Courage Without Fear

Bittersweet Memories

Today we said goodbye to Micah as he got onto the airport shuttle and headed for one of a few planes that will take him back to Kuwait.  With hugs, kisses and tears, we ended his 12 day R &  R.  During those 12 days, we were able to squeeze in quite a bit and make quite a few good memories.  But now we are left with just those memories, and pictures to remind us of them...these 12 days have been bittersweet for me.

We actually pulled off the surprise for the boys.  Cam is still too young to really understand it all, but Evan was literally shocked into silence when he saw Micah come off the plane.  All he could do was hold his hand to his mouth, smile and giggle...that was a priceless moment.  The rest of the time, Evan was by daddy's side helping him do all the little things that needed done around the house.  He also got a few special "Daddy/Evan trips", and each time he returned home with the biggest smile to tell me all about it.  Cam had special time with Micah as well and loved it, even though he can't vocalize it yet. 

But I could see it...the way the boys adore their father, the way they look up to him for guidance (even if just about what toy to buy at the zoo), the way his love and approval matters to them.  These are the memories I treasure most...just seeing "my boys" all together again.  So now, I deal with the heartbreak of having them apart one more time.  Evan has spent all day just playing with army trucks, helicopters and airplanes.  He doesn't talk much about it other than to say he misses daddy, but playing with things that remind him of daddy is his way of coping...mine is crying my eyes out like a big baby. 

Most people (especially my family) describe me as independent and stubborn...yet this is one time in my life I find myself vulnerable.  I wouldn't have traded anything in the world for the time we had to be a family again...to play, laugh and cry together again...but all of those memories make this time of seeing him leave a little bit harder.  Now my best friend, the one person I can talk to about anything must leave me again.  R & R truely was bittersweet.......

Ok, so I was going to post a few pics...can't get them to go on, so I'll have Micah post them later :)

Desert Nights, American Days

In the deserts of Kuwait and Southern Iraq, the nights come quick. It’s as if you can watch the sun go down in a mater of minutes. It’s a quiet peaceful time. There may be trucks in the motor pool prepping for missions, and the constant drone of the camp generators in the background, but while watching the sunset on the front porch of the Squadron headquarters, all is quiet. There’s a war going on, but not right there, not on my front porch.

 

When the night comes, the temperatures cool some, but not enough, at least not this time of year. Sometimes, when I can break from the Squadron Headquarters, the sounds of metal on metal and the glow of the maintenance tent draw me out to see the troops. Like the Cavalry of old, skilled tradesmen are working through the night to make sure our horses are properly shoed and feed. They must work swiftly and smartly as the night doesn’t last long. By 4:30 the sun is peaking the horizon and the heat of the day is not far behind.

 

Hopefully very soon thought I’ll be leaving my desert for a little bit. If all goes well tomorrow’s sunrise will be over the US. I’m heading home for my R&R Leave, Rest and Recuperation as they used to call it. Refit and Recovery in the new Army speak I suppose. Either way, it doesn’t matter. With the grace of God, a little luck from Boeing and a tailwind I’ll be back home with my wife and children in a day.

 

We haven’t told Evan that I’m coming home and Camden is too little to understand. For a long time I had said that I wasn’t going to come home for leave. I think I said something to the effect of “After the last tour I can do this one standing on my head.” Well, I can’t do headstands.  Even though I said I wouldn’t come home, I am. And I’m pretty excited about it, so is Beth. We didn’t tell Evan because we didn’t want to get his hopes up to have them dashed by me having to stay here for some reason. At first Beth was concerned that if I came home and then left again, Evan wouldn’t understand. But I think we’ll be alright. Evan’s pretty smart for his age. He knows that Daddy is a long way away helping people. He knows that’s what Army men do, help people and chase bad guys. He’s only 4 and he gets it. Too bad some other people still don’t.

 

If time allows, I’ll post while I’m home. We’ll see. I know from last time that even though I say I won’t, I’ll be watching the TV while home, looking for my Troopers and listening for anything to do with Soldiers from Michigan.  If all goes well, I’ll return to the desert in a few weeks and pick up where I left off. Watching the nights come quick and the days come quicker. But that’s okay. The quicker they come, the sooner we get to all go home.

 

CM, Micah

Happy Independence Day!

