Final blog from Iraq

So I know what you all are thinking… What has been up with Joe, the blog has slowed to stop for the past few months, and we have heard less and less news of what was going on . Well first off, things are good here, in fact I am wrapping up my last few days in theater before beginning the slow trek back home. Abby and I are excited for the big family reunion coming, and thankful for surviving another successful deployment.

So what has been up , you might be asking? I will summarize in a few short sentences that hopefully everyone can understand and relate to. I believe Abby inspired this short thought about what has been going on the last few months, “We have faced some of the most challenging times physically, and emotionally, survived if not triumphed, and in all cases it was possible only because of what God has been doing in our lives. “

Much of what has happened has been a real challenge, and only in the end upon reflection can we begin to glean the lessons, and see the growth in us that has resulted from all of this. I suspect that is why I haven’t had much energy to blog, most of my energy was expent on just enduring the daily trials, and performing my job as a soldier, a husband, and father. I do intend to journal/blog some of the individual experiences over the next few months, because I have enjoyed sharing the experience here in Iraq with all my friends and family, as well hope to have a source to look back on this deployment in future years.

Here are just a few snippets of what occurred since my last journal in March:

Finished a 6 building renovation project in Iraq; the washer broke at home was temporarily repaired, then broke and flooded the garage (poor Abby), and we got a brand new washer; the garage side door fell off, Abby became a regular at Home Depot; I experienced the local food, and then soon after spent days recovering, Pepto Bismal, Immodium, 400 mg Ibuprofen are a soldiers best friend; I took a 4 day pass in Qatar (google it) enjoyed my time, and came back to a behind schedule project; spent the month of April and 18 hr days getting caught up on project; listened and watched as Abby and the girls each got colds and sinus infections galore, many times all three at once, including Abby losing her voice; started and completed a townhome renovation project, with Abby as the foreman, Abby’s dad as the lead construction man, and many family,friends, and contractors pitching in to complete the 1 month renovation of our townhome so we could get new renters in it; participated in a Army Brigade turnover of duties from the New Jersey National Guard to the Wisconsin National Guard for the support the International Zone in Iraq; conducted my own turnover a week later with my relief (and my new best friend!).

Shortly I will be posting a video and a magazine highlighting some of my experiences here in the IZ to help celebrate the end of the deployment, but stayed tuned for future blogs, and feel free to email me any time (joseph.j.keller@gmail.com).

Well that is all I have time for, gotta finishing packing ! :)

Take care everyone and God bless.

Joe

Coming through the valley of the deployment

Well friends it seems like it has been quite a bit of time since my last blog and I thought I would open up with bit of an explanation. This is not meant to be an excuse, only a means to share this deployment experience with you in a manner that you might understand.

A number of things come to mind when I try and figure out why I haven't written more, I was rather enjoying chronicling the experience the first three months of the deployment but then I believe I reached the valley of the deployment at about 4 months in. For those that have never been separated from home for long periods of time this is the point where the newness of the experience, and the excitement of all the new challenges begins to fade and time seems to drag on. Now you are experiencing the same thing day in and day out, and thoughts of being back home or missing the girls seem to cause time only to go slower. As most also know you face the frustrations of being separated from your wife who is dealing with all the normal crisis at home by herself such as two kids and herself sick at the same time, broken washing machines, and normal family emergencies; as well as the frustrating bureaucracies that all big organizations have put in place to prevent anything useful from occurring. So each day for the past few months it seems like there is not much I am interested in "reliving" out on the blog .... and so it goes procrastination sets in and I have waited until now to write you all once again.

The good news:

Abby and I can see the light at the end of this deployment. With about two months remaining we are in the home stretch, and we are happy to say God has seen us through the valley, and despite some low moments we know we have grown stronger as a family because of this experience.

So what questions might you all be wondering? Here are a few questions answered that may shed some more light on what has been going on daily here for me.

