Henry's Web Log

We’ve stopped at Camp Buehring, Kuwait for just a few training classes before joining the 287th. I think the best way to relate my experience is from a few photos I’ve snapped.

First, there was the ride in. For safety, we travel with the bus curtains closed…but we peaked and at one point saw a field of camels.



The accommodations for those of us here passing through are just two-wall tents. Note the dust! Male and Female shower houses are on the Left. We’re allowed 15 gallons of shower water daily, which has to be trucked in. Power generators are everywhere.



Inside, we’ve got 12 of us in a 20’ x 40’ area. There’s actually 14 cots in here, and there are plywood floorboards as well as a central air duct that cools during the day, heats at night via an outside compressor/exchanger.



Here’s me coming back from breakfast this morning. We were at about 40 degrees as the sun came up at 6am, but a comfortable 75 or so by noon.


The meals are served in 3 dining facilities (DFACs). This one is the Kuwaiti DFAC…with marble floors and a very nice fountain in the middle. Note the picture on the wall. They decorated the whole thing with lots of Christmas ribbons and banners. I enjoyed a beef Gyro and large salad for lunch yesterday.


I explored the amenities last night and found the USO- plenty of TV’s, movies, and video games. One room even had a setup for soldiers to play Rock Band on the PS3! I found the gym, with lots of great equipment, including a treadwall. Yes, it’s a treadmill-climbing-wall all in one. Pretty cool!



This morning I explored the theater and main shopping area. Using a feature of my digital camera, I shot a panorama and stitched it together. This one is only 1/20th the size of the whole. Note the Baskin Robins and Christmas tree!
Panorama

Finally, here’s a shot of the 3 IRR Majors: Michael “Riz” Rizzo, myself, and Thomas “Mark” Jadrich.

We touched down in Kuwait City, Kuwait and were off the plane by 7am. An hour later, we were headed North. It's now 3pm Saturday (7am back in Virginia). We've been assigned a tent, dropped our stuff, and set out to explore. MWR has internet spots for 30 minutes at a whack, so here I am!

It started off this morning about 35 degrees as we exited the plane, but we're around 80 right now. Like a summer day in the Virginia Blue Ridge.

There's a lot of sand here. We agree that someone should plant a tree...

Well, we're still in Fort Lewis. The Seattle region has received a week of record lows-- mid 20's, and with only an inch of snow on the ground, the military post and Air Force base are both nearly shut down.
Surprisingly for this Virginia mountain boy, the Northwest-most state in the continental US spends most of its winter around the 40 degree mark. The "pineapple express" Pacific ocean currents keep the temperatures warm near the coast. I haven't even seen any salt on the roads-- meaning it isn't worth the cost to have salt/snow removal vehicles for how rare this is.
The impact on us is that our B, C and D bags are long gone. Our "A" bags were loaded & sealed on a truck yesterday morning, and we're living out of our carry-on. So the packing list and planning pays off, because members of the other unit that's going with us are running to the PX to buy toothbrushes, underwear, shampoo, etc.
So we're hanging out, waiting for the word to go. In the mean time, we've at least got the computer lab two blocks from our off & on barracks. I was able to write a little code to help my blog here: apparantly, some dispicable characters are trying to steal my Google juice by spamming me with comments for pharmaceutical products and fake watches. No more. Comments require approval now. Furthermore, until the 100 posts per night die off (really!), I've disabled commenting. If you'd like me to open any of these blog posts for comments, just email your thoughts to me and I'll post it right away.
It's not like I'm turning away legitimate comments, though. With over 45 posts, there are only 6 relevant comments!
Seattle Times reports record weather: As temperatures dropped this week, electricity use spiked as residents crank up their heaters and other appliances work harder. Puget Sound Energy said Tuesday that its peak electricity load Monday night broke a record set in 1998, and natural-gas use broke a record set in 2006.

Because I couldn't find an IRR packing list when I was called to active duty, I gathered input from friends who have deployed and combined it with my own need for serious computational support.
The result is an Excel Spreadsheet of my inventory that might be useful to other deploying Individual Ready Reserve soldiers, or just the curious.
Special circumstances: note that the bags would be reprioritized if we were deploying in the warm/hot months, versus the current winter months. I needed all my layers with me, so that took extra space in the "A" bag.
Also, per our orders, we are allowed 3 checked bags, plus a carry-on. PLUS an additional checked bag if we have received the Rapid Fielding Initiative (RFI) equipment, which I have.
For us, though, we're only allowed ONE checked bag on the plane, plus a small carry-on. Why? We're an IBU--Itty Bitty Unit, and we'll be crammed in a plane with two other units. No empty seats. So we have to reduce our checked baggage. Furthermore, we'll step on a scale with everything for the plane, and we must be under 400 pounds. That means the "A" bag and carry-on better have almost everything needed for 2 weeks, while "B", "C", and "D" were palletized and shipped four days ago. I hope to see them again!
So you see, this list serves a dual purpose: telling others what to pack, as well as the inventory list when I have to file a lost baggage claim.

IRR Deployment from Ft Lewis Packing List in PDF
IRR Deployment from Ft Lewis Inventory in Excel
The 115lb "A" bag:

That's the problem with a software developer/manager: EVERYTHING IS "A" PRIORITY!!!

Saturday was ACI's annual Christmas party. The first one I've missed. Lots of things I've missed for the first time: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and soon Christmas after 20 years of marriage and 12 years of operating ACI. On the other hand, ACI is doing VERY well without me, and our marriage is super-strong. I'm enjoying staying in touch with folks, and the opportunity to serve my country. So many Army buddies have already been deployed 3 or more times!

I do want to take this opportunity to praise my coworkers at ACI (that's everyone!) for doing great in both October and November. We have a monthly open-book financial review, and for the first time, we made a profit in the month of November. Normally, with vacation/holiday, November winds up with a small loss. Plus there's usually not a lot of MatWeb Advertising renewals because customers' budgetss are waiting for the new year. Dale and Laureen overcame those obstacles and continue to do great things. Zero3 supermarket refrigeration controls is on the verge of making some big steps, so the business is going great...wish you were here!, or I was there.