Accelerate My Life? - Navy IA in Afghanistan

Leaving Afghanistan!

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 13:17:00 +0000

Well, this is it! I was beginning to think that this day wouldn’t arrive; however, I find myself at this point. Tomorrow, I am leaving Camp Mike Spann and beginning my journey through the out-processing system. The Navy calls it the Warrior Transition Program (WTP).

From my reading of this program, they seem to have managed to push about 1 day worth of administrative matters into a 3 day process. However; that will have to wait. Upon leaving here, I have take a convoy to the German base to catch a flight to Kabul. My flight doesn’t leave until the next day, so I’ll have to stay in a tent overnight. It isn’t so bad though, because I’ve made some friends with the Germans there (speaking German really helps) and I intend to meet some of them that evening.

Now Kabul will be a different matter. I fly to Kabul International Airport (KIA) and have to await a convoy to Camp Phoenix. This part should be enlightening because despite repeated requests for information, no one seems to know why any of us are required to begin out-processing at Phoenix. All of the Navy administration and finance duties have moved to Baghram Air Field when the NAVCENT Liaison Staff set up shop there. So, I only know that I should be there a couple of days and then I’ll convoy back to Kabul International Airport and get on a flight to Baghram. I can only hope that my flight to Baghram will be the same day as I arrive at the airport.

Once in Baghram, I’ll continue with admin and finance out-processing for a couple of days. Once completed, I’ll get on a plane to Kuwait to begin the main part of the process; the WTP. At Kuwait I’ll be able to turn in my body armor, weapons and most of the other items that the Army issued me. Apparently, we also have to sit through ‘decompression’ briefs and talk to psychologists to ensure that we aren’t experiencing any post traumatic stress issues. For me personally, I think that the stressful part will be waiting to get on that plane that takes me back to my wife and daughter.

I’m really happy to be leaving for many reasons. The first and foremost of which is that I really need to be with my family. I need to be a contributing member and help raise my daughter. I’m truly tired of watching her grow up over SKYPE and hearing about her many discoveries and development rather than witnessing them. Sometimes I am truly amazed that she knows who I am!

Among other reasons that I’m happy about leaving is that I am truly burned out about the Army and the National Guard. Many of them are professional and well meaning; however I’ve discovered that the Army and the National Guard do not necessarily work well together and neither has any idea how to work with the other services. Much of that misunderstanding comes from their lack of understanding as to what experience and skills the Navy can bring to help the mission. It’s a bit disappointing when you consider how long we’ve been doing this mission with them. Some of the attitudes of the enlisted are such that they really do not understand that an officer is an officer, regardless of which service. I’ve have several (more than I care to think of) instances where I’ve been told that “Well, that guy’s just in the Navy” when told that a Navy O-6 ordered them to do something. This, more often than not, has come from Army E-7s.

Either way, I’ve had many great learning experiences here. Particularly it was a great environment in learning how to successfully meet mission requirements while coordinating between Army, Air Force, National Guard and Coalition Partners. I’ve really been happy that I’ve been able to utilize my German and gain more fluency. Additionally, I’ve made some good friends among the Germans.

There is some anxiety involved with returning home. My wife has been essentially raising our daughter on her own. Now I have to reintegrate myself into that family dynamic and learn how to live with my wife again. I have to discover my ‘place’. Also, as I’ve mentioned before, I am going to be looking for a job outside the military when I return. I have been keeping a keen eye on the news and the state of the economy in the U.S. I would be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous. I have serious responsibilities to consider.

I can say that I haven’t been idle during this time. I have made use of networking with people here who have civilian jobs and working with contractors. I also intend to get my Project Management Professional certification when I get back home. My wife and I have also been making use of the extra money that I’ve made and saved since being here. We’ve paid off my car and our credit card. Now our only long-term bill is the mortgage on our house. Our long-term goal is to have enough in savings to be able to live and pay our bills for at least 8 months in the event of not having employment. I hope that it never comes to that, but it is better to plan for the worst. We are pretty much there right now, but we’ll continue to save nonetheless.

Long-term, I am worried about our mutual fund, IRAs and our daughter’s 529 education fund. Every day I hear on the news about how bad the economy is and how it’s only going to get worse. I really have been disappointed at this point with the message that President Obama has been giving. I recently read his 2006 book “Audacity of Hope”. I daresay that I’ve had that audacity and I still have some hopeful expectations. I was very impressed with what he had to say in his book and in particular his goals for America. I support these goals greatly. I only hope that we will be able to pull out of the current economic mess in time to see these goals come to fruition. The President, in my view, should be the greatest cheerleader for the nation. I fully support being told the truth without all the political spin. I appreciate it; however, I do not believe it is enough. Tell me the situation sucks and tell me it is going to take sacrifice and hard work. Then, tell me that you believe in us as a people and that we will succeed. Only recently have I been hearing the beginnings of such optimism. Before, everything was ‘doom and gloom’ and every time there was a speech, the markets reacted negatively.

I fully understand that the markets are influenced by much more than just a speech; however it cannot be ignored that the market is largely affected by emotion and confidence. Investors cannot be expected to be optimistic and the average consumer cannot be expected to spend their money if the President doesn’t show that he has that confidence. I consider myself to be a reasonable person and my reaction has been completely logical in light of the state of the economy and the lack of confidence I’ve seen. I have saved and saved and saved. We, as a family, aren’t considering buying a new car or making other expenses that are not absolutely necessary because it is fiscally irresponsible to do so in this economy, the future forecasts and the lack of confidence which is evident. Personally, I want to have confidence and I want to hope. However, I, as do many others, have responsibilities that are far too great to ignore. Eating and having a house is far more important that buying a flat screen TV or a new car.

OK, I’ll get off of the soap-box. I intend to continue this chronicle of events throughout my experiences of out-processing. I have not yet made a decision if I will continue this blog or another once I have returned home.
Take care…

Christmas Leave

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Greetings. I hope all had a merry Christmas and happy New Year. I was able to go on vacation (Leave) for 2 weeks in December. My wife and daughter flew to Germany and we met each other there. We were able to stay with my wife’s parents in Bischofsheim, Germany.

I left my camp in Mazar-e Sharif on the 7th of December and flew to Bagram Air Base. When I reached Bagram and checked-in, I was told that I could leave the next day for Kuwait. Now, we are allowed 15 days leave, but the time doesn’t start counting until midnight of the day we arrive to our final destination. This can be a good or bad thing. If you arrive home, say, 6:00 am, then you have 18 hours until your leave starts. Great thing! However; if you arrive around 11:00 pm, then you only have an hour extra. Not so great. Overall, it’s a decent policy, because you definitely get the full 15 days at home. You aren’t scheduled to fly back to Kuwait until the 16th day. Again, could be a good thing if you get a later flight.

So, I quickly did the math and figured that I would have to fly back on Christmas day if I left on the 8th for Kuwait and ultimately arrived in Germany on the 9th or 10th. For me, it was cutting it too close. So, I asked if I could hang out for a couple of days and manifest for my flight to Kuwait on the 10th. They didn’t mind, so that’s what I did. I had to live in a large tent for a few days in Bagram. I was able to get a couple of last minute things.

On the morning of the 10th, all those leaving for Kuwait had to muster at the terminal for a brief. We were then told to come back at 18:00. After wasting the rest of another day, I reported again to the terminal and waited around until we were able to board the plan. This didn’t happen until about 22:30. We took a C-17 to Kuwait, which is a large plane, but not built for comfort. Particularly when you consider that we had to travel in body armor and helmets. Thankfully, we were able to turn in our weapons and ammunition at Bagram.

When we landed in Kuwait, due to the time difference, it was about 03:30 (05:00 Afghan time). We immediately, upon disembarking the plane, were transported to a large tent for a few briefings. Mainly they had to collect our leave paperwork and split us into groups dependent on where we were traveling. See, although we were required to put in our requests for leave months in advance, the military does nothing for reservations until we arrive in Kuwait. At this briefing, we were told to return for a transportation briefing at 07:00. In the meantime, we had to get an assignment for sleeping quarters (another tent) and turn in our body armor and helmets.

Now, those of us who were flying to a destination outside the continental United States, were actually in a pretty good position. We were immediately brought to the transportation office, asked our destinations and then told to report back at 16:00. Those others who had to report back at 07:00 weren’t allowed much sleep time. I went straight to turn in my body armor, and then immediately to sleep. I woke up around 11:00 and took the opportunity to take a shower and get some food.

I later discovered that those who were leaving for the United States had to go through customs first. This entailed them having to muster at 12:45 and then had each of their bags emptied in front of a customs agents and searched. Once they were done with customs, they were sequestered to that area. This would be ok, if it wasn’t for the fact that they didn’t fly out until about midnight. Made for a long day for them.

At 16:00, I received my itinerary and told to come back at 20:00 to manifest for the flight. We didn’t actually leave for several more hours, but that wasn’t too bad. Around 23:00 we were transported to the Kuwait International Airport and told to check-in. At this point, we were on our own.

I took a Lufthansa flight from Kuwait to Frankfurt, Germany. I traveled in civilian clothes because of my destination. Those traveling to the United States had to take a military chartered flight and travel in uniform. I arrived at Frankfurt at 05:30, which was great because of the leave counting policy!

I can’t begin to describe how it was to see my wife for the first time since July. I’ve been on longer deployments, but this was somehow different. Maybe it was because I knew that I was only staying 2 weeks and then traveling back to Afghanistan. My daughter wasn’t there for my arrival due to the time. It was way too early to expect her to wake up and be at the airport. I was able to see her shortly after arriving at my in-laws’ house. That was great. She saw me and said “Papa” with a great big smile! I’m not too proud to say that melted me on the spot.

