Austrailian's Rock!

Let me just say that if I ever get the chance to go to war with an Australian unit, you probably wouldn't even have to pay me! I got to work today and found out that we had been invited to a BBQ being held by the Australians on their camp. Cool I thought, but man I had no idea.
Before I get into the the Australians I need to explain a few things about being over here. I am extremely lucky to have the job I have. Working with all the different nations provides me a lot of unique opportunities most soldiers don't get. For example, this BBQ was held on another camp, so we had to travel. Even here in Kuwait that is a big deal. We are not so worried about IED's like up north, but you still don't just go driving off into Kuwait. In fact a fair number of soldiers on this camp will not leave it, except to go on R&R or if it is a sponsored trip to a cultural event.

We went through all the steps to get permission to go, got our weapons and ammo and off we went. The great thing about my job is I get to go off base a lot. We need to deal with our coalition partners that are spread all over Kuwait, so getting permission to go wasn't tuff. We get up to where the Aussie's are and pull into their camp, Billabong Flats they call it. Man it was cool! They have a little grassy area where they flew their flag, real nice patio type setup, a real decent place to be. Do you know how odd it is to see grass here? We go walking up and turn the corner and we see a real live BBQ happening. Music, food, people all chillin out. Check out the pic. It's a real BBQ, minus the alcohol.

They did have a bar, complete with pool table and all. Non Alcoholic beer, Beck's actually, it was 50 cents a bottle! We had burgers, streaks, all the fixin's. Man those Australians know how to fight a war! Me being me I mingled around. We had a pretty good time but didn't stay long. We had a mission to go check on over on the other side of the camp so we headed out after about 2 hours.

As if having a BBQ after being in a war zone for a few days was not weird enough, I ran into my former Battalion Commander's daughter! Yeah really crazy. I was eating with my two Sergeants and talking to some Korean Air Force guys when this soldier walks by. I saw her name tag and it was my BC's last name, not a common name. I knew it had to be her because she looks just like my BC's wife. Just before I left he told me to keep an eye out for her if I got up to this camp. So I got up and went up and asked her, sure enough it was her! She was like, " Oh yeah he told me one of his commander's was coming here!" We were both like "weird". Anyhow I snapped the pic to send to her mom and dad. She asked me not to tell them she was hanging around a bunch of Australian guy's. Hope they don't read this ;)

Life at Camp Arifjan

I wanted to post a few pics of my tent. I'll post more pics to this entry as I get them. I can't really show a whole bunch of stuff for security reasons, but I think you'll get the idea. Well enjoy. I am off to have Starbuck's. Yeah, crazy. I still can't get over the fact that I can get Starbuck's 24/7. Hell It is easier for me to get a cup of coffee here than it is in DC! Go figure!

The tent pics are where I live. You'll know when I move becuase I will definatly write about that day! The soldier at the tent is not me!

24

My first day here in Kuwait has not been to bad. I mean really, how do you complain when you are sitting in my air conditioned tent, on my bunk, drinking a Starbucks Iced Carmel Machiatto? Really, I bought it at the Starbucks next to the PX. Paid the same as I did in DC, about $3. Camp Arifjan (AJ) has it all, PX, pool, Starbucks, Pizza Hut. All the comforts of home. Yes I am living in a tent. Yes I have to walk about 300 yards to the latrine/shower. Yes it is about 115 degrees here by 1 PM. All true, but when you realize how hard, I mean really hard those guys up in Iraq have it, this is the lap of luxury.

The section I will be working in wanted to give us some time to acclimate to the climate as well as jet lag so we had yesterday and this morning off. We start in-processing this afternoon. Yesterday, I tooled around post a bit, bought some stuff at the PX. IM'd Emily. Watched "Letters form Iwo Jima" at the MWR tent. Unpacked some stuff and went to sleep. The highlight was definitely the movie.

If you haven't seen "Letters from Iwo Jima" yet, I recommend it. It may be my situation, but I found it a great commentary on war. The movie is half of Clint Eastwoods' effort to illustrate the fact that wars are fought by people on both sides that believe in their cause, and believe they are doing the right thing. People, regular people who have families and want better for the next generation The other half of the effort is "Flags of our Fathers". Letters tells the story form the Japanese side, Flags from the American side. I haven't seen Flags yet, but I hope to soon. The MWR tent is open 24/7 and you can borrow DVD's if they aren't showing anything you like. Let me tell you. Blockbuster got nothing on these dude's, they have all kinds of movies.

