The Wall Shook

This has been quite a week; just when I think I have a routine down something changes. Before I recap on the week I wanted to talk about an event that happened today. Some of us went over to the main vehicle maintenance shop to get some A/C units and other parts. When we arrived in the area we noticed that everyone was walking around with all their body armor and helmets on. We asked the maintenance soldiers about it and they said that earlier in the morning they had gotten some mortar attacks, so the camp was at a heightened state of alert. Mortar attacks are pretty common, them actually hitting anything is pretty rare in fact, and so we kind of shrugged it off. Well not too long after that there was a tremendous explosion. The walls shook and we all hit the deck and rolled under the vehicles. Everyone one of us thought the building had been hit with a mortar. After a few minutes we got up off the ground and headed for the bomb shelter outside till be got the all clear. It turns out we weren’t hit with a mortar. There is an article in Yahoo News with what I believe is a mention of our incident. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20040930/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_11. Not the topic of the main article, but the incident but the “Hour earlier” article at the end of the first paragraph. Now that’s just my opinion, I don’t know if it is or not definitely. But what is said there is consistent with what I’ve heard from others around here. That just underscores that it’s dangerous over here and not to be taken for granted. A few minutes after we went to the bomb shelter I, and several others, ventured out to take a look. We saw not too far away a large plume of smoke. We got up on some boxes and were able to see helicopters swooping around the area, some tanks racing around, locals on their roof tops looking off in the direction of the smoke, and even a ground ambulance racing off somewhere. Later on at dinner I sat next to a guy who knew the soldier that died in that incident. I bring up this incident, both cause it looms large on my mind today and also it adds to the headlines I’ve been reading lately. Some of the headlines I’ve read recently have been very pessimistic. In the articles it’s not just liberal loonies who are spouting off lunacy. But military analysts who say that American leadership is ignoring the evidence for how pervasive and deeply seeded the insurgency is. I read recently in an interview with George Bush that Bill O’Reily made the point that S. Vietnam is not free today because they didn’t fight for it. I sincerely hope that the citizen’s of this country will soon grasp the blessing that is on their doorstep. Their historical opportunity is on the doorstep. I hope that they take a que from history and see that America did for post-war Germany & post-war Japan. American played and integral roll in the post WWII development of these nations, both are doing today. Even if they just keep us around along enough to rebuild, set them on the right path and then ask us to leave like the Philippines did for example. We didn’t stick around and throw our weight around there. We packed up and honored the wishes of the people of the Philippines.

On Sunday night I had some extra duty called, “Mayor Cell Duty.” See our camp has a mayor. And so a group of about 20 of us had duties related to public works item. Staffing the phone center, supporting the sanitation crews and things of that nature. I was one of the lucky ones that got to support the sanitation crews. Basically I rode around with a civilian as he emptied the sanitation containment tanks and took them and dumped the load (pardon the pun). There was quite a language barrier. He knew only three words in English: “Food”, “Good”, and “Not Good”. And through those three words we accomplished incredible feats of cross-lingual communication. I learned that the dining facility served two meals through out the night. A fact I didn’t know previously. An apparently my driver wasn’t allowed to go in and get any food. So you know whom the job fell to. As a soldier the food is there for me so, so I walked in and got a plate and got one to go. The fun lasted until about 3am then we were done. So I went back to the office and waited for another task. My time should have ended at 6am. And I almost made it, however I was selected for road guard duty. So for two additional hours I had to stand at an intersection an keep traffic from heading down a certain route so that runners could make use of the path. After that late Monday morning my day ended as I went to bed.

At the motor pool they’ve found that I have a certain eptness to learning how to do things. So today they set me to the task to retreading humvee tires. And these things don’t use your average Goodyear tire. It’s a design all it’s own. It includes taking the tire apart, and putting it back together with a new tread. It sounds easy but wrestling with those things can be very frustrating. There is an opening for a supply clerk for the mech shop. So I’m going to toss my name in that hat and see if I can land that job. Not that I don’t enjoy what I’m doing now. It’s just that it’d be nice to have my own responsibilities rather than just being an appendage on the mechanic’s crew.

