Well it might have been 3 months being married yesterday but today was 2 months in country. It seems to have gone fast but the 10 months ahead seem like they will take forever. There is some new news that will break it up for us. The Polish will be leaving Iraq in October and focusing thier efforts in Afghanistan. Since our whole misson here is to be the liasons for the Polish forces we will be going with them. So I will probably take my leave in October and when I come back I will be going to Afghanistan.
I don't have many details and this move isn't a done deal but it looks like veryone has blessed off on it. So it looks like I will get to spend the Summer in Iraq and winter in Afghanistan. THe best of both worlds right? This is truly a unique opportunity to serve in two theaters on one tour. I will update everyone as I learn more.
So its Friday! The only way I was reminded of that around here was we had Pizza at dinner time. Other than that the days don't matter much. I do sleep in on Sundays but I still do the same amount of work.
I was chatting with Micca tonight and she said she loves when I blog about us, she says its like a love letter. My days here are full of work but it's always interspersed with thoughts of home. Drake, Ashtyn and Dade are the first things that pop in my mind when I see kids or anything that reminds me of kids. It doesnt take much to get me thinking about Micca. We have so much in common which isn't uncommon with married couples that have been married for awhile. We came into the realationship thinking so much alike and had so much in common already.
Well I'm full of random thoughts tonight why I don't know. I guess I'm a little homesick... is that ok for a grown man?
Later for now,
Brent
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A couple of guys like me
Today was like most other days, hot and sunny thats no big surprise. I took care of the usual issues and even got a few more things done than usual. The new Special Forces guys came in and we got to talking and they mentioned they had brought a couple of chemical guys. So I got to meet a couple of guys that were doing the job I had back in the late 90s. It was pretty cool to be able to talk about my career field with others that had some similiar training. Until they showed up Loren and I were probably the only two chemical guys in 300 miles. We are a rare breed and it's not that often you get to chat with peers and what not.
Other than that not much else to talk about. Tomorrow is friday I think. It's Pizza day on Friday's I think. The days all run together and the best thing I can do to pass the time is stay busy. I don't seem to have any shortage of work so staying busy shouldn't be to hard.
Another day in the book and today is 2 months in country as well as 3 months being married. Poor Micca marries me and then I run off. I'm pretty sure she knew what she was getting into but didn't realize how difficult it would be for us to be apart. She is quite the woman but like most struggles with my absence. I miss her and the kids dearly and really would rather be home than here any day. Micca and I joke around alot but I know we use that to cover up the pain we both feel. Those of you who don't know us really would have a tough time understanding how inseperable we are in our free time. Even when we have to do seperate activities we will try to be together when we are doing them. I use to drive to go get the kids and Micca didn't have to go because she needed to sleep since she works thirds. Often she would just ride and sleep on the way. Ok enough about that, but you can see where my mind is most nights.
Brent
Other than that not much else to talk about. Tomorrow is friday I think. It's Pizza day on Friday's I think. The days all run together and the best thing I can do to pass the time is stay busy. I don't seem to have any shortage of work so staying busy shouldn't be to hard.
Another day in the book and today is 2 months in country as well as 3 months being married. Poor Micca marries me and then I run off. I'm pretty sure she knew what she was getting into but didn't realize how difficult it would be for us to be apart. She is quite the woman but like most struggles with my absence. I miss her and the kids dearly and really would rather be home than here any day. Micca and I joke around alot but I know we use that to cover up the pain we both feel. Those of you who don't know us really would have a tough time understanding how inseperable we are in our free time. Even when we have to do seperate activities we will try to be together when we are doing them. I use to drive to go get the kids and Micca didn't have to go because she needed to sleep since she works thirds. Often she would just ride and sleep on the way. Ok enough about that, but you can see where my mind is most nights.
Brent
Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day
Alright lots of stuff happened today.
The day started out with my group of guys doing a presentation for our fallen soldiers. It was done before our first meeting of the day and went off pretty well. I have posted pictures of the display that we put together. We each placed an item on the table as the COL read the narrative. We took the display to the DFAC afterwards and it was amazing at how many people stopped to look and read about the display.
After our presentation the Polish put on their presentation to honor our Memorial Day. I thought that was quite nice. The Polish really are quite gracious hosts and are very accommodating and understanding. I am very fortunate to be stationed here at Camp Echo as part of the multinational division. The things I am exposed to on a daily basis is astounding. The challenge of working through the language barriers and accomplishing a military mission is quite rewarding.
