We missed you Daddy!!!
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Christmas in Iraq
Wow, 77 degrees on Christmas day who would of thought. How do you like my elf hat complete with my Airborne and Air Assault wings. SSG Kolar appointed himself Santa.
Monday, December 15, 2008
the latest
Sorry to all for the length of time between my last posts but a lot has happened. I went home for R and R leave on the 21st of November, well I guess I should say I left Iraq on the 21st but didn't actually make it home until 73 hours later. Most of the delay had to do with aircraft problems both in Kuwait and then again in Germany. I guess the group of soldiers one day ahead of us in Kuwait had aircraft problems and were delayed which led to them getting our airplane and us having to wait for theirs to be fixed. Once in Leipzig Germany we again had technical problems and had to spend about 16 hours hanging out in the little terminal. We did get some good German food that but that was about the extent of the excitement. Once in the air, we stopped again in Atlanta to clear U.S. Customs again and drop off all who were lucky enough to live east of the Mississippi. We flew from Atlanta to DFW and then I had about 30 minutes to catch the next plane to SLC where I met up with Liz, Jacob, my mom, and Eric. After not seeing Jacob for nearly 8 months, he looked very different to me. As I held him for the first time, I was excited that he was not afraid or uneasy with me and his attention went immediately to my Airborne and Air Assault badges, which he tried to pull off. We had Thanksgiving with my family in Ephraim, which was nice and made a trip to Las Vegas more or less out of tradition, which kind of sucks that I have a traditional thing to do on R and R from Iraq. Living with Jacob took some getting used to for me but the time for us to bond was very nice to have if only for 15 days. I was surprised to see that given a houseful of toys, his favorite things to play with are the hanging blinds and the dog's water bowl, which we clean much more often now. I got to be home for the first real snow storm but it was not big enough for me to do my favorite winter activity, snow blowing. I did start it up to make sure it works well for Liz. Just as I was getting used to the 10 or 11 hour time change it seemed like it was time to come back. Saying goodbye always sucks but I got through it and on the plane headed back for Iraq on the 10th of December. Stepping off the plane in DFW an elderly man came up to shake my hand and I noticed that he was wearing the Congressional Medal of Honor around his neck. He introduced himself and briefly told me his story of being a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and told me the name of his character in the movie "We were Soldiers". Meeting him kind of made my problems seem small. This man is the second Medal of Honor recipient I have personally shook hands with, not too bad considering that there are only 99 alive today. Traveling back to Iraq only took 40 hours as opposed to the 73 to get home. Leipzig was freezing cold and so was Kuwait if you can believe it. I have now been back for a few days and am in the worst part of the deployment. At least this time, I only have about 90 days to go. I'm still wide awake at 0200 in the morning and then feel like I need to sleep by 1600. Oh well, it should only take about a week or so. Christmas season is in full swing out here and it seems to just depress me. I hate the stupid little messages on the American Forces TV Network from this or that celebrity.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Two days in Ashraf
I just returned from a two day visit to a little FOB called FOB Grizzly or what we call "Ashraf" named after the closest Iraqi village. The reason I went out there is that all the clinical work being done there by our prevention team is being conducted under my LCSW license so I thought I'd better check out the operation. Wednesday morning I went to the helicopter terminal and was told that "we've had incident" this morning that the flights might be delayed. Soon my name was called and we boarded the Blackhawk and took off. As soon as we were airborne, I saw the incident that they were referring to. One of the F-16 fighters had gone off track and was sitting out in the dirt between two of the runways. Emergency vehicles were present but the fighter jet did not look damaged. It looked kind of funny just sitting there in the weeds and dirt with its canopy open. Not sure what happened, maybe the pilot took decided to take a turn when he should have gone straight. Anyway, we made it to Ashraf, which is east of Balad and only a handful of miles from the Iranian border. I met CPT Volpe, an occupational therapist who we have been sending out there but due to his license, he needs supervision. Not much was going on and out there and I remember everything being quiet. No jets or helicopters constantly flying overhead. We saw one or two patients and the doctor in the TMC out there seemed to enjoy having us. We did find someone who was not doing well and for some reason was on Trazadone and Seroquel as well as a few others. We decided to take him back with us and enter him into our fitness program where the psychiatrists can check him out. I flew back last night and arrived at about 2100. All in all it was a very quiet and somewhat boring two days.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Fwd: You and me photo at warhorse
Subject: You and me photo at warhorse
To: Rhett Larsen <rhett315@gmail.com>, "CSC Larsen, Rhett C CPT 1835th MED DET" <rhett.larsen@iraq.centcom.mil>
Here is the photo of the two of us. Take care and enjoy your mid-tour leave.
Bryan
correction
after some intense scrutiny from myself and teammates, I realized that the picture I just posted is of me and SGT Freeland taken by MAJ Shea. Sorry
Happy Veteran's Day
Just want to take a moment to say thank you to Rhett and every brave serviceman and woman who has taken the oath, put on the uniform, and stood for our Country. It is with great pride I support Rhett in his Military Career. There are times I hate this deployment and the separation but am so proud of what Rhett is doing. He comes from a long line of military service and I know he continues this legacy with honor. Thank You!!!
Me and Bryan Shea on the flight into Iraq
discharge form the Army Reserve sent me this picture of he and I in
the C-130 on our way from Kuwait to Iraq in May of 2008. I'm not sure
who took the picture as I am obviously not looking at the camera and
Bryan is busy taking a picture of himself. He reads this blog now
from his home in up state New York. Good luck with civilian life
Bryan. After three deployments and more crazy problems with the Army
system than any Platoon of soldiers should have, you deserve to be
home.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
How do I spell Relief? It starts with an "O"
I never thought I would feel as confident as I do now that I may not
have to come back to Iraq for a third time. It finally feels like
people have come to their senses. I guess to a degree we are all one
issue people and for me that issue has been the war in Iraq. It's
hard to see my life turned upside down for so long due to other
people's decisions. What's worse is to see how it affects my wife and
son who did not "volunteer" for this. Some times I hear the
incredibly insensitive comment of "well, he joined the Army, what did
he expect" and have almost felt pity toward those who say it as they
must be so out of touch with the sacrifice of our armed forces
families. On a lighter note, our Battalion is ordering T-shirts and
for the first time I was presented with the challenge of ordering not
just the usual one large for me and one medium for Liz. This time I
ordered a youth extra small too for little Jacob. I will be proud to
see him wearing his 56th Multi-Functional Medical Battalion Operation
Iraqi Freedom t-shirt complete with the "AIRBORNE" wings on the back.
I only have two weeks or so until I go home for R and R and couldn't
be more excited. Thanks to Liz, Mom, and Sandi for regular packages
and email all the way through this horrible ordeal. I also got a
couple letters from the Olsen Boys recently and sure appreciate the
time they put into it. Frank's postcards have also been an
appreciated regular occurrence.
have to come back to Iraq for a third time. It finally feels like
people have come to their senses. I guess to a degree we are all one
issue people and for me that issue has been the war in Iraq. It's
hard to see my life turned upside down for so long due to other
people's decisions. What's worse is to see how it affects my wife and
son who did not "volunteer" for this. Some times I hear the
incredibly insensitive comment of "well, he joined the Army, what did
he expect" and have almost felt pity toward those who say it as they
must be so out of touch with the sacrifice of our armed forces
families. On a lighter note, our Battalion is ordering T-shirts and
for the first time I was presented with the challenge of ordering not
just the usual one large for me and one medium for Liz. This time I
ordered a youth extra small too for little Jacob. I will be proud to
see him wearing his 56th Multi-Functional Medical Battalion Operation
Iraqi Freedom t-shirt complete with the "AIRBORNE" wings on the back.