1. So what do you do there everyday?

O.K. my job is essentially in construction management. We hire contractors of all sorts to come and renovate, build, repair, buildings and utility infrastructure for the International Zone (IZ) in Baghdad. The transition of handing the IZ back over to the Government of Iraq is in full swing, and as a result we are consolidating many of the commands that reside here into a few locations that will remain for at least the next two years. I have had the pleasure of working with all kinds of contractors from small local women owned and operated contractors that have 12-14 people and larger American/Iraqi owned business that have hundreds of employees. In both cases it is always interesting, as the skill level and methods of construction in Iraq are much different than we are used to back in the states. For example, wood is not readily available in Iraq, however sand, mortar and brick is, so just about everything you build is with brick and mortar. Many of the buildings we are renovating are part of Sadaams palaces and the rooms are over sized with many bathrooms. Our job is to convert these buildings into office spaces and therefore we spend a bit of time, and a lot of brick mortar, plaster and paint converting the spaces. The workers are mostly Iraqi people, though we have mixed in some other foreign nations from the Philippines and India mainly. The day to day work is mostly tracking contractor progress, approving engineering designs, or material specifications, or dealing with the complicated security requirements for getting the workforce into the international zone and onto the bases to do the work. Truth be told, I love the project management stuff, but hate the increased bureaucracy that comes from being in Iraq. It feels few things happen out here very easily or quickly, and with me patience has always been a resource I am short on.

2. What is happening in Iraq?

Boy I am not really sure how to answer this one, because I wonder what everyone's perspective is back home. Since the inauguration, it definitely feels like everyone has moved on from the whole Iraq thing, as if it is a over already. I realize Obama has proclaimed our exit dates and that is a good thing, however it feels like we have the same number of people where I am working and no indication of the draw down. Now I work mostly in the civil relations portion and not the security/military operations part of Iraq which explains most of it. But I honestly feel that we have been here so long, and become so comfortable at being here, that many organizations just are continuing on as if we will be here another 5 years. This is a little jaded opinion I realize, but I more commentary on how it is hard to get a large organization to turn from one direction to another quickly. I have faith that in time (withing the next 6-12 months) things will slowly start to turn about and we will see continued pull back and reductions here.

What I have observed of the turnover though has been good. As we turnover the role of security to the Iraqi's they have done a good job and despite some frustrations with how they do business different than us, the level of violence seems to be about the same (low).

3. What will you do when you get back?

Ahh, something to look forward too. That is a critical peace to a successful deployment, always having something you are looking forward to. Abby and I have experienced post deployment challenges before and something we both know is that it takes time to readjust to the family being back together again. I will likely take about two - three weeks off work when I return and just stay at home getting acquainted with the family, and off course catching up on the all the "Lost" episodes I have missed. Abby and I will likely slip away at least one weekend to get for a belated anniversary weekend and some relaxing hotel. But the big plan is for July when my mom and sister come out with the family for a week and a half of family time. I greatly look forward to that.

Other than that I look forward to starting my new job in November, back at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. (Yeah! another couple years in paradise).


Well friends and family, I hope you found this blog entertaining, I will make some attempts to keep the writing up and perhaps even posting some more pictures.

Take care everyone, and God bless.

Joe

New Home, New boss.

Well everyone, it is been about another month since I have last wrote. Things are good here, just really busy as everyone is dealing with the transition of the International Zone over to the Government of Iraq. We have moved from our old home at the Old Embassy to a new location as part of the transition process. The good news is I still have a bed and shower everyday and relatively good working conditions. We also have new boss. I will refrain from any comment on the oath of office out of respect for the office and the pressure of the moment. Needless to say as me and my office mate Leo stayed to watch the inauguration at the office, we were both proud Americans, and hopeful for the future of the country. More to follow on how that transition changes any of the transition we are doing out here.

I can honestly say it has gotten busier now that the holiday’s have past, and it has helped time pass much quicker out here. We have lots of renovation projects in the works, as we continue to move and consolidate various commands out here, and offers plenty of time to practice all the engineering and project management skills I have learned over the years in the Navy, and in the shipyard.

My office mate Leo and I have had a great time working together, we have a lot in common. He is in the Army … and I where Army clothes now ! Just kidding, he is actually a northern Cal kid, grew up in San Jose, joined the Army, became a Dallas cop, and is now a DEA agent. He is also a class of 1989 high school grad, so we have the same taste in cool 80's music, which by the way can now be classified classic rock! He is a re-activated Army guy who was called up out of the inactive ready reserve to support the mission here. I told him the other day that God really must have a mission for me with the Filipino people because he has placed so many in my life: from my roommate in college and best man at my wedding Noly, to my wife Abby, and now Leo! So we spend our days asking ourselves why his people love to sing Karaoke so much, why my people can’t really dance.

I will try and write more frequently to get you some Baghdad stories and what life is like here. If you have any request on what you would like to know or hear about , please send them , it will give me some good topics to write about (within limits of information security of course).

Well, hope everyone is having a happy new year, looking forward to seeing everyone back home soon enough.

