Another Day Down
Wow it’s been quite some time since I’ve written anything here. Well I’m still in Iraq and I’m still at FOB Falcon. Things here have been alright. With each day that passes the more I miss home and my wife. During my downtime I try to find things to occupy my time whether its playing video games, drawing, or watching movies, but sometimes it doesn’t always work. I’m guessing summer is in full swing here or at least it feels like it. I don’t think it can get any hotter, average temp is usually around 115 but it has been about 120 a few times.
It really has been an experience that I am proud of but I think it’s about time for us to pack it up and bring it home. Don’t think I’m not supportive of the war because I am, but in my opinion I believe the Iraqi’s are ready for us to leave. Case in point there was the June 30th withdraw from the cities and I just read that many of the barricades and T-walls that US forces put up for security around Baghdad are coming down per the Iraqi government. What is not in the news is that military convoy’s are only allowed to be on the roads between certain hours of the day and that each vehicle has a sheet of paper explaining who we are in case we’re stopped at in Iraqi checkpoint.
We’re on water restrictions here because of a broken sewer main somewhere in Baghdad so we are only allowed to use the showers between certain times of the day and bathrooms have been converted into Porta Johns…nothing like using one of those in 115 degree weather.
I hope to post more just so I can find an outlet. I’ll leave you with this link of the area:Local Area
“Problems”
Well I finally made it to Iraq and to FOB Falcon. I’m settled into my room, unpacked, and most importantly I’m off the cot. The rooms are nice, but compared back to the states people would be like “really this is what they have you staying in”. It’s enough for me I have a bed and place to put my clothes. We have internet in all the rooms, a PX, gym, and the typical stuff you would find on an Army post.
I have been fortunate enough to go to three foreign countries Brazil, Kuwait, and Iraq and each time I realize how fortunate I am to be living in the USA. How easily I could have been born in a 3rd world country. I say fortunate because going to Iraq and Brazil really puts things into perspective on how good we have it. When did it become ok to complain about needing a bigger house when you already have 3/2 and it’s just a wife and husband? When did it become ok to complain about needing more options in your car or additional car. When did these things become “problems” in the eyes of American’s? After brushing your teeth out of a water bottle, using a porta john for 5 months, or going to take a shower and to find all the water is gone because the water truck didn’t make it yet or all the water is used up really helps put things life into perspective. As you can tell I have put some thought into this. It’s funny, if you were to ask a typical American if they are wealthy or rich that would laugh and proceed to tell you no. After seeing Iraq and how some man’s little Bazaar is how he makes his living to provide for his family everything else goes out the window. I’ll end with this Matthew 19:24 “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
**Let me go ahead and step off my soap box**
By the way here is a link to photos of my deployment. Check back every now and then as I will update them.
http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.evansII
Death By Boredom
Look at this 2 postings within a week.
I’m still in Kuwait and will be here until who knows when. I’m actually hanging out at the Starbucks this morning. Mainly because internet in the tent during the day is, well, nonexistent and this is the best place to get on the net. As long as I don’t look out the window or pay attention Arabic like English it’s just like I’m at home. From the drinks down to the pastries. It’s standing room only here, I actually had to setup on a 5 foot stack of skimmed milk boxes. We still have not got word of when we’ll be leaving here. I sure hope it sometime soon because I’m going to go crazy between living out of a bag and doing nothing.
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| From Kuwait |
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| From Kuwait |
I know from time to time I get some stragglers stopping by. If any of you happened to be deploying for the first time and is unsure of what to bring shoot me an e-mail. I have been debating on putting together a list of those things and so far I have not found a reason to.
Till next time.
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.
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.
great googly moogly
I have the greatest job ever. It’s hard to believe that I almost did not apply for this job. Thank you Jen for pushing me to apply. Not only do I play with AutoCAD but I also play with the latest software version of it. I’m talking stuff in Alpha and Beta phases. I’m free to make my own schedule most of the time and I get paid pretty good as well as compensated in other ways.
But this just takes the cake. Jen and I have debating about what to do with a laptop and me deploying. We have a laptop currently at home, but it’s not really meant to be used as a laptop. Giant 17″ screen, full keyboard, and heaven forbid you keep it on your lap because I’m pretty sure I could back brownies with the amount of heat it gives off. About 2 weeks ago I was talking to my boss about this situation and that I have been looking at the Dell Outlet store and that I’ve been watching the prices on there. We chit-chatted about the deals there and that was that, nothing more. Flash forward to today and my boss I asked me if I found anything yet for a laptop and I told him we’re still debating it and we also need to budget for it. Well out of nowhere he told me to go ahead and find one that I like and the company would purchase it for me. I say company like we’re a big firm, but he is the owner of the company.
Talk about a huge blessing from the Lord. Thank you Jesus!!
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.