Today I woke up about 0400. IM'd Emily, you will find that I do that a lot ;) Then I went and did PT. I stretched a lot, because I haven't done PT in a while, then went for a slow run on the treadmill for about 30 minutes. Headed over to the DFAC for breakfast. Man, I need to be careful over there. They have a ton of food, and it is all pretty good. This morning I had Scrambled eggs, sausage and french toast. Orange/pineapple juice, and coffee. A banana and a plum rounded out the feast. I stayed away from the rest of it because I just know I could eat myself into a stuper. Anyhow, chow is pretty good. There isn't much you cant get. They even have the neat little tubes of Crystal Light for bottled water! Good stuff, because water in the quantity we drink it gets pretty bland!

So I'll be hanging around the tent until after lunch. Going to try to limit lunch to a burger and fries, as opposed to 2 burgers, fries, pie, coleslaw, potato salad, cookies, and an ice cream sandwich which was yesterday's lunch!

Praying

I wanted to paint you a picture of my last few hours in the US. I hope that after you read about this experience you are as struck as I was at what a great country this is and why we must, at all costs protect our fragile way of life.

On my way to the gate to board my plane I passed the chapel. I figured I ought to stop in and say a few words, ask a few favors of God. Besides I could spend some time looking up the bible passage that describes why Moses did not get to enter the promised land (a story about why that came up will have to wait). So there I sit, non demonitional chapel, bible opened to the old testament in my lap. Keep in mind this is no cathedral, the whole room might be 8' x 10' and it has chairs and an alter in it.

So as I sit in walks this guy, an airport worker. I'm in the 2d row of chairs. He takes off his shoes and walks up to the front past me and rolls out the prayer rug kept there. I ask him if he'd like me to leave. He shakes his head: "no, no. of course not" a little broken, very accented but clear enough. He had no problem me being there reading the Christian bible, clearly on my lap.

At this point we are about 3 feet from one another. He begins his ritual of praying toward Mecca. I keep reading. A few minutes goes by, in walks another guy. This fellow kneels down in another row, again about 3 feet from me. So we all three are within about 6 feet of one another. This guy starts praying, clearly in a Christian manner. So here we are; a Muslim, a Catholic reading the Jewish portion of the bible , and a Protestant of some sort clearly praying to a Christ. Then the most amazing thing happened.........nothing. No bomb, no IED, no protest, nothing. The guy behind me got up and left when he was done. The Muslim finished up, rolled the rug and nodded as he went by. I said "Have a good day." He replied "Yes. You too. Good Day."

How about that. An American Soldier, in uniform, on his way to Iraq, reading about Moses, while a Christian and a Muslim pray within arms reach. If that does not just hit you right in the head with this is the greatest country ever, than nothing ever will. Yeah we eat to much McDonald's. We invented Baseball and Nuclear weapons. But we also have shit like this happen a thousand times a day all over the country. And that folks is why I am going down to Gate E-38 and going to battle against those that would rather the three of us turned that Chapel into a boxing ring.

Making the Grade

Being the studious sort I am, I started a Master's program about 3 weeks before I found out I was deploying. I thought I would have plentty of time and few distractions so I would be able to knock out a class easy. Well things changed quickly. Alas in the middle of Deploying, moving Emily back to DC, selling a house, and packing up the house I had to complete this class.

Now, I really am no kind of student. In fact I hate school, always have. All that being as it is I am happy to report that I have completed my first class and received a passing grade. In fact I received a 98.79%!!!! Yeah it is that big a deal that I decided it needed to go on the blog.

Finally Flying

A mere 4 weeks after I reported to Ft McPherson I am now in the last few hours before I fly out. My four duffle bags are checked in, I have my boarding pass. I am hanging around the USO waiting to board my flight. I have to give the USO the recognition they are due. Most of you know the USO as the organization that sends performers to war zones. Most famous of those performers is probably Bob Hope. More recently the WWE wrestlers and musicians like Toby Kieth are on the bill. What many of you probably don't know is that the USO operates "canteens" in several major US Airports. The one here in Atlanta is remarkable. I have been in several, and they are all to be commended for the work they do. The one here is definitely a top 1% kinda place.

