Star Wars Iraq!!!

I know it's corny, but I seriously am having moments of Star Wars awesomeness over here; we should add a film where they're stuck in Iraq... I have a guy in my platoon that seriously looks like a younger Lando with less hair and glasses. The best part is he has the voice spot on; I've made him say "Han old buddy!" over the net a couple times because it's just too awesome. Completely makes my day. He decided that I'm LT Wicket which just cracks me up. If I'm calling him Lando, I don't mind him making a reference back at me. And the other day driving back in the morning, it seriously looked like the sunset in "A New Hope". I wanted Luke to run outside of one of the huts and for music to start playing. Definitely awesome.

I realized this morning that I've been deployed for a month. Not in Iraq, but deployed. In some ways it feels like it can't have been a month yet and in others it feels like it's been forever. But, that's one month down, 9 or so to go!

Taking the good with the bad….

So the past 2 days have been a rollercoaster of emotion. Some things became extremely real while I was reminded of how lucky I am. Yeah, an emotional day… Guess I should give the negative news first and then end on a high note.

After breakfast yesterday I ran into a friend from BOLC 2. I was psyched to see him but I could tell something was wrong with him. All communications have been out for the past 36 hours so I knew something was up; turns out a soldier died last night. My friend was his platoon leader. He was furious because his soldier had been attached to another unit. And the thing that really gets me is it was totally preventable. They were driving too fast and their MRAP rolled over. The gunner died, the driver’s in critical condition and the other 2 members of the crew broke limbs. There’s a reason we only drive 35 mph. We’re doing the enemy’s job for them by being reckless. So my buddy’s not doing the best and I got a severe dose of reality. It’s something that could have happened back in the states in training, but it seems more dramatic to happen over here. It put a shadow on the whole day and I’m worried about my buddy. He’s in “take care of the crisis” mode but I’m waiting for him to emotionally crash once that goes away.

So while that’s a sincere downer, there were multiple bright spots yesterday. I’m getting to know my trucks and loads better, to the point that I was able to put together a plan (with the help of an NCO…) to retrograde everything from one of the bases that are closing. So that was exciting. I discovered that the LT I’m replacing is a closet musical and opera fan, which s awesome. He loaned me a copy of “Love Never Dies” (the new Lloyd Webber musical that’s a sequel to “Phantom of the Opera”) so I’ve been enjoying his musical genius while I relax. It’s good for the soul. Also got a ton of mail! Dad, thank you for the package and the letters! The snacks will be a wonderful addition and I can’t wait to read “The Children of Hurin”. J Mom, thank you for all the letters!!! They make me smile and brighten my day. I love the government issue card; it’s awesome! Grandpa, thank you so much for the letter with your words of wisdom. I could hear you talking to me as I read it and it lifted my spirits. Leslie, I was so surprised to get your letter; thank you! Give my love to the rest of the SEC!

A humorous anecdote from my most recent mission. Based on the poor planning of the XO at one of the bases we supply, we were supposed to take a radio tower back with us. No problem. He told us the dimensions were 20'x8; when collapsed and that fits on one of my trucks, no problem. He was supposed to get a crane to lift it, but didn't, so I was ready to put it on a flatbed that can be lowered to the ground that is 20'x8' coincidentally and we could roll the tower on there. Sadly, he can't measure and the tower was 30'x8'... didn't fit that flatbed. It would fit on another, but we had to find a way to lift it. We somehow got a forklift that should only carry 5 tons to lift the 10 ton tower onto the flatbed... I'm going to get a sign for my desk that says "A failure in planning on your part does not constitute and emergency in mine" because this sort of thing happens a lot and we're expected to fix it. Thankfully my soldiers are very good at what they do and get the mission done. This same XO canceled his water delivery last week... I'm going to have to watch this guy because he's special...

So a very long and emotional past few days. Know that I love you all and miss you today more than ever. Hugs!

Things are looking up..

So things are definitely looking up. I'm getting my platoon's schedule simplified so they don't have to work ridiculous hours mornings and night (and then I won't have to either...), the battalion XO likes me and actually backed me to a general, the platoon's officially mine, I finally got my 9mil to replace the bulky m4, and I got mail!! Yeah for good days!! Maman, thank you so much for the box of necessities; you're the best. I can start work on my leader's book now too. The games look fun; I will definitely have to try them out. Aunt Aly, that was one of the most creative and fun ideas ever. I love it! Now I have some awesome stories full of M words written by your students and lots of M&Ms to snack on while I enjoy them. I can't wait!

