Mud, I have had many experiences with different types of mud. From the grey mud at Ft. Bragg that is so slick that it is like grease. That stuff was really nasty and it was not odd for your truck to get stuck in it even if it was only a couple inches deep, that’s how slick it was. Or the nasty red clay mud at Ft. Benning that either wet or dry would eventually cover you and turn your clothes red if you spent any time at all out in the field. Even the clay mud at home which can be measured not only in inches deep but in feet. But nothing I have come across in all my travels comes even close to the mud we get here in Iraq. The mud is so thick and nasty here that it is like concrete. This is the type of mud that sticks to your boots and does not come off. It cakes to the bottom of your boots and as you walk more and more of it cakes on and squishes out from the bottom of your boot. You would think that as it squishes out that it would fall off as new mud was added. That is not the case; instead it just keeps squishing out until it covers your whole boot. The end result is that whenever you walk somewhere you end up with 10 pounds of mud on your feet. And when you finally reach whatever destination that you were headed to you have to find whatever you can to scrape the mud off. At one point they added pea gravel and regular size gravel to some of the really low areas around our bunker to fill holes and low spots. This seemed like a great idea when it was dry around here but turned out to be not so great when you add the mud factor. Now when you walk on those areas not only do you get mud but you also get rocks stuck on the bottom of your boots, very annoying.
Up here in northern Iraq we do not have a lot of sand. Instead the ground consists mostly of dirt and rocks with scattered pockets of moon dust. It is the dirt that makes the horrible concrete mud. The moon dust just turns into a slurry mess when it gets wet. This slurry can sometimes be up to 6 inches deep which a wonderful thing is when you are stumbling home in the dark and you step into a hole of it (string of expletives). The major thing about the mud is that it is everywhere and covers everything. A few of the roads here on base are actually asphalt but for the most part they are dirt. And of course the rest of the base is dirt so when I say the mud is everywhere I do mean everywhere, there is no escaping it. Even when it stops raining the mud persists for several days after words.
Currently we are in the middle of the rainy season here in Iraq. It is much cooler in the days and actually a bit nippy at night. Nothing compared to back home I assure you. The days are usually 50-60 degrees and at night it gets down into the 40’s. Not bad by Michigan standards but when you are used to 120 degrees it is a bit of a temperature change. Not that it is depressing enough being in Iraq but to add days on end of grey cloudy cold days sometimes with a steady downpour it all seems a bit too much. The days that I really enjoy the rain (Not) are the days that it is cold, wet and raining and we have to go out on a mission. There is really nothing quite like standing in a truck with the top half of your body sticking out rolling down the road and getting rained on. If you do not cover every square inch of your face it feels as if hundreds of tiny ice daggers are stabbing you in the face. If you don’t believe me try sticking your head out of your car window next time it rains. If you really do this and tell me that you did it I am going to point at you and laugh, best to just take my word for it, really.
The rain here can be anything from a constant drizzle to a constant downpour that lasts for days at a time. Which at home would not be bad since you would be able to stay inside or if you had to go outside you could just take the car? But over here (except on missions of course) everywhere you go you are walking. And if you are in your CHU and you want to take a shower or you have to go to the bathroom, guess what, you’re going to get wet. This is especially nice when it is 40 degrees and a steady downpour. The CHU’s are metal so you get that nice patter sound when it rains which I always enjoy (the sound of rain on a metal roof not rain) but the problem lies in the fact that all our roofs are flat. I do not think these things were meant for this environment because when it rains the roof usually leaks and to get it fixed you have to walk a mile to the Mayors cell to contact KBR to come fix it which usually takes a few days because everyone’s roof is leaking. The Mayors cell is where the base sergeant major stays and his job is to insure that everything is running smoothly on base and to solve any problems that might arise concerning basic services and housing.
That's it for Mud & Rain , my next group of blogs is going to cover the different ethnicity's and religions here and I will try and explain some what the big picture over here. Until then...............
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Here & Home
Here: I have to walk 150 feet to go to the bathroom or take a shower.
Home: Indoor plumbing, sigh.
Here: Soldiers (the good ones at least) have a heightened situational awareness. Meaning they pay attention at all times to what is going on around them while driving or walking.
Home: People don’t seem to pay attention to anything that is going on around them. I found myself thinking several times while at home and observing people that most of them would not survive a day in Iraq. People just seemed to be so self absorbed that they usually have no idea what is happening around them at any given moment.
Here: People actually respect personal space, meaning they do not crowd up on you and actually keep their distance.
