Well, I've had little time to devote to writing any sort of description of what I'm doing. But I'm gonna do that now...sort of.
I've started getting settled into my job a little more now and learning what's what and creating my contacts for getting stuff done. That's what supply officers do, they get stuff done by talking to the right people. However, I don't think I ever got the run around as much in the Navy as I have so far in the Army.
Largely, I'm reviewing, creating, renewing contracts, and getting the day to day stuff for the base. The COL also appointed me the Visit Officer, which means I get to baby sit the people that come visit us. That's kinda cool, but truthfully, I can see it being more of an annoyance when I have to get real work done, like, I don't know, making sure we get the building materials to construct housing? It's not hard though, just another small collateral.
If anyone has checked my Facebook account, I've posted tons of pics. I would love to post them here, but it takes forever to upload here (well, it takes forever to upload period in this country), so I'm just leaving them there.
Ok, so I've also started learning Dari, the major language here. You don't really NEED to learn it, but it certainly makes it easier to deal with the locals here, and they will often give you a better deal if you at least attempt to speak to them in their language. And all the ANA (Afghan National Army) are nice here, so it's not difficult to speak to them, assuming they know english of course. Yesterday, coming back from the chow hall, a truck full of ANA came driving at the three of us walking back to our base (we have to walk up the hill to eat, it's great for "appetite justification"). I mean, they were hauling tail comin up on us and fast. Then they hit the breaks real hard, swerved, and then waved at us while laughing! I actually found the whole episode pretty funny, and it goes to show that even though we're in a war zone, humor isn't lost on either side of the language barrier.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Some pictures....
I'm throwing some pics up here that I wanted to put in previous posts, but I figure it's easier to just look at them here than scrolling and navigating to find them. That's right, I'm thinking of you, gentle reader. Here goes...
There's a pic of me on a C-130 giving the thumbs up (because it's not a C-17 that wants me dead).
Speaking of the traitorous C-17, you can see it's murderous rage from the bus we took to Qatari Immigrations.
Some desert life; a fox and a mouse...this was two different countries, so no, the fox wasn't chasing the mouse.
Me and my HMMVV crew at the Udairi. We be rollin, they be hatin.
There's a pic of me on a C-130 giving the thumbs up (because it's not a C-17 that wants me dead).
Speaking of the traitorous C-17, you can see it's murderous rage from the bus we took to Qatari Immigrations.
Some desert life; a fox and a mouse...this was two different countries, so no, the fox wasn't chasing the mouse.
Me and my HMMVV crew at the Udairi. We be rollin, they be hatin.
Camp Julien
Got to my permanent duty station last night (well, permanent for one year). I'm already glad I'm here because it's small and relaxed. I like the people I'm working with so far. My room (that's right, MY room) is a decent size for me. I'm used to a 10' x 5' room for 3 people on the boat, so this place is luxury. I get to sleep on a mattress which is better than the cots I've been sleeping on for the past 3 weeks.
Basically, this is a schoolhouse for teaching counter-insurgency techniques. And despite what a large part of America probably believes, that doesn't necessarily involve hunting down terrorists. In fact, there is little of that from what small portion I've learned. The majority of the lesson to be taught is respect for the culture and understanding of the Afghan mind. There is a huge difference in conventional warfare and ending an insurgency, and I'm proud to be here and be part of the effort to truly understand these people instead of just kill terrorists. The United States is here to help rebuild this country in the AFGHAN image and to help the government do the business needed to make this place stable.
What will be the best part of my job, in my opinion, is interacting with the locals. I'll be a purchasing agent here (for the lack of a better term), and quite often I will be buying services and materials from local Afghans. In my mind this is just awesome. We are putting money into their economy through their labor, building a base that we'll be handing over to them eventually. These are a proud people and they have every right to be; they work hard and 98% of them want a country they can call their own.
I've begun reading a book called 'Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban.' It's a great story to read, the history of invaders that have come into this country and departed, but not without leaving a little piece of themselves. I've been infused with a desire to learn about Massoud during my first convoy here. One of the intel guys was talking about him and said "He's a cool dude, check him out." If you aren't familiar with him, he was a very moderate Muslim that opposed Al-Queda and even warned of 9/11. In fact, he was killed 2 days before 9/11 because of his intentions to tell the world about it. I'll let you read about it.
Here's a picture of my room.