So I'm having to readjust the holster for my 9mil; the guy I'm replacing is much bigger than me. I actually think the holster itself will be too big even when I put it on it's smallest size... on the up side, Kent, there are Moose on the shoulder straps! Everyone says they're gazelle but I'm pretty sure they're Moose ;-)

I'm off to go pick up my clean laundry; another plus for the day!

This is the Day that never ends...

Yeah... definitely had a 36 hour day with 12 hours of me time (so food, shower, sleep) followed by a 17 hour day that was extended due to a wire breach and a 100% accountability requirement... I'm sleepy. Good news is I've basically taken over my platoon! The other LT is just mentoring and evaluating now; they're my plans, my organization, my missions. It's awesome. My NCOs are great and are taking really good care of me. I think they've decided I'm not going to be like some of their old LTs (before the guy I'm taking over, they had 3 LTs that were apparently really shitty) and have adopted me and started mentoring me. It's awesome. Also actually planned my Company Resupply Operations (CRO for short) for the month of July. Just like that, I'm planning resupply missions for the area for July; not a big deal. ;-)

I can't tell you all the details, but one of our missions is to resupply fuel to the generators that pump water into Adder. The water is pumped to a lake on base from which we gage the water level. The water level was low so we had to figure out why. The water supply gets attention from generals so when it went down, every officer in my chain of command up to the battalion commander got alerted... I'm not in trouble but I had to find a way to fix it. That was what extended my already long day yesterday and then made us get up early today. Super fun.

Go USA! Definitely was watching the game at dinner and when we scored the whole dining hall freaked out. Totally made my night.

Well I've got an extremely long day tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Yay for sleep!!!

PX Fails

So I had some free time today and decided to make a run to the PX for come basic essentials. They fail. I went to get a couple things but the 3 main items were: tweezers, a comb, and a magnetic mirror. I would assume that with all the other stuff they have in there that those 3 basic items would be easily attainable. Alas, I was wrong. The local nationals working in the PX didn't even know what tweezers were... It was extremely frustrating. Got a swiffer for my room though (lots of sand so that's a bonus) and found Febreeze and hooks for my wall... so not a complete fail. Just a fail on basic commodities I would assume would be available... lames. Already chatted with Ward and he's going to mail them to me later today. Right honey?

Super busy on the work front. First afternoon off in a week; that's nice. And I'm officially planning the missions from here on out, so the platoon is slowly becoming mine... mwahaha!! Looks like this upcoming month is going to be interesting and extremely busy, but I would rather do that then sit here and do nothing; if I'm going to be here I want to be busy!

Well, I'm off to dinner with my Platoon Sergeant!

Intense Day

So today was long... ran my first mission, got to speak with some of the local nationals, sweat a lot, got to see the Euphrates, met some of the units I'll be supplying, realized just how much I have yet to learn about the platoon... yeah, long day. Not as intense tomorrow; finally got my computer so I can start going through all the paperwork for the platoon and all the past mission plans and such. Hope to learn a lot. Still trying to get all my vehicles and load types memorized. Who knew a reefer is not a drug but in fact a RFR which is a refrigerated container. You can imagine my initial surprise when they announced we would have a reefer on our convoy...

Don't know if I've mentioned it here, but my company's mascot is Ghostriders, so my call sign is going to be Ghostrider 2-6. I like it. We're phantoms; you don't even know we passed by... ;-)

Well I'm exhausted and it looks like another long day tomorrow. Bed time!

The new room...

So I do like my new room and it's in a more convenient spot in relation to my soldiers and all of that. But we definitely had some issues moving me in this morning... turns out the room billeting initially gave me was already given to a male master sergeant.... we did not discover this until I opened the room to find only one bed, everything reorganized, and a letter addressed to a MSG Jason something. So yeah, that was interesting. Contacted billeting and they didn't even realize their mistake. My 1SG fixed it though and I'm in a different room now. And it's pretty much awesome. Now I really want stuff for my walls though... they're really blank and gray...

I'm slowly working my way into the platoon. Still a lot to learn, but most of it is on the technical side like what vehicles I have, what their capacities are, etc. Going to spend some time tonight in my notes from BOLC and see what I can relearn on my own (yes, I brought the notes; I'm a nerd). I also got the operating procedures for the battalion and I may have some light evening reading... again, I know I'm a nerd. :-P

Well, with my reading and the long days, I better be headed to bed. Love you all!

