SORRY!!!!!

Sorry that it has been almost four months since my last post, so if you are still following, here is what is happening in my world...

Our team moved to Camp Taji earlier this month in order to advise and assist a new group of people. We are now responsible for the 9th Division EME (Electrical, Maintenance, and Engineering). Specifically I am working with four maintenance shops, each one supporting a different Brigade. Everyone that I have worked with, so far, has been great. They are eager to learn, and are extremely eager to share their culture with me. For instance, last week I was invited to lunch with one of the Colonels where we got to have a special meal called "Pacha". Pacha is considered a delicacy in Iraq and is made of sheep's head. I ate it, though I don't know if I'd do it again. The soup tasted like dirty water and the "meat's" consistency was a little unsettling. I took it like a champ though and earned some cool points from the Colonel. I am currently working on some maintenance classes for the shops that I am working with. Right now I am focusing on the electrical system and troubleshooting, areas that I feel they need the most help in.

Again, sorry for the gap between posts, I'll do a better job from here on out, we'll call it an early New Year's resolution!

Close Call...

So we're taking a ride down the Iraqi highway, I'm the gunner in the rear truck, watching the traffic steadily piling up behind us. As we get close to one of the checkpoints along the way, a pickup decides to jump out of line about five rows back and comes flying up behind us. I don't know if he just wanted to get through the checkpoint faster or if he was testing me or what, but he was about 1/10th of a second from getting his truck shredded by my weapon. I tried to wave him off, I guess he didn't think I was serious until the machine gun was pointing through his windshield. For those that have hunted before, you know that moment before you squeeze the trigger where you kind of lean into the weapon to help brace against the recoil? That's where I was at before he backed off. Lucky day for both of us I guess.

In other news, the Iraqi's are making the best of their new living space. They have electricity running to some of the buildings from a generator and are working on getting permanent power set up. One bad thing is their morale, it's still hot, still Ramadan, and the General that made them move into the garbage dump comes and yells at them for it looking like a garbage dump. Hopefully their conditions start looking up soon. It's hard for me to keep going there and not be able to do anything for them. I feel pretty useless right now, hopefully that changes soon too. I have to run, I just wanted to get some thoughts down before they slip away... I'll post more soon.

Prayer Request

I neglected to add on the last post that we had to send one of our guys home on emergency leave because his wife was very very sick. She is getting better now but it looks like he'll have to stay home and take care of their children because she must go through months of physical therapy to regain her motor skills. Please pray for them and a speedy recovery, thanks.

Big Changes

So a lot has happened since the last post... The biggest hit is the Iraqi unit that we are supporting is moving which is causes a bit of a problem for us - having to be on the road to go work with them. The place that they are moving to barely has room for them, let alone us, so right now we are working to get their area set up first. The conditions are worse than what they had before, if you can believe it. The only good thing is that the have a dining facility within walking distance and they won't have to truck their food in every day. Their new area doesn't have electricity or water yet, it was basically a junk yard that they have to clean out before they can move in.

Another big event started, its called Ramadan, here's a brief rundown on what Ramadan is: It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, and indulging in anything that is in excess or ill-natured; from dawn until dusk. Fasting is meant to teach the Muslim patience, modesty and spirituality. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of Allah, and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. It also allows Muslims to practice self-discipline, self-control, sacrifice, and empathy for those who are less fortunate; thus encouraging actions of generosity and charity. Toward the end of the month is Laylat al-Qadr, considered the most holy night of the year, it is the night in which the Qur'an was revealed to Muhammad, the "Night of the Power".

There is an extremist view that believes "When Ramadan arrives, Heaven's gates are opened, Hell's gates are closed, and the demons are chained up" and who ever passes away will enter paradise. This leads to suicide bombings and attacks on US forces, but the majority of Muslims don't view it this way.

I just wanted to throw that information in to give a background on what is going on right now. Other than that, college is going well, I signed up for the next semester already, I'll be taking World Geography, Music, and an English class. I hope you all are doing well, till next time!