After the Polish ceremony for our Memorial day I took a trip over to the flag pole and began to flay the flags my dad had sent me. I have been waiting for this day thinking that there is no other day that better represents what our flag stands for and the sacrifices that have been made. It is a significant day and that’s what I was looking for. I took each flag and raised it up all the way then down to half mast, tied it off then saluted and began to prepare the next flag. This took me about an hour but I enjoyed it and felt so proud every time I raised our flag. It may only be a symbol but the history behind the symbolism is what makes it so great. To fly those flags on Memorial Day brings a lot of that history to light. I think I could go on and on but It’s getting late and I still have more to write about.
After my flag flying, I began to work on the deck project and worked on it most of the afternoon. It is nearing completion and should only take a couple more hours. I don’t know if it will ever really be done. I think this is something like an adult tree house and I’m sure we will continue to make improvements as time goes on. Now a funny story occurred while we were working on our tree house… I mean deck. Now some days they make announcements that there will be controlled detonations which usually involve one or two big booms for some ordnance the EOD guys have collected. Well today we are standing on top of our trailers and here the first one go then another and another. Difference here is we can see the blast and there are several. We then see some dust kicked up between us and the helicopters which are about 600 meters away. We do a quick assessment and decide that isn’t right and decide to unass the project and hit the bunker. We continue to hear a series of thumps and explosions. We come to find out that the Polish were doing a mortar demonstration. Controlled det does not equal a mortar demonstration. You would think they would make that a little bit more clear. So we give ourselves the all clear and go back to work. Others start grilling and everyone breaks open the near beer.
In the end we had a little Memorial day celebration. We had steaks brought in from Baghdad and although they weren’t as good as the ones from home they are the best I have had in a couple months.
The day started out with my group of guys doing a presentation for our fallen soldiers. It was done before our first meeting of the day and went off pretty well. I have posted pictures of the display that we put together. We each placed an item on the table as the COL read the narrative. We took the display to the DFAC afterwards and it was amazing at how many people stopped to look and read about the display.
After our presentation the Polish put on their presentation to honor our Memorial Day. I thought that was quite nice. The Polish really are quite gracious hosts and are very accommodating and understanding. I am very fortunate to be stationed here at Camp Echo as part of the multinational division. The things I am exposed to on a daily basis is astounding. The challenge of working through the language barriers and accomplishing a military mission is quite rewarding.
After the Polish ceremony for our Memorial day I took a trip over to the flag pole and began to flay the flags my dad had sent me. I have been waiting for this day thinking that there is no other day that better represents what our flag stands for and the sacrifices that have been made. It is a significant day and that’s what I was looking for. I took each flag and raised it up all the way then down to half mast, tied it off then saluted and began to prepare the next flag. This took me about an hour but I enjoyed it and felt so proud every time I raised our flag. It may only be a symbol but the history behind the symbolism is what makes it so great. To fly those flags on Memorial Day brings a lot of that history to light. I think I could go on and on but It’s getting late and I still have more to write about.
After my flag flying, I began to work on the deck project and worked on it most of the afternoon. It is nearing completion and should only take a couple more hours. I don’t know if it will ever really be done. I think this is something like an adult tree house and I’m sure we will continue to make improvements as time goes on. Now a funny story occurred while we were working on our tree house… I mean deck. Now some days they make announcements that there will be controlled detonations which usually involve one or two big booms for some ordnance the EOD guys have collected. Well today we are standing on top of our trailers and here the first one go then another and another. Difference here is we can see the blast and there are several. We then see some dust kicked up between us and the helicopters which are about 600 meters away. We do a quick assessment and decide that isn’t right and decide to unass the project and hit the bunker. We continue to hear a series of thumps and explosions. We come to find out that the Polish were doing a mortar demonstration. Controlled det does not equal a mortar demonstration. You would think they would make that a little bit more clear. So we give ourselves the all clear and go back to work. Others start grilling and everyone breaks open the near beer.
In the end we had a little Memorial day celebration. We had steaks brought in from Baghdad and although they weren’t as good as the ones from home they are the best I have had in a couple months.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
It's been awhile
It's been awhile since my last post. I realy do appreciate the comments and feedback. For those of you that post thank you, it kind of gives me incentive to keep on blogging.