Let me first say that the canteen is nothing without it's volunteers. The folks that man these operations are themselves usually veterans, though not always. These folks meet and direct servicemen and women, make the sandwiches, clean up, and basically do everything else necessary to keep up the place. The USO in Atlanta for example serves coffee, tea, sandwiches, cookies, cakes, etc. They have a large sort of "living room" complete with TV's, magazines, books, etc. A small children's area to accommodate families moving from duty station to duty station. They have a quiet room with some recliners and a couch with paperbacks in and other reading material. This USO also supports a free WiFi connection and three PC's. The place is nicely appointed, carpeted throughout and just generally pretty nice. The volunteers do all of it.

I mention all this in an effort to get the USO the help they need to keep doing this work. The organization relies heavily on donations. I don't know the breakdown or if any of the admin staff gets paid. What I do know is for the BILLIONS of Soldier's, Sailor's, Airmen, and Marines and many of their families the USO has been an Oasis, a haven, a much needed distraction. So I would ask you to send them a buck or two. If you were gonna send me some candy or a card, I'd ask you to send the money instead to the USO. They do great work!

ummmmm, eerrr. ahhhhhh. Just a second, my collapsible soap-box is stuck........ there we go packed away. For know.

So anyhow, I am getting ready to go. Emily and I had a great week together here in "the ATL", but it is time to focus. Get my game face on. I'll be honest, I'm nervous. I worry. What I am not is unsure. I have no doubt that I need to go do this. I have no doubt in my ability or the ability of those around me. I believe I am a member of the best trained, best equipped, military in the world. So what the heck will I be doing you ask? Well that will have to wait for the next post, because I am not really sure. I was supposed to be going to do one thing, but apparently either I am to good or to bad for that job. So I might be going to do something related or something way different. No matter. I am an American Soldier. I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight. You'll probably here that a lot from me over the next year.

A Weekend Off

Having completed the laundry list of tasks and briefings we were given the weekend off. I took off just as soon as I could and flew Air Tran airlines to Detroit to meet Emily for the weekend. This was total bonus time as I did not expect to get any time off once I left on 01 August. Yeah last minute tickets are a little pricey, but how do you put a price on time? Hell I'd have probably paid 2x as much. I mean really, I'm going to war. As is always the case with Emily we had a lot planned for a few short days but I knew it would be fun.

Before I go into the weekend I have to give AirTran their props. I had a great flight with them and would recommend flying with them if you can. I am not sure if it is a corporate policy or what, but they bumped me up to 1st Class on the way to Detroit and put me in an Exit row on the way back to Atlanta. Both times the agent thanked me for my service and told me that the bumbs were a small way of saying thank you.

The weekend was great. It was so wonderful to see Emily and her family and friends in Michigan. The wedding reception was an absolute blast. By the time we left my teamate and I retired as the undisputed, undeafeted Beer Pong champion of Dewitt, MI! Yep, Beer Pong at a reception. In fact we beat Emily and her dad. I have to say that was the toughest game, Mr. Pasch can bounce a mean pong ball. By the time it was over there were three tables going at once. Music kickin in the background, man if I get married again that's the way I wanna do it ;) (Emily, I know that shit ain't never gonna happen).

Sunday we went down to a BBQ with a few of Emily's college friends. It was a good time, but alas my rein as Beer Pong champ came to a horrifying, brutal end. These guys are real pros. I took a good smokin, which resulted in consuming a fair amount of the beloved beer. Anyhow, we had a great time. It was really a good idea to spend the last weekend with some distraction. I have to say a huge THANK YOU to Brian and Kelli. They are two of Emily's closest friends and have become good friends to me as well. They have both welcomed me into their circle, opened their home on several occasions and have given us amazing support during this deployment. Kelli even stayed up to do some laundry for me so Emily and I could spend some time alone together. Then she got up at 0400 to drive us to the airport! Thanks guys.