Happy B-day Army!

Yes, it's the Army birthday and we get to celebrate with 2 beers each at dinner that will be more closely rationed out than ammunition. Completely serious on that. More trouble than it's worth from my perspective, but c'est la vie.

Tres tired but feeling good about my platoon and the job I'm getting into. I"m really psyched. Still have a week or so to shadow, then he'll start handing the reigns over to me. Good stuff!

With my move, it means a new address. Don't worry, if you sent me stuff it'll still get to me (the S1 is my buddy) it'll just take longer. This is the direct address to me at my new job:

Theresa Ockrassa, 2LT, G FSC

3-29 FA 3BCT 4ID

COB Adder APO AE

09331

So pretty much the same, just a few changes. Also, a bunch of you have asked what to send me. I have sat and pondered and here's what I've come up with:

- Letters. Easy to send and I can reread them on the road and whenever I need/want a pick me up

- Burt's Bees Lip Balm. It's awesome and you can't get it here. Also, if you want to get me the "shimmer" in peony shade I can feel girly without actually wearing any makeup :-)

- Snack packs or granola/energy bars that ban survive the heat but are individually wrapped so I can take them out on the road with me.

- My walls are all metal which means magnets work everywhere. So anything I can hang up on my walls to add color or pictures of you wonderful people to make me smile would be greatly appreciated.

- Little things of febreeze. Seems sill, but people sweat a lot over here and with that comes smell...

- Winterfresh or eclipse gum. Another simple thing to put in a pocket and take on a mission with me. Pretty much everyone over here smokes or dips to stay awake on missions (aka gross) and I'm trying to keep myself awake with gum and hopefully start a healthier trend... I'll let you know how successful that is.

- Starbucks doubleshot energy+coffee drinks (mocha!!!!). They're in cans and don't have to be refrigerated (good that way, but not necessary) and I can use those as a pick me up on missions or when doing paperwork. The energy drinks they have over here are gross... and everyone's addicted to them... so I figure that I already love coffee so I can still enjoy it and get the wakefulness as a benefit.

I hope that helps you guys. Not that I need care packages; I'm doing fine. But if you do send me something, I hope that gives you some ideas.

Super tired. Going to go to the gym, shower, and take a nap til dinner and my 2 beers... oh! I'm moving to a new room tomorrow so I'll have to pack up tonight... lame. Hope all is well in your worlds!!

Getting in on the new job

So today was my first day over at the new battalion and the new company. Did a lot of sitting around, watching, meeting a lot of people who I've already forgotten their names, and just trying to soak it all in. Got a basic grasp of how the platoon works (very basic...) and am now going to have a really long day tomorrow. I know the guy I'm taking over for is distressed to lose his platoon (I would be too) and he's trying really hard to make this transition as smooth as possible so I'm trying not to be too pushy but I want so much info as of yesterday! His paperwork files are locked up (they just moved from a different location in Iraq that we're closing with the drawdown) so he can't just give me the files to read, but you guys know me... I want to know it all!!! I want to know everything there is to know about that platoon, how it works, individual quirks... and it doesn't help my desire to know what's up with the fact that my commander told me today that 2 of her key issues that she wants me to focus on in the platoon are paperwork and UCMJ... I need the paperwork to do that! Not that I'll change anything for a while, I just want to know. Grrrr... I'll get to shadow him for 2-3 weeks though, so that will be good. I'll get to learn the routes, figure out the load procedure, get to know the guys, etc so that'll be a good starting block. It feels like information overload but at the same time I want more info... lame

Looks like I'll probably have to move rooms. The whole company is in another living area and it'll be better for me to be near all of my soldiers. Don't know when they're moving me though... they promised me a van for my stuff so I'm just gonna start the basic packing and see when they get me the new room. Kinda sad though because my roommate left for a job in Basra so the room's all mine right now.... I'll probably room with the other platoon leader in my company. It'll be good to get to know her, but I'm sure she's not going to be too happy to lose the room to herself either. C'est la vie.

Well, that's pretty much my world right now. We shall see how all of this turns out... I'll keep you all posted!

Day of Amazing Discoveries!!!

Holy crap, so much info to share and I don't even know where to start. Alright, so I guess chronologically from how I learned everything would be best. Starts this morning at the chow hall....

