Journal 9/15/05-9/17/05

2137 hrs

FOB War Eagle

Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin

The morning started with getting our Small Pox shot “read”. It’s been 8 days since the shot was administered and it has since grown into a ½ inch puss filled circle on my forearm. This, apparently, is normal. A doctor takes off your bandage, looks at it, tells you that you’re now immune to Small Pox, and warns you of it’s still contagious value. We now have to change the band-aid on it every day until it forms a black scab and falls off. Yuk! It’s the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever had. It itches. It’s swollen and red several inches around the bubble. It makes my shoulder ache and causes swelling in my Lymph Nodes as well. I can’t wait till this month is over.

After returning we finally started our training for the mock war they have set up at FOB War Eagle, Ft McCoy Wisconsin. The morning consisted of crawling around, rushing, dropping, and taking cover in our 40 lbs of gear. This evening we spent time at each major section of the operation: medical response team, quick reaction force, guard duty, gate security, and searching vehicles and people. This is where all the “fun” will begin. For the next couple of days, my company will be in fire fights, handling situations like unexploded devices, pulling injured soldiers from the battlefield, and communicating with Iraqi civilians (hostile and friendly). This is what we’ve been waiting for all week.

There’s word that once we complete the force protection training, we’ll be heading to another FOB called Anderson. Here we will train for convoy operations…learning how to dismount from a vehicle that is taking fire, etc. This camp is for approximately 10 days. We’ll see how many times that’ll change, knowing the Army.

Today may be the most exhausting day yet. The combination of weight and movement has made my body cry for relief. Most everyone has been struggling to keep the energy level high. Overall, moral is still quite good considering our location and the tasks set out before us.

The weather here has dropped dramatically. While still fairly high during the day (85 degrees), the nights have been overcome with an incredible chill. Last night I resorted to sleeping with the next days uniform in my sleeping bag with me! In the morning I took 5 minutes after my alarm went off and bear hugged it in my bag to make it all toasty for when I jumped into the thick, icy air. And it worked!

Tomorrow is another big day for us. We’ll start the morning with a run at 0715. Showers back at the barracks. Pick up laundry. And then prepare for the evenings war games. They are scheduled to last from 1400-2200. I can only imagine what I’ll be expected to do.

My stomach pains went in and out all day long. Mostly out. I can only assume it started from either stress or the food. Or perhaps both. I think it also may have been due to lack of stimulation. The last 5 days have felt like everyone is struggling to keep busy. This in turn makes minds turn and worry and causes undue tension. I think that now that we’re getting involved in a larger operation, our bodies and minds will be occupied to the point that it’s the only thing we’ll be concentrating on. Just a quick word on the stress issue. I don’t feel stressed in the sense that I’m overwhelmed by the present, past, or future. I’m stressed about not having any personal space. I’m stressed out that I’m not playing guitar or writing any songs. I have no creative outlet here (except this journal which is censored beyond belief so it does not constitute as creative to me). Until I remedy these things to some degree, I do believe I’ll have anguish either physically or mentally. And I don’t see a solution in the near future.

September 16, 2005

2214 hrs

FOB War Eagle

Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin

Finally we’ve begun playing the “game” full speed. Being a radio operator, I worked in the Tactical Operations Center (TOC) which is just a room in a trailer gathering information of what’s going on outside. Plus: I get to sit in air conditioning. Minus: Every time I heard weapons fire outside, it took everything within me to stay in my seat. All I wanted to do was get outside to help.

Rewind. The day began with a 5 mile run. It was an extremely slow pace and was designed to be motivational for the company. Instead, we ended up running late and we had to rush through showers and lunch in order to make our start time for the exercise today. This morning was the lowest morale I’ve seen the company in since we’ve been at Ft. McCoy. Everyone was hot, tired, and sore from the past few days. And the prospect of pushing our bodies even further this afternoon/night was enough to make even the most fit person curse.

It’s hard to describe the “war game” we just went through. They threw a bunch of different scenarios at us. There were people designated as guards in towers and fighting positions surrounding our area. There was a group who strictly responded to medical emergencies. There was a group who searched the area for unexploded devices. And another group who was deployed as a reactionary force in case the base was being attacked. Everything that was happening with these different groups was sent up and coordinated through the TOC, which is where I worked.

Tonight there were drive by shootings, cautionary notes left at the front gate written in Arabic, Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) in the back of van’s, bombings, and random small weapons fire. Quite exciting. And tonight they went easy on us since it was our first night of “real” action.

Tomorrow I’ll spend half of the 1200-2200 shift on the line, and the other half back in the TOC. OP4 should be even more intense now that we have a better idea of how things should operate.

The powers that be have decided to give us a late formation time tomorrow, 0900. On one condition though. Every single person must sign in at breakfast which is served from 0600-0730. I think I’ll sleep until 0700, sign in, get some OJ, and go back to sleep. We all need it today.

September 17, 2005

2255 hrs

FOB War Eagle

Ft. McCoy, Wisconsin

Today was a near mirror of yesterday’s “war games”. Our company seems to be coming together quite well as a team. As for me, no more stomach pains. I think I let myself get stressed out when there isn’t enough to keep my mind occupied. With as much activity going on these last 2 days, I haven’t had time to think about anything else. We are scheduled for one more day.

I had a few hours working a security position today. I was hoping to be able to fire my weapon… seeing as how I’ve never fired an M4 before. They placed me as a rear guard at the civilian entry control point. I could pretty much see everything going on at the gate (Iraqi’s coming in, getting searched, vehicles driving by, etc…) but I was too far to actually make contact with anyone. So when there was a fire fight, I could do little but guard my entry point. Ugh. I guess no firing for me. I suppose that’s all for the better. Perhaps a sign that I wasn’t meant to be a killer anyways. I’ll be more than happy to run the radio’s next to the commander.

Another “late” morning for us tomorrow. 0800 formation (after the mandatory breakfast sign in by 0730 of course). Then we’ve been given the treat of a shower back at the barracks! Yippee! After that will be church time for those who would like to go and weapons cleaning until we start the game again.

Just a mention about time. Apparently, here time stops still. I can’t seem to comprehend that we’ve only been here for 17 days. Just here at the FOB has felt like 3 weeks. It’s going amazingly slow. And apparently, there’s no quick end in sight. I never thought I’d say this but I want more than anything right now than to go to Iraq. Because once we get over there, day 1 will start and we‘ll be closer to going home. We’re in negative time right now…a warp of some kind. It’s dreadfully painful.