Hard to believe that three weeks ago I was just getting back to Oregon from California.
The routine (and atmosphere) is very similar to to the last time, when we mobilized through Camp Shelby, MS.
The food is much better this time around. And the trainers have all deployed before (unlike before).
This time there is more uncertainty about the mission. So far we’ve been told that both our mission and location is up in the air. Same Country, just different geographic region. Either way things are in motion and will work themselves out over the next couple of months.
Have just about finished up the training here. Just a 5 mile run tomorrow then we finish packing for our trip back home. After this I’ll get to be home for a couple of days before heading on to our next training site.
Over all this time around things seem to have gone smoother than the last deployment, for the most part. The trainers here have all deployed before, unlike the ones at Camp Shelby, and seem to want to cut as much of the BS as possible and get to what matters.
Can’t wait to get back to the PacNW and have grass under my feet again.
Except for the collection of blisters that has formed on my right foot (one larger than a quarter), things have been going pretty well the last couple of weeks.
The training has been ok and is a good refesher on basic soldier skills. We have another two weeks before we start to pack things up to head to Georgia so we are really just getting to full speed, but I think that I’ll be back in Oregon on pass at the end of the month before I have time to catch my breath.
As usual the situation is fluid and things don’t always remain firm until they are less than 24 hours out.
I’ve been enjoying getting to sleep in till 7 or so the last couple of weeks, but that is soon coming to an end. Shortly I’ll be back to a 5 am wake up and a 6 am start to the day.
It’s funny how much of my stuff never really got unpacked after the last deployment. I guess knowing that this one was coming coming kept a lot of my interest in my old stuff down. I’ve been going through it the last couple of days making sure that it is ready for another year stored in the garage and out of Kim’s way.
However, this time I have a much better idea about the things that I will want to have with me and at what point I’m going to want them. I’m also making sure to pack along the things that I had to pick up once I got to Camp Shelby last time because I hadn’t thought of all the little things that can make life easier. It helps that I still have the black plastic footlockers that I used in Afghanistan. It’s just going to be a matter of making sure that I have one packed and inventoried and ready for shipment, once I know my APO address in Iraq and can make contact with the guys I’ll be replacing so that I have it sent over so that it’s on the ground waiting for me when I get there.
Another round of navel gazing and pictures from the land of beige.
Change is coming and I’m getting dizzy trying to keep up with all of it.
In a couple of weeks I’ll be going on “vacation” from my normal civilian job to use up the PTO I have saved up prior to going on orders in April. Then in May it’s to Georgia. After Georgia we’ll be moving to Kuwait to stage for our move into Iraq.
A year or so later I’ll be back, again. And I’ll go through the transition process again.
I just hope that they don’t ruin that home coming by telling us we have another deployment coming up like they did the last one.
I’ve switched over to using TypePad for the comments.
All the old comments are still saved, I just haven’t figured out how to move them over to the new system yet.
Worst case I will just manually add them to the bottom of the blog entry that they were originally posted under.
Shamelessly stolen from Greg Laswell.
This one’s for the lonely
The ones that seek and find
Only to be let down
Time after time
This one’s for the torn down
The experts at the fall
Common friends get up now
You’re not alone at all
And this part was for her
This part was for her
This part was for her
Does she remember?
It comes and goes in waves, i….
This one’s for the faithless
The ones that are surprised
They are only where they are now
Regardless of their fight
This one’s for believing
If only for it’s sake
Common friends get up now
Love is to be made
And this part was for her
This part was for her
This part was for her
Does she remember?
It comes and goes in waves,
I am only let to wonder why
It comes and goes in waves
I am only let to wonder why
Why I try
This is for the ones who stand
For the ones who try again
For the ones who need a hand
For the ones who think they can
It comes and goes in waves,
I am only let to wonder why
It comes and goes in waves
I am only let to wonder why
Why I try
Scott Kesterson, the reporter that was embeded with the 41st BCT during our tour in Afghanistan, has started limited screenings of the movie that he filmed.
The film’s website is linked below:
http://www.atwarfilm.com/
I’ve thought a lot about how I was going to write this post over the last year.
I found out that I would be going to Iraq this year a couple of months after I got back from Afghanistan. And while I didn’t know the exact timing it was on the back of my mind every day. Now I have the timing.
This spring I will do a three to four week AT (annual training, normally two weeks during the summer) and then I will go on Federal Active Duty orders (starting a twelve month clock). After a month or so at an active duty post my team and I will board a plane for Kuwait. After that, I’ll get to my place in Iraq.
Thanks to the Status of Forces Agreement that will be in effect I won’t be on a tiny FOB in the middle of nowhere like I was in Afghanistan. It will be on a base that will make the biggest in Afghanistan when I was there look small.
I’m sure I’ll salute more in the first two weeks than my entire last tour. And somehow I’ll get used to having reliable internet access, pavement, and a choice at the dining facility as to what to eat.
I’m not going to be alone like the last time. I’m going over with two guys from my unit who were fresh from the school house when I met them a year ago. Now they’ve got a couple of training rotations under their belt and are ready for the real thing. I’ve tried to get them ready for what they will face. But not having been to where we are headed means that I am as green as they are in some ways. In others I just hope that I can shield them from the worst and be there for when we fall.
And as an NCO remind them of the words that become our creed and carry us through the dark times.
I am a Soldier first, but an intelligence professional second to none,
With pride in my heritage, but focused on the future.
Performing the first task of an Army;
To find, know, and never lose the enemy.