Rules of the Blog

You should all know that there are a lot of things I’m just not going to talk about in the blog. You won’t hear much about what I actually do for my job. I won’t say much about where we are or tell you many names. Why? Security here and everywhere the military goes is key. Even though you need a password to get on this site and it may seem silly, it is important that I do this in this way. So, I’ll chat about how life is over here, how I feel, how the kids are doing back home, etc. Trust me, I’m not doing any super-sexy-secret missions in the night. I’ve just got that cool job of taking care of people.
Oh, and I do feel obligated to ensure the ice cream quality is satisfactory. Kerrigan sent me a little bear in a package recently. It’s the same little bear she has been putting on my nightstand for years. So, I’m taking little bear with me and he’ll get a few photo ops in the future. And, yes, the baskin robins pralines and cream is top quality stuff!

SCYPE

I'm now evangelizing for Scype. Leigh Anne and I have been using scype off and on since I got here and I think it makes all the difference in communication back home. It's free software we use to talk and to see each other through webcams. I think it is the very best for Kerrigan and Lily. Kerrigan in particular likes to sit and play checkers -- and perhaps other of the scype games in the future. In a way it's just like being back home for a bit when we scype. So, it you haven't tried scype -- try it now!

Here's a picture of our clinic...this is before we cleaned it up. Jules...got any decorating ideas?

Craig...late at night!

So...Alan sent me this great picture of Craig. They were chatting on Skype. 1 AM Craig's time, and I think about 3 PM Alan's time. :) Alan sent me the transcripts of the chat...which was pretty entertaining, as apparently Alan was talking out loud over Skype (hence, no transcript of alan's portion of the discussion) and Craig was typing all his responses (because of the lateness of the hour...and the close quarters Craig is living in, he was being respectful of his neighbors!) So I had to read between the lines. Lots of diaper rash advice given by Craig...and it sounds like Craig is doing well. Freezing cold (again, temps not much different than Utah!), lots of dirt, mine fields, and not good internet access.

At any rate, SKYPE seems really cool. Something I will definitely look into once I can walk upstairs. (for now I only have internet thanks to a laptop from work, which I cannot put Skype on). But the rest of you should all join the Skype revolution! Get Skype, and you too can have phone conversations with Craig for free! www.skype.com

Here's some more pictures from Craig...

"These are the mountains to the south and west of our base -- beautiful. We got a light dusting of snow yesterday and this morning the sky was pretty clear so I took these picutures. Mountains like this are to the southwest, west, north and east. Nice view, eh?"

editorial comments from me (Julie)...so far Afghanistan looks a LOT like Utah! :)

Craig and his "B Hut"

Craig's B Hut

Camp Blackjack!

I got an email from Craig today....He's finally settled (if you can call it that!) in Afghanistan. Here's what he had to say:

Well, I'm finally here and actually working. It feels somewhat like a normal day for the first time in a long time. I woke up early...about 5:30 this morning and worked out. We have a little building that's only about 200 feet away with some cardio equipment -- can't ask for more convenient than that. I got myself really warm on the bike and then went out for a run after the sun came up. After I got back home I showered -- this is a nice set up too. It's about as close as the gymn -- 200 ft. or so. Plenty of hot water. Then I rolled over to the aid station which is on the second floor of a building (yeah, you guessed it -- about 200 feet from my room). I've seen just a few sick call patients and now I'm working on some of the administrative issues of my job. Our rooms are in what they call "B huts". It's basically a small plywood building. Inside it's got a hallway down the middle and is partitioned into six small rooms. There's room inside for a bed (we're all waiting for much needed new mattresses) a desk and some shelves to put clothing on. Every bit of furniture looks as though it was made it about 15 minutes and it's all made of plywood and 2x4's. Needless to say it needs work.

