Last Thursday I got an emergency call from my head nurse stating that I needed to come to Garrison Headquarters on base and pick up Shannon (Lori’s 6 year old daughter and also one of the providers at the clinic). She said they were going into an emergency meeting and she would explain later. Josh and I went over and got Shannon. She immediately asked if we could go to the park to play, so we headed over there. We started playing when Josh asked Shannon, “Have you ever played Lava Monster.” I thought “oh this is going to be good….and what the heck is lava monster.” Shannon said very excitedly, “No, what’s that?” Josh said, “We can’t touch the ground otherwise the lava monster will eat us.” After about 30 mins of playing the game, Josh decided that he would be THE lava monster and chased Shannon around. Many times that night, Josh asked Shannon if she knew his name…she said “Yes, you are the lava monster and you are married to Ms. Gretchen.” :)
The emergency was that Baumholder had their first case of Swine Flu. So Friday and this week have been very interesting at the clinic. At times Jean and I have to laugh at how fun (and by fun I mean entertaining) the Baumholder population is. Friday I was told to man the phones at the nurse’s station and this week Jean has been covering for the phones…...one more week of work and my job gets a little more interesting.
This past week Josh and I drove to Belgium and France (two day trips). We went to Belgium to get beer and France to go to Ikea to get Josh is big manly desk and a bookshelf. On our way to Ikea I kept talking about their ice cream and how I couldn’t wait to get it. I told Josh it was the best frozen yogurt in all of the world. When we got there I asked him if he wanted one and he said no. So when I came back and asked him if he wanted a lick he put the rest of the cone in his mouth (they aren’t that big). I couldn’t believe it but went to get another one. So I came back and stupidly enough asked him if he wanted another lick….again, I turned around and it was gone. He thought it was hilarious and I walked right back up to get another one…. received a couple smiles by the cafeteria personal. Josh asked if I could help him move something, so after he was finished moving his part I asked if he could hold my ice cream cone. He agreed and when I asked for it back, found there was no cone left. I may have laughed just because I couldn’t believe it but was very sad inside. I told him I would NOT go order a 4th cone and he said we had to leave. After we started driving home, I asked if we could stop to eat dinner somewhere and he said “I’m not hungry, I just ate 3 ice cream cones.” THE NERVE.
On Monday a group of 20 or so of us went to Hooters for Lorintz (Jean’s husbands) birthday. Monday they have all you can eat chicken wings to so much fun was had by all. I got the hot chicken wings and found that they were too hot for me but looked over at Josh and found that not to be the case for him….his next order was 911 wings (the hottest). Josh took a little nap on the way home….I was the DD. He is waay spoiled by me.
Tomorrow we leave for our honeymoon/anniversary cruise. We are both looking very forward to it, although Josh says this cruise counts as my trip…so that means the next one he gets to plan. I find nothing fair in this statement but I guess I can agree to it since he got me my balcony. Jean and Lorintz just got back from a 2 wk cruise so they had lots of good tips to offer us….one being that they slept in till 11 each day because they had an inner room so never knew what time it was. I thought for a second and realized that this balcony thing was going to back fire at me…turned to Josh to tell him that and he was already smiling. He loves to get up early so I just know that at 6 am every morning he will be gearing up to get his cup of coffee to sit on the balcony…and on his way out he will be opening the curtains all the way in hopes of me joining him.
So I will be out of commission for a little over than a week but I hope you all have a fabulous 4th of July. I will write shortly after we get back to let you all know how our cruise is.
Love,
Gretchen
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
London Adventures
Josh and I returned from our 4 day trip in London last night. Four maps, 1 night in a 8 bed hostile, and Josh leading the way turned into one of the best weekends thus far in Germany.
Josh and I headed out on Friday night. Once we got to the London airport we had to figure out a way to get into London. So we hopped on a bus and after about an hour we were dropped off at the Liverpool station. Josh turned on his GPS and found that we were only about 1.5 miles away from our hostile (it was the only room we had booked for the trip and decided the rest of the nights we were going to just fly by the seat of our pants). So after we got some food, Josh turned back on his GPS and stood at the corner looking as to what direction we were going to go. The plan was to WALK to our hostile. One thing you all must understand was this was Josh’s trip. I agreed to let him plan this, manage it and decide when and where we were going when we got to London. After walking the same block three times with Josh stating 3x “I am just trying to get my barings to find out where we are,” I asked him if we could please just take the Underground. Josh looked at me with the GPS and two other maps in his hand and agreed that it was okay to do that. I knew from his look that he wasn’t happy about it and I was overstepping my role in this trip…for after all it was HIS trip. We laughed about it later how we walked the same block 3 times.
