posted @ 21:28...

Here's another response to some questions I received (thanks Jen)... By the way, keep 'em coming. Your questions help me come up with stuff to write about, because I'm not always very creative.

Regarding church services: they are okay, though they lack the sense of "family" that I have at my church back home. That's to be expected though. I have attended the "Contemporary Protestant" service a few times. It was good. Last Sunday, though, I attended a "Combined Protestant" service, which is held in the evening. It was definitely different. Not much different in the way of sermons, but there wasn't as much music, and the music they did have was quite subdued. One thing that was different, too, was the hand-shaking portion of the service. Most I've been in, you just go around and say "Hi, how are ya? Good morning!" In this one, we were instructed to say, "Peace of the Lord be with you," or simply, "Peace be with you." That was pretty different... but I guess that's normal in some churches.

Regarding the availability of world news: There are big-screen TV's in the DFAC. Two show ESPN and two show CNN-International. You'd think the CNN would be full of timely world news. However, the news part of it is often lacking and somewhat tedious. It's a lot like NPR has become. The news it has is well done, when it shows news. But too often stuff on there is made to sound like a news report, when in fact, it's actually a 15-minute-long piece about some farmers in Taiwan. Being the typical low-attention-span American that I am, I want some headlines and a few sentences, and then on to the next item (a la CNN Headline News or FOX News). But oh well. I guess I have to take what I can get.

We also get free copies of the Stars & Stripes almost daily. This has good stuff, except that it's mostly done by military for military, so you can imagine where the slant is. Everything's written from a military perspective, which is great, but I don't always want to be reminded that I'm here. Just a simple USA Today would suffice for me, but best of all would be an Austin American-Statesman or a Chronicle. There's also a radio station, run by the military out of Baghdad -- Freedom Radio 107.7 FM. It's pretty good, mostly music (some good stuff, some crap). But they have hourly news, just like most stations back home.

And then there's the Internet. Most Soldiers don't get as much access and time on here as I do, since there's a connection on one of the computers in the office where I work. I recognize that I'm lucky, but there are a few "Internet Cafe's" around here. Not a "cafe" in a traditional sense; just a room w/ net-connected computers.

Regarding R&R: I get to leave Iraq in about a week. I'm incredibly excited to see my wife again, and meet my son for the first time! It'll be a tedious journey. I wait at the Baghdad airport (BIAP) for a flight, then fly to Kuwait City and wait for a flight to Germany. Once in Germany, I wait for a flight to the States. I'm not sure what my "gateway city" is, but it's possible they could fly me right into New York. That means quicker access to Starbucks.

posted @ 08:46...

Did you ever have to work with someone who will not stop talking? I work with a guy who doesn’t realize just how much he talks, though he’s been told numerous times by superiors to simply “stop talking.” His chatter often includes boring stories about any given guy he used to know, who served in Korea and/or Germany, and may have had some event happen however many years ago. Sometimes, he drones on and on about the different types of military vehicles we see as we’re walking. It would be cool if what he was talking about was interesting, action-packed, or heart-wrenching. But it’s really the same old crap that nobody really cares about, much of which he doesn’t realize he’s told us several times before. I’m sure he’s been told that nobody really cares about all this stuff he jabbers about, but that doesn’t stop him.

When we go to chow, his mouth doesn’t stop from the moment we walk out of the building where we work to the DFAC, which is about a quarter-mile away. He asked me the other day why I wasn’t going to dinner chow. I replied, “I actually prefer silence this evening.” I don’t think he caught what I meant.

It seems like people like this can’t handle silence… to be alone with their thoughts. I’ve also heard that such behavior is because of insecurity. I don’t know what his deal is… Any suggestions on how to handle this? I’d love to hear comments.

posted @ 07:27...

Haven’t written on here in a while. One reason (aka excuse): nothing outstanding to write about. Reason number two: Got real depressed, and rather than subject you to my complaining again, I chose not to write.

To sorta answer Jen’s questions about R&R (which she asked in the comments thing), I’ve been given an R&R date orally, which is two weeks later than the date I saw on paper. They’ve told me that a soldier has to be deployed for at least 90 days before he/she can take R&R. That puts me at about 16 September, which is about the time one of my NCO’s told me I’d be going. But I saw some paperwork listing me as going on 1 September. Honestly, I’m not too worried about when I go… just as long as I get to go at some point. So for now I’m thinking it’s probably the later date, but keeping alert just in case it’s the earlier date.

From what I understand (for my unit anyway), R&R leave priority goes like this: Soldiers whose wives are about to have a baby get priority, starting w/ the lowest ranking people. Soldiers whose wives have recently given birth are next highest priority (ie. me). And after that, I’m not sure how they figure things in. As far as higher-ranking people, I hear that commanders are strongly discouraged from taking leave over holidays. In fact, they won’t be getting leave over Christmas without some sort of "special circumstances" type of approval from higher. So it’s one of the few times in the military in which lower-ranking soldiers get priority for something.

posted @ 08:36...