Basically, this is a schoolhouse for teaching counter-insurgency techniques. And despite what a large part of America probably believes, that doesn't necessarily involve hunting down terrorists. In fact, there is little of that from what small portion I've learned. The majority of the lesson to be taught is respect for the culture and understanding of the Afghan mind. There is a huge difference in conventional warfare and ending an insurgency, and I'm proud to be here and be part of the effort to truly understand these people instead of just kill terrorists. The United States is here to help rebuild this country in the AFGHAN image and to help the government do the business needed to make this place stable.
What will be the best part of my job, in my opinion, is interacting with the locals. I'll be a purchasing agent here (for the lack of a better term), and quite often I will be buying services and materials from local Afghans. In my mind this is just awesome. We are putting money into their economy through their labor, building a base that we'll be handing over to them eventually. These are a proud people and they have every right to be; they work hard and 98% of them want a country they can call their own.
I've begun reading a book called 'Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban.' It's a great story to read, the history of invaders that have come into this country and departed, but not without leaving a little piece of themselves. I've been infused with a desire to learn about Massoud during my first convoy here. One of the intel guys was talking about him and said "He's a cool dude, check him out." If you aren't familiar with him, he was a very moderate Muslim that opposed Al-Queda and even warned of 9/11. In fact, he was killed 2 days before 9/11 because of his intentions to tell the world about it. I'll let you read about it.
Here's a picture of my room.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
White Space
Just sitting around lately with not much to do. Today we started our 3-day indoc brief schedule. Yay.
This post is more of a filler, if nothing else. We got to hear about all the nice vipers, spiders, and sand fleas here. I guess I should start taking my malaria meds, but I hear it screws up your liver (or possibly).
I have some good pics to put up for some of the previous posts, but I have no wifi access for my laptop and they won't let me plug my camera into these desktops we're using, so for now it will have to wait.
I've read like, two books, watched several movies, and the entire 5th season of Boston Legal while waiting on this indoc thing to start. How sad is that? I have worked out though, and started cutting my calorie intake. The DFAC (dining facility) has each item labeled for calorie count so it's easy to figure out how much I'm eating. Not that it is in any way interesting, but I've kicked myself down to 500 calories per meal and lots of water, juice and milk. My body doesn't take long to lose weight, but it goes the other way pretty quickly, too.
I was just thinking yesterday about how we're required to carry our weapons with us everywhere and how much that differs from the real world. Anyway, this post was, like I said, filler and contained very little useful or entertaining information. Just trying to keep something up here so you guys don't think I died.
This post is more of a filler, if nothing else. We got to hear about all the nice vipers, spiders, and sand fleas here. I guess I should start taking my malaria meds, but I hear it screws up your liver (or possibly).
I have some good pics to put up for some of the previous posts, but I have no wifi access for my laptop and they won't let me plug my camera into these desktops we're using, so for now it will have to wait.
I've read like, two books, watched several movies, and the entire 5th season of Boston Legal while waiting on this indoc thing to start. How sad is that? I have worked out though, and started cutting my calorie intake. The DFAC (dining facility) has each item labeled for calorie count so it's easy to figure out how much I'm eating. Not that it is in any way interesting, but I've kicked myself down to 500 calories per meal and lots of water, juice and milk. My body doesn't take long to lose weight, but it goes the other way pretty quickly, too.
I was just thinking yesterday about how we're required to carry our weapons with us everywhere and how much that differs from the real world. Anyway, this post was, like I said, filler and contained very little useful or entertaining information. Just trying to keep something up here so you guys don't think I died.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Kabul
Well, since I have at least a week here in Kabul before heading to my final spot, I get to take in the wonders of Kabul and Camp Phoenix, where you get all your minerals in one breath. As we jumped on our armored bus (called a Rhino) and started on our way out the gate toward the camp, it really hits you that you're in a war zone.
I know I wasn't the only person on that bus with their head on a swivel and getting stressed every time the convoy would slow down. It really is poor here. The camp was only a couple of miles from the airfield, but the entire way you're looking for suspicious activity. Afghans have long since learned to stay out of the way of the convoy and it showed. When we turned one corner, no car dared to try and get in between our cars. Children lined the streets, some waving, some staring. Most were wearing their traditional clothing but some had on t-shirts with random graphics. One teenager even had on a very bright purple chiffon looking shirt with popped collars that was out of place amidst the craters and crude mud houses along the street. But business is business. I saw a car sales lot named NO LEMONS, and a sign to match the name (a lemon with a circle and line through it). And these people are ingenious; for a security fence, the lot had normal mud-brick walls about 9 feet high, but when it was made the owner inserted broken glass into the top of the wet mud while it dried. Anyone trying to climb it at night would be in for a sore morning.