Not Enough Power to Give Power...

I just looked at my last post and saw that it has been almost two weeks, sorry for the delayed update. Most of the Iraqis are still on leave and we won't be doing any training for probably the next month as they will be celebrating their holy month of Ramadan. During this time they fast from sunrise to sunset, not even taking water. You can see why we won't be conducting training for them during this period. Also, I would like for them to get the electricity up and running so that they can at least have a little comfort in the AC instead of fasting all day in the heat. I thought I had finally got an answer to part of the problem by getting a crane and forklift coordinated to go over to their side and position the generator that has been sitting on the back of a truck for months. I thought that all they needed was for this generator to be put on the ground and put into operation for their stuff to work. I was only able to get the crane and forklift for an hour in the afternoon, so time was tight. While I was in the midst of getting the Iraqis to understand that we only had a little time to get things done, the Lieutenant Colonel calls on the radio and says to leave the generator on the truck because it's broken and he's going to take it to a mechanic in the village to get repaired...this caused me to have some mixed feelings and questions...

1) Why didn't you tell me it was broken to begin with?????
2) How is the "mechanic in the village" going to fix the huge generator while its on the back of the truck, I know they don't have the means to take it off the truck
3) How long are you going to wait to take the generator to the mechanic???
4) Why are you allowing your Soldiers to suffer every day?????????????????

So, I'm pretty upset by this time and I don't know how to tell the Sergeant Major that I was working with that his boss is jerking us around. The truck is still sitting and the generator is collecting dust as I type this. I at least could have had it taken off the truck and have everything set up so that IF it is broken, we would just have to take the piece off and get that piece replaced.

Another bad turn this week, the maintenance company that I'm advising lost all their good mechanics to the Division. I have yet to get a number on what they have left, but I'm sure it isn't good. They only had 40 something to begin with and of those only a few were experienced. I guess that means I just have to provide more training to them.

On a good note, I started two online college classes this week, Earth Science and World History from 1500, so at least I'll be busy all day and possibly night depending on the work load. The past few weeks have flown by, hopefully these classes make the time go that much quicker. That's all for now...I'll add some pics on the next one hopefully.

Another Week in the Books

Its been a little over a week since my last post, but you haven't missed much. The Iraqi unit that we're helping has been conducting a mission and the rest of the Soldiers are on "Mujaas" or leave in English. That being said there really hasn't been that much for us to do. We are still working on getting them electricity, but the Iraqis don't can't pay for it and the Americans think they shouldn't pay for the repairs even though we are the one's who took away their electricity. So it's basically a political battle and the only ones that are losing are the Iraqis that have to suffer in the 115 degree heat all day and still be expected to do their mission.

I did get to go to a camp in Baghdad where I ran into a bunch of guys that I deployed with last time. It was great to see them again, hopefully I get to go again soon before the go home. I saw a couple of Palaces from the outside, next time I'll try to get a tour set up so I can go inside and take some pictures. I went for a run one morning around one of the palaces that was set in the middle of a small lake. It actually made for a picturesque run, and I saw a guy fishing so I have to check on what I need so I can go fishing next time, too. Unfortunately, the palace has signs around it saying no photography, I'm not sure why that is, but I'll try to at least find a post card or something. Plus I'm sure I could get a picture and get away with it. I don't think the Special Forces are guarding the perimeter of the palace, waiting for some idiot "tourist" to snap a picture. I'll have to test my theory next time...

One last thing; I did get to eat an authentic Iraqi meal, we had lamb, and rice, and chicken, served with pita bread. It made me think of a cross between Greek and Mexican cuisine. Every thing was very good; there was one big difference, the don't use silverware or serving utensils. Everything was done by hand, which is normal for them. Till next time "Fee Iman Allah" (may God protect you)!

