A River Runs Through It

DAY 6 28NOV2009:

I live in at tent village….and a river runs through it. Close your eyes and picture a desert. That is Kuwait, barren land with no trees, no hills, no end in sight…just sand and empty water bottles. Oh and now picture a lake or two, and mud everywhere. Imagine thousands of troops walking along the same paths creating trails of 8 inch mud slop. Imagine you have to use a port-a-potty every time nature calls. Now imagine mud caked all over your port-a-potty. Imagine you wake in the middle of the night having to drop a deuce and on your hazy walk to the John you step into a river that popped up over the 3 hours you were sleeping. Your running shoes are now soaked, your socks are brown, and you are pissed. But wait, this is no dream or figment of my imagination, this is the beginning of my deployment and this sucks. Please send me to Iraq.

Sounds About Right

Day 3 25NOV2009:

Yes that sucked. We are on day three but its still actually the first day. Its Wednesday 19:39 and I haven’t slept more than 2 hours since I woke up Monday morning. These are the times when the Army shows its stupidity and you question what they hell you are doing. Here is the list of stupidity since we left:

-We stopped in Wisconsin and were told we would be on the ground for 30 min. We got off the plane and went into a hanger with no chairs, bathrooms or anything else that may make your stop worthwhile. No big deal right, only a half our stop. We left three hours later.

-We stopped in Germany at a nice airport in some town I don’t remember the name of. We were told we would be on the ground for 2-3 hours. They had food, chairs and the all important internet access. Many Soldiers gave up the $10 dollars for 90 min of access so they could contact loved ones (really to update facebook). 30 min after getting off the plan, 10 min since buying their internet access we were told to board the plane, its time to go.

-We landed in Kuwait City at 00:03 Wednesday morning. We hopped on a bus. An hour and a half later we actually left the airport. We drove for 2 hours. We got to Camp Buering in Kuwait and got of the bus and were immediately sent to a briefing tent. After the second briefing an “acting 1SG” tells my battalion to go back to the busses and grab your bags and come back to the briefing tent. We get back to the tent and the NCOIC of the briefing is pissed we left and kicks everyone out who has a bag. Breakfast is from 0500 to 0830. We finally get everyone back in the tent, bag-less, and get our final brief. It lasts maybe five minutes.

We leave the briefing tent at 0550. We have no time for chow now. We have to march over to a training area and attend some pre-Iraq classes. Its about a 30 min walk and apparently imperative we do this RIGHT NOW. Near the end of our walk we are passed by shuttle busses that came from the area we just walked from.

We get out of our 3^rd and final class of the morning at 0820. We all board the shuttle busses quickly and get a ride to the DFAC (dining facility). As we exit the bus we are yelled at to hurry because chow ends in 3 minutes. As we near the door the NCOIC of the DFAC informs us we are too late. Chow is over. I eat a beef stew MRE for breakfast. Fuck this.

This situation “sounds about right”. In Charlie Company of the 501st BSB that means that there was a situation with two options. There is option 1, the option never chosen. This option makes perfect sense, will cause the least headaches and flow very smoothly. When this option is ultimately not chosen (as is always the case) we will nod and state "why would we do that?". Then there is option 2. Option 2 is a horrible idea and will lead to wasted time and/or heartache combined with frustration. Option 2 is always the way we roll. We will nod in agreement with that choice and remark "yeah, that sounds about right".

Today sounds about right.

Goodbye

Day 1 23NOV2009:

Goodbye is hard. It’s hard knowing that you won’t see the person you love for months at a time. How will I change? How will she change? Will my dog recognize me? Will our lives fall back into place? I love my life. Many questions run through your mind. I really dont have any fear about going to Iraq. We are deploying to a huge FOB and I will have to travel to a few other locations to treat Soldiers from different battalions but lately all bad news coming from Iraq dealt with civilians being killed. We don’t have any combat operations ongoing. Over the past few days when I would think about how hard it is for me to leave my wife I would try to think of all the Soldiers over the last 7 or 8 years that were going into a much more dangerous situation. Or even today’s Soldiers who will be leaving for Afghanistan. I have it easy…but it’s still not easy. It’s putting your real life on hold and stupid shit can happen.

We have orders for a 365 day deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I am a Brigade Physical Therapist attached to Charlie Med Company of the 501^st Brigade Support Battalion with the 1^st Brigade 1^st Armored Division. None of that matters to you if you are not in the Army. My mission leading up to today was readiness. My mission starting today is to conserve the fighting strength. Mostly ill deal with aching backs from Soldiers wearing their IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest/the current Army protective vest). We’ll treat sprained ankles, torn ACL’s and neck pain. Some Soldier’s will get heat exhaustion. Our biggest threat is likely to be ourselves. Someone will roll a vehicle, one will fall off a truck, and someone may accidently shoot themselves. Two weeks ago a US Army Major and mental health professional killed 13 fellow Soldiers at Ft Hood. There is a reason some people end up as mental health professionals, they need mental help. This is an extreme case but fratricide is definitely on my mind. I mean I have told more than a couple of Soldiers that they are full of shit in the weeks leading up to today as they tried to convince me that their back hurts so bad they can function as a Soldier. Really! You’re 19 years old. You signed up to do a job, now suck it up and do your job. Fucking dirt bag. I should probably be more tactful with some of these guys. He’s not a dirt bag.

Goodbye is hard. I was supposed to deploy on the 19^th of NOV. That was changed 3 days prior and the new date was yesterday. I got a call the night before yesterday that we would not deploy till today. Seems like it shouldn’t be a big deal…but it is. Its takes preparation to say good bye and drawing that process out takes a toll. I could see it on many faces today. I watched parents and wives try to be strong. I saw young girls and boys say good bye to their moms and dads and they did not bother being strong, they just show their emotions as they feel them. So I haven’t slept in the last few nights and probably have not eaten as much either. My hunger was remedied today because after saying good bye to my wife and mom my apetite came back. The FRG had burgers, the DAG had steak and now on the plane I just finished off a roast beef sandwich. You will not go hungry in the Army.

We are in the air now headed for Wisconsin. Yes, I guess some other Soldiers need to hitch a ride. Then it’s off to Germany and then to Kuwait for a couple weeks of training. I have no idea how long this will take but it will suck.