They’ve given me Saturday’s off for now to avoid conflicts with my religion. That is such a relief to me cause it’s hard for me to focus down there at the motorpool on Saturdays. Now I look forward to connecting with other SDA believers and fellowshipping with them.

Changing The Rear Axel....me?

Today I got to roll up my sleeves and get involved in a line of work that’s outside my norm. They are starting to train me to replace various parts on the vehicles. Today they trained me to change the rear axel. Including taking it off, stripping it down, putting it back together while replacing various components with new ones then putting it back together and putting if back on. It is a very greasy job. Even after several scrubbings my fingernails still betray the dirty job they were involved in.

Additionally the Captain, our company commander, walked through the storage/office tent that I’ve put so much attention into this week. And later on he and our other company leadership remarked and how good it look and complimented me on a job well done.
We did another convoy today. We had to go over to the infamous, Abu Graib Prison. We have some of our company personal over there. Anyway, we dropped off the First Sgt. So he could spend the evening over there taking care of some business. We were kind of on edge cause a lot of soldiers have died on the road between here and there. Including passing out of the gates were there have been some recent attacks with improvised exposive devices (IEDs), small arms fire and rocket propelled missiles (rpgs). But we have a good team that’s on its toes. Everyone is locked and loaded with clean weapons and plenty of ammo. Additionally, we are continually being schooled on what to look for and how to respond. Also Abram tanks and infantry crews lie along the path at some of the most troublesome spots policing the area. Then not to be left out God’s definitely got our back protecting us and getting us from point to point safely.

It's Already Thursday?

It’s already Thursday, this week is passing quicker than I realized. These last few days have more of the same basically. The area that I’ve been working on improving is looking tremendously better. Before no one wanted to step foot inside the place cause it was so hot, dusty and miserable. Now that I’ve got a lot of the dirt and dust out of there and I’ve got the various piles of junk picked up and organized and got some fans going. It’s not such a bad place. People are hanging out in there more. The tent was originally supposed to be an office area for the supply Sgts. But they didn’t want the place. I don’t blame them. But now it’s a halfway pleasant in there.

Foreigners it seems do all of our support services. Not that I’m complaining cause they do everything from our laundry, to preparing and serving meals to driving busses and staffing the Stores and recreation areas. It just makes it kind of difficult when you want to ask a store employee where to find an item. Or when you want to ask the bus driver about other bus routes and times. Or when you want the volume or channel adjusted on the televisions in the dining facility. It’s just a small aspect of some mild frustrations of the life here. But we really are well taken care of. The first soldiers in this country lived in tents. Their supplies were spotty many times not having adequate essentials such as food, water and even toilet paper. They didn’t have much of any options as far as recreation and life was hard for them. By now enough time has gone by that the Army has some good infrastructure in place to help keep the quality of life good so soldiers can focus on their mission as opposed to being distressed over a lack of food or extreme heat. Despite what you might here in the media, our forces are doing well over here. Raids are conducted often and the bad guys are being taken down and decommissioned.

They tell me that the rainy season is just around the corner. You know what that means. That’s right, all that billows of dust and dirt out there are about to be mixed with a lot of water. And basically as the First Sgt. put it we’ll be walking around in soup. Isn’t that something to look forward to? I wonder how effective snowshoes might be?

I did get that Simm Card, finally. Service coverage is pretty good too. Except I do get disconnect every now and then. If anyone would like the number to call me just send me and email and let me know.

I just got my second vaccination for Anthrax. And boy did it sting. The first one didn’t really sting or bother me much. (True I was distracted by the much more serious small pox vaccination too.) But today I walked over to the medical center and presented myself for the second of three shots. And when he stuck me it wasn’t so bad. It was when we said, “Ok that’s it.” That’s when I really felt it. It was like a really nasty bee sting. My whole arm smarted for about an hour afterward.

I tell ya the thing that’s really when a nuisance around here is all this rock and gravel. My feet are so sore. And I walk almost everywhere, which makes it worse. If I go to the medical center and they prescribe that I need to sit tight more. Than my off time is going to be really dull cause I won’t be happy just sitting in my room staring at my four walls. There are buses that do loops around here but those are only useful about half the time.

