10 months down.

Like I promised. Here is the outside of the CHU. It literally is a shipping container with insulated, paneled walls. Also, a more lived in desk/work area, with the much needed coffee maker. (With some product placement for a shout out to Justin and the Folks at SRC...Thanks for all you do!)

So it is essentially September. September marks the 11th month of this deployment. If it were only a 12 month deployment, we would be in the 60 day window of coming home. But it is not. It's a 15 month deployment, with, what we are being told, no outlook of coming home early. So I am here, for another 4 and a half months. This is a topic that constantly comes up. Some people are doing the daily countdown. Others, weekly. Some of us, like myself, just count down to the next meal to tick down another event on the way to completing the day. Dinner means one day done and one day closer to getting out of here and coming home. In the grand scheme of things, 4 months is a drop in the bucket. I can remember in February feeling like the first 3d of a year flew by. Now that span seems infinite, especially when you flip through your calendar. Remember when you were a kid, or even still today, when you think school's starting and Christmas is eons away (for which I'll still be here). We try to break it up setting calendar based milestones. In my group, only one more person has to go on leave. When she returns in mid October, we'll only have 3 months to go. Then Turkey Day, then Christmas, New Years then finally going home soon after. I guess the main point of this little rant.... micro time goes by fast but the macro time is dragging its sorry butt.

Other news: Things in Iraq seem to be slowing down. As you have probably read, we are at a historic low for battlefield casualties and attacks on US Troops. The attacks are now, for the most part, Iraqi on Iraqi. My opinion, we are never going to change that, no matter what legislation we put in place or how many US troops occupy this country. We are slowly turning things over to the Iraqi Army and Police force for security and "law enforcement". The stability thing is another issue, for which I'm not educated enough on to even comment. The slowness of things over here just creates contempt for being in this place and puts pressure on commands to find things to do in the absence or diminished presence of combat operations. As my friends and I have discussed, we are now fighting Terrorism on FOB Kalsu, one uniform violation at a time. This idea came about one day when we went to chow at the DFAC (dining facility) and there was a 8 foot by 3 foot white board with about 10 or so new uniform rules. Or, at the very least, old rules that were so dumb that nobody enforced them. One such rule... wait... back ground info.... Most Soldiers in their down time, if they actually have a concern for their general physical health, go to the gym to work out before, during or after the work day. While at the gym, about 90% of the Soldiers are listening to a personal mp3 player of some sorts. As per usual, they have them strapped to their upper arm or clipped to their waist to allow freedom of movement during exercise. Well, now we are no longer allowed entrance to the DFAC with the device on our person,unless carrying it by hand. Now, you can walk all over the FOB with it on, so long as your ear phones aren't it, but to get your food, which you need your hands to carry your to go plate (you can't eat in the DFAC if you are in PTs... I don't know why either. Apparently proper nutrition after working out is shunned) you have to hand carry your personal audio device. Other stupid rules include but are not limited to: not wearing coveralls (an issued uniform) from the motor pool (b/c going from the motor pool in the far corner of the FOB, back to your room on the other end of the FOB to change to go to lunch then back to your room to return to the motor pool makes alot of sense when there is work to be done??? Besides the infantry guys coming in are far dirtier and probably haven't shower in a week are allowed in the DFAC with their nasty-ass uniforms... just an observation if it is a hygienic issue) and no unit physical training shirts (okay, if a unit is promoting pride in performing physical training enough to create a t-shirt that you can wear officially to work out it, and you are actually going to the gym, why can't you grab a to-go plate in it????). And that's only 2 of I can remember from that stupid sign. They even used gov't money to take that list and print what looks like a 6x6 foot poster and frame it on the wall as well. Talk about waste.
So you can see how frustrating this place is getting (beyond the absurdity that existed already) and why the next 4 months cannot pass fast enough.

Finally, I wanted to show a demonstration of the un-Holy heat that we deal with. It is still, in the last week of August, reaching well in to the 120's for daily temperatures with the heat index in the upper 140's. This photo is of me on 31 Aug at about 1230, after being outside for less than 10 minutes, walking from the Aid station to my room (3 min) down to Battalion HQ, and back to my room (other 5 min or so round trip). And that's just my TRUNK. My legs are a whole other level of misery.


That's this month's update/vent. I hope all is well back in the States. Enjoy your Labor Day weekend.