I only have two weeks or so until I go home for R and R and couldn't
be more excited. Thanks to Liz, Mom, and Sandi for regular packages
and email all the way through this horrible ordeal. I also got a
couple letters from the Olsen Boys recently and sure appreciate the
time they put into it. Frank's postcards have also been an
appreciated regular occurrence.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Taji/Rain/no Blackhawks
Well here I am stuck on another little jump I made. This time I am
back in Taji, the place where I started this God Awful deployment. I
came down with the Commander, the FOO representative, which is a story
for another time, COL House, a psychiatrist from Denver and the
Sergeant Major. The flight down was good and we were easily able to
accomplish all we came down to do, which consisted of purchasing some
items for the clinic here as well as work on some personnel issues
that have come up. Not sure I'm liking this XO (Executive Officer)
stuff. Following the completion of our business, we toured around the
base here and we also went over to the Iraqi side, which was kind of
cool. The Iraqi soldiers over there all wanted their pictures taken
with us. So we pack up and drive down to the PAX terminal for our
Blackhawk ride back to Balad only to find out that we were on weather
hold due to the dust. We waited and waited and were being told that
the mission is going to launch and that we would be able to make it
back to Balad. Well, what they say and what actually happens is
usually two different things entirely. After seven full hours of
waiting we were finally informed that our mission was cancelled. We
wearily made it back to the Taji clinic where we crashed at around
0300 this morning. Today we woke up and attempted another escape from
Taji only to find out that rainy season was starting this very day.
It rained and rained until the gravel and dirt parking lots were
nothing but lakes and there was the typical Iraqi mud that lasts until
March and guess what, no Blackhawks tonight either. As of this
posting, I'm still on weather hold and suffering from a bad attitude.
back in Taji, the place where I started this God Awful deployment. I
came down with the Commander, the FOO representative, which is a story
for another time, COL House, a psychiatrist from Denver and the
Sergeant Major. The flight down was good and we were easily able to
accomplish all we came down to do, which consisted of purchasing some
items for the clinic here as well as work on some personnel issues
that have come up. Not sure I'm liking this XO (Executive Officer)
stuff. Following the completion of our business, we toured around the
base here and we also went over to the Iraqi side, which was kind of
cool. The Iraqi soldiers over there all wanted their pictures taken
with us. So we pack up and drive down to the PAX terminal for our
Blackhawk ride back to Balad only to find out that we were on weather
hold due to the dust. We waited and waited and were being told that
the mission is going to launch and that we would be able to make it
back to Balad. Well, what they say and what actually happens is
usually two different things entirely. After seven full hours of
waiting we were finally informed that our mission was cancelled. We
wearily made it back to the Taji clinic where we crashed at around
0300 this morning. Today we woke up and attempted another escape from
Taji only to find out that rainy season was starting this very day.
It rained and rained until the gravel and dirt parking lots were
nothing but lakes and there was the typical Iraqi mud that lasts until
March and guess what, no Blackhawks tonight either. As of this
posting, I'm still on weather hold and suffering from a bad attitude.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Ramadi/TQ/Chrome 30
SSG Kolar myself and SPC Dougherty set out to meet with our Infantry
escort back from Ramadi to TQ on Friday. SSG Kolar and I had finished
our command visit and we were escorting SPC Dougherty as she was going
on her mid-tour leave. We got all our gear on and were walking the
mile or so to the 125 (one, two, Five) Infantry. As were were almost
to our destination, I turned my ankle and went down, IBA, Backpack,
M-16 and all. After a quick assessment I realized that nothing was
really hurt but my pride. After this, we met our convoy escort, were
briefed on the route we would be taking and then loaded up in the MRAP
and hit the road back to TQ. Once at TQ we tried to sign up for space
A flights back to Balad and we were told that one would be flying
there Friday night at about 2330. We sat around TQ all that day and
were waiting with all our gear at the airstrip at around mid-night.
Two Marine Osprey's came in shortly after midnight and they were
really cool to watch. Then came the Marine Chinooks that were
supposed to be our ride back to Balad but for some reason none of us
made the cut as they cancelled the Balad mission. We were told to
check back in at 0700 the next morning. After another night in TQ we
checked the Marine flight desk the next morning and were told that we
were confirmed on a C-130 flight that night at 2330. Finally at
around midnight on Sunday morning we boarded Chrome 30, our C-130
flight back to Balad. No sooner had we boarded the flight than the
load master asked for two volunteers to sit in the cockpit. No one
was jumping up very fast so I stepped up and volunteered and it was
quite possible the coolest experience in my military career. I was
seated directly behind the pilot and co-pilot and right next to the
navigator and was hooked in to the audio system. Listening to the
pilots talk to the other aircraft, each other, and the towers in the
combat zone was very cool. First we landed at another Marine base
called Al Asad and after almost being taken out by a couple of
Osprey's we took off for the 20 minute flight to Balad. As we swooped
in on our final approach, called a combat landing there were all these
alarms going off in the cock pit and the two pilots had a quick debate
over which runway we were to land on. As I was getting off the plan I
thanked the two pilots, who graciously said "no problem and be careful
down there sir." All in all it was a good trip, five hour convoy
through Fallujah and 50 hour wait in TQ included. We arrived home to
our little CHU at 0300 on Sunday Morning. After three hours of sleep
I was back to work on Sunday and then later that night I did my
overnight clinic coverage at the Patriot Mental Health Clinic.
escort back from Ramadi to TQ on Friday. SSG Kolar and I had finished
our command visit and we were escorting SPC Dougherty as she was going
on her mid-tour leave. We got all our gear on and were walking the
mile or so to the 125 (one, two, Five) Infantry. As were were almost
to our destination, I turned my ankle and went down, IBA, Backpack,
M-16 and all. After a quick assessment I realized that nothing was
really hurt but my pride. After this, we met our convoy escort, were
briefed on the route we would be taking and then loaded up in the MRAP
and hit the road back to TQ. Once at TQ we tried to sign up for space
A flights back to Balad and we were told that one would be flying
there Friday night at about 2330. We sat around TQ all that day and
were waiting with all our gear at the airstrip at around mid-night.
Two Marine Osprey's came in shortly after midnight and they were
really cool to watch. Then came the Marine Chinooks that were
supposed to be our ride back to Balad but for some reason none of us
made the cut as they cancelled the Balad mission. We were told to
check back in at 0700 the next morning. After another night in TQ we
checked the Marine flight desk the next morning and were told that we
were confirmed on a C-130 flight that night at 2330. Finally at
around midnight on Sunday morning we boarded Chrome 30, our C-130
flight back to Balad. No sooner had we boarded the flight than the
load master asked for two volunteers to sit in the cockpit. No one
was jumping up very fast so I stepped up and volunteered and it was
quite possible the coolest experience in my military career. I was
seated directly behind the pilot and co-pilot and right next to the
navigator and was hooked in to the audio system. Listening to the
pilots talk to the other aircraft, each other, and the towers in the
combat zone was very cool. First we landed at another Marine base
called Al Asad and after almost being taken out by a couple of
Osprey's we took off for the 20 minute flight to Balad. As we swooped
in on our final approach, called a combat landing there were all these
alarms going off in the cock pit and the two pilots had a quick debate
over which runway we were to land on. As I was getting off the plan I
thanked the two pilots, who graciously said "no problem and be careful
down there sir." All in all it was a good trip, five hour convoy
through Fallujah and 50 hour wait in TQ included. We arrived home to
our little CHU at 0300 on Sunday Morning. After three hours of sleep
I was back to work on Sunday and then later that night I did my
overnight clinic coverage at the Patriot Mental Health Clinic.
I have a date (or at least a date range)
I heard from Rhett when he will be coming home on his 2 week leave. He will be here late November and I am so excited to see him. I am sure the next few weeks will be the longest weeks of his deployment. We will try to see everyone but I am just going to have him relax and spend time with us. Here are some pictures of the last time we were together. Jacob was so little and has changed so much. I can't wait to get new pics of Jacob and Daddy!!!!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Ar Ramadi
Hello all, I am writing from Ar Ramadi where myself and SSG Kolar have
traveled to make a visit to one of our teams. As usual, the travel
here was no pick nick. We started in Balad by making a C-130 flight
to a Marine air base called TQ. The flight only took 20 minutes but
we didn't get off the plane until 0300 this morning. TQ is a very
rustic-looking (sand and dirt everywhere, shabby buildings, hesco
barriers for protection) base almost exclusively inhabited by the
Marines. Once there, SSG Kolar and I made an attempt to sleep in a
large open area of bunk beds that smelled badly probably due to five
years of sweaty guys sleeping on the same matresses. We actually
slept for about 2 hours and then got up and readied ourselves for what
we thought was going to be a quick convoy to Ramadi. We were to meet
up with 125 Infantry at 1000 and then role from there to Ramadi and we
were supposed to arrive around 1100. Once we met our friends from the
Infantry, we were informed that we were making a slightly longer trip
than we had expected. We were apparently going to Falujah to pick up
some extra people who needed to go to some little JSS (joint security
station) in Ramadi and then we would end up at Ar Ramadi about an hour
and a half later. The drive to Falujah was pretty cool, what with the
sights of a blown and shot up city attempting to rejoin civilization.
