Back from the Field...

Hey everyone. I'm so glad to be back, and blogging again!
As you can tell by the header, I'm back from our Field Training Exercise (FTX) and I must say, it was definately an "experience" for me. Scroll down to read my journal entries (unedted and in their original context) from the FOB.
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5-May-08 (11pm)
We packed our gear and moved to the FOB (Forward Operating Base) today. We are in 12 person tents, with 6 bunk beds. We had to be on the bus to get here at 6:45 pm, take the 1/2 hour bus ride, get off the bus - just to stand around in our 70-90 pound body armor and gear for an hor - before finally being released to find our tents, pick up our bags (that had been delivered at the beginning of our hour-long wait), and set up our bunks, foot and wall lockers. I immediately found the bathrooms/smoke pit and lit up. Then I went to the mobile P/X trailer to pick up some essentials and extras for the 8 days I'm going to be here.
As it's the first night, we're all getting along in my tent. Time will tell if it stays that way. There are a few guys from my dormatory here, so I'm not surrounded by strangers. Of the others, there are a few Airmen, but mostly NCO's. One of the Airmen has been a problem child in the past few days at Ft. McCoy...so we'll see how he turns out.
I sould go to bed now, I found out a little while ago that I have gate guard duty tomorrow morning at 5:30...a great thing to find out moments after you arrive!

ULI
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6-May-08 (7pm)
Today was our first day of field trining. My day started at 4:30 am - waking up to get dressed, shave, and get breakfast; before showing up for guard duty at 5:30. Guard duty wasn't bad. I and my fellow guard watched a gate for 4 hours; checking IDs, and letting cars come and go. It was a lot of time on my feet, but I survived.
Next came the real day of training. It started with some power point slides abot IED's, then we went out to the field training area:
1) MEDEVAC - we were shown how to call in a helicopter for medical extraction of casualties (injuries and mortalities).
2) Forward/Rear Guard - we were shown how to provide security on roads in case a convoy comes upon an IED. Basically you set up razor wire and cones to keep traffic away.
3) Sniper Awareness - here, you make yourself hard to see, stay low and out of view, and walk in no clear pattern (think a drunk driver trying to walk a police line), and to watch/listen for gunfire.
4) Combat Life Savers (CLS) - some of us (not me) stuck each other with needles and gave a saline IV to their patients. Since I wasn't doing it, and had already had a long day, I took a nap. It was refreshing!
5) IED Recognition - Part 2 of the powerpoint from earlier, this was a show-and-tell-type class. We got to see some actual Improvised Explosive Devices (just in case you didn't know what IED stands for), and how insurgents are hiding them. Afterwards, I got my first smoke of the day.
6) Convoy Training (IEDs) - this was the best part of my day, because I was actually involved. I was named truck commander (I am the highest-ranking person in my Truck, and the Army says, "If you outrank everyone else, you're in charge." [that really doesn't make sense to me, because there might be an E-4 out there that works in a specific field - say base security - day in and day out, but if he's thrown in with a group that has an E-8 - from say, medical - in it, the E-8 will tell people what to do, and the E-4 will have to follow orders, even if he knows better]), so it was my job to be the lookout and radio operator. We lined up 7 Humvees and drove the course. Each T.C. had to radio in any threats they saw - or suspocious things like wires or people - to the convoy commander. If we saw the right things, we moved on. But if not, there was a loud BOOM, and some white smoke to tell you that you missed something. My group was great, and we saw 3 of 4 IEDs. My driver saw one, I saw one, and my gunner saw one. We worked together really well. That was the best any truck in our convoy did.

God is GREAT! It was hot today, so I asked for some cooling rain. Almost immediately, a cool breeze picked up. But then it got hot again. Gog did answer my prayer, though. Right as my group finished with our convoy training, it began to rain. Now it's much cooler (I'm wearing a jacket inside as I write). God is so Great! He answered my prayer...in His time, but he did answer it!
I'm sore and tired from today. I'm going to brave the rain for one last smoke, then I'm going to bed.