Home: You have no personal space. In restraunts, bars even walking down the street people constantly bump into you or lean on you. Or my personal favorite (once again I am lying) people that feel the need to either grab you or stand 2 inches from you or both to have a conversation.
Here: Having to use bottled water to brush my teeth or just too simply drink.
Home: Water from faucets that you can actually drink, what a concept.
Here: Even the youngest soldiers have some idea of the schematics of both Iraq and Afghanistan in relation to the different religions and what is actually going on.
Home: I would have to say from my experience back home that maybe 1 in 10 people actually knew what was going on here in Iraq and in Afghanistan. I was actually amazed at the amount of well educated people that knew absolutely nothing about either one of these countries.
Here: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are very real and are topmost on people’s minds.
Home: A lot of people seemed to have forgotten that we are currently embroiled in not just one war but two. I also hate to say it but I actually ran into several people that really just didn’t give a damn about either war and could care less about them one way or the other. I have said this before and I will say it again, most folks are not affected by these wars unless they have a friend or family member fighting in them. Welcome to the “its all about me generation” if it does not affect me I don’t really care. (Disclaimer: I am not saying that all people that do not have friends or family serving feel this way but there are a lot of folks that do).
Here: We have a PX which is the Army’s version of a store, sometimes called a shopette. The one we have here at Sykes is very small and there is not much to buy there.
Home: The sheer amount of stuff that was available to buy in even the smallest store was amazing. The first store I went to when I was home was a gas station on the way home from the airport and I remember just standing in front of the drinks cooler and being amazed at all the different choices.
Here: Darkness, complete and total. It makes for great star gazing but really sucks when you are trying to navigate around the base and keep from breaking your ankles on all the wonderful rocks in the area.
Home: Everything is lit up. From streetlights to businesses to front porch lights. There are not a lot of places that are completely dark. Even out in the country you can see the glow from distant cities.
Here: No real personal freedoms. You can’t just jump in your car or truck and go for a drive.
Home: Being able to wake up at 3am and just get into a car and go to a store was awesome. Or the simple fact of being able to drive down the road and not having to stop at 7 police checkpoints in a 20 mile drive.
Here: You are always around people. No matter where you go on this base there is always someone around.
Home: You can find someplace to just sit and relax and not be around anyone either at your house or out and about.
Here: Our generators have to be fueled and serviced every day at 9am and to do that they have to turn them off. This means that every day when I get home to my CHU I have to reset my clock and my alarm and relog onto the internet (when it is working that is).
Home: Constant power all the time (except when you have a big winter storm, hope you are all enjoying the snow, I do not miss it )
Home: Indoor plumbing, sigh.
Here: Soldiers (the good ones at least) have a heightened situational awareness. Meaning they pay attention at all times to what is going on around them while driving or walking.
Home: People don’t seem to pay attention to anything that is going on around them. I found myself thinking several times while at home and observing people that most of them would not survive a day in Iraq. People just seemed to be so self absorbed that they usually have no idea what is happening around them at any given moment.
Here: People actually respect personal space, meaning they do not crowd up on you and actually keep their distance.
Home: You have no personal space. In restraunts, bars even walking down the street people constantly bump into you or lean on you. Or my personal favorite (once again I am lying) people that feel the need to either grab you or stand 2 inches from you or both to have a conversation.
Here: Having to use bottled water to brush my teeth or just too simply drink.
Home: Water from faucets that you can actually drink, what a concept.
Here: Even the youngest soldiers have some idea of the schematics of both Iraq and Afghanistan in relation to the different religions and what is actually going on.
Home: I would have to say from my experience back home that maybe 1 in 10 people actually knew what was going on here in Iraq and in Afghanistan. I was actually amazed at the amount of well educated people that knew absolutely nothing about either one of these countries.
Here: The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are very real and are topmost on people’s minds.
Home: A lot of people seemed to have forgotten that we are currently embroiled in not just one war but two. I also hate to say it but I actually ran into several people that really just didn’t give a damn about either war and could care less about them one way or the other. I have said this before and I will say it again, most folks are not affected by these wars unless they have a friend or family member fighting in them. Welcome to the “its all about me generation” if it does not affect me I don’t really care. (Disclaimer: I am not saying that all people that do not have friends or family serving feel this way but there are a lot of folks that do).
Here: We have a PX which is the Army’s version of a store, sometimes called a shopette. The one we have here at Sykes is very small and there is not much to buy there.
Home: The sheer amount of stuff that was available to buy in even the smallest store was amazing. The first store I went to when I was home was a gas station on the way home from the airport and I remember just standing in front of the drinks cooler and being amazed at all the different choices.
