Oh, the frustration (and other information)

Oh, the frustration!

Tonight is the perfect night (ok, not really) to tell you basically what I do in a night… and to vent some of my frustrations concerning what I do in a night.

Currently I work from 1900 to 0500, which I'm pretty sure is the busiest shift for casework. Essentially what I do is sit at a desk with three computer and two phones … and pray that I don't have to use all five at one time. Our NIPR computer holds our roster – the listing of all the units that are in deployed locations (in theatre, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait). Our SIPR computer sits and collects dust; we rarely use that one. The other computer, an MWR computer, is where our Dovetail system is. Dovetail is our new computer system for doing casework. Dovetail has its positives and negatives. It seems to work much better in CONUS, but then, what computer system doesn't? We can also use Dovetail on our NIPR computer, but I don't think any of us actually choose to do so. Phone number one is our DSN phone, also known as a NIPR phone (or sometimes a VOIP phone). Phone number two is our S-VOIP, also known as a SIPR or VOIP phone.

Now, I can tell you all this and if you've deployed before there's a good chance you'll understand what I'm saying. If you haven't, however, you'll probably be scratching your head right now. Let's backtrack a little. In order to deploy with the ARC, you have to have at least an interim Secret Security Clearance pending a completed clearance. Without that, you can't go. SIPR is the reason for this. SIPR is the secured internet network. NIPR is the unclassified, but still sensitive military network. All of our phone connections are via these networks, as well. The MWR computer is not on any kind of military network that blocks websites (hence why I am able to blog), but all actions can still be monitored, and Dovetail is on a secured website.

So, in a nutshell I sit all night. I look at one computer and review a case concerning a death, illness, birth, child care issue, leave extension, disaster, financial assistance, or some other verifiable emergency. I then look at the roster to find where to call based on the servicemember's address given in the message by the family (or on rare occasion, by the servicemember directly). I then put that information into the case and call the number on the roster using either the DSN or the S-VOIP phone (depending on the capabilities of the unit I'm calling). Then I do it all over again.

Now the frustrating part… Tonight was thus far our busiest night. We have been having issues with the S-VOIP phone for a few days now that are expected to last a couple more weeks. Sometimes the phones work; sometimes they don't. Sometimes calls drop in the middle of passing a message and sometimes you're able to get through a whole message without dropping the call. Dovetail decided to be finicky at times, and our DSN phones went down from… well, it started at 2300 and they're still down over 5 hours later. Being unable to call messages to units makes it extraordinarily difficult to do my job since that IS my job, hence the frustration of tonight. Oftentimes units have both an S-VOIP phone and a DSN phone, but a few units have only one or the other. And then, Stevie Ray and I laugh. What else is there to do?

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Per the request of my mother to explain a little more about the birthday parties and bread-baking…

Every other Saturday there is a birthday celebration. Anyone is welcome to come, no matter when your birthday actually comes around. We have decorations, hot dogs, snacks, a birthday cake, a game or two, singing and blowing out candles, and general fun birthday mayhem for everyone involved. For those people whose birthdays legitimately fall in that month, there is a free mug or water bottle, a free gift bag, and a phone card/AAFES (PX) gift card drawing for someone… depending on the resources that the ARC has at the time. All in all it lasts about an hour or so.

Wednesdays and Fridays are bread nights. We here at Red Cross CANNOT forget bread night. We will be reminded. Profusely. There is a bread machine in our canteen. Mary starts it at 1700 – puts the water, mix, and yeast in the machine, pushes the button, and three hours later I take out a hot loaf of freshly baked bread (Hawaiian sweet bread seems to be a favorite), cut it, and serve. It usually lasts all of 15 minutes before it has been gobbled. The scent wafts through our building and is, in general, a great way to attract people from all over. We are in the process of securing an additional bread machine and mixes to possibly do additional bread times (caveat: I am not asking anyone to donate anything! If you would like to send something, post a comment or email me and I will pass your request on to the right people).

Any more questions, just let me know!

Alright, here goes with the update. There are a couple points of interest:

#1 Steve Urkel. Allow me to explain. In the military, there are not sizes for everyone. Last time, per the recommendation of a team leader, I got a pant size that was slightly tighter than I would have liked... but they worked very well throughout my deployment. This time, per the recommendation of everyone, I went the size bigger so that clothes weren't tight in the heat. Mistake. Yep, in order to keep my pants ON, I practically have to hike them up to my neck, hence, Steve Urkel. Ah, the lessons learned.

