Uniforms

Uniforms

I think I’ve stated before and have even posted pictures of the Army’s choice in new battlefield uniforms. Called ACUs, or Advanced Combat Uniform, it has a pixilated pattern on it to disrupt a person’s perception of the outline of the soldier from a distance. It’s a pretty “high speed” outfit (military speak for ‘pretty cool’) and I acquired 4 more sets of the uniform today at the issue point (the place that Ryan, Chris and I were originally going to go before Ryan chopped his finger off yesterday). Despite the freezing temps in the warehouse, we stripped down to PT shorts and T-shirts to try on the uniforms that they had laid out for display. Mind you, we already have uniforms and we know our sizes, but this ritual is something that all the folks who are deploying had to go through at one point or another. I had Mr. “9.5 fingers” take a picture to show how ridiculous we looked since he didn’t have to don the required attire to try his on due to his injury so I apologize about the blurriness. What do you expect from a non-Asian who is missing parts of his digits?

It took me back to R-Day at school when we had to walk around in crazy uniforms at issue points and had to have our socks pulled up to our knees (I pushed mine down on purpose for the picture). The reflections on our shorts are from the reflective “Army” logos on our PT shorts. It helps so that we can be seen by cars when we run at zero early thirty in the morning for PT, but it hampers us when we try to sneak up on the enemy in the dark wearing only our exercise outfits.

Casualty

Casualties

The profession of arms has certain risks that go along with the job. Needless to say, it is inherently dangerous to purposely put oneself in harms way. One has to accept that injuries, to oneself or to those in your unit, are more prevalent as a soldier when compared to a profession in say, tax preparation or pet grooming. Today we had our first casualty, and we are not even in a combat zone. Ryan, a medical captain from Indiana who went through CRC with me at Benning, had the tip of his right middle finger cut off from a steel door at the issue facility. The wind had caught this heavy metal door as he was running in to see if they were open and he wasn’t able to move his right hand away fast enough. At first he though he just smashed it, but when I had to chase him inside to get some medical help, I found the other piece of his finger on the floor. After sticking into a plastic bag with a handful of snow, we rushed off with an MP escort to the hospital which is about 10-15 minutes from the area we were in. Unfortunately, they were unable to save the tip of his finger and had to reconstruct the stump with what they had. I would get into details about it, and I even have photos of the injury, but I will refrain as it is a bit graphic, especially if I start to give details about how they had to cut his bone down in order to close the wound. Sorry. It really was graphic for the entire 5 hours that we sat in the emergency room while trying to keep his mind occupied on other things instead of his finger. I kept thinking of all the other people I know that have lost partial parts of their fingers for one reason or another (BV & GD) and how they reacted when they realized that they digits weren’t going to be their full length anymore. Ryan did a pretty good job and is in just a state of disbelief that this happened to him. We have decided that he is cursed and all of us have vowed not to ride in a HUMMV with him in country. All in all, he is all bandaged up and doing well, but is just missing everything from just above the last knuckle forward. They don’t know how this will affect his deployment, but I’m sure they’ll fill him in tomorrow when we go through medical screening. One good thing is that he’s a lefty and I think we’re going to put him in for a purple heart. :)

What started out as just a cold tromp to the truck through a foot of snow and ice turned out to be a pretty hectic day. I thought that Kansas was known more for it’s tornados than it’s snow storms! I think I’m starting to love Kansas as much as I love Missouri!

Gear

Gear

There are two places that a soldier must go to draw his gear. One place is CIF (central issue facility) and RFI (rapid fielding initiative). Both places give you oodles of supplies that the every day combat warrior needs to do his or her job. All said and done, I came out with 3 Army duffle bags of equipment. As the pictures will show you, I’ve got a LOT of stuff! The thing that surprised me was the number of boots they gave me; total count was 5 pair. Does Uncle Sam think that he is outfitting an army of octopi? I was issued 3 sets of hot weather boots, one pair of Gore-Tex waterproof boots and even a set of artic winter boots, complete with insulated booties. Counting the pair I already have, that makes it a total of 6 sets of footwear that I’m going to war with. Sounds pretty excessive, doesn’t it?