In addition, it was in the middle of the day so that means lots of
civilian traffic. I took lots of pictures and movies that I'll try to
upload for all to see but honestly, it will blow your mind. Once we
arrived in Falujah we noticed that our MRAP (the mine resistant,
ambush protected vehicles that we have to ride in thanks to Joe Biden
that really are very nice) had run over a .50 cal round and that the
round had exploded and flattened one of our 6 tires. Our delay at
Camp falujah happened to be right around lunch time so SSG Kolar and I
jokingly talked about going to Falujah for lunch. Lunch was good and
after changing two tires weighing over 400 pounds we were back on the
road to Ramad. The trip to Ramadi was uneventful but all in all the
convoy lasted over 5 hours and my tailbone really hurt. I plan to
stay a few days here and will then make the trip in reverse back to
Balad. I'm sure I'll have lots more to report.
traveled to make a visit to one of our teams. As usual, the travel
here was no pick nick. We started in Balad by making a C-130 flight
to a Marine air base called TQ. The flight only took 20 minutes but
we didn't get off the plane until 0300 this morning. TQ is a very
rustic-looking (sand and dirt everywhere, shabby buildings, hesco
barriers for protection) base almost exclusively inhabited by the
Marines. Once there, SSG Kolar and I made an attempt to sleep in a
large open area of bunk beds that smelled badly probably due to five
years of sweaty guys sleeping on the same matresses. We actually
slept for about 2 hours and then got up and readied ourselves for what
we thought was going to be a quick convoy to Ramadi. We were to meet
up with 125 Infantry at 1000 and then role from there to Ramadi and we
were supposed to arrive around 1100. Once we met our friends from the
Infantry, we were informed that we were making a slightly longer trip
than we had expected. We were apparently going to Falujah to pick up
some extra people who needed to go to some little JSS (joint security
station) in Ramadi and then we would end up at Ar Ramadi about an hour
and a half later. The drive to Falujah was pretty cool, what with the
sights of a blown and shot up city attempting to rejoin civilization.
In addition, it was in the middle of the day so that means lots of
civilian traffic. I took lots of pictures and movies that I'll try to
upload for all to see but honestly, it will blow your mind. Once we
arrived in Falujah we noticed that our MRAP (the mine resistant,
ambush protected vehicles that we have to ride in thanks to Joe Biden
that really are very nice) had run over a .50 cal round and that the
round had exploded and flattened one of our 6 tires. Our delay at
Camp falujah happened to be right around lunch time so SSG Kolar and I
jokingly talked about going to Falujah for lunch. Lunch was good and
after changing two tires weighing over 400 pounds we were back on the
road to Ramad. The trip to Ramadi was uneventful but all in all the
convoy lasted over 5 hours and my tailbone really hurt. I plan to
stay a few days here and will then make the trip in reverse back to
Balad. I'm sure I'll have lots more to report.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
30 year setback for PTSD in the military
Wow! One potential First Lady sets military mental health progress
back at least 30 years.
below is the web address and an excerpt from an interview between
Marie Claire magazine and Cindy McCain. When questioned about her
husband's potential PTSD symptoms, rather than take the opportunity to
educate an arguably apathetic populace, Mrs McCain responds with:
back at least 30 years.
below is the web address and an excerpt from an interview between
Marie Claire magazine and Cindy McCain. When questioned about her
husband's potential PTSD symptoms, rather than take the opportunity to
educate an arguably apathetic populace, Mrs McCain responds with:
http://www.marieclaire.com/world/news/cindy-mccain-interview-election?click=main_sr
MC: But no cold sweats in the middle of the night?
CM: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. My husband, he'd be the first one to tell
you that he was trained to do what he was doing. The guys who had the
trouble were the 18-year-olds who were drafted. He was trained, he
went to the Naval Academy, he was a trained United States naval
officer, and so he knew what he was doing.
So, I guess that PTSD only affects those who are 18 and drafted into
military service or at least not graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy
at Annapolis. Gee I'm no expert but...well I have done two tours in
Iraq as a mental health provider credentialed by the army...maybe I am
an expert...her comments certainly don't match what I have
experienced. Anyone looking for more than just cute pictures of Jacob
could visit the following non partisan websites for information on
issued that affect us combat veterans:
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Happy Halloween
Want to share some of the cutest pictures of Jacob. Last weekend we went to Portrait Innovations for his 9 month old pictures and his halloween pics. They do a fantastic job, are affordable, and work to get him to smile. Its so hard to narrow it down from 70+. Jacob has begun furniture surfing and I have removed all tables, house decor, and anything else he might be able to reach. How is it that at 27in boy can reach so much???
latest
Thank you to all for the birthday wishes and packages. I think I
actually heard from nearly everyone. I was taking the day off on my
birthday but went in around mail call time to find that three packages
had arrived for me actually on my birthday. Funny thing was that
everyone must have thought they were going to be late as all the cards
said things like "sorry this is late." Special thanks goes to Liz and
Jacob for the great package and wonderful cards. It's really touching
to see a card from Jacob addressed to: Daddy even though it is in
Liz's handwriting. Also, my mom sent me a great box full of treats
and other things. Kevin and Anna Olsen and boys sent me a box that
was much appreciated. In addition, Sandi sent me a box that had an
audio book just in time for me as I had just finished the one I was
listening to. Eric, Kim and Alix sent a box too...not sure what I'll
do with all this stuff but I can't thank you all enough. In addition
to the boxes, I received email from Elder Larsen, Carrie Cox, Sandi,
my mom, Liz, Liz's friend Molly, the Patty's, Mindy, and Shayla from
work. As if all this wasn't enough, I keep getting post cards from
Frank, which I appreciate. My birthday was going good until I
received word that as the interim commander of the 1835th I was being
summoned to brief the Battalion Commander that afternoon regarding my
plans for the embed event with the New York Times. The briefing went
well.
actually heard from nearly everyone. I was taking the day off on my
birthday but went in around mail call time to find that three packages
had arrived for me actually on my birthday. Funny thing was that
everyone must have thought they were going to be late as all the cards
said things like "sorry this is late." Special thanks goes to Liz and
Jacob for the great package and wonderful cards. It's really touching
to see a card from Jacob addressed to: Daddy even though it is in
Liz's handwriting. Also, my mom sent me a great box full of treats
and other things. Kevin and Anna Olsen and boys sent me a box that
was much appreciated. In addition, Sandi sent me a box that had an
audio book just in time for me as I had just finished the one I was
listening to. Eric, Kim and Alix sent a box too...not sure what I'll
do with all this stuff but I can't thank you all enough. In addition
to the boxes, I received email from Elder Larsen, Carrie Cox, Sandi,
my mom, Liz, Liz's friend Molly, the Patty's, Mindy, and Shayla from
work. As if all this wasn't enough, I keep getting post cards from
Frank, which I appreciate. My birthday was going good until I
received word that as the interim commander of the 1835th I was being
summoned to brief the Battalion Commander that afternoon regarding my
plans for the embed event with the New York Times. The briefing went
well.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Happy Birthday
Just want to wish Rhett a Happy Birthday. I know with the 9 hour time change his birthday is almost over but its just starting for us. Rhett received 3 birthday packages today one from me, his mom and Anna and Kevin. Thank you for remembering him today. I just want to share my favorite 10 things about him:
10. he will take me out for mexican food anytime I am having a craving (which is a lot so it is a sacrifice to eat so much mexican food)
9. he is so dang smart (summa cum laude and 3.9 gpa in grad school)
8. he is one of the most honest and honorable men I know
7. he is a hard worker. Rhett works full time and helps around the house
6. he is an awesome cook. Whoever gets home first starts dinner. hmmm why am i always late?
5. he loves his family and honors the traditions of his heritage
4. he listens to my venting and irrational thoughts with a calm manner like any good therapist does and helps me see both sides of an issue
3. he supports and encourages me in my pursuits as a career woman, wife and mom
2. he is an awesome dad to Jacob
1. he loves me and together we can survive anything!!
