Ripping Out Fences & Dangerous Convoys

At the motorpool we have like six conex's full of parts and all kinds of stuff. Well we've began the process of pulling everything out and moving it to the other side of the yard. On the other side of the yard it is being shelved nicely to be inventoried. And needless to say this process involves a lot of toil in the sun. So we've put some very full days with no end in sight. In addition we're putting in a new gate. Let me explain that our current gate exits onto a very busy road. Everything from trunks to Tanks rumble by frequently. So that makes it a very dangerous place to pull out. In addition, as you pull out your view is obstructed by various concret barriers and a building. So we requested the funding to put in a new gate and so that work also started today. I was on the crew this morning who tore out about 200 feet of barbed wire. And let me tell you I have cuts on my hands and arms to prove it. It was especially difficult cause I've never work with anything like this before. So when I first hit the task I didn't have a clue as to how to even begin. So I kind of watched a few of the others and kind of clumsily mimiced their motions. But it wasn't long until I caught on and I was in there working with the rest of them.
Not all our work of the last few days has been in the motorpool. We did a convoy yesturday. And it was with heigtened trepidation that we prepared our vehicles and our gear yesturday morning. There had already been one improvised explosive device found on our route to the green zone. And in addition just 90 minutes prior we had felt the jolt and heard the a loud explosion that rocked one of the check-points on our route. We in fact we held up cause the authorities closed the highway. So we sat in our armour with our weapons, vehicles and equipment ready to roll when the all clear signal was given. We got word that the insurgents were moving out of Fallujah and coming up to Baghdad, cause they feared the major US assault that is looming on the horizon. So they're trying to shift attention away from that city. So even the soldiers with a lot of iraqi miles under their belt were feeling some butterflies. So we got the all clear and we set out. Before we set out the 1st Sgt. gave the mission briefing. He looked sternly at our gunners, who ride on top of the gun trunks with machine guns. And he told them to strickly use the rules of engagement. To use hand signals to communicate with traffic to our rear. And to kill any one who defies those commands. As we pulled out the driver expressed some fear this time around. I told him not to worry. That I had said a prayer and God's Angel was going before us. It was hard to tell if that was much of a comfort for him. The route was very heavily beset by Marines, Army Soldiers and Iraqi forces. I counted numerous tanks and many more heavily armoured patrols. It was with much relief that we arrived at the hospital in the green zone. It was lunch time so we headed for a small chow tent that is set up next to the hospital. Here were we live we have large, spacious dinning facilities with a large selection and variety. But this tent featured no frills. It's small and uncomfortable with only a basic selection of food. But it's all we had since no one wanted to make the trip to the pizza place that's about a mile away. After lunch I relaxed in the hospital lobby and watched the O'Reilly Factor on the TV that was there. When our time came to return to our camp we learned that the roads were closed again. So after waiting an hour and a half the 1st. Sgt. decided on an alternate route that was a bit unfamiliar. But the plan was to head down the closed route and only go for the alternate if we were turned around there. So we set out and indeed the route was closed. However, we had a remarkable piece of luck (or answered prayer). There was one of those armed patrols that go back and forth along the highway that crossed over and got behind us as they headed back up the highway. So the checkpoint was opened to allow the patrol to come back through and we sailed on through since we were just in front of them. What a blessing that we completed our mission on the most dangerous road currently in theater without an incident. Praise God.

Long Distance Convoy

I was listening to the BBC the other day and was startled to hear my Camp mentioned by name in the news by the BBC. I heard the same story on CNN however they didn't mention the name of my camp by name. I have to admit that it's not in reference to anything all that noble. But apparently the State Department lost a diplomat in a mortar attack. That's kind of surprising in a way but not surprising in another way. Cause we get mortored quite frequently. But they rarely actually hit anything. But I guess they got someone this time. Here is the story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3948929.stm. As for me I trust God is protecting me and that He has a plan for my life that He plans to keep me around for. So I don't let these things worry me or bother me. A very fitting scripture comes to mind when I here the explosions of mortors or when the building rocks from a nearby vehicle born bomb going off it comes from Psalms.

