More Rain, Moving and Game Day!!

This post is going to cover a few weeks worth of stuff.  The internet here is pretty spotty, so it is quite a pain to get on sometimes, plus by the time I get back to my room at night, I am wiped out and do little more than climb under my covers and fall fast asleep! 

So not a lot has happened since my last post.  Again, it’s pretty much groundhog day here.  I did get to see Scott for about an hour when he caught a convoy from Kabul, but other than that it’s work, PT, eat and sleep.

The most excited thing that happened was that we got an entire day of rain.  I woke up in the morning and walked out of my b-hut and noticed the ground looked much different than usual.  Then I realized that the ground was WET!  I further realized that the rain was still falling!  I rushed to the shower and got dressed as quickly as I could before it stopped.  I never thought I would be excited about walking to work in the rain, but boy was it awesome!  The high tempature for the day was only 67 degrees and the rain lasted all day!  Did I mention it was awesome?!

There was kind of a major change for me that happened just a few days ago.  I’ve moved out of the b-hut and into a room on the JOC (Joint Operations Compound).  It is where many of the people I work with live.  My living space is a little bit bigger than my last room and I have a roommate, but in my old room it was like I had 7 roommates.  Here's a few pictures of my new living space.  I think you'll like it a bit better, Na!

So when I moved in and met my roommate, her first words to me were, “so you went to LSU.”  I’m not sure how she could tell! J  We started talking and I learned that she is from Jackson, MS and she went to college and graduate school at Southern University in Baton Rouge, so the world has gotten even smaller!  She ran track for Southern, and often practiced at LSU.  I think we will get along just fine!

Another exciting thing that I have waited all year for was the start of college football season!  In my office we have quite a contingency of Louisiana people, and they all LOVE LSU.  So on the night that LSU opened its season against Oregon in the House that Jerry Built, we all rose at 0330 the following morning to head over to start watching the game.  We had such a wonderful time.  We had plenty of Zapp’s potato chips and pralines thanks to Ellen, my mother-in-law.  We even had awesome cups to drink our coffee out of that she sent that said, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it how you Tailgate!” and LSU cups, napkins, beads and decorations.  I had my “party cup” Cassie sent over, although the drinks didn’t taste the same in this one (maybe something was missing?!)  All in all, the game was awesome to watch and I am so glad that football season is back!  After the game we went to breakfast, and since it was kind of our down day, I went back to bed and slept until dinner time!

I can’t wait for the next LSU game, even though it probably won’t be on TV over here.  At least football season has arrived.  At home this time of year always flies by, so I’m actually hoping that it does this year because it will be closer to me getting home in time for next football season!

Until next time, Geaux Tigers!!

New Job, Fun Discovery and RAIN!

So, it’s been a while since my last post, but really, this place is like groundhog day.  It is pretty much the same thing over and over and over…at least until now… I found out at the end of last week that I would be changing jobs.  Actually, my branch chief was talking to one of the other guys in my office while I happily taped pictures of my bitties to my wall next to my desk and he turns to me and says, “Please stop doing that you’re not going to be here much longer.”  So, that's how I found out about my new job.  Imagine my surprise! 

Anyway, I have moved down the street to the “Pink Palace” and am now the Senior Trial Counsel (Prosecutor).  Military Justice is pretty much the bread and butter of the JAG Corps and is usually the busiest office other than Administrative Law.  Apparently I am the Captain who has the most Military Justice experience, and the office was needing a little extra assistance, so the Staff Judge Advocate (SJA) decided to send me in.  There is a lot more work to do on a daily basis, so the days go by much faster.  Although I really miss my friends in Counter-Corruption, I have to say that my new work friends are great too.  We do have a lot of fun, and the best part is that I get to return to my legal passion, criminal law.  Oh yeah, and my office now has a window – Awesome!



"The Pink Palace"

There are rocks everywhere here at Bagram.  They are horrible rocks of all different sizes designed simply to roll the ankles of anyone that walks on them.  Seriously, they are the bane of my existence.  So, I was walking to work the other day at the “Pink Palace” (isn’t that the coolest name for a workplace.  I mean could it fit me any better?!) and as I was trudging through the rocks I looked down and saw the most awesome sight.  On the ground was a rock that had “Baton Rouge, Louisiana” written on it!  It was so cool and the find made my day.  I took a picture of it because the #1 safety rule around here is you don’t pick up anything that you don’t drop.

