Here we go....but not really...
Pic one: These are just a few of the people that made dealing with this deployment easier to deal with. L to R: Ron, me, Skidmark, Chubez, Cubby(kneeling), Kid Paul, Peru, LA, Cuba and Slopez. Hanging out in front of my can, grillin. It was my last night in Al Asad so "my peeps" had a cook out in my honor but I ended up on the grill. 
Pic two: Dan"Boy Band" and Ron "Hater". Getting ready for my final mission, outside the wire. Ron had just finished naming and stenciling our trucks. We rolled out on "Upper Decker". If you know what that means keep it to yourself. Ha!
: Pic 3: Me standing in front of our 'Cans', or living quarters. For every window you see behind, you can find a room, 15X12. Big enough to fit two racks, two night stands and a double wide locker, oh and two service members. Cozy.
March 11, 2007
Well, Izabella Angel joined our family on February 23. Monica started bleeding and they had to go in and do an emergency C-section. Mom and the baby came out of it with flying colors. I had to wait a few days before I was able to receive and view the pics that the family had sent me. Izabella is one beautiful baby. She looks just like her big brother Sergio looked at that age. Which means that Izabella looks a lot like me. Oh well. “Sorry kid, dems da breaks.” Ha!
So now I am finally on the first leg of my journey home but let me back up to Feb. 20.
I was extremely concerned about the mission that I was pulled from but fate was not on my side. Due to lack of operators my Chief had to put me on a list for an upcoming series of missions. I was assigned to UD Green 2. A Driver, Comms.. with Dano as my driver. Dano, or Boy Band, is one of my closest friends out here so being assigned to his truck was easier for me to deal with. Yes, being out on the road, outside the wire, did pose a bit of a problem with me but since Dano has been running convoy missions since Day 1. So being on this (these) mission(s) with him were easier to get through. He knew that I was more than a little concerned but he did not pull me aside to give me a pep talk or go out of his way to keep me motivated. Nope, he just went about his usual routine. His “It’s just another mission” approach to this mission made me feel at ease. Their was still some apprehension but it was now manageable.
We headed out on our mission, at night, and it was not as bad as I had imagined it would be. Actually, it sucked. The trucks that we ride in are not designed for comfort, they are designed for safety. Which is not a bad thing but would it cost the government that much to install another couple of inches of the soft stuff on the seats? Jeez! Dano and I rode along, the conversation was flowing. The guy is as down to earth as can be. He puts the low in mellow. He carries himself with a calmness that affects everyone around him. He is like a hit of weed. I call him the Columbian Red, the Jamaican Gold, the Ganja. Not that I know what these names mean but they sound cool.
Anyway, we had been rolling along for about three hours when I spotted tracer rounds at about 500 meters. Since I was running comms, I called it in. “Victor 1. Green 2. Tracer rounds spotted. 10 o'clock. 5 clicks. Over.” You sure? “Stand by.” I turned on the NVG's, looked out towards my ten. One-thousand. One thousand-two. One thousand-...TRACERS!!! “Victor 1. Green 2. Confirmed. Tracers at 10 o'clock.” By now the other vehicles had spotted the same thing. The gunners had zeroed in on the location. We called it in to the COC. The army had engaged the enemy. Back up was not requested or needed. We waited for a few minutes. Which felt like hours but the call came over to push forward. We started moving along when our truck stalled. It just died. The convoy kept moving forward but we were dead. The lights from the vehicles ahead of us faded into the distance. Dano and I sat there, in the dark, in a dead truck. “Victor 1. Green 2. We have lost power. I say again, we have lost power.”
Understand that if one vehicle dies, the other vehicles cannot go around that vehicle. All the vehicles behind that vehicle have to sit there until the vehicle is back on line, towed or dead lined. Luckily, thanks to one our seven ton trucks, we were able to pull start it. The kicker to this break drown was that after we had traveled to a point that put us right in line to where the tracer rounds were spotted. 'Yikes', is right.
We made it back to our home base a little over an hour later.
Whew.
We hit the Big Apple and we could not be happier!!! but then the snow kicked in and they cancelled our flight. We were going to spend the night at a hotel but with the road conditions the way that they were and with our departure window opening at 0600 the skipper decided to keep us here. The airport staff was nice enough to let us sleep in the VIP lounge. Whcih is real nice except for the fact that we have over 100 jet lagged Seabees jam packed in here. Oh well....
As I mentioned before I am going to do my best to bring you up to speed with my blogs...I will be hoping around from topic to topic..
That said, heck out the following....
Jan. 10, 2007
It’s the moments alone that really make this place hard to deal with. I find myself lost, literally lost, in my thoughts and memories of home. We go about our day to day stuff like robots. This actually helps with dealing with the fact that we are so far from home but it’s the time spent alone that forces us to look deep within ourselves. I had one of those days today….