Psalms 91 4-9 NKJV
He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side,And ten thousand at your right hand;But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place.

Most of our convoys are local ones. We run to Abu Graib Prision or to the Green Zone or somewhere close like that. But yesturday we did a 75 mile run down to a town called Scania. It took us about 2 hrs to get there. And let me tell you there is absolutely nothing to see in the countryside of Iraq. If you've ever driven through the Dakotas you have something of an idea of what is was like. Quite literally that's what the countryside looked like. This major highway is closed to civilian traffic for certain stretches so we were alone most of the time. Which is what we prefer. And at every underpass there was a group of Marins or Soldiers with fortified fighting positions making sure no troublemakers harmed passing US Military personal. At certain sections of the road there would be farmers crossing the highway with a herd of Sheep or cattle that was kind of wierd. Also at certain areas there would be groups of children on the side of the road they would run out to greet us and wave to us as we passed by. I'm not sure why they were hanging out on the shoulder of the expressway but they seemed eager to get a glimpse of us. We spent a couple of hours at Scania and did two promotions. Scania is quite a dump I must say. Their Dinning Facility, PX, living quarters and everything were all small and primative. But our personnel who work and live there seem to love it. Or that's at least what they say. On the way back we got stuck in a traffic jam just after we came in the gate. There was a whole line of Semi-trucks that we were at the end of and we were parked for close to two hours. So that was the first time I really went anywhere really far. I can safely say that I'm glad that I live here.

Misc. Day Off

Well today was my day off. I slept in till about 7am. I normally get up at 4:30 to work out at the gym. But today I slept in. I’ve been trying to brainstorm about ways I could connect with other SDA soldiers who may be around the base here. It’s not easy cause unless you’re already a leader with ecclesiastical endorsement (www.adventistchaplains.org/endorse.htm) from your church; you can’t use any of the official channels. That include bulletin boards, interest events ect. So while I’m waiting on the Illinois Conference (www.illinoisadventist.org) to get back to me about that endorsement. In the meanwhile I’ve set up a group in the Army’s Web AKO Community (www.us.army.mil) called, “Camp Victory SDA Fellowship.” I set up a homepage with information and instructions at www.geocities.com/SDAguy_InChrist1978. Then I set up a permanent chat room at AKO for SDA soldiers. All these things are new as of today so we’ll see if I have any luck connecting to other SDA soldiers. Lord willing the wind will pick up and the right folks will blow my direction.

This past week I had a few class sessions on drivers training. See in order to get an army drivers license you need to go through 40 hrs. of their drivers education. It’s going pretty well. I’m getting licensed up to 5 ton, which is very good size truck. The classes have been somewhat boring. And they not only include topics on safety, weather conditions, and defensive driving. They also include sections on how to do a complete Preventative Maintenance and Safety Check (PMCS) on every vehicle on the ladder up to the 5 ton. This is actually a very useful aspect of the class cause we PMCS every Monday morning. And so far beyond checking the fluids, lights and washing the windows I really haven’t known what all PMCS entails. Or even how to properly fill out the forms that go with this procedure. So I’m getting the whole nine yards on all that. I even have a learners permit for now while I’m going through the class. And I’ve gotten out a bit and driven these hulking monstrosities around the post for various errands. The hardest part is stopping, and also turning. See as far as braking you’ve got to apply a lot of pressure, really slam your foot down hard to stop the thing. Turning is the same thing. I’m pretty sure there’s no power steering on these beasts cause you’ve got to turn the wheel a hundred times as you’re gripping the thing with white knuckles to get the thing to turn. All this is certainly new to me. But it’ll be fun to be able to drive some and not just be a passenger.
I went to a bible study Friday night. It was more like a vespers in that it wasn’t a discussion format. The speaker presented a study about the seven churches in Revelation 2 & 3. Of coarse I raised my hand and got some of my own thoughts in there. I really enjoyed it and plan to attend weekly. The speaker is a first sgt. So he is a lay leader and he is on fire for God and a very charismatic individual to listen to. There were about 40 people there so it was very well attended. This week I’ll also be exploring some of the other groups that meet. I’m going to make it a point to get out some. For example tonight they have a movie playing outside on the deck in front of the PX and I’m going to go and pull up a chair and catch some of that.

