Cows in the Mist

Maybe it’s just me, or maybe I fell off the bus short of the battle zone. Either way, after being here for over a month I’ve learned a few things about what happens outside the closed doors of my little SOF world, generally while walking/jogging to or from work, or on those blessed but few occassions when I get to sit down and enjoy a hot meal at the chow hall (not great food, but sitting down to do nothing but consume freshly cooked food is a wonderful feeling). I use the term fresh very loosely. What am I talking about? I’ll get to the point. It turns out not everyone here has something to do. Unless you count shopping, flirting, and hanging out at the pool something to do. While these are all things one can do, they aren’t something I imagined would be done this close to a combat zone. But if I notice it on the 45 minutes or so that I spend outside the JOC (on my way to of from) then I know it must be prevalent. In the last 24 hours I saw a lovely young couple (wearing their matching USAF Physical Training T-Shirts and shorts) walking and talking together eating ice cream bars as if they were walking along a sunny beach in Florida. Then I heard a couple of giggly girls talking with this guy about going down to the pool and hanging out. Since coupling up is strictly forbidden here (as is drinking and a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember since I never did them before I got here anyway) I am just curious why people even bother tempting themselves to get kicked out? There have been several dozen article 15’s for people violating the rules of engagement (as in getting too engaged) with “friendlies”. What they need to do, I think, to prevent this from happening, is perhaps MAKE THEM WORK LONGER HOURS LIKE THE REST OF US. Since I don’t have any idle time to dilly dally getting anything personal taken care of is extremely difficult. It was 90 degrees today and I had to run down to the Traffic Management Office to get a copy of my lost luggage form, run to the PX to pick up a couple more things to add to my reimbursement list, run to the legal office and file my claim, and then run to my office to get here in time for the staf meeting. With a total of 5 miles to cover, no car, lines to wait in, hills to climb, dressed in full gear (including several pounds of provisions for the next couple days), in less than 2 hours in 90+ degree weather I almost felt like I was in the real military by the time I got to work. I actually broke a sweat while not in the gym. All the while the folks I had to deal with had a hard time contmplating that I wasn’t on their bank hour schedule. As if nothing existed outside their personal bubble. I actually had to pretend to get upset at the TMO in order for them to produce the paper work I needed. It was kind of fun, they actually thought I was getting irrate. A few key placed words, a slight change of inflection and amazing results. Why can’t most people just be curteous and helpful to me when I’m curteous and patient? No clue. Well, I’ve rambled on long enough. May God continue to Bless you and keep you safe from harm.

Early this morning while I was watching some planes land from behind the JOC (Joint Operations Center) I must have opened the door too long because when I walked back in a small brown burst of energy thrust past me at nearly Mach 2 and dove for cover behind one of our wall partitions. So another Captain and I spent the next 20 minutes trying to find the mouse, not really knowing what we would do if we caught it. We never saw it again and figured it had somehow escaped the JOC. After coming back in from my longest nap/sleep in over three weeks (almost 7 hours) I sat down to get working on some stuff when I heard a different Captain (one who works a different shift than the Captain in that desk the previous night – some people get shifts) talking about the mouse. It had gone behind another partial wall and was hiding in some cords. The Lt. Colonel (JOC Commander) went to one end of the partial wall and the Captain went to the other end. The mouse was trapped between two walls an O-3 and an O-5. None of us had the heart to kill it though (especially with our only golf club). I grabbed an empty card board box and had the Captain set it up on their end while the Lt. Colonel tried to scare it away from him and into the box. It almost worked, but some how the mouse out maneuvered the Captain and the box, streaked past me (who didn’t have the heart to stomp on it) and ran over toward the refrigerator. Both of us Captains got on either side of the refrigerator and our fearless leader tipped it toward himself and the mouse didn’t run out (although plenty of food fell out). It wasn’t even there. Perplexed we looked around the entire area (while putting food back on refrigerator shelves) but it was not to be found. I then noticed the large cord cover (the kind you find in settings where foot and/or wheeled traffic must pass over a large clump of cords/wiring. I lifted them up and there was no mouse underneath. Then I lifted the top access door open (easy access to the cords below) and the mouse took off running. I was faster this time. I dropped the door closed and cut the mouse off, without missing a beat the mouse pulled an amazing 180 and headed back into the cord cover for safety. Without missing a beat of my own I grabbed the box, put it in place at the end of the cover and pulled open the door. Without thinking the mouse ran again, right into my box which I swiftly scooped up and closed. I took the furry little guy outside and tipped the box on its side. The mouse wouldn’t leave. It was dark, the ground was as brown as the mouse, and the door was still open. Before being out maneuvered by a mouse again I left the box and the mouse and headed for the door. Rest easy my fellow Americans, the JOC is now secure and no mouse will be giving away our closely held secrets.

