Baghdad

My apologies for the lack of recent posts but I’ve been quite busy since I left the States.

My first stop was Kuwait where we received more training in weapons and convoy operations. Also, it was time to acclimatize to desert conditions. While South Carolina was oppressively hot, especially with normal Southern humidity, the desert is an entirely different experience. During our time in Kuwait it was 120 degrees but no humidity which wasn’t too bad at first. However, when the wind blew, it was hot too, and so it was like walking in a convection oven. On top of that, during our training we were wearing our full complement of gear so instead of just being uncomfortable, we were often outright miserable. I do need to add, the training was top-notch! We learned more varsity level tactics and procedures than we had
in South Carolina and the emphasis in Kuwait was much more real-world focused than we’d had before.



My favorite part of the training in Kuwait was the convoy training. When I was a kid, there was a TV show called “Rat Patrol” about a Special Forces unit operating in the desert during World War II. The team would drive around like mad in their jeeps conducting their operations. When my dad would play golf, he would sometimes let me drive the golf cart and he always said I drove it just like the soldiers in “Rat Patrol” (meaning I drove toward every hill and obstacle at full speed like a maniac). Well, I got to enjoy real-life “Rat Patrol” in the desert – it was a blast!
I was a truck commander and our truck’s mission was to provide security for the other trucks in the convoy. At the first sign of any threat we got to go racing off road into the desert and close in on our target. Keeping in mind the seriousness of the training, it was still a great time!






I finally arrived in Baghdad last Sunday and am going through the final week of training before moving to my ultimate assignment. It looks like I will be with a Stryker unit here in Baghdad. The Stryker is a light, eight wheeled armored vehicle that carries an infantry squad into combat. From what I hear the Stryker guys are a great group of soldiers and I should really enjoy my assignment. Also, once training is complete, hopefully I’ll be finished with tent living and will finally get some place a little more permanent to call my own. But, as with many things in the military, it isn’t true until it happens!



The base here is huge with constant activity. An interesting thing for me is the contrasts. Here we are with a base built around an area where Saddam Hussein had his palaces (as a matter of fact one of his palaces is the headquarters) and nearby is a PX with Taco Bell and Cinnebon trailers. There is a sign near the PX that says, “No ID card, No Weapon, No Ammunition – No Admittance!” We are actually required to be armed wherever we go including shopping and eating. In the evenings we can wear our work-out gear around, but I still have my pistol strapped to my leg. Vehicles of all sorts, from tanks to armored personnel carriers to Humvees to armored semi trucks are always driving around going here, there, and everywhere. And, while there are military folks as you’d expect, there seem to be just as many civilian contractors doing everything from working the PX to cooking our food (the civilians are easy to spot – they don’t have guns!)



Well, I think that brings me up to date. Hopefully I’ll be able to be a little more routine with posts now that my traveling has stopped. I have no real idea what “normal” days will be like but I am sure I’ll be busy which should hopefully make the time go by faster. I appreciate all of the well-wishes and prayers; please keep them coming and make sure you include prayers for the 20-year-old corporals who are doing the dangerous work over here.

Cheers, Pearl

Patriotism at 3:00AM

I'm finally on my way via charter flight enroute to Kuwait. Along the way we stopped in Bangor, Maine for a fueling top-off before crossing the Atlantic and I'm able to take advantage of the internet in the terminal to get one last entry in before I leave the United States. This will be a quick entry but I want to tell one story about my experience here in Maine.

We were all required to deplane during our quick layover. As we walked down a long corridor into the main terminal, there was a line of about 10 people, mostly men with ballcaps that said, "Korean War Veteran" or "Vietnam Veteran" or even "World War II Veteran" just standing there to shake our hands and welcome us to Bangor. They were here to greet us, as they greet every planeload of servicemen and women, even at 3:30 in the morning. Kinda got me choked up a little. It is certainly a small jesture on their part, but the impact, at least on me, was quite large. The war in Iraq and Afghanistan might not directly affect every American as other wars in our country's past, but whatever their political leanings, whatever their views about this particular war, the Maine Troop Greeters were here to let us know that ordinary citizens are greatful for the service of those of us heading out into harm's way.

It sure is a nice send off.

Cheers, Pearl

Weekend and heading out

Sorry it's been so long since my last post but things have been a bit busy plus I've had a very special weekend.



Last things first, after training wrapped up this week, Elizabeth came down for the weekend. What a wonderful opportunity to see each other one more time before I head over to the Mid-East tomorrow. We had a lovely time in visiting and trying different places to eat (that was a big one for me since I've been eating dining hall food for the past two weeks)! As a matter of fact, last evening we started with a sushi appetizer at one restaurant and then drove over to a tapas bar and had some tapas and a nice Chilean, rich, red wine. It was simply divine! We also did a little shopping (I bought some more books so look for new titles on the sidebar coming soon) and just generally enjoyed being around each other. We're a little sad this morning sitting in Starbucks having our coffee on the way to the airport but not too sad; we had a great weekend and I can't think of a better way to be sent off.



