Henry's Web Log

To all my family and friends, Merry Christmas! Santa came 8 hours earlier here than the East coast of the U.S...he brought me a stocking filled with beef jerky, shampoo, socks, stationary, pringles, candy, a cookie, some candy and several toothbrushes!
We have several wonderful boxes of "any soldier" type care packages because the mail hasn't caught up with us yet. I only posted the APO address a few days ago, but don't lock that in yet! I'm in Tallil right now, but my job is going to be in another camp, serving as the Liaison Officer to our Sustainment Brigade.
I'll post more info once I'm safely there... so let's do a quick review of the hops so far:
1) in-processing for 2 weeks at Ft Jackson, SC.
2) Ordnance refresher for 2.5 weeks at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD.
3) Join the Kansas 287th already mobilized at Ft. Lewis, Washington. 6 weeks there.
4) Ft Lewis to Germany to Kuwait, where we stayed at Camp Buehring for 4 days (most units stay 10-14 days).
5) Buehring to Tallil, Iraq. Meet the commander and the support team here, and got my duty orders.

Five hops in 12 weeks. And number six is coming!

The Internet is super busy tonight, as you can imagine on Christmas. I'll circle back with more photos and hopefully a quick video on living conditions...and an ingenious way some soldiers are rocking out!

I couldn't leave a camp without getting the obligitory photo with my Cub Scout Support banner! This is in front of a customized T-wall. The 287th Sustainment Brigade painted it when they were in camp just 3 weeks before me. Each unit that comes through strives to leave their mark...So we thought up an "IRRegulators" wall design, but just weren't there very long to make it a reality. IRRegulators have a reputation for not making things happen!

We’ve stopped at Camp Buehring, Kuwait for just a few training classes before joining the 287th. I think the best way to relate my experience is from a few photos I’ve snapped.

First, there was the ride in. For safety, we travel with the bus curtains closed…but we peaked and at one point saw a field of camels.



The accommodations for those of us here passing through are just two-wall tents. Note the dust! Male and Female shower houses are on the Left. We’re allowed 15 gallons of shower water daily, which has to be trucked in. Power generators are everywhere.



Inside, we’ve got 12 of us in a 20’ x 40’ area. There’s actually 14 cots in here, and there are plywood floorboards as well as a central air duct that cools during the day, heats at night via an outside compressor/exchanger.



Here’s me coming back from breakfast this morning. We were at about 40 degrees as the sun came up at 6am, but a comfortable 75 or so by noon.


The meals are served in 3 dining facilities (DFACs). This one is the Kuwaiti DFAC…with marble floors and a very nice fountain in the middle. Note the picture on the wall. They decorated the whole thing with lots of Christmas ribbons and banners. I enjoyed a beef Gyro and large salad for lunch yesterday.


I explored the amenities last night and found the USO- plenty of TV’s, movies, and video games. One room even had a setup for soldiers to play Rock Band on the PS3! I found the gym, with lots of great equipment, including a treadwall. Yes, it’s a treadmill-climbing-wall all in one. Pretty cool!



This morning I explored the theater and main shopping area. Using a feature of my digital camera, I shot a panorama and stitched it together. This one is only 1/20th the size of the whole. Note the Baskin Robins and Christmas tree!
Panorama

Finally, here’s a shot of the 3 IRR Majors: Michael “Riz” Rizzo, myself, and Thomas “Mark” Jadrich.

We touched down in Kuwait City, Kuwait and were off the plane by 7am. An hour later, we were headed North. It's now 3pm Saturday (7am back in Virginia). We've been assigned a tent, dropped our stuff, and set out to explore. MWR has internet spots for 30 minutes at a whack, so here I am!

It started off this morning about 35 degrees as we exited the plane, but we're around 80 right now. Like a summer day in the Virginia Blue Ridge.

There's a lot of sand here. We agree that someone should plant a tree...

We're lining up at 5pm, to get on a bus at 6pm, to get on a plane at 10pm. Hopefully.

The insane backwards planning is only offset by the fact that I get to travel not only with my M16, but I've intentionally loaded up my carry-on with a LARGE tube of toothpaste, fingernail clippers, and 3 knives. I'll be good, I promise.

See more photos on my Picasa album.