Happy Birthday Honey!!!!!
10. he will take me out for mexican food anytime I am having a craving (which is a lot so it is a sacrifice to eat so much mexican food)
9. he is so dang smart (summa cum laude and 3.9 gpa in grad school)
8. he is one of the most honest and honorable men I know
7. he is a hard worker. Rhett works full time and helps around the house
6. he is an awesome cook. Whoever gets home first starts dinner. hmmm why am i always late?
5. he loves his family and honors the traditions of his heritage
4. he listens to my venting and irrational thoughts with a calm manner like any good therapist does and helps me see both sides of an issue
3. he supports and encourages me in my pursuits as a career woman, wife and mom
2. he is an awesome dad to Jacob
1. he loves me and together we can survive anything!!
Happy Birthday Honey!!!!!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
today
Things have been pretty boring around here since I last posted. We
did have some explosions today that seemed fairly close and thankfully
we're all alright. I'm somewhat busy with command issues with our
commander gone and can't wait till I can just be in charge of our
prevention services again. Saturday I apparently get to spend the day
with an embedded reporter from the New York Times. Lucky me.
Actually, I like the New York Times so I'm happy to do it. I guess
mental health services for soldiers is a popular issue again what with
the suicide rate for deployed soldiers being the highest (19 per
100,000) since the Army began measuring it back in 1981. I am
planning some trips to the other locations shortly after the commander
gets back on leave. First, SSG Kolar and I are going to visit Ramadi,
which is no pick nick to get to. We have to fly to a place called TQ,
which is by Falujah and then take a convoy from there into Ar Ramadi.
Once there, we will spend about a day and a half and then do the exact
opposite travel back here. I'm guessing I'll be gone for about 5 days
if all goes smoothly, which almost never happens.
did have some explosions today that seemed fairly close and thankfully
we're all alright. I'm somewhat busy with command issues with our
commander gone and can't wait till I can just be in charge of our
prevention services again. Saturday I apparently get to spend the day
with an embedded reporter from the New York Times. Lucky me.
Actually, I like the New York Times so I'm happy to do it. I guess
mental health services for soldiers is a popular issue again what with
the suicide rate for deployed soldiers being the highest (19 per
100,000) since the Army began measuring it back in 1981. I am
planning some trips to the other locations shortly after the commander
gets back on leave. First, SSG Kolar and I are going to visit Ramadi,
which is no pick nick to get to. We have to fly to a place called TQ,
which is by Falujah and then take a convoy from there into Ar Ramadi.
Once there, we will spend about a day and a half and then do the exact
opposite travel back here. I'm guessing I'll be gone for about 5 days
if all goes smoothly, which almost never happens.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
"Red River 44"
The Red River forms the border between Texas and Oklahoma and
apparently gets its name from its color probably due to the sediment
in it. During the summer of 1874, the U. S. Army launched a campaign
to remove the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indian
tribes from the Southern Plains and enforce their relocation to
reservations in Indian Territory. The actions of 1874 were unlike any
prior attempts by the Army to pacify this area of the western
frontier. The Red River War led to the end of an entire way of life
for the Southern Plains tribes and brought about a new chapter in
Texas history. During the Red River War of 1874, as many as 20
engagements between the U.S. Army and the Southern Plains Indians may
have taken place across the Texas Panhandle region. The well-equipped
Army kept the Indians on the run until eventually they could not run
or fight any longer. The Red River War officially ended in June 1875
when Quanah Parker and his band of Quahadi Comanche entered Fort Sill
and surrendered. The Indians were defeated and would never again
freely roam the buffalo plains.
Given that Task Force 34 is made up of aviation National Guard units
from Texas and Oklahoma and that all US Army helicopters are named
after Indian names, it was only fitting that one of the Chinooks
making the flight into Iraq from Kuwait that night be given the call
sign "Red River 44".
apparently gets its name from its color probably due to the sediment
in it. During the summer of 1874, the U. S. Army launched a campaign
to remove the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indian
tribes from the Southern Plains and enforce their relocation to
reservations in Indian Territory. The actions of 1874 were unlike any
prior attempts by the Army to pacify this area of the western
frontier. The Red River War led to the end of an entire way of life
for the Southern Plains tribes and brought about a new chapter in
Texas history. During the Red River War of 1874, as many as 20
engagements between the U.S. Army and the Southern Plains Indians may
have taken place across the Texas Panhandle region. The well-equipped
Army kept the Indians on the run until eventually they could not run
or fight any longer. The Red River War officially ended in June 1875
when Quanah Parker and his band of Quahadi Comanche entered Fort Sill
and surrendered. The Indians were defeated and would never again
freely roam the buffalo plains.
Given that Task Force 34 is made up of aviation National Guard units
from Texas and Oklahoma and that all US Army helicopters are named
after Indian names, it was only fitting that one of the Chinooks
making the flight into Iraq from Kuwait that night be given the call
sign "Red River 44".
I am writing this on Tuesday morning after a long three days of
working with these aviation soldiers to try to help them through their
tremendous loss as well as the traumatic experience that some of them
went through. Two days ago I conducted a critical event debriefing
with the 25 soldiers who were flying with Red River 44 in the three
other helicopters and as usual, this was a difficult experience. Over
the course of two tours in Iraq, I have had the unfortunate
opportunity to be the responding mental health professional to many
traumatic events and all these experiences as well as my mental health
training have led to my style in conducting these debriefings. I
usually start off by introducing myself and talking for a moment about
the debriefing process and what the participants can expect. Next, I
ask about the facts of the event and during this part, I usually hear
from almost everyone involved. This is the part where I heard the
story of the four Chinooks flying low and fast through the desert
night and the things they saw, heard, smelled, and experienced when
they watched one of these 98 foot long helicopters weighing as much as
50,000 pounds fully loaded with over 1000 gallons of fuel crash into
the ground at over 100 miles per hour. I heard "I watched it play out
like it was a movie with no sound" and "every light is intensified in
your night vision goggles so when we saw the flares go off and then
the fire ball of the helicopter crashing it almost blinded me." I
also heard from the Chinook crew that landed and walked through the
wreckage and heard all about the smells and other stimuli present.
Soon after the crash, a British fighter jet was on scene as well as a
British convoy was being diverted to the area and the remaining
helicopters were instructed to fly to Talil, their previously
scheduled fuel stop. Many other comments were made regarding the
crash details and the events leading up to it but these comments were
made under the assumption of confidentiality with a mental health
provider and I would never disclose any of that information. Suffice
it to say, the newspapers may have got it wrong but no surprise there.
Following about 90 minutes in a very hot little room with these 25
soldiers, we wrapped things up and went back to our CSC area. The
next day, yesterday, the flight surgeon called and asked me to come
back and do something with the remaining 40 or so soldiers from the
unit that were not directly involved in the crash. This was more or
less a grief group with some education thrown in about stress,
avoidance of things, and PTSD. Following this group, we went to the
memorial service for the 7 fallen soldiers. These are always hard and
this one was no exception. The traditional Army memorial of the
upside down M-4 rifle with the soldier's helmet, on the butt of the
rifle and the boots at the base with the soldier's dog tags hanging
from the M-4 was altered a bit to include their flight helmets
complete with their night vision goggles attached. All seven of these
were placed on the stage of a theatre here in Balad where the service
was to take place. The lights reflected eerily from the seven pairs
of night vision goggles giving the impression of green eyes staring
into the crowd. After each of the commanders gave their tribute, the
last roll call was preformed (where the name of the fallen soldier is
called out with no answer) and then the rifle shots are fired followed
by taps. The whole thing lasted about an hour and I returned home
very drained and feeling a little guilty that I was glad that it was
finally over. I know that there will be plenty more to do with the
aviators of Task Force 34 but it was a good to get some closure for
Red River 44. The memory of these heroes will not be forgotten.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
CSC
So we get word that the 25 soldiers that were flying with the Chinook
that went down a couple of days ago are flying in tonight at around
2330 and that the unit chaplain would like to speak with us and then
have us present when the helicopters land. I found SPC Antonich, my
teammate and we readied ourselves for the long night ahead. Come to
find out, there were 4 CH-47s flying from Kuwait to Balad when one
crashed near Basra and the other three were diverted to Talil. The 25
soldiers had been stuck in Talil since the crash and were now arriving
in Balad, their original destination and the place where the remainder
of their unit is. We drove over to the airstrip and met with the
chaplain at around 2300 and at that point we were informed that the
helicopters were not due to land until 0050 or almost 1:00AM in
civilian time. The chaplain was a nice man from Texas who is on his
first deployment as are most of the task force. The unit is an
aviation taskforce made up from National Guard units from Texas and
Oklahoma and are just arriving in country to take over here for the
12th CAB (Combat Aviation Brigade). While here they will be flying
the medivac missions as well as the regular transport flights in and
around this AO. In addition to speaking with the chaplain, I also
spoke with the Battalion XO and their flight surgeon and I was able to
recommend that we only introduce ourselves tonight and that we
schedule a critical event debriefing for tomorrow. The time finally
came and we were to be taken directly onto the airstrip where we would
meet with the aviation soldiers immediately on their arrival. Once
out on the concrete we could hear the loud thumps of the rotors on the
4 incoming CH-47's and then almost out of nowhere they appeared in the
night sky right over our heads. Once landed, the rear doors opened
and the soldiers began getting out. As the understandably shocked
soldiers began meeting up with the other of their unit members there
were a lot of hugs and handshakes. I couldn't help but think that
there were 7 people from this very group that had left Kuwait together
but would not by coming out of any of the aircraft. It was a sad
reunion to be sure but for the most part, they looked like they were
holding up as best as can be expected. I spoke with the Battalion
Commander as well as some of the soldiers and I introduced my self and
my team and told them that I would see them all the later that day
once they got some sleep. By the time SPC Antonich and I arrived back
at our little CHU's it was 0330 and we were anticipating an
emotionally draining day ahead of us.