Crossing the Cultural Divide

My first official week at work has been a busy one. I've met many people, both on the American side and the Iraqi side, most of which I'll have to meet one or two more times before I remember any names. Actually, it's not that bad. The Americans have their names on their uniform and most of the Iraqi's are either Abdulla or Abdel or Muhammad. They are very nice people and share what they have even though they don't have much. In their culture friends hold hands while walking and kiss each other on the cheek when greeting each other. I have been on the receiving end of both, it's not the norm for me so it will take some getting used to!

The living conditions that the Iraqi's have on their side of the Army base is terrible. They have no electricity (thanks to the Americans) so that means no AC (for the 110+ heat) no running water, no sewage pump, no lights at night, just to name a couple of things. They have 400+ people but rooms for maybe 100 if you squeeze them in. I don't know how they can do it, it's really amazing to me. Some haven't been paid for 8 months and their system to get supplies and parts is slow. They have to submit a request on paper that goes up the chain from company to battalion, to brigade, to division, to the supply depot, to the Ministry of Defense, and then all the way back down. The only way they will receive what they requested is if they bring the original paper with all the stamps from the different agencies to the depot along with a letter from the commander saying that they are allowed to pick up the listed items. If you are confused by any of this, don't worry, I'm starting a support group to help deal with the anxiety of working with the Iraqi supply system. I'll probably call it INAB (I Need A Beer).

We also went on a couple of convoys to see a couple of different areas. The first one I just rode in the back and went along for the ride. The second one I was the gunner on the 50 caliber machine gun. It was a good trip both times. Nothing too exciting happened, lots of traffic and lots of people out for the one we did yesterday because of a holiday that is going on today. If you want to send something that the Iraqis could use, maybe some small toys or candy. We were throwing some out to the kids that were along the route and they love it!

Eleven months to go! Not that I'm counting or anything...till next time

Thoughts on Government Spending

This week has been pretty easy. All of my training has been indoors watching power point slides by different instructors. I have been learning the Arabic alphabet and spelling a lot quicker than I thought I would. It's not that bad once you have the alphabet down, now I just need to figure out what all the words mean. A lot of our classes this week have been cancelled or delayed due to the weather. It hasn't been severe or anything, just kinda brown. Yep, brown. On a good day this week I could see for about a half a mile before everything faded into the dirt that's been hanging in the air. I have no idea how this happens, cause I always thought that dirt is heavier than air and therefore should fall, but not here. I wouldn't call it a sand storm either, because those usually involve some high winds, so what ever it was, the weather has been keeping flights grounded and some of our instructors were stuck on other camps waiting to come here.

Needless to say, I have had a little extra free time on my hands, so I have been thinking about a few things, mostly government spending. This didn't just pop up out of sheer boredom, but because all of the contractors that I have talked to are over here to teach or assist and are making between $100,000 and 300,000 a year. A YEAR! How many contractors are in theatre? About 150,000; 39,000 are American; 70,000 from the Philippines, Peru, Bangladesh, and other countries; 37,000 are from Iraq. Obviously the Americans are the ones making the big bucks and the ones coming from other countries are making considerably less, but still being paid well from what they are used to. Let's just say that the average is $100,000 a year, you're talking almost 4 billion dollars just to pay the Americans. This number is just a guess, but I don't think it's that far off. I will do some research. Lets talk about what we could be doing with this money... if you know a congressman you should let them know my idea.

