The Monihan Family of Virginia

Introducing...

2008-12-11T21:31:00.006-05:00

I know it's been almost a year since this was updated, and for that I apologize. After coming home from Iraq, I just didn't have the drive to post anything which I guess is something that a lot of bloggers encounter. I just decided to focus on family and work and not on this. Well, now it's time to announce some very important news:

Andrew Michael Monihan was born on Dec 10 at 9:04 PM at UVA Hospital. He was 20.5 inches and weighed 7 lbs 1 oz. A very good size baby. Mom was in labor for about 10 hours, and only had to push for 4 minutes.

Since you all didn't come here to listen to me talk, here are pics.

Andrew at less then 1 minute old after they placed him on Mommy's tummy.

Andrew at 5 minutes old.

Happy (partial) family the day after Andrew was born. He's soooooo tiny!!

Gramma Kathy doting on Andrew!

Papa Gene and his new grandson!

This is what the majority of his life has focused on so far...sleeping

Andrew checking out Daddy and wondering who this strange fellow is!

NO MORE LETTERS OR PACKAGES AFTER JANUARY 15

2008-01-01T12:06:00.000-05:00

WOOOOO HOOOOOOOO! They are getting ready for redeployment. I love the "no more mail" announcement :-D

Merry Christmas!!!!

2007-12-25T23:36:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Pictures from John's Leave

2007-12-25T23:29:00.000-05:00

Daddy's Little Girl

A little reading with Daddy.

Gotcha nose!

John's R&R

2007-12-17T22:27:00.000-05:00

Well, John was home for Thankgiving. It was a great 2 weeks! Crazy and chaotic, but went by way to quickly. John flew into Columbus (where I have been staying during his deployment). While John was home we FINALLY sold the townhome in Sterling (JOY!!!). So rather "rest and relaxation", we worked our tails off. We spent about 5 days in Virginia, visiting with friends and family and moving out of the townhome. Thank God for movers. We rented the POD thing and they helped us fill it up. It was very reasonable, and John and I just had to do piddly stuff. I will say though that POD is so packed full, there would be no way I could arranged it so strategically as they did.

Anyhow, after leaving Virginia, we drove up to West Virginia to spend the Thanksgiving Holiday at Oglebay Resort with my family. Wow! This is a very beautiful resort. The place was all decked out holiday style. They had a Festival of Lights going on. It was great. BUT, what I really loved was our room...it had a fireplace (purrrrrr). It was sooo cozy.

After Thanksgiving weekend, we jaunted back to Columbus. John left for Iraq on November 29th.

Pictures are a'comin'.

Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head...or not!

2007-10-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

Holy hell...it rained last night!!! Normally, I can sleep through anything. The sounds of gunfire off in the distance, the boom of a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), helicopters flying less then 200 feet above the CHU, etc. But when the rain began to fall and ping against the CHU roof, it was a new sound that we haven't heard since we got here. It made me and my roommate sit up and take notice. Confused the heck out of us for a short while, but eventually we figured it out. It WASN'T falling rounds from celebratory fire. It was life giving rain!

Of course, it rained about 2 minutes and promptly stopped, and 5 minutes after that...the ground was dry again!!

Fleecing? Or just smart business?

2007-10-04T15:45:00.000-04:00

A recent article in the Stars and Stripes following the Blackwater CEO's testimony revealed that the average cost of a Blackwater employee here in Iraq is approximately $440k. The argument for using private security companies by the Dept of Defense and the Sate Dept is that it is more cost effective then using US soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. Let's look at this with the most expensive soldier in the Army based on 2007 pay rates. One soldier who has commensurate time in service as a Blackwater employee, who is a veteran, is probably somewhere around 12 years. Military pay charts show for 12 years of service, up to an E9, or Sergeant Major (SGM).