Sunday/Day OFF (Not): Duty Day

Sunday is normally a day I can spend going shopping, resting whatever. However on Saturday evening the commander came to my trailer and announced that I would have an assignment on Sunday which would last all day. After I learned that I would then have Monday off to make up for it, I didn't mind as much.

I didn't really know what this duty would entail. I just followed through with my instructions to report to the Pad Office at 9:30 am. Let me explain what a Pad is. We live in trailers that are organized into mini-neighborhoods called Pads. So I had some sort of duty at the neighborhood headquarters so to speak.

Well at 9:3o I showed up in full uniform and learned that I would be the perimeter guard for the next 12 hrs. I had to make perimeter checkes every two hours and radio those in. In addition I couldn't leave the Pad except for meals and had to be ready and alert in case a need arose. Except for being so long it turned out to not be so bad. I and my buddy finished the day's duty with no enemy infiltration on our watch.

Our Battalion guests arrived and I, as the new guy in the unit, got introduced to the Battalion Commander by our Unit Commander.

I have had no luck trying to get a Simm Card for my cell phone. About a week and a half ago I was in a convoy that went to a camp where the locals sold Simm Cards in their market. But I didn't have any money with me at the time. But I wasn't worried because I had also heard that the locals also sold them at the little market, or Bazzar, in our camp. But they closed at 5pm and I could never get over their before they closed. Last friday I had rushed over there after duty and was there at about 4:45. With the open doors with in eye sight I saw the doors close and lock soundly. When I finally reached the market I was told that today they had to close early due to security concerns. I could of really used an aspirin right then. Well late in evening the next day I went over to a mobile phone trailer that I had seen once. It's not an easy place to reach. It's quite a distance from my Pad and off the beaten path. So I made my way over there, apparently they had just sold their last one and were out and they told me to come back Sunday and they would have more. On sunday when I took lunch from my duty I stopped at the Bazaar. Where I learned, to my chagrin, that no one sells Simm Cards there. So during my dinner break from duty I made my way back to the mobile phone trailer. And for no apparent reason they were closed. Well I went back today (monday), at about 11am and she told me to come back after 3pm. So at 3pm I'll make my way back there and we'll see if I can finally get my hands on a Simm Card.

The locals also sell movies at the local markets. When you see "coming soon to theaters" in the US. You can go and buy it at the local market already, in a lot of cases. And for $5 (or 5 for $20) the DVD a lot of times, comes complete with people standing up and making their way to the isle or moving up the isle with some popcorn or something. Also occasionally you get the idea that you missed something. That there was a scene that was skipped. It's quite a bargain. I haven't bought any yet. There isn't any need to. Cause everyone has big heaping albums with loads of them.

Some of the magic of being the new guy is starting to fade. You know how when you're new and just getting acquainted everyone seems like your friend. Well some of that magic is starting to wane and I'm starting to notice friends and less-than-friends emerge. Don't get me wrong there's no out-right hostilities going on-just a dimished level of good will shall we say with a few individuals. Which is going to happen naturally, everyone's not going to be your friend.

Well wish me luck on getting that Simm Card.

Church?

Well my first full week of operating with this unit has gone past. They're a great unit. My roommate also got back from some classes he was taking elsewhere. It was kind of nice having the whole room to myself. But everyone gets a roommate. It's just part of the deal. And it's an improvement over sleeping in a bay with 60 t0 70 other guys (and girls like in Kuwait). I'll be getting some pictures developed and put here on my blog so you can have an idea of what things are like. Overall the army takes good care of us. At the same time that doesn't mitigate the danger that is present around us. With in the last hour two mortars struck the area. The plumes of black smoke streaming in the sky are still climbing skyward. Also a vehicle born explosive has just exploded at the gates within the last hour. I was watching CNN recently listening to the reporter describe some of the lasted attacks by the enemies of Iraqi progress and I was a little unsettled when I recognized the area he was broadcasting from. However, we don't live in constant fear of our lives it's a rather big base and if my luck with the lottery is any indication one of those mortars won't strike in my vicinity.

