A meloncollie day today. I was promoted to Battalion S3 which is quite exciting. My boss was promoted which opened the position I am in now. Usually the S3 position is reserved for a Major or Colonel so as a Lieutenant I have huge shoes to fill. I am honored, excited, and aphrensive at the same time. I can't speak specifically to what I do on a day to day basis but I ensure that the hospital operation runs smoothly. And attend lots of meetings. Our counterparts in the unit that is leaving have been quite helpful in teaching us what [View Full Entry]

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Spent most of yesterday and much of the evening organizing my room. I live in a CHU, pronounced CHOO, like Ah Choo, or Choo Choo. CHU stands for Compartmentilized, or Continerized Housing Unit. It is a railroad shipping container with a door. You have seen them on giant container ships, railroad cars, or on Semi Trailers. They are not too big when you put two people in them. I have a door, window, two beds, two wall lockers standard issue. Mark and I bought two mini fridges, and a TV. It is like a dorm room but more tiny. I am [View Full Entry]

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First morning in Iraq. I got up and went for a walk with Mark. We explored all that the base has to offer. There is a small outdoor courtyard that has a Burger King and Pizza Hut. You order at a window and pick it up at another similar to a drive in like Sonic. Since we lack cars we eat outside a picnic tables. The heat of the day keeps most away until night time. Next door there is a PX (Post Exchange) where they offer snacks and some personal items. Most of the stuff is picked through so you [View Full Entry]

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Showtime finaly. We left today for Iraq. It is a meloncolie feeling to finally go; we have trained so hard for this moment yet it is a little stressful knowing that we will be responsible for real lives. The decisions that the medical staff makes will determine life and death every day. I am weighed with the burden of taking care of the medical staff so the circle is of influence is quite large for me and my friends. We began making preparations for our trip late Memorial Day. I packed and finished up last minute business. We got word of [View Full Entry]

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I got up early this morning to go get issued another set of body armor. I was issued a set at Ft. Hood but the set I received today is designed to be dropped in the event of a fire. There is a rip cord that you can pull if you become trapped in a vehicle on fire. When you pull the cord the armor falls to the floor and you can step out of it. This new armor covers my whole trunk and sides. We are supposed to get deltoid armor to cover the tops of the arms but it [View Full Entry]

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I had training all day today. It is mostly classified so I cannot share what I learned about. I did learn that the Army has created a task force called Combined Explosive Exploitation Cell (CEXE). The acronym is pronounced SEXY. I don't know who they put in charge naming that - probably a bunch of undersexed soldiers. CEXE is the CSI of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices or Roadside Bombs). They will go to a bomb scene after soldiers have been attacked and do forensic research to look for clues as to the bombs origination. They are collecting great evidence and are [View Full Entry]

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Had a slower day today. I had to attend a class on an Army computer system today. It was a 4 hour block but the computers were not working well so we spent most of the class attempting to log on to the system. It was really a waste of the afternoon. Mark and I worked out for a couple of hours today. I feel really good now that I have had time to work out. When I came back to the tent I spent a few hours drawing. I am trying to get back into it - the guys think [View Full Entry]

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Laundry day. I took my clothes to the laundry trailer today. The laundry is run by the Indians too. They first weigh your laundry in kilograms then ask you to dump it out. They thouroughly check your pockets for cash and ammunition; then inventory it. They list the size and type of every item and write it up as if you were at a real dry cleaner. It will be ready in three days - better than the turn around at my home dry cleaner. Hopefully it will smell better. This evening we went to an outdoor concert at the Camp [View Full Entry]

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We went postal today. I bought some trinkets for the girls and mailed them today. We have a little post office here on the FOB (Forward Operating Base). It seems that no matter where you go - postal employees are still turse and unhelpful. You would think that for 100,000 dollars a year they could muster a smile. I worked out until late with Mark. We have been working out to pass the time as there is little else to do. I find that it gets me worn out enought to sleep. After working out we went to the Green Bean [View Full Entry]

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Little to do today. Mark and I walked to the front gate of post to take pictures of the Camp sign. It is about a mile and a half to the sign from our tent. The sun was not too high as we began our trek. When we arived some of the workers were polishing the brass letters. The took pictures of us standing be the sign. We gawked for a while and began to hike back - y then the sun was higher and the temperature had risen considerably. It was supposed to be 104 today but the sand and [View Full Entry]

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