So now that I have less than a month before I am home, the reality has started to sink in that this thing is almost over. There isn't much I will miss about this deployment but there are some things I will remember forever and some lessons I have learned. I think I will leave the reflective sort of thoughts for another day though. Call it superstition or whatever, but I'm not out of here yet so the time for reflection is still a little ways away. I will take the time to say that out of the 11 people I started this deployment with, I knew only one of them, and through this deployment we have gotten to know each other much better than we would have ever would. Of the 11 and now an addition 5 that we caught up with in Afghanistan I can say that there are at least two that I will try to stay in touch with and to some degree miss. Is that odd that I would miss a friend? I would argue that the relationships forged in the last year will probably last longer than the ones that I had in High School. There is just something about these places and events that will have a long lasting affect. There is something to be said for comrades in arms. There are some people here that I would want to be side by side if the you know what hit the fan and it's sad to say that if I found myself beside some others I would sooner have an empty space than them. I at least know what the empty space would do. I know that sounds harsh but sometimes the truth and can be quite harsh.
I think I best stop now before I go off on some wild tangent.
Once I am out of this place it will be time to reflect. I don't want to count my eggs before they are all hatched..... funny, I have 12 days left here at Ghazni
Later,
Brent
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
19
The magic number is 19. 19 days that is, before we catch a ride out of this place. I don't think there is anyone more anxious to get home than I. I'm sure there are probably 14 other people that would argue with me. There is one guy who is staying fro another year. He's a new LT with college debt so he sees this as a way to pay it off. I on the other hand have taken most of the extra money that we receive while here and have paid off most of my debt and have saved for a cruise to take the kids on a nice trip when I get home. My sister and Johhny and Jax will be going with us as well. It should be a lot of fun.
Things here are prety much the same. The weather is starting to warm up and the snow is melting. This means we we will probably see increased bad guy activity, which we have already started to see a little bit of. Our replacements are currenty going through FT Benning which is what we had to do this time about a year ago. When we are done here we will go to Bagram and wait for a flight to Kuwait. Once we get to Kuwait we should leave there soemtime on the 21st and then we will demobilize at Ft Benning which will take a couple of days. Then I will actually get to go home.
Later
Brent
Things here are prety much the same. The weather is starting to warm up and the snow is melting. This means we we will probably see increased bad guy activity, which we have already started to see a little bit of. Our replacements are currenty going through FT Benning which is what we had to do this time about a year ago. When we are done here we will go to Bagram and wait for a flight to Kuwait. Once we get to Kuwait we should leave there soemtime on the 21st and then we will demobilize at Ft Benning which will take a couple of days. Then I will actually get to go home.
Later
Brent
Saturday, February 14, 2009
34 or 27 that is the question
34 or 27 days left, that is the question. It appears as though we have been told our drop dead date for being out of the CENTCOM AOR is the 21st of march. We weren't orginally suppose to leave Ghazni until the 21 but now we have to leave Kuwait by the 21st. When I took leave it took me 8 days to get home 7 of those were spent in between Kuwait and Ghazni.
It's been awhile since I have had direct access to my blog page. Micca has posted a couple of times for me. Today I managed to talk to the right person and get access to the wireless Polish Network.
Things around here have been pretty slow. The weather keeps the Medevac birds groundd a lot so we aren't allowed to conduct operations. It's a good rule but it makes things a little boring. The weather here is rather odd in that when the sun is shining and you are standing in the sun ot of the wind you get hot. THe sun is quite warm and believe the the altitude makes quite a difference. A couple days ago we got about a foot of snow overnight and today it is almost gone. The air temps get into the 30s but the sun is so warm it melts everything off.
To pass the time I have purchased a little remote control helicopter. It was a little more expensive than the ones you can buy at walmart... well ok a lot more expensive but it is eaily controled once you learn how. I fly it around the TOC (tactical operations center) when things are slow. I think at the moment there are at least 6 other people that have ordered similar helicopters. When I get home I have plans to upgrade and buy a bigger helicopter that I can fly outdoors. I had always wanted to be a helicopter pilot but my eyes were always to poor to pass the test. I guess this is how I can live out that dream lol.
Hopefully I will get back in the blogging grove and you will see more blogs before it is time to go.
Later,
Brent
It's been awhile since I have had direct access to my blog page. Micca has posted a couple of times for me. Today I managed to talk to the right person and get access to the wireless Polish Network.
Things around here have been pretty slow. The weather keeps the Medevac birds groundd a lot so we aren't allowed to conduct operations. It's a good rule but it makes things a little boring. The weather here is rather odd in that when the sun is shining and you are standing in the sun ot of the wind you get hot. THe sun is quite warm and believe the the altitude makes quite a difference. A couple days ago we got about a foot of snow overnight and today it is almost gone. The air temps get into the 30s but the sun is so warm it melts everything off.
To pass the time I have purchased a little remote control helicopter. It was a little more expensive than the ones you can buy at walmart... well ok a lot more expensive but it is eaily controled once you learn how. I fly it around the TOC (tactical operations center) when things are slow. I think at the moment there are at least 6 other people that have ordered similar helicopters. When I get home I have plans to upgrade and buy a bigger helicopter that I can fly outdoors. I had always wanted to be a helicopter pilot but my eyes were always to poor to pass the test. I guess this is how I can live out that dream lol.
Hopefully I will get back in the blogging grove and you will see more blogs before it is time to go.
Later,
Brent
Monday, January 26, 2009
Toodles
Not much has been happening here in Ghazni since my last post. We are
trying not to count the days :) Our replacements are
due to leave Illinois around the 20th of February and should be in
Afghanistan by the 1st of march or there about.
Our weather around here has been surprisingly mild. It only got really
cold for a few days. I don't think I have seen it get much more than
into the teens. Most of our snow has melted. To be honest I am somewhat
disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing what 3-4 feet of snow
actually looked like. In most places we are back to walking around on
the big ole rocks. The snow was nice because you didn't worry about
twisting an ankle. With all of the freezing and thawing you do have to
worry about the ice though. I have some chain things I can put on my
boots. These boots offer very little traction on snow and ice and just
about everyone has "biffed" it a couple of times. So far I have managed
to stay upright but it has cost me coolness points cause shuffle around
like I'm 85 and half blind.
In other news I have new addition to the family. I'm a very proud owner
of a Yorkshire Terrier puppy. Her name is Toodles. I didn't get to name
her. I have a jewelry commercial I think it was Helzberg diamonds, to
thank for my dogs name. By all accounts she is settling in nicely and
likes to crash on the couch right beside Micca. Back to the commercial.
I guess Helzberg was doing a promotion and the dog from the commercial
"Toodles" was all over the store in the form of a stuffed animal.
Anyways Micca bought a couple for the kids, this was before we even
considered the idea of a dog. Fast forward a month and Micca puts down
the stuffed Toodles for the real Toodles to see and she growls and
attacks it. I'm sure it was pretty cute.
Well that's about it for now, I'm just counting the days 53.....
52.......51 sigh it's still to far away for my liking.
Later
Brent
trying not to count the days
due to leave Illinois around the 20th of February and should be in
Afghanistan by the 1st of march or there about.