OK, I’ve been away from home now for what 52 days? Sometimes it seems longer, sometimes shorter, my concept of time these past few weeks has been almost obliterated. But the thing I miss most, is relaxing with my family eating cookies and milk. OK, we don’t do it that often, but the image of a family sitting around a table enjoying a quiet moment and not wondering about what the next day will bring (least of all the next few minutes) reminds me of cookies an milk. The good ‘ol days (which weren’t that long ago). I have developed a fairly strange addiction while here however. It seems as though I cannot have a cookie with out coffee or coffee without a cookie. The coffee isn’t Italian, not even Columbian, and the cookies aren’t my wife’s, my mom’s, or my Grandma’s, but they’re pretty good, considering where I am. I doubt they have cookies like these in the rest of the country. My favorite (of the three available) has been the macadamian nut with white chocolate chunks. The other two are oatmeal raisin (also good) and chocolate chocolate chip. I prefer my chocolate chips in a non-chocolate cookie dough (but I’m not too picky). Anyway, it seems I can’t perform a 15 hour shift without at least 2 cups of coffee and a cookie. I might stick to one cup of coffee, but these are large cookies and there is half left when my coffee is gone, so the addiction takes hold and I can’t finish the cookie without a cup of coffee. Perhaps this addiction could be cured by a bottle of rum, but I won’t know for sure until I grace the shores of our great nation once again. Well, duty calls, gotta go solve a problem again.

Well, it’s official. I am moving again. I will be moving in 3 weeks or less to a larger and even more secure location. I may be here a little longer than that but it is doubtful. I look forward to the move, it should be interesting and relatively more exciting than where I am now. I also look forward to explaining why in a few months. For Operational Security purposes and more importantly the safety of my comrades out here I can say nothing now about the reasons. While I doubt this action will make the front page of the NY Times, I can’t say that the results won’t. Things are happening over here that, most of you know, don’t get reported in the mainstream media. This is one of those things that will not be reported because it doesn’t lead to American casualties. The end result may lead to a couple more American casualties, but if the results are nearly as promising as our commanders estimate and hope they are it will not be in vain. I can’t say what is about to happen, but over the next several months things look to improve dramatically over here (I hope it happens while I’m here – but that’s only because I like to be close to the action). I’ll be closer than I am here, still not close enough for the USAF to issue me a weapon. My Expert rating won’t make a difference. Aside from that, on a personal note, I’d rather have a rifle than a pistol anyway. As an officer they’ll never issue me a rifle. Speaking of rifles, on one of my excursions off the well beaten path (within the complete safety of the base I am at – mom) I did come across some spent shell casings. They may have been .223 (M-16) or AK-47 casings, I didn’t get a close enough look. They looked too small for .223 though (far smaller than my .308 and 30′06 casings). I’ll probably look at them again tomorrow. I might even bring home some real souveniers. Speaking of bringing things home I’ll probably have to buy another duffle bag since my luggage has not come yet. With my upcoming move I doubt I’ll ever see it again. Oh well, better to lose a bag than leg. I hope you are all well, and safe. Please continue to pray for my family. My oldest son tried to run away a few days ago. He got to the driveway and got nervous. But he did slam the door in mommy’s face while she was trying to catch him. He is not taking my absence well. Perhaps I will take them with my when I go to Alabama for a 5 week training course in late May – June. I hope the boys react better to being stuck in an Air Force Temporary Living Facility with me home at night than they do being without me. Goodnight for now.