Today I got the opportunity for the first time to attend a Seventh-day Adventist worship service on the other side of the post. Since I arrived, a short time ago, I’ve been keeping my eyes open looking for any SDA worship postings on the various bulletin boards. I finally found a worship schedule posted in one of the restrooms. I had seen other ones around the post but this one included an SDA service at 11:30 Saturday morning. I let my unit’s leadership know that I had found one. They knew that I had been looking for such and opportunity. So my platoon Sgt. drove me over at about 11am. Good thing too because the chapel we has thought was the one we needed turned out to not be. So we had to drive around a bit. This was no Saturday morning driving joyride. These former palace roads are narrow. And there were a few times when a truck rounded the corner and we found ourselves dangling on a curb that lined the road. I thought for sure we’d get stuck. But those humvees are made for tough situation. I have many times commented to myself that these things are more machines than they are vehicle. Anyway we found the chapel by 11:45. The Sgt. dropped me off and said he’d be back in an hour. I walked up to the chapel and it didn’t seem to be occupied. The door was open, which was good since it was air conditioned inside. But it was empty. I walked through looking in various attached rooms but no one was home. I went out the back door and ran into a chaplain’s assistant. He said the schedule I had seen was an old one and he sent me into the office to talk to the NCO to answer any of my questions. I learned that there were no SDA chaplains and so they had discontinued the services. Well I had an hour on my hands so I went back into the chapel and lead out in my own service. Complete with song service and an inspirational thought. I went back to the NCO’s office and asked if it was ok if I kept coming. He said that would be fine. And then I asked if it was ok if I brought other SDA’s if I happened to come across them. He said that would be fine too. So I’ll have to see what I can do about rounding up some of my fellow SDAs cause I can’t be the only SDA in the city.

Motor Pool

I bet your wondering what kind of work I do here. Our unit is a ground ambulance unit. However, for all medical emergencies they use the Medevac helicopters. So our medics work at medical centers in the area and the rest of us maintain vehicles and facilities. And we do convoys about twice a week to transport patients from one medical facility to another. And there's a blogger talking about one of those. Besides that our team is down at the motor pool maintaining the vehicles and keeping the premises presentable. Take today for example we have some visitors coming next week from higher on our chain of command. Well here in the motor pool we've been working to get this place presentable. For starters you know how most people have junk drawers. Everyone is familiar with this concept. Well here in the motor pool we have junk tents and junk conex's. A conex are those things you see being dragged by trains and on the back of trucks. Anyway it won’t do for a Cornel to swagger and stumble through one of those. So we’ve spent some hot days in the sun this week hauling things out getting rid of the junk and organizing the more useful items. Today I spent an unhealthy amount of time cleaning out a dusty tent. Let me say a word about the dust. Now before I got here I was told that the sand in Iraq is finer than sand on the beach in Illinois. So I thought ok I’ve handled fine sand it won’t be so back. But this stuff is not the fine white stuff of sandbox fame. No No, it’s dirt, literally. It never rains so vegetation is scarce to none existent. And with no moister or plant life to hold the sold in place it just blows around. And it gets in everything. I can taste it in my mouth right now (yum yum). Anyway I was given the mission of cleaning up with long dusty tent. There was junk everywhere, old training manuals, binders, cleaning supplies, various cables and cords all just all kinds of stuff. And of coarse it was overlaid (and underlaid and saturated with, and wallowing in) plenty of dust. But by the time I was done the place looked brighter and the place was ten times better. So that’s one project I’ve worked on I work with the Supply Sgt. quite often and basically pitch in where help is needed. I’m not much of any use to the mechanics so as their ripping vehicles apart I stay out of their way.

This unit has been here for about 7 months. I’m just getting here and they’re already starting to make preparations to head home. Apparently entities way up the chain of command sent me in to replace a soldier who had gotten pregnant. But they didn’t check with the unit to see if that was necessary. Cause in theater here my MOS isn’t even used. But the superiors simply saw a slot open and they filled the slot. It looks like it will work out great for me. For two reasons one I got here just as the really hot weather is dissipating. And secondly, my tour won’t be as long as most others have had to endure.
I just wanted to say about the propaganda in the media. I catch the news from time to time and many times the picture that the reporters and analyst are painting is far from what the reality is here. I was watching one CNN reporter broadcasting from the area and from the way he was talking you’d think that the enemy was just overrunning us here. Let me assure you the enemy isn’t even close to overrunning anything. The most they can do is pester a military facility, overrun it? Not happening. Also the Iraqis love us. I meet and talk with them all the time. Their happy we’re here and grateful for our help and sacrifice to make their lives better. Syrians and Iranians perpetrate the violence you see in the media; that’s what the Iraqis that I talk to have told me. What your military is doing here is a good thing, be proud.