Here: Darkness, complete and total. It makes for great star gazing but really sucks when you are trying to navigate around the base and keep from breaking your ankles on all the wonderful rocks in the area.
Home: Everything is lit up. From streetlights to businesses to front porch lights. There are not a lot of places that are completely dark. Even out in the country you can see the glow from distant cities.
Here: No real personal freedoms. You can’t just jump in your car or truck and go for a drive.
Home: Being able to wake up at 3am and just get into a car and go to a store was awesome. Or the simple fact of being able to drive down the road and not having to stop at 7 police checkpoints in a 20 mile drive.
Here: You are always around people. No matter where you go on this base there is always someone around.
Home: You can find someplace to just sit and relax and not be around anyone either at your house or out and about.
Here: Our generators have to be fueled and serviced every day at 9am and to do that they have to turn them off. This means that every day when I get home to my CHU I have to reset my clock and my alarm and relog onto the internet (when it is working that is).
Home: Constant power all the time (except when you have a big winter storm, hope you are all enjoying the snow, I do not miss it )
Home!
Coming home turned out to be a lot weirder for me that I thought it was going to be. The days leading up to my leave seemed to take forever but when the day finally came I had some kind of weird anxiety thing going on. I don’t really know how else to explain it. The first 5 days seemed to go by fairly slowly but after that they just seemed to fly by.
Three things stand out the most to me about my time at home on leave. Number one would be all the different colors. Everything over here is a brown reddish color. Occasionally you will see a house that is pink or purple but other than that it is mostly plain Jane. Green grass, trees with the changing leaves, different colored houses, different colored lights downtown, peoples colorful clothes, total culture shock. I actually went on several walks around town admiring all the different colors.
The number two thing that stood out while I was home was my complete inability to get any decent sleep for the first 5 days back. The realization that I eventually came to was that it was way too quiet. Over here there is always some type of noise whether it is the helicopters at the airfield or the generators that are constantly running. I am sure that jet lag figured in there also. All I know for absolute sure is that in that first 5 day period I only got about 20 hours sleep total. I also seemed to be in military mode for those first few days where I was totally wound up. After a few days I seemed to get used to the idea that I was actually back home. And of course by the time I felt completely at ease and relaxed it was time to go back.
But I have to say the biggest thing that I noticed while I was at home was how much nothing had changed. In this whole period of time where I felt like I had already lived a whole separate lifetime of doing things everyone back home had not done much except exist on a daily basis. I don’t want folks back home to take this the wrong way so let me explain myself. I was extremely elated to see as many people as I did and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at home and hanging with my friends, but at the same time I quickly grew bored and actually looked forward to coming back to Iraq. I think that part of it was the fact that most people had to work during the day so the only time I could hang out with folks was at night. But coming from a situation where I work 7 days a week and then going to a schedule of having nothing to do all day took some adjustment. I also think that with all the experiences I have had in the last 6 months, experiences that most people will never have (probably a good thing), made being home all the much weirder.
Before all my friends start thinking that I hated being home I will add some of the highlights of my trip:
Seeing Heather who was the last friend from the states that I saw before I left and hanging out with her for a night was awesome. Playing with my dog Smokey and sleeping on the couch with him. Pizza. Sleeping in a real bed. Drinking was cool but hangovers were not. Being able to smoke inside was a nice change. Hanging out in Trevors backyard and chatting.Hanging out with Lyn, Vinnie & krystal. Ron & Lisa's guy falkes day party. Hanging out with Jim A.,Stacy,Carly and Rob for Dart night. Seeing all my friends at the Arena and Blind Pig. Dinner at Knights steak house with my mom. Driving where ever I wanted to when ever I wanted to. Complete and total freedom. Real food with actual nutrients that have not been completly processed out of them. Fall colors. Raking leaves ( yes I actually enjoyed doing it ). Being able to choose what clothes I was going to wear.
Another thing about going home was the fact that I was in really good shape before I left. But while I was home, due to my own lack of motivation, I managed to gain about 10 pounds which took about 3 weeks to get rid of. There was also the whole traveling aspect. To put it simply the traveling to and from leave was absolutely horrible. You are literally treated like cattle during the whole process which really just sucks. I also had the austere pleasure of flying out of Detroit on Veteran’s day which was a strange experience to say the very least. A lot of people wanted to shake my hand and thank me for my service which was a good feeling. But on the other hand I was leaving home and not in the highest of spirits and talking to a bunch of strangers over and over again was a little overwhelming. There was one guy in the Atlanta airport that got my spirits back up with his simple statement of “ thank you for serving, go get those bastards for us” which for some reason brought my spirits back up. I am not saying that I do not appreciate the thank you’s I get just that sometimes it get’s to be a bit much.