Our weather around here has been surprisingly mild. It only got really
cold for a few days. I don't think I have seen it get much more than
into the teens. Most of our snow has melted. To be honest I am somewhat
disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing what 3-4 feet of snow
actually looked like. In most places we are back to walking around on
the big ole rocks. The snow was nice because you didn't worry about
twisting an ankle. With all of the freezing and thawing you do have to
worry about the ice though. I have some chain things I can put on my
boots. These boots offer very little traction on snow and ice and just
about everyone has "biffed" it a couple of times. So far I have managed
to stay upright but it has cost me coolness points cause shuffle around
like I'm 85 and half blind.
In other news I have new addition to the family. I'm a very proud owner
of a Yorkshire Terrier puppy. Her name is Toodles. I didn't get to name
her. I have a jewelry commercial I think it was Helzberg diamonds, to
thank for my dogs name. By all accounts she is settling in nicely and
likes to crash on the couch right beside Micca. Back to the commercial.
I guess Helzberg was doing a promotion and the dog from the commercial
"Toodles" was all over the store in the form of a stuffed animal.
Anyways Micca bought a couple for the kids, this was before we even
considered the idea of a dog. Fast forward a month and Micca puts down
the stuffed Toodles for the real Toodles to see and she growls and
attacks it. I'm sure it was pretty cute.
Well that's about it for now, I'm just counting the days 53.....
52.......51 sigh it's still to far away for my liking.
Later
Brent
Monday, January 19, 2009
60 Days
It is Tuesday morning as I write this. The weather this morning was sunny and about 14 degrees. We haven't had any snow for awhile but we are still dealing with the stuff that was left behind. Because most of it has melted and thawed many times we have mostly hard packed snow or ice to walk on. So far I haven't fell yet but almost every one has taken a spill. You don't dare walk around here with a normal stride. Everyone looks like they are in their 80s shuffling around not quite sure about their balance and footing which of course we aren't lol
The big news for us is as of today we have 60 days before we leave Afghanistan. Hopefully everything will go fairly smooth and we will be home about a week or 10 days after that. But if it's anything like trying to get home for leave it could take longer. I'm pretty sure just to spite me the Army will have us leave Kuwait on the 31st of March. The reason I say this is, is because if I left on the first I would get another month of tax free pay and my hazardous duty entitlements.
Not much else is really going on. Our replacements start their mobilization process on the 18th of February which puts them in Afghanistan sometime in late February or the first week in March. When moving as such a small unit nothing is for sure. We have to piggy back our movements on the existing system, whereas if we were a larger unit we would have our own planes and schedules and such. Honestly it's nice to be part of a smaller unit.
Later for now, 60 days and counting!!
Brent
The big news for us is as of today we have 60 days before we leave Afghanistan. Hopefully everything will go fairly smooth and we will be home about a week or 10 days after that. But if it's anything like trying to get home for leave it could take longer. I'm pretty sure just to spite me the Army will have us leave Kuwait on the 31st of March. The reason I say this is, is because if I left on the first I would get another month of tax free pay and my hazardous duty entitlements.
Not much else is really going on. Our replacements start their mobilization process on the 18th of February which puts them in Afghanistan sometime in late February or the first week in March. When moving as such a small unit nothing is for sure. We have to piggy back our movements on the existing system, whereas if we were a larger unit we would have our own planes and schedules and such. Honestly it's nice to be part of a smaller unit.
Later for now, 60 days and counting!!
Brent
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Back in Ghazni
Well today is my second day back here in Ghazni. Believe it or not I got back here rather quickly. I left my house Thursday morning at about 0330 in the morning. Micca and I drove to Bloomington for my flight at 0610. My flight from Bloomington took me to Chicago which then took me to Dallas. I got there at about 1230 and had to register for our flight to Kuwait. For some reason there were not enough seats on that flight so I spent the night in a hotel in Dallas. I couldn't really go anywhere or do anything so I just hung out and ended up watching the national championship. I got up the next day and headed back to the airport which was Friday. We left Dallas at about 1700 that evening. I was lucky and got the first row behind the first class seats so I had quite a bit of leg room. We landed in Bangor Maine at about 2200 or so and let the plane refuel and then were back off on the next leg which took us to Ireland. Same drill as in Maine as in Ireland more fuel and then off on the final leg to Kuwait. Well not the final leg but the final leg of that specific flight. I arrived in Kuwait some 20 hours later on Sunday morning and got settled into my tent about 0330. I had to get my bag and track down my Body armor from the warehouse before I could crash for a couple of hours. I had to be back up at 0630 for accountability and possibly to find out what time the next flight was. When I had arrived the night before I had thought that I wouldn't have any problems getting on the next flight that would leave. There was only about 20 people who needed to get back to Afghanistan from my flight. Well when I got there at 0700 there was about 350 people there and the 2 guys that I was traveling with back from Illinois were still there, they had left the day before me. Well they called about 60 names and barely made a dent in all of there. We were told to be back at 1900 for another manifest call. So with nothing to do and tired as hell I thought I should stay busy and try to fight off the jet lag and then I would just sleep normal that night after the next accountability and manifest call. I didn't think there was anyway in hell I would get out on the next flight.
Well Imagine that at 1900, and after managing to fight off sleep we were told to be back at 2230 (10:30 PM). Well we all know that if we are going to start the process at 2230 than that means we won't fly until probably 0230 or so. That happened to be just the case. By the time you get done with the manifest call and baggage prep it is 0230 before we take off for the 3 and half hour flight to Bagram. If you are keeping track this is the 6th leg of my journey. We arrive in Bagram at about 0730 ( add another 1.5 hours for time change). Our next task is to see if we can catch another flight to Ghazni. Now this isn't near as easy as it sounds. Luckily we talked to our polish contacts and they took care of us and put us on one of their helicopters. I was back in Ghazni by about 1700. Not until after we landed did we find out that all the other American flight had been canceled for the day. It's very lucky we made it back when we did because it started to snow soon after we got here. Tuesday morning had about 5 inches on the ground and this morning we got about another 7 inches. It is suppose to keep snowing until Thursday. So as long as it took to get back it could have been much longer. All in all I spent about 26 hours of actual time flying.
Believe it or not it's good to be back, that may sound odd but I'm back knowing that I have about 60-70 days before I'm back home again.
Later,
Brent
Well Imagine that at 1900, and after managing to fight off sleep we were told to be back at 2230 (10:30 PM). Well we all know that if we are going to start the process at 2230 than that means we won't fly until probably 0230 or so. That happened to be just the case. By the time you get done with the manifest call and baggage prep it is 0230 before we take off for the 3 and half hour flight to Bagram. If you are keeping track this is the 6th leg of my journey. We arrive in Bagram at about 0730 ( add another 1.5 hours for time change). Our next task is to see if we can catch another flight to Ghazni. Now this isn't near as easy as it sounds. Luckily we talked to our polish contacts and they took care of us and put us on one of their helicopters. I was back in Ghazni by about 1700. Not until after we landed did we find out that all the other American flight had been canceled for the day. It's very lucky we made it back when we did because it started to snow soon after we got here. Tuesday morning had about 5 inches on the ground and this morning we got about another 7 inches. It is suppose to keep snowing until Thursday. So as long as it took to get back it could have been much longer. All in all I spent about 26 hours of actual time flying.
Believe it or not it's good to be back, that may sound odd but I'm back knowing that I have about 60-70 days before I'm back home again.
Later,
Brent
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Let the last 70 days begin
So tonight I'm sitting in a hotel in Dallas because there were not enough seats on teh plane today to get me back to Kuwait. I'm not to heart broken I just wish I could have had this day at home instead of here.
My Leave was 18 days long or I should say short. By the time I get back to afhganistan I will have less than 70 days before I will be headed home.
