Monday, September 22, 2008

Another Day at Fort Ding-a-Ling

Yes, I have to wear an Army uniform for this assignment. It says US NAVY on it, but is an Army Combat Uniform. Comfortable but we're not allowed to put our Seabee on it, our warfare devices, or our Staff Corps insignia.
En route to the FOB (Forward Operating Base) for church services. The services were cancelled for some reason but there were three of us still interested in going. We're inside an old HMMWV (Hum-V) riding out before dawn. That's Brother Brown (CAPT) next to me (on right), photo was taken by Brother Gonzalez (1Sgt). The other people were riding out for other services.
Sunrise in the FOB next to our chariot, and a kind Chaplain's assistant to drive us around!
This training pipeline makes no recognition of the Sabbath. We sat idle on Thursday and Friday waiting for something to do, but then had 8 hours of training on Sunday to conduct.
So we spent 8 hours learning how to treat for combat first aid. It focused on the 3 most preventable causes of death...bleeding out, compromised airway, and tension pneumothorax. It's where the space around your lungs fill up with air, usually caused by a sucking chest wound or an opening into the chest cavity. The treatment is to decompress the space by punching a small hole into your intercostal space...as seen on ER many times. It's scary to think that every Army guy is now running around with a 14 gauge needle just waiting to pop it into my lung!!! This training was useful but made everyone just knowledgeable enough to be dangerous.

Training goes on...
Today we had an hour long class called Leadership Decision Making Skills...I decided not to go! Sorry no pictures!

Here's a link to the Public Info about AL ASAD, or at least the general area. It is a sanitized, public affairs page, so it will be all the good stuff we're doing. I'll try to keep you posted on the things that are interesting.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Ft. Dix Training continues


We arrived in Ft Dix, NJ last Saturday afternoon. I spent the week in Norfolk with 38 people from all over the Navy, processing through the administrative stuff. We then all loaded on a charter bus and made our way to Ft. Dix, NJ, arriving here on Saturday afternoon.


We moved into our barracks. Most have about 12-16 men to a room, I'm lucky to bunk only 4 in a room. My roommates are pretty cool, and all really good guys. Noah sent me his Spongebob Squarepants sheets to make my bunk feel a little more like home. I love them!! Thanks Noah!


In front of the Ft Dix Federal Prison, on base and right down the street.



We all had smallpox vaccinations before we got here. This is a "normal" reaction to the vaccine...green to white puss popping out of a red swollen knot on my arm at the site.


Typical field lunch. These are not MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) but are instead a kinder/gentler lunch box with all commercial off-the-shelf items. Only 1400 calories in the whole box!!! The food is actually pretty good but loaded with preservatives, High Fructose Corn Syrup, and fat. I stick the the main entree, the raisins, and crackers/bread sticks. One of my room mates, Greg "bucket" Burkett...he's a pilot. I have to run since Internet speed is crawling here. I will upload more pictures as soon as training sked allows. I miss you all. Thanks for looking! Email me if you want to catch up or see anything different on here... travismortimer@gmail.com

Monday, September 8, 2008

You're in the Army now!

Because all USCENTCOM (Central Command) activities fall under the Army's operational responsibility, I am being subjected to all forms of Army exposure, hence the reason I have to go to Ft Dix for training. It is already a culture shock just with the decreased level of accommodation provided, the lack of custom and privileges afforded officers, and not to mention the unnecessary acronyms! Hoo ah! I'm so glad to have chosen the right branch of the military! This photo explains it all.

There's Strong...then there's Army Strong!

Sunday, September 7, 2008

A journey of a thousand mile starts with one step

It all pretty much starts today. I reported to the Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center (ECRC) today in Norfolk, VA. Even though this is the start of an adventure, just getting here has been a journey!!
Maybe I'll blog later about my thoughts and feelings on US occupation of Iraq, but for now I'll let you know that I'll be there to manage several construction contracts, hopefully with the revenue going to Iraqis rather than KBR or General Dynamics type US firms! We're there to help them, not to enrich US shareholders and provide CEO retirement packages~ anyway, later on that.
I finally got the family set up in the Atlanta area while I deploy. We did a DITY move (Do-IT-Yourself) and took everything in a 26' moving truck with Meredith and all the kids following behind. It took 3 days of driving and we tried to squeeze in some enjoyment along the way. We stopped over for a day in NYC to see some sights, show the kids the "big city" and eat at the world famous Carnegie Deli. Of course, no trip could be called complete without the van being towed by the NYPD, and being accosted by over zealous panhandlers. We got the whole experience of the city.
Everyone is settled in now, and I needed to make an administrative stop in Norfolk before starting my combat training familiarization at Ft Dix, NJ. So I'll be in Norfolk for a week taking care of medical and dental stuff, paperwork, wills, life insurance, etc. I will go to Ft Dix next Saturday and will be on lock-down as we go through a rigorous 3 week training regime. My itinerary allows for 10 days of travel from NJ to Iraq, with stops in Bahrain and Kuwait. I will have "boots on the ground" in Iraq by 13 October. My current orders have me in Iraq for only 6 months. We'll see how that goes!
I'm excited about going to the desert, but I really really miss my family. Noah is at the age where he notices I'm gone, and his behavior has already started to show somethings different. We keep in touch with a webcam and video calling right now. I hope to have enough bandwidth in Iraq to keep doing that.
I'll be blogging more soon. Thanks for checking on me!

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