It's the 4th of July, which means parades, picnics and fireworks.  However, this morning I woke up (early with the kids as usual) and as I sat with my two boys I wondered how I could convey to a 4 yr old why we have a parade today.  He's a very smart boy and picks up on a lot of things, but Independence Day is still a hard one to describe to him.  So as I tried searching on the internet for stories, etc for young children on the topic, I realized that probably not too many adults actually take the time to understand this day either...for most, it is just a day off of work.  So today, I invite you to take a look at the Declaration of Independence:  http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/index.htm 

Now, I freely admit to my students (I'm a math teacher) that I HATED history in high school...and my husband, the history buff, knows I'm not big on it...but maybe that's because it never was "real" to me.  Now as an adult in the situation where everyone on the street thinks they can tell me their view on the war (which by the way, I don't want to hear...I have a hard enough time keeping my house running while my husband is gone) I think back to those days when our country was being established.  Now I can read the words of the Declaration of Independence and understand the feelings behind the words...these were real people, living real lives and they needed freedom.

So while you're out sporting your red, white and blue at a parade or barbeque, just take a minute to really appreciate your independence...despite what you think of the current war...you can always move to another country if you don't like this one :)

Happy Canada Day! Drink a beer cause I can't!

Happy Canada Day to all you Canucks and non-Canucks alike! Somebody do me a favor and have a beer for me since I can't. Hell, have 3; one for Canada, one for the Queen and one for the Cav!

For those of you who have no bloody clue what I'm talking about, go here. Or here.

Sand is an equalizer.

Sand is an equalizer. When there are storms, none of us can see. Good guys, bad guys and other guys.

The local peoples are used to the sand. It's part of them. Their clothing, their homes, their animals, their possessions are all "sand-proofed" in a way that makes it easier to deal with the sand storms. I hesitate to say "easier." But compared to us and all our technology, machinery and moisture-wicking-flame-resistant-high-speed-low-drag-clothing, the Kuwaitis and Iraqis have it easier when dealing with the weather.

We always worry that when we're not moving, troops aren't getting the supplies they need and the bad guys are getting time to plot against us. But no, not so much. Every FOB and Camp "Up North" has several days worth of supplies on hand. Everyone knows that, its how we do business. And the insurgents, they don't like going out in the storms any better than we do. I'm sure some go out, just like some of us do. For everything they do, we counter, successfully. And many of the things we do, they try to counter. But I think we stay ahead of them pretty well.

When I was in college working on my Criminal Justice degree, I had a professor who was a retired LA County Sheriff's Deputy. Professor James Rowell used to tell us that the bad guys (he called them 'scrot bags' by the way) could run, but they couldn't out run Motorola. Meaning when someone tried to flee, we could always call for help and coordinate a search using our police radios to eventually find the guy. We do that here now. Technology allows us to share a wealth of information with other units on the battle field, sometimes faster than we'd like. When the weather changes, we all know. When something bad happens somewhere, we all know. When we figure out a way to one up the bad guys, we share. Its that technology thing.

Professor Rowell used to tell us something else pretty important. If you can't deal with it ('It' being whatever it is you're doing) Mac Donalds is always hiring. Yes, he said Mac Donalds, not McDonalds. I'm pretty sure I don't have a future in the fast food industry. So I'm just going to deal with the sandstorms. Again. CM, Micah

Western Fire Season Heating Up More Than Just The Woods

Anyone who has watched any bit of national news over the last several days has viewed numerous stories about wildfires in California, and now New Mexico. While it's normal for fire season in the western states to start heating up this time of year, there are a few other things going on out there with the fires that isn't very normal.

While I try not to get into politics on my blog (in fact I avoid it liker the plague), I would like to point you to another website that can better explain whats going on. WildlandFire.com's Theysaid page is a place where Wildland Firefighters from across the country discuss issues affecting us and our profession.

For those of you who are concerned about how our National Forests, Parks, Rangelands and Wildland Urban Interface communities are managed and protected from wildland fire, I suggest you click on the link above. Use the search function of your browser, your your plain old Mk1 Eyeball to scan the posts for the topic of 14-hour days. You might be interested in how your tax dollars are being spent.

Thats all I have to say about that.

CM, Micah

Nighttime Rambling

We're soon hitting the 6 month mark for having Micah deployed...if you count the time he was gone working in Michigan, its been almost 9 months without him here.  Through that time, I've had many ups and downs but no time to write about them...being a full time high school teacher and trying to take care of 2 boys, 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 gerbils (until they recently died) left me no time for anything other than laundry and dishes just to survive.  I am now off for the summer and have a bit of time to write once in awhile.  Last night both the boys fell asleep relatively early and I had a chance to start writing thoughts.  I sent it to Micah and he thought I should post it....rambling, but still my thoughts for good or bad.  I'm sure more will come....