ULI
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6-May-08 UPDATE (12:00am)
I have something wrong with my mouth. Yes, the tooth that has been a pain in my...mouth...is acting up again. It had been hrting all day - a little more than normal, but I chalked it up to wearing my helmet, which pushes my jaws together. But after my smoke, I went to the hygene tent to brush up and rinse my mouth before bed. When I got there, I noticed two large "blisters" above my tooth. I went to my command immediately, and told them what was going on, and to ask if there was an on-call dentist in the FOB. It turns out there wasn't, so they got someone to drive me to the main base. When we got there, we found that there was no emergency room on base, so we had to drive to the nearest town, Sparta (yes, we did all the "300" jokes we could), 10 minutes away to get to an ER.
The doctor thinks I have an abcess or two that is/are filling with puss. That could be what's causing the blistering and the pain. He gave me some penicilin for the infection, and some vicodin for the pain.
I have to go to the base dental office tomorrow morning at 7am. Maybe they can do somehting. I already took the vicodin for tonight, so now I'm really tired. Here's hoping for tomorrow.

ULI
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7-May-08 (9:55pm)
I went to the dentist this morning, but they lacked the facilities to do anyhting more than minor procedures. so they made me an appointment at a local civilian dentist for tomorrow. So I'll suffer for another day. It looks like I may lose the tooth. I'm almost relieved, since it's been nothingbut a hassle for a long time now.
After my appointment, I returned to training. EVERYONE knew that I'd been to the doctor, so EVERYONE wanted to know what it was all about. So I told them. However, I had taken another vicodin at the bae dentist's advice...and I was feeling a little woosy and groggy. A lot of people thought I was high.
Our training was on "crew served weapons," which is just fancy talk for m-a-c-h-i-n-e-g-u-n-s (see previous tirades about weapon systems I'm unqualified for). Towards the end of our training, our Chief Master Sergeant in charge told me to come see him later in his tent, because he wanted to talk to me. Maybe it was the narcotics in my system, but I got nervous, and began to think of what I could have possibly done wrong to get the highest-ranking person in our group to want to talk to me. By the time I was supposed to see him, I was almost a wreck - call it a guilty conscience. I knocked on his tent door, and reported (that's right, reported, with full attention, and reporting statement). He answered the door, told me to come in, asked me what I was there about - so I told him that he'd told me to come by - and then told me he'd forgotten, so it must not have been that important. Can you believe that? I was about to admit to almost anyhting as guilty as I made myself feel, and he forgot what it was all about.
Now I'm off to bed, a little aprehensive about tomorrow.

ULI
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8-May-08 DREAM (6:40 am)
Last night I had a dream. It wasn't good or bad, just scary in a way. I guess living in a tent is on my mind, because in the dream, I was living in the very tent I now call "home." Sometime in the night (in the dream), there was a knock at the door. I opened it, expecting one of the guys I live with to hav elocked himself out, but to my suprise, it was VANESSA!!! I was shocked to see her, but Oh! So! Happy! I let her in - damn the rules about no females in the male tents - and we talked for a bit. But then she had to go. Before she did, though, she hugged me, and said, "I'm scared of that bus." At the same time, a Greyhound bus drove by, so I asked her why. She then pointed to a little blue school bus (the kind the military uses as a troop transport) and sain, "No, THAT one." I knew instantly what she meant. She was scared for me to get deployed, as if something bad was going to happen while I'm away...to me, or to her, I'm not sure which). I IMMEDIATELY WOKE UP! It was 4:30 am. Eventually I went back to sleep, but it was an uneasy rest. Maybe I can call her from the dentist ofice this afternoon. I should talk to her.

