Well I have been in Washington for about a week and a half now and everything is going fine. The weather out here is nice cool in the mornings and pleasant all day. Though this is great now I am not looking forward to the change when we get to Kuwait. Training in the Georgia heat would be better for training because it would not be such a large change but we cant change things now. Things should start to pick up as we finish out our training here. I will be home for 2-5 July to visit before I leave to go and I cant wait to see everyone.
I will be updating this post with pictures and other news as things continue to move forward out here. I hope everyone is doing great back home.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Calm before the Storm
Lindsey and I were able to get away for a week to spend some time together. For those that don't know we went to Ocho Rios, Jamaica for the week before I was scheduled to start working at the unit. 
We had a wonderful time and some interesting experiences. It was really great to get away and be able to focus our energy and time on each other with no distractions. While we were there it rained a few days but it really didn't bother us. Though dealing with the crazy people selling stuff at Dunn's River Falls was an experience we both are fine not reliving. We got to have a photo shoot which was really neat. Everywhere you went there was always someone snapping a picture. We got to go sailing and ate some
good food but most of all we spent as much time as possible together. Having been through a deployment before we both know that it can be taxing due to poor communication capabilities and the time difference so it was important to load up on memories before I left. We had a great time and many great memories for both of us to take into the next year.
We had a wonderful time and some interesting experiences. It was really great to get away and be able to focus our energy and time on each other with no distractions. While we were there it rained a few days but it really didn't bother us. Though dealing with the crazy people selling stuff at Dunn's River Falls was an experience we both are fine not reliving. We got to have a photo shoot which was really neat. Everywhere you went there was always someone snapping a picture. We got to go sailing and ate some
good food but most of all we spent as much time as possible together. Having been through a deployment before we both know that it can be taxing due to poor communication capabilities and the time difference so it was important to load up on memories before I left. We had a great time and many great memories for both of us to take into the next year. Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Fort Stewart Training
In the beginning of April, I headed to Fort Stewart, GA for my first stint of training in preparation for my deployment to Iraq. This is the time when we refresh ourselves on what we call Army 101 which are all of the basic soldiering tasks. We spent a week in the classroom getting all of the mandatory briefings that you have to have before you deploy. Then we moved out into the field where we started the basic soldier skills. One of these was something called HEAT training which stands for HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer. This system is an up-armored HMMWV body mounted on a rotisserie so that they can flip you in any direction and then you have to get out of the vehicle. The soldiers had fun with this training but got good experience that I hope they never need. We also did mounted land nav
igation which is pretty much just land navigation in a vehicle. We went out on the muddy back roads of Fort Stewart in a brand new up-armored HMMWV with one of the trainers driving. I have never seen a HMMWV get stuck but I have the pictures to prove that it happened. We had to sit on the side of the road for a couple of hours while they got something big enough to pull it out of the ditch. As you can see from the pictures, it was buried up to the frame. 
We also spent time on the shooting range where I qualified with the M16 and the M9 pistol and familiarized myself on the M249 SAW and the M240B machine guns. I am proud to say I was the top qualifier for the company on the M16 rifle. This is a good thing because none of the soldiers like me being on top, so they will be motivated to surpass my standard when we do it again in a month. I am not going to let them have it though; I want the bragging rights.
igation which is pretty much just land navigation in a vehicle. We went out on the muddy back roads of Fort Stewart in a brand new up-armored HMMWV with one of the trainers driving. I have never seen a HMMWV get stuck but I have the pictures to prove that it happened. We had to sit on the side of the road for a couple of hours while they got something big enough to pull it out of the ditch. As you can see from the pictures, it was buried up to the frame. 
We also spent time on the shooting range where I qualified with the M16 and the M9 pistol and familiarized myself on the M249 SAW and the M240B machine guns. I am proud to say I was the top qualifier for the company on the M16 rifle. This is a good thing because none of the soldiers like me being on top, so they will be motivated to surpass my standard when we do it again in a month. I am not going to let them have it though; I want the bragging rights.Out of the Woodwork
Since I was notified of my second deployment I have been astonished by the amount of support coming from people in my life. It makes me feel so good to know that Lindsey is surrounded by people that will keep her going through this. I have said from the beginning that I am more worried about how my deployment will affect everyone around me than I am about doing my job over there. Our family and friends that made it through the last deployment have been through this before and are ready to help in any way. We also have gained the support of so many new people. New friends that we have made through work and through our new neighborhood have stepped up to help Lindsey through this time. I feel so blessed to have so many people in my life.
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