How can you describe what it is really like to have your husband deployed?  All I can say is that at times it is more difficult than a divorce or death, as I can imagine it to be.  I haven’t experienced death of a husband, or a divorce for that matter, but the difference I see with deployment is that in both of those cases, time heals the wounds.  With death or divorce, I see the chance to say something has ended and it is time to move on.  With deployment, there is no “end”…just a constant lingering in a state of waiting.  There is no moving on, as you know your husband will be returning.  You can’t just say its time to begin a life of your own without him, because you are still married…married yet not together sharing in each other’s lives.

My friend has remarked a few times about articles she has read regarding divorce rates among those deployed.  She seems surprised by the articles, but it isn’t so surprising to someone living through a deployment.  How do you really build a relationship through the little phone calls and emails?  Phone calls are killers too…you really want to talk to the person, to hear their voice just one more time…but then the letdown comes when you realize you don’t have much to say.  They can’t really talk about the mission (and I want it that way if it means he’s safe), and I can’t describe fully in words what is happening here.  I try my best to keep him up to date on what the kids are doing, how they are growing, etc. but it doesn’t mean much over the phone.  And how do I balance telling him all the cool things the boys can do without making him too sad because he can’t be here to witness it himself?  Ah…but back to the divorce rate…

As I see it, any marriage has ups and downs.  Every marriage takes work.  People change and grow but usually you are together to experience the life altering circumstances.  With deployment, both people are enduring physical and mental limits …but they are different physical and mental limits.  For the person overseas, it is dealing with the mission at hand, the things they see going on over there and mentally dealing with the fact that life at home goes on without them.  For the person back home, its being left with the responsibility of taking care of the house and kids on their own and mentally trying not to think about what “could” happen to the deployed person.  Again, a difference I see here between deployment and death or divorce is that if my husband died or we got a divorce, I would probably pick up my kids and move closer to family in order to receive help in getting through the situation.  With a deployment, I can’t just pick up and move…we have jobs and a house right here that will still be used when my husband returns. I must endure this as best I can until the time comes for him to come home. Don’t get me wrong, I have wonderful family and friends who help as much as possible.  Unfortunately, going through a deployment alters your life in such a way that you don’t even know what help to ask for….

Ok, so I’m rambling on with various thoughts…there is so much to address…the boys dealing (or not dealing well) with daddy being gone,  how to keep myself from going crazy, the various things that go wrong when your husband is deployed, and how you can pick up your relationship when he does return.  So many thoughts in my head and just not the words to explain them all…maybe I can write a few lines a day and somehow find a way to make it all make sense…

But for now, I head to bed early.  Both boys are asleep and I’m exhausted, mentally and physically, but mostly mentally.

I Can See Clearly Now The Sand is Gone....

 After almost a steady week of blinding sandstorms, the weather has finally quieted down here.

Sandstorms bring us all kinds of pain and misery.

First of all, they effect the mission. When the sandstorms are so bad that aircraft can't fly, the roads get shut down. Thats actually a good thing. The powers that be don't want us out running the roads unless they can get a MEDEVAC chopper or a couple APaches gun ships to us if we need them. So in a way, I'm okay with that.

On the other hand, it's frustrating as hell. When the roads aren's open, we can't do our job of escorting convoys. They troops get all geared up, inspect their convoys, prep their vehicles.....then sit and wait. Everyone knows hat the Army is all about hurry-up and wait. But it's still an ass kicker. What makes is worse is when it happens for days on end. One day of no movement due to sandstorms is bearable. But day after day is killer. It really saps alot out of the troops.

Besides the troops being frustrated about not moving, all the people pushing supplies up north get frustrated too. It takes lots of fuel, food and supplies to keep the war supplied. If the trucks hauling those fuel, food and supplies aren't moving, lots of people get real ancy. We plan for thing like this of course. It's not like Joe isn't going to eat if the trucks don't move North from Kuwait. But there are contracts to keep and timelines to meet. In the end, the weather gets better, trucks get moving and Joe gets his ice cream.

On a more personal level, I hate sand storms. I really hate them.

In order to really feel what a sandstorm is like, you need to do two things. First, point a hair dryer at your face and turn it on full blast. Keep it about 4 inches from your face. Next, have someone throw sand in your face. It's kind of like having your face exfoliated with a sandblasted. After walking in a sandstorm, you'll find sand in places you never knew you could get sand in.

And sand here isn't like your typical beach sand. Much of it is very fine. Almost like sugar. When the wind whips at your tent or building, the sugary sand seeps in through every crack and crevice. When I got back to my room yesterday it was as if I had a small snow drift of sand wrom the wind forceing it through the crack in my door. When your're driving down the road in a sandstorm, the wind pushes the sand across the pavement just like a snow storm back home in Michigan.