Here are some pictures of my B hut and camp blackjack where I live. In the camp one the main building is where our clinic is...up on the second floor. The metal building on the left is the women's bathroom. I think you could help with the decor here....everything is very functional. I've never had a cold shower. the big yellow tubes going into the side of our B hut? Yes, that's the heating and cooling. Climate control is excellent. There are a lot of things a guy could complain about I suppose but overall this is 1000% better than Iraq. The Army works hard to take care of us.

Kyrgystan?

Yeah, that’s what I said too. We were treated to three nights and four days of Club Med ‘Manas’ – all free and complimentary courtesy of the US Army. Now with a vacation package like that generously offered at the end of the year like a bonus compensation just after the end of the year Christmas Party you know something’s up and it doesn’t smell rosy. Where is Manas? Where is Kyrgystan for that matter! Definitely like Club Med – no distractions from the outside world. No phones; No television; No nothin’ at all to distract you from relaxing from the cares of the world. Just imagine a soviet-style forced vacation together with a group of company colleagues being similarly compensated in a location somewhat like Siberia and you wouldn’t be far from the truth. The temperature never rose above freezing and in fact hardly changed at all from day to night while I could never tell if it was truly snowing or if the flakes that wouldn’t melt but just bounced off my frozen face were just old and being blown around by the wind. Accomodations? I’ll attach a nice picture from my top bunk. With jet-lag and the way we had our place was lit I never could tell if it was night or day in that place.

But hey, it was all good. I got to hang out in the snow and to tell you the truth, walking around the first night in the dark with the snow crunching under my feet and moonlight to guide me and the inside of my nose getting that sensation of freezing – it reminded me of cross country skiing at night back home. I had time to hang out with some of the soldiers, I got over my jet lag and they DID have phones and internet to call home and talk to Leigh Anne, Kerrigan and Lily. You had to walk a ways in the cold but you could find 'em and they worked fine. Everyone was in good spirits despite the delay and we finally got on our way to Afghanistan.

Loaded down

Okay...it all seems like it will be light when you are packing it up...but then there's the body armor...and no matter how light one pair of socks seems, when you pack a whole lot of it all together it all adds up. About 185#. One more of those duffel bags and my carry on. Needless to say, some of it will be going to Afghanistan in the mail. One really nice thing about it all is that the army has provided top notch gear -- and lots of it. I've got one more duffel bag fully loaded and my carry on too. I can heft it all but I can't move far with it.

Support for troops

One thing you all should know is that whenever I go anywhere in uniform people always thank me for my service to our country. In spite of all the negative talk in the news about the conflicts we are engaged in people still are positive to those of us who are in the military. Old veterans thank me. Anytime I use my military ID the clerks will make a positive comment. Sometimes even a twenty-something will show a little gratitude. I can't remember ever having anyone do or say anything but kind words to me -- and it seems lots of people make it a point to go out of their way and say thanks. Here in Clarksville, TN the local businesses frequently put signs up supporting the troops and there always seems to be a military discount available -- even Dairy queen. And it's not just gratitude here but everywhere I've been the last few years. Who knows what politicians' political agendas are -- but it is nice to know that our country is full of the kind of people who individually show their support for the troops regardless of their feelings about the conflict.

As for me, it is hard to leave the family but in many ways I'm glad to have the opportunity to serve. I signed up for the Army a long time ago and I committed to serve. It has been nearly four years since I was in Iraq and I've watched friends and family go to Iraq and back while I've stayed at home. It's my turn to go. This time I'll be going with a unit that is MY unit. I know the soldiers and I look forward to taking care of them. For the first time in my army career I really feel like I'm connected with the soldiers and my clinic visits aren't just simple appointments. I've only been in the brigade for a few months and I'm getting to know the soldiers personally. Appointments don't happen in the clinic at scheduled times but I just take care of whatever needs doing when the issue arises. I get to plan for the unit as a group in regards to prevention of problems. Overall, it feels good to be going with them and taking care of them. What a great job I've got. I suspect when this deployment is all over I will soon forget what a pain it was to go but I'll always remember what an honor it was to take care of the troops.