The best part of my whole week came last Sunday.  Two of my co-workers and I were sitting outside under an awning, talking about a project we were working on when all of a sudden I heard the distinct sound of rain drops on the tin roof overhead.  I had been thinking all day that it smelled like it was going to rain, but it has smelled like that before and nothing has happened.  Anyway, I heard the raindrops on the roof, jumped up from the table where we were sitting an ran out into an open area where I wasn’t blocked from the sky.  I felt the distinctive feeling of rain drops on my skin.  There were only about five of them, but they were wonderful.  The two guys I was working with looked at me like I was absolutely insane.  I told my “battle buddy” that we needed to go for a walk to pick up something for our project, right away.  My hope was that we would get stuck and have to walk back to work in a rain storm, but no such luck.  By the time we made it to the road, the rain had stopped and the dark black rain clouds slowly dissipated without any more rain, but the feel and smell of a summer rain made my day.

"Slick Sleeve" No More!

By now, everyone probably knows that this is my first deployment.  What many don't realize; however, is that this makes me a "slick sleeve".  A "slick sleeve" is someone who walks around without a patch on their right arm.  The right arm patch is very important because it is the patch that is reserved for those who have served in a combat zone.  This is why the right arm patch is called a combat patch.  When I first joined the Army it was not uncommon to see Soldiers walking around without combat patches, but now you will likely be hard pressed to find a Soldier that doesn't sport a patch on the ever important forearm.  The combat patch is kind of a rite of passage.  A symbol that says you've been there and done that.  It's something I never had...until now.

As of yesterday I have officially been in a combat zone for 30 days, which is the requirement for earning the right to wear a combat patch.  There is a ceremony that is performed to award the patch which basically consists of reading the history of the patch and having the highest ranking officer (for me the Staff Judge Advocate) slap it on for you (since our uniforms have velcro!)  My friend, Greg Vetere (a graduate of Loyola Law School, New Orleans) and I have made this entire trip together, starting at Fort Benning, and he and I were awarded our patches the same day!

So, I am no longer a "Slick Sleeve" (although I wouldn't quite call me a war hardened veteran just yet!)  The patch I wear is the patch of the 1st Cavalry Regiment, to which I am assigned.  Below is a history of the First Cavalry Patch (taken from the 1st Cavalry Division Association webpage), the largest patch in the US Army.

 

"The big yellow patch does something to an  individual that makes him a better soldier, a better team member, and a better American than he otherwise would have been."  General Creighton Abrams, while commander of  all U.S. Forces in Southeast Asia

"Wearing this First Team patch changes us all, to some extent.  It makes us walk a little prouder and talk a little louder, because of the pride we feel for our unit.  Wearing the largest patch in the Army inventory also brings with it a responsibility to be the best." General Peter W. Chiarelli Commanding General of the First Team during Operation Iraqi Freedom II

Description of the Patch

On a "sunset" yellow triangular Norman Shield with rounded corners 5 1/4 inches in height, a black diagonal stripe extends over the shield from upper left to the lower right. In the upper right, a black horse's head cut off diagonally at the neck, appears within 1/8 inches of an Army Green border. The traditional Cavalry color of yellow and the horse's head is symbolic of the original organizational structure of the Cavalry. The color black is symbolic of iron, alluding to the organizational transition from mounted horses to tanks and heavy armor. The black stripe, in heraldry termed a "Sable Bend", represents a "baldric" (a standard Army issue belt worn over the right shoulder to the opposite hip - sometimes referred to as a "Sam Browne belt") which retains either a scabbard which sheaths the trooper's saber or revolver holster.

History of the Patch

Shortly after the 1st Cavalry Division was authorized the War Department issued a directive asking for the submission of possible designs for the 1st Cavalry Division's "shoulder sleeve" (shoulder patch).  The regulations for the competition required (1) that the patch should have only two colors, (2) that it be an easily recognizable sign around which men could reassemble during or after battle, and (3) that it would bring men together in a common devotion.

The design chosen, a distinctive bright-yellow Norman knight's shield with a diagonal stripe and the silhouette of a horse's head, was submitted by Colonel and Mrs. Ben H. Dorcy.  At the time, Colonel Dorcy was commander of the 7th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Bliss.  His wife, Gladys Fitch Dorcy, later would be hailed as the "official mother" of the First Team.

The Dorcy's held an unusual edge in the design competition.  They were internationally recognized experts in heraldry, the study of the symbolisms and genealogy of coats of arms.  But their duty station in El Paso also had something to do with their choice of symbols for the 1st Cavalry Division patch.

One afternoon in September 1921, after the patch competition had begun, the Dorcys enjoyed an especially beautiful sunset.  Mrs. Dorcy was cutting up one of her husband's old dress-blue capes.  The cape's liner was bright yellow; blue and yellow had long been the traditional colors of cavalry.  At that moment, a trooper rode past their house on a handsome, blue-black thoroughbred.  The design of the patch quickly took shape in their minds after this conjunction of seemingly commonplace events.