But it's sunny out today. Just a little haze on the horizon. Maybe it'll last for a few days before the next storm hits. CM, Micah

A Question About Calling Home

I recently fielded a question from a researcher concerning how Soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom call home. Below is the text from the request and my reply back. I thought some of you may be interested in what types of communication home we have from over here.

CM, Micah

   __________________________________________________________________

Mr Bell

I work as a researcher for the journalist Adam Hanft. He has asked me to look into the US policy on phone and Internet use by active military while stationed in Iraq for contacting family; Specifically if active duty members have to pay to use those services or if they are provided free of charge.

Thank you for your time.
Michael Kylis

__________________________________________________________________

Sir,

I can't tell you if the US military has an official policy regarding
phone and Internet use by members of the military stationed In Iraq
and Kuwait. For any official policies, you'll have to contact CENTCOM
(www.centcom.mil).

I can however, tell you about my personal experiences in using the
Internet and phone to call home.

On this tour, I am In Kuwait. The camp I am at has 2 AT&T call
centers. From those centers, service members can use a calling card to
reach home. On average, for what would be a 100 minute card in the
States, you get about 20 minutes.

Many of the permanent party service members on this camp live in what
are called RLBs. RLB stands for Re-Locatable Building. These RLBs are
hardwired for a locally contracted pay-as-you-go internet service. In
addition to the hardwiring, wi-fi service is available from the same
contractor in the area of the RLBs and the tents where the remainder
of our troops live. If soldiers so choose, they can pay to use this
internet service with their personal computers. (Please note,
government computers are not authorized for this.) This service
provides for soldiers to email, use chat programs or internet phone
services to contact loved ones from the comfort of their own living
area.

I personally use Skype as my internet phone service. For a very small
fee (I believe $0.02 a minute) I'm able to call my home phone from my
computer. Skype also has a free, computer to computer feature. My wife
finds it easier however for me to call her on the house phone so she's
not tied to the computer when I call.

There is a free internet cafe at my camp. There is usually a wait, and
the service isn't the fastest, but it meets the needs for basic
emailing back to the States. Another option for soldiers here is a pay
internet cafe. It has webcams and faster connections for those
soldiers without a personal computer or internet in their living area.
I have not personally used this internet cafe.

Many of us also have personal cell phones. My carrier is Watanyia.
Like the internet, it is pay as you go with scratch cards available in
different denominations. While I can call home directly from the cell
phone, it is quite pricey. Well over $1 a minute. My wife uses
international calling cards that she buys on the internet to call me
on my phone. I can also access an AT&T operator on my cell for a very
low per minute fee. This actually allows me th use an AT&T calling
card at face value to call home. This comes out to be a better deal
than using the AT&T card from the calling centers.

While deployed to Iraq in 2005 we had pretty much the same capacity to
contact home over the internet and by phone as we do here.

If you have any more questions, please fee free to ask.

Respectfully,

Micah Bell

A Day Late

It's a sad thing for me to say, but I didn't even realize that yesterday was the 64th Anniversary of D-Day. We've been socked in my sandstorms here in Kuwait, which made the last several days pretty interesting for me. Most days I do actually have to look at my watch to see what day/date it is.

There should be no excuses however. There are several dates that every American should just know:

• July 4, 1776  Independence Day
• November 11, 1918  Armistice Day  (the event it commemorates), or Veterans Day
• December 7, 1941  Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor
• June 6, 1944  D-Day, Invasion of Normandy
• September 11, 2001  Terrorist attacks on the United States

If any of those dates are new to you, then YOU FAIL. You are what we call a No-Go. You need to quit your job and go back to High School and re-take US and World History.

For those interested, the US Army has a wonderful website dedicated to D-Day. It can be found here: http://www.army.mil/d-day/  Be advised you do need a fast Internet connection to truly appreciate all of the website.

Also, one of my favorite comics, Red and Rover has been D-Day themed all week. You can see the start of the series here: http://www.arcamax.com/redandrover/s-355204-251946

CM, Micah

-- The defining characteristic of a warrior is his willingness to move to the sound of the guns and engage the enemy..

Memorial Day Memories

Once again I'm celebrating a Memorial Day from the desert. This marks the second time I've been in uniform, overseas for Memorial Day. Even though I hate to say it, I don't think it'll be my last. After 9/11/01 it's a different world we live in.

Memorial Day was originally celebrated as Decoration Day following the Civil War. It was a time to decorate the graves of our Civil War dead. For many, this day of remembrance has merely become a reason for a 3 day weekend. For many of ushowever, its a time to reflect on those we've lost in the wars our country has fought and in the tragedies that have befallen our great nation.