Anyway, these people burn every kind of waste they create and there is actually a curtain of smog surrounding the city. Good for me, I won't be here the entire year. I'll be headed to a location far enough away that the smog won't really affect us.
Today we are voluntelling a few people to go on a convoy to get our luggage. Now, convoys are dangerous. And we're gonna send people on one to get luggage. Why? Because it never made it on our plane for some reason. Ben please do something with your airmates or whatever you call each other.
So I'm just 'dwelling' again until we can do our indoc class and then I can finally get started. Bad news is, I have nothing to do, good news is, the clock is ticking into my boots on ground (BOG) date. It's a fair trade I suppose, just seems like a waste of money for the Navy to send me here to sit around for 2 weeks doing nothing. I'm ready to work.
Actually, looking back and remembering '07 deployment, the Navy gets their work out of you. I calculated my pay for 2007 and the amount of hours worked and it was around 17 cents an hour. But at least I got that 17 cents for every hour I slept, too. Sleeping DOES pay off...just not much.
I know I wasn't the only person on that bus with their head on a swivel and getting stressed every time the convoy would slow down. It really is poor here. The camp was only a couple of miles from the airfield, but the entire way you're looking for suspicious activity. Afghans have long since learned to stay out of the way of the convoy and it showed. When we turned one corner, no car dared to try and get in between our cars. Children lined the streets, some waving, some staring. Most were wearing their traditional clothing but some had on t-shirts with random graphics. One teenager even had on a very bright purple chiffon looking shirt with popped collars that was out of place amidst the craters and crude mud houses along the street. But business is business. I saw a car sales lot named NO LEMONS, and a sign to match the name (a lemon with a circle and line through it). And these people are ingenious; for a security fence, the lot had normal mud-brick walls about 9 feet high, but when it was made the owner inserted broken glass into the top of the wet mud while it dried. Anyone trying to climb it at night would be in for a sore morning.
Anyway, these people burn every kind of waste they create and there is actually a curtain of smog surrounding the city. Good for me, I won't be here the entire year. I'll be headed to a location far enough away that the smog won't really affect us.
Today we are voluntelling a few people to go on a convoy to get our luggage. Now, convoys are dangerous. And we're gonna send people on one to get luggage. Why? Because it never made it on our plane for some reason. Ben please do something with your airmates or whatever you call each other.
So I'm just 'dwelling' again until we can do our indoc class and then I can finally get started. Bad news is, I have nothing to do, good news is, the clock is ticking into my boots on ground (BOG) date. It's a fair trade I suppose, just seems like a waste of money for the Navy to send me here to sit around for 2 weeks doing nothing. I'm ready to work.
Actually, looking back and remembering '07 deployment, the Navy gets their work out of you. I calculated my pay for 2007 and the amount of hours worked and it was around 17 cents an hour. But at least I got that 17 cents for every hour I slept, too. Sleeping DOES pay off...just not much.
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Air Force is trying to kill me.
At least that's what I'm going with...
Where have I been for the past three days? Spin your globe to the middle east and pick a major airport between Kuwait and Kabul and I've probably slept there. And I wish that were a joke.
The very day we get back from the range (previous post), we have to pack our stuff and head to the airport for a 0200 flight. Mind you, we were up that morning at 0400, so 22 hours have passed since we got on our plane. Which of course didn't leave until 0400. No sleep. 24 hours. Okay, I'm fine, whatever. It could be worse...
An hour and a half into our flight I was serenely napping. Have your ever seen a movie where someone wakes up to alarms and people are running around shouting and panicking? Yeah, been there, bought the stinkin T-shirt now. Klaxxons were blazing, lights were flashing, the people on the outside of plane had those masks next to their faces and were putting them on. I thought "Wow, maybe I should be doing something?" Luckily, I had, out of sheer curiosity, examined the oxygen-producing bag in the seat in front of me so I kinda knew how it worked. I say luckily because I was sleeping when they explained how to use it.
