Hello All!
I realized that (because I’ve not been using my own laptop) I haven’t been sending updates to everyone I would normally include. Sorry, but there are just so many email addresses I can memorize! For those of you who are coming in late… I’m back in the sandbox again… Kuwait this time. However, it is only for a training exercise. I’ll be here just over a month.
One of the nice things is that – because the month I’m here actually includes days from two calendar months (Aug and Sep) both of those months will be free of income-tax withholding! Yay!
Not so nice is the weather. It’s the hottest part of summer, and it has been uncharacteristically humid for a good bit of the time I’ve been here. Usually Kuwait has the occasional humid days, but the prevailing wind during late summer is from the Northwest – meaning it’s blisteringly hot and dry. Lately, for some reason, the wind has been coming in off the Gulf, meaning it’s blisteringly hot and humid.
When our equipment arrived here (a few days after I arrived as part of the advanced party) we started working “reverse cycle” (nights) putting up the tents, installing the equipment, etc. It was hot and dirty work, but there was plenty of light – artificial light, from things that look like trailer-mounted street lamps with generators at the bottom. It was very wise, however, to do this work at night. Trying to do it during the day would have resulted in a multitude of heat injuries, and would have had us all moving at a snail’s pace.
We’re all set up and doing pre-exercise training, and putting our equipment through its paces. We’re using several new computer systems so this is not only training for us, but also a validation of the capabilities of the computer systems. The classified Internet network in the command post took some days to launch and has been fairly reliable. That’s good, because that’s how we do most of our work-related communications. The unclassified Internet network took quite a bit longer, to set up, and has been very UN-reliable which has been more of an annoyance than an obstacle. There are some unclassified resources I want to be able to use, and have difficulty getting to.
We’re at the stage where we’re – as we say in the Army – “leaning forward in the foxhole”. We’re doing planning in advance, gathering data and writing plans, that we will use during the exercise itself once it starts. It’s the same kind of thing we’d be doing before a real, military operation. As soon as we know it’s coming, or even that it MIGHT be coming, we start gathering information and making plans, and in some cases, moving equipment, so that when we get the order to go, we can go as fast as possible.
The really interesting thing about it is that we’re using lots of real-world, current information as the background scenario so a lot of the plans, documents and products we make can be stashed away in our “just in case we ever have to do this for real” file – saving us work. That really gives a sense of urgency and importance to what we’re doing.
It also raises the level of attention to security. We get reminded constantly about security procedures. The reminders are a little excessive, I think, because working with real-world operational plans and intelligence is not new to any of us. At this kind of high-level headquarters, you do this all the time, anyway. The main difference is doing it in the field - … well, it’s not exactly a “field”… doing it in a tent city in the sandbox is what’s new to us.
The running joke is “it’s an instant beach. Just add water.”
The other day, I went from the camp where I am, to Camp Arifjan. On the way, we passed by a stretch of highway which had obviously been part of the ominously-named “Highway of Death” – where the US forces destroyed columns of Iraqi forces during Desert Storm. For about a half-mile, on both sides of the highway, were scores of burned and blown-up, military vehicles. It was sobering.
And, in one sense, it was a window into an interesting cultural contrast. If this were in the US, I really think there would be a massive clean-up effort going on. The whole area would be fenced off, for safety’s sake because some of the weapons used against the Iraqis employed projectiles made from depleted, low-radiation uranium. It’s a lot heavier than lead and penetrates armor much more effectively, but it also leaves a radioactive residue that can make people quite sick. For that reason alone, we’d be cleaning up the site as fast as we could. Also, we would not want the sight of blown-up vehicles to stay there in the public eye.
The Kuwaitis appear to have decided that … since it’s not in or terribly near a significant-sized city… the radiation hazard is no big deal, and it is neither fenced nor do I see any evidence of cleanup in progress. The unsightly mess littering the desert also doesn’t seem to rate a significant effort.
By contrast, just to the south of that area, we passed a tiny Kuwaiti military camp – just a few blocks square. I have no idea what kind of unit was there. There was a vehicle that was recognizable as an ambulance (white circle with a red crescent on it painted on the side), but only one, so I think it was there to serve the unit, rather than indicating that the unit was a medical unit. What was really startling was the area around the building which was obviously the camp headquarters. For about 30 feet in every direction from the building, there was some of the best-manicured, brightest-green grass I have ever seen, and small trees and shrubs. In contrast with the surrounding desert, it was a shock to see.
That trip, the whole unit ministry team was going down to Camp Arifjan to participate in the re-enlistment of one of our chaplain assistants, who was committing herself for another six years of service in the Army. Her husband – a reservist who had been mobilized for this exercise – was also able to attend the reenlistment.
A few days earlier, when the “powers that be” in our unit gave the whole command post a half-day off (excepting essential people necessary to provide security and keep the generators and air conditioners running so our computers don’t melt down). Three of us from the ministry team went to Ali Al-Salim airfield to draw some new, fire-retardant uniforms which have become the standard for all Soldiers deploying to the Iraqi and Afghan theaters.
I like ‘em. The fire retardant uniforms are a little lighter, softer and cooler (just slightly) than the uniforms we’ve already received. They shrink, though. Fortunately, the people at the issue point KNOW this, and so they made us try on pre-shrunk uniforms to determine the correct size before issuing our non-pre-shrunk, new uniforms. We also got a new patrol cap, boonie cap (the one with the wide brim that goes all the way around it) and some other stuff.
The hats are made of the same fabric as the uniform shirts and trousers, so we also had to try on pre-shrunk hats – a first in my experience. J And the pre-shrunk hat that fit me best was the largest size hat I’ve ever had to wear – an 8. Usually I wear a 7 ½ or 7 5/8. The largest cap I’ve had to get was a 7 ¾ so that was a BIG change. I sent all the uniforms and the hats to the laundry, but I HOPE the hats will shrink a little more, because that patrol cap has not yet gotten down to the size of the one I tried on. It’s a little sloppy on me.
The guys who issued them say that if the hats don’t shrink as much as expected when you wash them as you’re supposed to – that is, in warm water – then wash them in hot, until you get the size you want. Sounds risky to me, but I guess they know what they’re talking about. If I make a mistake, and make the water too hot or soak the hat for too long, though, I won’t be able to wear it at all, and the Army definitely will say it’s my own fault so I have to buy myself a new one.
One nice think about this is that I don’t have to turn them in – unlike the uniforms I was issued for my deployment in 2005, so when my older uniforms start to wear out, I can use these rather than having to go right out and buy more.
Anyway, I’m nattering on about minutia, because nothing much is going on here that’s earthshaking, but I know that my friends and family like to hear from me and know that I’m OK while I’m away. Just remember, it’s only a training exercise, and it’s Kuwait, not Iraq. Nobody is shooting or blowing up American Soldiers around here… Which is fine with me. If I make it to retirement without getting a Purple Heart, my family and I will be quite content.
God bless and keep you all.
Fr. Jonathan Landon +