#2 Critters. Thus far I have seen some weird cat looking thing, multiple lizards, what I believe is a sand fly, and a spider that was entirely too large for my liking. No, it wasn't a camel spider; it was relatively normal sized. It was, however, in my office, which is totally unacceptable. It also is not dead, which is even more unacceptable. The lizards, which I can deal nicely with during the day, have the tendency to freak me out a little at night (which is, of course, when I'm awake). I have no particular issue with lizards, but all I generally see is something scurrying out of the corner of my eye, which naturally makes me think of spiders. Not a fan.

#3 Howling bean poachers. I work nights with Stevie Ray. When you do this job (especially on night shift, I think), you have to develop a certain brand of humor- i.e. strange things will amuse you. Last night I showed Stevie Ray what the Silent Coyote was (similar to the "rock on" hand gesture, the Silent Coyote requires the pads of the thumb, middle, and ring fingers to be pressed together while straightening the pointer and pinky fingers) and he promptly started howling. That's right. In the middle of the office, about midnight (unfortunately, there was not a full moon) the Red Cross workers start howling. Ok, not all of us; I was laughing hysterically.

Non-deployed caseworkers might not understand this part, but some of you will. I was explaining to Stevie Ray (later on the night of the howling incident) how subcases were explained to us in training - beans. You want to get your beans so the bean counter (Jesse Cowart or whoever else keeps record of how many cases we do) knows how hard you've been working. Sometimes beans are just itty bitty beans, and sometimes you get a lima bean or larger (depending on how hard you work locating a servicemember etc). Today Steve referred to stations that give themselves an Emergency Communications subcase without actually delivering the emergency communication (a no-no) as poachers. Yep, we have bean poachers here in Tikrit.

#4 The CHU. I finally finished (mostly) cleaning and unpacking my room. Whenever I go to sleep at night (my night, actually morning), I can actually feel the dust I'm inhaling as the air conditioner blows right on my bed. Therefore, I decided to attempt to clean out said air conditioner. I successfully knocked the dust off of it so that there was dust about an inch thick on my desk (pictures to come). I think my air conditioner is colder now... or maybe I just got colder last night for some reason. I'm going to blame the air conditioner, though.

#5 Sickness. One of our teammates was diagnosed with walking pneumonia today. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon!

Ok, finally some information!

Oh my goodness! What a trip! Let's see; where do I start? Well, as previously posted, I've finally made it to Tikrit – almost a week after leaving Fort Benning.

Benning: We left and flew to IRELAND!! Exciting! 55 degrees. Not exciting. And we're going to Iraq… approximately hot # of degrees? That's right. Maybe they could have thought that one out a little better, haha. Anyways, Ireland was BEAUTIFUL! I'll definitely be going back sometime when I can see more than an airport and what little countryside one can see out an airplane window.

Kuwait: Our team was space blocked (reserved, kind of) for the day BEFORE we actually got there, so we "missed" our flight. We scheduled another flight… and another… and slowly watched as the rest of our teams left Kuwait. Yep, we were the last team in Kuwait. Finally, we were about to leave! We got on the plane. The plan (which I did not come up with) was to make one stop before heading to Tikrit. Now, I'm BIG on timing these things so I can help out the next teams going through. Three hours and 36 minutes later… we were back in Kuwait. There were sandstorms so we couldn't land. Bummer! We ended up flying out that same night (or morning, I guess), so there were about two days of no (or very little) sleep trying to get the Bagram team out and finishing up Kuwait business and getting to Tikrit (which took an hour and 29 minutes, by the way).

Tikrit: We got here and were greeted by the current team leader. We went to a DFAC (which was the smallest "DFAC" I've ever seen) and had breakfast… then off to the CHUs to get a little sleep before I started my shift at 1700 with Carol. We took a driving tour of the highlights of the COB (laundry, post office, PX, office, DFAC) and then went into the office and got a tour of that whole building. Needless to say (I think) my brain was entirely overloaded and I couldn't even remember where the bathroom was! Don't worry, I was re-shown the way. Basically, since then there have been a couple more driving tours to try to really figure out where everything is; the divvying out of different roles such as who will be making the bread, who will be throwing the birthday parties, and who will be visiting the CSH; and, of course, casework! The team we replaced is still here. I feel so bad for them because they have now gotten bumped off of a flight that
was already later than they wanted to fly, and there are sandstorms in the forecast so they may not get out for awhile yet.