Joe

Life in the IZ

Well folks, its been a couple weeks here in the International Zone, adjusting to and learning the new job, territory, people and of course challenges. I have also been trying to figure out where to take you in the blog by asking myself what kind of things would you guys all like to know about life here in Baghdad. I am aware that the picture for many is not clear, but I intend to be careful not to share any information that would compromise the safety, security and effectiveness of our operations over here. As you can imagine there are a lot of new things for me to experience here: life working in an Army National guard unit doing public works engineering and renovations, working and living in one of Sadaam’s old palaces, working side by side with many different nationalities that are represented here in the international zones from the Peruvian and Nigerian security, the Pakistani and Indian food service folks, the Italian, Australia,British military, and of course the local Iraqi people and contractors. The truth is, it is all very interesting, but not as excitement filled as you might imagine. Many days are spent doing the day to day business of our jobs, and working on not being too discouraged by the large bureaucracy that has taken hold here in Baghdad (not much different than Washington D.C. back in the states) but some days do lend them self to a good story to be told. So I will just try and share a few of the experiences that I thought where memories I will take back with me to the U.S.

The President is coming …..

Well as I am sure you all heard, George Bush made an unscheduled visit to Baghdad for his last time as President to meet with the Prime Minister of Iraq. Of course the headlines were not about that meeting, or visiting the troops but that of a local reporter who was trying to be the first man to hit a U.S. President with his shoe. Thankfully Bush is still pretty light on his feet was able to duck the two size 10’s that were hurled at his head. Well I am excited to report, our unit got to set security detail that night on the route the President traveled through the IZ to the Prime Ministers compound. I was fortunate enough to be part of the detail that secured the airfield where the President would fly out of. We all came into work that morning business as usual, and by lunch we where briefed we would need to report in later that afternoon, in full battle rattle (all that stuff you saw me wearing in training), and would be briefed on our roles in a security detail that was being set up. I was assigned to the airfield and was there a few hours before the President arrived in the motorcade, and had plenty of time to talk with various folks from the President’s security team, and the air crew, and got to for a very brief second, see Mr. Bush, rush from his car into the aircraft.

The opportunity was really quite exciting, but it didn't neccesarily start off that way. For some, the reaction was one of dread at first, as the thought of wearing our full battle rattle for some unknown period was a real downer, as we would likely be standing outside in the cold for many hours, but when we all showed up that afternoon, and were briefed it would be the President that this securit detail was being set up for, I am proud to say that all hands where excited and ready for the task, and honored to be chosen and trusted with such a duty. You see, I believe, despite the differences that can exist between people, either Army, Navy, or Air Force, Officer or Enlisted, Republican or Democrats, when it comes to the President and the United States, we are all proud of the privilege to serve, and getting a chance to serve the president directly was an honor. I am not trying to over dramatize that evening, but those who have been in the military or worked in a service environment, know that many of the hours spent serving are tedious, without reward, and sometimes in an environment of wondering why you are there doing what you are doing, complaining about work conditions and bureaucracy. The rewarding part comes on evenings like these when you see a team of men and women come together for a common cause, and serve with pride, and professionalism, that you hope still remains, but during long stretches of day to day ops, you may not directly see. Ultimately we are all proud to be Americans and rejoice in our differences, and celebrate our unity when the times call for it.

So we all did our job in a professional manner and kept the presidents motorcade safe. I would like to think had any of us been in that press conference room that evening, any of us would have been willing to take a shoe for the President, if that is what was needed.

The night the lights went out in Building 1 and 6

Often times in crisis, we operate at our best. Unfortunately crisis is often the result of something that was missed. This was the case of a recent renovation project that we were working on. The command I am at is currently primarily focused on the renovations of the buildings that the commands that are staying in the IZ are moving to as part of our IZ transition plan to turn things over to the Iraqi’s. Let me tell you the transition is occurring, and the timeline has been compressed dramatically over the past few months, so contracts are being put together at a abnormally fast pace, and we are all motivated to help aid in this transition. As it turns out, the buildings, that our command is moving to, renovations recently came to completion, when it was realized, that a number of electrical sub panels now had a much larger electrical load on them than originally designed, and the cables supplying them where not of sufficient size to support all the great new equipment we installed in the buildings. The contracting process here (and even back in the states) is just not fast enough to respond to the turn around a contract and get another contractor in the building to update the cabling in time for the end of the year deadline to move out of the Palace. As a result, two of the buidlings are without permanent power, one of which is the building the Commanding Officer of the unit is going to. Our boss in Installations, asked us if we could order and install the cable ourselves, and like good military men and women we are, we stepped up to the challenge and spent our Christmas Eve installing and connecting cables.

