DAY 31 / DEC 29

Day 31 / Dec 29

Still no enemy contact. Now, it's been five days. Wow, that seems
like a lot. We just had another barrage out outgoing that was real
enough to sounding like incoming that I was on the floor, in my
Kevlar, waiting for the siren. It never came. I'm not sure I'll ever
to used to that feeling. When the guns go off, you feel the pressure
change hit you, the windows shake, and you wait for the next one.
But, I'm glad for the outgoing, I hope it means that there will be
less incoming.
Today was just another day of this and that. Meetings again. I have
still managed to hold on to my morning routine of calling home and
emailing my wife after a shower and getting dressed. But, that will
change on Jan 6 when we take over. After that I will have meetings at
BN at 0830; which means I need to start walking there at about 0815;
which means getting dressed by 0800; which means waking up at 0730 at
the latest to get a shower in. Just when I thought I was going to
sleep in.
Then there are the convoy meetings everyday at 1900. Damn, there go
my nights too. Hopefully, I won't have too many convoys going out and
then I won't have to go to that meeting – more reason to not have
convoys.
We started putting in our pieces and I can tell that the company we
are replacing is getting frustrated with our lack of progress. But
its not us that's the problem, and they know that too. Its our higher
command that is having difficulty making a decision and sticking with
it. They keep changing the plan – which is the Army standard, but for
a RIP we should just be using our equipment in the same way the other
company is and then, after they are gone we can change whatever we
want.
Ah well, its no biggie at this point, the stuff will get in and the
other company will leave and then we can play around in our own mess
as much as we like.
So, I wasn't able to use the internet tonight to get this out or to
email my wife, but I did get to talk to her, on a crappy connection,
but it was better than nothing – and better than waiting for an hour
or more in line somewhere.
Once our stuff gets put in right, we should have a good connection everywhere.
Tomorrow we have to go on a convoy to LSA Anaconda. The trip is
about 45 minutes and really shouldn't be a big deal. But, like any
trip off the FOB, it could be dangerous. There is always the chance
that an IED will go off, that you'll receive small arms fire, or any
of that good stuff. The only real danger is from IEDs at this point.
Small arms fire doesn't penetrate the armor on the M1114s, but the
bigger IEDs will. Our route is heavily traveled, and that makes it a
little safer – its harder to plant a complicated bomb when people are
driving by all the time. I'll take a lot of pics and put them up on
the FRG site tomorrow.
I also won't have a lot of down time tomorrow. All of my meetings
are in the afternoon, so I'll still have to go to those AND miss my
morning time of calling home and all that good stuff. Just another
reason NOT to convoy anywhere unless I have to – which I usually
don't.
I ran into my FA buddy here. He runs the radars that track incoming
mortars and direct fire on the point of origin. I'm glad he's here
because I know he knows his job.