Jerry started doing CSH visits. He feels pretty comfortable there since he was a combat medic in the Army until he retired last year. The first watching of the bread baking was today so that Mary and I can do it next time, and the first birthday party that Stevie Ray and I are "running" was today and seemed to be a success. Also, there is foot traffic in the office all the time! I'm loving it!

CHU: Compartmentalized Housing Unit
COB: Contingent Operating Base (i.e. we're on COB Speicher aka Tikrit)
CSH: Combat Support Hospital
DFAC: Dining Facility
PX: Post Exchange (where you buy all your stuff)

Tikrit!

So, I'm finally in Tikrit! More about that later... perhaps once I've actual settled in I'll relay a little more information. It took awhile to get here from Kuwait, but now we're here! The outgoing team will probably be leaving sometime shortly, but they most likely won't make it out with the other Iraqi teams. I guess we took too long in Kuwait. Lovely sandstorms! More later!

Kuwait

I'm in Kuwait... waiting and waiting to fly out of Kuwait. But... I'm here safe! Sorry for the delay, but I've been hoping that by keeping close to the tent in which we manifest I would, in fact, get an earlier flight. Yes, this has been to no avail thus far. Oh well.

I will update more on traveling etc once I get into my real area... whenever that is!

So, Fort Benning is almost over... here's my address in Tikrit:

American Red Cross
Attn: Brittany Reynolds
COB Speicher
APO AE 09393

Welcome to Fort Benning!

So, I'm in Fort Benning. Right now everyone else that's going to Iraq (Baghdad, Tikrit, and Balad), Afghanistan, and Kuwait (our 5 deployment locations) are in training... they have been for about 7 hours and will be for another 5 hours... it's one of the rough days. Fortunately for me, since I deployed within the past 12 months, I don't have to do this training again... another perk to deployments only being 4.5 months long and being able to go twice in a year. Thus far my previous training has sufficed a few times, for which I am infinitely grateful.

Friday: arrival, billeting... and then nothing.

Saturday: briefings/CBT

Sunday: briefings/additional CBT`

Monday: Med-Shed

Tuesday: SRP and CIF

Wednesday: TSIRT training

Acronyms and other bits for inquiry
CBT - computer based training
CIF - central issue facility (where we get all of our gear)
JAG - no idea what this stands for, but they're the legal side of the military... go here for powers of attorney and/or wills
Med-Shed - kind of self-explanatory - we have to be medically cleared in order to be able to go into theatre
SRP - soldier readiness processing (a whole bunch of different stations... ID cards, chaplain, JAG)
TSIRT - theatre specific individual readiness training... basically it's a big white tent in which we're briefed. a lot.

A blog? Why?

So, I've decided to create a blog in the hopes that I will be able to keep more people updated on my life instead of using all of my time to respond to emails. Perhaps this will answer some of your questions (plus my employer strongly encouraged me to do a blog).

And now... a little background...

I work for the Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) department of the American Red Cross (ARC) as an Assistant Station Manager (ASM). No, I cannot take your blood. No, I can't teach you CPR or first aid. No, I do not have contact with prisoners of war. No, I am not the one who determines if the military is treating detainees humanely. I can probably tell you where to find out all that information. My primary base of knowledge lies solely with the ARC as it pertains to communications within the United States military. Confused? Allow me to explain a bit more.

Technically what I do is called emergency communication messaging. Basically, someone (either the servicemember or a member of his/her family or friends) begins an EMERGENCY message for a servicemember by calling the ARC. This generally happens due to severe illness, death, and birth of immediate family members. It is verified BY LEGITIMATE VERIFYING OFFICIALS in the USA and then it is shipped to myself and my co-workers in Iraq (and many other places, I'm just going on my experience here). We then take those messages and pass them on to said servicemember's command or the servicemember him/herself. Yes, we have been called the Angels of Death... but someone has to do it. This allows the military time to focus on its primary mission - which is not dealing with what's going on at home. We weed out the emergencies from the non-emergencies and do all of the verification so the military doesn't have to do so.

I began training for this job in OCT2007, deployed NOV2007, and returned MAR2008. I absolutely loved being there.... so I requested to return and now I'm going back. This chronicles my life...