Convoy

Tuesday

Today started out pretty normal. I was up at 4:30 spent some time doing my devotionals. I Went off on foot to breakfast at about 5:45. It's about a 15 min walk to the Dinning facility. It takes even longer when were wearing all of our body armour and helmet and all. I got back from breakfast at about 7am then walked over to the motor pool in time for the 8am formation. It was at breakfast that I learned that we were doing a convoy mission today. Apparently some individuals need to be tranported to the main hospital some distance away. It was our mission to take them there in our ambulances. Let me back up and tell you about Sunday. Sunday I woke up and went to work out at about 5:30. It was still dark out. Our unit was planning to head out to another base and swim in the pool and spend the day there. In the morning I was debating whether I should go or not. And God spoke to me and laid it on my heart that I shouldn't go. I wondered if the warning was really from the Lord or if I was just worried about leaving the protection of the camp. The Lord again laid it on my heart that I would get opportunities in the future to visit the other base and swim and enjoy myself but today wasn't that day.And on this particular morning I became somewhat aware that Iraq's enemies were at work mortoring US positions throughout the area. It's not uncommon to hear a mortor go off occasionally in the distance. But they seemed to be coming frequently and pretty close at that. A staff member over at the workout facility said here camp, not too far away, had been hit by a mortor that morning. And the loud booms were noticeable. So were the sounds of the attack helicoptors at work chasing down the purpetrators. You may have heard about the escalated violance on CNN or such. So I was still trying to decide whether to go or not. So I decided at about 9 am that I would lay down and take a nap. If I woke up in time to go I would go. And if I slept through it than I would just go watch a movie. So I ended sleeping through the departure time. I learned the next day that it had been cancelled, good thing too. Another group had left around the time we were planning to leave. And a vehicle with explosives had pulled up along side and blown up. Two people were killed in that incident and three had been injured. Later on throughout the day as I watched CNN at meal times and so on that I learned more and more about what was taking place around me. I learned later that over 40 incidents had taken place that day. I saw a map that was peppered with x's where Iraq's enemies had struck in the vicinity. I'm so thankful that the Lord had given me a heads up and our leadership also the information they needed so that none of our team was involved in any such incidents. Well today we were going to be heading out on the road to fulfil our mission of transporting some soldiers to the hospital. And we suited up, full battled rattle. Our weapons were loaded, our vehicles manned with gunners on top and each vehicle in close radio contact. We also conducted a briefing to talk about the what ifs and we were off. Racing down the highway is a little frightening when you consider that at any time a vehicle can race up along side and detonate. We especially grow weary when we approach a traffic jam of any sorts. We came across a few but the traffic always made way for us to ride past. The Lord once again watched over us and protected us and we completed our mission with no incidents.

First Semi-Regular Day

Today was really my first day to experience a business as usual day. Last week I was the new guy and the routine was kind of flexible in relation to me. However, that time has past now. Today I stood at morning formation (figuratively) as a member of the team. For the most part I'm familar with everyone on the team. There are several members of the unit that work at other locations that I don't know. But as far as the crew for this camp, I've at least been introducted.

Yesturday was a very busy day for Iraqi Terrorists. Over 40 incidents involving explosives were purpitrated by these enemies of the Iraqi people. And that meant a lot of vehicles that were in need of work. So today we looked over the vehicles we had and accessed them. Including basic checks of fluids and oil and even cleaning the windows. Afterward our center's water supply need to be replenished so a few of us soldiers did a water run. It's kind of neat what the main water supply is held in. It's held in these big water bags called, "bladders." They look like really long hot water bottles and are as wide as buses. Once we were done it was about time for lunch. We normally eat lunch at a smaller dining facility. For some reason that one is the favorite of rest of the crew. I prefer the other one, it's more spacious and never has long lines. After lunch I had still had some inproccessing items to take care of such as getting a counceling session with members of the leadership team.