Since my last post on went on a RECCE flight. It's basically a recon flight don't ask me what it stands for. we flew up by Najaf and I was really surprised by how lush and green a lot of the places are. There is still a lot of desert but you would be surprised at how green some of the places are.
The helicopter I was riding in was a russian made MI-8 HIP but flown by my Polish partners. It is basically the thier version of our big cargo helicopter. It was a decent flight about an hour and let me see quite a bit of the country.
It was neat to see the kids and adults waving at us as we flew by. I'm sure there were lots of mean looks too but those are harder to see than the excited hand waving.
We also had a range for all of my unit. That was pretty uneventful but quite hot. Yesterday hit 116 and today was quite dusty. Today was a slower day and I worked on our deck and got it about half done. I should finish it up in the next couple of days.
I have officially been gone from home for over 2 months, it seems to have gone fast but at the same time the end seems so far. I will have been married for almost 3 months and 2 of which I will have been gone. My Wife Micca is so awesome. She did tell me that I had to make all of the phone calls for the rest of the time when I get back. Everyone is so supportive of me, but it is the families that are left behind that really need the support. I have my friends and battle buddies to talk to every night whereas Micca really has no one. I mean she has family to talk to but it just isn't the same.
I have quite a few pictures to post so I will get to doing that. Well its late now so maybe tomorrow :)
Since my last post on went on a RECCE flight. It's basically a recon flight don't ask me what it stands for. we flew up by Najaf and I was really surprised by how lush and green a lot of the places are. There is still a lot of desert but you would be surprised at how green some of the places are.
The helicopter I was riding in was a russian made MI-8 HIP but flown by my Polish partners. It is basically the thier version of our big cargo helicopter. It was a decent flight about an hour and let me see quite a bit of the country.
It was neat to see the kids and adults waving at us as we flew by. I'm sure there were lots of mean looks too but those are harder to see than the excited hand waving.
We also had a range for all of my unit. That was pretty uneventful but quite hot. Yesterday hit 116 and today was quite dusty. Today was a slower day and I worked on our deck and got it about half done. I should finish it up in the next couple of days.
I have officially been gone from home for over 2 months, it seems to have gone fast but at the same time the end seems so far. I will have been married for almost 3 months and 2 of which I will have been gone. My Wife Micca is so awesome. She did tell me that I had to make all of the phone calls for the rest of the time when I get back. Everyone is so supportive of me, but it is the families that are left behind that really need the support. I have my friends and battle buddies to talk to every night whereas Micca really has no one. I mean she has family to talk to but it just isn't the same.
I have quite a few pictures to post so I will get to doing that. Well its late now so maybe tomorrow :)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Anything new?
Well not much has happened since my last installment. Things here are still relatively quiet.
We have commenced working on our project. We are building a deck on top of 3 of our trailers. The wood was beginning to rot and what not so we decided we would do something with it before it went to waste. I'm fairly excited about it. Its kind of like an adult treehouse. There is 3 of us really working on it and I think once the first installment is done I think it will grow and grow. There are plans to put a driving platform so we can drive golfballs from it. I don't know how well that will go over if we hit something we shouldn't.
I know some people who read this might think man these guys have a lot of time on thier hands. and to a certian degree you are right. We work 12-16 hours days and have 3 or 4 hours to kill a night so that starts to add up after awhile when you concentrate on something.
Not much else going on today was a busy day for me. I have been trying to email Ashtyn and Drake daily and it's not until right now that i realize I missed a day. I'm looking forward to summer since I should get to chat with them a little more often. Micca is looking forward to summer as well. She hasn't got to spend a whole lot of time with Ashtyn and Drake and the Summer makes thier schedules a lot more flexible so they can come over and hnag out at thier other home. Knowing Micca she will have all sorts of stuff planned out for them.
Not much else to say. I will take some progress pictures of the deck over the next couple of days. It won't take long now that we have part of it framed up.
Later
Brent
We have commenced working on our project. We are building a deck on top of 3 of our trailers. The wood was beginning to rot and what not so we decided we would do something with it before it went to waste. I'm fairly excited about it. Its kind of like an adult treehouse. There is 3 of us really working on it and I think once the first installment is done I think it will grow and grow. There are plans to put a driving platform so we can drive golfballs from it. I don't know how well that will go over if we hit something we shouldn't.