We had such a great time going to the Christmas market, an animal park, visiting with the extended family, just spending time together. We took our daughter to the Christmas market a couple of times. They had a carousel that my daughter just loved. She had never before been on one and it was such a treat for her. We also took her to one of the surrounding mountains to introduce her to a Toboggan. Again, she absolutely loved it!

I was also happy to see her be able to spend some time with her great-grandparents. The last time she had seen them, she was too young to really interact with them. She was playful and interactive with them this time.

Unfortunately, like all things, my time there had to come to an end. I’ve never been on a deployment before where I was able to take leave in the middle of it and see my family. Although, I would never trade this experience for anything, it was very hard to leave. Harder this time, than it was leaving the first time. I miss my wife and daughter very much. Seeing them again only emphasized how deeply I feel their absence.

Now that I am back, I can only hope that time goes by as fast as it went during the first 4 ½ months. I did receive some good news though. I should be leaving here about a month earlier than I was originally scheduled. The question will be, how long the out-processing will take because that dictates when I’ll ultimately be home.

Work here has been steadily increasing since my return. We have been informed that our camp is to plan for an expansion. This expansion should double our current size. The challenge is that the people in charge of sending the people are different and separate from those who help us with the preparations. We have to plan how to house 400-600 additional people and they will most probably begin to arrive before we are able to build more housing for them. The logistics involved are astronomical! We have to first prepare the land. Currently, it’s just an open area complete with sink holes and craters. We have to survey the land, level it and then build in the infrastructure. There is no water pipes, sewage, drainage, power grid, nothing. Once those things are in place, we have to build the living quarters, new gym and dining facility to accommodate them. Of course, we cannot forget the force protection structures that will be required.

Here in Afghanistan, it can take up to 120 days to get a project contracted and then more time to get the authorized funding. That’s all before the first preparations are started. The people can be expected to arrive much sooner than that. Hopefully, with all of our ‘bell ringing’, someone higher up will start to see the big picture and pay attention. Don’t get me wrong, many people see the problem, but it is still going to be a huge challenge to get the pieces in place and I have a difficult time seeing it being done in time for all these additional people. Things just take more time here.

I’ve included some pictures for you from my time on leave. I hope you enjoy them.

Later!

Fun Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 09:14:00 +0000

I was recently afforded an outstanding opportunity. I was invited to go to the shooting range with a German Army team that is stationed near us.

I've had the opportunity to shoot a couple of the weapons that the Germans use in the past; however this was the first time I was able to shoot from such a variety. I shot the G-36 rifle, P-8 pistol, MG 3 and MG 4 machine guns, a machine pistol, a grenade launcher and a M-82 .50 caliber sniper rifle.

The machine guns were a treat to shoot. They are very smooth, with almost no recoil. The MG-3 has not been changed in 60 years. It is that well built and efficient. The MG-4 almost looks like a rifle. It can fire over 500 rounds per minute and it a dream to use.

There were 5 Americans there, including myself. We set up a little shooting competition with the Germans. We used their rifles and they used our M-4 rifles. While I shot pretty well, we ultimately lost with an overall score of 129-111. It was fun. While the G-36 is heavier than our M-4 rifles, it is very easy to shoot and the optical sights make aiming very easy.

Lastly, I was able to shoot a couple of rounds through the M-82 sniper rifle. This was a dream come true for me. I've always been interested in getting an opportunity to shoot this rifle. It is amazing to think about a man fired weapon using a .50 cal bullet and being able to accurately hit a target 1 mile away. It has a muzzle velocity of 3900 ft/sec. At that speed, a target would get hit over 1.5 seconds after the bullet was fired 1 mile distant. A target would be hit before the sound reached it. Of course that would not much matter because if anyone was hit with a bullet that large they would be torn in half. A .50 caliber bullet is 1/2 inch in diameter.

As you could probably tell, it snowed some recently. Mostly in the mountains. What we got did not stay around long. It made a pretty site though. I'm sure that the beauty will be lost on me as it gets colder and my thoughts focus on just staying warm! Soon though, I'll be with my family for some Leave time. I can't wait for that! I haven't seen my wife and daughter since July 22nd. It's a long time....

While we were there, the Afghan Army decided to show up. We still don't really know what they were doing. They just landed a helicopter right there next to us. Not sure why because the area we were in was very, very large. They had miles of space in which to land, but they chose the spot next to us. Once they landed, a platoon (about 20 soldiers) got out and formed a perimeter around the helicopter. The Helicopter then took off; leaving the men there.

We decided to ignore them and we continued to shoot. Being mindful, of course, of weapons safety. We could only hope that they were being safety minded as well. After about 10 minutes the Helicopter returned and the soldiers boarded the aircraft. The helicopter left and we did not see them again. Probably just some maneuvers of some kind.

I mentioned in a previous submission that I went to the embassy in Kabul to process my renewal of my passport. Well it's ready and I'm in Kabul now to pick it up. I'll write more later about how this trip went.

Take care......

Getting colder here.....Starting to snow some....

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:31:00 +0000

Hello,
I know that it’s been a while since my last post. There have been some big decisions since then and I allowed myself to get distracted and ‘otherwise motivated’. However, my wife has since wisely reminded me, these accounts are primarily motivated by my daughter. I want to give her something tangible to have so she can understand what I did and why I was gone so much during the early part of her life.

There’s been quite a bit that has passed since I last wrote. To begin, I’ll let you all know that I’ve decided to leave the Navy when my tour of duty is completed here in Afghanistan. There are several reasons for this move. Some are professional and others are personal. In any case, I feel that it’s better for my family and for myself to seek another line of work. I am leaning toward something in consulting or project management. My wife would prefer us to live in the Maryland/D.C. area. I've always liked it there, so I have no problems with that.

This is a HUGE paradigm shift for me. I have served in the Navy in one form or another for 18 years. I have never known another line of work in my adult life. I was 17 when I joined the Navy. I had to ask my parents for permission to join. My life has changed considerably since then. I’ve been to over 2 dozen countries, learned another language, gotten married, had a child, received undergraduate and graduate degrees, etc. I am not ashamed to say that it scares me sometimes to consider the weight of the changes to come in the next year. However, I take strength from the fact that I have a great partner in my wife.
As for my experiences in Afghanistan, there have been changes here as well. I’ve traveled some, people have transferred, new people have come in and sadly, some have died…

Since my last ‘discussion’ with you all, I have been able to travel to Kabul. I had to go to the American Embassy to process my passport renewal. That was “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” experience. Just joking, but it was interesting. I had tried to get this process completed via the military for a while, but I wasn’t able to travel for quite a while. The normal process for getting a passport application processed is through a military office at Bagram Air Field. It’s the largest base in Afghanistan. However; for some reason the process takes 6-8 weeks through that office. I did some research and discovered that there is a Navy Senior Chief stationed at the Embassy in Kabul. After a phone call to him, I learned that through the Embassy I could get my application processed in 8-11 days. This was a much more preferable solution. So, I tagged along with a group that was leaving here for Kabul. Turned out that the group included the ARSIC-N Commander. He’s in charge of all of Northern Afghanistan in connection with Task Force Phoenix.
We rode in a convoy from our camp to a German camp , Marmal, that is about 30 km away. Given the state of the roads in Afghanistan, this trip took us about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Once in Marmal, we were given assignments in tents to sleep overnight. Our flight wasn’t to leave until the next morning. I took the opportunity to have some pizza, a rare opportunity I assure you. The next morning, we boarded a German military flight to Kabul International Airport. Not sure it’s a good thing to be at a place with the initials KIA. Actually it’s a very secure place. Where we were was an ISAF compound. ISAF is short for International Security Assistance Force. It’s the NATO mission to do train the Afghan Police and Army. Anyway, once at KIA, I was able to ‘hitch’ a ride with the ARSIC-N Commander and his Personal Security Detachment to camp Phoenix. I had to stay the night at Phoenix while waiting for a ride to the Embassy. I say ‘ride’, but transportation is not as easy as it sounds. Rides consist, in most cases, of 3 armored Humvees and weapons at the ready.

The next day, I was informed that my 09:00 ‘ride’ to the embassy was postponed until the afternoon around 13:00. That ride finally happened about 17:00. I finally arrived, after a couple of detours, at the embassy around 18:30. I was very thankful for the Navy at that point because the Senior Chief was willing to wait for me. My actual business only took me about 10 minutes. Sort of anti-climactic really, given the efforts it took for me to get there.

Getting into the Embassy struck me as personally interesting. I’ve been to Embassies before and security was always very obvious. It was here as well; however there was one difference this time. In the past, I had to give up my cell phone and ID card and go through a baggage check and metal detector. So, here I was this time, standing before the security guards. I was wearing my uniform, body armor, helmet, 9mm pistol (loaded), and M-4 rifle (loaded). I was asked to turn in my cell phone and ID card at the desk and to go through the metal detector. Now, I thought that funny. I asked the guard if I had to turn over my weapons and armor as well. He said “no”, I was able to keep those items. Then I asked him, “Care to guess what might be metallic?” He didn’t have a sense of humor….

Once I was completed with the embassy business, I needed to get a ride back to KIA. My ‘ride’ wasn’t able to hang around for me, so I was left to my own resources. The Senior Chief said that he could get me to another camp that was close to the Embassy, but he couldn’t get me to KIA. Maybe from the other camp I could get to KIA. The camp he took me to is called EGGERS. That was an interesting ride as well. Every time I’ve traveled in Afghanistan it was always in armored Humvees in a multi-vehicle convoy. So, here it was, around 19:00 and dark and we hop into an armored SUV (Suburban) by ourselves and drive about a mile to the other camp. Of course, we had our weapons and body armor on. Funny enough, he dropped me off just outside the gate of the other camp. I get out of the SUV, on the street. It was all perfectly safe, but it was my first time ‘outside’ of a camp of any sort. I previously had only entered and exited a vehicle from inside a camp after going through gates, blast deflectors and security checks. Now, here I was just walking up to a gate as I would any base in the U.S. With the added exception, of course, that I was armored up and with loaded weapons.