Since 2005 I've worn a POW bracelet on my right wrist for SGT Keith "Matt" Maupin. Matt's convoy was attacked in April 2004 near Baghdad Iraq. As many of you know, Matt's remains were discovered this past March northwest of Baghdad. I'm going to keep this bracelet.

In August 2005 my wife's father Don passed away. Don was a 40 year veteran of the Indiana National Guard. He worked full-time at the armory in their hometown of Logansport, Indiana. Everyone in town knew Don. When I deployed to Iraq the first time, Don started wearing an 'I Support the National Guard' bracelet. When he passed away, Beth gave me that bracelet. I keep it with me here now.

Many of my soldiers here on this tour wear bracelets etched with the name of a soldier. Many of them personally knew the Soldier  whose name is engraved on that piece of metal. They were friends, comrades, Brothers. Even after they leave the service and continue their lives without the Army, they'll keep those bracelets.

As the years pass, and time marches on, we all continue to carry the memories of those we've lost. No matter the connection we had to those people. Whether a Brother in Arms, or a stranger from a war long ago, we remember someone, in some way.

This Memorial Day, I want you to enjoy the time you have with your families. Go outside, take the kids to a parade, have a cook-out. But please do one thing for me. Remember those who have gone before us.

Kuwait In The Moonlight, Kind Of

So it's been awhile since I've posted again. But things are settling down here and I'm slowly but surely finding my own battle rhythm and time for me. (Which means I should be posting more.)

I'm working a little later schedule here now. Most of us are as we get closer to summer and the days get hotter and hotter. Night operations are better for us all the way around. Its easier on the equipment as well as the solders. Besides, we're the the Cavalry, we OWN the night. Especially when I'm wearing a camouflage uniform and a bright green reflective belt.

The last couple weeks have been pretty hectic. On the 12th of May we had a ceremony officially transferring the mission we're on from the 1st Battalion 160th Infantry to my unit, 1st Squadron 126th Cavalry. There were not a lot of Soldiers at the ceremony, most of the unit was on the road protecting convoys, or at least getting ready to head out. There wasn't much fan fair or hoopla either. The Chaplain said a prayer, the California soldiers lowered their state flag, then we raised our Michigan and Ohio flags. In normal Cav fashion Stetsons and Spurs we worn for the event. Of course that meant a good bit of picture taking and posing. There were smiles all around. After all, this was the moment we'd been prepping for for the last year and a half. Now we're here and finally on the mission. Just us, no other unit. Finally. Now for the easy part, counting down until the new guys get here.

Working a later shift has taken a bit to get used to. Instead of running out of hot water in the showers, there is no cold water (the water tanks outside have been heated by the sun by then). I have my first coffee of the day just before lunch. Breakfast is lunch, but there is no cereal or bacon, unless you want bacon on your cheeseburger. On a plus side, when I get to the gym late at night, it's basically empty and I can use whatever machines I want to without having to wait. That helps make up for those bacon cheese burgers. :)

CM,
Micah

Rucksacks, Rugs and Rain

So I haven't exactly been blogging much over the past month if you can’t tell. That's because I've been here in Kuwait for exactly one  month busting my butt learning my, and my units new job.

Shortly after my last post, myself and about 50 of my fellow cavalrymen  boarded a charter jet at Ft Hood to fly to Kuwait. Along with about 200  other soldiers from the 37th Brigade Combat Team, we were the Advanced  Party for our unit. Our job was to get to Kuwait, tie in with the unit  we're replacing and set the conditions for success for the main body of the Brigade as they followed up 10 days later.

Life here in Kuwait over the last month has been interesting. On my  first day here the thermometer reached 112 degrees, in March. Ouch. One of the first things I did as soon as I got settled into my own  quarters (3 of us Captains shared a room for 2 weeks) was to go buy  some rugs to liven the place up. Really all they do is serve as a  dust/dirt collectors. An interesting fact about life here, no vacuums.  I haven't seen one yet. Except for the one in the motor pool for  cleaning out the trucks. But something tells me that one isn't used much.

So we had about 10 days here before the other 500 some odd people in  our unit caught up to us. Honestly, it was kind of nice having the  place to ourselves. But its nice having the rest of the unit here too.  (It also means we're that much closer to going home).

One of the things I did before the rest of the unit got here, was go on  a convoy up into Iraq. You might think that's not a very safe thing to  do since I'm living life down here in nice cozy Kuwait. But you're  wrong. It's the right thing to do. oh, maybe I haven't put this out  there yet, my soldiers will be escorting convoys into Iraq. So that's  why I went. So i could see the dangers they'd be facing. That's what  leaders do. It's a military thing.

I'm gonna apologize now. This post is skipping all over the place. I've  had lots of thoughts in my head over the last month. Many of which  don't really go together well.