I know some people who read this might think man these guys have a lot of time on thier hands. and to a certian degree you are right. We work 12-16 hours days and have 3 or 4 hours to kill a night so that starts to add up after awhile when you concentrate on something.
Not much else going on today was a busy day for me. I have been trying to email Ashtyn and Drake daily and it's not until right now that i realize I missed a day. I'm looking forward to summer since I should get to chat with them a little more often. Micca is looking forward to summer as well. She hasn't got to spend a whole lot of time with Ashtyn and Drake and the Summer makes thier schedules a lot more flexible so they can come over and hnag out at thier other home. Knowing Micca she will have all sorts of stuff planned out for them.
Not much else to say. I will take some progress pictures of the deck over the next couple of days. It won't take long now that we have part of it framed up.
Later
Brent
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Very very very full day
Well tell us Brent how full was it? Well let me tell you. We started out the day heading out to a mortar range. The Polish were training the Iraqis on how to use mortars. Now let’s just say that Headquarters in Baghdad was a little leery of this training. Most of the time when we are attacked it is IEDs or indirect fire which includes rockets and mortars. Now we aren’t accusing the Iraqis of using things against us but they have bad apples just like we do. So teaching them the right way to do indirect fire makes everyone a bit nervous.
The Polish did a good job of showing them the ropes and I hadn’t seen a 60 mm mortar fired before so it was interesting to watch. Once that was over we headed back to Camp Echo. Convoys are always an interesting thing and I got to do a little bit of aggressive driving. There was one truck in particular that didn’t want to stop so I played a little chicken he got the idea and stopped but it’s always a little exciting to have things like that happen.
We made it back to Camp Echo and unloaded the truck. Now you just don’t jump in a truck and drive off like you do your POV (privately owned vehicle) We do what we cal pre combat checks. It’s basically going down a checklist to make sure you have everything and that it is packed where you know it should be and where you can get to it if need be. From water and food to the stretcher. We have to have the radio frequencies we will be using and make sure we know the route. The list is quite extensive and when you get back you have to put stuff away. It ell you all of that because upon our return we found out we had to go to a ribbon cutting ceremony at a school. This was of course after we had unloaded almost everything.
So we load everything up and head back out with our Colonel and the Polish general. We go down into the city and end up taking over several streets and the helicopters keep flying overhead. We make a pretty big presence when we show up. There are kids everywhere. Some are more obnoxious than others. They want candy and water and whatever we will give them. We had a bag of suckers. LOL if orgot this part. On our way into the city or through the city we are hauling butt doing 40 or so and the kids are always waving and what not and I start chucking suckers. It made me think of being in a parade except we were doing 40 MPH. I was doing a hell of job leading the little suckers. You have to take into account when the sucker leaves your hand its already doing 40 plus what I add. I’m sure there is some pissed of parent because a kid has an imprint of a sucker in the side of his head.
So anyways we finished at the school and headed back. Wait…. Forgot to mention the haphazard wiring all through the city. OMG!! No wonder they don’t have power half the time. We are rolling through the inner city and our radio antennas are bouncing under all of these power lines and what not. I was worried we were going to rip them down. I’m quite sure we broke a few but we didn’t leave the city wearing any around our turrets.
So back to Echo, the AC died in our Hummer…. Not that it really helps that much, we get back and I drop off my hummer to be fixed and the power goes down to part of our camp. This is fairly normal when it gets hot. SO Now that I am back I can’t get my paperwork work done since the power grid is down. Well I do some odds and ends and the power comes back I finish my paperwork and decide I should go do PT. I go run a couple of miles run through the chow hall and then work on my deck , which we are building on top of our trailers. SO that was my day. Busy very busy.
My internet has been out so this was actually yesterday (Monday)
check the bottom for pictures
The Polish did a good job of showing them the ropes and I hadn’t seen a 60 mm mortar fired before so it was interesting to watch. Once that was over we headed back to Camp Echo. Convoys are always an interesting thing and I got to do a little bit of aggressive driving. There was one truck in particular that didn’t want to stop so I played a little chicken he got the idea and stopped but it’s always a little exciting to have things like that happen.