The armed forces has been searching for ways to increase their numbers for a long time. They are offering bonuses and college money just to entice people to enlist for four years. Then they throw more money at you when its time to re-enlist. I personally got 30,000 for re-enlisting for six years. This doubled my income for 2008. But I do get benefits, I get a statement at the end of every year showing my base pay plus what the government says I receive in benefits. If I remember right it was about 60,000. At that rate the Government could pay for 65,000 Staff Sergeants with 4 billion dollars. Or you could have well over 100,000 Privates through Specialists, which is the level that most of the contractors are working at any way. Also most of the contractors are either retired military or got out because they could make more money as a contractor. Many of the contractors are mechanics, truck drivers, laborers, and cooks. You know when the last time I saw a cook doing their job for the Army? 2003 when we were driving from Kuwait to Iraq and they had to cook because we didn't have contractors yet. I'm sure the congressmen and women don't want to hear this because I'm sure many of them are getting rich off of owning stock in these contracting firms, but the money could be better used. There are approximately 475,000 active Army Soldiers, that's almost a $10,000 a year raise for EACH person. Tell me that you would still have trouble getting people to come in and stay in the military with better pay.

I'll have to think about this some more...I just think that there is a lot of waste going on and no one really seems to notice. There is always a better way. Thanks for listing to me rant for a while. I should be at my final destination in Iraq by the end of this week, weather permitting! I hope you all are enjoying your summer! Talk to you later...

Finally In Iraq

Well, I'm here, finally. I had a great time trying to get into this country, I was thinking that if they didn't want me here, I could have just stayed home. So here's what happened...

We finished our training in Kuwait, which consisted of MRAP egress training and Close Quarters Marksmanship. The egress training was pretty cool. They rolled us over in a mock up vehicle, then we had to unbuckle ourselves while upside-down and exit the vehicle. Same stuff we did in Fort Riley, just a different vehicle. The Close quarters marksmanship training was again a repeat of Fort Riley, but this time they added an assault course where we made our way toward an objective shooting pop up targets along the way. After we had finished our training, we went to the airfield to get a flight to Baghdad International Airport. We took off at 8 am for a "one hour flight," about 50 minutes into the flight the pilot came on the intercom and said that there was a severe sand storm and we couldn't land so we went back to Kuwait. Then we had to wait for another flight to become available, which wouldn't happen till 11 pm. So, while I waited I helped myself to some McDonald's, to include a McFlurry- nothing hits the spot on a 110+ degree day like a McFlurry! This flight was a bit worse than the first. The original flight was in a C-17, a huge military aircraft used for transporting supplies and personnel. The second flight was on a C-130, the airplane that gets used for airborne training. The seats are no more than canvas stretched over some aluminum poles. There are 4 rows of people, two going down the side of the plane and two back to back in the middle. There really isn't a whole lot of room, especially when you have all your combat gear on and you are sitting next to a guy that takes up a seat and a half. So we fly for a while then stop and drop off some Marines at one camp then get set to make our last hop to Baghdad, but now we can't go because the starter went out on one of the engines. So we wait. And wait. And wait some more. All said and done, we waited for six hours before we could get back on the plane. So a "one hour flight" turned into a 24 hour ordeal. The flight from Baghdad to Taji (north of Baghdad) was a first for me as we rode on a Chinook (the helicopter with two rotors). What was especially interesting was the fact that the rear door was down so that the gunner could provide security while in flight. He just sat there behind the weapon and dangled his feet over the edge. Now we are sitting in Taji taking some more classes (most of which we've already done, but I'm sure the repetition will help us retain some of the information) for about another week. I hope everyone is doing well. I will write again soon.

It's Getting Hot In Here

Hello from Kuwait! I had a nice flight over here, stopping for breaks in New York, Iceland, Germany, then finally touching down at the Kuwait International Airport. One interesting thing about the trip: The sun NEVER went down! It was light outside for the entire trip. I guess I should have taking that as a warning, because when I got off the plane my first thought was "Wow that airplane exhaust is hot!" but really it was just the wind hitting me like a blow dryer.