The S3 (in charge of all operations for the battalion) stops me and asks what's the deal. I let her know that we still don't know our jobs but are hoping to learn soon. She looked at me skeptically and was surprised we didn't know yet. She tells us to come to her office at 945 and she'll have the commander talk to us. Needless to say, we were early. My cohorts will be headed down to Camp Basra and get their jobs decided down there. I'm going to stay here at Camp Adder and move to our sister battalion in their support company. Not to bore you with army unit set up, but basically each support battalion sends a company (one level smaller) to all the other battalions in their brigade (one level up) to be their personal supply and support unit. I'm going to the 3-29 Field Artillery unit to their support company. I'll be getting a distribution platoon which means I'll be planning and running convoys to other installations in the area to keep them supplied with food, water, fuel, etc. None of my missions are incredibly long, so they don't require an overnight stay at the destination, which means I can move into my room completely because I'm not moving! Woohoo!

So that's all well and good and we go back to our resiliency training. At lunch, the XO (commander's right hand guy) from my new company finds me at lunch and introduces himself and the LT I'm replacing. We chat for a bit and then agree to meet up later once I'm free from my resiliency training.

Back from lunch, the S-1 pops in to tell me I have mail. I was super psyched and ran upstairs to discover that I didn't just have a letter, oh no. I had 3 packages and 2 letters!!!! Everyone is pretty much jealous of me and my support network and I feel so loved. Grandma, thank you so much for the blanket and the pillow; they're awesome! I can't wait to cuddle up with them tonight! Mom, I'm so psyched to have non army cloths for hanging out in my room. They're comfy and comfortable!!! Martha, I don't think I will ever need Q-tips again! ;-) Thank you all so much. And Jason, thanks for the letter. I got a kick out of the Air Force nametape.

After my resiliency training was finished, we borrowed the battalion van to run back to our rooms and grab duffel bags of stuff we don't need. They issued us a lot of stuff in Kuwait, but no matter how cold it gets here, I won't be needing the extreme cold weather suit, or the 6 other layers that go beneath it.... so I packed up the stuff I will never use and put it in a conex that the battalion has. I don't have to store it or move it and the battalion will give it back to me when we get to Carson where I may actually need those things....

So then I got to hang out with the LT I'm replacing. I'm so psyched about my platoon! He described them as middle school boys who love to play pranks, so I'm walking into an all boys theater cast and I couldn't be more psyched. There are only 2 platoons in the company and I'm getting the distribution one. It's very unique because 3 of the 4 officers in the company will be female with me around; that just doesn't happen in the Army. So the other platoon leader and my company commander will both be females; I'm psyched. I get my own MRAP (super ridiculous blast proof vehicle) and I actually get a desk! Ok, that may not seem big, but a lot of LTs don't have their own desks and I do. So I'm excited. I'll get my initial inprocessing brief and counseling from the commander on Saturday and then I'm shadowing the current platoon leader for a few weeks to get to see how he does things. I'm so psyched.

So that was my wonderful day of news. EEEeeee!!! Go Pacesetters! (that's the mascot of my new battalion) Or more appropriate: Ghostriders Away! (that's my company. Ghostriders is so much cooler, just sayin)

I love medics

I've discovered that everytime I need a medic since I've entered the army, I had a friend on hand to help me out. Last summer when I rolled my ankle in Kentucky, my roommate was a nurse. And now with the smallpox and allergy combo going on, I have a buddy in our sister battalion who's a sergeant and hooked me up with their PA. Got some hydro cortisone but this thing still itches like crazy. The doc's not sure what's exactly causing it, so he's treating it for if it's an allergic reaction, an additional infection from the smallpox, and an allergy. My med concoction in the morning is exciting. I'm on claritin (allergy med), kefley (an antibiotic), and predisone (a steroid). He did give me some badass lotion for my small pox site and that's healing up really well and it's starting to scab which means it should be gone soon - you have no idea how excited I am. This whole "somethings wrong but we don't know how to fix it" thing is driving me slightly crazy.

Still don't know my job yet. Spent the day doing "resiliency training". I understand why we have to train our soldiers on this stuff, but it should be done before deployment with refreshers throughout deployment; not initiated when the unit has been here 3 months already. I mean seriously, logic anyone? I have that for the next 2 days and then we're hoping the colonel tells us our jobs. This waiting around is frustrating.

I ran in to one of my UT ROTC instructors (LTC Debish for those of you who know him) at the DFAC this morning! It was really random but completely awesome. He's at the end of his tour and is leaving in a week or so, but he knows my boss and said he planned to put in a good word for me. So that was an additional bonus, but it really just made my day to see a friendly face.

