UNCLASSIFIED
What a rough 24 hours. I came to work last night as details were just
emerging about the massacre in Connecticut. I kept it together pretty
well until Obama spoke (I don't care what your political affinities are,
that was a moving speech), and it was all downhill from there. I was
then alone watching coverage in between bouts of work for the rest of
the night. Translation: I was crying off and on all night.
Heartbreaking.
THEN, at the very end of my shift, I learned of a Ramp Ceremony
happening here at Bagram later in the day. For those of you (like
myself) who do not know what that is, it's a ceremony to see off a
fallen service member who is traveling home for the last time. Service
members of all military branches and civilians congregate on the flight
line as a flag-draped casket is taken onto a waiting aircraft. As
strains of 'Amazing Grace' were heard from the Army Band, the Honor
Guard presented the colors and the service member was carried with the
utmost care off of a humvee and onto a Little Rock C-130 while we
onlookers saluted or held our hands over our hearts, respectively...
respectfully... and cried. It's entirely voluntary and there were
hundreds of people who came to pay their respects. It was almost worse
after our formation was released; my mind was whirring with all the
possible questions and wonderings of, "Does this person's family know?
Do I know before the family that he or she is gone?", "What a terrible
Christmas this will be for them," and "I wonder how his unit is dealing
with the loss of a friend and comrade." I managed to keep it to two
tears during the formation, but they were certainly free-flowing as I
walked back to the office.
When I returned to the office, my team (who all showed up for the
ceremony even though only one of us was on shift... this team is great)
was discussing how difficult the ceremony was and then we found out that
we had a suicide on Bagram the previous night. It's just sad. All of it.
However, Felicia has declared today as the only sad day of this
deployment, so I'm leaving you with a link that a friend of mine posted
on facebook with the quote "In case anyone else needs some happy
tears..." And happy tears they were indeed.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/moments-that-restored-our-faith-in-humani
ty-this-y
And in case you're wondering about #25, I did a bit of googling:
http://timdoddphotography.com/blog/do-you-know-my-friend-taylor-morris
(p.s. please note that about 1/3 of the way down they are snuggling with
a Steelers blanket)
UNCLASSIFIED
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Blog 12.10.2012-I think... what day is it?
Alright. I've been in Afghanistan just over 24 hours. Impressions, you ask?
First of all: WOW. That's the first (and only) word that came to mind when I finally paused to look up from my struggles with two bags plus safety gear. It's breathtakingly beautiful here. The snow-topped peaks surreally seem like clouds rising from nothing until the sun begins to change them to whichever shade of pink, orange, or red it so desires.
Work space: wonderful. We have so many donations and wonderful volunteers and building neighbors that work should be excellent. We have a crock pot, pizza maker, bread maker, toaster oven-y thing, microwave, industrial coffee pot (should be interesting to have me in charge of that!), and Keurig (am I forgetting something?) in the canteen room plus a casework office to do all of our messages. There are a couple of storage rooms and CONEXes (big metal containers for storage) with supplies as well. Plus we've got a couple decorated trees and some other decorations for the holidays. It's a really friendly atmosphere. I've already got the briefing on all the stuff I have to make/bake (yikes!). Apparently my predecessor spoiled all the local units with baked goods and coffee. I suppose I'll learn to improvise!
Living arrangements: sufficiently swell. I live in what's called a B-HUT (don't ask, I don't know what it stands for) which is a little plywood-esque building with 8 rooms in it... also separated on the bottom by plywood. The top of each room is open to a little hallway but it seems most of them have blankets hung to keep the light out. I think (fingers crossed) that my B-HUT mates are accomodatingly quiet. I'm not sure if there are other day sleepers or not, but aside from a crashing noise every now and then I haven't heard anything from anyone. It is a very small area so I can't really accomodate "stuff"... I think two twin beds would take up the entire space and I've got one twin bed in there plus all of my gear, a wall locker, and a chair. You can do the math. The other two ASMs and myself are all in the same B-HUT and the bathrooms/showers are a relatively short (but cold!) walk away. The B-HUTs are heated but drafty. I've been layering to sleep, but have the issued sleeping bags and an extra blanket if it gets really cold. The BAB website recommends an electric blanket, but I live in a wood hut and work for the Red Cross - fire hazard anyone? ;)
Local area: we're in a pretty "main" part of BAB (or so it seems to me). All within quick walking distance are quarters, MWR (the reason I've been on the internet so much), gym, office, and laundry drop off... just a little further is a dining facility, a bazaar, and a PX which are still well within easy walking distance.
