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.