We had quite the adventures in London. We did a lot a lot of sightseeing. I don’t want to make this email too long so I will try to sum up the weekend in as few words as possible.
On Friday night when we got in we checked into our hostile. I wasn’t feeling soo good and the smell our 8 bed hostile didn’t make me feel any better. Josh really wanted to experience the hostile world and meet people so that is why we decided to stay in a bigger hostile room the first night. After that night Josh agreed to get a room for ourselves….needless to say we didn’t meet any of the other people in the room but it was a definate experience. Friday night Josh and I headed to a pub nearby to plan our next day. Josh enjoyed a Guiness (Guiness is his new love) and since I wasn’t feeling too good, I had some aqua. We called it a night.
Saturday we woke up and walked around. The British Museum was near by so we went to that right when it opened. Josh loved it and it was good for me to read about a little history. Afterwards, we went to a tavern to have some lunch and then we were off to the St. Paul Cathedral (a phenomenal site). Afterwards we hopped on the Underground and went to the Tower Bridge, Henry X111 castle and walked the boardwalk nearby. Also an incredible site. We both agreed that London has some of the most beautiful woman in the world. I could not believe how many tall, slender, gorgeous women there was….and I will have to add that Josh was a gentleman and tried not to make it too obvious if he looked. L That night we went to Mexican and afterwards while walking to a pub to grab a drink saw people were going into the musical Wicked. I asked Josh if we could see how much tickets were so we did. They were only 20 pounds so we agreed to do it. It was Josh’s first musical and I had only been to a couple. Josh said that was the highlight of his day and I could not believe how amazing the singers were. The play had a really good twist on the “Wizard of Oz” and made the wicked witch the good person.
Sunday we woke up and headed to the Buckingham Palace. We were told to get there 1 hour early but we ended up getting there 1 and ½ hours early. WAAAY too early. Advice: You can still arrive 30 mins before and get a pretty good spot. We saw the changing of the guards so I can’t complain….plus I got a little sun and a nap before it started. After some fish and chips, we headed to West Minister Abby (a ginormous church), Big Ben, the House of Parliament and the London Eye. The best part about this day was walking the board walk and seeing all street performers. They had mimes, break dancers and other entertainers just lining the streets. We got some really good pictures (which I will try to post soon). That night we grabbed a drink and some appetizers and called it a night after we got some tea at a coffee shop.
Monday we woke up and headed to the bus to catch our flight. As we were walking down the streets Josh said “Well its back to not being able to understand people.” I laughed only because it was soo true. Josh said that we couldn’t talk British anymore after getting back to Germany (I think he even got annoyed with his attempt to talk in a British accent). Whenever possible Josh would pretend to talk British and I would laugh only because it was such a terrible impression.
Last night Josh and I were planning to call home to talk to the rents and after calling my Mother realized it was Monday and that meant work for everyone else….sad :(.
So its back to work today for Josh and I….I hope everyone had a great weekend. I came into work today feeling completely refreshed. I think London was what I needed.
Will try to call this week to talk.
Still miss you all!
Love,
Gretchen
Josh and I headed out on Friday night. Once we got to the London airport we had to figure out a way to get into London. So we hopped on a bus and after about an hour we were dropped off at the Liverpool station. Josh turned on his GPS and found that we were only about 1.5 miles away from our hostile (it was the only room we had booked for the trip and decided the rest of the nights we were going to just fly by the seat of our pants). So after we got some food, Josh turned back on his GPS and stood at the corner looking as to what direction we were going to go. The plan was to WALK to our hostile. One thing you all must understand was this was Josh’s trip. I agreed to let him plan this, manage it and decide when and where we were going when we got to London. After walking the same block three times with Josh stating 3x “I am just trying to get my barings to find out where we are,” I asked him if we could please just take the Underground. Josh looked at me with the GPS and two other maps in his hand and agreed that it was okay to do that. I knew from his look that he wasn’t happy about it and I was overstepping my role in this trip…for after all it was HIS trip. We laughed about it later how we walked the same block 3 times.