ULI
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8-May-08 (8:45 pm)
I am a tad upset this evening!!!
I started off the day like everyone else, except I wasn't wearing my helmet due to my profile/waiver. So I had to watch everyone else go through their training because the instructors wouldn't let me DO anyhting. I understand, it says in their Army training manuals that before you can enter a Humvee, you have to bea wearing a kevlar helmet. So I watched, and as soon as my group finished up that hour's trining, I went back to my tent to get ready for my dentist visit. I NEVER WOULD HAVE GUESSED THAT THE TRAINING (OR LACK THEREOF) WOULD BE THE BEST PART OF MY DAY!!!
Anyway, I went to the dentist, told him about my situation, and asked what he could do. He made me aware that if he did anyhting, I might not be deployable. I told him to do what he could, and sinc eI've fought so hard already to get to this training, maybe they'd let me continue on with dental work. I also told him that if he had any questions, he could get in touch with my military dentist in Germany. So he started what I thought would be the process of clearing up the abcesses in my mouth, and perhaps he would remove the tooth. NOPE! All he did was poke at the blisters with a sharp instrument (it hurt sooooo much), then had his assistants make a mold of my teeth. This was the part when I thought he might be doing somehting, but OH-NO! When the molds were done, he told me he was done, and that - get this - if I WANTED, I could come back in a week. In a WEEK! I didn't show it, but I was LIVID! I then asked for some pain killers or something for the infection (like more penicilin). He said, "We'll see," and I never saw him again. His assistant showed me out, called my shuttle bus for me, and I left feeling no better, and probably worse, than I did before I arrived.
When I got back to base, I told my SMSgt (th eone that will be in charge of me if I get to go to Af...my deployment. Then I told my First Sergeant. Both times, I let my dissappointment show. I'm in pain. Nothing is being done - I'm just getting passed around from doctor to doctor. And most importantly, I'm missing valuable, and vital instruction that is required for me to pass this course of Combat Skills Training. If I don't pass, I will have to come back later to make it up, which means I don't get to go home to my wife before my deployment, and if it takes too long, I may have to stay in the desert LONG after I was supposed to return to make up for lost time. After I told my command about this, they made some phone calls, and I now have anothe appointment with the base dentist tomorrow morning. I'm steaming, so I'm going to go smoke, breathe, and try to relax enough to get some sleep.

ULI
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9-May-08 (10:55 pm)
I don't know why I'm calling this my FOB journal, when it's really turning out to be my "my dental issues" journal.
I woke up this morning with just enough time to shave, rinse, and catch my ride to the dentist (4th ddoctor visit in as many days if you're counting with me). This time the dentist asked me what the civilian dentist had said, so I told him EXACTLY what transpired. Then I told him I'd be happy not to go back, and to scrap the whole mess. He decided I should go back anyway. So I told HIM, that I'd go, but after my group returned from the FOB next Wednesday - that way I wouldn't miss anything too important. I don't know, maybe it was the pain, or the complete frustration that no one had done anything up to this point but show me a door, so I told him to make me out a prescrption for pain meds and antibiotics. Yep, me, a SSgt (E-5) gave a Major (O-4), an order. I told him that if I didn't get somehting, I might just go crazy from the pain, and do something bad (use your imagination...I know I did!). So I have 2 bottles of pills now, some amoxicilin, and some 800mg motrin. I felt a little better.
Later in the day, I couldn't stand the pain anymore. The motrin wasn't doing anything, and the puss blisters were really bothering me...so I went to the hygene tent, and popped them. (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT AHEAD)
It spewed forth puss and blood like some sort of infected volcano. There was an audible "pop" that I can only describe as the sound of a baseball bat hitting a home-run. And the taste...how do I write this? Imagine if a piece of spoiled meat was left out in the sun next to a puddle of stagnant water, then picked up by a wet dog, dropped in the water, and deficated on by a passing elephant. It. Was. BAD! I rinsed with Listerine for a good 5 minutes after that. Now I know, I probably shouldn't have popped it, but you know what? I felt INSTANTLY better! The pain was gone, and th efever I'd been running for a few days went away in moments. Maybe I made things worse, but for right now, I feel so much better!