That’s a good question. Most of the time I don’t even know when I’ve been. In other words days run together so much here I have to think hard to figure out what day of the week it is. After some contemplation I figured out where I’ve been and how close (or far) I’ve been to other places that I may never go. For instance I am less than 20 miles from Saudi Arabia. I’ve been less than 20 miles from France and 50 miles from Luxemburg. I’ve been less than 100 miles from Iran (and am now I think). I’ve been less than 120 miles from Switzerland and less than 200 miles from Syria and Jordan. I was 230 miles from Prague (closer than that to Berlin). I am 500 miles from Jerusalem and 600 miles from Rome. Of course this is all measured from places I have been or currently am on the ground and measuerd as the crow flies. I certainly could not drive from here to Rome in 600 miles or less. More importantly I would not want to unless I was in an armored caravan. But I find it unique how close things are over here from one point to another especially since I could drive through half a dozen countries between here and Italy. All in all I have spand almost half the globe (all travels combined roughly 176 degrees in longitude). I also find it interesting that my current location is roughly in line with southern Texas. I do look forward to reversing my trip though, gaining those 10 hours back and holding my wife and kids in my arms once more. I hope this message finds you all well and I pray that you may be kept safe so I can see you all again. From Russia, with Love. Wait, wrong country. From Kuwait, with Love.

Let us celebrate this Feast of St. Valentine with a warm hug of comfort and love from me to all of you who read this. To my wife, I love you so much and am sorry I cannot be with you at this time. Although I am more upset about missing St. Patrick’s Day and Easter at home. Although it is possible, don’t hold your breath, that I could be home for Easter. I have been very busy here recently. Lots of people have needed my assistance over this past week and I have been able to help them with different things. I don’t know how much I can tell you about it, but I have been very appreciated. Most people here seem to be more comfortable with me doing my job than I am. I hope it stays that way. I have learned (at least in the military) if you become too comfortable with your assignment it is time to move on. The good news is that I haven’t screwed anything up (something I was worried about since I have no real strong background in software maintenance and computer system administration). Well, I guess I do now. This week was just a taste of things to come probably. Fortunately I have guys I can chat with via our secure website that are far more knowledgable than I am on these things and can get me out of a jam. Right now there is only one thing I am struggling with and I know one solution, but it would take several hours and I am hoping to find a faster solution soon. Especially because the computer that needs my attention isn’t available for me to work on for hours on end. I hope all is well with all of you. Nothing really exciting has happened that I can tell you about and that thing I mentioned that might happen in February near Kuwait that could get some of you worried didn’t happen either. It seems our enemies are even weaker than our most conservative estimates. As we round them up day by day we get closer to getting our troops out of the region. As soon as the Iraqi Government tells us they can stand on their own, we’ll be getting geared up for our next undertaking. I hope we don’t have to go anywhere real soon, but it is up to the enemy, not us. If they chose to give up their Jihad (which isn’t likely) we can all just come home and be happy. Life in Kuwait doesn’t change from one day to the next. If you’ve ever seen the movie Groundhog Day, it’s kind of like that. One night just blends into the next and without realizing it another week has past. Our commander measures the days not be day, but by period of darkness. Since each period of darkness encompasses two days and we work on a seperate time zone from the rest of the base it just gets to confusing to call them days. two periods of darkness (POD) ago I mentioned I needed to get home before it got too light for me to go outside. I had to get back to my coffin and file down my fangs. When you go to the desert you expect to come back tan, but I’m turning a nice pasty white. My skin is cold and clamy and my night vision is improving. Pretty soon I’ll feel the need to drain life out of the day walkers should they wander too far out at night. Well, I must get back to the task at hand. I’ll talk to you soon. God Bless you all and too all a good…