If you want to call. . .

First, I would like to thank everyone for your support, your comments have been great, and it's nice knowing that people back home like to read the blog and see the pictures.

Now, on to the best news ever. If anyone wants to call and say hello, you can get ahold of me on Skype (Username: EScvn54) or, you can call me at 785-227-9085. I purchased a local number on Skype so that anyone can call and leave me a voicemail, or chat with me. I hope to hear from some of you soon!

~Babysitter~

Boredom

According to my deployment calendar, we're quickly nearing 2 months in theater. That means, we're already 1/5 of the way to being on that big bird home. Okay, so maybe I'm looking too far into the future there, that's not something I'm ready to dwell on. However, it is only three short months before I get to take my leave, and head back to the good ol' U.S. of A. Putting aside all of the thoughts of going home . . .

I'm ready to get the heck off of Arifjan, and go on a mission North, into Iraq. There's only so many times that I can go out to the motor pool, and complete the same six tasks I did the day before. Luckily, we had the better part of today, and all of tomorrow off! It's like we almost have a real weekend. Tomorrow, I believe we're going to go to the pool for some semi-organized PT, and that's all we have on the agenda.

I suppose I've rambled on long enough about my weekend. I hope everyone back home is finding time to enjoy their extended weekend! Happy Labor Day. . .I think.

~Babysitter~

Sweat

Before I get too into this, let me first state that I DO sweat just as much as the average person. That being said, I don't think I've ever sweat this much in my LIFE. Today, the temperature was only around 110 degrees, but it felt like it was nearly 130 degrees outside. The humidity today at 2:45 is only 40 percent, but when you couple that with the 110 degree heat, the sweat doesn't stop rolling off of you in sheets. By the end of the work day, everyone looked like they had taken a shower in their own sweat. There wasn't a dry part on my body, and as I sit here, I'm still waiting for parts of my body to dry so I can clean up a little before I go to the gym, and possibly the pool this evening.

Suicidal Thoughts

Something about the mention of the "motor pool" makes suicidal thoughts flow through the platoon. NO, nobody is actually going to commit suicide instead of going to the motor pool, but needless to say, not a single soul wants to climb all over trucks when it's 120 degrees outside. That being said, we still have a little bit of fun. Here are a few pictures from the motor pool today!



Here's me at the fuel point



PV2 Paul "Nemo" Pool, my driver.



Mitchell "Snowball" Onnen



The HET is really thirsty! More power steering fluid please!



SPC Brandy Smith , Queen of the Trucks

Pictures as Promised

Here are a few pictures from the mission that was just completed. I hope you enjoy!



This is the view from my truck. A good view of all the trucks we just picked up to escort north.



This is what it looks like at the front of the convoy.



Our GPS was definitely having a few problems. It says we're going 418mph. We are not an F16.



Looking out over the desert at sunset, it can actually be quite gorgeous.



Someone's trailer broke down so we attempted to load it onto our trailer. It . . .well. . .lets just say an hour and a half later, our trailer was still empty.



This is my workstation. Complete with personal computer, machine gun, and a hat rack :-)



Unpaved roads can be fun! It would really stink if the wind were blowing straight down the road.

Apologies and Updates

First and foremost, I would like to apologize for not posting sooner. Life has been quite hectic in the Iraq and Kuwait area of operations for 2nd CLP (Combat Logistics Patrol, pronounced "clip"), 2nd Platoon. Most recently, our mission has been working long hours in the motor pool, ensuring all of our equipment is up to standard. Some nights, this means 12 hours in the motor pool; working on our trucks; taking inventory of our chains, binders, and tools on the truck; and ensuring that every piece of equipment we have is in good working order. The equipment left to us by the previous unit was in horrible condition, so this has meant a lot of work on our part, with more work to come.

Taking a break from the motor pool, 2nd CLP just returned back from a mission into Iraq. This was a short stint in Iraq, only two days spent there, and two days spent in Kuwait. Really, this is about the shortest mission that a unit like ours will do. I've taken quite a few pictures on this trip, and even another video. Nothing too exciting, but I'll be sure and post the pictures and video as soon as I get back to Arifjan.

So, until next time....... (which opefully won't be as long)
~Babysitter~

So,that's what 8 hours of sleep feels like. . .

Back from mission, and eight hours of sleep later, here I am! I must say, that's quite possibly the best eight hours of sleep that I've had in recent memory. I sincerely regret setting my alarm for eight hours. Had I not set that alarm, I'm quite certain that I could have slept for 12 hours straight. I think I'll stay up for another eight hours before I try and sleep again. Anyway, as promised, here are some photos from the trip this time. And even some video!

~Babysitter~



At a camp in Kuwait getting our trucks ready to go north



At Khabari Crossing, almost time to cross over into Iraq



That's a lot of 5 ton trucks!



You know it's been a long day when you're still driving and the sun's coming up



That's me! I'm at Camp Adder (Tallil AFB), Iraq. . . exhausted



My driver, PVT Pool! He's probably listening to a musical right here. . .



This is Southern Iraq




This is a video of us driving in Southern Iraq




All of our stuff laid out on the trailer. . .we don't pack light



Care package! Thank you!



Me with Moses, one of the Third Country Nationals (TCN's) These are the guys that drive the trucks with us on convoys.



Doing our After Action Review (AAR), we were all exhausted and couldn't wait to get into our beds.

Frustration

The Army has taught me many things in the nearly six years that I've been in. . .wow, I can't really believe it's been that long. Probably the most important thing I've learned with the Army is to accept that the things that are outside of my control, ARE in fact, outside of my control. This means I've learned to be patient sometimes, but most of the time it just means I have to accept the things I cannot change. Lately, my ability to dismiss these happenings from my list of things to worry about has been put to the test.

As I type this update, I'm sitting in my truck, sweat rolling down my face. This is because the air conditioner in our tent is not working, nor is the air conditioner in any of the tents we have available to us. The generator powering the air conditioners and lights in the tent city we were sleeping in went down. Because of this, we were force to find somewhere else to sleep for the day. Since the air conditioner in our truck works. . .rather poorly, that is why I'm sitting here in a pool of my own sweat.

If this were a single, isolated incident, I would not have an issue. However, this mission has been riddled with hiccups from the start. One of our trucks broke down no less than 500M outside of the gate the day we left, and our maintenance issues continued throughout the mission. We've been sorely lacking in sleep for the past week. . . I think I've personally slept on average 3-5 hours per night, if I was lucky. Yesterday, I was up for a 27 hour period. It is my sincerest wish that as we gain more experience, and time on our trucks, that things will begin running a little smoother for us.

I suppose that's enough venting for now. I hope to post a few pictures from our mission once I get back to the barracks at Arifjan.

~Babysitter~ <----- My callsign

That time again

Well, it's time to head out onto the road again. It's been awhile since we had our first mission, but we definitely haven't had the opportunity to rest like we would have liked. We've been busting our butts to get our trucks ready to go. I probably shouldn't say how many trucks we have that are broken and can't go out on a mission, but lets just say that we had to beg and borrow from other squads to scrape together enough trucks to go on this mission.

This is our first convoy as a squad, and it's our first convoy without another unit training/supervising us. Thankfully, we've got a really well trained and intelligent group of people running and going on this convoy. We also have Rowdy (little rowdy) here to protect us. I'll post pictures of little rowdy in action when I get back from the mission. She's already helped me get packed, and tried driving the HET. . . Who know's what she'll try next. . .

Until next time . . .