Well I am at 34 days and a wake up , that is if the new unit gets here as planned. So far all indications are that they are on schedule so we are hoping. The first thing I think of as I try to kill off the last month or so is that when we got here the unit we replaced kept telling us that "don't worry it goes by fast". Well I am telling you that there has been nothing fast about this last 9 months. Sure there were times that seemed to fly by but I feel like I have been away from Tracy and the girls for a lifetime. I don't want to bring down anyone that is just getting started but let's face it 9 months is nine months. We are even lucky that since we got delayed at the MOB site we came a month later than we were supposed to.

     The one good thing I will put out though is I still feel that this is a positive thing we are doing. I have been in Balad for alot of my time and out in Al Asad for about a total of 3 months. My time out here has been spent doing routine sick call and that really gets monotonous. In Balad it is busy and a lot of minor complaints but here in Al Asad it is mostly all Transpotartion and convoy security guys/gals. Not to mention all the Marines here. What I am getting at is despite all the bad press Tracy sees at home, despite the way the news will try to make you think that everyone is against this war and no one wants us here if the press bothered to ask the soldiers they would get the same response for the most part. These soldiers are PROUD of what they are doing here. They don't care about the reasons/politics behind the decision to send them all they know is they were sent here to do a job and they intend on doing it well...and they are. Of course there are always a few soldiers who will tell you this is BS and we don't belong here but the majority of what I see is soldiers taking pride in thier mission even if it is outside thier MOS and doing the job. When it comes down to it, it doesn;t matter if it is BS this is what we get paid to do. As IRR call ups it is even more pronounced to me. If anyone has the right to complain it is those of us who have done our time and even some of us who have passed the 8 year obligation but still stepped up and came to do the job. I don't want to try to imply anything against those who got exemptions or delays that is not my point. Some of us had no legitimate reason to apply for either and that is what I mean by stepping up. While I hate being away from home and I don't particularly care for the unit I am asigned to I still am trying to do my job and take care of soldiers as a medical provider.

     Now I would like to ask for a little info from the folks that have finished thier rotation and have D-Mobed already. To be frank I HATE the unit I am with the leadership is pathetic and this has ben a frustrating year, probably teh most miserable military unit I have ever been exposed to, but since I was assigned to them at Ft. Benning and came to Iraq with them it looks like I have to return to the states with them. My question is do the other IRR guys and I have to go through the D-Mob process with the unit or can we go to the CRC at Benning when we get there and out process as inividuals. Where does our ties to the unit end?? Also which would be quicker?? Lets face it when I get to Benning I just want to get out and go home. Any info would be really appreciated.

34 days and a wake up!!!!

SO just have to share the days experience. Today an Iraqi worker from on post brought his 1 year old son to the gate and he was very sick. The Hospital here would not see him initially and they were brought to our TMC. Luckily one of our Docs is a pediatrician and we saw the boy together. He appeared to have double pneumonia and we spent most of the day giving him breating treatments and meds. He was doing well but not great and the hospital agreed to admit him late this afternoon. Was an interesting experience. I could go into great detail but will keep this one brief. So the most impressive things to me were the baby acted like any other sick baby, he cried a lot and when we tuned him up a bit would laugh and smile at us, was a good feeling. His 2 year old sister was with him too and took us a while but we won her over and she was the cutest thing. Having 3 girls at home it did make me a bit homesick. To be honest if they had not brought him here and had we not seen him he would have most likely continued to worsen and quite possibly died. He had already seen an Iraqi doctor an the treatment given was scary to say the least.

  I actually feel like we made a difference today and something good came out of this deployment. There are a lot of times that I sit and wonder why I was sent here and why it had to be me that got called but days like today help me understand that there is a greater reason for all of this and hopefully I will see the reason fully someday.

   Sorry if this seems too sappy or dramatic but it was a good feeling and I needed to share it.

NO matter what you feel about this war there are good things happening and no matter how small they are we need to share them.