that went down a couple of days ago are flying in tonight at around
2330 and that the unit chaplain would like to speak with us and then
have us present when the helicopters land. I found SPC Antonich, my
teammate and we readied ourselves for the long night ahead. Come to
find out, there were 4 CH-47s flying from Kuwait to Balad when one
crashed near Basra and the other three were diverted to Talil. The 25
soldiers had been stuck in Talil since the crash and were now arriving
in Balad, their original destination and the place where the remainder
of their unit is. We drove over to the airstrip and met with the
chaplain at around 2300 and at that point we were informed that the
helicopters were not due to land until 0050 or almost 1:00AM in
civilian time. The chaplain was a nice man from Texas who is on his
first deployment as are most of the task force. The unit is an
aviation taskforce made up from National Guard units from Texas and
Oklahoma and are just arriving in country to take over here for the
12th CAB (Combat Aviation Brigade). While here they will be flying
the medivac missions as well as the regular transport flights in and
around this AO. In addition to speaking with the chaplain, I also
spoke with the Battalion XO and their flight surgeon and I was able to
recommend that we only introduce ourselves tonight and that we
schedule a critical event debriefing for tomorrow. The time finally
came and we were to be taken directly onto the airstrip where we would
meet with the aviation soldiers immediately on their arrival. Once
out on the concrete we could hear the loud thumps of the rotors on the
4 incoming CH-47's and then almost out of nowhere they appeared in the
night sky right over our heads. Once landed, the rear doors opened
and the soldiers began getting out. As the understandably shocked
soldiers began meeting up with the other of their unit members there
were a lot of hugs and handshakes. I couldn't help but think that
there were 7 people from this very group that had left Kuwait together
but would not by coming out of any of the aircraft. It was a sad
reunion to be sure but for the most part, they looked like they were
holding up as best as can be expected. I spoke with the Battalion
Commander as well as some of the soldiers and I introduced my self and
my team and told them that I would see them all the later that day
once they got some sleep. By the time SPC Antonich and I arrived back
at our little CHU's it was 0330 and we were anticipating an
emotionally draining day ahead of us.
sand storm
helicopters in the background are CH-47's the same that crashed
killing 7 earlier this week.
long days
Yesterday started out like a normal Saturday but soon turned into more
that I expected. First, I found out that one of my prevention SGT's
took a convoy from a place called TQ to Ramadi without the proper
approval and now I have to deal with the problem. The commander left
for her leave today, which leaves me in charge and now I'm the one
that has to give him an Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) and
replace him in his position of NCOIC. This really is a big deal due
to the fact that it is Ramadan out here and Anbar Province is still
pretty dangerous in spite of what you might hear on the news. In
addition, the SGT took one of our other soldiers with him endangering
her life as well. On the other side of things, the SGT was only
trying to do his job by getting he and the soldier he supervises back
to their AO as fast as possible. I guess following orders is an
important part of being a soldier and teaching this young Sergeant a
lesson might very well save his life and or someone else's. Just
after we finish dealing with this, I get word that the CH-47s are
coming in tonight with the 25 or so people directly involved in the
helicopter crash that recently that claimed the lives of 7 of their
own soldiers. More to come
that I expected. First, I found out that one of my prevention SGT's
took a convoy from a place called TQ to Ramadi without the proper
approval and now I have to deal with the problem. The commander left
for her leave today, which leaves me in charge and now I'm the one
that has to give him an Article 15 (non-judicial punishment) and
replace him in his position of NCOIC. This really is a big deal due
to the fact that it is Ramadan out here and Anbar Province is still
pretty dangerous in spite of what you might hear on the news. In
addition, the SGT took one of our other soldiers with him endangering
her life as well. On the other side of things, the SGT was only
trying to do his job by getting he and the soldier he supervises back
to their AO as fast as possible. I guess following orders is an
important part of being a soldier and teaching this young Sergeant a
lesson might very well save his life and or someone else's. Just
after we finish dealing with this, I get word that the CH-47s are
coming in tonight with the 25 or so people directly involved in the
helicopter crash that recently that claimed the lives of 7 of their
own soldiers. More to come
Friday, September 12, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
today
Well another day another dollar is the phrase that comes to mind. The weather has changed somewhat since I posted last and we have even seen a few raindrops. Yesterday and today were windy and cool. By cool I mean low 100's…I think we were 107 degrees today, which is basically a cold front when you have been having 120+ days since May. Our team out in Ramadi was hit by a mortar but fortunately for all of us it did not explode so no one was hurt. SGT DeLuna who is out there filing in for people told me that they heard a loud noise and went outside to find an un-exploded mortar. I guess Al Anbar province isn't all the cupcakes and flowers that Fox News would have you believe. We had another suicide here in Balad today this time it was one of our patients. I'm not going to report much other than to say that it was a senior NCO from an MP unit that is scheduled to go home shortly. These kinds of events are very hard for us mental health professionals to deal with especially since this one came right in the middle of the Army's suicide prevention week. Oh well, I guess we can't save everyone even though we would love to. My old friend MAJ Shea, the psychologist from New York is finally going home. After involving his congressman and making multiple attempts through the appropriate channels his application for resignation of his commission was finally accepted and he gets to go home very soon. He's been hanging out with us up here in Balad checking his final boxes so to speak before leaving. He and I and LTC Banuelos are going out to dinner tonight, not that we have much choice or many options. Liz sent me a DVD of Jacob, which she recorded during August and it was very cool to see. I can't believe that he can crawl and sit up by himself since the last time I held him was a cold morning back in Washington in April when he could not even hold up his head. I have no idea what it is like to live with my own son who will soon be 9 months old. What's worse, I was just looking at my resume to update it and I had to figure out a word for "two- time Iraq veteran." It really sucks to have lived two years in this god-forsaken place so far from home and the ones I love. Yesterday SPC Antonich and I did a briefing for some medical logistics soldiers here on the base. Our topic was stress management and sleep hygiene and following our discussion, a sergeant stopped me to ask me some questions. Ignoring the normal uneasiness of soldiers when talking to a mental health provider, I could tell that this guy was suffering from some serious anxiety. Complete with facial tics and a quiver in his voice he proceeded to tell me that he is only able to sleep 45 minutes at a time. He tells me that he has been given klonopin and ambient and that without them he cannot sleep. Can you believe that we are giving soldiers Klonopin in the combat zone? This guy proceeds to tell me that he is on his fourth tour over here and that he has a 9-year-old at home that he has not seen for half of this child's life. Anyway, I had no easy answers for this sergeant and I hate that. In my opinion, this is a normal guy who has been put through an extremely abnormal event or series of event s for the past four years. How can we ask people to do that???