Uniforms and Sand Storms

Believe it or not, the daily clothing ensemble of a deployed soldier isn’t always in pristine order. In fact, it’s likely that this clothing ensemble is largely the same one that he or she wore the previous day. It’s very nice to have those free KBR laundry services, although clean laundry only stays clean as long as a soldier doesn’t wear it.

The DCU top is the item we can usually get the most mileage out of. After that, it’s the pants, which don’t take quite as long to start smelling weird. And then it’s the brown t-shirt, socks, and underwear, pretty much in that order. A firefighter buddy of mine, who’s now a Marine somewhere over here, mentioned that if you wear a uniform in the field for a week you won’t need a hanger; it’ll stand up by itself, and you can just sort of step into it. (Note to spouse: Yes, I’m changing the socks & underwear daily.)

I started out my day by putting on an entirely clean uniform… By noon it was dusty and sweaty. It felt extra hot today, the kind of heat I usually only feel if I find myself standing in the exhaust area of one of the diesel generators. And then I saw the wall up ahead. It wasn’t a wall of tent canvas or sheetrock or brick. It was solid dust, like the thickest fog you’ve ever seen. And it was coming toward me. Thankfully, I had some kid’s Article 15 packet with me; I held the manila folder up in front of my face so the dust wouldn’t permeate every crevice of my head. And soon it was over, but the wind still tried to sandblast my corneas.

My Army-issue Wiley X goggles don’t fit over my glasses. I’d love some prescription lenses for the things, but I haven’t heard one way or the other how to make that happen. I dare you: try to get the Army to give you a definite answer on anything actually useful. I’ll probably get some prescription lenses around 11 months out. Until then, I squint.

posted @ 09:36...

I still don’t think it’s really sunk in yet that just a few miles from where I sleep there are people who hate me and want to kill me. There’s no reason, except for the fact that I’m an American. Worse yet, I’m an American soldier.

I just found out that some soldiers from my unit were injured in an attack today. I can't say who they were, since there are very strict rules regarding who can release certain types of information. We can get in a ton of trouble for letting information out before families are notified. I will say that I know them, and have worked with them in the past. They were out on a dismounted patrol somewhere “out there” when they came under small arms fire. While returning fire, the enemy also shot a few RPG’s at them. They’re all okay, but they sustained shrapnel wounds to the neck, buttocks, and thighs. Today’s lesson: body armor works. That flak vest is heavy and uncomfortable, but it can save a soldier from, I would say, more intense discomfort later on. It would be a good idea to be thinking about them / praying for them. Though most of them are seasoned war vets, receiving shrapnel is still not a pleasant experience.

posted @ 01:35...

Okay, PT is kicking my butt. I’m sore. I’ve been doing PT with the JAG guys. People are surprised when they hear what the legal guys do for PT. I guess they assume we run maybe a half-mile, do 20 pushups, and go eat breakfast. We ran about 4 miles this morning, about 3 on Monday. Yesterday we did “muscle failure,” which means doing an intense abdominal workout, but also so many pushups that I literally couldn’t push any longer. Hence, the term “muscle failure.” We do that again tomorrow, so I’m hoping some of this soreness goes away by then.

There aren’t many hills in this part of the world. But the antenna farm is quite a large pile of dirt. It’s moderately steep and there are three different roads that go around it at various elevations. The hill is used for to main purposes: People have all sorts of antennas there and people run all over it… up and down it and around its roads. I certainly can’t keep up with these guys, but I do the best I can. I was glad to be done. My 30-year-old body aches, I can’t use the age excuse, because my NCO is 34.

posted @ 07:43...

"The stars at night are big and bright… No, unfortunately I’m not in Texas. But I was noticing last night how visible the stars and the moon are out here. I was being pretty descriptive about it last night while writing a letter to my spouse. Let’s see if I can remember even half of what I was feeling. Being in the middle of the desert has certain benefits, like celestial visibility. The moon was big and low in the sky, and the texture of the lunar surface was the most pronounced I’ve ever seen it. I don’t know if it’s just from being out here, or because I never really stopped to notice it anywhere else. It would have been cool to have a telescope. One night during the convoy, as we were lying out beside the Humvees, I couldn’t help but notice how bright the stars were. I could actually see the sky-wide glow of the Milky Way, which I haven’t seen in years.

Of course with night skies like this, you’d almost expect some background music like what you’d hear while waiting in line for Space Mountain. But actually, instead of mating whales and new age keyboards there are distant helicopters buzzing along, and the far-off thunder of a jet engine. At least the sights are there.