Been a while since I posted. Well my days finally ended in AL Asad...for now. I was relieved by my IRR counterpart yesterday well I was actually relieved a week ago but took a week getting a sherpa flight. Man those can be a little rough. Wierd flying on a fixed wing that I am actually in range to use the 9MM. Not sure I am omfortable with that.

   So the mail problem is better too, I got 7 packages a week and a half ago at Al Asad and as soon as I hit the TMC here I had 2 packages and some cards waiting. Let me tell you that was a good feeling. I start tomorrow full speed. The docs gave me today to settle in although it didn;t take much. We are living inthe trailers and since I have been living from my ruck for the past 2 months that is all I really bothered to unpack . The trailers are pretty nice. I am on call tomorrow night already though so that shoudl be interesting. The hospital eally only accepts “trauma's” so most of the midnight illnesses come here. Mondays and after having to be in full battle rattle the past 3 days should be a busy one. At leasttime will go by quick though, Quicker than in Al Asad. Iwas there 2 months and it felt like 6 months. Cool Base though and a lot of good people there getting the job done. I did realize there that someone once accused me of having too much faith in the Army since I didn't fight my callup adn even justified the things we are doing here. Well after thinking about that what I came to realize isn;t taht I have too much faith in the Army I have too much faith in soldiers. These guys are out there day after day and running convoys security, fuel and flatbeds geting hit rolling vehicles and go right back at it the next run. THAT is what I have faith in and THAT is what I am doing here. Taking care of these soldiers is an awesome thing. I sure would rather be home with my family but I am damn sure proud of being able to help these soldiers in my own way.  OK Iwill get down off the box.

  We all need to justify why we are here or else we cannot do the job we are here to do. I for ne don;t want to hear about how I got screwed constantly. I know I got a raw deal but I can't dwell on it and there was no reason for me to turn down my orders.

OK happier note HAPPY EASTER!!! Tracy, Olivia Camille Ella I miss you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Until later 

     Just thought I would throw a quick post in since the internet access is actually working today...for now. We seem to usually be able to get into AKO but the internet is otherwise not very reliable. Mostly in the morning will run OK for a couple of hours but forget it other than that. I have been told they are working on the problem, but we will see.

  SO not much new here in Al Asad. I am in the BAS if any one was wondering what I do. I am th PA here.  One thing I have been thinking about lately is the overall impression for others about the post election attitudes. Mainly because I hear about and sometimes can read about the news they are pushing back home but I don't see a huge difference. We are pretty sheltered here anyway unless you travel. SO what I can see is the elections were a pretty good sucess overall and it seems the media is agreeing with that, they are pushing this whole “get us out now” news and portraying the redeployment of all the guys thet were extended anyway as hey look we are cutting back. Now that the elections are over the bits and pieces I hear are that the insurgents are back and performing like before. We all know that our presence here will stay here for many years. I was just wondering what others percieve at the other bases. I know I am here for the year and that is a fact but have we made a difference? I think we have so if you have any input in this line share with me. We all know we are mushrooms in the dark and fed.......

  I still believe in this mission and it needed done. I am proud that I am doing my part not happy to be here but someone has to. I have met a few other IRR guys and we mostly feel the same way.

  I also was wondering how the guys that have gone home are doing. I know you are happy to be there that is ano brainer but let us know how hard it is to adjust back to work and things. Steve what is your take on that? Was just wondering if it is difficult afer the “honeymoon“ phase ends to go back to pre-deployment life. I won't have to worry about it for a long while but it will be interesting to me to hear how the rest of you guys are doing at home now.

  That is all for now. I should be heading back to Balad in about a month. We aredoing a pretty good job of getting this place (theaid station) established. To my family and friends that follow this site just to let you know I am doing well. Tracy as always I miss you and the girls.

     Well, the polls are closed and all in all it seems that it was a reasonably good day. All I have to base that on though is the same CNN or FOX news that veryone else has. I felt I should post today because it was a pretty wierd day. Almost anticlimactic in a way. We had all this build up to the elections and I feel like I walked around base today and sat in my area just waiting for something big to happen. I felt like I wanted to express that feeling because you forget from day to day how you felt at certain times. We had no major events here that I know of. Trust me I know that this is a good thing. Like I said was a wierd feel to the air today and I wonder if I was the only one to feel it.