We made it back to Camp Echo and unloaded the truck. Now you just don’t jump in a truck and drive off like you do your POV (privately owned vehicle) We do what we cal pre combat checks. It’s basically going down a checklist to make sure you have everything and that it is packed where you know it should be and where you can get to it if need be. From water and food to the stretcher. We have to have the radio frequencies we will be using and make sure we know the route. The list is quite extensive and when you get back you have to put stuff away. It ell you all of that because upon our return we found out we had to go to a ribbon cutting ceremony at a school. This was of course after we had unloaded almost everything.
So we load everything up and head back out with our Colonel and the Polish general. We go down into the city and end up taking over several streets and the helicopters keep flying overhead. We make a pretty big presence when we show up. There are kids everywhere. Some are more obnoxious than others. They want candy and water and whatever we will give them. We had a bag of suckers. LOL if orgot this part. On our way into the city or through the city we are hauling butt doing 40 or so and the kids are always waving and what not and I start chucking suckers. It made me think of being in a parade except we were doing 40 MPH. I was doing a hell of job leading the little suckers. You have to take into account when the sucker leaves your hand its already doing 40 plus what I add. I’m sure there is some pissed of parent because a kid has an imprint of a sucker in the side of his head.
So anyways we finished at the school and headed back. Wait…. Forgot to mention the haphazard wiring all through the city. OMG!! No wonder they don’t have power half the time. We are rolling through the inner city and our radio antennas are bouncing under all of these power lines and what not. I was worried we were going to rip them down. I’m quite sure we broke a few but we didn’t leave the city wearing any around our turrets.
So back to Echo, the AC died in our Hummer…. Not that it really helps that much, we get back and I drop off my hummer to be fixed and the power goes down to part of our camp. This is fairly normal when it gets hot. SO Now that I am back I can’t get my paperwork work done since the power grid is down. Well I do some odds and ends and the power comes back I finish my paperwork and decide I should go do PT. I go run a couple of miles run through the chow hall and then work on my deck , which we are building on top of our trailers. SO that was my day. Busy very busy.
My internet has been out so this was actually yesterday (Monday)
check the bottom for pictures
Saturday, May 17, 2008
So what is missing
So I wrote my sister today and got to typing about how I was missing my kids and hers and it dawned on me I haven't talked to or interacted with a child in almost 2 months. I've seen them standing on the side of the road waving but that is about it. It's just one more thing that I find that I am missing over here.
I say this stuff not lucking for sympathy but just to provide perspective.
As I type this it seems the dust is rolling in. It rained for a few minutes this morning but only enough to clear the air amd make some paste, it's not really mud lol. I have managed to still run even though it is dusty. I have been running indoors on the treadmill. I found out that my heart monitor that tells me my pulse on my watch also talks to the treadmill and puts it on the display rather than having to hold the hand grips to get my pulse.
I think I have talked about the Maintenance team I ave worked with before. They are from Alabama and will leave here in a few days. They only spent 10 months in country since the Army is only deploying the Guard units for a year total. Most units will train for a month or 2 before they leave. I got a whole week of training... well it was more of a processing lol. I get to spend my year here. I prefer the year here to 2 months training then 10 months here. It is nice to be all settled in and know what I'm doing.
Acronym of the day is MWR Morale Welfare and Recreation. It is a term that is used quite often in the Military and it is just what it says.
Later,
Brent
I say this stuff not lucking for sympathy but just to provide perspective.
As I type this it seems the dust is rolling in. It rained for a few minutes this morning but only enough to clear the air amd make some paste, it's not really mud lol. I have managed to still run even though it is dusty. I have been running indoors on the treadmill. I found out that my heart monitor that tells me my pulse on my watch also talks to the treadmill and puts it on the display rather than having to hold the hand grips to get my pulse.
I think I have talked about the Maintenance team I ave worked with before. They are from Alabama and will leave here in a few days. They only spent 10 months in country since the Army is only deploying the Guard units for a year total. Most units will train for a month or 2 before they leave. I got a whole week of training... well it was more of a processing lol. I get to spend my year here. I prefer the year here to 2 months training then 10 months here. It is nice to be all settled in and know what I'm doing.
Acronym of the day is MWR Morale Welfare and Recreation. It is a term that is used quite often in the Military and it is just what it says.
Later,
Brent
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