Material from Colonel Dorcy's cape liner became the yellow cloth for the first patch.  The colonel drew a sketch of a Norman shield and a horse's head on the cloth.  Across the yellow field of the patch, his wife sewed a diagonal bend, symbolic of the scaling walls of enemy castles.  The stripe - a "Ben Dexter" in heraldic terms - also represents a baldric, a belt worn over one shoulder in medieval times to support a sword or bugle.  Swords and bugles, of course were two of the strongest symbols of cavalry.

Originally, the patch was yellow and blue.  But black, symbolic of iron and armor, later replaced the blue and improved visibility.  The patch also was the largest divisional patch approved in the United States Army.  "The patch had to be large enough to be seen through the dust and sand at Fort Bliss," Mrs. Dorcy later explained.  "And we made it that way because it is worn by big men [AND WOMEN!] who do big things." emphasis added.

On another note, tomorrow is my little man's first day of big boy school.  He is enrolled at Oak Forest Academy and is so very excited because he gets to go to school with Dusty (who's in 12th grade), so that means he's really big!  Cross your fingers for him (or should I say for his teachers!) and if you see him, give him a big boy hug!!

Overwhelming...

There are no words to fully express the event I witnessed last night.  It actually took me an entire day of thinking to even begin to put my experience into words. 

Last night I attended the "Ramp Ceremony" for the 38 heroes that died over the weekend when one of our helocopters crashed.  On board were 30 brave Americans, 7 brave Afghanis, and 1 brave military working dog.  None survived.

This ramp ceremony was unlike the others I have attended since being here.  First, there were easily over 1,000 people in attendance, where there are normally less than 100.  Second, this one took place at night when it is not quite as hot outside.  When I arrived, the set up was even different.  Instead of one C-17, there were two, backed up to the hanger.  As we stood in formation, the band started playing, soft and low, like all the other ceremonies, but then the trucks came in.  Usually each flag draped box is brought in on a HUMMV, but there were so many that they had to be brought in on three flatbed vehicles.  Slowly the process of removing the boxes from the trucks and taking them, carefully into the hanger began.  The sheer number was overwhelming.  As I watched the men step forward to take the next box from the truck, I felt the tears rolling down my face.  I didn't know any of these amazing people, but the care and love that was shown for each one was overwhelming.  Each of these men meant something to someone.  I know they were all men because of the unit they were in.  These brave men were fathers, sons, brothers, cousins, uncles.  While standing there with the desert wind blowing, watching the boxes being lined up to one another, listening as their names were read out loud, I prayed for their families - for their little ones who wouldn't have their daddy; for the parents that lost their child.

When the flatbeds were finally empty, three HUMMVs pulled slowly forward and three more boxes were added to the hanger.  One carried an Army Ranger who was killed on Sunday.  According to the news reports, he had called his family Sunday morning to let them know that he had not been killed in the helocopter crash.  He died later that day.

Following a very solemn ceremony in the hanger, we all - 1,000+ in number - came to attention and drew our salute as each box was carefully carried and loaded onto the waiting planes.  Halfway through my arm began to shake, my legs grew tired and the tears continued, but it was an honor to be there, to pay respect to the heroes who died to make this country better.

The one thing I kept thinking about as I walked home last night was how special life is and how you aren't promised tomorrow.  Please remember that.  Hug your babies.  Call your parents.  Tell your siblings that you love them.

I love you all.  If you see my babies, give them hugs for me.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, today is my birthday.  This is the first birthday I can remember in a long time that I have spent away from my family.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go - whether it was going to be a bummer day, or an ok day.  It actually turned out to be a pretty good day.

My birthday started out the same as everyday.  When I got to work though all the guys I work with (there are no girls in my section) came in and had bought me a cup of my favorite coffee (iced caramel machiato) and a banana nut muffin, and they sang Happy Birthday to me!  Of course, everyone wanted to know how old I was, and I proudly told them I was 33.  Everyone kept saying, "Wow! You don't look 33...You don't look older than 27!"  It became a joke between me and my battle buddy, Dan.  He said, "If one more person says you don't look 33, I'm going to punch them!"  I think he was a bit jealous. :)

I attended another ramp ceremony today.  Three American heroes were sent home.  God Bless them and their families.

After the ramp ceremony we walked down to the coffee shop and got iced coffees to cool off, since we work was actually pretty slow.  I had a fruit smoothie, because the caramel macciato is more than enough caffeine for me!  We sat for awhile and talked about random stuff, just passing time.  It was pretty relaxing.

At dinner I was serenaded again by more of the guys I work with.  It was so nice that they took time to do it.  One of the guys even tried to get a cake made by the DFAC, but he didn't tell them in time.  I really felt special today.