Friday, September 5, 2008
Soldier suicide rate may set record again
I found this article on MSNBC and thought it I would share. This is what Rhett is trying to prevent. Makes me so proud of what he is doing.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26548448/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26548448/
Thursday, September 4, 2008
travels
Good thing I can't get on my own blog because then I would know how long it's been since I last posted. Sorry to all who read this. I am in the worst part of the deployment and it's sometimes hard to even get through the day let alone think up something to write. We were supposed to have internet available in our living areas as of August 15th. Well, here it is September 4th, and no sign of it yet. I was hoping that should we actually get the internet in our living area then I may be able to access the blog. Oh well, I guess I'll just keep sending email to it and at least everyone else can see it. Life here is very similar one day to the next. I appreciate all the packages from Liz, Mom, and Sandi, they are great and make life easier for me. Last weekend I traveled to Baghdad for a commander's conference and it was quite a trip. The medical people here were actually holding a behavioral health conference in Baghdad and the commander's portion was just before it but in conjunction. The conference was not unlike those we get CEUs for back home with the exception of everyone wearing the same clothes and looking much more fit. I traveled to Baghdad by Blackhawk on Friday morning and arrived at approximately 0900. Since my meeting was at 1700, I had a lot of extra time on my hands. They stuck us in tents, which sucked and I was glad that I wasn't staying through the weekend. One problem I had is that I had all my body armor, helmet, and ammo that I couldn't just leave lying around. The stuff is so heavy that I didn't want to carry it around either so didn't end up exploring the base much. I did see General Patreas' house though and boy is it nice. I guess 4 star Generals live a little better than Captains. I attended my meeting, which was nothing more than a video teleconference with key people at Ft Sam Huston in Texas, where the Army has all their medical training. We talked about some of the issues and trends but since the connection was not secure, we were very limited on what we were allowed to say. There were about 8 of us in attendance representing all four CSC detachments covering the entire theatre. Following the dog and pony show, I wanted out of Baghdad so I put on all my gear and found the bus that went to the helicopter pad and signed up for standby flight to Balad. They told me that it may not happen but in my experience, it's best to just wait there and see what happens. The helicopter terminal at the Victory/Liberty base sucked. It was nothing more than a structure that was air conditioned and had some warm water to drink. The little benches there for us to sit on were very uncomfortable and my tailbone was bothering me quite a bit (left over from my bike accident). After waiting for over 5 hours, I ended up getting manifested on a flight leaving Baghdad at 0030. I finally got on the Blackhawk around 0100 (1:00 AM) and after a two hour tour of Iraq, landed in Balad sometime after 0300. I was glad to be home, if that's what you can call this place.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
My Weekend in Vegas
Hello Everyone-
Carrie, Mom, Jacob and me went to Las Vegas over the weekend to meet up with my good friends Linda and JP from Kansas City. It was awesome to get away for 3 nights just us girls and Jacob. We stayed on the strip and had a great time relaxing. Its not the same without Rhett but I had a great time.
Jacob loved the hotel
We relaxed at the pool and played in the water with Jacob until he could play no longer
Carrie, Mom, Jacob and me went to Las Vegas over the weekend to meet up with my good friends Linda and JP from Kansas City. It was awesome to get away for 3 nights just us girls and Jacob. We stayed on the strip and had a great time relaxing. Its not the same without Rhett but I had a great time.
Jacob loved the hotelWe relaxed at the pool and played in the water with Jacob until he could play no longer
We "met" a few famous people
Hung out with Presidents
and wore Jacob out
We also met up with my cousin Mandi, her adorable 3 girls, and my Aunt Shirley- it was great to see them again.
It was a nice weekend. Thanks to Mom and Carrie for keeping me company!!
Monday, August 18, 2008
No Bid Government Contracts!!!
Civilian contractors… they bothered me last time I was in Iraq and I can't stand to see them and here on Balad where they seem to be everywhere. Can you believe that over 10,000 of them reside on the same joint base that I live on. Here they are making their money and using up resources that I'm sure are intended for the troops. "300" is the number that comes to mind…I don't know if it is the number of pounds the scale reads when one of them steps on it or the number of dollars in thousands that they make tax free per year. Nothing pisses me off more than to see these jokers wearing the Army Combat Uniform (ACU) complete with the reversed U.S. flag on their right shoulder as if they had fought in combat. I don't care if some of them are former soldiers. They should either be current soldiers or home paying taxes to fund this so called war on terror rather than here profiting from it. It's really fun for me to see them in the gym using the equipment so we have to wait or at the front of the line in the PX or dining facilities "stocking up." Some play a vital role but all of them are from Uganda and armed, standing in the hot sun, providing security at the same facilities I just mentioned for $700 per month. The rest of these KBR dip shits can go back home for all I'm concerned. Wow, it looks like it's not only the weather that's heating up here.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
one more
this one is also interesting maybe more to me than the average person given my situation. Interestingly, the 4th ID soldier pictured in Sadr City is part of the same brigade I supported in Taji. I'm guessing the picture is taken very close to the place I spent my four days at COP Apache.
hot boring Iraq
OK... I have done my my best to keep my political views out of the blog as I know that not all agree with them but I thought that this article deserves your time no matter who you are: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/study_troops_deployed_abroad_g.php
Things are as slow as ever here. We get attacked once in a while but with the base being as big as it is sometimes I don't even hear it. I have to travel to Baghdad later this month for a Behavioral Health Commanders conference, which should be about as fun as watching paint dry. I feel well entrenched into that mid-deployment, mind-numbing, hot dust bowl. At least once it starts raining then I'll be that much closer to coming home.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Update from home
Life as I previously knew is coming to an end. Our little man is now mobile. He is crawling and rolling and scooting all over the place. It is so dang cute to see him try to figure out how to move his arms and legs to get something that has caught his eye. I have been using the camcorder and camera to capture every move for Rhett. Rhett recently sent us a package with t-shirts. The one for Jacob was too big but made me laugh. 
Since Jacob looks just like Rhett we know who his Baghdaddy is. We miss Rhett so much. I love you honey.
-Liz
Since Jacob looks just like Rhett we know who his Baghdaddy is. We miss Rhett so much. I love you honey.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Warhorse
Hi everyone,
I am writing today from Forward Operating Base Warhorse, near Baquoba Iraq. My team flew down here this morning to visit with our prevention team here and to conduct some training with them. I got to see MAJ Shea, my friend from New York who is stationed down here but will be returing to the states soon as his resignation was finally accepted. It is my job to figure out how to replace him here. The Blackhawk ride was uneventful but fun none-the less and as the sky looks more and more dusty now, I may be here longer than planned. Warhorse reminds me a lot of the old bases I remember from Iraq in 2004. Lots of bunkers and barriers and and over-all dirty feel to it. Great gym and DFAC but not much of anything else. It's seems hotter than usual today. The theatre here has a big hole in the side of it from a rocket attack but MAJ Shea tells me that they haven't had a lot of indirect fire. I plan to return to Balad soon and then it will be off to Ramadi for me, which will be a lot of fun if all goes as planned.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
New Email Address
Hi all,
here's the email address that is easiest for me to check: rhett.larsen@iraq.centcom.mil my others still work but this one's easiest.