It was great to finally get home and now evevn though I am sad to have to head back I am excited as well becuase the end is so very near. I'm really glad I decided to come home later in the deployment rather than half way through. Not only did I have the added bonus of being home of Christmas and New Years but rather than dreading the rest of the deployment I have a upbeat outlook since the end is so near. I'm sure it will drag out more towards the end but thats to be expected.
I will try to Blog a little more often. Micca is going to post for me since I no longer have access while in afghanistan or if I do it's kind of cumbersome to get it posted.
Thats all for now
Brent
My Leave was 18 days long or I should say short. By the time I get back to afhganistan I will have less than 70 days before I will be headed home.
It was great to finally get home and now evevn though I am sad to have to head back I am excited as well becuase the end is so very near. I'm really glad I decided to come home later in the deployment rather than half way through. Not only did I have the added bonus of being home of Christmas and New Years but rather than dreading the rest of the deployment I have a upbeat outlook since the end is so near. I'm sure it will drag out more towards the end but thats to be expected.
I will try to Blog a little more often. Micca is going to post for me since I no longer have access while in afghanistan or if I do it's kind of cumbersome to get it posted.
Thats all for now
Brent
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
On my way home
So here I sit in the country of Qatar. Why you may ask. Well flights in Afghanistan to get out on R&R are all backed up and they were just trying to push us out. I will be headed to Kuwait in the next few hours where I will finally find out when I will get home. Things have gone a bit slower than planned. So far in the last 6 days I have had a 5 hour helicopter ride and a 3 hour C-17 ride. Still in front of me are another C-17 ride (1 hour) Commercial plane ride from Kuwait to Atlanta (15 hours) and another short plane ride from Atlanta to Bloomington. Hopefully I can cut out a leg to Chicago, we will just have to see.
I had hoped to be home by the 18th but now it doesn't look like it. I was hoping to surprise Ashtyn at school and go to Dade's last cub scout meeting but I will probably miss those. I should be home for Christmas but the way things are going I wouldn't go as far as to promise that. One good note is that the longer it takes me to get here the less time I will have to spend in Afghanistan when I get back.
Later for now
Brent
I had hoped to be home by the 18th but now it doesn't look like it. I was hoping to surprise Ashtyn at school and go to Dade's last cub scout meeting but I will probably miss those. I should be home for Christmas but the way things are going I wouldn't go as far as to promise that. One good note is that the longer it takes me to get here the less time I will have to spend in Afghanistan when I get back.
Later for now
Brent
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Waiting
So the time has come where I'm so close to going on leave but for now I'm stuck in Baghram Afghanistan waiting on another plane. I say another because the 1st one is all full and delayed on top of that. So the next plane that comes in may not even be mine because all of the other people on the delayed plane may get on that one.
After almost 9 months to say that I'm a bit anxious is an understatement.
I haven't written in sometime as my access to a civilian internet connection isn't very accesible nowadays. You would think that in going to a larger FOB we would have more ammenities. Well we do have more things but internet isn't one of them.
Things in Ghazni have been pretty busy most of the time. We spend a lot of time watching unmanned arial vehicle feeds and the camera feed from our Blimp. I don't know if I ever mentioned the blimp. We have a blimp that is tethered to the base and provides a camera feed into our operations center. We are able to keep an eye on a pretty vast area with both of those platforms. Winter hasn't set in yet so the bad guys are still pretty busy. We can see the snow on the mountian tops which are at about 8k feet. I imagine the snow will be on the ground in Ghazni by the time I get back.
Speaking of when I get back. When I get back to Ghazni I should only have about 70-80 days before I am back home again.
I would really like to thank everyone that has helped out my family thus far. It is the support network that helps them out at home that helps me out here. It keeps me from worrying to much. My wife was able to move our entire household from Deer Creek back to Prairie City. I'm so excited to come home for Christmas!!!
Well that's enough for now. I hope to see those of you arund town for Christmas and New Years
Later,
Brent
After almost 9 months to say that I'm a bit anxious is an understatement.
I haven't written in sometime as my access to a civilian internet connection isn't very accesible nowadays. You would think that in going to a larger FOB we would have more ammenities. Well we do have more things but internet isn't one of them.
Things in Ghazni have been pretty busy most of the time. We spend a lot of time watching unmanned arial vehicle feeds and the camera feed from our Blimp. I don't know if I ever mentioned the blimp. We have a blimp that is tethered to the base and provides a camera feed into our operations center. We are able to keep an eye on a pretty vast area with both of those platforms. Winter hasn't set in yet so the bad guys are still pretty busy. We can see the snow on the mountian tops which are at about 8k feet. I imagine the snow will be on the ground in Ghazni by the time I get back.
Speaking of when I get back. When I get back to Ghazni I should only have about 70-80 days before I am back home again.
I would really like to thank everyone that has helped out my family thus far. It is the support network that helps them out at home that helps me out here. It keeps me from worrying to much. My wife was able to move our entire household from Deer Creek back to Prairie City. I'm so excited to come home for Christmas!!!
Well that's enough for now. I hope to see those of you arund town for Christmas and New Years
Later,
Brent
Thursday, November 6, 2008
One more day down
Today was just another day but it was special since it was my wife's birthday. If you want to know how old she is you will have to ask her yourself but I can tell you she is younger than me.
Today was another beautiful day in Afghanistan. High of 74 and will probably get down into the low 40s or high 30s. While standing outside today enjoying the weather the guys and I heard a jet flying pretty high over head. When we finally found it in the sky we were looking at a B1B bomber. That was a very cool sight.
It seems as though I have found another friend here in the camp. Our camp pet is a 5 month old dog that looks like a german shepherd mix. Hes a very cute pup, big pup. The first night I was walking by and he started barking at me now he knows me from anywhere in the camp and comes up to say hi or just lay down and hang out. You would think that a dog like that would be hyper and kind of aggressive. This is the type of dog that you could take his dinner away from. I think its probably because he is the most well fed dog in the country. He actually turns down food. I sat down this afternoon outside the door of our dining facility and watched as everyone come out. They all keep something back and toss it to him on the way out. I found out his favorite food is M&Ms. That dog goes crazy for M&Ms LOL.
Well I dont know what else to talk about so that's it for tonight.
Later,
Brent
Today was another beautiful day in Afghanistan. High of 74 and will probably get down into the low 40s or high 30s. While standing outside today enjoying the weather the guys and I heard a jet flying pretty high over head. When we finally found it in the sky we were looking at a B1B bomber. That was a very cool sight.
It seems as though I have found another friend here in the camp. Our camp pet is a 5 month old dog that looks like a german shepherd mix. Hes a very cute pup, big pup. The first night I was walking by and he started barking at me now he knows me from anywhere in the camp and comes up to say hi or just lay down and hang out. You would think that a dog like that would be hyper and kind of aggressive. This is the type of dog that you could take his dinner away from. I think its probably because he is the most well fed dog in the country. He actually turns down food. I sat down this afternoon outside the door of our dining facility and watched as everyone come out. They all keep something back and toss it to him on the way out. I found out his favorite food is M&Ms. That dog goes crazy for M&Ms LOL.
Well I dont know what else to talk about so that's it for tonight.
Later,
Brent
Sunday, November 2, 2008
107
107 is the amount of stargate SG 1 episodes I have watched. There may be more but that is all that I had on my terabyte hard drive. I have watched many other movies as well. While in iraq many of us bought a bunch of the boxed sets of movies. They are quite a bit cheaper there than in the states.