We had quite the adventures in London. We did a lot a lot of sightseeing. I don’t want to make this email too long so I will try to sum up the weekend in as few words as possible.
On Friday night when we got in we checked into our hostile. I wasn’t feeling soo good and the smell our 8 bed hostile didn’t make me feel any better. Josh really wanted to experience the hostile world and meet people so that is why we decided to stay in a bigger hostile room the first night. After that night Josh agreed to get a room for ourselves….needless to say we didn’t meet any of the other people in the room but it was a definate experience. Friday night Josh and I headed to a pub nearby to plan our next day. Josh enjoyed a Guiness (Guiness is his new love) and since I wasn’t feeling too good, I had some aqua. We called it a night.
Saturday we woke up and walked around. The British Museum was near by so we went to that right when it opened. Josh loved it and it was good for me to read about a little history. Afterwards, we went to a tavern to have some lunch and then we were off to the St. Paul Cathedral (a phenomenal site). Afterwards we hopped on the Underground and went to the Tower Bridge, Henry X111 castle and walked the boardwalk nearby. Also an incredible site. We both agreed that London has some of the most beautiful woman in the world. I could not believe how many tall, slender, gorgeous women there was….and I will have to add that Josh was a gentleman and tried not to make it too obvious if he looked. L That night we went to Mexican and afterwards while walking to a pub to grab a drink saw people were going into the musical Wicked. I asked Josh if we could see how much tickets were so we did. They were only 20 pounds so we agreed to do it. It was Josh’s first musical and I had only been to a couple. Josh said that was the highlight of his day and I could not believe how amazing the singers were. The play had a really good twist on the “Wizard of Oz” and made the wicked witch the good person.
Sunday we woke up and headed to the Buckingham Palace. We were told to get there 1 hour early but we ended up getting there 1 and ½ hours early. WAAAY too early. Advice: You can still arrive 30 mins before and get a pretty good spot. We saw the changing of the guards so I can’t complain….plus I got a little sun and a nap before it started. After some fish and chips, we headed to West Minister Abby (a ginormous church), Big Ben, the House of Parliament and the London Eye. The best part about this day was walking the board walk and seeing all street performers. They had mimes, break dancers and other entertainers just lining the streets. We got some really good pictures (which I will try to post soon). That night we grabbed a drink and some appetizers and called it a night after we got some tea at a coffee shop.
Monday we woke up and headed to the bus to catch our flight. As we were walking down the streets Josh said “Well its back to not being able to understand people.” I laughed only because it was soo true. Josh said that we couldn’t talk British anymore after getting back to Germany (I think he even got annoyed with his attempt to talk in a British accent). Whenever possible Josh would pretend to talk British and I would laugh only because it was such a terrible impression.
Last night Josh and I were planning to call home to talk to the rents and after calling my Mother realized it was Monday and that meant work for everyone else….sad :(.
So its back to work today for Josh and I….I hope everyone had a great weekend. I came into work today feeling completely refreshed. I think London was what I needed.
Will try to call this week to talk.
Still miss you all!
Love,
Gretchen
Thursday, June 11, 2009
maybe sorta kinda funny story
Before I start, I should tell you all that Josh purchased us both I phones last week. I still have no idea how to work it but to make and accept phone calls but I consider myself a work in progress....maybe by next week I will understand how to set my alarm clock.
Last night Josh and I were in a really sleepy mood. We went out to this restaurant that is known for its steak and afterwards we both walked into the apartment and decided to just lay down for a little bit. We ended up falling asleep at 7:30 PM....sad but we woke up around 10 to watch the rest of a movie Josh had started while I was at work...James Bond. Yes, super exciting for me but I couldn't sleep so I had no other option. Found out while we were watching the movie, he purchased it for $1 in Iraq. I asked him why he just didn't do Christmas shopping there.
So we went back to sleep after the movie and around 11:30 or so Josh got up to go to the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom, a car alarm started going off. We had our windows open (we are on the 3rd floor) so it was enough to wake me up. I went to the window to see that it was our car alarming. I ran into Josh and said it was our car and he went to find the keys to turn it off. I had forgotten that our car even had an alarm and Josh didn't know that either. So Josh was the super brave man, took a flashlight and went out to examine the car. We figured if anyone was trying to get into the car they must have seen Josh past by the window...and by the time we shut the alarm off from the 3rd story window, we figured the person could be long gone. The only thing that would be of much value to the person/persons who were trying to get in the car would be the GPS but discussed how it is odd that anyone would be breaking into a car on base...because of the high level of security on base.