This week we have been fine-tuning the skills we originally learned in Kansas and also learning how to operate the new MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected) vehicle. So far it's been pretty fun, but HOT, crazy HOT, the kind of hot where you want to just smack someone because they are breathing and their hot breath is adding to the HOT. I have been doing the gunner job this week, firing the weapon from the top of the Hummve, that was a lot of fun, I was getting sick of just being along for the ride and talking on the radio. The first three days kinda sucked, here's why: We got off the plane and did all of our in-processing then got to our tents, then down loaded our bags then tried to get some sleep. It was 3 in the morning by this time (after a 24 hour flight). They did let us sleep in till after lunch, then is was time to fill out some more paperwork, this time for finance. This part I didn't mind because they are going to be giving me some extra pay just for showing up. Those of us who weren't jet lagged too bad were able to get some sleep before we got up at 3 AM to go out to a range and confirm the sights on our weapon were right. Once we got out there, the range supervisor said we couldn't shoot because visibility was too low (too much sand in the air) so we would have to wait until it cleared. Given the fact that we are in an area where all you can see is sand stretching to the horizon, you would think that there wouldn't be a problem shooting a few bullets in a controlled direction. Apparently the problem is that some of the local herders were scheduled to be in the are with their camels and if we accidentally shot one, it may cause an international incident, or we would end up paying the guy a lot of money for his camel and all the offspring that may have come from that camel...either way they didn't want us taking any chances. So we finally got to shoot at about 9 AM, then we moved on to the crew served weapons to fire those as well. That took us through lunch, and then we had to move to another class where we were given a refresher on IEDs and how to spot them. All while this is happening, the sun is apparently pissed off at Kuwait and unleashes Hell, or summer as the locals call it. The average temperature has been 114 this week, but don't worry cause it's a dry heat! Any way, by day two, none of us are acclimated to the weather and we had one guy have to get seen by the medics for dehydration. Just for a gauge on how much water I've been drinking, by 10 AM I usually have had two liters of water or more.

In other news...The dining facility (DFAC) here is nice! It has tile floors, air conditioning, a salad bar, sandwich bar, beverage bar, dessert section, and a fountain; yes fountain the kind that are aesthetically pleasing and squirts water for your enjoyment. The best part about this DFAC is that it has porcelain toilets that flush! It beats a porta-john hands down. I have less than a week here so I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can, who knows what the next place will have!

I guess that's enough for now, next time I write I should be in Iraq. Wish me luck!

All My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready To Go...

Well, the day is finally here. I am leaving today for Kuwait for a short visit then off to Iraq. The past couple of weeks have been great, I was on leave in Grantsburg. Melissa and the boys came with, we all had a great time! Isaac and Luke love being up there, hopefully Melissa can take them to visit once or twice. I don't have a long time to write, but I just wanted to say thank you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. Take care!

Closing of a Chapter

Well, it's graduation day here at Fort Riley. The last couple of weeks were actually pretty fun; we trained in Urban Operations and Close Quarters Combat. This training showed us how to clear rooms and houses and how to use our firearms under pressure and at distances of 25 yards and closer. The Close Quarters Combat ended with a "stress fire" lane where we had to run to cover (with all of our gear on) inside a shack and shoot right handed out of one window then left handed out of another window. Then we ran to another cover area and shot left and right handed again, then to a vehicle to fire from behind it. All this time there are grenade simulators going off (think fireworks on the ground, all the boom but none of the pretty lights) as well as smoke grenades. The object was to effectively engage the targets while your heart rate is up. The Urban Ops ended with us clearing a house using plastic/paint rounds fired from our M4s, and yes they did hurt.

I am going to have to keep this one short because its time to go. I will write more next time about my Memorial Day weekend with Melissa and the boys. I will be heading up to Wisconsin tonight, so I will see some of you then!

On Mother's Day...

Well another week in the books, and the next one is getting ready to start. First off, happy Mother's Day! I know this doesn't apply to everyone, but I'll just put it out there anyway. While we're on the topic, I did get to spend some time with Mom and Dad last weekend, when they came down for a visit. We had a great time, we got to see a lot of the post and even one of Dad's cousins. We learned a lot about the area by going to the Calvary Museum, The 1st Territorial Capital, and a couple of other places. One thing that I found especially interesting is that Camp Funston, the part of Fort Riley I'm training on, trained over 50,000 WWI soldiers. Another interesting factoid is that the H1N1 virus (AKA Swine Flu) had an outbreak at Camp Funston in 1918.