Well, I think that's pretty much everything... I can't think of anything else new worthy. Oh, Laura, please do not send me colored sand. My roommate has already threaten to take the bottle outside and shoot it...

Have I mentioned sand sucks?

Don't tell me it's like a beach, because there is no water around here. And that's definitely the best part of a beach: the ocean. Anywho, there's less and less I can tell you guys about my actual activities due to so much being classified. Which is lame. But I learned a lot today and got to talk with a bunch of people who run the battalion so that was good. Tomorrow I start a 3 day training cycle that division (2 levels up) decided was mandatory. Don't know why you would initiate a required 28 hours of instruction on deployed soldiers who already work 12 hour days though... that just seems completely retarded. I'm lucky to be able to knock it out before I'm at my real job. The other LTs in the battalion are actually jealous because they have to find a way to fit in the 28 hours of instruction for themselves and their subordinates some time in the next 2 months and somehow still complete the mission... I'm sure that balancing act will be interesting.

I've started working out again; didn't do much the weeks before I deployed and the week in Kuwait doesn't count for anything productive. I'm super sore though... especially my arms. I'm hoping the DFAC (dining facility) has bananas tomorrow that aren't brown and bruised. I've got my fingers crossed.

I'm starting to realize just how busy I'm going to be, which will be good because it will help the time go by faster. Found out today the effect the draw down will have on logisticians in Iraq. Now we have 18,000+ logis and in 3 months that'll be down to around 4,000. So if they think they're busy now....

Hives still suck and I'm going to see the medics in the morning to see if they can do anything. This itch is killing me.

Super tired; the sand, heat, and working out are taking their toll. Love you!

Anecdotes

So my past few days have been hectic, but not worth blogging about. However there are a few short anecdotes that are worth relaying. So here they are:

Sat in on a weekly briefing with the Battalion Commander (he'll be my boss's boss). Despite all the major issues and concerns, the most heated debate was over what to name the missions. They apparently name them after college mascots. Since they couldn't come to a verdict the XO (Battalion Commander's right hand man) turns to me and says "Where'd you go to school LT?" I proudly answer "University of Texas". Before I can finish the word "Texas" there was a loud "No, we will never name a mission after Texas!" Turns out the battalion commander went to UC Davis and still hasn't forgiven Texas for "robbing" USC from their championship a few years back. his loss, but hilarious.

There are 3 LTs (I'm one of them) that showed up at our battalion wanting a job and so now we're all waiting on the battalion commander to say who's getting which job. One of the LTs is a friend of mine that I went to the officer basic course with. She's from Houston and is a huge UT fan. The other is a guy named Kyle and he has stated everywhere we've gone that's he from Alabama. No big deal. Well today at lunch he decided to announce that since his mother's family is from Texas, he's half Texan... how can you be half Texan? It's not like it's an ethnicity like Polish. Or am I half Texan, an eighth German, a third Missourian?Can you do that? It was ridiculous. And when Nicole and I called him out on it, he vehemently claimed Texans are arrogant and got really pissed at us for insisting you were either a Texan, or you weren't. Silly Alabaman...

So while it looks like my smallpox is finally on the mend, a new health issue has been discovered: I'm apparently allergic to whatever detergent they used in Kuwait. I haven't worn clothes they laundered until now and I'm basically one big hive from my neck down since I put on an entirely new "clean" set of clothes. So I'm going to see by experimentation if the detergent here is the same. If it is, I'm going to have to find a way to do my own laundry because I'm not dealing with this for the next year. So I dug into my bags and pulled out clothes that were washed back in the states and am wearing those for the time being but they'll only last so long.

Sandstorms suck. Especially when you can't see 10 ft in front of you. Lame.

Got to listen in on the after action review for the most recent convoy which was really cool; I got to see how the boss likes to run business and how we work as a unit. Turns out we have a ridiculously close working relationship with the Air Force nearby and we're getting some assets that are just sitting around otherwise. I don't think that logistical missions have ever gotten this kind of focus or support before and I think it's awesome! Wish I could say more, but I can't. So just take my word on it: it's awesome.

Got my first mail today! Mom and Claire: thank you both so much for the letters! They completely brightened my day!!

I'm sure there are more anecdotes, but I honestly can't remember them right now; I'm exhausted. If I do remember them, I'll post them. I love you all and I'll let you know as soon as I do about this whole job thing...