So Josh went, checked the car and found nothing. We went back to bed and at 2 am, the alarm went off again. We shut it off from the window and just went back to sleep... I was confused. We woke up around 5 this morning and Josh said he couldn't find his phone. He told me to call it, so I did and again the car alarm went off. Josh looked at me and said "I bet my phone is activating the alarm." We both walked down to the car and Josh said to call it one more time to verify it was his phone. Sure enough I called it and the car alarm sounded again.
Maybe laugh out loud, but if you don't want to I don't blame you....so I didn't sleep all that well trying to figure out who would want to break into our car.....talked about the serial killer possibilities and after all that it was just Josh's stupid phone....it's only stupid because now I am pretty positive that every neighbor....and that is probably 95% of my friends, hate us now.
Well I thought I would share that story with you all. Hope you guys are having a good day when you get this.
Josh and I are off to London as you all know this weekend, so we will be in touch soon.
Love,
Gretchen
Last night Josh and I were in a really sleepy mood. We went out to this restaurant that is known for its steak and afterwards we both walked into the apartment and decided to just lay down for a little bit. We ended up falling asleep at 7:30 PM....sad but we woke up around 10 to watch the rest of a movie Josh had started while I was at work...James Bond. Yes, super exciting for me but I couldn't sleep so I had no other option. Found out while we were watching the movie, he purchased it for $1 in Iraq. I asked him why he just didn't do Christmas shopping there.
So we went back to sleep after the movie and around 11:30 or so Josh got up to go to the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom, a car alarm started going off. We had our windows open (we are on the 3rd floor) so it was enough to wake me up. I went to the window to see that it was our car alarming. I ran into Josh and said it was our car and he went to find the keys to turn it off. I had forgotten that our car even had an alarm and Josh didn't know that either. So Josh was the super brave man, took a flashlight and went out to examine the car. We figured if anyone was trying to get into the car they must have seen Josh past by the window...and by the time we shut the alarm off from the 3rd story window, we figured the person could be long gone. The only thing that would be of much value to the person/persons who were trying to get in the car would be the GPS but discussed how it is odd that anyone would be breaking into a car on base...because of the high level of security on base.
So Josh went, checked the car and found nothing. We went back to bed and at 2 am, the alarm went off again. We shut it off from the window and just went back to sleep... I was confused. We woke up around 5 this morning and Josh said he couldn't find his phone. He told me to call it, so I did and again the car alarm went off. Josh looked at me and said "I bet my phone is activating the alarm." We both walked down to the car and Josh said to call it one more time to verify it was his phone. Sure enough I called it and the car alarm sounded again.
Maybe laugh out loud, but if you don't want to I don't blame you....so I didn't sleep all that well trying to figure out who would want to break into our car.....talked about the serial killer possibilities and after all that it was just Josh's stupid phone....it's only stupid because now I am pretty positive that every neighbor....and that is probably 95% of my friends, hate us now.
Well I thought I would share that story with you all. Hope you guys are having a good day when you get this.
Josh and I are off to London as you all know this weekend, so we will be in touch soon.
Love,
Gretchen
Monday, June 8, 2009
Love love love love love
Josh just called, he bought 2 plane tickets to London this weekend. When I was much younger, my family (including my grandma) spent 2 weeks in the England area visiting my big bro when he was at school at Oxford but all I remember is seeing lots of castles and palaces and having soft boiled eggs for breakfast. Okay, maybe I remember a few other things, but I definately didn't appreciate the trip as much as I should have. Josh and I wanted to go somewhere this weekend because I don't have to work Friday or Monday and it appeared that the cheapest flights go to London. Greg, any good recommendations for this coming weekend??