After some asking around, I was able to get myself into a transient building and secured myself a bed to sleep for the night. In the morning, I was to see if I could beg, borrow, or steal a ride to the airport. This was completely based on pure luck. There is an office at Camp Eggers where people are supposed to report to when they are planning a convoy off the camp. The problem is that at Camp Eggers, there are so many different entities (U.N., ISAF, American, Personal Security Detachments, etc.) that not everyone has to submit a travel report. Just asking at this office who might be leaving for the airport is precarious. Just because the office says that no one is going to the airport isn’t exactly always true. I, incidentally, was told exactly that. No one had reported a planned trip to the airport. So, I spent the morning walking around to different offices and asking for a ride if they happened to be going to the airport. After about 3 hours with no success, I decided to take a coffee break. They had a commercial coffee shop, the Green Bean. While I was sitting there drinking my coffee and reading a book, I overheard an Air Force Captain on his cell phone telling someone that he would be ‘there’ at 11:30 to pick ‘him’ up. Once he was finished with the call, I introduced myself and asked him if he was going to the airport. He replied in the affirmative. I asked if I could ‘hitch’ a ride and he was happy to oblige. My luck had taken a turn for the good!

Once I arrived at the airport, I went to the passenger terminal and asked if there were any ISAF flights going to Marmal. I fully expected to have to spend the night, maybe two, at the airport. Happily, I learned that they were preparing to board a flight to Marmal in about 5 minutes and I could get a seat. I gathered my stuff and walked right onto the plane! After about an hour flight, I arrived at the German camp and walked into the passenger terminal. I immediately ran into a Special Forces guy I knew who asked me if I needed a ride to Camp Spann. Of course, I said yes. He told me they weren’t leaving until the next day, but they had their own American Special Forces compound and I could stay there. So, I stayed there and came back to Camp Spann the following day.

Many of the Navy personnel that I worked with when I came here have since gone home. In the office I work in, I was the only one that wasn’t in their group. They all came here together. So now I am learning to work with a new group of Navy Officers. They seem like a good, hard-working group. I always leave my opinions open with new personnel until they have had an opportunity to settle in and get into the ‘job’. I don’t foresee any issues with them, though.

I wrote last time that we were having issues with our internet. We’ve since gotten a new system; however, the capability is much reduced. We lost all of our laptop drops and we now only have 8 computers supplied for almost 400 people. Given the time differences between here and the United States, it is difficult to find time to use them. Fortunately, I have been granted the opportunity to use the internet connection that the Germans use. This gives me the opportunity to use Skype with my wife and daughter. I love to have the ability to see my daughter and witness the changes in her on a regular basis. This wasn’t even a spark of an idea/possibility when I first joined the Navy. The internet didn’t even exist and cell phones were just becoming available and mostly not for the ‘common folk’. The Germans afford me this courtesy because my wife is German as is my daughter. This is their way of supporting a fellow German. I’m grateful for the opportunity. Of course I have to pay for this service, but it is more than worth it. To make the most of it, I only use it to use Skype. Anything else would become too expensive anyway. It’s about $5.00 an hour.

I try not to think about the time I have left here. It would make the time seem to go by slower. I do think about the time I have left until I get to go on leave for two weeks. I can’t say in this forum when that is for security reasons, but I am close!

Recently there was a suicide bomber attack at an Afghanistan Police Station in the North of Afghanistan. I can talk about this now because it’s been weeks since the event and it’s out there in the public. Two men, American soldiers, died. I knew one of them. I only knew him in passing. We were not close by any means, but it doesn’t change the fact that I have those few memories, however brief, of a man that I recognized who is now no longer with us. He was a husband and a father. I am truly sad for the loss of his family. He believed in the mission here and he truly wanted to help the Afghan people. He wasn’t here for glory or even to hunt terrorists. His motivation was to help those people here improve their futures and that of their children. I just wanted to make it known that he will be missed, even by those that only knew him in passing.

That is all I have for now. I thank you all for reading my ramblings…

Until next time…

Still here....fighting the ground-hog day syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:27:00 +0000

Hello,

I know it's been a while since I've updated everyone on my progress here. It's been a busy 3 weeks.....

I'm fairly settled into the 'Camp Mayor' job here, but I'm constantly being bombarded by requests, mini-crises, plans for construction and repair. Let's see.....in the past three weeks I have supervised the movement of around 110 people who were leaving afghanistan, and the 110 people who were replacing them, created a base defense plan, in the process of creating the training of a new fire fighting team, planning the construction of a base expansion, winterization of the current B-huts, repairs of generators, water storage and our defensive perimeter. Add onto that the constant movement of military and contractor personnel visiting; it's been a bit busy.

The Army tends to look at you weird when you talk to them about fire safety, prevention and response. The problem that we have here is that the Afghans cut their paint to make a gallon go farther. Makes sense until you realize that they 'cut' their paint with fuel. Sometimes with diesel fuel and sometimes with gasoline. So, what you end up with is living within a matchstick. So, as a Sailor, I have a particular sensitivity about fire. So, I've come up with a team of Navy sailors, chiefs and myself to be a fire response team. I say fire response because if a b-hut catches fire, unless there is someone in it, we will not enter the space. In fact, we won't even put out the fire. It takes about 10 mins for a b-hut to burn to the point of being unsalvageable. So, our SOP is to just make certain that the b-huts around it do not catch fire.

Winterization is the other issue. Before I reported here, there was a contract put into place to install insulation in the B-huts. My only issue with the contract is that the contract requires insulation in the floors. Now, my natural inclination for winterization would be to put insulation in the ceiling. But, the contract is finalized and the best I can do is see if I can get spare insulation, if possible, to put into the ceilings. We'll see.

Another project is to install sidewalks throughout the camp. This is a cool project. We currently walk on gravel which is usually about 6 inches deep. Great for working out my calves! Sidewalks make sense. Hopefully, the winter will not set in early, because the time frame for getting this done is closing quickly.

Working with our general services contractor is a constant battle. They do good work and they are fairly responsive. The problem with them is proper time estimates for repairs. They are overeager, so they always give me short repair times. Then, invariably, they have to extend their time requirements in the middle of a job. I tend to have to tell them how much time they have and it's usually longer than they originally tell me. I default to the rule of three's. I give them up to three times more time than they tell me it will take. It works most of the time.

Sorry about not having pictures. I've attempted several times to get pics of the sandstorms that are constantly coming through here. However; I haven't been able to capture any decent pics of these storms. It's difficult, I've found to accurately capture the feel of a sandstorm.

Anywho...time to herd the cats.....

Work....work....work....

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:50:00 +0000

I promised you some pictures and here they are! Sorry, it took me a while to get them. Everyday is a new issue and a new solution.

One of those issues was getting all of the personnel on this camp accounted for. There was not a very good job done about this before. So, when I was charged with supervising housing, I decided to do something about it. It took me about two weeks, but I finally finished. It is difficult because people like to move around on their own and change things about their rooms without telling anyone. I came up with a solution to that. Anyone, now, who moves without my permission has to move out of their room and move into an open-bay barracks. Like those that I lived in when going through training. No room, no lockers, no space to themselves. I'll give them about a week and then move them back to their original assignments. Haven't had any complaints from those above me yet.

Another problem was that I was moved into a real rat trap of a b-hut when I got here. At the same time, I was 'assailed' by these government contractors about being promised one of the new buildings for their sleeping quarters. Well, they were 'promised' by this Command Sargent Major, who is a blow-hard and doesn't have the authority to promise anything. Well, I corrected the problem. I moved into the new building and found another one for them. You've seen pics of my room when I first got here. I've included some of my new space. I made some improvements. I had a wall locker built and a bed. I built a desk myself and a door for the room. I actually feel like I have some illusion of privacy.

I had to leave the camp the other day to escort a dump truck full of sand to the camp. So, I took the time while walking out there to take some other pictures. This whole place looks like this. I know, it's a little barren. Nothing modern out here.

I had to participate in a convoy today. We had to go out to a German base on the other side of Mazar-e Sharif. It took us about 1 1/2 hours. Still amazing to see how they live. I know that they have no choice, but still a stark reminder that we have it pretty good.

I'm getting more involved with things around here. I'm supervising the expansion of the camp. Basically taking over a part of the camp that was previously separate and belonged to some special forces guys. We had to renovate all of the b-huts for people coming in. Some were turned into offices. We also have started a winterization plan. The buildings here were built very poorly and do not have much, if any, insulation. The newer ones are much better, but the old ones need a lot of work. Should be able to get it done before it gets cold here. Hard to imagine it ever being cold here!

I get to talk with my wife and daughter most days via SKYPE. I even got my parents to get a webcam. Really helps to keep the morale up. I got a couple of packages the other day. Even though I have the internet, it's still cool to get mail the 'old fashioned' way. I received a pillow, some sheets and a few other things I needed.

Anyway, I have to get going. I have more work to do. Take care all. Let me know if you like what I have to say or if I can tell you anything else. I'll talk about what I'm allowed to.

Later!

Week 1 - complete...

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:47:00 +0000

Hello all!

Well, the first week is completed. Sometimes I think that my job will be more like hearding cats than anything else. Dealing with camp bearthing and services is definitely proving to be a challenge if only just on my patience. :) It's not really that bad. I just have about 18 different projects or problems going on at once.

I'm still getting a handle on bearthing assignments. People are supposed to come to my office for permission to move bearthings or change their bearthing configurations in any way. Of course, getting this concept through to the Army is a bit difficult. Then there are the issues with broken items like doors, showers, sinks, toilets, windows.....and the list goes on. Oddly enough, the females have been giving me the most issues lately. Several power outages in the female bearthings due to plugging in 110v appliances into 220v sockets. Then someone kicked out a drain pipe to a sink in the female latrine (head). Shower head was busted. Little things.