IPP Inner Perimeter Patrol Revamped

Things have been rolling around here with the usual highs and lows. I’m sort of in a rhythm and routine now. However, I have decided that I need to get out more and interact with people. I tend to do my own thing and keep socializing to a minimum. I’m just not one to stand around and talk and go and sit around in people’s rooms and chill. I can always think of something else I’d rather be doing. I do pay a price for it though. The price of being relatively isolated, which I both relish and lament at the same time. But there are things around to do. There are activities at the gym, there are bible studies; there are concerts and similar events at the PX (Wayne Newton was just here). See in my mind when I start considering doing those things I can’t help but think that I’ll miss out on some sleep cause I’ll get to bed later. But it might be worth it.

I wrote an entry back on September 20th called, “Sunday/Day OFF…” Well today I had the same assignment but they completely revamped it. No longer do you report to your local neighborhood office at 9:00 am and check in every couple of hours and hang out in your room in between. Now we had to report to the Mayor Cell office at 6:00 am. And now our patrols are on foot walking miles through the neighborhoods. Then once you did a round you had to sit in the waiting room and wait for another assignment or for your next patrol. To say the least, this assignment has lost all it’s fun. All in all this was a pretty boring day. The only excitement came at around 10 am, right in the middle of our break. When we got a call of something found in a dumpster in one of the neighborhoods. So we huffed it over there and inspected the dumpster. Sure enough it was a 150 round for a Bradley tank. This sucker was huge. And looked like a bullet you would use on King Kong. So we took up positions around the dumpster to keep people at a safe distance. Pounded five poles in the ground and strung up safety tape to tape off the area. And detoured traffic around the area. We were out there for about and hour and a half till the proper authorities showed up and took care of the hazard. After that it was back to our mundane stuff.

It’s starting to cool off considerably around here over night. When we get up in the morning for PT we’re starting to notice that it’s a bit chilly outside. Now mind you that chilly is 68-72 F. As the day wears on it warms up for us. But it’s a sign that the season is changing. Another sign is a cold/mild flu that is popping up around camp. I’m just getting over my run with it. I till have a lingering cough or two. But the medics say that it’s something that people everywhere are coming down with around here.

Operation Sand Bag

You know how this blogger in entitled, “Operation Sandbox.” Today our company got a chance to romp in the sand. However, it was not a day of fun in the sun. Let me explain that I arrived about three weeks to late to participate in the company’s major re-sand bagging effort. See sand bags in case of mortar attack surround our trailers; to provide protection against flying shrapnel. Most of the other company areas looked like “sub-standard” shall we say (if you get my drift) cause they only have the old sand bags which are terribly deteriorating with sand spilling everywhere. The company Commander decided that we weren’t going to look as disgraceful as the rest so he had new sand bags brought in and the whole company tore down the old wall. Emptied the sand bags, filled the new bags and built some excellent walls. It looked really good. Then a month after they were done the Division put out that we all were going to do away with sand bags and use these basket-like barriers that are very thick. So that is what we spent our day doing. We started at 8am and worked until almost 4 pm. It was some backbreaking work; the soreness is setting in throughout my limbs by the minute. We had to pull the wall down, assemble the barriers, put them in place then fill them. It sounds easy right? I assure you it was some of the dustiest and most demanding tasks that anyone can ever do. These sandbags weighed 40 lbs each, we were working in an average temperature of 105 F, and we covered an area about a block long between the 15 of us. Notwithstanding the conditions it actually felt good to put in a day of work like this.