I was working at one of our sights, filling the Hesco’s . I was out there by myself. I started thinking about my boys, my wife, my mom and dad. Just going down the list of the people that I miss the most and it hit me. I have now been gone for over four months with at least two to three more to go. What do my sons really think of me? Do they resent me? What about my wife, does she really and truly understand why I am out here. Why I stayed in the reserves? And my parents, they were not born here. How do they really feel about me being out here? So many questions and no answers, not a single one. As it is the hold that I have on my sanity is a very fragile one at best. I was so close to giving up today. I thought about going to the chaplain’s office and just letting it all out with the hopes/intention that he would get the ball rolling to get me out of here ASAP. I’m not even sure if he could do that but the thought was definitely there.
Jan. 19, 2007
This morning I received word that I will be leaving this place a few days ahead of schedule. I will be out of here on March 11. That means that I should be home in time to see my daughter pop out of the oven. Receiving the news this morning did wonders for my personal morale. I did not realize that it was that low but I can tell you that I noticed the difference immediately. Since arriving in county I set my calendar up with me arriving in El Paso sometime in April. Needless to say my countdown has taken a big and very welcome drop. As of today my count is at fifty days. Just typing fifty days makes me smile. Ha! I can now actually start planning on doing the things that I have been missing and every one of them involves my wife and kids. Ah, to be home again.
Feb. 5, 2007
I am now back at Al Asad, not my favorite place to be but I am almost out of here. According to my Chief I will be on the early bird in a little over a month. I cannot wait for that.
Feb. 07, 2007
I had my first official day off yesterday. Although it was very nice to not have anything to do, it still sucked. I sat around and just got lost in my thoughts. I kept thinking about my wife, the boys and my family. So much time has gone by since the last time that I saw them. How different are things for them now? How are they going to react to having me around again?
These thoughts stayed with me all day long. For the most part, I was miserable.
Feb. 19, 2007
I had a real scare today and that is not something that is easy for me to admit. I was told a few days ago that I would be heading out for another mission. I was slated to convoy to KV, Korean Village, which is near the Syrian border. KV is not a bad place, at least that is what I am told. I was more concerned with the trip up there. I was going to go in one of our armored trucks. I was dreading it. As I said, I knew about this trip and it had been weighting and today it hit me. Hard. I kept thinking about the battalions that have come before us and historically the last month of the deployment has been the scariest and in some cases, the deadliest. I let so many negative thoughts come over that I just let them get the best of me. I sat in my can and cried. It was nothing but fear pouring out of me. I prayed to God to keep me from going. I returned to out compound and I let a few people know that I did not want to go. I did not tell them how badly this was affecting me. It did not look too good for me and I could not back out of it completely. I went to work and those thoughts came back. I sat there and thought of typing up a few good bye letters to my wife, my boys, my family and to the other ‘bees. Just in case. Chief Price came up to me and said, “Well, I hope that you did not have your heart set on this trip but I need to send someone with some solid experience on this type of equipment. Just like that, I was off of the hook. I have to say that with all of the work that the Marines and the Army have put into securing the roads for all of us, the trip itself would not be that dangerous but I let the thoughts get in, I just mind fucked myself, all day. My wife could tell that something was wrong but I could not bring myself to tell her. Not in her condition.
I am now sitting in front of my can thinking about how things work and how God does work in mysterious ways. Do I deserve this reprieve?
It’s the moments alone that really make this place hard to deal with. I find myself lost, literally lost, in my thoughts and memories of home. We go about our day to day stuff like robots. This actually helps with dealing with the fact that we are so far from home but it’s the time spent alone that forces us to look deep within ourselves. I had one of those days today….
I was working at one of our sights, filling the Hesco’s . I was out there by myself. I started thinking about my boys, my wife, my mom and dad. Just going down the list of the people that I miss the most and it hit me. I have now been gone for over four months with at least two to three more to go. What do my sons really think of me? Do they resent me? What about my wife, does she really and truly understand why I am out here. Why I stayed in the reserves? And my parents, they were not born here. How do they really feel about me being out here? So many questions and no answers, not a single one. As it is the hold that I have on my sanity is a very fragile one at best. I was so close to giving up today. I thought about going to the chaplain’s office and just letting it all out with the hopes/intention that he would get the ball rolling to get me out of here ASAP. I’m not even sure if he could do that but the thought was definitely there.
Jan. 19, 2007
This morning I received word that I will be leaving this place a few days ahead of schedule. I will be out of here on March 11. That means that I should be home in time to see my daughter pop out of the oven. Receiving the news this morning did wonders for my personal morale. I did not realize that it was that low but I can tell you that I noticed the difference immediately. Since arriving in county I set my calendar up with me arriving in El Paso sometime in April. Needless to say my countdown has taken a big and very welcome drop. As of today my count is at fifty days. Just typing fifty days makes me smile. Ha! I can now actually start planning on doing the things that I have been missing and every one of them involves my wife and kids. Ah, to be home again.
Feb. 5, 2007
I am now back at Al Asad, not my favorite place to be but I am almost out of here. According to my Chief I will be on the early bird in a little over a month. I cannot wait for that.