I can tell right away that trash is going to be a problem. Too many people; civilian, military and local nationals alike are leaving trash all over the place. Mostly it's water bottles. I might have to hire a local just to walk around cleaning up. I would hate to have to do that, but I can't be everywhere at once.

All in all, this job is very manageable. Just like any job I've done, division officer and department head, there are are always varying personalities to deal with. Resource management, both with people and materials. The biggest variable here is the weather. Dust storms, wind, glaring heat. From what I understand it gets so cold here that some days no work at all gets done. Well, we'll see.

Today and yesterday, I've spent my time rearranging the office space to accomodate two more desks. Problem I cam across was with the LAN. Apparently, the Army has their computer network set up to lock out a LAN connection any time the cable is unplugged. Well, I didn't know that and all of the computers had to be unplugged for the move. Now, we have to get the Army to open up the ports. I'm not suprised to have learned that the Army has kept control of their network at camp Phoenix in Kabul. So we have to wait for their civilian contractors to 'get around' to fixing the ports remotely. I hope to have the computers back up tomorrow. ***fingers crossed***.

Well, I'm going to get going. I hope to have some more pictures for you on the next post.

Take care.

Getting settled in

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:57:00 +0000

Well, I've begun my first full week here and I'm getting settled in my new job. It's proving, as expected to be quite the challenge. Not only do we have new construction in planning and some in progress, I have to work with the million maintenance issues that come up daily.

I have to apologize for not having any new pictures for you on this installment. We've had a dust storm these past few days and it's been impossible to take any pictures.

Every day I meet with someone new that I have to coordinate with to do my work. I have a wood shop foreman (a second class petty officer) that works for me and there is a civilian contractor that I meet with to get repairs completed. I feel like I am constantly filling up his e-mail with my never ending service orders.

Currently, one of my major projects is to organize billeting. Apparently, people have spread out over the different buildings and that really isn't ideal for accountability. Therefore; I am reorganizing the billeting plan and verifying where people are actually residing. Once that is complete I can consolidate personnel and I'll also know accurately what available space I have. This should make it easier to plan for visitors and the occasional surge of personnel when people arrive to replace others.

Well, sorry this is shorter than usual, but I have many things to track and complete for today. To my family and friends: I love you all and I hope that this finds you well. Be safe.

Two words: DUSTY AND HOT!!

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:51:00 +0000

Greetings from Camp MIKE SPANN. I've only been here about 4 days and I'm still working on getting acclimated. The average temp, so I'm told, has been aroundn 120 degrees. I've saw the thermometer yesterday reach 125. Getting motivated in that temperature to go outside is difficult at best. However; there's always work to be done and it isn't going away just because it's hot outside.

My job here apparently will be as the Camp Mayor. Realistically, I'll be a public works manager. There are a couple of other officers here who have been overseeing the project on the camp as well as the other two FOBs and the ANA camp SHAHEEN adjacent to Camp MIKE SPANN. So, I'll be taking over the projects and services for this camp so they can effectively mannage their own projects. It seems like it'll be a challenge and I like a challenge.

When you aren't in a sandstorm (almost never), you can get a really nice view of the mountain range near our camp. I had very brief window of opportunity where I could see the mountains a little, so I took a picture to share with you all. It really is a nice view when you can see it. Problem is, most mornings are quite windy and all you see is a heavy haze of dust. One would think that when the wind blows then you could get a respite from the heat. No such luck. Imagine the heat you feel when you open an oven to check on your dinner. Now imagine that you are in that oven. The last couple of days, even the locals were saying that it was very hot. If they are saying that, then you know it's hot!

I took some photos of the camp and the B-hut that I'm living in. A B-hut is not much more that a wooden structure with some plywood partitions to create the illusion a separate rooms. There are airconditioners and heaters inside, but they only help mitigate the temperatures. It never really gets cool in the summer nor warm in the winter. I'm really going to appreciate the cold weather sleeping 'system' that I was issued back in FT Riley. This picture is of the B-hut that I'm in.

Luckily, we are allowed to modify our spaces for our own confort and needs. In one of the pictures you can see that there is a metal bunk bed in my space. Every single little movement causes that thing to squeek in such a way that it wakes me up. Not very conducive to getting a good nights rest, to say the least. I also have a metal locker, which I may or may not get rid of. It's nice to have a place to store items and clothes but it's very rusty and not very stable. So, I have a plan to take out the bed and build myself a raised platform for my bed. I'm planning on building it perpendicular to the space against wall. I'll build in doors that I can lock with a clasp underneath the bed. Then I can have some storage. I am also planning on putting in some shelves for books, toiletries and pictures. This plan should allow me some extra storage space while at the same time opening up some floor space. I've also considered buying some local carpets to put down on the floor. There isn't a door in our spaces in the B-hut, but I can put up a curtain. I'll probably use my poncho for that. Try to create the illusion of privacy anyway.

I'm really happy to say that the internet connection here seems fairly stable. Most days I've been able to use a program called SKYPE to talk with my wife via a PC-to-PC connection. This allows for a video and audio connection that is fairly good. It is amazing to think about the changes in communication that have come about in the past 18 years that I've been in the Navy.

When I first came in, I was stationed on a submarine and the only mail opportunities were 'snail mail' when we pulled into a port. That could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. There were times when guys would receive a letter at home that they had sent themselves while underway. The internet came about in force while I was in college in '94. Even then it was mainly between colleges. I know that it was in place well before then, but it wasn't mainstream until then. Internet capability was available on my first ship as an officer in 1999, but the bandwidth was so limited to make it unusable while underway. We had phone service underway (sailor phone) with AT&T, but a $20 phone card would last about 10 minutes. When I came to my first department head tour, I had a phone in my stateroom and internet capability that worked fairly well underway. Now, I'm in the north of Afghanistan, which is the 4th poorest country in the world and I'm able to speak with my wife over the internet in real-time and with video.

Well, I've gone on long enough for now. I'll do my best to keep you up to date. If any of my friends and family want to chat with my on SKYPE, send my an e-mail or comment on here and I'll give you my SKYPE user name.

Take care,

Arrived in Afghanistan!

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:50:00 +0000

Hello All! To my loved ones: I miss you all so much!

I know that I said that I would keep up with this blog and I am determined to do so. Life has been so busy in the last weeks that I've barely had time to keep up. Mainly, my priorities have been my wife and daughter. I tried to spend as much time as I could with them with what little time I've had.

Well, as you could probably tell: I am now in Afghanistan. I have to tell you it's HOT here! I know that I expected it to be so because of my previous experiences in the Middle East, but knowing what's coming and living the reality of it are different things entirely.

I am currently in Kabul at an ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) base. We finished training at FT Riley on the 11th of July and I went home for 10 days to my wife and daughter. It was a great time although way too short. I hate having to leave them for so long. I spent a lot of time preparing the house and doing some much needed "honey-do" projects. We did spend a few days in Nags Head, NC. We had a hotel room on the beach and we took our daughter to the sand dunes and the Wright Brothers Memorial. I was really happy to see that my daughter (only 16 months old) was really happy to be with me. She sometimes has a hard time with people she hasn't seen before or in a good while. I worry about that when I see her again. I'm going to miss a lot of changes with her. I do get to use a web program called Skype that allows for video calls from PC to PC. This is proving to be an invaluable program for us.

When I returned to FT Riley on the 22nd of July, I took all of my body armor, uniforms and weapons out of storage. We had about a day to prepare any last minute items and we left the night of the 23rd. We had to take a bus from FT Riley to Topeka, KS. From a National Guard Air Base, we flew to Shannen, Ireland, then onto Baku, Azerbaijan and finally to Manas Air Base in Kryzgstan. We stayed there for about 2-3 days before finally boarding a C-130 to Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. Kryzgstan is a very beautiful country. The mountains were particularly beautiful to see.

We arrived late at night in Afghanistan and had to convoy in Humvees (HMMWVs) to Camp Phoenix, which is the American base in Kabul. There we had to endure 2 days of in-processing briefs while awaiting coordination for our transportation to our final destinations. We are all being dispersed to different FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) around the country. I cannot say here where I am finally going to be due to operational security. Once I arrive and have connectivity, I can tell you.

Funny thing about this mission is that I could end up doing any number of things. I don't even know yet what is intended for me. I know that I am here for 1 year and that isn't going to change no matter what my job ends up being. With all of the ever-changing events here, people are moved around all of the time. Therefore; jobs change and it becomes impossible to say that what job you are assigned is the job you will ultimately end up doing. SEMPER GUMBY (Always Flexible).

For the past few days, I've stayed in a tent with about 13 other guys. You get a real good appreciation for having a good packing plan for your gear. You need many things here, but you can (and do) prioritize so you don't have to dig into every bag looking for something. Also, you have to be really well prepared on what you bring. Supplies are limited here and you might not be able to get something if you come up short or have forgotten something. There's no Wal-Mart to run out to here.

One of the first things that you notice when you arrive in Afghanistan is the smell. We arrived late at night, so it was the only thing to notice. Imagine a very large dairy farm. The smell is like that. There's also a very heavy amount of sand in the air, so everyone ends up coughing and blowing their nose a lot in the beginning. OH, and did I mention it's HOT. Easily around 110 degrees on average. Walking fast in full body armor is not technique I would recommend.

The thing I noticed yesterday on the way to the ISAF base was the stark reality of the abject poverty here. I saw a little girl on the side of the road who could not have been much older than my daughter running on the side of the road. She was hoping that we would throw out some candy or food to her. There were other children as well. It was truly heart breaking. I really hope that we can help these people. They are, on the whole, very proud and tough. They do want us here to help, not just give them everything. Their pride drives them to want to improve their country and mostly they are grateful for our assistance.