Iraq and the never ending day

So I've been up since 6am yesterday... and it's almost 9pm. I'm exhausted. Good news is I'm in Iraq now and I've met my boss. Big plus. Still don't know exactly what my job will be, but the 3 options seem intriguing and challenging. I have a room with the other female LT that has been with me for months so that's nice. There's AC, an actual bed, a working water bathroom around the corner... not bad. I probably won't be staying here though, but it depends on which job I get. It's freaking hot: 126 today. Hooray for lots and lots of water. I'm exhausted though, so I'll end here. I'll keep you all posted.

Early flight

So I just got the word that we're flying to Iraq tonight. May mean I'll be sleeping in my own room tonight... keep your fingers crossed! I'll let you all know when I'm there safely and settled in!

Pictures!!!!

I mentioned a while back that I would take some pictures for you. Well, here they are!

Here are the barricades you see around the FOB. Notice that they're painted by different units; I have a few close ups coming up later in another post

Here's Kuwait. Like I said: tan
Here are the barracks we live in. I know; classy.
The bay we sleep in. As Eric termed it "it's straight out of Forrest Gump!"

Here's my bunk. Yes, that is a teddy bear next to my M4... want to fight about it?

And the icing on the cake: Starbucks!!! Yep, even here in the middle of the desert, Starbucks has found its way here.

The upload takes forever on this fabulous internet, so I will stop there. I'll post some of my favorites of the unit's paintings on the barriers sometime in the near future. Love you guys!

New Stuff and Smallpox

So this morning we got up and got on a bus to go to a different FOB (Forward Operating Base) to get our pre-deployment cool kid gear. I got some Flame Resistant uniforms, an awesome shirt called the Army Combat Shirt (sleeves are like ACUs, but chest area is like underarmor and its worn underneath your gear to reduce heat and layers of clothing), the 7 layer Extreme Cold Weather Kit (because it gets cold in Iraqi winters...) and lots of odds and ends. The ride there took an hour, so the ride back was another. The roads here are either full of holes or our bus driver just liked finding all of them. It was an interesting ride. We did see some camels through the windows, but we mostly napped there and back (as much as we could anyway).

When I got back, I headed over to the Troop Medical Clinic (TMC) to get my smallpox looked at. The area around the vaccine site has been irritated and itchy, and actually hurting at some points so I wanted to get it looked at. Well, the TMC is on the other side of the FOB and it was the middle of the day... so it was a 20 minute walk in the sun. Not the end of the world. I got there and discovered I was not allowed to bring my weapon into the TMC. Well, I carry my weapon everywhere so this was a dilemma. I had to walk all the way back to our barracks, leave the weapon with someone, then make the hike back to the TMC. Needless to say, when I signed in at the TMC and they tried to take my blood pressure, my heart rate was a little bit high. Turns out the issue with my vaccine is twofold: first of all, I'm having a slight allergic reaction to the vaccine. Great. Solution: Claritin. Secondly, due to my past history with acne and its tendency to scar, I was apparently more susceptible to an adverse skin reaction. In fact, the doc said he wouldn't have even given me the vaccine. C'est la vie. My skin was irritated with a combination of the vaccine and the bandage I was told to use to cover it. Solution: 2 inch gauze square over vaccine site kept in place by a regular old bandbaid. Ok, well I'm wearing Garfield now, but a regular bandaid would work, I guess. ;-)

So yesterday I was hoping for stories... maybe I shouldn't hope for stories anymore...

Lazy Day

So there was nothing on the schedule for me to do today, so I decided to not set the alarm... I woke up at 1700 again... apparently I'm not sleeping enough or my body just needs a recharge. I feel kind of useless right now. I seriously can't wait to get out of Kuwait and into Iraq because I'll at least have a job and a purpose there. Here I'm just an extra LT with no real job, taking up space. It's frustrating because I hate not having a purpose or a role. I hate just lazing about. At home, with days off, it's fine because I have people to see, things to do, but here there's nothing. I feel superfluous. Maybe that's why I'm so tired; my body's hibernating to get through this time here in Kuwait.

Headed to get my RFI tomorrow; it's all the cool equipment you get before going to combat areas. So that's kind of exciting. Also going to get my smallpox vaccine looked at; it seems like it's spreading around my bandage so I'm going to have it checked. It's not affecting me in any way except making the area itchy, but I'd rather have someone look at it. I'm also turning my laundry in... we'll see how quickly it gets back to me...

I feel like I'm rambling, so I'll end here. Hopefully I'll have some better stories for you soon!