The second week of training was much more practical than the basics we learned the first week. We had everything from battlefield first aid to land navigation to convoy operations (truck convoys, not ship convoys - another opportunity to learn new terms and tactics). The second week was fun in a way but also brought home more that we are all heading into harm's way. The training was much more focused and the emphasis was on ways to operate effectively and come home safely. As a matter of fact, on the last day the drill sergeants went around shaking everyone's hands and wishing God's speed. It was a nice way to wrap things up. Tomorrow we all pile on a chartered airliner for the 17 hour flight to theater.




Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the weather here. I think last week I posted that it was hot here. Well, hot doesn't even begin to describe it. This week has been the hottest in history - we set new highs almost every week and Columbia was even specifically mentioned on national news. I have to say, I know it will be hot in Iraq, but good gracious, there's no way it can match the combination of heat and humidity here! Our first formation is almost always before sunrise and even then we are sweating just standing around waiting to begin training. Again, I know it will be miserable hot when I get to Iraq, but in a way, I'm looking forward to the change - sad isn't it!



I don't think I'll have internet access for a while so don't be disappointed if there's not a post for a while. I'll be back up and running as soon as I can. My next post will be from the big beach with no water!

Cheers, Pearl

Pictures

I think I've figured out how to publish pictures finally.



This is me all dressed up for duty in the Narmy (That's what we've taken to calling all of this duty - Navy/Army = Narmy). The big wad on my helmet is my sand goggles and their cover. The armor is only the basic front and back vest and I don't have on the side plates, groin protector, neck collar, and arm wraps in this picture. I'll try to get a picture of that configuration and show you just how much protection we wear. All told, the armor is about 40 pounds - ish.



The next picture is the entree from a MRE (Meal, Ready-to-eat), in this particular meal, chicken and dumplings. We often have these for lunch so we don't lose training time going back and forth to the DFAC (Dining Facility - what we call a "Galley" in the Navy). Most of the MREs aren't too bad (including chicken and dumplings) but some aren't quite five star rated (such as "Imitation Pork Ribs, Boneless" - I haven't had the pleasure of that one yet but the folks that have said they think it must be the stuff that doesn't make the cut for dog food and so the Army gets it).



This is our reflexive fire training. Here, instead of taking precise aim like you would to shoot a stationary target when you have lots of time, here we are shooting with minimal aim at close range, pop-up targets. We started back about 25 meters and advanced up to about 7 meters where you end up just shooting from the hip. The targets pop-up left, right, and center so you had to train over and back to engage. I really liked this training since it was different than any other shooting than I'd done before and seemed more realistic than qualification shooting.


Speaking of qualification shooting, here's the M-16 range. Like I said in an earlier post, the targets are displaced left and right and sometimes pop up alone, sometimes in pairs. Here, the target at 150 meters is easy to see (and realtively easy to hit) and if you look way in the distance, you can see the 300 meter target. (I labeled it for you here; the Army didn't have those big yellow arrows for us!) It is every bit as small in real life as it appears here. I even managed to hit it a couple of times but the Army Sniper School still hasn't called me up. Hmmmmmm.

Well, those are the highlights so far. Week one is complete and I've enjoyed a nice, hot Sunday off from training. Week two begins afresh tomorrow at 0515.

Cheers, Pearl

Infantry!

Well, perhaps I'm not quite ready to lateral transfer to the Infantry just yet, but I am now qualified with my M9 pistol and my M-16A2 rifle.

This week has been focused on shooting and qualifications and now we're all steely-eyed killers, ahem, well, we know which way the bullets are supposed to go. Actually, the qualification process was quite a lot of fun for me but it was quite challenging for some folks who haven't shot a weapon since boot camp (their original Navy boot camp which places a little less emphasis on basic infantry skills than Army boot camp for obvious reasons). The pistol qualification was relatively straight-forward with timed shots at a paper target at 25 meters. The rifle qualification was much more challenging with pop-up targets from 50-300 meters. The targets were only up for a few seconds and were offset from centerline so you had to train left and right a little to get on target. 300 meters is quite a distance when shooting with open sights I must say! But, like I said, I qualified on both, which is a good thing.

Today, we did quick reaction shooting where we practiced short-range, pop-up engagements. It was a lot of fun and was more tactical than just shooting on a "normal" range. It was also the first time we wore all of our body armor to shoot. This past week we were just wearing the vest and armor plates which I thought were restrictive and heavy just by themselves. Today we added side plates, a groin flap, a neck collar, and upper arm pads. I think we should all be issued a squire just to get dressed in this stuff; I'm not sure if old-fashioned plate mail was more awkward to wear and move around with! I'm sure I'll get a little more used to it but it is a lot different than a flight suit and normal survival vest I'm used to wearing. (Or, just plain working uniform for the office that I've worn for the past few years for that matter!) Regardless, this week has been challenging but very fun and rewarding and it's nice to know that we Sailors, few of which are young and spry, can at least get these basic combat skills under our belts in such a short time.

The week has gone by much faster than I anticipated and with PT tomorrow and a couple of lectures, I'm half way through. I have to apologize for still not having pictures like I promised. Since I'm using a computer in the computer lab, I still haven't figured out how to get a picture transferred over but I think I'm close and perhaps I can get some pictures posted this weekend.

Cheers, Pearl