At the end of the day, I came home and called my kiddos.  I had a wonderful time talking to them, and got to talk to Ethan and Erica too.  The conversation was pretty short because there was quite a bit of playing that needed to be done, but it was wonderful to hear Luke tell me, "I love you Mommy!"  The best birthday present ever!  I took some pics of our talk.  They are totally clear, but at least I can see their little faces (and Mom's and Daddy's and Na's too!)

Finally, I took a look at Facebook, and was inundated with Birthday wishes.  I am so thankful for my wonderful friends and family.  They really make everything special!  

Tomorrow, Scott is flying in for the day to visit and I get the day off!  Extra birthday!!

So, overall I have to say my birthday was pretty great!

Love and miss you all.  If you see my kiddos, give them big hugs for me!

By the way, if you want to know what my kiddos are doing, check out their (and Na's) blog, http://www.adventuresinaunthood.blogspot.com/ I sure love reading it!

Good Day, Bad Day

I don't know exactly where to start with this blog post.  The past two days have been good and bad. 

On the good side, yesterday I got to see Karl Malone, my all-time favorite basketball player.  He, Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) and David Blaine (Magician) came to Bagram with the USO.  They were here for one night to do a meet and greet.  My battle buddy, Dan, and I got to the MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) tent an hour before they were supposed to get there, and already the line was at least a mile long!  I was not to be deterred though, so I persuaded Dan to stand in line with me.  I mean, we are in Afghanistan, what else were we going to do?

Finally, after waiting almost 2 hours, we made it to the front of the line!  By that time they were only allowing group pictures, but Dan told me to give him my camera and we would sneak a personal picture (actually everyone was doing the same thing!) He had so much fun laughing at me.  He said I was just like a little kid waiting for Santa!  When we finished our group picture, before leaving, I turned and said, "Mailman, will you take a picture with me?"  Definately a great evening for me!

Today, was a much different day.  This afternoon, I attended a Ramp Ceremony for two fallen Heros.  A Ramp Ceremony is conducted when fallen Soldiers are loaded onto the airplane for their final trip home.  The ceremony today was for an American Soldier and a Polish Soldier who were killed this week by an IED (improvised explosive device or roadside bomb).  It was a truly a sombering event.  Something I cannot even begin to explain.  Their flag-drapped caskets were carried by their fellow Soldiers to the plane as everyone standing on the flight line saluted.  I kept thinking about their families and what they must be feeling.  I am thankful for their bravery and for their sacrifice.  There will be another one in a few days.  Unfortunately, they happen pretty regularly around here.  I am going to try to attend every one that I can.  It's the least I can do for what those Soldiers have done for me, and not just for my country, but for every country that loves life and freedom.

This is what a ramp ceremony looks like.

My day ended the best way possible.  I was finally able to talk to my babies over Skype video chat.  The video wasn't perfect, but I could see their little faces and hear the little voices.  Luke fussed at me for being on my trip for so long, but Ella just kept giggling.  I sure miss them.  They both kept giving me kisses on the screen.  I am so blessed.

If you see my babies, give them big hugs for me!

Get Pumped!

My goal for this deployment is to return fitter and healthier than when I left.  Many may not think it, but I am actually on the verge of being overweight (by Army standards), and believe me, that is not a place you want to be!  Anyway, I do have a few leftover pounds from Luke and Ella (ok, from college, law school, tailgating, general laziness, and Luke and Ella...) that I would like to get rid of, so I figured this year would be a perfect opportunity to get in shape since downrange people have very little time to do much else other than work, eat, work, sleep, and work, and working out is kind of a requirement (at least enough to stay within weight standards and to pass the PT test).  So far I have been doing very well on my goal of working out every day.  I alternate days between running, lifting weights, and yoga; there are actually several workout classes at various times during the day and night that I can participate in (when you're working 12 hour days, you can pick your time to workout within that time!)  I was even successful in doing 3 miles on the eliptical trainer (which is the bane of my existance, by the way!)  I haven't found a workout partner yet, but I'm still looking.  I am the only female in the office I am working in, so none of the guys have taken me up on Yoga yet, although half the class is guys!

Another goal that I have had for a while is to try to compete in the Army 10-miler in Washington, DC.  The Army 10-miler is held every year in October.  Thousands and thousands of people run every year.  In fact, registration opens in March, and it is usually sold out within the first day or so!  I have never been a good runner.  I have bad running form, high arches, and I get shin splints and stress fractures.  I have, however, always wanted to enjoy running.  I love the feeling that you get after you've finished a good run (once the general pain and misery subside!).  Therefore, this year I am going to run a few shorter road races (5k, 10k) in hopes of eventually working up to running the Army 10-miler in October 2012.  They actually have an Army 10-miler, Afghanistan, the same day as the actual Army 10-miler, but I don't believe I'll be quite ready by this October.  Instead I'll just cheer on my co-workers who are going to run, keep training and be ready to register next spring!

If you see my kiddos, give them big hugs for me!