The photo’s seen are of the Installation's directorate personell pulling together to lift and install over 500 meters of cable throughout two buildings. It was an exciting and muscle burning day, as it took all the bodies we had in the directorate. Prior to this the command had small teams that daily spent their time out at various sites throughout the IZ monitoring contractors on various job that we have contracted. Normally we are the ones, watching the contractors work, inspecting for quality and compliance to the contract, so this was a nice change to get some hands on work done. It was an exciting day, one that reminded me of the good old days back in the shipyard, with crews of dedicated people pushing to get the job done. Comradery and morale are always high when the team has a common achievable goal, that they can all see the finish line ahead of them. Much like the Presidential security detail, this job drew us all together, and felt a feeling of pride as we accomplished yet another memorable task here in Iraq, and left most feeling good going into our day of rest on Christmas day.

Christmas in Bagdad

So you might be wondering, what was Christmas like here. Well it was quite pleasant and relaxing, with just enough holiday cheer. As mentioned in the previous story we spent Christmas Eve working all day on the cable install and walk away feeling content and tired. At the end of the day I hopped in the shower (a nice 10 min hollywood shower with plenty of hot water to sooth my muscles from lifting cable), headed out to dinner and went to the Christmas eve candle light service at the Chapel at the Palace. It was really nice, singing Christmas songs, and hearing great message from the firey Army Chaplain. We even got a special treat to hear some Arabic Christian Hymns, by some of the Arabic interpreters that work here in the compound. We did receive the full day off for Christmas to sleep in and do what we like. I choose to stay at my residence near the palace, sleep in, watch a movie or two, and enjoy a couple of fine meals at the DFAC. The pictures tell the who story of the DFAC, which was cheerfully decorated. I met up with my Battle buddy from Fort McCrady who works just down the street, and we enjoyed a great meal of turkey, ham, and all the fixings. We ended the day with a nice cup of coffee and a movie in the palace. I did get a chance to Skype with Abby and the girls, and talk with my mom and sister on the phone, it was nice to see and hear everyone enjoying the holiday. I am without a want or need out here in Baghdad, so I counted my blessings, to be safe, warm, and full as I celebrated a memorable day in a memorable place.

Welcome to the middle east - my first 10 days in country

So where did our story leave off, oh yeah, flying out Thanksgiving night. Well, we boarded our chartered aircraft at the airfield and headed off for a two leg trip into Kuwait. The first leg landed in Ireland … somewhere, where we had about 2 hrs to stretch our legs and grab a large pint of our favorite… oh no, sorry to disappoint, we have been under CENTCOMs general order number 1 , no alcohol while in theatre since day 1 back at Fort McCrady. But not to worry the men all took it well when we deplaned at the airport which had a nice Irish pub right in the terminal. We did receive one surprise as we arrived though, the Secretary of the Navy, Donald Winter was in the terminal on a return trip from having Thanksgiving dinner in Iraq with the troops.

He was a nice enough fellow, gave me a nice coin, but didn't’t seem interested in temporarily suspending the band on alcohol in celebration of our meeting. The second leg of the flight was another 7 hr or so leg into Kuwait City where we were greeted by some Navy sailors , escorted to buses and given a 2 hr ride to Camp Virginia. All and all the travel was not bad though we had been at it for nearly 18 hrs by the time we got to Camp Virginia.

CAMP VIRGINIA - Kuwait is the hub of all coming and going personnel in theatre, and many are taken to CAMP VIRGINIA, to acclimate to the climate, and the time zone. Once there we were given almost 5 days of down time, before spending three days in the desert training more on close quarters marksmanship, and convoy training. Once we realized we were actually free to move about and control our schedules we were able to relax and enjoy the place a bit. They had everything necessary for rest and relaxation, including a world class USO that was recently renovated by the show “Man Cave”. The large tent now was outfitted with 2 living room style movie watching area’s, one large mini-theatre, about 6-8 video game consoles (XBOX, PS3, and Wii), an internet café area, and plenty of comfy leather couches to lounge in. I spent many good hours in there watching movies , napping, and surfin the net. The guys that work the USO were great, a couple of young kids (early twenties) who kept the place lively and moving so everyone had a chance to take advantage of the services. My favorite was the booth where you could go in and record yourself reading book to your kids. They send the book and a DVD home to your family for free. The facilities we slept in continued to be a little more sparse than even the 40 man barracks we stayed in at Fort McCrady. We slept in 10 man tents on cots in our sleeping bags. Showers and bathrooms were now outside down the road. Despite the conditions we all got plenty of sleep, and plenty to eat as we experienced the DFAC (Dining Facilities) in theater for the first time. Let’s just say food is definitely not an issue in country. Fresh cooked food, with many options, including soup, salad, burgers to order, and oh yes, baskin robbins ice cream bar for dessert.