     So I am still fighting mostly boredome. I love the fact that everyone seems to be making a bit off of us. I am a fan of ATT and as a civilian they have always seemed to be a fair company. Today I called home which was great to hear Tracy's voice and to hear Ella count to ten for the first time, but to only get 33 talk minutes out of a 500 minute calling card is pretty frustrating. People are generous enough to send these and they are not cheap. I know that a lot of people here use these things but has anyone found a better way? I am lucky enough to have easy access to the internet but many soldiers don't and rely highly on those calls home. Just doesn't seem right. 

    The puerto rican experience is coming along OK and I am learning a little more spanish every day so I should be pretty fluent in the next 10 months or so. I am tired of wearing earplugs to bed because of the snoring next to me but at least I can sleep through the night that way. 

     To all the IRR coming in just getting those Western unions good luck I hope the mobilization system improves and is less frustrating than it was for me but remember that the job you are being called to do in some way is important no matter what your MOS is. No matter what job you perform someone else depends on it so keep on driving to get through those 545 days. I am trying to follow my own advise and it is tough trust me.  Lets hope these elections are the first step in geting us all home

Tracy I miss you and I loved hearing your voice today!!

BY the way as for the title of this post I would have written in spongebob for president because I think he would send us all home faster. I know pretty Lame.

This will probably be a quick post, the internet access here is pretty unreliable. We spent 2 days at Anaconda and then flew to Al Asad. I am manning a small BAS (batallion aid station) with some medics. Not too bad but fighting boredom. It has been pretty cold lately and today the rain and wind was bad. The camp is OK I thought the mess was better in Balad but the laundry here is same day compared to the 3 day service there. The rocket attacks aren't as bad either. we did have a few but I never heard any of them. I am in a fixed building and between that and the generators hard to hear. So for those of my family following along I am OK  and doing fine. Will post more when more happens.

Finally word came down this morning we are flying tomorrow. Will be great to get out of benning finally let me tell you. I know ther is always the chance this falls through. We had a false alarm last week also.

  Congrats by the way Steve for getting home. Thanks again for starting this site. I still have the same feelings about the whole mobilization process. I can't believe the incredible amount of wasted time (yes I was in the Army before and know that is part of the game) but it seems to me that a system that has been operating for a while now would be a bit more efficient. I honestly feel LESS prepared to deploy than I did 2 months ago. A word of warning to future IRR folks check and double check everything that is done along the line. All the admin stuff and training we did at Ft. Sill was not put in and did not count for anything. If I hadn't set up my family in DEERS and with Tricare before I left  it would have been a pain to get set up. I am with a Field grade officer who was called up with me at Sill and he JUST got his finance straightened out yesterday after being on active duty for 3 months now. Not a cool way to treat any soldier let me tell you.

I hope my previous postings have warned about the “training' received at Sill enough but it was less than overwhelming let me tell you.

At least we are getting started now. I will try to keep posting as often as I can.

Tracy don't worry we will be ok and now the clock finally starts and I will be home before you know it.

If anyone from the 118th ASMB at the TMC checks this site don't worry we are finally on the way. Looking foward to getting down to business and getting you guys home.

Sorry not a real informative posting but it is something.

Well still living in the circus tents. We rented a car for the week and found out hat BArnes andNoble has wireless in thier cafe. 4 bucks for 2 hours seems fair. This is our 2nd trip today. Since our launch date keeps getting pushed back we need to find places to go. The unit is mostly validated, We just have a couple oftroops needing to qualify on the M16 yet and the other PA and I will finish training on monday. We then have 10 fillers who still have all the training to complete yet. NO end in site and our 1 year clock still doesn't start until we ht Kuwait.

  I was wondering if someone in camp Anaconda knew the unit in the TMC there I think it is the 118th. If you could direct their attention my way that would be great. especially the PA's that are there.

 So for now killing time at least I can get online. Pretty sad that I can't ait to get overseas to have better facilities.