Yearly base pay: $50446.80
Highest Housing Allowance for San Francisco: $35796 per year.
Subsistence Allowance (BAS): $3358.56
Clothign Allowance: $529.20
Foreign Language Proficiency Pay: $12000
Hazardous duty pay (Flight Pay): $2880
Hostile Fire pay: $2700
Hardship Duty Pay: $1200
Special Duty Assignment Pay: $5400
Separation Allowance: $3000
COLA in NY: $5928
For a grand total of $123238.56

This is not a very likely scenario, since few SGM are at the 12 year mark, and few get this many incentives. This is an extreme case, assuming that all of our soldiers claim SF as their home of record, but somehow get NY COLA. I haven't accounted for the benefits that come with being in the military. I seriously doubt that will add up to an additional $320,000 though.

What about an officer though? Ok, let's do that too. Pay charts show at 12 years, highest rank is an O8, or a Major General. Not likely, but we'll go with it.

Base pay: $120362.40
BAH: $35796.00
BAS: $2312.88
Foreign Language Pay: $12000.00
Hazardous Duty Pay: $1800.00
Hostile Fire pay: $2700.00
Hardship Duty Pay: $1200.00
Sep Allowance: $3000.00
COLA: $8424.00
Total is $187595.28
If there are other incentives for General's, I don't know what they are.

So basically, you can see that even if we had an entire army of general's we could still get 2 generals for the price of one Blackwater foot soldier. I'm not totally sure I see how this is more cost effective for the government. I guess by not using soldiers, you don't convince them to stay in and then you don't have to pay them a retirement when they leave, but this comparison isn't about that. Can't be medical benefits while in country, b/c the military provides them medical care in accordance with their contract.

Hell, I need to start my own Private Security Company (PSC) and start bilking the government for almost a billion dollars. Either way, I support them being here since our government is too afraid to put the thousands of additional troops on the ground. It's much better to say that we only have 165,000 troops in Iraq then say we have 450,000 troops. Just my opinion on this though.

Wii can. And Do. Can you?

2007-09-29T14:07:00.000-04:00

Kathy sent me a Nintendo Wii for my birthday, and that has been a HUGE hit with everyone. It’s amazing how many people have played the Wii since it got here in August and have all said that they’re going to buy one for their kids or for themselves. I know at least three who have bought them for siblings of children already, after having the chance to play Tennis, or a few rounds of boxing. Baseball was a small hit, but when Madden 08 came in, it’s been a whole lot of Football. One of my soldiers is obsessed with playing football on the Wii. He says it’s so much more exciting then with a regular controller. It feeds his need for real competition. Heck, it’s probably helped his flag football playing too for all I know. I’m hooked on Tiger Woods Golf 08. I’m not one who likes gaming systems too much, b/c I really suck with the hand-eye coordination thing (Halo 2 & 3 have been kicking my butt), but I’m truly enjoying the Wii. I get a full round of golf in during my lunch break, as long as I cut out the “extra” videos and commentary. You know how people like to lean or jump or what have you when they’re playing a game. Well, now, you HAVE to lean, or jump, or swing when you play games. It’s so much more interactive. I think this is one of those game systems that people like my father could get into, b/c it’s not just sitting there like a lump moving just your thumbs. I highly recommend people try the Wii…they may JUST be amazed at what this gaming system can do. Oh yeah, and I definitely intend to bring this system home and not sell it to the next group that comes in. They’re on their own.

I’m bored…or am I?

2007-09-29T13:55:00.001-04:00

Wow, has it really been that long since I updated this blasted thing? I guess so. Well, I get a lot of my family asking me to update the blog, so I’m going to address a few things that people always ask about or seem to have a misconception about. First, it’s still hot here. 105 is the average hi, but it’s actually very comfortable, especially in the morning when it’s a cool 75. I haven’t updated much b/c I haven’t felt the need to write anything. This job is not the most glamorous, and lately, the rockets have been few and far between (knock on wood). It’s very much like Groundhog Day here, and it’s mind numbing. At least for the contractors, they all get to go home one month for every three in country. Damn, they get paid 3 times as much as me on average, AND they still get to spend 3 months at home during the year. Talk about a crappy deal for our Armed Forces.

