Simple is Often Best

PROBLEM - Vehicles are speeding past your compound and are a hazard to Soldiers.

Well, there are a number of possible solutions to try and get folks to slow down. You can post a speed limit sign with a safe speed. But then again, the drivers who are speeding are likely to ignore a simple sign. You could put MPs out on the road to direct traffic. But that would be an inefficient use of manpower. Ohh, I know, this is the Army, we have a creative solution right at hand.

SOLUTION - Take two worn out tank treads and drag them across the road. Instant speed bumps! (The second one is down the road and barely visible in the picture.)



Cheers, Pearl

Returning to Normal

Remember my post about how "dusty" didn't even begin to describe this place? Well, that fine dust makes an incredible gooey, sticky mud after it rains. I'm almost pining for the dusty and hot days again! Well, perhaps not the hot part, but this mud is unbelievable. There's a rock hard strata a few inches under the surface that prevents the water from soaking in so all the rain gets to do is sit on top of the dirt and bond with the moon dust to create some very impressive mud.

I've been here a few days now and am back into my routines. In some ways it seems like I never left here but there are enough changes that I've been on my toes lately. The biggest change is that my Chief's relief is here and we are all sadly getting ready to send him home. It's not that we aren't excited about him being able to get out of here and get back where he belongs with his family. But, he's such a part of normal life, such a wonderful friend and coworker, that life here just won't be the same after he redeploys. But, that's a few weeks away so no need to borrow that sorrow just yet.

One great thing about being back was seeing all of the Soldiers again, the guys I work with and see every day that make this place bearable. I've really come to know quite well a bunch of the NCOs and Troopers around the unit and I admit sharing stories and finding out about how they've been has been such a boost to make up for having to leave home again. While they'll never take the place of my wife and kids, they are my family here and being back "home" with them is, in many indescribable ways, comforting.

Cheers, Pearl

Back in Baghdad

Well, I'm back now. The travel part of leave almost makes one enjoy being here in Iraq but there's a big part of me that is going through the same reaction as Martin Sheen's character in the opening of "Apocalypse Now" - "Baghdad. Sh@%, I'm still in Baghdad."

In some ways it doesn't feel like I ever left. In others, I was hoping I just wouldn't have to come back. It has been nice catching up with friends here, but still, it's hard to beat being at home.

Things have changed a little. First, it is COLD! I mean, icy windy cold. And wet and muddy to boot! Apparently as I was traveling they had a real rain that turned into the first snow in Baghdad since 1976. The snow didn't stick at all but the mud it made sure does...to everything. Just walking over to the DFAC to eat was an experience. I hate to say it, but I kinda prefer dry and dusty as sad as that sounds.

I'll do some more catching up later but right now I'm just bushed tired. It's been a long couple of days getting back and the only enjoyable part was thinking that the next time I have to go through this will be to head home for good.

Cheers, Pearl

The Waiting Game

The good news is I'm manifested on the flight today. The bad news is we had to report to check in at 1130 and the flight doesn't board until 2045. Not only do we have to wait for just over nine hours to board the flight, we're waiting nine hours so we can go sit on a plane for 17 hours. Whoo hoo!

All of that aside, there have been some real positives today I need to share.

First, the volunteers at the USO here in Atlanta are fantastic. They were all very supportive, extremely helpful, and when it came time to lead us out, they shouted out, "Let's hear it for America's heroes!" and began a round of applause that followed us as we moved to our ticketing counter. Again, like when I arrived for leave, it was an emotional experience to walk through and hear applause and cheering.

Also, as we've moved through the terminal, TSA routed us straight through the security check (we still had to go through but they moved us to the front of the line and moved us along faster than I've ever been through security). Just walking down the passage people would come up, shake my hand, and say some variation of, "Thanks for all you do - good luck and God bless."

Well, some of us are headed down to the gate to begin the closer waiting process. My next post should be from back in my trailer "home" away from home. The counter keeps moving.

Cheers, Pearl

Happy New Year!

My apologies to my faithful readers for the long absence from posting.

I did finally manage to make it home on Christmas Eve in time to get some last minute shopping finished and make our evening church service as well. I had every intention of continuing to post during my leave period but as I hope you’ll forgive, my time was spent enjoying my family and entertaining guests. It was a wonderful leave period and while in retrospect seemed a little short, was still a great time well spent just being back home.

To bring you up to date…

I really don’t have the literary skills to describe the process getting out of Kuwait. It was an unimaginably long, painful ordeal. As a matter of fact, in a conversation with one of my fellow travelers, he said, "Do you think you could intentionally design a more agonizing and inefficient method to get us out of here?" Bingo! I understand they were processing through many hundreds of us, but good gracious, just as things looked as if they couldn’t get any more difficult, they did! The customs inspection was quite thorough including an airport-like x-ray of our bags, a metal detector wanding of us personally, a search table after the x-ray where we completely emptied our bags for inspection, and then, after we’d repacked everything, one last airport x-ray of our bags. There were countless hours of waiting in cramped spaces including a three hour wait on our busses outside the airport waiting for our flight to land (they’d been delayed but we still rode to the airport on schedule). Finally, there was the flight itself, seventeen hours jammed into a completely full MD-11 with close to 400 other Soldiers.

For all of that hassle though, I have to add the processing in Atlanta was a well-oiled machine. We zipped through customs (imagine that) and they had everything ready to stamp our leave papers and get us moving. They even had ticket agents ready to go to get us on the earliest flight possible out of Atlanta (I was able to get home two hours early which was a welcome, early Christmas present). One other thing I have to add, as we were walking through the customs area, one of the customs agents standing alone to the side clapped and said, "Welcome home" to the entire line of 400 or so of us as we filed by. She was as genuine and enthusiastic as she could have been for every Soldier (and Sailor) coming through. After all we'd been through it was an emotional experience and a great way to come back into the United States!

My leave was fabulous of course with much celebrating, playing with the kids' new toys, and enjoying variety. I was quite surprised at the number of people back home who stopped me when they saw me and said, "I want to thank you for what you're doing and I'm a regular reader of your blog." Really, I had no idea there were than many folks outside my family who check most every day to see what I've been up to. It is quite humbling and I want to thank all of you who wrote e-mails, stopped me to talk, or read anonymously. It is wonderful to know how many of you are supporting us while deployed.

Finally, today is the big "heading-back" day. While there wasn't the sadness and emotion of my first leaving, it was still difficult to pull away one more time. But, as I told my kids, this last part is the run to the finish. I have much less time to go than I've already completed and the next time I'm in the Memphis airport will be to run up to them for my last deployed welcome home.

Well, actually, not finally. There's always a twist. I arrived in Atlanta and went to get processed to head back to Kuwait. A bunch of Soldiers were called in groups and led off for processing. As my group was waiting, we were called back into the USO. I turned to a buddy I met up with and said, "This has all the feeling of a problem." Eighteen years in the military gives one that sixth sense I suppose because as soon as we filed in there was an announcement that the plane was full and we were going to have to spend the night here in Atlanta. So, we waited around for vouchers, caught the shuttle to our hotels, checked in (complete with room mates - the Army certainly isn't going to pay for single rooms) and should fly out tomorrow evening for Kuwait. I can only imagine what the processing to get us back into Iraq will be like.

Ah, yes, I'm back in the Army!

Cheers, Pearl