There And Back Again -a beavers tale

some pictures

2009-06-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

a view from the helicopter:

a picture of the sandstorm that stranded
us on the command outpost near the syrian border right before it smashed into us:

and a picture from the right side:

this was the wheel chair that the aid station had:

another picture taken inside the helicopter. the guy was manning a 50 calibur machine gun:

so i made it back to al asad safely.

oh one more thing, if anyone is curious here is my mailing address:

kevin beavers
3/3 H&S Co
Unit 44075
FPO AP 96607-4075

-- posted from my iphone

inspections

2009-06-16T06:58:00.000-07:00

a lot has happened since my last post... the unit i'm with is actually spread over several different bases. i'm on the base which is considered the headquarters, and we have been making our way to the other bases to perform inspections to make sure they have everything set up right. i've been on two of those inspection teams i'm actually inspecting another base right now. they had to fly us over here yesterday. so in one day i flew in an airplane and a helicopter (only the second time i've gotten to fly in a helicopter). it was a lot better than driving! that's how i got to the base to inspect the first time, by convoy. that was much much worse.

we were supposed to fly back tomorrow, but as i write this i'm hearing thunder outside. and now rain! this is the first time it's rained since i've been here. and they're saying that a really bad sandstorm is about to hit and all this is going to continue until tomorrow, so in other words i'm going to be stuck here at least until friday. i won't be able to post any pictures until i get back, but i took some pictures with my iphone from the inside of the helicopter. so hopefully i'll be able to upload them this weekend.

no more living in a tent, but dust storms rage on

2009-04-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

nandu lost his internet! we don't know why. it's a mystery. but for now, that means no more iphone posts... i still don't have a laptop out here, so until i get one it's going to be tricky to upload photos or videos. but i'll find a way.

so i'm not working at the detention facility. there are only 3 of us not working there and i'm one of them. actually they have me doing the exact same job i was doing the last time i was in iraq. which is managing the maintenance of every piece of gear, every radio, gun, truck, special force equipment, even printers. this is actually a pretty complex job, but it's what i did during my first 4 years, and it's what i know, so i'm fine with it. there's basically two main things i'm concerned with regarding maintenance management, and that is 1: make sure all orders pertinent to maintenance are being followed, and 2: make sure those above me (my battalion commander, the company commanders, the maintenance management chiefs on the regimental level and higher) understand what is being done. in other words, i brief them on the combat readiness of their battalion.

also, i am finally moving out of the tent today and into a "can"! a can is just a box with barely enough room for two small beds. yes i will have a roommate, but it's better than living with about 50 roommates in a giant tent on a cot like i've been doing for that past 3 weeks or so.

oh and the sandstorms have been insane. dust storms actually. i've never seen anything like it. there will be so much dust in the air sometimes that we can only see about 15 or 20 feet in front of us. and it gets in your eyes and nose. eyes are the worst, because the wind is blasting it into me.

a post concert pic

2009-04-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

oh and here's a picture of me and nandu and degenfelder after we made it back to nandu's office. it was so insanely dusty outside that i didn't even know where i was going. i don't even know how we made it back. that's nandu in the middle and degenfelder is a guy nandu works with-he's on the right. i'm on the left with the glasses :)

charlie daniels

2009-04-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

i just got back from a charlie daniels concert. it was cool to see him because when i was in kuwait back in april of 2006 he played for the troops right after i left, and i always wishes i could have seen him. however, right when he started playing dust storm so horrible i could barely see the stage started raging. it was out of control. i am completely covered in dust right now, and the had to cut the concert short. but not before playing "devil came down to georgia! here's a picture from the stands where i was sitting:

-- posted from my iphone

first post from iraq

2009-04-09T01:19:00.000-07:00

i've been in al-asad, iraq for a few days now. my friend nandu is here so i've been hanging out with him, and he's been showing me around. the travel from california to iraq was insane. it was the worst travel experience of my life. planes and buses for three days. that's all i'll say about that.

nandu has free internet access, so i bought a wireless router so that i can use my iphone.

here's a picture i took this morning when we were firing our rifles to make sure our sights are set right:

here's a picture i took from inside the plane that took us from kuwait to iraq:

-- posted from my iphone

finally leaving

2009-04-03T19:57:00.000-07:00

i'm typing this on my iphone from the airplane that will take me to kuwait, where i'll be for a few days or so waiting to go over to iraq.

i'll update as often as i can. here i go!