I’ve been well overall. I’ve lost a lot of drive to do anything and I attribute it to being bored, among other things. I guess after seeing videos that my wife sent me of my daughter made me miss them so much, that I fell into a funk. I’ve lost the drive to go to the gym, and I’m drowning my sorrows in Baskin Robbins ice cream every night. DAMN THE SWEET NECTAR OF BASKINS ROBINS!!! I’ve also experienced a bad part of wearing contacts. Somehow, I managed to scratch both my eyeballs and get micro infections in both of them, which has made it very hard for me to focus on anything, especially words. I’m making due, and I’ve got eye drops to help, but we’ll see if this gets worse and I’m forced to get further treatment.

Many of us soldiers try to break up the week by giving ourselves a “weekend”. I’ve managed to pare my days down to about 11-12 hours, so it’s not nearly as bad as before. We have two days a week that a half dozen of us get together and play either Mega Monopoly (look it up…better then regular Monopoly) or Risk. Playing Risk is a throw back to my first tour. We used to play Risk all the time up in Mosul, drinking Near Beer and eating microwave popcorn…and it was fun. Guess what? It’s still fun! There’s nothing like a good game of World Domination.

I’ve been making a lot of connections with a number of individuals here. I think it’s taken the Department of State personnel a little while to realize that we’re there to help them, and that we’re not out to screw them like our predecessors tried. I do think a good part of it is coming from sympathy for many of us b/c they have come to see that we’re led by the incompetent. That’s an entirely different post, so I’ll not say more about our “Fearless” leader. Anyways, I had a moment of realization back in late August, shortly after we had a social with our DOS counterparts. The primary directors in our unit met with our counterparts over dinner, and we had a great time. I was very, very surprised at how young many of the DOS personnel were, most of them in their late 20’s and early 30’s. My counterpart is the Senior State Information Management Officer in the Embassy, which means he’s in charge of all internal computers and communications. He reports directly to the Deputy Chief of Mission, or the Deputy Ambassador, and he’s just over 35. I guess I’m so used to dealing with military folk, that I never thought about where my current responsibilities actually fit in the civilian agencies. Of course, there are other officers who outrank me in the AO, but since we deal with DOS and they don’t, I’m the man that DOS comes to when it comes to MNF-I communications and computers. It’s nice to realize that I’m not just a lowly officer anymore. Being a Major is beginning to sink in it feels like.

Maybe I'm not so much bored, but the job isn't nearly as stimulating as my last deployment. Ok, enough babbling. I’ll write more later since I have other things to say.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAUREN!!

2007-09-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LAUREN!!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!

Can you believe it?!?!?!?!?! Our baby Lauren is now a year old!!! She's grown so much!

A little about Lauren these days: She's walking, climbing on everything. She loves to chase the cats. Fortunately the cats are apt at avoiding her. Though I think Smokey purposely hangs out with her sometimes. Lauren loves yogurt, Cherrios and apparently meatballs (Thanks Grandpa!!). Lauren is very skilled at the pick-up game (she drops it, I pick it up). And tries heartily at convincing me the "No"-game is fun. She's a flirt with the guys (be forewarned Daddy--you are going to have your hands full!) and is very sociable, especially to other kids.

A few pictures from her big day!

Yeah...A Dry Heat!!

2007-08-31T19:50:00.000-04:00

"It's hot! Damn hot! Real hot! Hottest thing is my shorts. I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking." –Good Morning Vietnam

If anyone wants to complain about the heat in the States, have a look at the thermometer below. Now, I understand that this is out in the open sun, and it’s attached to a CHU that sits on a concrete slab, but remember…all that heat is being radiated upwards, so it’s a conceivably accurate temperature for what we’re experiencing here.

“AND IN WEATHER, A COOL DAY WITH A HI OF 115 DEGREES!”
Damn AFN radio!

Something to make you go...hmmmmmmm?

2007-08-29T13:40:00.000-04:00

Eventually, I'm going to post about the Embassy Annex here so you all can see where I live and what type of conditions I get to deal with here. Before that though, something to think about.