As for the rest of the stuff, I think I hit the highlights of it yesterday. Most all of it, with the exception of the canteens and large rucksack, is brand new stuff that I’ve never seen or wore in my time in the Army. I think the piece of gear with the most “cool” points is the new helmet. The ACH (advanced combat helmet) replaced the old K-pot (Kevlar) and is very comfortable. The clunky and heavy shell with the nasty sweatband on the inside was replaced with lighter (and stronger) material, a sensible harness system and molded inserts that are almost like a football helmet. If you have to wear something on your head for a long period of time to protect you from rocks, debris, and the occasional bomb fragment, then this helmet should be pretty bearable.

The overall best piece of clothing that came in my duffle bag of fun was the fleece, cold weather, black, 1 each. This is the best thing the Army ever allowed it’s soldiers to wear! I was jealous of everyone who had already bought one prior to coming here because they look very warm. And, after wearing mine today, I will attest that they are all that and a bowl of grits!

Still have lots to do to in-process with the unit. More poking and prodding at medical and admin SRP (soldier readiness packets), I have to draw more uniforms from the issue points (4 more sets), and then there is the whole weapons issue. I should be able to take care of most of it tomorrow if the weather holds out. It’s sleeting now and rumor has it that there will be snow. It’s hard to know what to expect since we are void of TV, internet and radio here. The little bits I can catch on the radio in the truck on our short drives to various issue points have to suffice as the only real intel I get from the outside world. I hope to get internet soon, but we’ll see.

In the Heartland

In the heartland

It’s the end of the weekend here at Fort Riley, Kansas and all of us are anxiously waiting to see what the next week will bring. Okay, maybe not “all” of us because there are a number of folks who have been here for the past 7 days and they already know what to expect; more in-processing, more medical, more legal, more training, and most of all, more waiting around. One thing that will be different is that they will be giving us a bunch of gear. I got a quick preview of the stuff we will be drawing this week and I’m here to tell ya that there are some pretty nifty things that Uncle Sam is providing what I like to call the “soldiers of the surge”. Most of the gear is brand spanking new. This would be unheard of in most cases since activated reservists tend to get the left overs. Since the new digital camo is all “official”, most of the gear is brand spanking new, or no more than a year or two old. I’d list all the fancy things I am getting as I know that there are a few gear heads out there that would be interested, but for the most part, people wouldn’t know the difference between an ACOG and an Aimpoint or the subtleties of why Oakley glasses are better than Wiley-Xs. Let’s just say that for 75% of the stuff I will be drawing is the “good stuff”, designed with lots of insight as to what will help the soldier on the battlefield, and very much an improvement over the old issued items. Technology is great, but it can be a double edged sword in this case. For example, we have the latest and greatest personal armor on the market, but it weighs a heck of a lot more than the old armor. I say that as long as it helps in keeping my butt from being shot off, then I’ll take it!

The living conditions here at Riley are spartan, but they are much better than they were at Benning, but slightly worse than at Wood. I’m sharing a dorm style room with LT Chris and it’s not all that bad. We have separate rooms with big closets and no frills furniture (however, I ended up with 3 lamps and no chair). We share a bath and kitchenette that are very small, but for our purposes, very suitable for the time we’ll spend here. No phone, no bedding, no shower curtain, not a single luxury, to include the absence of TV and the internet. The cell phone reception is almost nonexistent, the mattresses are only slightly better than the asbestos tiled floor and the shower looks like either the breeding ground for some new strain of black mold, or the Army decided to buy some new black caulk and grout that just happens to be fuzzy. We spent most of yesterday night and this morning trying to make it more livable and thanks to the miracles of modern chemicals and a little elbow grease, (plus the personal purchase of a butt-load of cleaning supplies) it feels a little more comfortable. Rumor has it that we can get internet and cable in our rooms if we want to pay for it. Since there is a general day room for us to use for TV, I think we’ll pass on the cable TV (as long as they are watching LOST on Wednesday!). If I’m going to be here for as long as they tell me I’m going to be, my roommate and I might have to split the bill on the internet package just so we can be connected to the outside world.