Feb. 07, 2007
I had my first official day off yesterday. Although it was very nice to not have anything to do, it still sucked. I sat around and just got lost in my thoughts. I kept thinking about my wife, the boys and my family. So much time has gone by since the last time that I saw them. How different are things for them now? How are they going to react to having me around again?
These thoughts stayed with me all day long. For the most part, I was miserable.
Feb. 19, 2007
I had a real scare today and that is not something that is easy for me to admit. I was told a few days ago that I would be heading out for another mission. I was slated to convoy to KV, Korean Village, which is near the Syrian border. KV is not a bad place, at least that is what I am told. I was more concerned with the trip up there. I was going to go in one of our armored trucks. I was dreading it. As I said, I knew about this trip and it had been weighting and today it hit me. Hard. I kept thinking about the battalions that have come before us and historically the last month of the deployment has been the scariest and in some cases, the deadliest. I let so many negative thoughts come over that I just let them get the best of me. I sat in my can and cried. It was nothing but fear pouring out of me. I prayed to God to keep me from going. I returned to out compound and I let a few people know that I did not want to go. I did not tell them how badly this was affecting me. It did not look too good for me and I could not back out of it completely. I went to work and those thoughts came back. I sat there and thought of typing up a few good bye letters to my wife, my boys, my family and to the other ‘bees. Just in case. Chief Price came up to me and said, “Well, I hope that you did not have your heart set on this trip but I need to send someone with some solid experience on this type of equipment. Just like that, I was off of the hook. I have to say that with all of the work that the Marines and the Army have put into securing the roads for all of us, the trip itself would not be that dangerous but I let the thoughts get in, I just mind fucked myself, all day. My wife could tell that something was wrong but I could not bring myself to tell her. Not in her condition.
I am now sitting in front of my can thinking about how things work and how God does work in mysterious ways. Do I deserve this reprieve?
March 11, 2007
Well, Izabella Angel joined our family on February 23. Monica started bleeding and they had to go in and do an emergency C-section. Mom and the baby came out of it with flying colors. I had to wait a few days before I was able to receive and view the pics that the family had sent me. Izabella is one beautiful baby. She looks just like her big brother Sergio looked at that age. Which means that Izabella looks a lot like me. Oh well. “Sorry kid, dems da breaks.” Ha!
So now I am finally on the first leg of my journey home but let me back up to Feb. 20.
I was extremely concerned about the mission that I was pulled from but fate was not on my side. Due to lack of operators my Chief had to put me on a list for an upcoming series of missions. I was assigned to UD Green 2. A Driver, Comms.. with Dano as my driver. Dano, or Boy Band, is one of my closest friends out here so being assigned to his truck was easier for me to deal with. Yes, being out on the road, outside the wire, did pose a bit of a problem with me but since Dano has been running convoy missions since Day 1. So being on this (these) mission(s) with him were easier to get through. He knew that I was more than a little concerned but he did not pull me aside to give me a pep talk or go out of his way to keep me motivated. Nope, he just went about his usual routine. His “It’s just another mission” approach to this mission made me feel at ease. Their was still some apprehension but it was now manageable.
We headed out on our mission, at night, and it was not as bad as I had imagined it would be. Actually, it sucked. The trucks that we ride in are not designed for comfort, they are designed for safety. Which is not a bad thing but would it cost the government that much to install another couple of inches of the soft stuff on the seats? Jeez! Dano and I rode along, the conversation was flowing. The guy is as down to earth as can be. He puts the low in mellow. He carries himself with a calmness that affects everyone around him. He is like a hit of weed. I call him the Columbian Red, the Jamaican Gold, the Ganja. Not that I know what these names mean but they sound cool.
Anyway, we had been rolling along for about three hours when I spotted tracer rounds at about 500 meters. Since I was running comms, I called it in. “Victor 1. Green 2. Tracer rounds spotted. 10 o'clock. 5 clicks. Over.” You sure? “Stand by.” I turned on the NVG's, looked out towards my ten. One-thousand. One thousand-two. One thousand-...TRACERS!!! “Victor 1. Green 2. Confirmed. Tracers at 10 o'clock.” By now the other vehicles had spotted the same thing. The gunners had zeroed in on the location. We called it in to the COC. The army had engaged the enemy. Back up was not requested or needed. We waited for a few minutes. Which felt like hours but the call came over to push forward. We started moving along when our truck stalled. It just died. The convoy kept moving forward but we were dead. The lights from the vehicles ahead of us faded into the distance. Dano and I sat there, in the dark, in a dead truck. “Victor 1. Green 2. We have lost power. I say again, we have lost power.”
Understand that if one vehicle dies, the other vehicles cannot go around that vehicle. All the vehicles behind that vehicle have to sit there until the vehicle is back on line, towed or dead lined. Luckily, thanks to one our seven ton trucks, we were able to pull start it. The kicker to this break drown was that after we had traveled to a point that put us right in line to where the tracer rounds were spotted. 'Yikes', is right.
We made it back to our home base a little over an hour later.
Whew.
So much for my reprieve.
posted by szamora at 12:55 AM
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