Now, when I say 'our assistance', I mean all of those countries that are here. I've met people from at least 12 different countries just last night. There are somewhere around 30 countries here, all trying to help the Afghan people. It really is a joint effort. I hope we are helping.

I've included some pictures that I've taken since I left FT Riley. Some are of the plane ride out to Kryzgstan, those of the tent and me are at Camp Phoenix in Kabul. If you have any questions, just post a comment and I'll be happy to reply. Keeping in mind, of course, that I can't talk about certain things.

Later!

1/2 Way There!

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:36:00 +0000

Well, we are at the half-way point. Just about, anyway. I am sorry for not updating recently. It has been a couple of long weeks.

We started off on Tuesday because of the Memorial Day weekend. I went home to see the little monkey and Andrea. That was SO GREAT!! I got to see her walk!!! Oh, man that was amazing. I'll include some photos. I've been away before, but I did not realize, really realize, just how much I missed my wife and daughter until I saw them at the airport.

When I returned from my weekend with the family, we had a long week of shooting qualifications on the M9 pistol and M4 rifle. We started the day about 05:00 and finished at 01:30. The first range was the M9 pistol. I went with the first group and shot only a 19 out of 30 shots. I asked to try again and they let me. I knew that I could do better. I love to shoot. I would have shot again even if it hadn't counted for qualification. The second run went much better. I scored a 30 out of 30 on that attempt.

Once we were finished there, we moved onto the M4 rifle range. There, we had to first 'zero' in our rifles. That means we had to shoot a very specific target and adjust our sights until we shot 3 shots into a 4cm circle at 25 yards. It took me a while because my range coach didn't really know what he was doing. He was the guy who was supposed to adjust my sights as I shot. A senior enlisted came over and relieved my coach. Once that was done, I was zeroed in about 15 minutes. After I zeroed my sights I moved over to the qualification range. This was much more difficult. We had to shoot from 3 positions: standing, prone unsupported and kneeling. At this too, I went twice. The first time I scored a 29 of 40 shots. The second time I shot a 31 of 40. The kneeling position was the most difficult for me. My knees were 'screaming' at me at 3/4 of the way through the qualification round. I could have shot again, but I knew that I was too tired to try again. Also, I knew that we had to shoot again at night for qualification with our Night Vision Goggles. I had never done any shooting with those before.

The night shoot was interesting. Again, I shot twice.
This time it was because my rifle malfunctioned and it had to be removed from the range. An Armorer had to break down my weapon to remove a live bullet from the chamber that had become lodged hard in the weapon. On the second round, I did pretty well. I scored a 33 of 40 shots at a qualification that I had never attempted before.

The following week found us learning our communication (COMMS) gear and ended with us shooting at the machine gun range. The communications portion, I found, to be fairly easy. I used to be a Crypto Material account manager, so I was familiar with how to load the encryption keys. Being a surface warfare officer, I've had a good amount of experience with using radios of many types. I just have to get used to doing it the "Army" way. Mostly, it just involves using a different type of 'speak' and vocabulary.

The Machine Gun Range was a lot of fun and it was
also one of the longest days of our training to date. We were there for 26 hours! Afterwards we still had class the following morning. Gratefully, the Battery Cdr had the afternoon classes moved to another day. This gave us some much needed time to sleep and recuperate. The course of fire for the day was instructional fire and qualification of our M2 .50 cal, M240 7.62mm, and our M249 5.56mm machine guns. Additionally, we had to conduct instructional (or familiarization) fire on the AK-47, PKM (Automatic version of the AK-47), and the Dragunov Sniper Rifle. The first thing that we had to do was to zero in the M240.

The M240 is a 7.62mm machine gun. This is a massive machine gun. Not as large as a .50 cal machine gun but it gets the message across. We separated our teams into primary and alternate gunners for the different weapons. I have only 8 people on my team, so most of my team became an assigned gunner of some sort. I had two personnel assigned to the M2 .50 cal, and 2 personnel for the M240 and two more to the M249. The two personnel assigned to the M249 had to qualify on the M240 as well. The M249 is like a 5.56mm version of the M240 anyway.

Once we had the M240 zeroed in, we changed it over to the qualification range and mounted it to our 'Up-armored' HMMWV. This weapon is not that difficult to shoot accurately, so the qualification time for all of the teams there wasn't that long. The problem came afterwards. The Range personnel realized that many of the qualification ranges were broken from the previous days storms. The repair of these lanes and change-over to the .50 cal qualification targets required almost 4 hours of down-time. The .50 cal is one of the more difficult weapons systems to qualify on because it is an 'area' weapon meant mainly for suppressive fire. However, when you qualify you have to prove accuracy on a weapon not known for accuracy. I quickly learned that I am not meant to be a .50 gunner. I hit 3 of 10 targets and qualification is 6/10. Maybe with time and more instruction, I could get good enough, but not that day. Some people are naturals at it. I had some of those on my team, so I was able to have the two that I needed to qualify. I had already assigned myself to the M249. I qualified with a 7/10 on the M240 earlier in the day, so I wasn't worried about that.

While we waited for the main range to be repaired,
I spent my time shooting the Russian weapons that they had there. As I said, I love to shoot and the opportunity to shoot some weapons that I would not normally be able to shoot was too good to pass up. I really appreciated the simplicity of the weapons and how reliable they are. It makes me wonder why we do not build our weapons to be so simple and reliable? The Sniper rifle was really impressive. The Dragunov is world renown for its accuracy. It fires a .308 round. Even with iron sights, I could accurately hit the target past 400 meters.

Once the range was repaired, we still required most of the afternoon to get our .50 cal gunners qualified. Once during the shoot, we had to stop because some moron of a pilot decided to fly into our restricted airspace. That took about 1 1/2 hours to get the space cleared and resume firing. Once we were completed with our instructional and qualification fires, we had to remain at the range and wait until 21:00 to resume our shooting. We were required to shoot and qualify again on our M2 and M240 machine guns at night using thermal sights.

To add to our time as well, there were about 30 Army soldiers who were added to our numbers because they were not able to qualify at their original date due to storms and tornadoes. I was quickly reassured that I am NOT a .50 cal gunner! I thought that the day shoot was difficult. The night shoot was almost impossible for me. The .50 cal has a considerable recoil when firing. Well, when you have the thermal sight on, you have to keep your eye pressed to the sight to keep it on. It turns off every time you take your eye off of the eye piece. So, you end up 'riding' the recoil every time you shoot so you can keep your sights on. You have to do this as well with the M240, but the recoil is no where near comparable to the M2 .50 cal and it's very manageable.

The M240 was a great shoot! I had 10 targets come up, and 10 went down. Once I had my orientation confirmed for my lane, I couldn't miss. The biggest problem I had was people who were confused shooting into my lane. I could have found this useful had they actually been able to hit my targets. As it were, they missed and I just found them to be a distraction.

I am currently at my parents house in Oklahoma. My wife and daughter flew in from Virginia and we are spending a four-day weekend together. I have to leave tomorrow to drive back, but it's been great to see them and for my parents to spend some time with the little monkey! My Dad hadn't yet met our daughter until now. She seems to have taken to him fairly well. She doesn't usually warm up well to those she first meets.

Next week is Urban Combat Training. We learn to set security at checkpoints and how to kick in doors and clear rooms. This should prove interesting because we will be shooting simulated type rounds that have a marking on them and we'll be shooting at other people. I am interested in how people will really react to shooting a real person and being shot at as well. I am interested in seeing how I'll react to it as well. First time for everything.

Anywho, I need to get going. Taking the wife and daughter to a water park!!

I'll do better in my updates in the future!

Later!

Memorial Day Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Hello all!

Last week was all about Combat Life Saving class. The first two days were all academic and purely "death by powerpoint". The third day was more interesting. That was I.V. day. We were all paired up with a buddy and we had to insert I.V.s into each other. Sounds crazy, right? It was actually, quite fun and very educational. There might come a time where your buddy might be wounded and needs an IV. Well, medics are pretty scarce and if you can save someone by giving them fluids until more modern treatment can arrive, then that's fine by me.

This was the first time I ever put an IV in anyone or anything. I was a bit nervous, but it went fairly smoothly anyway. Some had a more difficult time than others. Some were bleeding more than others. You really have to get a grip on the vien while you are preparing the rest of the IV or the blood will just start pumping right out. I included a couple of pictures to give you the idea.

The week ended Thursday with each team completing a type of Mass Casualty drill. Both involved the chaos, noise and confusion involved in a recent mortar attack. My team was completed by 12:00. Afterwards we were allowed to turn in our weapons to the armory. The weekend, due to Memorial Day, began that evening.

The next morning, I went up to Kansas City and flew home to see my wife and daulter. This weekend is exactly what I needed. Unfortunately I have to return to FT Riley tomorrow. It was so great to see my daughter walk! I try not to think too much on the other things that I'll be missing over this next year.

Today, we went to the beach. Ella had never had the opportunity to play and walk in the sand and water. She seemed like she really loved it! We were very nervous about scarring her too much. I'll include some pics as soon as my wife downloads them from her camera.

Well, it's getting late. I need to crawl into bed. Take care!

It's my B-day!

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:34:00 +0000

Well, today is my 35th birthday. I kind of woke up a little upset. I immediately thought of the fact that it was my birthday and it served to remind me of the other events that I would miss with my family this next year. I'll miss 2 of my birthdays, 2 of my wife's birthdays, our 8th and 9th wedding anniversaries, the anniversary of when I met my wife, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and possibly my daughter's 2nd birthday. I know, a little depressing. i received a video this morning from my wife. It was of my daughter walking. She wasn't walking on her own when I left. I was both very excited and upset that I couldn't be there for such a truly once in a lifetime event. I also twisted the crap out of my ankle this morning while on a 2 1/2 mile run.