Sending "stuff": Please don't send me stuff unless I ask for it! Again, I'm in a pretty small space and I don't have room to store ANYTHING. Also, there have been critter infestations in the past so no food! We're overflowing at the office with stuff and have 84 boxes of donations that we have to pick up at the post office. Now, to completely disregard what I just said, the office is in a slightly different situation. We've got PLENTY of donations of already-made things, but could use some brownie, muffin, or cookie mixes (and maybe bread, too) that DO NOT require eggs (can't get 'em). Send me an email or comment here and I'll tell you where we're sitting for that stuff specifically. Also, if there are crock pot things that can be made with ingredients that can be sent (I know we've got some non-meat chili ingredients), let me know what you're thinking and I'll let you know if we can handle it. If there's an ingredient or two that you can't send, check with me-we might be able to pick it up at chow.
Difficulty of the moment: the bathrooms. Literally, I can't go into them without gagging. I can't imagine trying to go in there if I actually feel sick. Raw sewage combined with dead rotting animal carcasses (not real ones; I'm trying to make a point) is the only comparison I can think to make right now (can you tell I recently went to the bathroom?). On the flip side, the showers seem not too bad. I got the 411 from my outgoing team partner on exactly which shower stall to go into to get not-freezing water, so I'll definitely be taking advantage of that (and have already).
Other items of little to no consequence: I had forgotten how long it takes to get ready while in uniform (at first). It's easy because you don't have to figure out what to wear, but it's so much more complicated than the jeans, t-shirt, and flip flops to which I'm accustomed. Tying shoes? Who does that?
It's COLD! I knew that going in, but I have been pretty consistently chilly since I got here. It's been nice during the day (mid-high 40's?), but it was definitely freezing overnight. When the sun was rising it was about 36 degrees. I have been assured, however, that it has been exceptionally nice since we've been here. It's supposed to be much colder and we're expecting snow on Thursday. Should be... uh, fun? That's the proper line, right? Ugh... well, I'll just add more layers. Positively, it doesn't seem like it will get nearly as muddy as it got in Iraq. Whew! I did send my little horse hoof pick from my first deployment, though... just in case!
Feel free to leave comments or ask questions! It's now a little after 6pm and I think I might take a nap before I go to work at midnight. Or perhaps I'll unpack. Hmmm... decisions, decisions...
First of all: WOW. That's the first (and only) word that came to mind when I finally paused to look up from my struggles with two bags plus safety gear. It's breathtakingly beautiful here. The snow-topped peaks surreally seem like clouds rising from nothing until the sun begins to change them to whichever shade of pink, orange, or red it so desires.
Work space: wonderful. We have so many donations and wonderful volunteers and building neighbors that work should be excellent. We have a crock pot, pizza maker, bread maker, toaster oven-y thing, microwave, industrial coffee pot (should be interesting to have me in charge of that!), and Keurig (am I forgetting something?) in the canteen room plus a casework office to do all of our messages. There are a couple of storage rooms and CONEXes (big metal containers for storage) with supplies as well. Plus we've got a couple decorated trees and some other decorations for the holidays. It's a really friendly atmosphere. I've already got the briefing on all the stuff I have to make/bake (yikes!). Apparently my predecessor spoiled all the local units with baked goods and coffee. I suppose I'll learn to improvise!
Living arrangements: sufficiently swell. I live in what's called a B-HUT (don't ask, I don't know what it stands for) which is a little plywood-esque building with 8 rooms in it... also separated on the bottom by plywood. The top of each room is open to a little hallway but it seems most of them have blankets hung to keep the light out. I think (fingers crossed) that my B-HUT mates are accomodatingly quiet. I'm not sure if there are other day sleepers or not, but aside from a crashing noise every now and then I haven't heard anything from anyone. It is a very small area so I can't really accomodate "stuff"... I think two twin beds would take up the entire space and I've got one twin bed in there plus all of my gear, a wall locker, and a chair. You can do the math. The other two ASMs and myself are all in the same B-HUT and the bathrooms/showers are a relatively short (but cold!) walk away. The B-HUTs are heated but drafty. I've been layering to sleep, but have the issued sleeping bags and an extra blanket if it gets really cold. The BAB website recommends an electric blanket, but I live in a wood hut and work for the Red Cross - fire hazard anyone? ;)
Local area: we're in a pretty "main" part of BAB (or so it seems to me). All within quick walking distance are quarters, MWR (the reason I've been on the internet so much), gym, office, and laundry drop off... just a little further is a dining facility, a bazaar, and a PX which are still well within easy walking distance.
Sending "stuff": Please don't send me stuff unless I ask for it! Again, I'm in a pretty small space and I don't have room to store ANYTHING. Also, there have been critter infestations in the past so no food! We're overflowing at the office with stuff and have 84 boxes of donations that we have to pick up at the post office. Now, to completely disregard what I just said, the office is in a slightly different situation. We've got PLENTY of donations of already-made things, but could use some brownie, muffin, or cookie mixes (and maybe bread, too) that DO NOT require eggs (can't get 'em). Send me an email or comment here and I'll tell you where we're sitting for that stuff specifically. Also, if there are crock pot things that can be made with ingredients that can be sent (I know we've got some non-meat chili ingredients), let me know what you're thinking and I'll let you know if we can handle it. If there's an ingredient or two that you can't send, check with me-we might be able to pick it up at chow.