Serious Incidents
Another long hot day has almost come and gone here in Iraq. I expect to see the Commander and Det Sergeant back either today or tomorrow so I can then concentrate on making my travels around our area to visit the teams. I have one already scheduled but as most know, will only talk about them after the fact so we don't increase the chance of our helicopter being shot down since this connection is not secure. I just heard word from our Ramadi team OIC, CPT Lanier that a Marine Colonel just shot himself in the head down there and has been evacuated to Balad. Luckily, or un-luckily this guy did not come into contact with our combat stress team so we don't know much about his situation. The Air force hospital here in Balad is one of the biggest in country with specialty surgery and all the bells and whistles of a civilian hospital. Unfortunately it is very busy. I see the medivac Blackhawks flying in multiple times per day. The dustoffs (medivac helicopters) are named from the call sign of a famous medivac pilot in Vietnam who flew many courageous missions into seriously dangerous places and was always heard saying "I'll turn around when I have your wounded" when told he should not attempt a landing. I always see these helicopters coming and going in two's and they never seem to be grounded by the weather the way the regular Blackhawk flights are. Our AC was finally fixed today so at least this afternoon we have been somewhat cool.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
July
Here it is at the end of July and I hope this place doesn't get any hotter. I really think I forgot what it feels like to have 120 + degree heat day after day for the entire summer. Add in some blowing dust..OK, a lot of blowing dust, some random explosions, the constant sound of aircraft both large and small taking off and landing and then you pretty much have the experience of Balad Iraq. Since I last posted I was supposed to take my little team to visit two of the outlying locations but both trips fell through. First, we were scheduled to go to Ramadi but the Marines could only get us as close as a place called TQ, which is somewhere around 40 miles west of Falujah. Not wanting to get stuck somewhere in Anbar province without a way back, I decided to not chance it. Next, we were scheduled to go to Warhorse, where my good friend MAJ Shea is right now but will be returning to the States soon as his application to resign his commission was finally accepted following many email and phone calls to his Congressman, who just happens to be the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee. Anyway, he has had some bad luck with the Army as well as in his personal life due to his three deployments since 2002 and I'm happy it looks like he will finally win this one. He initially applied to resign his commission over 20 months ago and the Army have been dragging their feet with him...not giving him an answer. I guess the Army needs mental health professionals. I wonder why! Right now, the Commander and Det Sergeant are gone to a conference in Baghdad, which leaves me in charge of the unit. So far the only thing that has gone wrong is out AC seems to be out. Not too much excitement around this place but every week when I attend the Battle Update Brief over at Battalion, I am reminded that people are still dying here just like they were when I was here last time. Today, I finally heard some "in coming" mortars and it reminded me of the "good old days". I don't think anyone was hurt. It's my new goal to make more posts to this blog; so I'll try to do better. I still cannot log on to look at it but I did figure out how the comments posted can be sent to me via email. Thanks to everyone who emails, comments, and sends me stuff (Liz, Mom, Sandi)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
j-793651.JPG)
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Latest
Sorry to all for the long time it has been since I last posted on this blog. I guess you could say a lot has happened but for me one day seems very like the last. My three teammates and I have been moved to the Unit's head quarters on Joint Base Balad, previously known as LSA (logistical support area) Anaconda. I guess the Air Force recently took over the base leading to the name change. This place is huge. There are about 29000 service members on the base and we are pretty much the only mental health assets. Our unit operates a fitness program here, which is a short term (1-3 days) in-patient program geared towards helping service members get back to their units as fast as possible. In addition to the Fitness program, we have a prevention team as well as our unit Head Quarters, which brings me to the reason I am here. LTC Banuelos, the unit Commander has appointment me the Chief of Clinical Services for the entire unit, which puts me second in command and in charge when the commander is not here. Medical Detachments don't really have XO's (Executive Officers) like Medical Companies do but, my job is basically the same. I do not get to give up my Prevention OIC job either, lucky me…I get to do both. My prevention OIC job requires me to visit all the other locations where we have teams, so I'll be going to Ramadi first, then to a place called Warhorse, which is just south of us, then on to a camp called Hammer, which is southeast Baghdad, and finally back to Taji, my old duty station. I like traveling around out here because it means more Blackhawk helicopter rides for me. My teammates basically came with me to help out with the fitness program and to assist in tracking our prevention stuff from this end, plus, we all get a long and I asked that they come with me. The junior enlisted girls are not incredibly happy here as they now live in a very small CHU (containerized housing unit) together and have lost a lot of their space and privacy. I too have a roommate, SSG Kolar, the Detachment Sergeant. We get a long very well as we did some combat missions together on the last deployment, the first of which was the first combat mission anyone from the 1835th ever conducted back in late June of 2004. My new job unfortunately takes me away from clinical work for the most part so there are fewer solder stories for me to report.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Rhett has moved
Liz here--Just wanted to give a quick update on Rhett. He has moved from Taji to Balad. I have his new address if anyone wants to send packages or letters. He loves getting DVDs or magazines. Just email me or call if you want the address. He is trying to get settled and figure out the phones- he did report good internet service. I sure miss him and feel so lucky to be married to such a wonderful and honorable man.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Update from home
Hello Everyone-
Everyone keeps telling me I need to start a blog, so I have decided to give little updates on life here at home on Rhett's blog. Jacob is growing like crazy. It seems like time goes so fast yet feels like forever until Rhett comes home. Jacob has 2 teeth on the bottom. He wasn't fussy so I was shocked when they broke through. I can only hope the non-fussy will continue. He is rolling over like crazy and wants to crawl. He gets up on his elbows and kick his little legs. I guess I should start thinking about baby proofing the house. We go for his 6 month check up on Monday. It is always fun to send Rhett Jacob's height and weight so he can try to imagine how big he has gotten. I am trying to be better at taking video of Jacob to send to Rhett so I can capture as much as I can on film. I cannot imagine how hard it is to miss all of Jacob's firsts.
Work is going really well. I had to cover the ER last week and while it stresses me out, it was fine. I only had to call my backup physician twice. I am enjoying the clinic and being back in primary care. I miss the free laser hair removal treatments but I really don't have that much hair left anyway. I had surgery on my hand a couple of weeks ago to remove the hardware from my fracture 2 years ago. It is healing quickly and without problems. I still have a weight restriction and cannot put myself in a position where I can fall-- does walking count?!?!? My family and neighbors have been a lifesaver while I had my surgical dressing. How do you give a 6 month old a bath when you can't get your hand wet? Thanks Natalie and Mom!!!!
Rhett is doing really well. He is moving to a new base soon so he is busy packing up all his stuff including his bike. I know he is busy and will post more soon. -Liz
Everyone keeps telling me I need to start a blog, so I have decided to give little updates on life here at home on Rhett's blog. Jacob is growing like crazy. It seems like time goes so fast yet feels like forever until Rhett comes home. Jacob has 2 teeth on the bottom. He wasn't fussy so I was shocked when they broke through. I can only hope the non-fussy will continue. He is rolling over like crazy and wants to crawl. He gets up on his elbows and kick his little legs. I guess I should start thinking about baby proofing the house. We go for his 6 month check up on Monday. It is always fun to send Rhett Jacob's height and weight so he can try to imagine how big he has gotten. I am trying to be better at taking video of Jacob to send to Rhett so I can capture as much as I can on film. I cannot imagine how hard it is to miss all of Jacob's firsts.
Work is going really well. I had to cover the ER last week and while it stresses me out, it was fine. I only had to call my backup physician twice. I am enjoying the clinic and being back in primary care. I miss the free laser hair removal treatments but I really don't have that much hair left anyway. I had surgery on my hand a couple of weeks ago to remove the hardware from my fracture 2 years ago. It is healing quickly and without problems. I still have a weight restriction and cannot put myself in a position where I can fall-- does walking count?!?!? My family and neighbors have been a lifesaver while I had my surgical dressing. How do you give a 6 month old a bath when you can't get your hand wet? Thanks Natalie and Mom!!!!
Rhett is doing really well. He is moving to a new base soon so he is busy packing up all his stuff including his bike. I know he is busy and will post more soon. -Liz
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Travels
I'm finally back from my travels to Balad. The flight back from Balad was pretty cool. We rode the little bus to the flight line where our UH-60 (Blackhawk) was parked in its little stall. The crew were still doing their pre-flight checks and we were just waiting there in the dark. Soon we boarded and strapped ourselves in and then the turbine engines start up. The rotors start spinning slowly at first and then gradually speed up. As you sit there the aircraft starts to rock with the spinning rotors until they speed up to a certain point. This experience never gets old, I don't care who you are. Just when you think the rotors couldn't possibly go any faster they seem to shift gears and double their speed. The hour long flight was uneventful for the most part with one exception. As we flew pretty low to the ground some type of street lights came on in the distance, which caused our countermeasure system to fire off two flares. At first I didn't know what was happening it was just a loud pop and then I was blinded by a fire ball slowly descending to either side of us. I literally could not see for a little while. I landed at Taji and was picked up by SGT De Luna and was happy to be back with my team.
Bike!!!
