here I am again, back in the desert of the middle east. The journey here all started with Amy and I finishing the packing of all my worldly possessions into a 16x8x8 POD in my driveway and then heading to fort eustis at 2am last friday morning. Sadly, in my hast to get on post, a state patrolman pulled me over....and gave me a summons for speeding. Even after seeing that I was in my army uniform, with the back seat full of my gear and explaining to him that I am deploying for a year. Still got a ticket. Thanks for the professional courtesy. Anyway, ended up making the flight, of course right? Never have I missed a flight I don't want to be on. But this deployment is different, I do want to be out here. I'm with a whole new group of people this time and am excited to be here with them.....that was until our second day in Kuwait when we got nailed by a horrible sandstorm. You couldn't see more than 5ft and if you didn't shield your face, you got a free exfoliation out of it. Probably top 3 sandstorms I've ever been in. Felt like a 'welcome back kris' by the desert.

Anyways, after a few days of useless training in Buehring, we headed to our home for the next 12 months, Camp Arifjan. Being back here has been a little odd, kinda like not being home for a long time and then returning. Everything is familiar but there have been a few new things built and changes made as well. I've moved into my new living area, a small room, probably 20x20x20 with two other captains. My area is smaller than my last place I was 2years ago. I'd say its about 6x9 with two wall lockers and a bunk bed. It's been a little erie being back here, sort of like moving out of an old house only to return a few years later with someone else living in it. It seems familiar but not entirely the same. I feel strangely comfortable though, as if I never left....doesn't seem like 18 months ago I got back from my last deployment.

Everything is good here, settled in for the most part. Got my living area almost how I want it....all I need is some Propel powder drink mix and I'm set!!! Oh, I found out that there are a few other officers here that I know from the various training i've taken part in over the years. Besides that, I deployed with a group of officers and enlisted that I have developed a closer relationship prior to deploying unlike last time where I just hopped on a month before the unit headed here. Overall, it feels right to be here and that gut feeling is how over the years I have always been able to tell that I am where I should be and doing what I should be doing. If anyone is looking to send things here (to me or Soldiers) my address is:

Captain Nichols, Kristopher
JTLF 6
APO AE 09366