So what is in store for me now? I have the Sopranos all ready to go as well as the shield. The SHield happens to be one of Micca's favorite shows so I think I may try not to watch that until I get home. I'm thinking that may be something we can sit and enjoy together when time permits.
Nothing to adventerous has happen here. My Well diggers began digging the well today. It's a little disappointing knowing I won't get to see the finished product. It really is an experiance to work with the local people. Once they understand the hierarchy of our military structure, I think they come to view us or in the case of me as a tribal leader of sorts. It's a little wierd I don't know quite how to explain it. The Polish Captain and I are the 2 highest ranking officers here and because I am american I think those that aren't polish assume I am in charge of everything. I really am just an advisor and a resource.
In other news the LT that was suppose to show up today didn't. It seems as though he was told that the helicopter that was suppose to take him wasn't going to stop here. Well when the helicopter showed up only 2 polish soldiers got off. So that means one more day that I will spend here which is fine by me.
My big project for today was to inventory the kitchen stuff that the polish are using to make breakfeast and dinner and what not. It seems as though the Army has decided that they are going to contract KBR in to cook for us. It probably wont happen until after I leave but I have started the project in motion. I guess they need to know whats here so they know what to bring.
Another day is done and another day closer to leave :)
Later
Brent
So what is in store for me now? I have the Sopranos all ready to go as well as the shield. The SHield happens to be one of Micca's favorite shows so I think I may try not to watch that until I get home. I'm thinking that may be something we can sit and enjoy together when time permits.
Nothing to adventerous has happen here. My Well diggers began digging the well today. It's a little disappointing knowing I won't get to see the finished product. It really is an experiance to work with the local people. Once they understand the hierarchy of our military structure, I think they come to view us or in the case of me as a tribal leader of sorts. It's a little wierd I don't know quite how to explain it. The Polish Captain and I are the 2 highest ranking officers here and because I am american I think those that aren't polish assume I am in charge of everything. I really am just an advisor and a resource.
In other news the LT that was suppose to show up today didn't. It seems as though he was told that the helicopter that was suppose to take him wasn't going to stop here. Well when the helicopter showed up only 2 polish soldiers got off. So that means one more day that I will spend here which is fine by me.
My big project for today was to inventory the kitchen stuff that the polish are using to make breakfeast and dinner and what not. It seems as though the Army has decided that they are going to contract KBR in to cook for us. It probably wont happen until after I leave but I have started the project in motion. I guess they need to know whats here so they know what to bring.
Another day is done and another day closer to leave :)
Later
Brent
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Moving Again
Now that I am all settled into 4 corners it looks as though I will be going back to Ghazni for the rest of my stay in Afghanistan. To be honest even though this place is lacking in amenities... lol to think that I would refer to any of these places as having amenities. I like the remote somewhat austere environment. My biggest task is managing the contract that has a local contractor digiing a well for us. Before these gentlemen showed up at the front gate I really didn't know that digging a well was so technical. Now converting these technical bits through an interperter is a challenge. Language is the biggest challenge alltogether since I have been here. It is either Polish or Pashtun neither of which I have much knowledge in.
So now that I ahve established the needed systems here and got things going they are sending someone in for me to train up so I can leave the this company and work for the Battalion. To be honest I dont mind moving as it keeps me from geting bored and learning new tasks and working with new people always makes things interesting.
Micca has only 2 days left of work after which she plans to concentrate on getting everything moved back to the Prairie City house. We are both looking forward to settling into the B-PC community. Dade will start school after the new year and he is excited as well. He has already met his teacher and seen his classroom and his cousin Jax has been sharing his homework with him to show him where he is in school and to be honest Dade is quite a bit ahead so hopefully any problems adjusting won't be because of school work.
I can't begin to convey how much I am looking forward to getting home. My vacation/leave comes towards the end of my time hereso by the time I finish my eave when I get back here I will have less than 60 days left. Micca and I have this calculator that figures how many days I have left and the percent of time served. Today I was at 62%
Thats enough for now
Later
Brent
So now that I ahve established the needed systems here and got things going they are sending someone in for me to train up so I can leave the this company and work for the Battalion. To be honest I dont mind moving as it keeps me from geting bored and learning new tasks and working with new people always makes things interesting.
Micca has only 2 days left of work after which she plans to concentrate on getting everything moved back to the Prairie City house. We are both looking forward to settling into the B-PC community. Dade will start school after the new year and he is excited as well. He has already met his teacher and seen his classroom and his cousin Jax has been sharing his homework with him to show him where he is in school and to be honest Dade is quite a bit ahead so hopefully any problems adjusting won't be because of school work.
I can't begin to convey how much I am looking forward to getting home. My vacation/leave comes towards the end of my time hereso by the time I finish my eave when I get back here I will have less than 60 days left. Micca and I have this calculator that figures how many days I have left and the percent of time served. Today I was at 62%
Thats enough for now
Later
Brent
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
getting comfy
Well I have finally gotten settled into four corners. The camp here is quite small. It’s about 200 meters (think yards) by 300 meters with the helo pad taking up about a 1/3 of the space. When everyone finally shows up we should have about 150 soldiers here. Considering where we are this is actually pretty nice. The camp itself is an old Russian camp left over from the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.
When I say settled I should say I haven’t completely settled in since I found out they may want me to go back to Ghazni and serve as a liaison for a battalion there. I guess now would be appropriate to discuss structure so everyone will have an understanding of how things work. Almost all military forces follow the same sort of structure.
Team = 3-5 soldiers
Squad = 6-10 soldiers
Platoon = 3-4 squads with anywhere from 30-40 soldiers with a Lieutenant in charge
Company = 3-6 platoons with anywhere from 60-200 soldiers depending on the company and companies have a Captain in charge of them usually reffered to as a company commander or the CO. This is the level I am working at and is probably the most enjoyable of all levels IMO as an officer. My job here is to assist the company commander with an US Forces that he may need or assets or contracts.
Battalion = 3-5 companies and has about 300-500 soldiers in it
Brigade = 3-4 Battalions and has roughly 1000-1500 soldiers in it
I tell you all to tell you this. I am no working at the company level with the polish but I may have to go back to Ghazni and work at the Battalion level. Because it is a larger organization I would be a little more focused on doing just operational stuff and not messing with the logistics so much.
So what do I think about this place. For now I don’t think I would mind spending the rest of my tour here. We are in a fairly remote location and rely heavily on helicopters for supplies. Which makes me worry a little about the winter. The Winters here are quite severe with lots of snow that is measured in feet rather than inches. The cold will make things pretty difficult and I wonder how we will adapt. The Polish are in the process of changing their soldiers out so this is an entirely new group. Some of the challenges I see will be keeping water running. We have a small well that is our water source for showers and washing clothes. We have our drinking water brought in by helicopter and it is all bottled water. I washed my clothes the other day for the first time in the late afternoon which was a mistake. I used one of the 2 working washers if you can call them that. You have to check the washer about every 20 minutes because when it is time for the spin cycle you have to undo the plug so the water can drain. They have no pump to pump the water out. So after your laundry is done you have to go hang it up wherever you can. Problem is if you remember I said I did my laundry in the afternoon, by the time it was done it was almost dark. So I had to string parachute cord all throughout my room and hang up 2 weeks worth of clothes (remember I’ve been in transit for awhile). I had to be careful walking in my room as I literally clothes lined myself about 3 or 4 times. Another thing that I realized about our water situation. Our water smells, not bad but like bleach, we add HTH which is basically bleach to the water tanks we fill with the well. SO everything has a slight bleach smell to include my room now since it was the location for my drying attempts. I should have know better since I had already realized this issue the first time I took a shower and came out smelling like I had been swimming in a pool.
