-Transit. To use some fanciful language, I will say the chopper flight here was freakin’ awesome. Despite the fact that we were packed in like sardines, it was a humbling experience flying over this country. The landscape was sand and dust. Grids and crop circles. As we touched down to drop off passengers and refuel, I was able to see another small part of our footprint here.
There was a moment that I will never know for sure was my imagination or not when there was a “tink-tink” on the back of the helicopter that I could’ve sworn were rounds. There was a reaction by the gunner, but he did not return fire. The civilian gentleman across from me looked as bug-eyed as I probably did at this sound, but in the shuffle of movement I never spoke to anyone about it before getting picked up to be taken to my new home.
-Settling in. Upon arrival, I was taken to our company HQ and my new room by LT Glitz and SSG Phoenix. After seeing the trailer-like CHU’s when I was down at HQ with LT Bro, it was definitely different seeing these wooden structures with plywood insides. Along with the long porches in the front and the desolate desert surroundings, it looks a lot like the old west.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining. I have my own room and after some scrounging, was able to put together a nice set up. A plywood desk, two closet-cabinets, a side table, a fridge, a TV, a bed, and of course my alma mater’s flag up on the wall is the near the entirety of my new home. The real plus is I can get on the internet right from my room and can Skype no problem with family and friends back home.
I arrived on the weekend and Sundays are very low op-tempo, so much of that first day was spent unraveling and unpacking all the crap the Army deemed worthy of lugging here.
-Grasping Company AO and PLT property and personnel. This will continue through my deployment I cannot divulge much detailed information here but let’s just say that my signal company is widespread. Command and control, even at the platoon level, is spread over hundreds of miles. It is a challenge to keep updates up remotely and lead remotely. All in the name of keeping our separate sites around Iraq connected. My location here at COB Home is just a small piece of my platoons AO (Area of Operation).
The real difficulty to come soon will be moving all the very expensive equipment back to be reset back to the states… that’s only after heading out to EVERY out-site in my company to inventory and sign for the equipment. Yippee.
The members of my PLT here are very efficient and I am glad to have fallen in on them. After some weariness at first, I am starting to settle in with the confidence to speak to individuals by name and like to think I’m beginning to get some respect for my willingness to learn. No need to reinvent the wheel yet with my platoon’s functions, so I’ll be continuing to evaluate for the next few weeks or so. I should be interesting when my PSG gets back from R&R too. By reputation, I already know that he will have a much different in demeanor than SSG Phoenix.
-Working out; running. PT with the unit has largely consisted of running and sprints and a lot of adherence to the new Army PT Program, “PRT”. Over lunch, I’ve been doing a lot of lifting with my XO and stand-in PSG . Today we even did an extra run over at the track. Scatterloot: the track arena, soccer field, and gym area here is awesomely dilapidated and dates back to Saddam’s rule. I hope to bring home a few pieces of the ruins for the ole’ bar wall..
-Briefs. The one thing I am glad to say I have been able to jump into without much problem is briefing. On our Adobe Breeze meetings (conducted online within our company and with battalion) I have had little trouble confidently briefing my PLT’s situation. Did I know what the hell I was talking about the first one I did last week? Hell no. But I trusted my soldiers to get me up to speed beforehand. After working out the locations and missions of my PLTs equipment and ops, I have been able to grasp the material and answer questions from the XO with no problem.
- Off time (outside of going to get food or working out). Since initial settling, when it comes to my own little personal hut, I have been watching a large amount of movies and television from one of my soldier’s shared hard drive—especially “Breaking Bad”. No joke, I already watched the entirety of the show’s three seasons. The show is very edgy, has great acting, and is just plain addictive! I couldn’t just watch one episode at a time.
Other time-eaters include “Black Swan”, “Easy A”, “True Grit”, and for some unknown reason “A Bug’s Life” (lolz). I haven’t gotten into a groove of being productive in my off time yet, but I hope to replace some mindlessness with some GRE prep, master’s classes, and some certifications. Or maybe I'll take up knitting.