This past weekend Josh and I decided to go to Koblenz Germany to participate in a half marathon. We took off Saturday morning and drove behind Lorintz, Jean, Abby and Jon (two couples). It was a close call that we made it because about 30 mins before the group took off, Josh and I had just concluded our "non-talking" period of 22 hours. It was our longest disagreement thus far and afterwards all he had to say was that we were going to mark June 6th on the calendar as "longest fight" and "one year of being in the army." My response to that was "maybe you should take that as a hint." I laughed a lot and he only laughed a little. He did tell me at the end that he needed to have a long talk with my dad about this stubborn side of mine even though I keep telling him "thats just how God made me." :)
Jean was going to run the half marathon with me and Abby was going to be our cheerleader. When we went to sign up Jean saw that there was a 10 km and Abby sounded interested. So I freed Jean from the half and her and abby did the 10 km. We went back to the hotel before and abby and jean actually took off at 3:30 to start the 10 km. Our race didn't start till 6:30 PM (werid I know) so we didn't have to catch the train till 5:30 pm. It ended up that our train was delayed so a group of about 500 of us didn't start the race till 7:10 PM. Walking to the race, I got really quite (I was starting to get nervous) and Jon asked me if something was wrong. Josh said, "Please, just leave it....she doesn't get like this very often." I laughed...but I'm not sure why I did. For some reason Josh can say just about anything these days and I will laugh at it...even if it isn't funny.
The race started and I was pretty sure that I was going to die at 3 km (a half is 21 km). I tried to slow down but didn't manage doing so until 15 km. It was then that I really thought I was going to not make it. I ran right behind Jon the whole time and managed to do the drafting the entire way. At 15 km I told him he was my inspiration and he looked like he wanted to kill me. Pretty sure that I will never ever put my body through that without training more. Somehow I managed finishing a little under 2 hours with Josh finishing a little under 1 hr 50 mins. He was holding two cups when I crossed, one red and one white, and I looked up at him and told him to please get them away from me. I was pretty sure it was wine, but found out later it was gatorade. For the next hour, I tried to clear my nausea and once we got back to the room and showered and got an appetite, Josh came in very pale and not looking too great. He looked up at Jean and Lorintz to tell them he didn't think he could make it to dinner. He told me to go but I insisted to stay back. He was very bummed but as soon as he laid down, he started to shake and get the chills. He fell asleep while I watched him. It may be when people I love get sick and I get to take care of them that really ensures me I was meant to be a nurse. I know Josh doesn't do too well when I pull the sympathy card (when I'm sick) but it is a complete opposite story with me. I definately loved taking care of him.
Jean, Lorintz, Abby and Jon came back around midnight and one hour later Josh woke up stating he was hungry and we needed to get some food. He awoke in a pool of sweat so whatever he had was broken, he felt great and was hungry. Him and I took off and ended up downtown Koblenz at a doner shop (it is like a gyro stand in the states). It is amazing food and I am not sure if food ever tasted any better than it did at that moment.
This next week is only 4 days of work and then we will be flying out on Friday. I will try to contact some of you before than to chat but I think you all are great, miss you guys tons and can't wait for visitors.
Love,
Gretchen
This past weekend Josh and I decided to go to Koblenz Germany to participate in a half marathon. We took off Saturday morning and drove behind Lorintz, Jean, Abby and Jon (two couples). It was a close call that we made it because about 30 mins before the group took off, Josh and I had just concluded our "non-talking" period of 22 hours. It was our longest disagreement thus far and afterwards all he had to say was that we were going to mark June 6th on the calendar as "longest fight" and "one year of being in the army." My response to that was "maybe you should take that as a hint." I laughed a lot and he only laughed a little. He did tell me at the end that he needed to have a long talk with my dad about this stubborn side of mine even though I keep telling him "thats just how God made me." :)
Jean was going to run the half marathon with me and Abby was going to be our cheerleader. When we went to sign up Jean saw that there was a 10 km and Abby sounded interested. So I freed Jean from the half and her and abby did the 10 km. We went back to the hotel before and abby and jean actually took off at 3:30 to start the 10 km. Our race didn't start till 6:30 PM (werid I know) so we didn't have to catch the train till 5:30 pm. It ended up that our train was delayed so a group of about 500 of us didn't start the race till 7:10 PM. Walking to the race, I got really quite (I was starting to get nervous) and Jon asked me if something was wrong. Josh said, "Please, just leave it....she doesn't get like this very often." I laughed...but I'm not sure why I did. For some reason Josh can say just about anything these days and I will laugh at it...even if it isn't funny.