Now, before you get the wrong idea, I’m not that guy who carries his laptop everywhere, searching for that lucrative free WiFi connection, or will you find me sitting by myself in some internet café hunched over the blue/gray glow of my LCD monitor checking my email or the latest stock prices. I don’t need the internet, but it sure is nice to have. It allows me to access my financial information (which is important when the bill collectors are sending mail to an address I am not currently at), I can keep in touch with a lot of people (who doesn’t have an email account now a days?) and update this here blog. Sure I could use the phone to do most of these things, but it puts a burden on folks to track all of my stuff (which I don’t like to do) and if you don’t know by now, I’m a terrible letter writer. So, internet, while not a deployment necessity, it sure is handy to have. I think I’ll dish out the $20 a month to stay connected. Besides, I need to see what people are posting on my MySpace account.

I took this picture on our way out from FLW to Riley. There was a young soldier, a Specialist, who was waiting for a ride to the airport so he could go to his next assignment, just like us. In prep for Valentines, he went to the PX and bought this bear for his girlfriend in hopes that he could meet up with her in between bases. I’m not sure where he was going and I’ve even forgotten his name, but I thought that it was a good picture to see a soldier’s personal gear that he will be taking to war with him contrasted by something as, dare I say cute, as a teddy bear. The only thing missing from the picture was a weapon, which I’m sure he had on his persons when he went into the orderly room to check the status of his ride, just like a good soldier would.

Heading West

Heading West


Today I leave lovely Fort Lost in the Woods for browner and colder pastures in Kansas. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been on active duty for 4 weeks. At a snail’s pace, I’m getting back into the groove of wearing the uniform. I find myself looking for my hat all the time (or beret in this case) and saluting is no longer as awkward as it was the first few days.

I got up early this morning to go to a “Reclamation Sale” on post. It’s a place where you can buy lightly used gear that can’t be recycled back into the Army. Most of the gear is from soldiers who were given their original issue of uniforms, but for some reason, got out of the Army due to medical reasons or failing a whiz quiz. When the soldiers leave, they have to turn in all of their nifty gear that Uncle Sam gave them, to include their PT uniforms, ACU uniforms, and even their issued boots. Even though the Army issues them skivvies, they let the departing soldiers keep them as sort of a consolation prize. “Thanks for coming, keep the underwear.” Most of the stuff at this sale is in fairly good condition and some of it still has the tags on from when it was originally issued. These sales are originally opened up to the lower ranks before the higher ups. They get first dibs on the good stuff a week prior to the post opening the sale to anyone with a military ID, as they should since they make a lot less than most of us. And when you can get a full set of ACU uniforms for $11 instead of the $70 it cost new at Military Clothing, it’s a bargain that you can’t pass up, unless you are hung over from partying the night prior and don’t wake up in time on a Saturday to go stand in a long line in the cold to save a few bucks. While the LT and I were in line waiting to get in the building, we were amazed to see the turn out of almost 300 people who braved the freezing Missouri mornings to get some second hand clothes. Since they only let 50 people at a time into the shed, we had to wait a good hour or so while we contemplated if saving a few bucks was worth the frostbite on our ears. We determined it was and ended up with a duffle bag each of gear that we may or may not use since we didn’t have time to carefully inspect the uniforms to see if they were serviceable. Since officers have to buy their own uniforms, this was a good deal for us IRR folks who won’t be wearing this stuff for very long after our stint is up, unless you’re the kind of person who likes to cut the grass in his combat boots and fatigue bottoms. Chris had the concern that the uniforms are probably cursed with the PT and drug test failures of the soldiers who donned them prior and he insisted that we get wash them before we depart for Riley. That’s probably a good idea as most of the stuff reeks of stress, and probably has scabies.