There is one truism about when Army unit pick up and move somewhere. Somebody is going to loose their rucksack. I don''t care how well marked  it is. It'll get tossed into the wrong truck, the tag will come off or  some Private will carry it off because he thought it was his. Hey, they  are all camouflaged you know.

So we've had a crap-ton of sandstorms while I've been here. It's been  really bad. The unit we're replacing (1st battalion 160th Infantry from  the CA National Guard) said they never had sandstorms this bad until we  got here. Hell, last week it even rained on us. The 1-160th guys said  it hadn't really done that while they were here either. Looks like this  could be a fun tour.

One of my fellow Officers is blogging now too. Read here ( http://networker2000.blogspot.com/ ) on what its like to be a Second Lieutenant in the Army. This site also gives you a good idea of what it takes to make new Lieutenants in the Army today. And he posts more often than me.

CM, Micah

Unexpected help at Home

Below is the text of an email I recently sent to my church Pastor. It pretty much speaks for itself.

For just about a year, Beth, the boys and I have been regular attenders at the Duneland Community Church in Chesteron, Indiana (www.dunelandchurch.org). The church services are very contemporary and we've really enjoyed being part of the church family there.

Last fall, Beth joined a bible study called SisterChicks. Made up mostly of women our age, many with kids of similar ages to our own, the SisterChicks have become a great support group for Beth. This is just one more example of that.

"Pastor Neil, please feel free to share this email with the Church.

As many of you know, Beth and my 2 boys were recently able to come down to Texas and spend 4 days with me before I head overseas. They were accompanied by my Father and Beth's brother.

We were able to spend 4 wonderful days together while staying with my Dad's sister and her husband in Dallas. We went to the Dallas Zoo, did some shopping (mostly getting stuff for the boys as usual) and had a wonderful night out for my birthday.

On the evening of our 4th and final day together, we all piled into my Aunt's SUV and headed back to Fort Hood for another set of Good-Byes. After showing Evan some "Army trucks" and "real Army men", I was dropped off at my barracks where we hugged, laughed and cried.

After saying our good byes, my Dad drove everyone the 2 1/2 hours back to Dallas so they could get ready to fly back today (Saturday). After a nice easy flight home, my family arrived back at out house to find a few things moved in the yard.

When Beth opened the door and turned the lights on, she found that the Sisterchicks has descended upon our home. According to Beth, the Sisterchicks did 10 loads of laundry, cleaned everything in the house and even stocked the freezer with 10 days worth of dinners from Pompalanos.

Never in my life have I felt like I do now. I am so thankful for DCC and especially to the Sisterchicks for all the support they have given to Beth and the boys in my absence. They have helped with everything from checking on our cats while we were gone (which is how the Sisterchicks got into the house this week) to helping out when Beth had to take the boys to the Dr/hospital, to just being there when Beth needed someone to talk with.

In a very short period of time, I'll be leaving Fort Hood for Kuwait. From a base in Kuwait, the roughly 600 soldiers in my unit will be escorting convoys of food, fuel, parts, and equipment north into Iraq. It's great to know that while I'm deployed forward looking out for my troops and keeping them safe, that DCC and the Sisterchicks are looking out for my family back home. You don't know how much that means to me and what kind of weight it helps to lift from my shoulders.

I'll try to email as often as I can. I would have contacted you before now, but the pace of the training here any my hours spent working have limited my opportunities to email many people. As I get overseas and we begin our regular routine, I should be able to email more. Hopefully I 'll also be updating my weblog more often too. You can follow the story of myself and my soldiers here at www.couragewithoutfear.typepad.com

Thank you for everything, Micah"

For any of the Duneland Church reading this; Thank You.

Micah

1 Down, 11 to Go

Today marks one month since the 1^st Squadron, 126^th US Cavalry entered Active Duty in support of the Global War on Terror. Only 11 more months to go.

Unlike my last tour in 2005, I’ll only be on Title 10 (Active Federal Service) for about a year total. Last time, I was in Iraq for a year, proceeded my 2 months of train-up at Fort Dix NJ and a month of prep time in Grand Rapids before that.

Also unlike my last tour, this time it’s my entire unit going to war, not just a small portion of it. On this tour I’m accompanied by 349 other Cavalrymen and 600 Infantrymen all from Michigan. We’re deployed with 1500 other National Guardsmen from Ohio. Together we all make up the 37^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

We’re deployed to Fort Hood Texas. Here were training on individual and collective (unit level) skills to prepare us for combat operations in Kuwait and Iraq.