The race started and I was pretty sure that I was going to die at 3 km (a half is 21 km). I tried to slow down but didn't manage doing so until 15 km. It was then that I really thought I was going to not make it. I ran right behind Jon the whole time and managed to do the drafting the entire way. At 15 km I told him he was my inspiration and he looked like he wanted to kill me. Pretty sure that I will never ever put my body through that without training more. Somehow I managed finishing a little under 2 hours with Josh finishing a little under 1 hr 50 mins. He was holding two cups when I crossed, one red and one white, and I looked up at him and told him to please get them away from me. I was pretty sure it was wine, but found out later it was gatorade. For the next hour, I tried to clear my nausea and once we got back to the room and showered and got an appetite, Josh came in very pale and not looking too great. He looked up at Jean and Lorintz to tell them he didn't think he could make it to dinner. He told me to go but I insisted to stay back. He was very bummed but as soon as he laid down, he started to shake and get the chills. He fell asleep while I watched him. It may be when people I love get sick and I get to take care of them that really ensures me I was meant to be a nurse. I know Josh doesn't do too well when I pull the sympathy card (when I'm sick) but it is a complete opposite story with me. I definately loved taking care of him.
Jean, Lorintz, Abby and Jon came back around midnight and one hour later Josh woke up stating he was hungry and we needed to get some food. He awoke in a pool of sweat so whatever he had was broken, he felt great and was hungry. Him and I took off and ended up downtown Koblenz at a doner shop (it is like a gyro stand in the states). It is amazing food and I am not sure if food ever tasted any better than it did at that moment.
This next week is only 4 days of work and then we will be flying out on Friday. I will try to contact some of you before than to chat but I think you all are great, miss you guys tons and can't wait for visitors.
Love,
Gretchen
Friday, June 5, 2009
Josh's Blog Post
I hope this blog finds everybody in good health and spirits. Yes, I’m back in Germany and having a great time. Gretchen has been doing a great job of keeping us all informed on her activities over the last few months…so I figured I would do the same in ONE blog.
Well, when Gretchen and I parted ways back in February I headed to Kuwait in order to in-process to Iraq. It turns out military airlines are very similar to civilian airlines because some soldiers’ bags were lost en route, causing us to stay in Kuwait for a few extra days. Kuwait was great for me because it gave me time to get ready to take over my platoon. We trained for a couple hours a day and then I used the rest of my time to read or workout. In all we spent about 6 days in Kuwait prior to flying into BIAP (Baghdad International Airport).
Once we landed in BIAP I was shuttled to our Battalion Headquarters where I met a lot of the staff and leadership. My Battalion Commander explained to me which Platoon I would be getting (many of you already know that Jean’s husband was the previous PL of my platoon) and their mission. It turns out that my platoon was running Route Clearance missions about 30 km east of Baghdad. I found out that I would be residing at FOB Hammer for a majority of my time in theater.
I’ll go ahead and explain what Route Clearance is because it can mean many things. Route Clearance essentially consists of travelling roads while looking for IEDs in order to make sure that they are safe for other Coalition Forces to travel. Units who conduct Route Clearance missions are given huge mine resistant vehicles which no other units have in case they were to encounter an IED. The idea behind route clearance is to find the IED without it blowing up and then detonating it in a controlled environment where no one will be harmed. Sounds exciting right? Well….it can be but then you throw in the fact that you never drive above 10 mph and the missions last anywhere from 6-14 hours…it turns into about as much fun as a family road trip to Florida (just kidding Mom and Dad).
Anyways, shortly after I arrived my Platoon was given the opportunity to conduct joint Route Clearance missions with the Iraqi Army. Our mission was to basically teach an Iraqi Army Platoon how to conduct Route Clearance missions. The Iraqi Army platoon had plenty of training before we began working with them, so the process went fairly smooth. Almost all of the time we spent with the Iraqi Army platoon was spent on actual Route Clearance missions. This ended up being my Platoon’s primary mission for the remainder of our time in Iraq.
It was really interesting to work so closely with soldiers from another country and have the opportunity to really get to know them. My soldiers would trade patches and knives with the Iraqi soldiers for their patches, knives and flags. As a leader it was great to see your soldiers work so well with soldiers from another country. Communication was definitely a pain in the ass at times, but the interpreters (‘terps’) that the Army provided my Platoon with were extremely smart. It was really interesting because the ‘terp’ that worked with us the most was an Iraqi male, same age as me and had just graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the University of Baghdad. We had very similar forms of education, completely different backgrounds, yet we were both working together on the same mission at that point in time. My deployment was full of moments like that, that made you take a step back and just appreciate where you were and what you were doing.
