And We’re Back
So after months of being absent I’m back. Last time I updated this I was at Camp Shelby, MS. Since then I’ve been to NTC out at Fort Irwin, CA and I revisited Fort Bragg for a few weeks. But right now I’m in Kuwait, I’ve been in Kuwait since the 16th of April and I will be here until who knows. They haven’t given me any sort of time frame of when I will be leaving for Iraq. I sure hope it’s sometime soon though because sleeping on cots and living out of a duffel bag for the lat 3 months is getting old. Have you ever tried to find a pair of socks at the bottom of a duffel bag without unpacking it? It’s not fun you end up grabbing everything else but a pair of socks. Not to say Kuwait is bad there’s a decent gym, a movie theater, Starbucks, Taco Bell, Burger King, a nice PX, and some other great amenities. The time difference of seven hours is something to get use to. I’m saying goodnight to Jen and she’s about to eat lunch. I find myself up until 1230 or even later sometimes. The heat really doesn’t bother me. I actually welcome the heat compared to the biter cold months back in the states.
I do have a lot of pictures from the beginning of my deployment in December and up until now. As I get more pictures I will upload them to the location below. I’m hoping that I can get back into updating my blog so just bear with me.
http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.evansII
Till next time folks.
Hey All
I hope all is going well back home. Things in Mississippi are going alright. A week ago I had to get some more shots…never enough shots I say. Anyways I had to begin my Anthrax series, finish my HEP B series, and my favorite, Small Pox. I’ve always wondered about the circle scar some people have, well now I will have one of my own. I never realized how much is involved in the small pox shot. I will spare the details if you like.
I’ve been doing a field exercise since Wednesday, 4 of us from the fuel section have been manning a fuel point for other vehicles doing training. It’s not to bad 7 – 12:30 and then I knock off for the day unless there is a night mission. Other then that not whole lot going on. Probably because we’re getting ready to head to California.
Speaking of California I found out that I will be part of a group heading to California before the rest of the unit to prepare for there arrival. Wish I had some exciting details or stories to share, but I am safe and doing well.
One last thing I’ve thrown in some pictures for your viewing pleasure. The boxy looking homes (CHU) is what we are staying in while we’re in the field and when we get to Iraq. These hold 12 people, but that’s because there are 3 CHU’s put together. While we’re in Iraq it should be one CHU and that would hold 2-3 soldiers. The photo called living area is just the area of the barracks.
Thanks for all your prayers and support.
Bobby
I know
Currently I’m sitting in Cheeburger Cheeburger, by the way have excellent burgers, in the Richmond, Va Airport waiting for a return flight back Mississippi. I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything. Mainly I’ve been without internet. You would think in the year 2009 the United States Army would have decent internet available…guess again.
So January I reported to my unit to for a 32 hour or 2 day convoy to Mississippi. Clocking in 32 hours you would’ve thought we were driving to Texas or something. Anyways Mississippi has been interesting a lot of training and some down time. Now how I got to Richmond is interesting. January 17th I needed to report to school and they either forgot or….well I think they forgot. When they finally got my flight made I was in the middle of a training exercise. I got word I needed to report and I was promptly dropped off on the side of the road with full gear waiting for a ride. So for about 15 minutes freezing in the middle of who knows where I was waiting for my ride. I had about 5 minutes to grab and pack. Gotta love the Army.
So since January 17th I’ve been at Fort Pickett for MOS (my job) training. There’s not much of anything except woods and gravel there. But it was nice to have some down time from the hectic training and plus I got to see Jen for a weekend. In a way I don’t want to leave, but also looking forward to getting back to my unit. The deployment mobilization has had some high times and some low times. Occasionally I have a day where I just want to be back home and with family and friends.
Thanks everyone for the prayers and support.
Merry Christmas
After a long 23 days of training at FOB Patriot (Fort Bragg) I finally have a break for the holidays. We spent about 2 weeks on and off the range with getting people qualified and doing range detail. Have no fear, f I am attacked by targets that pop up for anywhere between 2-5 seconds, I have time to setup my shot, I’m relaxed, and I know where they will be coming from I will have no problem laying them down. I’ve gone through so many Warrior Tasks, not once, not twice, but three times. I have also re-certified my combat lifesaving license and I have a permit to drive a wide range of vehicles. We also went through a Humvee roll over exercise, which was pretty fun. Although it was not as nearly as fast a real roll over, but still fun. I kept pushing for it to go faster, but it had one speed…slow.
Our 16 man condo. Wonderful plastic covered mattresses and plastic flooring. 
The Humvee roll over experience. I was the driver and my ACH (helmet) and my body got wedge as I was trying to get out. We had to get out upside down.
Me getting ready to give an IV to some poor sap.
Laundry service trailer. There are 8 washers and 6 dryers. There were only 3 of these on the FOB and about 500 or more of us. The math does not add up, but thankfully a week before we left they opened up a laundry tent…way to go Army. By the way right next to the laundry trailer is our wonderful bathroom. Not sure what’s worse having it as sauna or as an icebox. Much of the time it was in the 40’s at night….I think you get the picture.