Compadres

Compadres
It’s good to have friends who are still in uniform. I am lucky enough to know a few folks here at FLW either from my old Army days or through my parents. While I haven’t been the best getting in touch with either of them since I arrived here almost a two weeks ago, I did get to see Jen and her family, mainly because she was the commander of the officer advance course company Chris and I are getting classes from. Now Jen is a hoot, and she was a blast when she was a young LT in my prior unit. I hear of her exploits through Kristine most now and it appears that she has done pretty well with the Army. Her husband is in the military too and a commander in another company. They have a beautiful son and they are the typical proud parents who were put through some non-typical medical complications with their boy. It’s all good now because he is doing fine and is busy being a typical 1+ year old. The military has done a good job of taking care of the medical bills and flexible schedule needed for a child with special needs. Gripe all you want about the Army, but you have to give them props for keeping this military family out of the poor house due to outlandish medical bills. Jen and her husband are what we commonly refer to is “lifers” since they are almost at their halfway mark towards retirement. They are going to stay in, get some advanced civil schooling, and go teach at West Point over the next 5 years. I know that they can treat us IRR folks a little substandard at times, but it’s good to hear a positive story every once in a while about the military taking care of it’s own. Besides, Jen is one of the “good guys” and she deserves a break from the years of BS that most officers have to go through to get to where she is at today.

I did call my parent’s friends who are also stationed here. He is an Engineer as well and has spent multiple months away from his family due to multiple tours overseas. I know him as Ron and I hope to link up with him before I depart. On the phone with him, he called me “sir”. I had to laugh at that one. :)

Liquid state

Do you see that? That is snow returning back to a more acceptable state...the liquid kind. It's actually hot here today, or at least it's relatively hot. The thermometer in the truck says that it's almost 60 degrees! It was a wind chill of 8 yesterday. EIGHT FREAK'N DEGREES!

I know I harp on the weather here a lot and I promise not to keep complaining about it in the future. I wish I had more cool Army stuff to write about, but I'm still waiting for an epiphany from the school house to inspire me.

Training

Training

I know I’ve complained a lot about the way lack of direction I’ve experienced in the last few weeks, but today the Army redeemed itself a little by giving us an instructor that actually took us through some “good to know” things. He gave us some useful tools to do our job in theater and also imparted some wisdom to us that isn’t in written down in a book or boring slide show presentation. If I had a dollar for every “death by powerpoint” presentation that I’ve sat through during this train up, I could afford to hire an unsuspecting Asian stand in to attend all of this training for me while I whoop it up back home. Granted, it took the FLW almost a week and a half to finally get us access to this CW3, but it’s better late than never.

Conversations

Conversations

Just to give you an idea of how things are going here, let me replay a conversation I had with on of the instructors here:

Me: “So, what am I here to learn today?”
Instructor: “What do you want to learn?”
Me: “Well, this is your class, isn’t it? What do you teach?”
Instructor: “I teach a lot of things. What do you want to know?”
Me: “I’m not sure. The unit I’m going to said that I had to come here for engineer refresher training.”
Instructor: “What do you want to be refreshed on?”
Me: “Hmm. Not sure on that one. Since I’m an engineer captain, I guess engineering stuff. Can you give me any updates of changes in the military engineering system since I got out a few years back? You know, new computer programs or techniques that they are using now that they didn’t use 6 years ago?”
Instructor: “What kind of changes are you referring to?”
Me: “I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me of anything that I need to know in order to do my job.”
Instructor: “What will you be doing?”
Me: “I don’t know that one either. They haven’t told me yet.”
Instructor: “Well, I’m not sure what to teach you. What do you want to be taught?”
Me: “Maybe anything that I need to know in theater that will help me do my job better.”
Instructor: “What will you be doing?”
Me: “I told you already, I don’t know.”
Instructor: “Then why are you here?”
Me: “Because they told me to come here.”
Instructor: “Why?”
Me: “I don’t know. Something about supporting the war effort and stuff like that. Look, they called me back into active duty and I’m just following orders. I just need to know what I’m doing here.”
Instructor: “I’m not sure. Who sent you here?”
Me: “The Army did.”
Instructor: “Who is this ‘Army’ that you speak of?”
Me: “I’m going back to my room. Please call me if you can find something to teach me.”

Okay, maybe I embellished the last bit a little, but for the most part, it’s a reflection of how things have been here for the past week. I think today we made some headway towards some specialized training which was a big boost in morale. See, I’m not completely cynical! I found the positive in this situation, although it DID take some digging.