UDARI – convoy training , an experience I won’t forget

After our five day adjustment period we loaded up the bus and headed out into the desert to enjoy some intensive more advanced weapons training and convoy training. To be honest I had heard that conditions just got worse the farther along in the training you went. In Udari, we no longer had restrooms or showers, and shared an entire tent with all 40 people in your convoy, with no bunks or even cots to sleep on, just head to toe sleeping bags throughout. The food was MRE’s for breakfast lunch and dinner, needless to say I saved my fig bar from the night before’s dinner so I didn't’ have to eat meatloaf and mashed potatoes for breakfast. The tents were our classrooms and sleeping areas. The truth was since it was only two nights, it wasn't that bad, it was kind of like a nice little camping trip to the desert.

While in Udari I was randomly selected to be the convoy commander of our convoy during training day. At first I was a little disappointed because now I couldn’t just sit back and wait to be told what to do. To my relief, the experience was challenging and exciting and truthfully after not actually doing much the previous week, it was a welcome relief to have my brain engaged again. The training was excellent, they had us drive a 8 mile course that simulated going through various village, traffic schemes, and scan the roadsides for IED’s and car bombs . It was quite realistic, as they even had the local Kuwaiti’s dress up as locals and insurgents, to allow us to add realism to the training.

After 2 days of MRE (army meals-ready to-eat), no showers, and camping out in the desert we headed back to Camp Virginia, for a quick shower , a good meal, and off to the airport to make our flight to Baghdad.

So I write this latest blog from my new home in Baghdad, the living accommodations are nice (a real mattress to sleep on), I share a room with just one other guy, and a bathroom with 3 other guys total, so it is like I have been upgraded to the Embassy Suites compared to the last few weeks.

I will be sure to write more on the blog as soon as I settle in a bit and figure out the place.

I hope this message finds everyone enjoying their holiday season, and remembering to celebrate the season of family and fellowship and the one that made us and saved us, our Lord and Savior Jesus.

Season’s Greetings,

Joe

NIACT week 2

Well friends and family, I have completed Navy Introduction to Army Combat Training (NIACT)and have made the next leg of the journey to Camp Virginia in Kuwait. I wanted to highlight a few of the things that I got to experience during the last week or so of training at Camp McCrady in South Carolina, it was a unique experience that I will never forget, and look forward to not experiencing again.

Top experiences during NARMY training:

1 Training to fight with while wearing IBA's (Individual Body
Armor - approximately 70 lbs of Kevlar ,and plating designed to protect the torso, groin and head area, but not designed to be worn while doing anything athletic!) I give credit to the Army guys that wear this stuff all the time while deployed, fortunately I will not have to wear it all the time while in theatre, unless of course flying shrapnel from a stapler is considered dangerous. We have spent many days just wearing the full gear, to allow our bodies to adjust physically, but the real physical test came when we did reflexive firing in "full battle rattle". This consisted of jumping out of a humvee (not as easy as you think in that gear), running up a hill, loading our magazine into our rifle, running down range shooting at targets from standing, kneeling, and laying down positions. The entire drill took 1 ½ minutes max, but I know I was huffing and puffing at the end. It seems adrenaline does most of the work for you during these exciting maneuvers, with your body paying the price for that extra pancake or two you ate breakfast later on. Needless to say I am thankful my job in Iraq does not entail wearing the equipment fulltime.

2. Brass pick up – So if getting to shoot over 700 rounds of ammo is the best part of the training, the worst part is having to pick up the brass afterward. That included 13,000 or so casings to be accounted for on our last day of qualifications. You'll be happy to know the Navy ensured we had low level light (sunset) shooting training which of course means by the time you are done it is completely dark on the range, and you can't go back to the barracks until 99% of the casings are accounted for. Sure the first hour was fun, almost like an Easter egg hunt as we hunted through grass and sand for the brass casings with flashlights and headlights from the cars we drove onto the range. Somewhere after the first hour, the grumbling began as we searched diligently so we could go home and get some rest. My engineering mind all the time saying there has got to be a better way to do this. Of course the brass is not magnetic and therefore the supermagnet idea went out the window. If anyone has any bright ideas on an easy way to pick up 10,000 brass casings easily, send me an email, we can save the military a ton of money.