We picked up our Humvees last Saturday. That was interesting. It took us about 2 1/2 hours. We had to inventory all of the communication equipment, weapons mounts and maintenance equipment. Additionally, we had to pick up the machine guns for the Humvees. We received 1 .50 cal, 1 M240 and 1 M249. We picked up 3 Humvees total. One is like a truck, complete with a maintenance trailer, another is a soft-top Humvee and the last one is a full up-armored Humvee. I have included some pics of the event.

The first picture is of me standing next to our full up-armored Humvee. The second one is of one of my team mates. He's a CS3 (culinary specialist). He's very into this mission. We call him "Cock-Diesel". He's big into working out. So, I made him our PT coordinator! He's a good guy.

I took a couple of more pics of us about to "roll out" as we conveyed out of the motor pool on our way back to FOB CAMP ARMY STRONG. I'm sorry, I just find that a very funny name!

This week, we are learning Combat Lifesaving Skills. The first thing we learned was if under fire, and someone is hit, then keep firing. I understand the sentiment, but it's definitely a paradigm shift.

What I really can't wait for is this weekend!! We are getting 4 days off and I'm flying home to see my wife and daughter. I can't wait!!!! I know that I can't count on it, but I have this vision in my head of me seeing them at the airport and having my daughter walk to me! She is so precious.

Tomorrow, we are supposed to be learning and practicing putting in IV's. We get to practice on each other! Wow, this will be interesting. Maybe a little painful, too!. Next week is our initial hands-on practice with our weapons. We will spend a very long time in the beginning learning how to breakdown and clean our weapons and also we have to 'zero' them in for accuracy. Then we get to do some serious shooting. I've always found a great pleasure in shooting. It's about being able to accurately place a bullet from hundreds of yards away. It's truly a skill. I've always been fairly good at shooting. Should be a good week. I only wish that it came later and not right after seeing my wife and daughter. I'll probably not be in a good mood coming back to FT Riley.

Well, I'm going to wrap up for tonight. Time to get some sleep.

Afghanistan Culture Dinner

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Fri, 16 May 2008 23:50:00 +0000

Hello. Today we had an authentic Afghanistan Dinner. Here at the training FOB (Forward Operating Base) Camp ARMY STRONG, there are several Afghanistan Nationals who act as interpreters and help us understand the mind and culture of the Afghan people.

The Afghans traditionally eat on the floor. They sit around a large carpet with the village elders sitting at the 'head' of the carpet. The others sit according to age and/or position within the village. The Afghans also eat using their hands. This is where understanding the culture becomes very important. Afghans eat only with their right hand. In muslim culture, the left hand is considered 'unclean'.

I've included some pictures of our experience eating dinner in the Afghanistan tradition. The first picture is of the Afghanistan interpreter who was instructing us in the proper way to eat.
It was pretty funny to see everyone try to eat with their hands. Sounds simple, but the Afghans have a particular way they hold their hands. It gives you a spoon-like effect. I swear some people were about to eat with their face in the plate.

The people in the pictures are some of those in my team. I have 7 Sailors and 3 Army soldiers. We will not deploy together as a team, but we came
together for the sake of training.

Tomorrow, we have to pick up our Humvees. Our team will get 3 of them. One is like a truck, with a bed, one is a standard Humvee, and the third is a full up-armored Humvee. We also have to pick up our Communications gear, 2 M240 machine guns and 1 .50 cal machine gun.

Enjoy the pictures. As always, if there any questions, please ask or post a comment below.

Night...

Counter Insurgency & Cultural Awareness Week

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:30:00 +0000

Hello All,

Sorry for the delay. My parents came in last weekend for Mother's Day. It was great to see them. I last saw my mother in October '07 and it had been about 2 years since I last saw my dad.

We had our introductory lectures for the Counter Insurgency (COIN) training on Saturday until about 13:00. My parents arrived in town about 14:00, so it worked out nicely. We stayed at this Comfort Suites hotel in Junction City, KS. I do not recommend it. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism of my parent's choice. 99% of the time Comfort Suites are decent hotels. This just happened to be the 0.1%. It was ok, just the construction was a bit shoddy in the rooms. They had a microwave, TV and small refrigerator in the room. They were all connected with this bright orange, heavy duty extension cord. A bit "Gheto-fabulous" :) Anyway, it served the purpose.

That afternoon, we went into Manhattan, KS to this district called: AGGIEVILLE. It's about 4 square blocks of bars. There are a couple of deli shops and 2 bookstores as well. We went into one of the book stores so I could buy a book for my daughter, Ella. She's almost 14 months old. My wife speaks German to her, so I bought a children's book of 1000 German words. It has all these cartoon pictures and the German words spelled under them. It was cute. Chances are, Ella will be more interested in trying to put it into her mouth.

Afterwards, we visited a couple of bars and talked. That evening, we went to a restaurant in Junction City. Nice place. Kind of a hole-in-the-wall, but the food was good. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and talked some more until we were tired. Not so exciting, but great because I got to spend some quality time with them.

The next morning, we went to Abilene, KS to visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. Abilene is about as small as it gets, but the museum was very impressive. They have an exhibit there right now that shows memorabilia from every President from Washington to our current President. We spent a good 4 hours there.

We went back to Junction City for lunch. We wanted to go to the Cracker Barrel, but the line was out the door with a 40+ minute wait time. We decided not to wait and went to the Family Buffet across the street. DO NOT EVER GO THERE!!! This place was horrible and the food was only marginally better. We should have spent the time to drive to Manhattan. Much better choices and quality there.

My parents dropped me off at FT Riley around 16:00. I had some studying to do and they had a 4 hour trip ahead of them. It was really great to see them. They might come up again in a few weeks. I really look forward to it. I also look forward to flying home to see my wife, Andrea and daughter, Ella for Memorial Day.

Today, we started our 6 days of COIN training. This includes lessons in a common language in Afghanistan, called Dari. I'm very glad that I have learned a foreign language in the past. German is no where close to Dari, but I understand the 'mind set' you have to have to be open to learning new patterns for language learning. We, obviously, will never be fluent, but it will useful to have some phrases, pronunciation and it really gives an insight into their culture and how they think.

The day started with retrieving our weapons from the Armory at 06:00. Then we had breakfast. Our classes started at 08:00 and continued until 12:00. We had an hour for lunch and then continued our COIN classes until 16:00.

We have to retain possession of our weapons until the end of training on Saturday. Tomorrow's classes start at 08:00 again. My team will be getting up at 05:00 to do some much needed physical exercises. We'll start at the gym for some weight training and then finish with a 2 mile run. Not too taxing, but we're just beginning. Each team is responsible for conducting their own PT. I found that nice of the Army. They could have been very strict and made us PT formally with them and their Drill Instructors. Then again, this isn't supposed to be Boot Camp. I've heard, though, that the other training bases make the Navy do that and have other very strict rules. We are allowed liberty (time off base) every night after training and we have 1/2 days on Saturdays and all Sunday off every week. We also get three 4-day weekends while we are here. I've heard that the other training sites do not let their trainees wear civilian clothes, have no liberty and cannot drink while there.

I've included a picture of my mother. I've also stuck in a picture of the rifle that I have to carry around. It's called an M4. It uses 5.56mm ammunition, has a collapsible stock, optical sights and laser sights. I also have an M9 Pistol. You can see it if you look close enough. It's above my M4 in a holster. The holster is bulky, so it's hard to make out.

OK, I have to finish some reading for tomorrow's class. Then, off to some much needed sleep!

Good night....

End of ADMIN week

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Thu, 08 May 2008 15:33:00 +0000

It's Thursday of the first week. Tomorrow I'll receive my weapons and we'll be turned over to the Army for the beginning of training. This next week is supposed to be Language and Cultural awareness training. We have an introduction to Dari language on Saturday.

Saturdays are supposed to be half-days. Well, the Army's idea of a half-day is 1 day = 24 hours. Half day = 12 hours. No worries, just glad to be starting training, finally. I'm curious about the language training. I know that we aren't going to be fluent, but it should still be interesting. The theory is that if you already have learned a second language, then a 3rd isn't as difficult. I'm sure that's all relative. I speak German fairly well. I lived in Germany for two years and had to teach Naval Officer Candidates about Naval Science in German. We'll see how this goes.

I took a picture of me in my ballistic vest (called: Battle Rattle...). This stuff is heavy!! When you add the helmet, pistol, rifle, and back pack, it will be a significant amount of weight to carry around. I'm considering having my team start doing some marches with all of this gear. I'll start out with some short marches and gradually build up the distance. They need, and me, need to get used to carrying this stuff around. It's what we'll have to do when we are in theater ('down range'), so we might as well get used to it now.

I have to get going. Meetings with the battalion commander this afternoon. I should have more info later.

Day 3 of IA Training

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Tue, 06 May 2008 02:21:00 +0000

Today was the first official day of our IA training. This week is scheduled to be mostly gear issue and a few briefs. This morning started out at 05:30 with basic shower and breakfast. I think next week we'll start with the PT in the mornings.

After breakfast we mustered with the senior officer among our group of trainees. We proceeded to board a few buses to take us to our first brief. This consisted of a basic in-brief by the Army and was followed by a Navy brief. During this brief we were separated into teams. The team concept becomes more important next week when the actual training begins. I was named as a team leader for a team of 9 personnel. Should be easy enough. Mainly I only have to make sure that the various members get to their training events on-time and deal with any personnel or medical issues that might arise. Every evening, we have a team leader meeting to discuss the schedule and any changes that might come up.

After the initial briefings, we broke for lunch. After lunch we had to assemble at a warehouse for some gear issue. Today we only received a small part of what we'll finally end up with. Even this small amount was substantial, at least in weight. We received our body armor and a few cold weather items. Coveralls, rain ponchos, etc.

