Kuwait

We are FINALLY in the Middle East!! But still not yet were we are supposed to be. Right now we are in a purgatory of sorts in Ali Al Salem, Kuwait. It is not a rather small Air Base that we flew into yesterday. Now we have to wait until tomorrow to get a flight into Iraq. But let me back up a little.

Friday we flew out of Georgia an a DC-10, the largest aircraft I have ever been on. It was ten seats across and had three big screens. We also got to watch four movies: Avatar, What Happens in Vegas, Tooth Fairy, and GI Joe. Surprisingly, I was able to sleep for most of the flights. Our first flight took us into Bangor, Maine. Josh was very excited about that because I guess Stephen King lives around there. We looked for him but didn't see him unfortunately.

After Maine, we had a seven hour flight into Leizpig, Germany. Sadly enough, my first trip to Europe consisted on nothing more than the inside of an airport terminal. And a very small one at that. We had one more four hour flight into Kuwait. And if I have one word for Kuwait....it would be....HOT. At least 120 degrees. Insanely hot. But you don't actually sweat in this heat, so oddly enough I am handling it better than the nasty sticky heat of Georgia. It is hot enough though, that you walk a little faster so you can get your hiney into some air as quickly as possible.

Ali Al Salem is made up of hundreds of tents. Most of the tents to have cement floors, but some do have plywood floors. But thankfully, every indoor area is constantly blasted with air conditioning. We got on base about 2000, had a briefing, and signed up for a flight out. Balad is pretty popular, so that flight filled up fast, and we had to be put on a waiting list. After we got everything squared away here, it was almost midnight, but only 1700 back home, so neither Josh or I were tired. Instead of going to bed, we walked around base. There is a PX, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Subway, calling area, MWR (a wellness and recreation center) and much more, all open 24 hours a day. Everything is busy too, even at 2 in the morning. Ali Al Salem is a lot like Las Vegas in that respect....but only in that respect.

The flight to Balad left at 0400, but we were so far down the list we didn't get on it. So we had a formation at 1000, just to make sure we were still here, and now we sit and wait until tomorrow's flight, and see if we can get on that. We don't have anything to do, so at least we can catch up on our sleep, and movie watching. Someone said we could be here for a week waiting for a flight. I am praying for tomorrow. I'm not a big fan of tents.

I did take pictures of our flight and layovers, but the computer connector thing is in my other bag, so once we get on Balad, I'll post them.

Keep praying!!

CRC Day 6

Things have gotten busier here at CRC. The last two days we have had formations as early as 0520. Tuesday we went to CIF (*disclaimer: I really don't know what these abbreviations mean, but I pretend I do...*) to pick up our gear. That consisted of our Kevlar vest and helmet, gas mask, and duffle bags. Josh had to put my vest together. It weighs about fifty pounds. Here's me modeling it... but not too happily.

Also, my helmet, which is near impossible to smile in...

Getting our gear took from 5:30 until close to 10:00, then we went to the medical building. I was there until 1800 (6pm!). Since we had such and early formation, we missed breakfast, because the DFAC opens at 0530, and then we missed lunch as well because we were at the "Med Shed" all afternoon. But they prepared for this and fed us....... MRE's. 

And I don't care who you are trying to kid, MRE's are bad news. Chicken Pesto Pasta sounded very "Olive Garden-ish", but was more along the lines of "Stinky-Chef-Boyardee". It came with apple sauce, pudding, wheat bread, and bacon cheese spread. I ate the apple sauce and the pudding. 

Yesterday was fairly exciting. We went to the range up the hill and had TSIRT training, which stands for Theatre (someplace out of the country, in our case, IRAQ) Specific Individualized Readiness Training. This consisted of 12 hours of medical and IED/UXO training. For the first half of the day we learned about combat wounds and how to treat them. This included sucking chest wounds, abdominal injuries, open head wounds, shock, and inflating lungs. They had dummies for us to practice on, but I already had Josh. Haha....