3. Urban operations - That's right from G.I. Joe to SWAT team we got to do it all, with the focus no shifting to learning to enter and clear houses safely. It was kind of fun, again pretending is always the fun part. Many of us know that this won't be part of our day to day activity, but the training is designed for defensive and survival maneuvers, should you ever have to exit your humvee during a convoy and seek shelter in a village. This was deemed particular necessary after the debrief of the now famous Jessica Lynch capture that occurred early in the war. At that time only the army teams whose job it was to clear houses where trained, but they learned it was critical that all personnel entering theatre receive basic training in weapons, land navigation, communication, urban operations, and convoy operations. That is mostly what the training period has been designed for ,and I would say the Army has done a great job in training us, despite our surly Navy attitudes toward the Army's way of conducting business.

4. Convoy Operations - The grand finale of the training was a full day in the field conducting convoy operations and land navigation exercises. They both turned out to be good fun. We got to take a convoy of humvee's through a course on Fort Jackson, that gave us an opportunity to practice spotting IED's alongside the roads, deal with local population (Army drill Sergeants simulating aggressive insurgent activity), and a roadside ambush with a firefight breaking out (we were issued blanks). Despite one of the younger overzealous drill sergeants pretending to capture our humvee with his imaginary gun, we all had a good time and learned a lot. The land navigation was pretty fun, and worthy of earning some sort of boy scout merit badge for not getting lost in the woods. We simply were given some grid coordinates on a map and a start point and told to go find the markers in the woods using nothing but map and compass. Evidently Google maps has not yet mapped this area as we all pulled out our cell phones in an effort to use some more advanced technology. But alas, a good old compass, and a map and a little shoe leather got us where we needed to go.

5. Thanksgiving dinner - This was a true blue American experience that had tears welling up in my eyes. A few of the local military veterans organizations, boy scouts, and the community put together an incredible evening for us on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We were greeted with applause, hand shakes and hugs as we entered the building. They provided a great meal, with a desert table as big as the dinner buffet. After the many speakers including a retired General, and a congressmen from South Carolina spoke. They entertained us with talented choirs, and young kids dancing, with the finale being a country music gospel singer. Needless to say we were all uplifted, and looked forward to making them and all of you proud when we do head off to Iraq. An aside, these same people actually showed up to the airport on Thanksgiving night and spent another two hours with us as we waited for our plane to depart. They provided snacks and water for us to take on the plane, and a big send off as we boarded.

The people – another "Joe perspective" into the many interesting and varied people and personilities that make up our armed forces:

CDR McRibs - This training while not as rigorous as boot camp had it physical hazards. We are all not 18 year olds running around with our hair on fire like when we first joined but many still have the spirit to give it their all. One unfortunate CDR in his late 40's, cracked a rib while diving to the ground in his IBA. The unfortunate part about this is now he will have to wait until he heals to deploy, and his relief in country will likely delay another month while he does so.

Lt Colonel Recall. This guy was a really good instructor. He had already served active duty during the the 70's and 80's, now he has been recalled to active duty to train us Navy guys to go over and serve. I didn't realize it but when your retire from the military you go into the inactive ready reserve (IRR) and until you reach retirement age (60) they can call you up as needed. This guy was now a district attorney in Ohio, and is taking a year of active duty in South Carolina to help train us Navy folks on Rules of Engagement and Rules of Force. So for all you out there who think retiring after 20 years at age 42 is a great Navy deal, make sure you understand the fine print of your contract.

IS1 Mommy- Many of you may not know but there are quite a few military members who are married to active duty military members. This young first class petty officer was a reservist married to an active duty sailor. Her husband had been deployed frequently on ships the past few years, and they recently moved to Millington Tennessee for some much deserved shore duty. She was active duty herself for a few years but when they had children she got out of active duty and joined the reserves. To their surprise a month after reaching Millington, she got the notice that she would be deploying to Iraq, and now her husband is taking care of the family back home. The story was just a reminder of the challenges the families of those deploying really face. It truly is the amazing families of all of us deploying that make these deployments even possible. The military really does take care of every need of the individual sailors and soldiers when we deploy, a place to sleep, plenty of food, and even occasional entertainment. However, families back home are all now one short of their normal complement of people to take care of the family; they truly are the unsung heroes of military, and if you are looking for a way to support us soldiers and sailors while we are we are deployed, find a family back home in your town or neighborhood and support them.

