October 2008 Archives

I have arrived at a place called Camp Adder. A wonderful little desert town in the middle of nowhere. Life is quiet here, comfortable, with all the amenities of home. We're currently waiting to move to our actual area of operation. While it is comfortable here, most of us are bored to death. It'll be better to be employed which should come soon enough.

Travel from Buehring to Camp Adder was relatively uneventful. Stopped briefly in Baghdad and then continued on to Camp Adder. We were basically up all night. However, the rooms at Camp Adder are quite comfortable so it was pretty easy to get a good night's sleep and catch up.

I had turned in a small load of laundry at Buehring which I had to leave behind. That leaves me short on underwear, t-shirts and socks. For some reason the exchange here at Adder doesn't have any of those items in my size, in stock. Things are rather primitive where I'm going so it would be good to have at least a week's worth of underwear and socks. Right now I have about 5 days worth. I'm hoping to fix that before I leave or my new nickname will be Stinky Smittie. I'd prefer not.

Soon we'll push out to our area of operation and begin the real work.

310 days left on this deployment

I am flying again. After a couple of days at Fort Dix I am now on a plane bound for the sandbox. It's been a rather interesting ride but first let's bring you up to date on events in Fort Dix.

I rented a car at JFK airport. I met with three other guys from the unit and we drove to New Jersey. The ride back was uneventful but kind of fun. I've never been on the East Coast before. I've never had much interest in New York but I now realize that it would be fun to see New York once. In the short time I was driving through New York I saw some of the cityscapes that I've seen many times on TV and movies. It would be fun to see places like the Bronx, Staten Island, Coney Island, Flatbush and other places that up to now have only been names. Not sure how we'll do that but it would be fun.

Everyone returned from a brief leave without incident which is probably fairly amazing. I surprised that at least one person did not manage to get into trouble or at least have problems. The first day back was uneventful, for the most part. My team was duty team so we did the cleaning and provided the duty driver. We all went to medical to get final validation of our medical readiness to wander around in a combat zone. Everyone settled in for what we expected to be at least a few days of mostly nothing to do while we waited for an airplane.

At 1600 on Monday the commander gathers everyone together. We leave on Wednesday night, start packing. We need to be packed, loaded and checked out of the barracks by Wednesday afternoon. Wow!

Well, we got all of that done. We arrived at the air terminal on Wednesday at the appointed time, ready to board and fly away. No airplane. I have no idea what happened but the aircraft finally arrived 4 hours late. We all got on and settled. For some reason we need to stop at JFK but it was suppose to be a brief stop. We arrived at JFK at about 0300. When people started waking up at around 0700 we were still sitting at the terminal at JFK. We were not permitted to get off the plane. I was awake for most of it. We finally left JFK about 0800. We made a brief stop on Frankfurt Hahn, Germany where we were allowed to get off the plane which felt wonderful at that point. We left Germany a bit ahead of schedule and we are not winging our way into place hot and sandy. We'll arrive soon and the next phase of this adventure will begin. I already know that it will be quite hot when we arrive. Hopefully we'll get a few days to acclimate and adjust to the time difference. If you're reading this, they even have Internet access.

I'm on the airplane, flying back to Fort Dix. Leave is over. It will be approximately a year before I see my family again. It is likely to be an exciting year, at least for me. I expect that my son will change dramatically over the next year. He's in that time of transition from little boy to man. I'll miss a holiday season but another group of soldiers will be home for the holidays as a result of our going.

I will see two elections. Provincial elections will be held soon. National elections are scheduled to happen some time next year. Efforts to capitalize on the opportunity presented by the improved security that the surge afforded continue. Pushing the local, provincial and national governments to assume their role in leading and providing for the nation will be a core component of our mission. I hope that we are able to get beyond the rebuilding of basic infrastructure and begin to see the building some of the higher level structures that promote economic growth and a maturation of the social and cultural environment. Small businesses, social venues, parks and sporting events. As the security improves and citizens feel safe to walk the streets they are able to move from simply surviving to enjoying life and even celebrating life. I'd like to see a large wedding. I'd like to see a concert. I wonder what their parties will be like? I would like to see the community or communities I work with move from a characterization of fear to one of life in all its facets.

A significant part of the motivation and enjoyment of serving in the military is being part of something bigger than me. I am going to participate in the building of a nation. One nation was torn down and now a new nation is being built. We don't spend enough time understanding that. My family participates in something bigger than them through me. The challenge before me is to share the experience with my family so that they feel they too are a part of what I am doing and catch the excitement. Much like those whose parents and grandparents served in World War II feel a connection to that great effort. Especially those who can remember their loved ones going off to war and coming home.

So, tomorrow morning I'll wake up in the barracks. I expect tonight will be loud and disrupted with soldiers coming in drunk and loud. Tomorrow we will begin the next phase of deployment. These are the worst parts of deploying. Life is better once you've arrived in your AO and you can focus on mission and day to day operations. We'll be there soon. Let the day count begin.

aloha

Training is complete. I, along with the rest of the unit, have put all the appropriate checks in the appropriate boxes so that someone, somewhere believes I am now qualified to go wander around in a "combat zone". We were fortunate enough to get an opportunity to take six days leave so that we could make our way home to visit friends and family one last time before we leave. And thus, I have been home for the past few days enjoying time with my family. It is nice to be home. I am also excited about what is ahead. I will miss my family and friends terribly but there is something very exciting and satisfying about being a part of something bigger than yourself.

I expect that when I return to the Army in a few days, things will be quite different. Jumping through training hoops defined by others is over. The focus will shift to getting packed and ready to go. I am sure the first day or two will be harried in order to make sure we're ready. I expect that once we are in fact packed and ready to go, we will wait. That's what the military does. We hurry and then we wait. But, for now my focus is on enjoying these last few days with my family.

As a family we are ready for what is to come. We've been through this once before and it is easier the second time through. We have a better understanding of what to expect. There is a certain peace in the knowledge that comes from having done it before. This makes it easier to enjoy whatever time we get together because we are not stressed out about the departure. So far, it has been a very peaceful and enjoyable few days. Everyone has adjusted schedules to afford more time together but there is less pressure on that time. We have been able to simply enjoy each other's company which has been nice. I'm very proud of and grateful for my family. I think it is very cool that the family is strong enough to handle military life. Even Reserve Military life which, I believe, is harder on the family than active duty.

aloha