January 2009 Archives

An entertainment group finally made it out to FOB Hunter. Laura Lynn and Lucas Hoge came out with their band and played for a couple of hours. It was really nice. The group played country music, did covers of some old 70's and 80's songs, and made a couple of respectable attempts and some rock music. The band member were very friendly, took as much time as they could to shake hands and talk with soldiers. They had a huge stack of photographs that the band members were autographing.

This is the fourth group to try and come out to FOB Hunter and the first group to actually make it. WWE professional wrestlers were suppose to come out but didn't make it, probably due to transportation issues which is a problem out here. I suppose this makes Laura and her crew tougher than the pro wrestlers, right? Hopefully, they'll get the logicistics worked out in the near future and more of these groups will make out to see us. We sure like seeing them.

This was really a pretty big event out here. Soldiers showed up to watch just because it was something entertaining to do. Some of the soldier harangued the band to play music outside of their genre, which I thought was rude but the band took in stride. Laura got out and danced with one soldier which was pretty funny because he asked her to dance but it turned out, he didn't know how to dance. Two Captains were not to be out done and danced with each other. There are a number of females on the FOB who were at the concert so I'm not real sure why these two decided to dance with each other.

Laura and her crew made for a good day that ended too soon. Thanks to Laura, Lucas and the rest of the band. You made our day.

All of the junior enlisted are gone. Junior enlisted refers to those holding rank below NCO, privates and specialists. They've all gone elsewhere. Leave, to Adder to attend to business there, whatever. Just before they left, our group came into possession of four steaks. Only four. Can't have the kids fighting over such things and what better way to alleviate the fighting than to enjoy them ourselves. So, being the proper NCOs that we are, once we had packed the kids off on their various tasks, we dug out the bar-b-que, scrounged up some charcoal and grilled those steaks up. The first two cooked up smooth as silk. We had to restart the fire to get the second two done but, git her done, we did.

aloha

In an effort to better understand the region I work in, I've been searching online news sources for articles about the area. Here's a compilation of the more interesting:

• Iraqis wary of the calm before a storm
• Oil-rich Amara left high and dry
• Election campaign takes shape in Basra
• Iraq offers up giant oilfields to foreign firms
• Our Army failed its test in Iraq

This also seems like the place to provide some basic information. My team is assigned to and responsible for the Maysan province, in support of the 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry (Recon) "Head Hunters" (1-9 CAV) which is a component of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division (Wikipedia) (4-1 CAV). Alpha company of the 445 Civil Affairs Battalion (A/445 CA BN) was assigned to support the 4-1 CAV. Luck of the draw got Team RONIN assigned to the 1-9 CAV.

That should provide a slightly clearer picture of where I am and who I work for.

aloha

So, after my brief respite I am back at FOB Hunter. Apparently there was some excitement while I was gone. The biggest since we've been out here. Everyone is OK, they just have a new war story to tell. I picked up a lot of mail that was being held for me at Camp Adder. It would have been cool to have the Christmas stuff at FOB Hunter on Christmas. Oh well.

In the Christmas goodies was a set of battery powered lights. Christmas is over but I used the light to add a little illumination and ambience to my bunk. Our bunks serve as the only form of 'privacy' we get here. Several of us have rigged make shift curtains to keep out the light and provide the illusion of seclusion. With 10 guys living in a space the size of an average living room, it is only an illusion.

I served ten years in the Navy before coming over to the Army. My heart still wears Navy blue cracker jacks even if the outside is ACU. So, I collect a lot of US Navy stuff to remind those around me that I'm a sailor serving in the Army under duress. My wife often helps me out in my efforts to find Navy things. So, when I saw a pillow case with Navy insignias all over it, I assumed that she had seen it in the store and thought it would be fun. Even after I looked at it, I still thought that. Turns out, my daughter made it for me. It is so well made, I thought it was store bought. I bought a pillow and it now adorns my bunk.

I'm back at Camp Adder for the weekend. I flew up on Friday. Basically, a weekend to pick up some warm clothes (the low temp forecast for the week is 30 degrees... F), sleep in a real bed, eat real food and not get stuck here for a week or more, as seems to be the standard for our team. Everyone else who has come up to Camp Adder has ended up staying here longer than intended. I'm scheduled to go back to FOB Hunter on Monday. Let's see what happens.