In the end I would have to say that although I very much enjoyed seeing all my friends and family I almost wish I had never gone home on leave at all. Part of that stems from the fact that I had a sort of groove going over here and time was flying by for me. Then I went home and that groove was disrupted for about 5 weeks. It was hard to get back into things once I returned and time just seemed to crawl by. Of course the Army keeps rolling along and did not care that I was not back in my groove yet. Because 1 day after I returned I had the awesome pleasure of pulling 5 missions in a row. Talk about jumping in with both feet.
Three things stand out the most to me about my time at home on leave. Number one would be all the different colors. Everything over here is a brown reddish color. Occasionally you will see a house that is pink or purple but other than that it is mostly plain Jane. Green grass, trees with the changing leaves, different colored houses, different colored lights downtown, peoples colorful clothes, total culture shock. I actually went on several walks around town admiring all the different colors.
The number two thing that stood out while I was home was my complete inability to get any decent sleep for the first 5 days back. The realization that I eventually came to was that it was way too quiet. Over here there is always some type of noise whether it is the helicopters at the airfield or the generators that are constantly running. I am sure that jet lag figured in there also. All I know for absolute sure is that in that first 5 day period I only got about 20 hours sleep total. I also seemed to be in military mode for those first few days where I was totally wound up. After a few days I seemed to get used to the idea that I was actually back home. And of course by the time I felt completely at ease and relaxed it was time to go back.
But I have to say the biggest thing that I noticed while I was at home was how much nothing had changed. In this whole period of time where I felt like I had already lived a whole separate lifetime of doing things everyone back home had not done much except exist on a daily basis. I don’t want folks back home to take this the wrong way so let me explain myself. I was extremely elated to see as many people as I did and I thoroughly enjoyed my time at home and hanging with my friends, but at the same time I quickly grew bored and actually looked forward to coming back to Iraq. I think that part of it was the fact that most people had to work during the day so the only time I could hang out with folks was at night. But coming from a situation where I work 7 days a week and then going to a schedule of having nothing to do all day took some adjustment. I also think that with all the experiences I have had in the last 6 months, experiences that most people will never have (probably a good thing), made being home all the much weirder.
Before all my friends start thinking that I hated being home I will add some of the highlights of my trip:
Seeing Heather who was the last friend from the states that I saw before I left and hanging out with her for a night was awesome. Playing with my dog Smokey and sleeping on the couch with him. Pizza. Sleeping in a real bed. Drinking was cool but hangovers were not. Being able to smoke inside was a nice change. Hanging out in Trevors backyard and chatting.Hanging out with Lyn, Vinnie & krystal. Ron & Lisa's guy falkes day party. Hanging out with Jim A.,Stacy,Carly and Rob for Dart night. Seeing all my friends at the Arena and Blind Pig. Dinner at Knights steak house with my mom. Driving where ever I wanted to when ever I wanted to. Complete and total freedom. Real food with actual nutrients that have not been completly processed out of them. Fall colors. Raking leaves ( yes I actually enjoyed doing it ). Being able to choose what clothes I was going to wear.
Another thing about going home was the fact that I was in really good shape before I left. But while I was home, due to my own lack of motivation, I managed to gain about 10 pounds which took about 3 weeks to get rid of. There was also the whole traveling aspect. To put it simply the traveling to and from leave was absolutely horrible. You are literally treated like cattle during the whole process which really just sucks. I also had the austere pleasure of flying out of Detroit on Veteran’s day which was a strange experience to say the very least. A lot of people wanted to shake my hand and thank me for my service which was a good feeling. But on the other hand I was leaving home and not in the highest of spirits and talking to a bunch of strangers over and over again was a little overwhelming. There was one guy in the Atlanta airport that got my spirits back up with his simple statement of “ thank you for serving, go get those bastards for us” which for some reason brought my spirits back up. I am not saying that I do not appreciate the thank you’s I get just that sometimes it get’s to be a bit much.
In the end I would have to say that although I very much enjoyed seeing all my friends and family I almost wish I had never gone home on leave at all. Part of that stems from the fact that I had a sort of groove going over here and time was flying by for me. Then I went home and that groove was disrupted for about 5 weeks. It was hard to get back into things once I returned and time just seemed to crawl by. Of course the Army keeps rolling along and did not care that I was not back in my groove yet. Because 1 day after I returned I had the awesome pleasure of pulling 5 missions in a row. Talk about jumping in with both feet.
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