After learning all things medical, we learned about IEDs and UXOs (Improvised Exploding Devices and UneXploded Ordnances). They actually even have a Iraqi Village of sorts set up here at Fort Benning, so you can walk around and try to spot IEDs. They have them hidden everywhere, and if you accidentally set one off, they have it rigged up to make a loud noise and smoke. Scares the pee out of you if you aren't paying attention. 

We got back from TSIRT training about 1830 and ate dinner. Still amazing food...

And I got a chance to take some pictures around post here. 

I posted the outside of my barrack before, but this is my room. I have the bottom bunk, and the locker on the left is to store all of my stuff. However, I still haven't figured out how to make a bed with two flat sheets and no fitted sheets....

This is the bathroom that about 25 or 30 of us share. The toilets are to the right, the showers are through the doorway on the left. 

These are the showers attached to the bathroom. There are eight shower heads in the room. I was NOT a happy camper when I saw them. 

This is the sign at the main entrance to CRC. CRC is actually a very very small part of Fort Benning, on the map below, it is number 20 on the bottom right. We've gone to the PX (1 on the map) on base a few times, and it is at least a ten minute drive. 

Today we have a briefing at 4:45, then we go over our flight information. We fly out to Iraq in the morning. I am very excited, because we will be making a stop in either Germany or Ireland. Either one would be really cool to see, even if only from the air. 

By Saturday I will (hopefully) be in Iraq. Keep sending prayers....

CRC

After a great deal of stress, frustration, and lack of sleep, Josh and I arrived at CRC at Fort Benning, Georgia. CRC is basically a week of making sure you have all of your ducks in a row to get deployed. It is ran by the Army, and we train and brief with troops who are also getting ready to deploy. But, like I said, it is ran by the military, so it is a whole lot of hurry up and wait. Something I am getting used to, and also hating more and more everyday.

We arrived here on Saturday, at 3 in the morning. Josh and I were assigned to separate barracks, issued two flat sheets, a plastic pillow, and one boiled wool blanket. I made my bed in the dark, trying not to wake up my room mate, and slept for forty five minutes before waking up to get ready for the day. Needless to say, by the time it started, I could tell Saturday was going to be a very long day. I met Josh for breakfast at the DFAC just around the corner from our barracks. Let me throw in an interjection while I am thinking about it - everyone complains about Army food, right? I L.O.V.E it. I have eaten four meals at the DFAC so far, and I was expecting powdered eggs and dried bananas. Instead I have had cooked to order omelets and fresh cut fruit and salad bar every meal. AND I don't have to wash ANY dishes. Why do people complain about this??

Anyway, after breakfast we walked over to the pavilion to wait to get signed in. This was a very tricky process. There are over five hundred people that show up every Saturday to get processed, but only four hundred actually get to stay. The rest get sent home, like two of my room mates. And everyone processes together: Army, Department of Defense, and Contractors, given priority in that order. So every soldier that shows up is guaranteed a reservation, then the DoD's fill in, then the leftover spots are filled in with people like me. So it doesn't matter if you show up two and a half hours early, like me, to stand in line (which there wasn't one), when they call your category, you had better run to get to be first. I was fifth, so I did pretty good. If Josh and I would have been further back in line, we would have been sent home and told to come back later. The soonest we could come back is in 6 weeks.

After we got our nifty red badges, saying we were accepted into training, we bused over to a big white tent for briefings, which are ironically anything but short. After that was lunch, veal parmesan and mashed potatoes, a few more briefings, then we were done for the day. I almost jumped for joy at the opportunity for sleep, so both Josh and I went back to our rooms to do just that. Then we caught a shuttle over to the PX on base so Josh could pick up a few things, and we were back in bed by nine o'clock, or should I say... 2100.

Today we got to sleep in, until six, then it was an early morning formation. I got fitted for body armor, which was humorous, because everyone just lines up, while one person walks down that line, points at you, and tells you your size. We had a few more briefings after that, in which they repeated everything from yesterday, and at 1600 released us for the day. I wish I could say we have been very busy, but we very much have not been.

My barrack. I share a room with one other girl.

This is a sign outside of my door that points to all different places in the world. There is one for      Iraq...that way, eight thousand miles.

   My red badge!!!! Similar to Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket. Minus the chocolate.