If anything I would say that my time in Iraq was short and eye opening. I’m glad to be back but I deeply appreciated the time I spent there. With that being said…I never want to go back to that country.
Oh yeah…and don’t let Gretchen tell you that she had anything but a good time while I was gone because after meeting the women she spent time with I realized a few things. While we were deployed the building we reside in consisted of women who all liked each other and liked to drink even more. So essentially, my wife lived in a dormitory for post collegiate aged women who went to work during the day and all got together to drink at night. Not a bad life if you ask me.
However, I missed her like crazy and am extremely glad to be back under the same roof. I am continuously surprised and proud of the life and friends she has made for herself while I was away. I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to call and talk with Gretch during that first tough month. It not only meant a lot to her but me as well. Everyone take care, send emails and we’ll keep you updated on our activities via the blog.
Josh
Well, when Gretchen and I parted ways back in February I headed to Kuwait in order to in-process to Iraq. It turns out military airlines are very similar to civilian airlines because some soldiers’ bags were lost en route, causing us to stay in Kuwait for a few extra days. Kuwait was great for me because it gave me time to get ready to take over my platoon. We trained for a couple hours a day and then I used the rest of my time to read or workout. In all we spent about 6 days in Kuwait prior to flying into BIAP (Baghdad International Airport).
Once we landed in BIAP I was shuttled to our Battalion Headquarters where I met a lot of the staff and leadership. My Battalion Commander explained to me which Platoon I would be getting (many of you already know that Jean’s husband was the previous PL of my platoon) and their mission. It turns out that my platoon was running Route Clearance missions about 30 km east of Baghdad. I found out that I would be residing at FOB Hammer for a majority of my time in theater.
I’ll go ahead and explain what Route Clearance is because it can mean many things. Route Clearance essentially consists of travelling roads while looking for IEDs in order to make sure that they are safe for other Coalition Forces to travel. Units who conduct Route Clearance missions are given huge mine resistant vehicles which no other units have in case they were to encounter an IED. The idea behind route clearance is to find the IED without it blowing up and then detonating it in a controlled environment where no one will be harmed. Sounds exciting right? Well….it can be but then you throw in the fact that you never drive above 10 mph and the missions last anywhere from 6-14 hours…it turns into about as much fun as a family road trip to Florida (just kidding Mom and Dad).
Anyways, shortly after I arrived my Platoon was given the opportunity to conduct joint Route Clearance missions with the Iraqi Army. Our mission was to basically teach an Iraqi Army Platoon how to conduct Route Clearance missions. The Iraqi Army platoon had plenty of training before we began working with them, so the process went fairly smooth. Almost all of the time we spent with the Iraqi Army platoon was spent on actual Route Clearance missions. This ended up being my Platoon’s primary mission for the remainder of our time in Iraq.
It was really interesting to work so closely with soldiers from another country and have the opportunity to really get to know them. My soldiers would trade patches and knives with the Iraqi soldiers for their patches, knives and flags. As a leader it was great to see your soldiers work so well with soldiers from another country. Communication was definitely a pain in the ass at times, but the interpreters (‘terps’) that the Army provided my Platoon with were extremely smart. It was really interesting because the ‘terp’ that worked with us the most was an Iraqi male, same age as me and had just graduated with an electrical engineering degree from the University of Baghdad. We had very similar forms of education, completely different backgrounds, yet we were both working together on the same mission at that point in time. My deployment was full of moments like that, that made you take a step back and just appreciate where you were and what you were doing.
If anything I would say that my time in Iraq was short and eye opening. I’m glad to be back but I deeply appreciated the time I spent there. With that being said…I never want to go back to that country.
Oh yeah…and don’t let Gretchen tell you that she had anything but a good time while I was gone because after meeting the women she spent time with I realized a few things. While we were deployed the building we reside in consisted of women who all liked each other and liked to drink even more. So essentially, my wife lived in a dormitory for post collegiate aged women who went to work during the day and all got together to drink at night. Not a bad life if you ask me.
However, I missed her like crazy and am extremely glad to be back under the same roof. I am continuously surprised and proud of the life and friends she has made for herself while I was away. I want to say thank you to everyone who took the time to call and talk with Gretch during that first tough month. It not only meant a lot to her but me as well. Everyone take care, send emails and we’ll keep you updated on our activities via the blog.
Josh
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