So this big fat C-17 is losing cabin pressure fast and I have the dumb look on my face that says "Huh? Is this a drill I can sleep through?" Supply Officers are notorious for taking their racks as battlestations during drills. This facade faded when I saw the aircrew guys jumping around in the seats and helping people get their masks on. If I had been up front and saw one of the aircrew girls crying, I would have needed help changing my pants later. Anyway, I put this thing on my head and pull the red ball that makes it create oxygen with chemicals and subsequently create alot of heat in the process.
This sounds exciting, I know. Please contain yourselves, it wasn't fun. Until the plane started to dive. Now ... I didn't know why it was diving, and like most everyone else, just figured it was broke and we were gonna, well, die. I find out later the pilot wants to get us to an altitude that actually has oxygen. Which leads me to my new status as a Qatari immigrant.
Yep, we had to immigrate to Qatar for the night. I say 'night' loosely. We were there maybe 18 hours. After we leave there, we get to Bagram and get another brief that was pretty much identical to the one we got in San Diego, then Ft Jackson, then Ft Jackson again (i'm not joking), then in Kuwait...you get the idea. I'm actually surprised they didn't just give it to us in Qatar as well. We stay over night in Bagram and leave this morning at 0930 from our tents for a 1300 flight. Anyone wanna guess how far away the airport is? Let me put it this way...if I were to accidentally on purpose have a raging fit of anger and throw all my belongings onto the main road outside the tent while suggesting loudly that the Air Force was primarily manned by people romantically linked to animals, the passenger terminal could hear me.
But whatever, there shipmates, you drink your freaking kool-aid and sit down. I'm so used to this, that I'm like a robot. I discontinued using my brain long ago, because, despite what the officer corps tells you, you don't need it to operate or understand the Air Force flight planning model. I'm pretty sure they use 5 year olds and high school dropouts from Kazakhstan to run things. "It's niiice!"
I'm going to bed before I get bitter....
Where have I been for the past three days? Spin your globe to the middle east and pick a major airport between Kuwait and Kabul and I've probably slept there. And I wish that were a joke.
The very day we get back from the range (previous post), we have to pack our stuff and head to the airport for a 0200 flight. Mind you, we were up that morning at 0400, so 22 hours have passed since we got on our plane. Which of course didn't leave until 0400. No sleep. 24 hours. Okay, I'm fine, whatever. It could be worse...
An hour and a half into our flight I was serenely napping. Have your ever seen a movie where someone wakes up to alarms and people are running around shouting and panicking? Yeah, been there, bought the stinkin T-shirt now. Klaxxons were blazing, lights were flashing, the people on the outside of plane had those masks next to their faces and were putting them on. I thought "Wow, maybe I should be doing something?" Luckily, I had, out of sheer curiosity, examined the oxygen-producing bag in the seat in front of me so I kinda knew how it worked. I say luckily because I was sleeping when they explained how to use it.
So this big fat C-17 is losing cabin pressure fast and I have the dumb look on my face that says "Huh? Is this a drill I can sleep through?" Supply Officers are notorious for taking their racks as battlestations during drills. This facade faded when I saw the aircrew guys jumping around in the seats and helping people get their masks on. If I had been up front and saw one of the aircrew girls crying, I would have needed help changing my pants later. Anyway, I put this thing on my head and pull the red ball that makes it create oxygen with chemicals and subsequently create alot of heat in the process.
This sounds exciting, I know. Please contain yourselves, it wasn't fun. Until the plane started to dive. Now ... I didn't know why it was diving, and like most everyone else, just figured it was broke and we were gonna, well, die. I find out later the pilot wants to get us to an altitude that actually has oxygen. Which leads me to my new status as a Qatari immigrant.
Yep, we had to immigrate to Qatar for the night. I say 'night' loosely. We were there maybe 18 hours. After we leave there, we get to Bagram and get another brief that was pretty much identical to the one we got in San Diego, then Ft Jackson, then Ft Jackson again (i'm not joking), then in Kuwait...you get the idea. I'm actually surprised they didn't just give it to us in Qatar as well. We stay over night in Bagram and leave this morning at 0930 from our tents for a 1300 flight. Anyone wanna guess how far away the airport is? Let me put it this way...if I were to accidentally on purpose have a raging fit of anger and throw all my belongings onto the main road outside the tent while suggesting loudly that the Air Force was primarily manned by people romantically linked to animals, the passenger terminal could hear me.
But whatever, there shipmates, you drink your freaking kool-aid and sit down. I'm so used to this, that I'm like a robot. I discontinued using my brain long ago, because, despite what the officer corps tells you, you don't need it to operate or understand the Air Force flight planning model. I'm pretty sure they use 5 year olds and high school dropouts from Kazakhstan to run things. "It's niiice!"