Specialist Translator - My battle buddy and I had a couple of Army reservist, Arabic translators join us for dinner one evening. It was actually nice, because they gave us a good break down of the Islamic background of Iraq. Quite frankly it was the best training we received on the culture of the people, what the real difference was between the Kurds, the Shia's and the Sunni's and what to expect from the people when we go there. They were a nice couple of guys and are going back for their second time to serve in theatre; one was originally from Lebanon, and the other from Egypt. Much of what we learned was of the peaceful nature of the Islamic people, and the genesis of the radical groups.

Bottom line assessment:

I am glad to have moved on in to the next phase, I think I have had sufficient training and am just ready to get in country and start my clock so I can return home to the family. As expected you bond tightly with the men you train and serve alongside, get to know the customs and traditions of another organization, and add a few more "sea stories" to you duffle bag.

Take care everyone back home, and God bless.

Joe

NIACT week 2

Well friends and family, I have completed Navy Introduction to Army Combat Training (NIACT)and have made the next leg of the journey to Camp Virginia in Kuwait. I wanted to highlight a few of the things that I got to experience during the last week or so of training at Camp McCrady in South Carolina, it was a unique experience that I will never forget, and look forward to not experiencing again.

Top experiences during NARMY training:

1 Training to fight with while wearing IBA's (Individual Body
Armor - approximately 70 lbs of Kevlar ,and plating designed to protect the torso, groin and head area, but not designed to be worn while doing anything athletic!) I give credit to the Army guys that wear this stuff all the time while deployed, fortunately I will not have to wear it all the time while in theatre, unless of course flying shrapnel from a stapler is considered dangerous. We have spent many days just wearing the full gear, to allow our bodies to adjust physically, but the real physical test came when we did reflexive firing in "full battle rattle". This consisted of jumping out of a humvee (not as easy as you think in that gear), running up a hill, loading our magazine into our rifle, running down range shooting at targets from standing, kneeling, and laying down positions. The entire drill took 1 ½ minutes max, but I know I was huffing and puffing at the end. It seems adrenaline does most of the work for you during these exciting maneuvers, with your body paying the price for that extra pancake or two you ate breakfast later on. Needless to say I am thankful my job in Iraq does not entail wearing the equipment fulltime.

2. Brass pick up – So if getting to shoot over 700 rounds of ammo is the best part of the training, the worst part is having to pick up the brass afterward. That included 13,000 or so casings to be accounted for on our last day of qualifications. You'll be happy to know the Navy ensured we had low level light (sunset) shooting training which of course means by the time you are done it is completely dark on the range, and you can't go back to the barracks until 99% of the casings are accounted for. Sure the first hour was fun, almost like an Easter egg hunt as we hunted through grass and sand for the brass casings with flashlights and headlights from the cars we drove onto the range. Somewhere after the first hour, the grumbling began as we searched diligently so we could go home and get some rest. My engineering mind all the time saying there has got to be a better way to do this. Of course the brass is not magnetic and therefore the supermagnet idea went out the window. If anyone has any bright ideas on an easy way to pick up 10,000 brass casings easily, send me an email, we can save the military a ton of money.

3. Urban operations - That's right from G.I. Joe to SWAT team we got to do it all, with the focus no shifting to learning to enter and clear houses safely. It was kind of fun, again pretending is always the fun part. Many of us know that this won't be part of our day to day activity, but the training is designed for defensive and survival maneuvers, should you ever have to exit your humvee during a convoy and seek shelter in a village. This was deemed particular necessary after the debrief of the now famous Jessica Lynch capture that occurred early in the war. At that time only the army teams whose job it was to clear houses where trained, but they learned it was critical that all personnel entering theatre receive basic training in weapons, land navigation, communication, urban operations, and convoy operations. That is mostly what the training period has been designed for ,and I would say the Army has done a great job in training us, despite our surly Navy attitudes toward the Army's way of conducting business.