Tomorrow, we are scheduled to receive some 'high tech' gear for our weapons and night vision devices and our complete load-out of cold weather gear. Fleece jackets, cold weather parkas and such. I believe that on Thursday, we are supposed to receive our Weapons. We are supposed to do a LOT of shooting while we are here. I've always been fairly comfortable around weapons and I enjoy shooting. Curious to see how the Army will take the fun out of it.

I finally received my issue of Desert Uniforms today. Apparently, I was supposed to get it in Port Hueneme, CA. However; all they did was fit us for them. When we arrived here, the staff was a bit surprised that we didn't have them already. I've been wearing my green camouflage BDUs, so I stuck out a bit from the rest of the group. All of those of us who came through Port Hueneme were in the same position.

I received a call today from my wife. It was so good to hear her voice. I wasn't able to talk to my daughter, because she was asleep. I was able to talk with her yesterday. It's important for me that she remembers who I am and can recognize my voice. I made some 'horse' sounds over the phone to her and I could hear her laughing hysterically. She loved it when I would do that at home. I'm glad that she's able to still laugh when she hears me. I miss her and my wife very much. I hope to get some pictures of them soon.

Anyway, I have to review the schedule for tomorrow and make sure that I didn't miss anything.

Good night.

Day Two - FT Riley

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:32:00 +0000

I woke up this morning around 06:00. Not bad considering I had been getting up around 04:30 most other mornings due to the time difference of CA vice VA. I slept very well. Now, I do not know if that was due to the bed being comfortable or my fatigue because I had been traveling since 02:30 the previous morning.

When I woke up, I was fairly hungry. However, our information package, which we received yesterday said that the Galley opens at 09:30 on weekends. OK, I figured I could wait. 09:30 came....and went. Apparently, the Galley sometimes opens, sometimes does not on Sunday mornings. This was not one of those times. Another note about the Galley, the Army calls it a D-FAC. (pronounced like D Fack). This stands for Dining Facility. No worries, the Navy has it's own idiosyncrasies and the Navy is much more crazy with the acronyms.

So, I headed over to the local mini-mart. I realized that there were some items that I needed. I needed a lock for our foot-lockers, a pair of shower shoes, mouthwash, laundry detergent and a towel. I also bought some Nutri-Grain bars and some individual sized chicken-salad snacks. I had to eat something.

You've seen those Far-Side cartoons with the couple staring at a sign that said "NOWHERE" and showed them in the middle of it? Well, I think that we are on the far back side of there. There doesn't seem to be much of anything around here. I found out that the exchange is about 10 miles away from where we are staying. There is a shuttle bus, but it doesn't run on Sunday mornings to the exchange. The buses only take you to church on Sunday mornings. I wonder if that's a Kansas thing or an Army thing? Probably both.

*Funny note about the D-FAC.* There is a sign on the D-FAC that states the following:
"This is a hardened facility. In case of in-direct fire, remain inside." There were two concerns I had with this sign. 1: This building is definitely NOT a hardened building. 2: WHY do they feel the need to post such a sign? Have they had this issue in the past?

We do not anything planned for today. I imagine that I'll just sit here any read. Maybe I'll watch a TV show on my laptop.

Arrived at FT Riley, KS

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sun, 04 May 2008 01:20:00 +0000

Well, we finally arrived at FT Riley, KS. The day started out for me at 02:30. After a quick shower and a search around the room to make sure that I had everything, I made my way out to the buses.

We had made reservations for about 30 of us for transportation to LAX and the bill was $920. Problem was that about 11 people decided not to show up, so there was a balance difference in what everyone was told to pay and what we ended up with. Myself, a Chief and a Commander chipped in to make up the difference. Came out to be about $115 each. Good thing that I can claim that on my travel expenses and get reimbursed for it! I'm going to be pushing hard to make sure I get that back as soon as possible.

Once at the airport, it wasn't so bad. I got through the check-in line fairly quickly and then I had to go through security. That was pretty funny, because they wanted to look through my backpack. The first thing they came across was my 400+ Malaria medication pills. Then they pulled out my gas mask. Not too much of stir, but it raised some eyebrows.

I stopped for a quick run through Starbucks for some much needed breakfast. The flight to Denver was fairly uneventful. Once in Denver, I had to board a twin turbo prop to Manhattan, KS. I am not a fan of those small planes. They bounce around too much and they never seem to be able to fly straight. Luckily, the flight was only about 1 1/2 hours.

Now we are here and we are in open-bay barracks. Interesting, since I haven't lived in that type of berthing since I was an E-3 (about 16 years ago). Not sure how it will work out. They have enlisted and Officers living together. Don't want to sound like I've got my nose in the air, but it can be difficult with the younger sailors. They aren't always able to switch between personal and professional mode. I know, I had the same problem when I was junior enlisted.

I quickly discovered that those of us who did our processing at Port Hueneme, CA were the only ones who did not get issued our uniforms. We were told that we would be issued them when we arrived at FT Riley. Well, everyone else who has shown up today already has all of there gear. SEMPER GUMBY!!! Always flexible.

Apparently, we have nothing to do tonight nor all day tomorrow. I'm determined to get a run in tomorrow! I've been way too slack lately.

Anywho, I've included some pictures that I took today. Just to give you a small glimpse of what I'm experiencing. I'm sure that I'll have more to input tomorrow.

P.S: I welcome all input. Please feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion. Just click on 'comment' below any post that you wish to say something about.

Last Day in CA - Day Trip

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sat, 03 May 2008 00:20:00 +0000

Today was spent as a leisurely day. Just doing some laundry, packing and the afternoon in Malibu. A few of the other Officers and I, took a trip down to Malibu for lunch and a little sight-seeing.

I've included some pictures of our trip. The first picture is the drive down along highway 101. You can see the cliffs and ocean. I was a pretty scenic drive. There were a lot of surfers out. We weren't the only ones who decided to take advantage of the beautiful day.

We stopped along the highway in Malibu to have lunch at a place called Geoffrey's. Supposedly, a lot of celebrities like to go there. We didn't see any while we were there, but it was a wonderful place nonetheless. The food was great, but the view was even better.

After quite a long lunch, we traveled further south through Malibu and onto Santa Monica. We didn't stop though. It was getting later in the afternoon and we still had to get back to prepare for our trip early in the morning.

That's all for now. The next update should come
sometime after I report into FT Riley, KS.

Take care.

Last Day of Processing

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:18:00 +0000

If any of you have been following along, you'll have noticed that I keep adding new content each time I post. With all of the 'white space' that we've had, I've tried to take the opportunity to improve the look and feel of this site. Hope you like it.... Please let me know if I'm over doing it at any time.

Anywho, I've figured out how to add images. I think that I know how to add video, but that might come later. The image you see in this post is the building where I've been staying this past week. I'm on the third floor. I was too slow to get the picture, but when I first arrived, there was a sign on the door (the red door you can see in the picture) which said "1st Floor secured for HAZMAT ABATEMENT". I found this a little disconcerting ;) It turned out to be nothing, they were just being cautious while removing carpeting on that floor.

Well, this is our last day here in Port Hueneme, CA. Interestingly enough, we have absolutely nothing to do. I understand that this is the day where they finish up any stragglers who aren't quite finished with processing. The other 99% of us are left with a free day. A couple of us are thinking about going to L.A. for the day. We'll see. We all have laundry and packing to do first.

We are flying out tomorrow morning to our various training locations throughout the country. I'm flying to FT Riley, KS. We are all meeting at 03:00 for our transportation to LAX. Many of us are flying out around 08:00 and it's about 1 1/2 hours to LAX. I know, it seems a bit odd that we have all day today to ourselves only to have to get up at "OH MY GOD IT'S EARLY" for a flight the next morning. I've been in the Navy for almost 18 years, so I'm used to this type of scheduling. I intend to just enjoy the time while I have it to myself.

I met up with the same group of Officers last night as I did the previous night. We went to my classmate's house for a cookout. It was a pretty good time. My friend has a great house in Ventura that they just moved into. It was nice to get off base and enjoy time with friends. My only regret is that my wife and daughter couldn't be there. Naturally, I took my camera and played the 'proud Papa'. I showed off the pictures of my family. It was nice to share and reflect on my family. I miss them very much.

Fortunately, I'm been able to speak with my wife fairly frequently while I've been here. Ella, my daughter, seems to be adjusting. She has a little bit of 'stranger anxiety', but I expect that she'll adapt fairly well soon. I'm very glad that my wife was able to fly home to her family. I'm sure that the familiar environment and support will help her. Plus, it gives her the opportunity to meet up with some friends that she hasn't seen in quite a while. That is the one difficult part of living in another country is that it is hard to maintain connections. It's one of the reasons that I am writing in this forum.

I have to get going now. Laundry to do and I'll probably go for a short run. Keep checking in....

In-Processing

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:21:00 +0000

OK, I've been a little slack on posting. I arrived in LAX on Sunday night to find that there wasn't any arranged transportation up to Port Heuneme. I still had not received my Government Travel Credit Card, so I was left with paying for it myself. So, I went outside the baggage claim area and found a shuttle.

$90 and 2 hours later (~22:30), I found myself at the Officer quarters at Port Heuneme. I was so tired when I arrived; however I was even more hungry. While checking in, I met up with another Officer who was checking in and was also hungry. We ended up ordering some pizza. I finally ended up crawling into bed about midnight. You can understand then when I tell you that I was not happy to be wide awake at 04:30! Jet lag, time difference, etc... We had to report to the Navy Mobilization Processing building at 07:30, so I had some time to iron my uniform and get some breakfast (and much needed coffee).