Difficulty of the moment: the bathrooms. Literally, I can't go into them without gagging. I can't imagine trying to go in there if I actually feel sick. Raw sewage combined with dead rotting animal carcasses (not real ones; I'm trying to make a point) is the only comparison I can think to make right now (can you tell I recently went to the bathroom?). On the flip side, the showers seem not too bad. I got the 411 from my outgoing team partner on exactly which shower stall to go into to get not-freezing water, so I'll definitely be taking advantage of that (and have already).
Other items of little to no consequence: I had forgotten how long it takes to get ready while in uniform (at first). It's easy because you don't have to figure out what to wear, but it's so much more complicated than the jeans, t-shirt, and flip flops to which I'm accustomed. Tying shoes? Who does that?
It's COLD! I knew that going in, but I have been pretty consistently chilly since I got here. It's been nice during the day (mid-high 40's?), but it was definitely freezing overnight. When the sun was rising it was about 36 degrees. I have been assured, however, that it has been exceptionally nice since we've been here. It's supposed to be much colder and we're expecting snow on Thursday. Should be... uh, fun? That's the proper line, right? Ugh... well, I'll just add more layers. Positively, it doesn't seem like it will get nearly as muddy as it got in Iraq. Whew! I did send my little horse hoof pick from my first deployment, though... just in case!
Feel free to leave comments or ask questions! It's now a little after 6pm and I think I might take a nap before I go to work at midnight. Or perhaps I'll unpack. Hmmm... decisions, decisions...
Blog 12.7.2012-Leaving Benning
As Henry and I sit for briefings before flying out of the country, the SSG who is briefing us reminds us that we won't be home for the holidays, but heartfeltly thanks us for what we're doing. A LTC behind me calls her young daughter to say goodbye and gets to hear about upcoming Christmas preparations. With tears in her eyes she reassures her daughter that she hasn't hung up. I'm amazed at her composure; her voice doesn't break once despite her obvious upset. This is a hard time to go. It's time for me to go be Red Cross so people forget... or at least have something else about which to think. I'm in. |
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Arrival part 2
I made it!!! Glory be. 36 hours and 47 minutes from takeoff to landing... I'd like to go to sleep now, thank you very much.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Arrival
I'm a blog behind (I've got a leaving Benning blog written but not posted), but I've made it through the majority of my journey. There is one final leg to be completed in the near future (hopefully), but more about that later!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Blog 12.3.2012-Benning
I'm sitting on a bus at Fort Benning before 7 am (but I've been up since 4 so I'm pretty awake) and I've been asked to write 16 facts about my life that are easily recalled. This, of course, got me thinking about my life as a whole. I truly know some amazing people. I don't know to what I owe the privilege of this knowledge, but I am so grateful that I do. The fact that I can call some of these people my friends astounds me. I am so incredibly blessed. I don't know why it takes an early morning epiphany to get me thinking about this stuff, but I certainly am glad that my brain follows a somewhat random thought process from time to time. As for Benning itself... same old show. TSIRT, rules, CBT, SERE, AGSRP, CIF, medical, TSIRT again. Once again we don't go to the range. (Makes sense for non-combatants to skip it, right?) The one exciting update? They've "renovated" the barracks. What that means for me? Everything is exactly the same EXCEPT instead of bay communal showers we now have a bay with a couple shower curtains and walls! Some semblance of privacy! Just when I had gotten used to the bay... oh, well. I certainly wouldn't want to go back now! |
Blog 11.27.2012-leaving LA/address
Here I sit again. Different airport, same deal. I'm currently waiting for the first flight of this trip at an itty bitty Louisiana airport. This also happens to be the first delayed flight of my trip. At least the elevator music is doing its job of keeping me awake. I'm about to head to Georgia for awhile and then to my final destination for a few months. This deployment is a bit more emotional for me than my prior three. Chalk it up to this being the first one I haven't specifically requested or to a simple wanting to be home for the holidays after being gone so often in the past few years. Either way, I miss people already but I know once I get there and into the groove that there won't be any time for mixed emotions. I'm sure I'll fall right back in love with it like I have every time. A bunch of people have asked me for my address thus far... here goes! Brittany Reynolds I don't know how long it usually takes, but the boxes I shipped to myself got there in less than a week. I'm reasonably confident that will not consistently be the case, particularly with the holidays coming up, but feel free to write! Signing out for some stimulating crochet work--already slipping back into my deployment old lady habits--oh boy! |
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