We have a camp pet. His name is Outlaw. He looks like a small german shepard. He probably weighs in at about 60lbs so not to small. I’m not one to really make friends with camp pets since they are a source of disease and what not but the first time I walked out of the command center at night and he didn’t recognize me and started barking at me I decided we should become friends. Last thing I need is our guard dog attacking me.
I ran around the camp the other day for PT. I think I may have forgotten to mention our altitude here is over 6k feet so what I considered running might have only been a very fast walk or a poor attempt at running. The altitude does have an affect.
Well that’s enough deep thought for now.
Brent
When I say settled I should say I haven’t completely settled in since I found out they may want me to go back to Ghazni and serve as a liaison for a battalion there. I guess now would be appropriate to discuss structure so everyone will have an understanding of how things work. Almost all military forces follow the same sort of structure.
Team = 3-5 soldiers
Squad = 6-10 soldiers
Platoon = 3-4 squads with anywhere from 30-40 soldiers with a Lieutenant in charge
Company = 3-6 platoons with anywhere from 60-200 soldiers depending on the company and companies have a Captain in charge of them usually reffered to as a company commander or the CO. This is the level I am working at and is probably the most enjoyable of all levels IMO as an officer. My job here is to assist the company commander with an US Forces that he may need or assets or contracts.
Battalion = 3-5 companies and has about 300-500 soldiers in it
Brigade = 3-4 Battalions and has roughly 1000-1500 soldiers in it
I tell you all to tell you this. I am no working at the company level with the polish but I may have to go back to Ghazni and work at the Battalion level. Because it is a larger organization I would be a little more focused on doing just operational stuff and not messing with the logistics so much.
So what do I think about this place. For now I don’t think I would mind spending the rest of my tour here. We are in a fairly remote location and rely heavily on helicopters for supplies. Which makes me worry a little about the winter. The Winters here are quite severe with lots of snow that is measured in feet rather than inches. The cold will make things pretty difficult and I wonder how we will adapt. The Polish are in the process of changing their soldiers out so this is an entirely new group. Some of the challenges I see will be keeping water running. We have a small well that is our water source for showers and washing clothes. We have our drinking water brought in by helicopter and it is all bottled water. I washed my clothes the other day for the first time in the late afternoon which was a mistake. I used one of the 2 working washers if you can call them that. You have to check the washer about every 20 minutes because when it is time for the spin cycle you have to undo the plug so the water can drain. They have no pump to pump the water out. So after your laundry is done you have to go hang it up wherever you can. Problem is if you remember I said I did my laundry in the afternoon, by the time it was done it was almost dark. So I had to string parachute cord all throughout my room and hang up 2 weeks worth of clothes (remember I’ve been in transit for awhile). I had to be careful walking in my room as I literally clothes lined myself about 3 or 4 times. Another thing that I realized about our water situation. Our water smells, not bad but like bleach, we add HTH which is basically bleach to the water tanks we fill with the well. SO everything has a slight bleach smell to include my room now since it was the location for my drying attempts. I should have know better since I had already realized this issue the first time I took a shower and came out smelling like I had been swimming in a pool.
We have a camp pet. His name is Outlaw. He looks like a small german shepard. He probably weighs in at about 60lbs so not to small. I’m not one to really make friends with camp pets since they are a source of disease and what not but the first time I walked out of the command center at night and he didn’t recognize me and started barking at me I decided we should become friends. Last thing I need is our guard dog attacking me.
I ran around the camp the other day for PT. I think I may have forgotten to mention our altitude here is over 6k feet so what I considered running might have only been a very fast walk or a poor attempt at running. The altitude does have an affect.
Well that’s enough deep thought for now.
Brent
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Four Corners
I made it to 4 corners. My living arrangements are ok for now. I am in a
little concrete building that is about the same size as my trailer in
Iraq, maybe a little smaller. For now I am by myself but LT Beier is
suppose to eventually join me so I will have a room mate. The FOB
including the airfield is probably about 4-5 acres so it is very small.
We will eventually have about 150 polish here and 5 americans with me
being the senior american and probably the most senior person in all.
It appears my duties will be pretty minimal so I may find myself going
back to ghazni after everything is established. I am busy establishing
computers phones and radios. Well I am here with the techs who will
eventually leave me.
The dining facilities have gotten progressivley worse since leaving Iraq
and culminated with tonights dinner. We had meatballs with some polish
salad. It was good but the selection was well there was no selection.
The nights here are getting into the 30s now but the days hit the high
70s.
I'm glad October is almost over then I just have to make it past
november then I will be super close to coming home for leave. To say
that I am a bit anxious is an understatement.
Not much else for now
little concrete building that is about the same size as my trailer in
Iraq, maybe a little smaller. For now I am by myself but LT Beier is
suppose to eventually join me so I will have a room mate. The FOB
including the airfield is probably about 4-5 acres so it is very small.
We will eventually have about 150 polish here and 5 americans with me
being the senior american and probably the most senior person in all.
It appears my duties will be pretty minimal so I may find myself going
back to ghazni after everything is established. I am busy establishing
computers phones and radios. Well I am here with the techs who will
eventually leave me.
The dining facilities have gotten progressivley worse since leaving Iraq
and culminated with tonights dinner. We had meatballs with some polish
salad. It was good but the selection was well there was no selection.
The nights here are getting into the 30s now but the days hit the high
70s.
I'm glad October is almost over then I just have to make it past
november then I will be super close to coming home for leave. To say
that I am a bit anxious is an understatement.
Not much else for now
Monday, October 13, 2008
Afghanistan Journal
Today is the 12th of October. I have now been in Afghanistan 3 days or so. I am now at Baghram. I am 1 of 3 on here on the ground trying to figure out things. We left Iraq knowing we all had to end up in Ghazni Afghanistan eventually. I planned and coordinated the movement of our equipment from Iraq which was surprisingly quite easy. We have mentioned quite a few times how everything is easier in war. Back home if I requested a plane to move some equipment it would have to be requested 6 months in advance and all sorts of deals would have to be cut and then at the last minute the misson would get canceled. The planning I did here was to easy and I always kept looking for what the problem would be. It was or has been pretty damn easy realtivley speaking.
I left Tallil Iraq, wondering and hoping that this would be my last time I ever had to visit this country. It seemed somewhat fitting that I should be leaving through the place that I came through on my in to Camp Echo. Even more fitting was the backdrop of the base itself. There is a very old temple that was built there. Supposdely it is older than the Pyramids. I don’t know for sure but it makes sense since we are in the middle of the cradle of civilization, LOL one would think that if this was the cradle they would be ahead of everyone else but this is irony at its finest.
Afghanistan sure is different in every way. It’s a different war with different people and even though I haven’t left the confines of the air base I can tell things are already different. The biggest contrast is the landscape and weather. I am totally surrounded by mountains and the high today was 79 degrees. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain. If it rains it will be the first time I have seen rain in over a month. Even then is was just a couple of sporadic drops. It has been since April since I have seen any thing approaching a significant rain.