4. Convoy Operations - The grand finale of the training was a full day in the field conducting convoy operations and land navigation exercises. They both turned out to be good fun. We got to take a convoy of humvee's through a course on Fort Jackson, that gave us an opportunity to practice spotting IED's alongside the roads, deal with local population (Army drill Sergeants simulating aggressive insurgent activity), and a roadside ambush with a firefight breaking out (we were issued blanks). Despite one of the younger overzealous drill sergeants pretending to capture our humvee with his imaginary gun, we all had a good time and learned a lot. The land navigation was pretty fun, and worthy of earning some sort of boy scout merit badge for not getting lost in the woods. We simply were given some grid coordinates on a map and a start point and told to go find the markers in the woods using nothing but map and compass. Evidently Google maps has not yet mapped this area as we all pulled out our cell phones in an effort to use some more advanced technology. But alas, a good old compass, and a map and a little shoe leather got us where we needed to go.

5. Thanksgiving dinner - This was a true blue American experience that had tears welling up in my eyes. A few of the local military veterans organizations, boy scouts, and the community put together an incredible evening for us on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We were greeted with applause, hand shakes and hugs as we entered the building. They provided a great meal, with a desert table as big as the dinner buffet. After the many speakers including a retired General, and a congressmen from South Carolina spoke. They entertained us with talented choirs, and young kids dancing, with the finale being a country music gospel singer. Needless to say we were all uplifted, and looked forward to making them and all of you proud when we do head off to Iraq. An aside, these same people actually showed up to the airport on Thanksgiving night and spent another two hours with us as we waited for our plane to depart. They provided snacks and water for us to take on the plane, and a big send off as we boarded.

The people – another "Joe perspective" into the many interesting and varied people and personilities that make up our armed forces:

CDR McRibs - This training while not as rigorous as boot camp had it physical hazards. We are all not 18 year olds running around with our hair on fire like when we first joined but many still have the spirit to give it their all. One unfortunate CDR in his late 40's, cracked a rib while diving to the ground in his IBA. The unfortunate part about this is now he will have to wait until he heals to deploy, and his relief in country will likely delay another month while he does so.

Lt Colonel Recall. This guy was a really good instructor. He had already served active duty during the the 70's and 80's, now he has been recalled to active duty to train us Navy guys to go over and serve. I didn't realize it but when your retire from the military you go into the inactive ready reserve (IRR) and until you reach retirement age (60) they can call you up as needed. This guy was now a district attorney in Ohio, and is taking a year of active duty in South Carolina to help train us Navy folks on Rules of Engagement and Rules of Force. So for all you out there who think retiring after 20 years at age 42 is a great Navy deal, make sure you understand the fine print of your contract.

IS1 Mommy- Many of you may not know but there are quite a few military members who are married to active duty military members. This young first class petty officer was a reservist married to an active duty sailor. Her husband had been deployed frequently on ships the past few years, and they recently moved to Millington Tennessee for some much deserved shore duty. She was active duty herself for a few years but when they had children she got out of active duty and joined the reserves. To their surprise a month after reaching Millington, she got the notice that she would be deploying to Iraq, and now her husband is taking care of the family back home. The story was just a reminder of the challenges the families of those deploying really face. It truly is the amazing families of all of us deploying that make these deployments even possible. The military really does take care of every need of the individual sailors and soldiers when we deploy, a place to sleep, plenty of food, and even occasional entertainment. However, families back home are all now one short of their normal complement of people to take care of the family; they truly are the unsung heroes of military, and if you are looking for a way to support us soldiers and sailors while we are we are deployed, find a family back home in your town or neighborhood and support them.

Specialist Translator - My battle buddy and I had a couple of Army reservist, Arabic translators join us for dinner one evening. It was actually nice, because they gave us a good break down of the Islamic background of Iraq. Quite frankly it was the best training we received on the culture of the people, what the real difference was between the Kurds, the Shia's and the Sunni's and what to expect from the people when we go there. They were a nice couple of guys and are going back for their second time to serve in theatre; one was originally from Lebanon, and the other from Egypt. Much of what we learned was of the peaceful nature of the Islamic people, and the genesis of the radical groups.

Bottom line assessment:

I am glad to have moved on in to the next phase, I think I have had sufficient training and am just ready to get in country and start my clock so I can return home to the family. As expected you bond tightly with the men you train and serve alongside, get to know the customs and traditions of another organization, and add a few more "sea stories" to you duffle bag.

Take care everyone back home, and God bless.

Joe

PS - for pictures check out the Photo section of week 2 - due to low bandwidth here in Kuwait I wasn't able to add them to the blog post.