My soldiers and I have a theory. We're not actually in Iraq...we're in the middle of Mexico! Here's why we say this. The hot dry weather. Just like central Mexico (or even Arizona). We're constantly getting heavy winds, much like Mexico gets from the Gulf. We have reliable communications that reach back to the United States with few hiccups. Kind of like I would expect from land lines, and not from satellite shots that are affected by dust storms. The locals here are dirt poor, but I guess that applies to over half the world. And the clincher...our Department of State contracted security guards around the Embassy are from the company Triple Canopy. These Third Country nationals (TCNs) are supposedly Peruvian (some are Fijian and American, but mostly Peruvians). I'd say that many of them speak English as well as I speak...you guessed it...Spanish! I don't speak Spanish, but I know enough for greetings and a little chit chat. It's getting a wee bit better the longer I'm here and the more I deal with the Peruvians.

Here's my question...why did I have to come to Iraq (an Arabic nation), to learn conversational Spanish? Am I the only one who scratches my head on this?

Here's another head scratcher for you. Why is it that the world's strongest military and Government has to hire out to a contracted military force to stand as gate guard? I guess the way we fight has truly changed in the past few years! of course, having asked that, I feel safer with the Peruvians on duty then I do with soldiers guarding the walls. The Peruvians are very, very reliable and do everything by the book. No cutting corners anywhere. Heck, I saw the DFAC guards turn a COL away and make him clear his weapon a second time b/c he didn't follow proper procedures for clearing a pistol. Very reliable force.

And there I was without my camera...again!

2007-08-12T13:57:00.001-04:00

I was going to continue my regular blogging, but this one little thing happened which I felt compelled to share (I'll get back to my regular postings a little later). When your sitting in churh, you don’t think too much about the people around you and what they do. This past weekend, as I’m sitting in mass, and we’re singing the opening hymn, I notice an Air Force general walk in (a little late…go figure), and he proceeds to sit a few rows away from me. CPT Stavinoha leans over and says “Hmm…a new four star.” Being in this organization, I pretty much know who all the four star Generals in Iraq are…GEN Petraeus is the only one that is assigned here. But this man is indeed a four star. I know I’ve seen this man before. I don't take communion b/c this priest is against non-Catholics taking the sacrament, so I was calmly sitting there praying, and I just happened to look up, see the general, saw his nametape, and it clicked on me where I know this man from.

GEN Michael Hayden...The Director of National Intelligence was here...in Iraq...sitting a few rows away from me at church. It was interesting and kind of surreal…if he was here, that meant someone else of higher importance was here and I was curious who it might be. Anyways, at the end of mass, our Intel Officer (S2) goes over and talks to GEN Hayden. Turns out that GEN Hayden’s daughter and our S2 work for the same company in Virginia, and they know each other. GEN Hayden spends a good 5-10 minutes shooting the shit with the S2. I could see the S2 was in awe of the highest intel officer in the country…and here he was talking to our lowly little Captain…who incidentally is about 5’3” and makes GEN Hayden look very, very tall. So, not much else came of it, but I found it a little funny to be sitting in church next to the Director of National Intelligence.

And there I was...as so often happens to me here...without my damn camera!!!

Kuwait pics

2007-08-06T14:03:00.001-04:00

Kuwait...the land time forgot. Why, I ask, would anyone voluntarily live here?
Anyways...at least it's a dry heat!

Tent city for soldiers/units transitioning into Iraq.

At least the military has made some water company very, very wealthy. Pallets like these are all over the place. There's nothing quite as refreshing on a hot day as grabbing a nice...hot as bath water...bottle of water!

The lay-out! Pretty much b/c that's all we did...lay out on our bunks.

Ah yes...the range. Stupid as it was. However it did give us the opportunity to have to sign one more roster before we moved into Iraq. Ugh!

And what happens when soldiers are bored? In other units, soldiers get into mischief or the males and females start sleeping with each other. Not us...we got females who defended their crapper!
And they say it's just a dry heat!!

The trudge up to the C17. Kind of like a huge Air Force mouth getting ready to gobble up all these Army soldiers just so it can poop them out in Baghdad.
At least that's what it feels like looking back on this!

My God! Are my cheeks really that big? I look like the Wizard from the Wizard of Oz! Thanks for telling me everyone!!
Seriously...genuine smile b/c we're getting this show on the road.

See...regular coach class seats. Thumbs up to sardines.