Within days or arriving, we were lined up like Texas Longhorn cattle, processing our paperwork, having our medical records checked and getting the obligatory shots. This time around I was lucky and only had to get the first shot in a series for the Anthrax vaccine. Most of the unit had to also update their shots for going overseas. This included the Small Pox vaccination for a large majority. Luckily I didn’t have to go through the pain, discomfort and nastiness brought on by that particular vaccine since I did it last time.

Another big difference for me between this deployment and my last one is my family situation. Instead of finding out that I was going to be deploying with just a few months notice, we had 8 months to get ready for me being gone. If you were to talk to my wife Beth, she’d probably tell you that no amount of time is long enough to prepare to be apart like this.

This deployment is very different for Beth too. Last time I deployed, my son Evan was barely 9 months old. He was almost 2 when I returned. When I come back this time he’ll be almost 5. I left Beth to watch over Evan and his little brother Camden too. Camden, Cam for short, turned 9 months old last November while I was in Grand Rapids preparing the unit to deploy. He’ll be almost 2 when I return. I guess some things are more similar that I’d like them to be. Luckily Beth has a great family and support structure through our Church (Duneland Community Church) to help her through. Honestly, if our roles were reversed and she was deploying, I don't think I could do what she does. She's a strong woman. I love you Beth.

There is one thing this time that is very similar to my last deployment. I’m going to come home safe to my wife, children and family. Of this, I have no doubt. And while I’m gone, I’ll think about them every minute of every day.

Micah

ps; I know it's been some time since my last post. Hopefully it won't be that long again until my next one. I'll do my best to keep regular updates coming on this blog. At a minimum I'll post pictures here, on my Picasa web page.

Bloodletting...Cavalry Style

A few weeks ago I attended a Combat Lifesaver class for my Guard Unit. Combat Lifesaver (CLS) is like the First Responder of the US Army. Taught to do initial patient assessments, stop major bleeding and restart breathing, the CLS s the first first link in the chain if survival for Soldiers wounded on the battlefield.

Unlike civilian First Responders, Combat Lifesavers are taught how to start IVs. This skill is essential to replace blood lost on the battlefield. Hemmorage (bleeding out) is the highest (perentage wise) killer of troops in the field.

As part of the CLS class, students must succeslly start IVs on each other. I learned how to do this in Paramedic school years ago. I was taught to start an IV in the back of a moving ambulance without getting a drop of blood on the floor of the truck. CLS students on the other hand are taught to let it bleed once you get the needle in. Blood running out of the needle is a sure sign, even in the dark, that you stuck the needle far enough into the vein can attach the IV bag to it and successfully administer lifesaving fluids.

This video shows one of my soldiers (and fellow Spur Holders) successfully startin an IV on me, and squirting MY BLOOD all over the place. At lest I was smiling.

C/M,

Micah

Another Soldier lost

I just learned of a soldier with ties to my hometown who died in Iraq. Although he joined the army 13 years after I did and served in a different unit at a different time, I still knew him like all Soldiers know each other.

The following comes from the Cadilac News.

Cadillac soldier killed in action

Cadillac News

A 22-year-old man with Cadillac ties died Tuesday in Iraq after being wounded during an enemy attack.

The U.S. Department of Defense said Private First Class Casey P. Mason was killed in action in Mosul, which is Iraq’s second largest city and located north of Baghdad.

The Mason family has requested privacy at this time, according to Mason’s Hawaii-based unit.

Mason grew up in Lake and graduated from Farwell High School in 2003. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in October 2006. He was a military police officer assigned to the 728th Military Police Battalion based out of Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Mason was assigned to the unit in April 2007 and deployed to Iraq in September.

Sgt. 1st Class David Gillespie said his place of residence is listed as Lake. After enlisting in the military, Mason’s parents moved to Cadillac, ¨ Gillespie said.

Mason’s unit plans to hold a memorial service next week at the barracks. His family and friends remain foremost in the thoughts and prayers of the command, Gillespie said.

Veteran's Day 2007 - Continuing the Road to War

This Veteran's Day I woke up to the sounds of Soldiers doing PT and others shuffling down the hall to find coffee. This Sunday is special, but at the same time it's the same as so many other Sunday's I've had on Drill weekends before.

Sunday means finishing up all the training you did for the weekend, finding those 2 Privates still needing to complete those training tasks from the day before, getting all your training documentation together for the Training NCO, confirming the times and dates for the next drill and cleaning up the Armory so we can go home early enough to catch the end of the football games at home.

But this Sunday is special. It's the 11th Day of the 11th Month, Armistice Day, Veteran's Day. And it's only a couple more months until we Deploy.