Today we did convoy duty. since I have been gone, they appointed someone else to be my truck commander. I mad eit back from my appointment just in time to get in battle gear, and jump in my Humvee. Most of the time I did nothing, but onc ein a while, I filled in for the emergency response team, or put out road cones (thank goodness for that training. Whew, those cones, what a bitch, I mean, I'm so glad I went through a 2-hour class on putting up little orange pieces of molded rubber, otherwise our convoy might not have survived the one deer that apporached before running off into the distance. REALLY?!? Road Cones!?!? They wouldn't deter a curious 4-year-old, let alone a serious and suicidal insurgent...but I digress.
I forgot to mention that yesterday, after the dentist released me, I walked around the little shopping complex nearby. There was a Home Depot, a Quiznos, a Toys "R" Us (yes I went in, no I didn't buy anything), and a Sprint store. So I bought a cheap pre-paid phone so I can call Vanessa. After my dream this morning, I feel the need to call her more than ever. I've missed her voice so much. She was such a sweetie, and got me an alarm clock that lets you record a memo to yourself, like, "Wake up, you have a dentist appointment this morning" on it. Anyhoo, she recorded a lovely set of special I Love You messages to me, and it wakes me up every morning. But it's not the same as hearing her tender voice talking to me in person. She has a way of calming me down, and easing the worst days into nice nights, all by just talking to me. So I was out, somehting told me to buy it, so I did. I'm so glad I did. She had a pretty bad day (read her blog to find out all about it - link on the right). I'm starting, no, I already do dislike her office and leadership, I'm starting to get upset about it. Yo wouldn't like me when I'm angry... All I can do is pray for her, and hope that God's will, is to protect her, and keep her safe from those that would do her harm. That, or fire bomb her office one night so there's no work or supervisors to hassle her -- for all the FBI/CIA/OSI/CID/DHS folks out there, I'm just kidding ;P I want to be there for her. She has it so much harder than I do. My pain is physical, and that's easy to get over, but she's being hit on all sides: physical (her abdomen), psychological (the games her office is playing with her, and the amount of crap they pile on her), and emotional (just when she gets her grip on her situations [work, depression, me, etc.], something comes along and pulls the rug out from under her. I tell you, THAT'S the only reason I'm considering letting the dentist pull out my tooth. Maybe I'll be non-deployable, and I'll get to be with her through all she's going through.

I've got special "search" training tomorrow. It's capturing insurgents at the front gate, and frisking them and their cars for concealed weapons, or explosives - I know, more things that go BOOM! I just keep telling myself I've only got a few more weeks, and then I get to go ome to Germany, my life, and most importantly, My WIFE!

ULI
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10-May-08 (7pm)
Today we had multiple station training to get us ready for the big FTX - or Field Training Exercise. I did "search" training, which was a combination of the training we got on our first day here at Ft. McCoy, and the guard duty I did out first day on the FOB. We also had guard tower training, so we'd be able to identify insurgents in case they attack the base, more MEDEVAC training to ge twounded people to safety, and triage.
All in all, it wasn't a bad day. It even had its funny moments, like when I was supposed to grab an injured female sergeant and, by myself, load her into a humvee for evacuation. What was supposed to happen, was we drag them to the truck, get them into a seated position, squat down, then stand with them in our arms and lay back into the truck. Then push them over top of us, until they're in the truck, then crawl out and you're done. Well.......things didn't exactly go that way. I did everything right, up to the point where I lay back into the truck. But then it got, "sticky". I had a bunch of gear clipped on to the front of my body armor (earplugs, M-16 magazines, a first-aid kit, etc.), and she had a bunch of stuf attached to the back of hers. So when I went to push her over me, we got stuck. From the outside, it must have looked quite compromising, the way we were situated, and every time I tried to pull her over top of me-get herstuck-then try pulling again...well, use your imagination (Vanessa, nothing happened, I promise). Eventually, I did a Karate scream, pushed her up with all my might, and threw her into the truck over me. When we got out, the crowd around us cheered and laughed hystarically. I was a little embarrassed, but she was beet red. It was the first bit of fun we've had out here so far.

ULI
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11-May-08 (8:45 pm)
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!
I called home right after church this morning to tell my Mom HMD! Then I had to rush out the door to get to our FTX. I had the awesome job of providing security for the vehicle search area by the front gate. I'll tell you that story later...but for now, I'll just say that I discovered a little bit of myself out there.

ULI
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12 May-08
Today was a pretty nothing day. We packed and geared up to do some Army M-16 qualifications. It's stuff I already did in Germany, but to graduate from here, you have to do it the Army way. I did like the pop up targets (little green men). It's supposed to get Soldiers to think about shooting real people, rather than paper. It was better than our Air Force qual.s in that aspect.
This is our last night at the FOB. I'm happy about that. Though everyone in my tent has gotten along the whole time, I'm ready to go back. I really needa nice, long, hot shower, and my own area, rather than a bunk.

I have aniother dentist appointment on Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed.

ULI
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There's one more day to tell you about, and the story about finding myself, but it's almost cerfew, and I have to head back to my dorm.

I'll write more tomorrow if I'm able (dentist appt. you know).

So good night my loyal loves, and it's great to be back!



ULI!!