I'm going to bed before I get bitter....
Friday, May 22, 2009
Home on the Udairi Range
Strap yourselves in; gonna be a long one.
We left Camp Virginia on Wednesday around 1300 (that's 1pm for all you civilian types) for the Udairi Range. Not a long trip, but we rode the bus in full armor. We arrive around 1430 or so (just add an hour and a half to 1pm) and subsequently ground our gear. Then we picked it up and took it somewhere else. Then we were told to pick it up and bring it inside. About 20 seconds later, we were told to leave it where we were already standing. Anyone but me getting flashbacks?
You'd be proud of me, though. I made the wise choice. Knowing full well the likelihood that whoever was in charge PROBABLY didn't know what to do, I stood my ground. This is where my good time begins! As soon as the aforementioned 'HNIC' (google it and look for it in Urban Dictionary, it's worth it) told us to leave our stuff in the second spot, two people had tantrums and BAM! I literally bathed in happiness as it left their bodies. It was the moment that made the last three days worth every unopposable grain of sand I can't find on my body.
Now I realize that it's not right to relish in someone else's anguish. However, it would just be bad economics to allow that happiness to go free. Okay, enough of that. After the tantrums, we got inside our tent that served as classroom/sleeping area. Had a nice little class about convoy tactics and battle stuff, army, army, army...Sorry Uncle Ron, I know it will save my life, and I promise I listened, but I just wanted to shoot something. We downloaded alot of good combat info and then moved chairs around so the 40 of us could sleep on the floor. I found all the smokers outside on the way to the head. I may have also made some comment about scorpions and their affinity for smoke, etc, etc...I don't remember.
Aside: I realize that this was kinda wrong, too, but you have to understand I spent 2 years on a submarine. My scope of what's entertaining has been, how shall I say, 'illuminated' to the joys of sowing a little discord for my enjoyment. A few months before decom started, I took this one officer's hat and gave it to another officer to wear (he thought it was his own). But I held onto it for a week or so to build his frustration. So it wasn't just the small altercation between them in the middle of Muster that made it worth it, it was the fact that all that work paid off.
Okay, back on point. Went to the range Thursday morning and shot about 60 rounds or so, some while walking. This one girl that was standing next to me kept ending up behind me while we were doin the walk and shoot. It brought to mind the comment the range master made before we got started: "If someone gets shot, don't rush to help them, we have people for that." Huh? This happens so much they have a SOP for it? So the range was exciting in several ways for me.
That night we did another class and the TCs (truck commanders) and Convoy Commander came up with our battle plan and briefed us all that night. All good plans...
Friday morning, 0430, Reveille. No bugels, just plenty of snoring. Not by me, I slept on my stomach to keep from getting gagged at night. We loaded up the trucks and I got some good pictures (I'll post them when I get a chance) before we mounted and headed off to our Start Point. Our first checkpoint was the second traffic circle we came to. The Army hires TCN (third country nationals) to help us practice and there were a bunch of them in this little 'town.' Didn't really matter. We went through that thing so fast, that the suicide 'bomber' we never saw didn't have a chance to get close. Hey! Don't make fun, we're Navy. I buy food, parts and torpedoes for a living :)
After that was some fun stuff but would honestly be boring to read it. We sang alot of Garth in the truck while we were moving and keeping our eyes peeled for 'IED' indications. At one point, a vehicle got hit by one and there was an ambush to go with it. Once again, they employ TCNs to point fake weapons at us for realism. So I'm in the Aid and Litter vehicle...guess what I get to do? I get to run my up-armored tail to the damaged vehicle and fish out the injured/dead people and bring them to another vehicle! Yeah! When we practiced it Thursday night, we did it without body armor and I almost died hauling this 250lb guy about 200ft. Today it was just a 130lb female, so worked out much better for my heart and back. We did pretty well for our second time ever doing it, if you ask me (really, who else would you ask?). Eventually the instructors reset all the dead and injured so we could keep driving and what happens next? The lead vehicle runs right over a tripwire and triggers an IED in a disabled vehicle. Luckily that was the end of our route and we were told to wrap it up.
So that about sums up our last few days. Now I'm sitting at Starbucks, belly full of MREs and Dulce de Leche Frappucinos. We'll find out in about an hour when we'll be leaving. Because they schedule this range thing at the end, I'll be leaving the country with dirty laundry.