On top of that it seemed like everyone one else was out there working on their barriers for a couple of days. It seemed like they made everyone responsible to work on their own trailer. However, we didn’t do that. We started at the first trailer everyone lined up and went on down trailer by trailer knocking them out. We got a good lesson in teamwork today.

I had to go down to the south side of the camp. So I caught a bus at the PX. And the driver was a gentleman from the Philippines. Actually all the bus drivers are from the Philippines. I’ve gotten into the habit of getting to know these guys. So I struck up a conversation with this bus driver. His name is Reggie and he’s been here for about 6 months and had a year and a half left. He has a family a wife and a son back home. I expressed sympathy to him about having to be separated from his family for so long and I told him that I can understand what he’s going through cause I have a wife at home too. He said that is was hard but it was a sacrifice that he had to do for his family cause the excellent pay he’ll receive from his work here will pave the future for his children and give them a better life. And you know these guys are real inspirations to me. Their deep commitment to their families, and heartfelt service to do whatever is necessary to provide for them and support them. On top of that these guys are some of the nicest people on earth that you’ll ever meet. They are such nice guys.

I’ve really been stepping up the PT (work-out sessions). We’ve got a PT test coming up in December. That seems like a long way a way, but all that time is needed to get up to the level to pass these tests. I hit the gym every morning at 5am. I have grown to love the elliptical machine I spend a half hour on that baby, burn about 400 calories and go about 3 miles. It’s an excellent work out. Then I hop over to the treadmill and run for 16 minutes. See my goal is to get my two mile run under 16 minutes so I run that long and have been increasing the distance covered in that time frame a little more and a little more over time. Then I do 50 push-ups & sit-ups then I hit the weights for 15 to 20 minutes. When I exit that gym, I’ve gotten a good work out in.

It's Wednesday?.....Mayor Cell that's right!

Today was another day out of the ordinary. Well it started ordinary enough. See I woke up at 4:30 am as usual. I shaved and brushed my teeth and prepared to head to the gym as usual. I went and did a heavy work out for an hour and headed over to do a two-mile run with my company. After the run I headed to breakfast and had a very satisfying meal. Then I walked over to the motor pool and walked through the gates at about 8:45. On mornings where we run we have formation at 9am (other days 8am). So I like to get there 15 minutes early, cause in the Army if you’re on time-your late. As I was walking through the gate I was listening to a very funning report on the BBC World Service on my short-wave radio (Here is the story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3712960.stm although it was told much funnier on the radio). As I came through the gate my Assistant Platoon Sgt. Was seated, he was the only other person there as of yet. He started to motion to me. I thought he was just being friendly. So I gave him a thumbs up, but I could detect that he had something more on his mind. Once I reached him he asked, “Did you check the duty roster?” I briefly searched my mind and asked myself, “What day is it? Could it be Wednesday?” I had a vague mental note of something I was assigned on Wednesday. The Sgt. informed me that I was almost three hours late for Mayor Cell duty. I gave myself a swift mental kick and began the 1 ½ mile hike over to the Mayor Cell area. I had to stop at my room to get the rest of my battle gear, which you’re required to wear when you report there.

Well when I finally dragged myself into the Mayor Cell office signed in and went over to the soldier waiting area. I found out that all that I had missed was a few hours sleep. Cause everyone was in there sleeping and watching the Cartoon Network. I plopped down, laid all my stuff aside, put my head down and joined the napping crew. I woke up a few hours later to go get some lunch then I went back and napped a little more. That is until the Sgt. On duty there popped in and said he needed a soldier to escort the electricians. He said that looking straight at me, not leaving any room for doubt as to who was supposed to volunteer. Well it turned out to not be so bad. I rode around with a crew of three others. One was the American supervisor, who was from Texas. He had gotten here about the first of September and had been lured by the $80 K tax-free salary. Then there were his two underlings from the Philippines who have been here seven months. Here in Iraq they make about double what they’d make in their country. But they have to work here for two year continuously with no breaks to go home (Americans get up to four vacations in a year, most take only three cause they want to get in 330 days.) It was a lot of fun actually. He rode around on a gator while they did minor repairs in various rooms. Then we went all the way down to the infantry area. We had to go room to room checking outlets.