This Sunday is special. At the end of the day we're going to send our Troopers home and tell them to enjoy Thanksgiving with their families for most of them won't be home for the next one. We're going to send them home and remind them to bring all of their equipment in next month, so we can pack it away for transport to out mobilization station. We're going to tell them to be careful and enjoy the holidays, but don't do anything stupid, we can't afford anyone to get hurt and not deploy. We're going to ask them who is bringing their spouse/girlfriend to the Christmas Party in December. We're going to ask them to remember about Operational Security and not talk specific details about our upcoming deployment. We're going to tell them to go home and enjoy their families. Me, I'm going to the VFW after drill and having a drink.

Holy @#$%! We're going back to Iraq.

So for those of you who don't know, I'm going back to Iraq, just in case you're wondering.

Since I last posted (sorry it's been since Veteran's Day) my unit has recieved our Mobilization Orders which actually tell us to get to the Mobilization Station and prepare for the desert. In a previous post I told you that the Secretary of Defense signed our Alert ORders (the hey get ready orders) in April.

We're about to conduct our third Annual Training period since June. We did 2 weeks in June, 2 weeks in August and are about to do another 2 weeks in October. In between those annual training periods we've done 4 day drills instead of our usual 2 days. For those of you who don't know, that's a ton of training that costs a bunch of money. But when it's time to get out on the dance floor, you don't skimp on your outfit if you know what I mean.

That's one sure sign in the Army. When "they" start increasing your trainng tempo and throwing new gear at you and your unit, it usually means something. But that's actually a good thing. This time around we're doing much more training before the Mob Station and getting a bunch of equipment that we never got on my last deployment. But part of that is because my whole Brigade (about 3500 soldiers) is deploying instead of just a small 150 man company.

Since my last post, a few rather good things have happened to me. First, I was promoted to Captain in June. It was a very proud moment for me to stand infront of our entire Squadron and have LTC Barrett pin those Captain bars on my Stetson with my wife and son by my side. My parents were also there which made it that much better.  Photos of my promotion can be found here on our PicasaWeb page.

The second awesome thing to happen was myself and 34 of my fellow Cavalry Troopers  earning our Spurs during a traditional Cavalry Spur Ride during our August Annual Training. Spurs are a part of Cavalry tradition as much as Stetson's are. But unlike the Stetson, Spur's must be earned during a mental and physical exam called a Spur Ride.

For more on what a Spur Ride is, check out this entry on Wikipedia.

And to top everything off, I just realized that this is makes 100 posts on my blog! Yippee. And since I started this little experiment in Janyary of 2005,  my blog has been viewed 33,521 times for an average of 34.92 times per day. I'd say taht's pretty damn good.

Well, hopefully it won't bee so long until my next post. Since we're getting closer to deployment, I should be posting fairly regular again as to what we're up to, at least as much as I can.

Take care, MB.

Memorial Day

I don't know what it is about Memorial Day. Oh wait, yes I do, it's the beginning of summer. People always seem to remember that and forget the part about remembering our veterans.

While making my semi-regular trip to Dunkin Donuts this morning, I happened to pass 2 fire stations, a police station, two McDonalds, a Speedway gas station, several churches and dozens of private homes. Out of all of them, do you know which one's actually remembered to lower their flags to half-mast to remember the veterans? The two McDonald's restaurants had their flags at half mast.

As I passed my local fire department, a nice big new station that the volunteers are very proud of, their flag was all the way up. I called them on my cell ( I used the speaker phone, its okay) and told them I was kind of disappointed hat there flag wasn't half way down for Memorial Day. They said they'd fix it right away.

When I stopped at the Speedway, the woman gave me a blank stare when I asked her about their flag. I think she'd never heard of it before. She was in her 50s. A voice from the back piped in, "It needs to be lowered today?"

    "Yep, It's Memorial Day. It's been that way for awhile now," I said while trying not to make them feel too bad. "It's nothing new" I thought as I walked out to continue my donut quest.

Next to the Dunkin Donuts is the Portage Indiana City Hall. It also houses one of Portage's 3 full-time fire stations. Their flag was all the way up. As was the Portage Police Department's flag across the street. Again, disappointing. But the McDonald's two doors down had their flag at half mast.

On the way home, I drove past the local fire department again, they corrected their mistake.

At home in Cadillac, I'm sure my Dad went out his morning and lowered the American Flag in our front yard. And dutifully at noon, I'm sure he'll go out and raise it again like he's supposed to.

At least my Dad and McDonalds know what Memorial Day means. I hope you all do too. As for me, I'll be putting on my uniform and taking Evan to the Memorial Day services at my VFW Post at 11 this morning.

Micah

The US Flag Code can be found here on my VFW's website: http://www.vfw2511.org/flag_code.htm