That was my home for 23 days.
One of the things I have a permit on.
So from here I head to Mississippi to Camp Shelby for about a month a half. I have no idea what to expect accept madnesses and chaos…organized chaos hopefully.
Till next time folks.
Update from Bobby
Hi Everyone! This is Jen. I just wanted to post some updates from Bobby. We went to his mobilization ceremony yesterday and I have never been more proud to be his wife. He is very happy and seems to be making a lot of friends. I got to meet some of his tent mates as well yesterday which was nice to finally have some faces with names. Here is a copy of his latest email:
Things are going well here believe it or not. We’ve had some really cold days here and we’ve been outside everyday. We’ve been at the range everyday. Two days shooting and two days working the range passing out ammo. I hate all the paperwork and briefings the army has, but shooting is what I enjoy.
It’s only been about a week but it’s really amazing what the Lord can do within a week. I have found myself praying and communicating more then I was before. I’ve also had some opportunities to let others know who I side with. Last night one of my tent mates was asking me about my tattoos (Star of David & Cross) and how I went from Jewish to Christian. So I was able to share with him and 6 others who didn’t even ask. It was pretty cool to be able to do that.
Thank you all for your prayers and support and I look forward to Christmas Break.
I have also uploaded pictures from yesterday’s visit. They can be viewed here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=74282&l=ec661&id=557844883
counting the days
I just got done talking with my pastor and it’s hard to believe that this Sunday will be my last Sunday service at church before I head out. This whole thing has been a roller coaster of emotions for me. So many different thoughts and emotions that I haven’t really been able to process everything. Next week Jen, her parents, and I head to Arkansas for Thanksgiving and drive straight back here on November 30th. Then December 1st to head out to Fort Bragg until Christmas and at that time I’ll come home for about a week and then head out to Camp Shelby.
Friday I went to see the new James Bond flick with Jen and some friends. I thought it was a pretty good movie. I agree it was not as great as Casino Royal story wise, but it was an action packed movie. The story was not as clear as the last movie, you had to pick it up as you went. Granted the villain was named Mr. Green, not very scary, and he was an environmental villain, still not very scary. Minor details I say, overall a decent movie.
Jen gave me something so amazing that I can only say fabutastic (I promise you this is a word…ok you caught me Jen and I combined fabulous and fantastic into one word (dorks I know)). She made me a scrap book to take along with me. She had all sorts of people send in letters and pictures. She had friends from my old job, my current boss, her family, and most of my family all write something. Not just the scrapbook, but overall people have really stepped up beyond what I imagined to help Jen and I during this time. I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.
Saturday was my farewell cookout. We had a huge turnout, had to be over 50. A bunch of people from our church and some friends, and plus my boss came out with his family. Which by the way he brought me favorite soda/pop/soft drink, depending where you are in the US, Guarana. I found out about Guarana on the mission trip to Brazil a few years ago. He went to Brazil last month for a work trip and I asked him to pick med up a few if he could.
Other then that not much going on. Work has been pretty slow…really slow, I’ve been slowly handing stuff over to the new guy. So far he’s been kind of shaky, but he is only here temporary…hopefully he works out while I’m gone.
Till next time f0lks.
Get ready for a ride
It’s a little after 10pm and we still have a few hours before the new President is announced and it’s not looking for McCain (Obama 207 to McCain 95). I would have rathered seen Mike Huckabee instead of McCain, but I guess America saw something in McCain. Anyway, I do not want to go off on a wild politic tangent because I’m sure we’ve all have seen enough to last us another 4 years. I just hope everyone got out and voted yesterday because it is important.
School is going well I have the third highest average in class and I have one more test left. I’m learning a lot about being petroleum Supply Specialist, testing the fuel, gauging it, learning about flashpoints, working with pumps, setting up different types of fueling points and that only a small amount. One of the vehicles I would be working with is a HEMMT and this is very versatile vehicle for the Army because it can be used in many different applications and not just for fuel. This picture shows the HEMMT as fuel tanker, but remove the fuel tank portion and it can be transformed into say a concrete mixer.
So just a few more days left and I’ll be heading home. That’s if I do not smother one of the female soldiers here. She’s a very loud female and is very “hey look at me”. Her voice just travels and it’s like nails on a chalkboard, and it doesn’t help that she spells out popular texting phrases. By the way I’ll be getting deployed with her. Perhaps I’ll send her on a quest to find headlight fluid. Yes she’ll fall for this and I know this because today she asked what channel the election results would be on.
December 1st is fast approaching and I got my first taste of helplessness last week. Jen had a bit of an accident huge accident. Jen tripped in a hole and sprained both of her ankles and possibly tore the ligaments in one of them. I get the phone call of her in tears and I could not be there for her to comfort her. Fortunately her mom was there to get her to the ER and they have been helping her around the house, but I just wish I could be there for her.