...come on, I'm a sailor, I had to wrap it up with a complaint!
We left Camp Virginia on Wednesday around 1300 (that's 1pm for all you civilian types) for the Udairi Range. Not a long trip, but we rode the bus in full armor. We arrive around 1430 or so (just add an hour and a half to 1pm) and subsequently ground our gear. Then we picked it up and took it somewhere else. Then we were told to pick it up and bring it inside. About 20 seconds later, we were told to leave it where we were already standing. Anyone but me getting flashbacks?
You'd be proud of me, though. I made the wise choice. Knowing full well the likelihood that whoever was in charge PROBABLY didn't know what to do, I stood my ground. This is where my good time begins! As soon as the aforementioned 'HNIC' (google it and look for it in Urban Dictionary, it's worth it) told us to leave our stuff in the second spot, two people had tantrums and BAM! I literally bathed in happiness as it left their bodies. It was the moment that made the last three days worth every unopposable grain of sand I can't find on my body.
Now I realize that it's not right to relish in someone else's anguish. However, it would just be bad economics to allow that happiness to go free. Okay, enough of that. After the tantrums, we got inside our tent that served as classroom/sleeping area. Had a nice little class about convoy tactics and battle stuff, army, army, army...Sorry Uncle Ron, I know it will save my life, and I promise I listened, but I just wanted to shoot something. We downloaded alot of good combat info and then moved chairs around so the 40 of us could sleep on the floor. I found all the smokers outside on the way to the head. I may have also made some comment about scorpions and their affinity for smoke, etc, etc...I don't remember.
Aside: I realize that this was kinda wrong, too, but you have to understand I spent 2 years on a submarine. My scope of what's entertaining has been, how shall I say, 'illuminated' to the joys of sowing a little discord for my enjoyment. A few months before decom started, I took this one officer's hat and gave it to another officer to wear (he thought it was his own). But I held onto it for a week or so to build his frustration. So it wasn't just the small altercation between them in the middle of Muster that made it worth it, it was the fact that all that work paid off.
Okay, back on point. Went to the range Thursday morning and shot about 60 rounds or so, some while walking. This one girl that was standing next to me kept ending up behind me while we were doin the walk and shoot. It brought to mind the comment the range master made before we got started: "If someone gets shot, don't rush to help them, we have people for that." Huh? This happens so much they have a SOP for it? So the range was exciting in several ways for me.
That night we did another class and the TCs (truck commanders) and Convoy Commander came up with our battle plan and briefed us all that night. All good plans...
Friday morning, 0430, Reveille. No bugels, just plenty of snoring. Not by me, I slept on my stomach to keep from getting gagged at night. We loaded up the trucks and I got some good pictures (I'll post them when I get a chance) before we mounted and headed off to our Start Point. Our first checkpoint was the second traffic circle we came to. The Army hires TCN (third country nationals) to help us practice and there were a bunch of them in this little 'town.' Didn't really matter. We went through that thing so fast, that the suicide 'bomber' we never saw didn't have a chance to get close. Hey! Don't make fun, we're Navy. I buy food, parts and torpedoes for a living :)
After that was some fun stuff but would honestly be boring to read it. We sang alot of Garth in the truck while we were moving and keeping our eyes peeled for 'IED' indications. At one point, a vehicle got hit by one and there was an ambush to go with it. Once again, they employ TCNs to point fake weapons at us for realism. So I'm in the Aid and Litter vehicle...guess what I get to do? I get to run my up-armored tail to the damaged vehicle and fish out the injured/dead people and bring them to another vehicle! Yeah! When we practiced it Thursday night, we did it without body armor and I almost died hauling this 250lb guy about 200ft. Today it was just a 130lb female, so worked out much better for my heart and back. We did pretty well for our second time ever doing it, if you ask me (really, who else would you ask?). Eventually the instructors reset all the dead and injured so we could keep driving and what happens next? The lead vehicle runs right over a tripwire and triggers an IED in a disabled vehicle. Luckily that was the end of our route and we were told to wrap it up.
So that about sums up our last few days. Now I'm sitting at Starbucks, belly full of MREs and Dulce de Leche Frappucinos. We'll find out in about an hour when we'll be leaving. Because they schedule this range thing at the end, I'll be leaving the country with dirty laundry.
...come on, I'm a sailor, I had to wrap it up with a complaint!
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