I needed a set of dog tags and the facility that makes those are on the other side of the camp. So my sponoring nco took me for a drive over there. It was my first time in that side of the camp. Apparently it's the sight of one of Saddam's palaces. There's a nice lake and tall grass and trees line the road. It's much nicer than the desert conditions we live in. The buildings are big and are of artful architecture. Recently I learned of Seventh-Day Adventist services in that part of the camp on Sabbath (Saturday) mornings so it was good that I was able to get acquainted with that side of the post.

I went over to the PX after dinner to look for a strap. This place has a lot of stuff except, it's like a walmart in there. But it seems it's missing the things I go looking for. This time I went looking for an extra strap for my rifle. I'd like to lenghten the strap by combining two, but they didn't carry it or ran out or something.

Today has been a great day weather wise. I guess the climate is starting to cool off. I came at a great time of the year. This morning when I woke up it was like 65 f. That's really cool around here. Don't get me wrong the noon sun got a bit warm but not as bad as it did in the past.

Tommorrow is a new day.

Kuwait

Hello,

Today is September 12th. I have been in Iraq for four days. I'll try to bring you up to speed on what' s happened so far.

August 29th-September 5th
I reported to my mobilization station in El Paso, TX. I spent the next week going through briefings, recieving vaccinations & getting paperwork in order (among other things.) The mood among our group of mobilized soldiers and civilians was upbeat. We all knew we were headed into a dangerous situation. However, we all believed in the merit of what we had stepped up for and were prepared for what was ahead.

September 5th-September 8th
On September 5th we hopped on a 22 hr flight to the middle east. The plane was comfortable and the flight crew provided excellant service. However, resting comfortably in a semi-upright position was diffucult. We stopped in Germany for a few ours so the plan could refuel an so on.

Our journey came to an end in Kuwait. When we unloaded the first thing to hit me was in intense heat and humidity. And mind you it was around the middle of the night. I cringed to think what the daylight sun might bring. We assembled in an airplane hanger and waited for the buses to arrive and to get some information on what would happen next.

After several hours we departed in several buses under police escort with each bus staffed with armed gunners. Besides the gunners each of us soldiers had our personal weapon too with instructions to defend ourselves as needed.

When we arrived at the camp we were unloaded and were greeted by staff who helped us with our bags and spirited us away to our suites. We were provided a hot meal, showers and a comfortable bed. We slept in till noon the next day......NOT! (I wish) Ok let me back up. When we arrived our bags were dumped on the ground and after a few hour we were herded into a theater (the time was around 1am) were we watch some welcome videos from the General and some that reinforced safety concepts. After awhile we were divided based on were we were going and sponsors lead us away. Well that's the way it worked for everyone except me. See I didn't know my units precise location or was group they fell under. So I went to find the Medical Command Liason to see if they could shed some light. I explained my problem to her and she drove me over to an equipment supply warehouse where I picked up about 100 lbs more of stuff to haul around with me. Once I cleared there it was well past sunrise. I hopped back in the vehicle and was shuttled over to flight manifest and billing to recieve temporary houseing. I reexplained that I didn't know where I was going so how could I schedule a flight. All this finally registered with the liason who called her assistant to have them start making phone calls. So I drove around with her as she ran some errands. I couldn't get any temporary housing either cause that was assigned based on where you were going and that was unknown at this point. We went to breakfast in a nice dining facility. The food was great and I got to watch fox's Bill O'Reilly as I chowed down. Once I was done I drove around some more with the liason. Her assistant eventually got some info and simply told me I was going to Baghdad. So for now that was great that meant I could get cot to sleep in and put my name on a list for a flight. And I did just that.

I dragged my bags into a large coed bay that had dozens of cots sprawled across the floor. I unpacked and finally laid down for some rest. I woke up around 5pm and ventured out to explore the PX building. It was a nice place. I was big and housed two libraries a food court, a movie theater, an education office, a Red Cross Office, an internet cafe and a variety of vendors in addition to the regular PX which is like a small Walmart. I used the computers in the library to send out some emails then I strolled around the place to see what it had to offer. After getting some dinner in the dinning facilty I headed back to my room to relax a bit.