Oh, and this is the Rhino Runner! No, I didn't take this picture (it's illegal to take the Rhino's picture, or so says security). This came from a news site which was covering the Saddam execution. And what did they have? A whole slew of Rhino Pictures. Here's the link, just so I don't get in trouble (http://www.gizmag.com/go/4178/gallery/). Not very secret is it? But it is the second safest way to travel in Iraq...short of flying!

Kuwait: The land that I wish to forget!

2007-08-05T11:37:00.000-04:00

Of course, it was June this time and not February like last time I was there. I guess the summer vs. winter thing makes a difference in the ambient air temperatures at night on a concrete tarmac. We caught the same usual busses from the airport to the staging area. Funny…déjà vu! The staging area is in sight of the airport’s tower, and man if I didn’t remember standing right there the last time. The only difference was that there were now tables to sit at. Otherwise…the port-a-johns were in the exact same places. The watering hole was in the same place. The sounds and smells were exactly the same. I had forgotten all about that until I had stepped into it again. Then the memories flooded back. Ugh!! What the heck did I get into again?

It’s strange being the war veteran amongst a group of peace time vets. A IBCT HQ is a large beast compared to most headquarters, and this one is no different. However, if you remove Desert Storm, there were maybe a dozen or so soldiers who had been in combat zones. And when I say combat zones, I mean in locales where they were actually shot at or there was a real chance of them being seriously injured. None of the “I was deployed to Kuwait for my last tour and all I got was this combat patch” type of combat zone. I mean soldiers who were in Bosnia/Kosovo when we first went in, OIF vets, and OEF vets. Truly, there were not a lot of us. Anyways, sitting there in Kuwait at 0430 in the morning, sun just beginning to crest the eastern horizon, 85 degree wind whipping sand across my face, I noticed for the first time, the looks of…maybe not fear yet…but definitely realization settling across soldiers faces. It’s hard not to think about what you’re getting ready to go into when all you have to do is sit around and wait for a bus to take you to your staging base. Thankfully, I was still able to use my Cingular cell phone (I’m a little afraid to see what the charges ended up being). I called Kathy and let her know I was safely in Kuwait now, waiting to move on. This was going to be my last “free” cell call to Kathy for awhile. It was a good call, and it made me smile. No sooner had I gotten off the phone then my battle buddy, CPT Corey Stavinoha, asked if he could call his parents and let them know he was alright. Ok…funny story and I hope I never do this to my children (although I probably will). Stav called his father, and when he said “Hey dad, it’s me!” the next thing he said was “It’s your son…you know…Corey!” I could just hear his father saying “Huh? Who’s this?” Made me laugh. After Stav was done with his call, I ended up letting 4 others use my phone to call their families and let them know they made it to Kuwait.

Than we began our long journey into the Kuwaiti desert, b/c we all know that the military can’t have an Army base anywhere near civilization. I mean, this is way the heck out into the middle of nowhere. We drove for about 2 hours, on road and off road, around camels, over hills…all to get to the well established Camp Buerhing. It was built up more than Camp Virginia was when I came through there. Better force protection, paved roads, hard stand buildings instead of all tents. AND there was a decent food court. We had a Burger King, a Chinese fast food joint, Baskin Robins, Subway, Pizza Inn, Great Steak Company, and a few other “bad for you” joints to eat at. BUT, I ask, why eat there when you can eat in the dining facility (DFAC) for free? And the food in Kuwait and Iraq is good! The US Government does not skimp on food for soldiers going to OIF! Hallelujah! So we got to stay in a large white tent (hard stand buildings for the permanent party soldiers) with a very robust skeleton and skin; I say robust b/c it withstood 65 MPH winds during two big sandstorms. The tents were air conditioned, so that was nice. In fact, they were so cold that I actually got a head cold. I was miserable for a couple of days there. That’s what I get for letting my cot get put right in front of the a/c. We spent the next few days doing…absolutely nothing. Oh wait…we did have one more IED class. Some British Sergeant Major, or what would be our equivalent, was giving this briefing. I don’t know where the Brits learn to brief, but damn! This Brit knew how to brief! First off, since he was British and had that “God Save the Queen” accent, all of our females were enamored by him. Posh!! So he proceeds to brief, degrading himself as he goes along, as all good NCO’s try to do but normally fail miserably. He had stories of war, but they were funny and serious all at the same time. Every six or seven slides, he would throw in a video of some kind…usually something funny. A commercial to make his point, the British Amphibious Assault that was mired in mud, something that had absolutely NOTHING to do with IED’s. Either way, he was amusing and held everyone’s attention. I’d love to sit through his brief again just to take pointers.