This past week of training was all class room stuff, kinda slow but all in all good information. We talked about the insurgency and what causes it, counterinsurgency, and things to do if you become isolated or captured. What blew my mind about the things we learned this week is that the same thing we are seeing in Iraq is the same as what was witnessed in Vietnam and probably hundred's of other wars throughout history. I always thought we went to history class and studied history so that we can learn from our past mistakes, giving us the ability to recognise situations and what the appropriate response to the situation should be. For example, the way to win a Guerilla type war is to get the indigenous people involved, something we didn't realize until three years into the war. All the people want is to live their normal life and not have to worry about anything but providing for their family. In the beginning of the war, this meant getting the US out of their country. Now that we have helped to train their Army and Police force, and provide a basic need of security, the Iraqi people realize that to end the insurgency, they need to get rid of the insurgents. I could go on more about all of this, so if you want to talk about it more just email me with your questions.

Lastly, in honor of Mother's Day, I just wanted to say thank you for all the Moms out there. Thank you for doing a job that no one in their right mind would apply for! Thank you for doing a thankless job that you don't even get paid for. Most of us don't realize all the trouble and heart ache you have to go through until we are on the receiving end of all that trouble (the little loves of our lives, kids). I know one thank you coming from me won't fill the quota that you deserve or make up for the ones that are past due, but from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

Thanks for waiting...

Sorry it's been so long, time's been flying here. Here's a recap of the last few weeks:

Last time I wrote I was on my way to El Paso to see Melissa and the boys, we had a great time. We went to New Mexico and did an Easter egg hunt. The boys were funny! They had little areas roped off for different age groups with eggs all over the ground. Isaac kept going under the rope to get the eggs before they actually said "Go". Luke was cute, he was carrying the bucket around, and would stop and inspect each egg before putting it in the bucket while all the other kids were running around snatching up everything they could. The weather was cold and rainy so after Isaac picked up his first egg he said his hands were cold, thus ending his hunt. Luke kept plugging at it, by the end we had about a dozen eggs. It didn't last long but it was fun. We stayed at a hotel there and took the boys swimming. Isaac must be half fish, because he was swimming by himself by the end of the weekend (with the help of arm floaties). It was hard to leave, but I had to get back into training, which we have been going at fast and furious.

We have been doing a lot of weapons training. First we qualified on our pistol, the M9 a 9MM semi-automatic pistol. This was the first time I qualified with it, but I did pretty well, shooting 26 out of 30 targets. Next I fired my M203 grenade launcher. I've qualified on that one before, but it's still fun to shoot. It did kick a bit, I still have some bruises on my arm. After that we shot our rifle, the M4. It's a 5.56MM rifle, pretty much like a small hunting rifle. We have a sight mounted on it that has a red dot in the middle, once you put it on the target, you are pretty much guarenteed to hit it. I shot 35 out of 40 targets ranging from 50 to 300 yards. We came back at night and fired with our night optics. This was really cool, the laser can't be seen with the naked eye, you have to wear night vision goggles in order to see it.

This week we focused on crew-serve weapons, aka the big guns. These are the weapons that are mounted on top of the trucks and used for security on convoys. We fired the M2 50 caliber machine gun and the M240 machine gun. The M240 fires a 7.62MM bullet, more like the large hunting rifles. We fired these in the day time at targets from 400 to 1000 yards. There is nothing like the sound of 10 machine guns ripping up targets to get your blood pumping! We also fired these at night using a thermal scope. These scopes are a poachers dream! You could find the enemy/target behind a brush pile just because of their body heat. Night qualification is always fun because every fourth or fifth round is a tracer. This bullet burns red once it is fired allowing you to see where you are shooting. It's fun watching these richochet off the targets and ground, it was like a low-budget 4th of July show.