My Bike has finally arrived with all its pieces. I have had a great time watching my old Tour De France DVD's and riding along on my trainer. Thanks Liz. She was able to get me it through the USPS this time for substantially less money than FEDEX cost us to Kirkuk last time. This time I also have a good 9 months to ride it. Another little piece of info coming in yesterday was that the unit has tentative dates for our two week leave. It looks like mine will likely be the first two weeks of January 2009. I'm pretty excited about it even though it is almost 7 months away. Liz tells me that she will hold off on Jacob's first birthday for a few days and then we should all be together for it, which will be fun. I requested one of the last slots for leave as it is so hard to go back to Iraq after spending some time with family. This way, I'll only have two months or so after I get back here until I get to go home for real. I am planning some travel soon to our unit HQ in Balad and the helicopter situation here is always frustrating. I woke up this morning thinking that I would be leaving but once I saw the sky I knew I wasn't going anywhere. I'm told that the helicopter pilots need three miles of visibility to fly and I always wonder how they are able to fly at night but not in the dust. Anyway, not much I can do about it. I'm hearing some rumblings that I may need to move my team to Balad to be closer to the unit commander so I can keep up on the other prevention teams as I am in charge of all of them. I originally thought that I could just fly around wherever I am needed but boy with these dust storms, it's getting harder and harder to plan travel.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
MRAP
I took these pics of the MRAP we rode in while we were stuck at War Eagle waiting for rout clearance.
COP Apache
It's Monday, June 09 and I arrived back at Camp Taji this morning at 0130 following an interesting and somewhat frustrating trip to COP (Combat Outpost) Apache. What I have been doing to this point is to trade off with the prevention team here on the base. I take two of my soldiers out to meet the units and soldiers on and around the base while the other team comes to the clinic to work. Due the "troop surge" part of the new strategy is to push out from the larger bases into more neighborhood based small out posts called COPs and JSS's (joint security stations). The Cops and JSSs are very small, some having only one platoon or so at them. Last Thursday, I took my two teammates, SGT DeLuna and SPC Antonich to COP Apache, home of Crazy Horse and Apache Troop of the 3/7 CAV. Tankers and Cavalry scouts by trade, these guys took over the neighborhood from the 1st ID (my combat patch) about 15 months ago and have done incredible work since. Falling in on an area where the previous unit lost almost 30 of their men at a time when the war still seems almost lost, the Cav troopers as they are called worked very well with the local population and to this date, have not lost a soldier of their own. We boarded a U-H 60 Blackhawk for the short trip over to Apache at around 1300 on Thursday and were treated to a first hand look at the Baghdad outskirts from 100 feet or so from the ground. There were lots and lots of palm trees and way more vegetation than people think of when they think of Iraq. In addition to the green plants, the sand colored buildings were a little different to what I'm used to. Baghdad is pretty big and it was interesting to me to see bridges over the Tigris, businesses, homes with swimming pools (most did not have water), and large buildings. Once we landed at the COP, we exited the helicopter, which promptly took off and we soon found ourselves in what appeared to be the middle of the city with a much different look and feel than the big army FOBs I'm used to. The CAV troopers had a couple of HUMVEEs there to pick us up and drove us to the main area of the COP and we later found out that the heli-pad was not even on the COP. So there my two teammates and I were in the middle of a Baghdad suburb not on an army base, which was way cool. Once we arrived at the COP, we soon found out that it was much smaller than we expected and had virtually none of the "comforts" of the army bases that I have stayed at in the past. Instead of KBR contracted food service, these guys had actual Army cooks that were able to serve two meals per day, with lunch on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday s. The Cav troops were doing pretty well all things considered but it might have had something to do with them being almost done with their deployment and are heading back to Ft Stewart Georgia very soon. We had planned to stay approximately 24 hours and return to Taji the next day again by Blackhawk. We saw several soldiers and met with the Chaplain and medical people and found us a place to stay for the night. They ended up putting the three of us in some type of overflow room that had several very run-down bunk beds. With SPC Antonich being female, we had to take special measures to make sure that she was never alone during our trip. In spite of then extra work for SGT DeLuna and me escorting her to the bathroom, she proved to be a valuable asset for us. Imagine 200 male soldiers spending 15 months on a very small COP and then we show up with a 22-yea-old girl wanting to talk about stress. We had no shortage of people wanting to talk. Well, Friday rolls around, we pack up our assault packs and we go down to the heli-pad to wait for our bird, which we soon found out was grounded due to a weather hold. Central Iraq has had a lot of killer dust storms this spring and when they get bad, the helicopters do not fly. So there we were, stuck out on the COP with only enough clothes for two days now looking at spending a third. Our third day came and went and we were still at COP Apache being told that no flights were coming. On the fourth day, it looked like our only option was going to catch a ride on the CLP (pronounced "clip" but stands for Combat Logistical Patrol a long military name for convoy) leaving sometime after dark. Usually, ground convoys require a special risk assessment submitted to my unit leadership long in advance but I just made the call as I needed to get my team back and this our only viable option. We loaded up our stuff and walked off the COP down a long road to what we were told was motor pool 6, where the Bradleys were parked. I remember it being humid and still hot at 2130 and my body armor felt especially heavy, laden with my 210 rounds for my M-16, my advanced first aid kit complete with my tourniquet, special blood clotting agent, Israeli bandage, and my nerve agent antidote and valium auto-injectors. I also carry water, a flashlight, a couple of knives, a strap cutter, gloves, eye protection, and my very dirty fire-resistant ACUs as I spent four days in my uniform that was supposed to last two days. Once at the motor pool we found out that my team would be riding in an MRAP, the Army's new answer to all the IED deaths over the last 5 years. It's a very large vehicle that carries four passengers and is crewed by a driver, TC, and gunner. Inside was illuminated with red for night vision purposes and there were a lot of electronic counter-measure devices. We rolled out of the COP and drove the streets of the city for about 2 hours with a stop at a place called FOB War Eagle and one other right on the road that we later found out was because the lead vehicle spotted an IED and we had to wait for EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) to blow it up. We rode the rest of the way to Taji and were dropped off at our little home away from home this morning at 0130. All in all, it was a very interesting experience for us. We ended up seeing quite a few of the soldiers on the COP struggling with mental health and combat and operational stress problems, we rode on our first convoy in the combat zone for this tour and I think we worked well as a team. I came back to find that I have all the pieces of my bike except my actual bike meaning I have the trainer, wheels, tools, pump, clothing, etc and I am excited to get the rest. Thanks Liz! I found out this morning that I may have to take my team to Ramadi to open up CSC services there. More to come on this in the future.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
so many soldiers so little time
We have been pretty busy lately. It seems like we have had an influx of soldiers coming in for a variety of reasons. I have quite a few sexual assault victims (yes, female U.S. soldiers being assaulted by male U.S. soldiers) and it is un-imaginably difficult for them as these are the people they were supposed to be able to trust. In addition, we have seen quite a few members of the mortuary affairs unit as well as the members of the unit clear teams, who's job it is to clean up the body parts from the vehicles of their unit members who are killed by IEDs. Most of these soldiers have no special training they are just identified for this job as an "additional duty" and attend a short training session. I can't imagine being the one who has to collect the personal effects of my own friends as well as clean up inside the vehicles after these events take place. Still not much in the way of attacks on our base aside from some gun battles that we hear nightly as well as the occasional out-going artillery shells from my fellow 13-B's set up on our base. I plan to take my team out to one of the small FOBs some time in the near future to check on the soldiers out there and will no doubt report on my activities after-the-fact. Liz tells me that she almost has my bike ready to send out here, which I am so excited for as the cardio equipment here is not as good as in other places. I miss everyone from home and appreciate the email that I receive. I am still unable to view the comments on the blog on a regular basis but I can at least post to it via email.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Spring time in Iraq
Thursday, May 22, 2008
a quote I ran across
To Live As A Warrior
So live your life that the fear of death
can never enter your heart
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view,
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life,
beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long
and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day
when you go over the great divide
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks
for the food and for the joy of living.
if you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns
the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
Live right so when it comes your time to die,
you will not be like those whose hearts are filled with
the fear of death, who weep and pray for a little more
time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
--Tecumseh, Shawnee warrior and statesman
So live your life that the fear of death
can never enter your heart
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view,
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life,
beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long
and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day
when you go over the great divide
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks
for the food and for the joy of living.
if you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and nothing, for abuse turns
the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
Live right so when it comes your time to die,
you will not be like those whose hearts are filled with
the fear of death, who weep and pray for a little more
time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
--Tecumseh, Shawnee warrior and statesman
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