The other big thing that I have noticed here is the lack of T-walls and bunkers. The threat of indirect fire here is almost nonexistent. Many of the force protection standards that exist in Iraq seem to be missing here, I hope it’s because they are not needed. I’m sure of that for the most part since I have been following the intelligence since I have found out we were coming here. With winter fast approaching even the the stuff that was going on earlier this year will stop pretty soon.
I have had some time here the past 3 days and began watching an HBO mini series called generation kill. It is about some marines and their trek through Oraq during the first 20 days or so. I had heard it was done very well and pretty accurate. I have to say it was extremely accurate and should be added to anyones must see list, it can get graphic and quite violent but if you can stomach it, it is worth watching. While I was watching the series there would be many times I would have to stop it because of the sounds of the airfield bleeding over my headphones. The F-15s and F-16s taking off in real time sometimes fit right in while I wastching the show. I sometimes had a tough time figuring out what was real and what was playing over the headphones as I watched. It just seems weird, I don’t know if that is irony so to say but whatever it is it was just weird.
So today I am thinking aboutu what lies in front of me and what other things I will be missing while I am over here. Ashtyn just had her Birthday and Micca will soon have hers. Drake will have his as well while I am gone but Drakes Birthday marks the home stretch fro me. You see Drake’s Birthday is the 17th of February and my Deployment date started on the 18th of March. So in seeing this major events pass it saddens me but at the same time keeps me hopeful and plodding along doing whatever it is that must be done for the day. I also have an anniversary in there which is my Micca and I’s first. Today had me thinking that now I have less than 60 days before I can take leave, and once I return I will only have about 60 days left in country. So even though I’m just barely past the half way point in this deployment I fell like things should start to rapidly come to a close. With Leave comes Christmas and if every thing lines up just right I should make it home in time for Christmas and new years so at least I will be around for that.
As usual I am all over the board in thought and what not. I will have Micca post this to my blog as I will not be able to access it my self since my civilian internet access is sporadic if not non existant. Funny thing is that if you post a comment it comes to my army email and lets me see it. The army cant stop everything
Later for now
Brent
I left Tallil Iraq, wondering and hoping that this would be my last time I ever had to visit this country. It seemed somewhat fitting that I should be leaving through the place that I came through on my in to Camp Echo. Even more fitting was the backdrop of the base itself. There is a very old temple that was built there. Supposdely it is older than the Pyramids. I don’t know for sure but it makes sense since we are in the middle of the cradle of civilization, LOL one would think that if this was the cradle they would be ahead of everyone else but this is irony at its finest.
Afghanistan sure is different in every way. It’s a different war with different people and even though I haven’t left the confines of the air base I can tell things are already different. The biggest contrast is the landscape and weather. I am totally surrounded by mountains and the high today was 79 degrees. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain. If it rains it will be the first time I have seen rain in over a month. Even then is was just a couple of sporadic drops. It has been since April since I have seen any thing approaching a significant rain.
The other big thing that I have noticed here is the lack of T-walls and bunkers. The threat of indirect fire here is almost nonexistent. Many of the force protection standards that exist in Iraq seem to be missing here, I hope it’s because they are not needed. I’m sure of that for the most part since I have been following the intelligence since I have found out we were coming here. With winter fast approaching even the the stuff that was going on earlier this year will stop pretty soon.
I have had some time here the past 3 days and began watching an HBO mini series called generation kill. It is about some marines and their trek through Oraq during the first 20 days or so. I had heard it was done very well and pretty accurate. I have to say it was extremely accurate and should be added to anyones must see list, it can get graphic and quite violent but if you can stomach it, it is worth watching. While I was watching the series there would be many times I would have to stop it because of the sounds of the airfield bleeding over my headphones. The F-15s and F-16s taking off in real time sometimes fit right in while I wastching the show. I sometimes had a tough time figuring out what was real and what was playing over the headphones as I watched. It just seems weird, I don’t know if that is irony so to say but whatever it is it was just weird.
So today I am thinking aboutu what lies in front of me and what other things I will be missing while I am over here. Ashtyn just had her Birthday and Micca will soon have hers. Drake will have his as well while I am gone but Drakes Birthday marks the home stretch fro me. You see Drake’s Birthday is the 17th of February and my Deployment date started on the 18th of March. So in seeing this major events pass it saddens me but at the same time keeps me hopeful and plodding along doing whatever it is that must be done for the day. I also have an anniversary in there which is my Micca and I’s first. Today had me thinking that now I have less than 60 days before I can take leave, and once I return I will only have about 60 days left in country. So even though I’m just barely past the half way point in this deployment I fell like things should start to rapidly come to a close. With Leave comes Christmas and if every thing lines up just right I should make it home in time for Christmas and new years so at least I will be around for that.
As usual I am all over the board in thought and what not. I will have Micca post this to my blog as I will not be able to access it my self since my civilian internet access is sporadic if not non existant. Funny thing is that if you post a comment it comes to my army email and lets me see it. The army cant stop everything
Later for now
Brent
Friday, October 3, 2008
Goodbye Camp Echo!! Hello Afghanistan!!
Today was my last full day at Camp Echo. It is sort of bittersweet. The time I have spent here has been very interesting and probably unlike most everyone else’s experience that comes here to Iraq. My daily duties very rarely had me interacting with my fellow American soldiers, most of the time I worked with my Polish, Ukrainian, and Romanian counterparts. As of the 1st of October the Polish had officially turned over their responsibility to the American forces that have overrun Camp Echo, we affectionately refer to them as the locusts. Our camp is rather small with a total population around two thousand people. While we have been here they have almost doubled the camp population, now which will go down to more reasonable numbers once all of the Polish leave as well as us. But for now they are like locusts consuming everything that had been plentiful for us in the past. The dining facility rarely ever had a line and most visitors would comment on how nice our dining facility was and the quality of food. It is not uncommon for them to run out of ice cream cookies and yes sadly, cheesecake.
Back to the Polish and the process which we call RIP/TOA which is pronounced RIP just like it sounds and TOE short A sound. It stands for Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority. It isn’t as simple as one unit leaving when the new one arrives. There is a transition period where both units operate together so the unit that has been in place can transfer their knowledge and lessons learned to the incoming unit. It’s a process that has been very effective over the years.
I have the utmost respect for the Polish Army after serving with them for the last 6 months. They do things differently and at times seem very backwards but their army was based on the soviet bloc model where all decision making is centralized, conversely the American army is a very decentralized business model if you will. Leaders at all levels are expected to make decisions that support the overall effort. This is ingrained in us from almost the beginning in basic training.
So in the beginning I said it was bittersweet. I think if I had the choice I would rather just have stayed here at Echo for my tour but with the new unit coming in I am glad that we are moving on, even if it is to Afghanistan for the winter. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. Mid to high 80s in the day and down into the low 70s even high 60s at night. My leaving here is a milestone that helps me know that the end is somewhere in sight. The 1st of October was 6 months in Iraq for me and over halfway to being done. Over the next couple weeks I will help to move (I’m responsible for the unit movement) our equipment and personnel from here to Ghazni Afghanistan, where we will reestablish ourselves and continue to work with the Polish forces that are located there. This is no small task as we are the first that I know of to move from one Area Of Responsibility (AOR) to another on the same deployment. During the planning process I constantly heard “really”, “you are doing what”, “I”ve never heard of that”, and so on and so forth. I think an English teacher would hate this blog, my main idea tends to drift from paragraph to paragraph, but anyway, leaving here is a huge milestone because it coincides with our halfway point. We get to recapture that feeling of anticipation of doing something new and unknown again which I look forward to since it really does help the days go by faster. Things here have become mundane in that it’s the same thing with very little variation, ok here I go again off the main topic, we have these counters that almost everyone has that count days minutes seconds and meals. Why meals? Well your life tends to revolve going to work every day and your meals are mini milestones that break up the day for you, at least that’s my take. So I really feel like I am on the downhill side of my deployment. I am fortunate that I have put my leave off until the final third of my tour. If I’m lucky I will be home for Christmas. My leave is scheduled for that timeframe but because of where I will be planning travel is sometimes difficult. I should leave before the big snows but by the time I return we will measure our snowfall in feet. Ghazni and its surrounding outposts are on a high plateau. Ghazni itself sits at over 7 thousand feet. That is much higher than Denver or any other major city in the US. When I return from my leave I should have less than 60 days left.