Unlike last time, there was a range we had to go too. But it wasn’t any normal range like a qualification range. No Sir!! It was a range to just make sure your weapon could fire. Now…why in the hell would a military need to conduct this range prior to going into Iraq? Anyone wanna guess? Yup…b/c some idiot went into Iraq before with a non-functioning weapon, and never told anyone about it and almost got killed while unable to shoot back. Same concept as those warning labels on everyday appliances like a toaster…”Do not use in water”. DUH!! You go to war, you check that friggin weapon. So the military spent thousands to build these gorgeous ranges out in the middle of nowhere…literally 2 hours from our Camp…all so we could go there and just shoot off rounds at some targets. No aiming, no special purpose, other than to prove it will fire. Sad! But we did it. I got to pull my S.W.A.T “move” where I fired off a full magazine of 5.56mm from my M4, then swung the rifle to my back, dropped to one knee, drew and fired a magazine of 9mm, and then combat reloaded and fired another magazine. Pretty stupid actually, but then again…so was this range!

So I spent my time revolving around chow, working out, and going to the USO to play X-Box. Couple of things…I suck at Halo on X-Box. Anyone wants to feel good about their playing abilities…play against me. Also, if you contribute money or time for anything, please consider the USO. It’s a fabulous organization of volunteers whose sole purpose is to provide for soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. They’re a great organization. They even had cell phones so I could call Kathy while I was sitting around in Kuwait.

We left in the middle of the day, at the height of the heat. It wasn’t bad until we had to stand on the tarmac wearing our body armor and carrying our bags for 2 hours. That was a wee bit hot. We flew into country in a C17 and not a C130. For those that don’t know, sitting in a C130 is basically sitting inside a nylon cargo net system, with your knees shoved up into your chin and all your gear sitting on your lap. AND it’s very, very noisy. A C17 has the ability to have standard coach class seats installed into them. So I thought we’d be comfortable as we flew into Iraq. Oops! I was wrong again. You should see the cramped quarters we were stuck into. AND we had to keep our body armor on and hold our bags! It was like being a walrus wedged in between two rocks. Miserable! Look at the pictures (when I post them), and you’ll see. The smile is deceiving. The flight was uneventful. I literally slept from the time we took off until we were well on the ground and had begun to unload the plane. It didn’t feel any hotter in Baghdad. We had a small welcoming party from our advanced party meet us and we moved to another FOB near the airport so we could catch our up armored transport…9 hours after we landed. The reason being is that the vehicles we rode in belonged to the Department of State, and they only drove at night to prevent being hit by IED’s. We rode in what is called a Rhino Runner; essentially an up armored bus. The ride was a little tense, but only b/c we had to drive the dreaded “Route Irish”. Route Irish is considered to be the most dangerous stretch of rode in all of Baghdad, b/c it’s the lifeline between the International Zone and Victory Base and everyone wants to hit you on that road. We arrived in the International Zone early, early in the morning. Went through the standard bag shake down and K9 sniff, and then we walked a half mile to our new homes in Riverside. We spent the next few hours unloading bags, filling out paperwork, and getting settled into the new CHU’s. And thus begins my new life for the next year in the International Zone…

Pre-Deployment Pictures

2007-08-03T15:01:00.001-04:00

Formation prior to departing Staunton.

This is the FOB we stayed in while at Shelby. How I disliked this place!

Some of my cohorts from my days as the BSTB HHC Commander:
1LT Hoyle, SSG Hampton, & 1LT Taylor

The "Fab Five" of the Support Directorate:
CPT Stavinoha, Me, LTC Swanson, CPT Martin, & MAJ Tucker

SFC Pannell gets himself set while I pull gate guard at the FOB.