Apparently, you’ve gotta be careful when you’re in that territory. See these are the guys who are out killing day in and day out. Anyway, I guess my electrician friends have gone through there before and these infantry guys come flying out of their trailers weapons leveled. One of them felt that we didn’t give enough warning before entering and he gave us a good tongue-lashing. But beyond that we it went smoothly. The Texan was telling me about some of the wild life he’s seen. I guess down by the river that flows through camp you can see big footprints of lions. And I guess he’s spotted some pretty big antelope around the area too. And I thought this was a pretty dead area with some birds and flies.

Well That’s it for my report today.

Pushing The Envelope

My normal unit is ok, the 452nd CSH that is. However, I’m glad (so far) that I was mobilized with the 477th Med Co (GA). Cause with this unit I’m doing things and getting training & experience that I never had before with the 452nd. A large part of it is the training in regards to military vehicles. How to drive them, service them & care for them. Also the other soldiering skills I’m learning. See normally the kitchen staff is a world of their own. We have our own formations our own PT (work out time). We normally didn’t interact with the company or unit’s leadership; cause the only NCOs and Officers we saw were related to the kitchen. Except when we served the others their meals. I’m talking about more in deployment situations with these generalizations. So there are always circumstances that are the exceptions. I’m just glad that I have the chance to roll up my sleeves and get involved in these new things. Like yesterday for example. There was next to nothing happening at the motor pool. So a few of us were marched back to the pad and we cleaned a few Saws (large machine guns that need to be mounted before a person can fire them). Now that was the second time in my life that I handled one of those weapons. The first time was on US. Weapons Day back in basic a year and a half ago. So I got to be introduced in how to take it apart, clean it and put it back together. Now that I think of it I think I did help clean one a few times back in basic training on my bay guard duty at 3 am once or twice. But that’s only a faint shadowy memory.

Yesterday evening I ran into a roommate of mine from Advanced Individual Training from about a year ago. He and I shared a room with three other soldiers. He was with me at 92 G (Golf) school. Which was my first AIT coarse to get certified as a basic food service specialist. He is working over in the dining facility doing head count as people enter the facility. I asked him how he got lucky enough to work in the dining facility and I’m changing axels in the motor pool? He said that he’s regular army and works for the division unit so he’s able to get some sweeter deals. He also told me that a few other golfs from our class were attached to infantry units. And they were out knocking on doors looking for intelligence on insurgents and so on. So I told him I’d stick with changing tire treads. Knocking on the doors of Iraqi nationals seems high on the list of dangerous assignments.

There is a PT test coming up in December. So next week the Commander is going to start mandatory group PT. See normally we stretch for about 20 minutes as a group three times a week then break up for individual PT. A lot of people play volleyball, others go running, I always head to the gym for my work out. And I prefer to keep doing it that way. In fact we all do. But the Commander calls the shots. So we’ll just have to roll with it and see how it will impact my routine.

Today is my day off. “Church” doesn’t start for a few more hours though. I say it like that cause currently there is no service. The one that I found on an old schedule is out of business. So it’s just me going out there for now. I’ve been trying to seek out the right chaplain to see about getting the ball rolling. See the main hurdles are finding out if there is a group of any size of SDAs to warrant starting a service. Then secondly, finding someone to lead out in a worship service. See not just anyone can do it. It has to be either a chaplain or someone with an official written Ecclesiastical Endorsement from the SDA church. So if a chaplain can’t be found, I’m going to try to get in touch with the local SDA Iraqi mission.