I think almost hourly about being home and the things I am missing. This deployment if anything has helped provide perspective. It has made the decision for Micca to quit her job and have us move closer to Bushnell where Drake and Ashtyn live a no brainer. There were many reasons for that decision and we probably would have come to the same decision but this separation has probably helped it along. I really love and cherish the thought of when I come home I will come “home”. Deer Creek is a very nice community and the school district has been great but in my heart it is a place I have lived not what I would call home in my heart. It amazes me that Micca sees and feels the same way about Bushnell. Everyone has been so supportive to her and I’m pretty sure she feels the same way that I do.
This post has been longer than most and I have rambled across many topics. I hope that my thoughts and feelings aren’t to incoherent or jumbled for you to understand. I don’t know what access I will have to commercial internet so Micca will keep her Blog more updated with emails from I or she may copy and paste to my blog for me. Be sure to check her blog with updates from me. One final note I will have a new address for anyone who would like to send snail mail.
Brent Russell
101st ABN DIV (AASLT)
TF WHITE EAGLE
FOB GHAZNI, AFG
APO AE 09354
Later for now
Brent
Back to the Polish and the process which we call RIP/TOA which is pronounced RIP just like it sounds and TOE short A sound. It stands for Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority. It isn’t as simple as one unit leaving when the new one arrives. There is a transition period where both units operate together so the unit that has been in place can transfer their knowledge and lessons learned to the incoming unit. It’s a process that has been very effective over the years.
I have the utmost respect for the Polish Army after serving with them for the last 6 months. They do things differently and at times seem very backwards but their army was based on the soviet bloc model where all decision making is centralized, conversely the American army is a very decentralized business model if you will. Leaders at all levels are expected to make decisions that support the overall effort. This is ingrained in us from almost the beginning in basic training.
So in the beginning I said it was bittersweet. I think if I had the choice I would rather just have stayed here at Echo for my tour but with the new unit coming in I am glad that we are moving on, even if it is to Afghanistan for the winter. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. Mid to high 80s in the day and down into the low 70s even high 60s at night. My leaving here is a milestone that helps me know that the end is somewhere in sight. The 1st of October was 6 months in Iraq for me and over halfway to being done. Over the next couple weeks I will help to move (I’m responsible for the unit movement) our equipment and personnel from here to Ghazni Afghanistan, where we will reestablish ourselves and continue to work with the Polish forces that are located there. This is no small task as we are the first that I know of to move from one Area Of Responsibility (AOR) to another on the same deployment. During the planning process I constantly heard “really”, “you are doing what”, “I”ve never heard of that”, and so on and so forth. I think an English teacher would hate this blog, my main idea tends to drift from paragraph to paragraph, but anyway, leaving here is a huge milestone because it coincides with our halfway point. We get to recapture that feeling of anticipation of doing something new and unknown again which I look forward to since it really does help the days go by faster. Things here have become mundane in that it’s the same thing with very little variation, ok here I go again off the main topic, we have these counters that almost everyone has that count days minutes seconds and meals. Why meals? Well your life tends to revolve going to work every day and your meals are mini milestones that break up the day for you, at least that’s my take. So I really feel like I am on the downhill side of my deployment. I am fortunate that I have put my leave off until the final third of my tour. If I’m lucky I will be home for Christmas. My leave is scheduled for that timeframe but because of where I will be planning travel is sometimes difficult. I should leave before the big snows but by the time I return we will measure our snowfall in feet. Ghazni and its surrounding outposts are on a high plateau. Ghazni itself sits at over 7 thousand feet. That is much higher than Denver or any other major city in the US. When I return from my leave I should have less than 60 days left.
I think almost hourly about being home and the things I am missing. This deployment if anything has helped provide perspective. It has made the decision for Micca to quit her job and have us move closer to Bushnell where Drake and Ashtyn live a no brainer. There were many reasons for that decision and we probably would have come to the same decision but this separation has probably helped it along. I really love and cherish the thought of when I come home I will come “home”. Deer Creek is a very nice community and the school district has been great but in my heart it is a place I have lived not what I would call home in my heart. It amazes me that Micca sees and feels the same way about Bushnell. Everyone has been so supportive to her and I’m pretty sure she feels the same way that I do.
This post has been longer than most and I have rambled across many topics. I hope that my thoughts and feelings aren’t to incoherent or jumbled for you to understand. I don’t know what access I will have to commercial internet so Micca will keep her Blog more updated with emails from I or she may copy and paste to my blog for me. Be sure to check her blog with updates from me. One final note I will have a new address for anyone who would like to send snail mail.
Brent Russell
101st ABN DIV (AASLT)
TF WHITE EAGLE
FOB GHAZNI, AFG
APO AE 09354
Later for now
Brent
Thursday, September 25, 2008
A Couple of Endings and Beginnings
Today should be one of my last days here at Echo. I am a little sad to go but at the same time ready to go. Our little Camp here was quite unique. It was very different than most of the Camps and FOBs in Iraq. The polish are leaving and in thier place will be another US army unit. Its not bad but its just not the same. Iguess if I had to describe one versus the other I would call it more relaxed with the Polish in charge.
As of right now I am waiting on permisson to ship our unit equipment. It's been a big to do. The big wigs in Iraq don't want us to take our Hummers to Afghanistan, even though the big wigs in Afghanistan want us to bring it. SO my days of work are pretyy much done bit I will sit here until a decesion is made one way or the other.
In other news My wife Micca has decided to put her profession on hold to pfinish up her college degree. That means she will be moving to the B-PC area. She will move back into the Prairie City house while we continue to try and sell it. We intend to buy a home in Bushnell when it finally sells. THe hardest part about all of this is trying to convince Dade to change schools. I think we have finally got him sold. Micca broke the news Drake and Ashtyn last night and they were really excited. Jax and Johnny are excited as well. Jax has been saving papers for Dade so he will know where they are in school.
If anyone is free the weekend of November 15th I'm sure Micca and whoever else could use a hand with moving.
I can tell you that the thought of coming home to Bushnell after my deployment has me very excited. I really appreciate all of the packages and mail and newspapers that I get. It just seems so right that I should come home to the town that has supported I and my family while I am gone.
My future ability to post may be a bit hampered so Micca is going to try and keep her page updated and update mine through email and what not. The army network doesn't allow us to view or post to Blog sites from the army network. THere are ways to get around it which Micca and I will have to do together.
I will try and post again before I leave Echo.
later for now,
Brent
As of right now I am waiting on permisson to ship our unit equipment. It's been a big to do. The big wigs in Iraq don't want us to take our Hummers to Afghanistan, even though the big wigs in Afghanistan want us to bring it. SO my days of work are pretyy much done bit I will sit here until a decesion is made one way or the other.