The flight up was uneventful. I got to my room and everything was still here. However, someone had stripped the bed. My very cool Cars bed sheets were no longer on the bed. I was sure something was wrong. Turns out, they were folded and stacked up on the locker. OK, no problem. So, I start right in on the first task. I had brought some stuff up from Hunter to store up here and I needed to get some things to take back to FOB Hunter. Now, there's probably a good approach to this but I don't know what it is. I dumped two duffle bags out on the floor and started re-sorting everything into piles. Of course, one distraction after another and now it's almost 0100 and I'd like to go to bed. I can't because there's crap scattered everywhere including the still unmade bed. I moved everything to the floor, made the bed and went to sleep. Which meant the job of sorting stuff had to be redone in the morning. As I sit here now it is mostly done. I need to start packing things into my ruck to take them back down to FOB Hunter. Oh, to add to the mess, I had three boxes waiting for me full of all kinds of wonderful goodies from my family and friends. Well, of course I had to open those first. My wife will be gravely disappointed that I did not take pictures of the mess that was my room last night. Sorry, hon.

Plans to move me to Camp Adder permanently to work in Operations has been scuttled. I will stay at FOB Hunter. With the whole team there, that should be OK. The dynamic is much better with everyone there. Going forward we'll lose one person at a time to the leave schedule. SPC Schoeneman heads out first.

Today is day 129 of this deployment. That is, 129 days since I reported for duty at Mountain View, CA to work full time for the Army. The orders read 400 days. We've been "in country" for 92 days. Team RONIN has been living at FOB Hunter for 65 days. We'll hit the half way point of pretty much everything at the end of February, mid March if they actually keep us the full 400 days. I actually expect to be home by 28 August 2009 given that DoD policy says Reserve and Guard mobilizations should be 12 months. We have 237 days until 28 August 2009. I guess the most uplifting of all that is that at the end of February I'm half way home. That's 129 days so far, 237 days to go, and on February 26 we're half way done. You could have parties celebrating the half way point of my deployment and send me pictures. That'd be kind of fun. If you want to celebrate the whole team then it would be Team RONIN (for some reason ronin is always capitalized) or, if you want to celebrate the whole unit it would be A/445 CA BN on the signs. SSG Smith (Blue), Team RONIN or A/445 CA BN is half way home!! would be a great reason to celebrate.

My wife and I are planning a short trip together when I return. Last time I deployed the whole family went and spent a month in Hawai`i, made possible by my gracious father and his wife. They vacated their house on the island of Kauai so that we could stay there. We're looking to do something different this time. The kids are older which makes it a bit more of a challenge to find something that interests everyone. Given the economy and some changes that my wife and I would like to make in our lives, I'd like to use the time off that I'll have a little differently this time. So, I plan to take a short trip with my bride and then do things with each of the kids as well.

Anyway, we're thinking about spending three or four nights at Hotel Del Coronado. I've wanted to stay at Hotel Del Coronado since I discovered its existence while serving in the Navy. I've walked through the place but never stayed or even eaten there. It is attractive because it is simple, relatively easy to get to, and relatively inexpensive. Which is not to say that I think Hotel Del Coronado is inexpensive. Only in relation to the other things we might consider such as a cruise or some other location.

The other place we are considering is The Carneros Inn in Napa Valley. I found this place in a Google search for best honeymoon hotels. What?! Reuniting after a year apart is not terribly different from a honeymoon! The Carneros Inn offers stand alone cottages with private gardens and open air showers. Hotel Del Coronado is a bit more reserved. I have to guess that we'll end up trying both in the long term.

Lastly, I'm sure many of you wonder why I don't post more pictures. There are several reasons but the biggest is that photos of the military installations poses an operational security issue. The bad guys study the photo to gain targeting and tactical information. Now, I could try to be judicious about the photos I post but I'd rather not take the chance. For the same reason, I am very hesitant to post information about missions. Obviously, this makes writing for this blog a bit of a challenge. As I get more familiar with what matters and what doesn't I think I'll be able to talk more about what's going on in my sector. For now, as my friend Bruce reminded me, I need to write about how I'm doing so that family and friends can stay connected.

This year I'm wishing and praying for a stable, prosperous, democratic Iraq. Happy New Year, y'all!

aloha