I leave you with a picture of a Camel Spider:
Camel Spider
How Quickly December Will Be Here
Sunday I got done with a long week and long days (5 AM to 9 PM) of training and paperwork to get me ready for deployment. It was only suppose to be Monday through Friday, but in typical Army fashion someone screwed up. Originally my orders were suppose to be till Friday so they just extended my orders till Sunday. Imagine my surprise when they told me this news. Monday through Thursday was SRP days (Solider Readiness Processing). During this time I get screened for my medical (started my HEP B shots), personnel, clothing issues, & briefings (not underwear briefings Jen). This is all in order to get me ready for SRC (Solider Readiness Check) which is about the same thing as an SRP but more in detail. Then Thursday through Sunday we were in the Field doing Warrior Task Training and Battle Drills. Oh lucky me on Wednesday I felt I was getting sick and sure enough Thursday it kicked in, I’m guessing I got it from one of the other 450 soldiers. Needless to say the last few days were miserable, exhausted, not being able to talk, sore throat…and out in 90 plus degree weather. I don’t mind being out in the field doing training, but being sick just makes everything worse.
So Saturday I was just beat from fighting this cold and my NCOIC (Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge) told me to get with the medic. So I went and saw the one of NCO Staff members who could contact the medic. I explained my situation to him. He asked me “You wouldn’t be doing this to get out of training would you? I’m just kidding, don’t take it the wrong way.” I chuckled and he chuckled. I knew he was kidding, but I said back “If I wanted to get out of training I would’ve done it on my wife’s birthday”. Anyway I eventually got with the medic, who was useless, told me I had a cold and I need to take some medicine. of course I already knew I had a cold and I was already taking medicine.
Even though the week had it downers it did have some good things. I met some of the people I will be deploying with as well as found out some information on what to expect over in Iraq. So December 1st is when I will be leaving for training and then in April I will be leaving for the Sandbox…Iraq. I can’t believe how quickly August will be over and how quickly December will be here. I will get to come home for Christmas and New Years, but I will be leaving again on January 2nd…yes my birthday. Happy Birthday Bobby you’re going to Mississippi. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about Mississippi. Jen has shared the story of her mom treating to leave her Dad if they did not move from Mississippi. Can’t wait!
Till Next Time.
In the Army Now
In the future there will be more and more post regarding my deployment and instead of talking about it in a cryptic way I figure I’ll just go head and say it. I found out last month at drill that I was being involuntary transferred to another unit being deployed. What that means is I am being transferred from the unit I am in now to another unit so they can meet their numbers…essentially I was resigned to another unit. Since I’ve told people of my deployment some have felt sorry for me. I ask please do not feel sorry for me. Jen and I knew of this when I re-enlisted and I’m excited to go. This is why I joined the Guard so I can serve. Before I was involuntary assigned to go I was in the middle of deciding if I should volunteer to go or just wait to see what happens. For those who signed up for free college they are in for a big surprise when they have to fulfill what they signed up for and I have no sympathy for those. If they do not want to defend their country that’s fine, but don’t expect a free ride to college.
Last weekend was a weekend full of cleaning weapons and working on my promotion packet at drill and I also found a bit more information on my deployment. I found out my school dates for my job reclassification and I also found out which unit I am going with. However, nobody knows for sure where this unit is. I have been given 5 or 6 different cities where this unit is. I also got my orders for my SRP (Solider Readiness Process), which is in three weeks. For those who do not know what an SRP is, it’s a week long 11+ hour days of doing paper work, getting shots, and equipment. We need to make sure we have our will’s and power of attorneys are in order, are pay in straight, and all other necessary paper work. Every solider who is going to deploy has to go through this lovely experience.
This morning I was doing research for things that I may need while deployed (items that the Army does not issue) and I realized that I will have no need to buy any regular clothes at least for a year. Plus I have all my stuff (tools, my mountain bike L, paintball gun) at home that won’t be used for over a year and I need to figure out what I’m going to do with it. By the way, for those who come across this if you’ve been deployed before your suggestions for things to bring to Iraq would be greatly appreciated.
Some other news, Friday night we got a dog and no I did nothing to persuade Jen into it. We’re not sure what he is and either does the adaptation agency. We think he has yellow lab and basenji, which is kinda like dingo. Looking at the picture he really does look like a dingo or basenji. He has really taken to Jen and as for me he’s scared. We believe that whoever owned him before that a man used to hit him, whenever I try to pet him he cowers. He’s about 2 years old and is very friendly not a mean bone in his body. The cats get along with him fine mainly because he’s afraid of them.
That’s all for now.
A Quick One
Just a quick bit of information. I made it back from Boulder, CO Friday. However, the Greensboro airport, Charlotte airport, or just someone is getting closer to being added to the “List” I just don’t know who. On my trip home from Charlotte to Greensboro we ended up sitting on the runway for about an hour or so. By the time we took off we should have been landing in Greensboro.
Anyways I posted a link down below with pictures from Boulder and the Colorado Rockies game.
Lastly, I think found out some information on being re-classed for the army. So it looks like September Jen and I will be heading to Florida and Ohio I just need to confirm it tomorrow when I’m at the Armory.
Till next time..