First we tried to put together the IBA...then we sought help...finally we broke out the instructions.

One of the best days was when we got to use the Convoy Simulator. Yup, that's me on the left with the goggles on. I was sick as a dog from vertigo after this little session.

Mike Taylor, one of my best friends on this deployment, as he briefs the assault on a mock village.

Who said the military travels light?!! What ever happened to going to war with a single duffel bag?

On the tarmac as we get ready to depart the US.

And.....We're off!!!

"Good God...back in hell again!"

2007-07-31T14:58:00.000-04:00

Let's get some of this past stuff out of the way. This deployment began back in early May, in Staunton with the HQ of the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT). We left Staunton on a Friday. The day wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't great. Dad, Kat and Lauren were there to see me off. This was a little different for me b/c we didn't do a huge hullabahoo when I deployed with the 276th Engineers. That time we simply rolled out of Richmond enroute to NJ...quietly. This time, we had a huge formation with all our family around us. We did this on the Armory drill floor so the dignitaries could say their pieces, and again outside as roll call was conducted for us to board the busses. It was hard to say goodbye to my family...again. Especially my baby girl. I know I've chosen this life, but when you know that you're going to miss so many firsts in your child's life, the burden is that much harder to bear. And anyone who knows me knows that I cannot handle seeing my wife cry. It's one of the few things in my life that I truly have a hard time dealing with. And, yes, my wife was crying her eyes out. She's an emotional woman.

Anyways, we flew out of Charlottesville into Gulfport enroute to our mobilization station of Camp Shelby, MS. I don't remember much of that flight b/c I was asleep or listening to my ipod. I've been told that I made a helluva impression on some of our soldiers who had never met or worked with me before. I was being my sarcastic self about the flight attendants little preflight briefing (imagine that), so one of the flight attendants challenged me to do the safety briefing. Well, who I am to turn down a harmless dare? So...I did it. And for a first time, I did pretty good...with some help from the head flight attendant of course. I had the entire plane laughing, so it was well worth the embarrassment. Basically, that ended up being the most fun I had from the time the plane landed until well into the Shelby experience.

I pretty much knew what to expect for a mobilization, but this experience was a lot different. With the Pentagon's new policy of 12 month mobilizations from time of mobilization until the time of demobilization, the standard 3 month mob station train up was seen as insufficient. So the HQ of the 116th IBCT got be an experiment for 1st US Army. We compacted a 3 month training set into just 35 days. At Ft Dix, we had lots of free time at night, and at least 1 or 2 days of no training every week. At Shelby, we had very, very busy days, everyday of the week, with little to no down time for "personal maintenance". In hindsight, it was a good primer for what I'm going through here. Anyways, one thing that apparently has not changed since my first go round is that the training is packaged, in a military style of teaching...very dry, boring, and not always consistent from training event to training event. There are innumerable gripes I have with this mobilization train-up, but what's the point. My post training comments have been sent up and we'll see if anything comes of them. One thing I can and will openly complain about is the cultural awareness training we had to take. the military put us through 3 different "death by PowerPoint" sessions trying to teach us how to be culturally sensitive. Then the last week we were there, our intel office managed to secure us one day of training with some Iraqi/Muslim ex-pats (a man and a woman). Lord have mercy!!! We learned more about being culturally aware and what to do, what not to do, how to identify something/someone bad, how to react to locals at Entry Control Points (ECP), etc. then we learned in our entire time at Shelby. Sometimes, the best trainer is not from the military. I just can't understand why the military always has such crappy training, especially from organizations whose sole purpose is to train soldiers.