I guess that's all I have for now, mom and dad are coming for the weekend, hopefully we'll be able to find something interesting to do here in hum-drum Kansas... 'till next time

An Army Mechanic's Point of View...

Well, another week is in the books. This one went pretty fast, as we had some engaging training to complete. This week I realized that the army is full of mechanics, maybe not by trade but everything we do is to geared toward fixing something. My team consists of 10 people, all from different backgrounds and varying walks of life. Our main mission for our upcoming deployment is to fix the Iraqi Army unit that we will be joined with. They have many problems, mostly stemming from the fact that they are a new unit and still don't have the equipment or personnel that are required to accomplish any sort of mission.

This week I enhanced my mechanic skills and found that I am not only good at fixing vehicles, but I am capable of fixing people, too. WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH IS A BIT GRAPHIC... We were given classes on Combat Casualty Care and how to eliminate the three major causes of deaths on the battlefield. The first of these is bleeding from an extremity. The majority of people wounded in Iraq pass away because they don't reach an adequate treatment facility in time to save them. Tourniquets are the one of the newest fads in saving causalities. Did you know that you can have a tourniquet applied to a limb for six hours before the limb is completely lost? The second major cause of fatalities is collapsed lungs due to an open chest wound. Luckily I have learned the fine art of repairing this problem...What you have to do once the wound is sealed and bandaged, is to take the pressure out of the chest cavity by inserting a needle into the wounded person. This lets the extra air out and allows the lung to re-inflate and operate normally. Lastly, I brushed up on the nasopharangeal procedure (sticking a tube through one's nose and down their throat in order to open the airway) to fix the third cause of battlefield deaths, the blocked airway.

We did do some training that wasn't as morbid, like initiating an IV or saline lock. I got to be the guinea pig for this event by volunteering myself for a live demonstration. Luckily, the guy that demonstrated for us is an EMT for the local Fire Department. Too bad I have two arms and had to donate the other to a Captain that, well, let's just say that he wasn't as experienced as the EMT. He stuck my arm and hit the vein, but when it came time to push the catheter into the vein he became a little excited and pulled the needle out, ruining any chance he had of completing his task. I did allow him to try on my other arm (BIG MISTAKE) just above the site where the EMT stuck me the first time. Again, he hit the vein, and this time he did thread the catheter in correctly, or so we thought. It was a bit too painful, so I figured something was wrong, but I let him continue anyway. I don't know if he went all the way through the vein or what, but there wasn't a good connection. The Army medic started to pull the catheter out slowly in order to see if he could get it back in the vein (once again, a bit too painful) but didn't succeed. Let's just say that I look like a junkie now with all the holes in my arms.

On a lighter note, I am going to El Paso tomorrow to see Melissa and the boys for a four day weekend. I miss them so much! Anyway, this looks like a good spot to end it...till next time!

First Blog Post

Hello, everyone! Or MarHaba as they say in Arabic. This is my first blog post so forgive me if it's a bit rough. I am currently training to be a Transition Team member to assist the Iraqi Army. I'm doing the training in Fort Riley, Kansas and will be deploying later this summer. The training, so far, has been rewarding. We are learning to speak Arabic in the Iraqi dialect and becoming immersed in their culture. We even had an "authentic" Iraqi meal this week and had a Q & A session with a retired Iraqi General.

This training will be great for the deployment and probably should be done by anyone that is deploying because it makes you realise just how similar our people are. There are also a lot of differences that need to be known before you go and the information would have made my previous deployments a lot more rewarding. I am going to be taking some extra Arabic classes and try to learn as much as I can so that I can be an effective advisor to the Iraqi Army.

The team I am with is great, but we are still new to it and I'm sure that the personality differences will start clashing soon. Hopefully it doesn't get too crazy!

I guess this is good enough for the first one, I'll be posting at least once a week, so stay tuned...