In other news My wife Micca has decided to put her profession on hold to pfinish up her college degree. That means she will be moving to the B-PC area. She will move back into the Prairie City house while we continue to try and sell it. We intend to buy a home in Bushnell when it finally sells. THe hardest part about all of this is trying to convince Dade to change schools. I think we have finally got him sold. Micca broke the news Drake and Ashtyn last night and they were really excited. Jax and Johnny are excited as well. Jax has been saving papers for Dade so he will know where they are in school.
If anyone is free the weekend of November 15th I'm sure Micca and whoever else could use a hand with moving.
I can tell you that the thought of coming home to Bushnell after my deployment has me very excited. I really appreciate all of the packages and mail and newspapers that I get. It just seems so right that I should come home to the town that has supported I and my family while I am gone.
My future ability to post may be a bit hampered so Micca is going to try and keep her page updated and update mine through email and what not. The army network doesn't allow us to view or post to Blog sites from the army network. THere are ways to get around it which Micca and I will have to do together.
I will try and post again before I leave Echo.
later for now,
Brent
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sherlock Holmes is on the case
I can't remember if I have mentioned this but one of my Polaris gator type vehicles was stolen a couple days ago. Since then we have gone to all sorts of extrodinary measures to find it. I have called to have convoys that have left Camp Echo inspected and many other things. Well today we got a tip that someone had seen a Polaris parked out of the way. Now there are only 5 of these types of vehicles in roughly a 1 square mile of area. 4 of them belong to me. So upon recieving this tip I run over to grab the Polish MPs and we take off to find my stolen gator.
We get to the first area and check it out and come up with nothing. Upon further investigation we determine we are in the incorrect location and speed off to what we are now sure of is the location. We get there and the gate is closed but alas it is unlocked. We let ourselves in and walk about 50 Meters and there my gator sits. Now you would think if you stole something you probably wouldn't leave the key in it but they left the key in the gator as well. The tip we had received was from someone who had changed out the ignition on this thing. So you would think if you went to all the trouble to steal it and have the ignition changed you would take the key.
Well the perp is still at large but we are hot on his/her trail. It's a very small place and we will eventually get our man/woman.
That's about as much excitment as I get these days
Later for now
Brent
We get to the first area and check it out and come up with nothing. Upon further investigation we determine we are in the incorrect location and speed off to what we are now sure of is the location. We get there and the gate is closed but alas it is unlocked. We let ourselves in and walk about 50 Meters and there my gator sits. Now you would think if you stole something you probably wouldn't leave the key in it but they left the key in the gator as well. The tip we had received was from someone who had changed out the ignition on this thing. So you would think if you went to all the trouble to steal it and have the ignition changed you would take the key.
Well the perp is still at large but we are hot on his/her trail. It's a very small place and we will eventually get our man/woman.
That's about as much excitment as I get these days
Later for now
Brent
Thursday, September 11, 2008
September 11th
Well even though today was like many other days it is still fairly significant in that 7 years ago America was attacked. I had started to write that the twin towers and the pentagon were attacked but I don't think that quite covered the scope.
For my generation this is our Kennedy assassination, we will all remember where we were when we first found out. I remember where I was very vividly. I was preparing for training that day in Albuquerque New Mexico. That days training had us responding to a WMD incident involving a dirty bomb. Instead we found ourselves prepping our equipment to be picked up by military airlift. We didn’t leave until the next day but when we did the pilot pointed to the radar scope and said, “see that?” I didn’t see anything on the radar, that was the point there were no other aircraft in the air within 250 miles.
So here I sit in Iraq on September 11th upset that I am away from my family but proud that I am able to serve my country. Many soldiers have given their lives and many fire fighters and police officers gave thiers on that day. Everyday our officers and firefighters are putting their lives on the line just the same as the soldiers here in Iraq. Of course I am a bit biased since my wife is a deputy, but it doesn’t change the fact that many of the first casualties of this war were the first responders who died that day trying to save so many others.
So today is like many others but yet it is different, and will never be the same.
Today my day started with a wake up from a soldier telling me his gator had been stolen. It is still gone and we have not been able to find it yet. I think that it may have found it’s way into a container and is on its way to Poland. I hope we find it lol. So after my wake up I got dressed and headed over to do my portion of the general’s brief. From time to time I am required to give a portion of the brief. After the brief the Polish then conducted a little ceremony in remembrance of 9-11. I thought this was quite thoughtful and in light of the Polish ceremony for our loss I came to the realization that although it was America that was attacked it was really felt the world around. I came to realize that this was an attack on all civilized nations and one of the reasons why we have so many allies in this war.
Well I think that is enough of my philosophy and insight for the day. The bottom line for me is I still believe in what we are doing!!
Later for now
Brent
For my generation this is our Kennedy assassination, we will all remember where we were when we first found out. I remember where I was very vividly. I was preparing for training that day in Albuquerque New Mexico. That days training had us responding to a WMD incident involving a dirty bomb. Instead we found ourselves prepping our equipment to be picked up by military airlift. We didn’t leave until the next day but when we did the pilot pointed to the radar scope and said, “see that?” I didn’t see anything on the radar, that was the point there were no other aircraft in the air within 250 miles.
So here I sit in Iraq on September 11th upset that I am away from my family but proud that I am able to serve my country. Many soldiers have given their lives and many fire fighters and police officers gave thiers on that day. Everyday our officers and firefighters are putting their lives on the line just the same as the soldiers here in Iraq. Of course I am a bit biased since my wife is a deputy, but it doesn’t change the fact that many of the first casualties of this war were the first responders who died that day trying to save so many others.
So today is like many others but yet it is different, and will never be the same.
Today my day started with a wake up from a soldier telling me his gator had been stolen. It is still gone and we have not been able to find it yet. I think that it may have found it’s way into a container and is on its way to Poland. I hope we find it lol. So after my wake up I got dressed and headed over to do my portion of the general’s brief. From time to time I am required to give a portion of the brief. After the brief the Polish then conducted a little ceremony in remembrance of 9-11. I thought this was quite thoughtful and in light of the Polish ceremony for our loss I came to the realization that although it was America that was attacked it was really felt the world around. I came to realize that this was an attack on all civilized nations and one of the reasons why we have so many allies in this war.
Well I think that is enough of my philosophy and insight for the day. The bottom line for me is I still believe in what we are doing!!
Later for now
Brent
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Yuck!!!!
Probably not what you are thinking. So today was a prety much normal day with a high of 118. All throughout the day I kept thinking man it's really hot today. It's the worst ever. Then it dawned on me. We have humidity today. we normally sit around 10-15 percent humidity during the day and maybe 20 at night. Today we had 30 percent humidity and it's at about 40 percent right now. I know I know that's nothing in Illinois but damn it makes a huge difference here.
I went to chow tonight to be greeted by the 10 mountian jazz band. All army divisions have there own bands and this was suppose to something nice for dinner, which I suppose it was.
I posted another video. I made it for Micca. It's mostly pictures of me from this deployment but has some of our family and some of just us in there as well. It's uses a song that she likes.
Enjoy
Later,
Brent
I went to chow tonight to be greeted by the 10 mountian jazz band. All army divisions have there own bands and this was suppose to something nice for dinner, which I suppose it was.
I posted another video. I made it for Micca. It's mostly pictures of me from this deployment but has some of our family and some of just us in there as well. It's uses a song that she likes.
Enjoy
Later,
Brent
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