Upon reporting in, I saw that there were about 100 of us there. Not everyone is going off to the same place. Some are off to Kuwait, Guantanamo, Iraq and Afghanistan. This week is just meant to be an assembly-line process of medical, dental, legal screenings and uniform fittings. We are being outfitted with about 4 sea bags worth of gear. Uniforms, gas masks, body armor, etc. Fortunately, these things will be waiting for us at our next training stop. We won't have to haul that across the country. YOO HOO....

My wife and daughter left Virginia on Tuesday for Germany. I am glad that my wife had that to keep her mind busy. It helped to deflect the anxiety of my leaving, which helped relieve my own anxiety. It was really difficult to leave them. I didn't appreciate fully how hard that would really be. Fortunately, I will have a couple of opportunities to see them before I ship out to Afghanistan.

The processing here can best be described as stuffing 2 1/2 days worth of stuff into 5 days. I can understand it though. They have widely varying numbers of people coming through every week. 100 people is relatively small and easier to deal with. It is easier for the whole process to keep a set schedule that can accommodate any group from 5 to 500 rather than changing it for every group. I don't mind the down-time (we call it 'white space'). I'm sure that I'll have little white space when I reach my next training phase and probably none when I get to Afghanistan.

Monday was taken up with a couple of briefs and uniform fitting. Tuesday was the Medical day and Wednesday was for Dental. I had nothing to do for dental, but my medical record was missing some stuff, so I had to do some things over again. Nothing too big. I had to get a full eye exam, pick up my Malaria medication, and a PPD shot.

I was a little frustrated with the eye exam because it too much time than it needed to. I ended up sitting around for almost an hour after the exam, only to find out that I was waiting for a doctor to sign off on some paperwork. No one could find him, so I told them I would be back the next morning to pick it up. I just couldn't see the use in sitting around waiting for this guy to get around to it.

I caught up with a few other Officers last night for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Ventura. One of the Officers knew someone here and we all met up with her and her husband. There was about 8 of us in all. It turned out that the husband of this Officer's friend was a classmate of mine from the Naval Academy. I knew him fairly well when I was a student, but I hadn't seen him in about 10 years.

It was good to see him again. One of the great things that I took away from going to the Naval Academy was the friendships. There have been many times in the last few years where something similar has happened and it's always the same. We are able to pick up as if hardly any time at all has passed.

Today, we have to meet up at the processing building at 13:00. I think that we have briefs all afternoon. We'll probably also find out then what our travel arrangements are for our follow on training.

My wife had sent my government travel credit card to me before she left. I received it yesterday. I'm a little nervous about having one. The Navy is supposed to have it set up for direct payment so we'll not have to pay 'out of pocket'. We'll see how well that works. Too many people have gotten into trouble with these things. I've been successful thus far in avoiding getting one, but I ran out of luck this time. It was in my orders to get one, so I was forced into it.

Anywho, I have to get prepared for this afternoon. Hope to write more tonight. I'll make more of an effort to be more regular with my postings.

On my way

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:27:00 +0000

Well, the journey has begun. I ended up drinking a little too much wine last night. I woke up, naturally, with a bit of a headache. I guess I was feeling a little melancholy about leaving my family behind. That was to be expected.

However, I still had some last minute work to do to finish up my bathroom renovation project. Mainly, I just had to caulk the toilet and bathtub. Thankfully, my wife volunteered to finish the priming and painting of the door jam and trim.

The parting with my wife and daughter was, naturally, emotional and difficult to do. I tried, and failed horribly, to not think of all the things that I’ll miss out on while I am gone. My daughter has only recently started walking. I can’t imagine all of the new things that she’ll learn in just the next few weeks. It’s impossible to think about what she’ll be like when I return after my year in Afghanistan. I miss her very much.

The flight started out typical of such a journey. Namely, it departed late. So, I ended up missing my connecting flight in Dallas. The flight was only about 3 ½ hours, which was a blessing because the seats were hard as bricks! The good thing about traveling is the different people you can meet. I ended up sitting next to an Australian Air Force Officer. Good “Bloke”. We talked for much of the flight about the various similarities between our cultures and militaries. I don’t envy the flight that he has ahead of him. He’s on his way back home and has about 24 hours of flying left.

So, I arrived in Dallas about 15 minutes after my original connecting flight departed. I was able to get onto the next flight to LAX; however, it was set to depart about 20 minutes after I got off of the plane. I had just enough time to get to the next terminal, call my wife (enroute) and get a boarding pass for that flight. I’m currently on that flight and hoping that I’ll have transportation to Port Hueneme from LAX. I received some vague references to available transportation at the airport. I have a feeling that I’ll have to get a airport taxi or shuttle and claim the costs when I arrive at the base.

Night before leaving

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 02:26:00 +0000

I know that I just started this blog, but I felt the need to say something....anything.

It's 10:27 pm here in Virginia. I've spent the day finishing up the most urgent of my various projects before I have to leave. I took off from work (leave) for the past 30 days so I could spend time with the family and take care of those things that I didn't want the wife to have to deal with.

The biggest project was my upstairs guest bathroom. The project started with a small leak in my inlet valve to my toilet. I discovered water damage in my sub floor, which made me pull up the linoleum. I replaced the sub floor, added concrete board and installed tile. While adjusting the door trim to account for a higher floor, I discovered that the door jam was completely out of square and subsequently discovered that there where no studs in the wall that the door jam was attached to.

Long story short: I ripped down the walls directly adjacent to either side of the door, built in new studs, put up new drywall, created a custom door jam, painted the walls and re-installed the sink and toilet.

I re-installed the toilet today. I discovered that the owner before me used shoddy materials for the base ring of the toilet (NO SURPRISE!!!). I had to cut out the existing base ring and install a new one. Not an easy job with an existing tile floor that I had NO intention of tearing up. Lucky for me that I studied engineering in college and was able to create a solution. I am very thankful to my Dad for getting me a Dremel Tool! Very useful!

So, it's 10:30 pm and I'm up sipping on some Chardonnay and trying not to think of my upcoming travels. No such luck, hence my writing in this blog tonight.

I still find myself hesitant to write anything at all. I couldn't possibly understand that anyone could find this stuff interesting.

Anywho, I need to finalize my packing. I don't have any time in the morning. I'm taking my daughter to IHOP for breakfast. She loves pancakes!!!. This morning I took her to the YMCA for baby swimming classes. Not much teaching going on there, but it is an opportunity for her to become more comfortable in the water. More importantly, it's an opportunity for me to spend some more one-on-one time with my little 'monkey'.

I never thought that I wanted children. However, since she was born, I can't think of why I wouldn't want her in my life. She makes me laugh every day. I do get frustrated sometimes, but the 'special' times makes all of that go away. When she learns something new, or gives her daddy a kiss out of the blue, make up those brief moments and I am overcome with emotion and love for her.

OK, enough of that, good night......good luck.

D -1 : Preparing to leave for IA training

noreply@blogger.com (SWOMonkey) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:19:00 +0000

I've never been the type to keep a journal, diary, etc. However, I seeing as that I am leaving my 'comfort zone' in a number of ways, I thought that I might as well add this as well. I am usually an extremely private person and I do not share my thoughts and feelings easily.

I don't know if anyone will read this (other than my wife and other family members), but I hope that it might prove enlightening to some and maybe educational to others who might find themselves in a similar situation in the future.

I am currently an Lieutenant in the U.S Navy (Surface Warfare Officer) and I am about to embark on the first steps on a 14 month journey. I have been tasked to go to Afghanistan to take part in the training of the Afghan National Army/Police. I felt inspired to document this journey mainly because of my family that I am leaving behind. I have a wife and a 13 month old daughter and they have even less of an idea of what I'll be doing that I do. I feel it is important for their sake to document this so they can try and share in my experiences.

So often I have to leave for months at a time and I have failed miserably to convey via e-mails and telephone calls my 'daily life' and experiences. I thought that this might be a good way. Hopefully, I'll be able to regularly update this blog.

I've been in the Navy since August of 1990. I started out in submarines as an enlisted Electronics Technician and after 4 years decided to go to college and become an Officer. I've had many experiences in the Navy since then, but this is by far the most unique assignment that I've had. Almost all of my previous experiences were able to be built upon from the ones before it. I've always been able to rely on my training to be applicable in some ways to the jobs that I've had. This one will, no doubt, be almost completely outside of my 'comfort zone'.

I haven't started training yet, but the only experiences that I feel that I'll be able to apply to this situation are those lessons of leadership that I've had over the past 18 years. I hope so anyway.

I have to say that this will be one of the most trying times for me on a personal level. Last year in March ('07), my daughter was born. Three weeks later, I deployed for 5 months, mainly off the coast of Somalia. When I returned, she was just 5 months old and completely changed from that I remembered. Those of you who are parents should be able to appreciate the changes that occur in 6 months. This time, she'll be almost 2 1/2 years old when I return. I should get some time (two weeks) during my 12 month tour to see her and my wife, but that seems woefully inadequate in respect to 1 year.

Well, I leave tomorrow for my processing and training phase of this IA (Individual Augmentation). I have to fly out to Port Hueneme, CA for 5 days of medical screening and gear issue. From there, I'll report to FT Riley, KS (an Army Base) for training in weapons, cultural awareness and other 'fun stuff'. I've not worked with the Army before, so this should be a culture shock to me. I will be in FT Riley, KS for 60 days. After which, I should get about 10 days back at home with my family before I have to fly back to FT Riley to catch a flight to Kuwait. I should be there for about 10 days for acclimation before I fly into Afghanistan to begin my tour at the end of July.

I hope to be able to come home during Memorial Day weekend to squeak out a little extra family time. Every little minute will count.

OK, that's all I have to say about this for now. My next updates should concern my travel to Port Hueneme and the gauntlet that I expect to go through while there.

Personal note: Andrea and Ella, I love you with all of my heart and know that this is extremely difficult for me to be away from you for so long.