So, the training was what I would rate about 2 out of 5. It could've been much, much better. Heck, almost all the trainers were soldiers who had just come back from Iraq or Afghanistan, but they were forced to train from the 1st Army training curriculum, and not teach what they experienced. At least that's what they said. AND, what they were teaching was 6-12 months out of date. Anyone who knows anything about Iraq knows that tactics are changing about every 3-6 months, so we're being taught yesterday's news. I think we had one training site where the Officer in Charge (OIC) said to hell with their curriculum and taught us based off his very recent experiences. That was good training. Oh yeah...and I truly enjoyed the combatives and close quarter combat (CQB) training. I thought I had forgotten what little Akido I knew from when I was a teenager, but wow...that stuff stays with you when you need it. Learned a lot of how to control a captive without seriously hurting them. I'll be sure to use them on the kids when they're older and unruly. LOL!! (I’m just kidding….seriously hon…just a joke!)

Well, a lot happened at Shelby but now looking back it was all so irrelevant. Had a great visit from Kathy and Lauren down to ole Miss area. Got off base and hit some of the area restaurants. It was so much nicer compared to NJ where we couldn't find anything within a mile of the base. Friggin town even had two super Wal-marts. How nuts is that?!! Anyways, Kathy and Lauren got to come onto post and meet some of the soldiers. Wow, was Lauren a hit!! Little cheese that she is!! Everyone kept saying the same thing. “She looks just like you!” DOH! Poor little girl…cursed to look like me for the rest of her life. Someone, please tell me puberty will be her saving grace and she’ll look more like her mother!!

The last few days after Kat & Lauren left were uneventful. At Ft Dix on the first deployment, we had someone stab another soldier b/c he was drunk and stupid. This time, we had an NCO get so drunk that he passed out in the middle of the street. Oh…did I mention that there is a NO ALCOHOL policy in effect for all mobilized troops. But that was the only real issue we had. Everything else was only about the uncertainty of when we would fly. When that day did come, we packed up onto busses and drove all the way back to Gulport. Mississippi decided to give us one last HUGE rain shower. I mean, it was a massive rainfall. But, like most monsoon type rains in America, it stopped within 15 minutes of beginning, and then we got the MS humidity and heat. It was great!!! You would think being out of Shelby would’ve alleviated the crazy stuff from happening. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand you’d be wrong. When we got to the airport, we discovered that from the time we left Shelby til the time we got to Gulfport, one of the soldiers lost her ID card. No card…no fly. We had to do some serious haggling to get her onto the plane and convince the mobilization team that we would take care of her ID in Kuwait. So, we board the plan, and lo and behold…we fly to Ft Dix, NJ…my hated old deployment site. Turned out we were there to pick up the Maryland Brigade HQ that was supposed to take our mission, and we were supposed to take their mission. As of now, I still don’t know if we got the better end of that deal, b/c they went to Camp Victory where they never get mortared or rocketed. Then again…they don’t get to work with the Dept of State. Needless to say, our flight over the big pond was cramped. Two full Brigade HQ’s on a single 757. It was packed, with no extra room on the plane.

We got to make a stop in Shannon, Ireland, where I made some phone calls on my cell phone. Why? Oh, b/c I could. And it was cheaper than paying the $3/minute for a pay phone. I was looking for some decent souvenirs, but damn!! The Shannon airport had very little that I liked or thought would work for K&L (and knick-knacks aren’t my bag). We weren’t there long, just enough to get fuel and supplies. Then we were off again. Now, anyone who says that airplane food sucks…you…are…right!! On this flight, which basically took us 19 hours total with stops, they fed us 6 times, and it all was crap! The little heat-em-up meals in the tin container…like a cheap TV dinner…were not tasty. Of course…they weren’t MRE’s either!! We got to Kuwait about 0300 local time, and the first thing I said when I stepped off that plane was “Good God...back in hell again!” Of course the heat was worse then I remembered…

2007-07-11T15:06:00.001-04:00

Up...but far from running

2007-07-11T14:42:00.001-04:00

Ok...I've got a blog up and running which will require the bare minimum amount of my time since I'm already working waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to many hours as it is. I know many are looking forward to getting blog updates from me and my escapades in Iraq, and I hope to be able to accommodate soon. Since I've already been on deployment for over two months now, when I write my next post, I'll do a quick summary of everything starting in Staunton, through Camp Shelby, Kuwait, and leading up to my arrival here in Iraq (a place I thought I would never visit again anytime soon). Then...we'll be off and running. Cheers!