-- posted from my iphone

leaving friday

2009-04-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

i'm leaving friday morning! i finally got the official word. after all this time. although it is april fool's day, so i wouldn't be surprised if they still don't know when we're leaving and they're just telling us that we're leaving friday as an april fool's prank...

but if it for real, then the plan is that we're leaving friday morning, and we have a two hour layover in kansas and a two hour layover in ireland. then we will land in kuwait. after a few days or so i'll go to al-asad, and i also found out that i will be doing the same thing i was doing last time i was in iraq, which is maintenance management. an important note: maintenance management is an office/computer type job where i make reports and hold meetings. not to be confused with maintenance, which is turning wrenches and fixing trucks/radios/weapons... i'll be in charge of the administrative aspects of corrective/preventative maintenance, and calibrations and inventories, and reconciliation with reports listing statuses on ordered parts and so on... for every single piece of gear that our battalion owns. which will be a lot of gear.

so until friday i'm just wondering around 29 palms with nothing to do. my ankle is still injured pretty bad. too bad to run. i'll get it checked when i get to iraq. remember, i hurt it during that pepper spray training, and that was over 6 weeks ago. the doc didn't give me any x-rays, but it is not the slightest bit healed, so i'm thinking it may be more serious than a sprain.

new iphone app

2009-03-30T08:48:00.000-07:00

i just downloaded a blogging app for my iphone so i'll be able to update more often now.

well, here it is monday, and we're not leaving today, and apparently we don't know when we are leaving.

here's a picture of the view from my bed:

-- posted from my iphone

the wheel's are finally in motion

2009-03-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

i'm sorry i haven't updated this in so long, i haven't had internet access. i did find out for sure that i'm going to al-asad, iraq. i went on leave to alabama for a week, and didn't get to did nearly as much as i wanted to do. my leave ended on march 22, and then it was back to california. we sat around doing nothing on monday, tuesday, and wednesday. then we found out that we were leaving for 29 palms on friday. i had one day to pack everything, and get everything i need to take with me to iraq. then friday we left for 29 palms, and that's where i am now! in an internet cafe in 29 palms, california. in the middle of the desert.

i actually just got back from a free concert by gary sinise (the guy who played lieutenant dan in forrest gump). it was actually quite good, and really cool to see lt. dan! i took some pictures, but as i am on a public computer, y'all will have to wait to see them. i know the suspense will be difficult. the coolest thing was that i just walked down the street to taco bell, and saw a poster saying that he was having a concert at the theater, also a couple blocks away, in a couple or hours. so i ate, then walked over, and got a front row seat!

we're supposed to be leaving 29 palms for march air force base monday or tuesday, and that will be the same day that we leave from there to fly to camp victory, kuwait. we will be there for a few days or so and then fly to al-taqaddum, iraq and spend a couple days there. from there we will most likely convoy to al-asad, iraq where i will be spending the next 7 months working at a detention facility. it may not happen exactly like that, but that's my best guess right now. i'll keep updating as often as i get a chance.

limbo

2009-03-08T13:28:00.000-07:00

of all the more than 1000 marines who were recalled to active duty with me (half went to camp lejeune, nc and half came here to camp pendleton, ca) there are only 48 who have still not deployed to iraq. that would be me and the other 47 recalled marines in my group. and all throughout our training we have been asking: where are we going? when are we leaving? who are we going with? ... and essentially getting the answer: "i don't know." this in itself has been frustrating, but there's a lot of problems for individual marines that are in this state of limbo. especially marines that have been yanked out of their lives unexpectedly for the stated purpose of being sent to iraq.

i mentioned in my facebook note that i was leaving for iraq in a few weeks. now that is uncertain. i've been going back and forth between being certain that i was leaving for iraq, that i was going to stay here in california for the rest of the year, and that i was going to be demobilized and sent back home. and now, as of friday, we're back to not knowing anything at all. a lot of us are pretty upset at being jerked around like this, and some have written letters to their congressmen. this has finally gotten our situation some attention. everyday last week somebody high up in our chain of command would come speak to us and field questions about our situation. they still don't know what to do with us, but at least now they're working on it. the commanding general is talking to headquarters marine corps about this, and there is nothing, besides some very high level stuff, being discussed at this level.

i will still be going on leave in a week from now to alabama for a few days, which i look forward to.

also, friday i went to see the silent drill team. i've seen them before and they're pretty cool to watch. if any of y'all see me when i'm on leave, get me to show you the video i took.

oc spray

2009-03-05T09:42:00.000-08:00

real quick, here is a video of me getting sprayed with oc spray. i have a lot of footage of a lot of us getting sprayed, but it's going to be a while before i'm able to put it all together. for now this will have to do. when you watch it, click the "HD" button next to the volume button, then click the full screen button. i hurt my ankle toward the end of the video, and to this day have not recovered. you can actually hear it pop in the video. this was the most painful experience of my life. enjoy!

who knows

2009-02-10T17:33:00.000-08:00

so, yesterday i was sure that i was leaving for iraq sometime between march 30 and april 2. today, not so sure. there's a lot of rumors going around, but basically nobody knows. and worse, those in charge of me are not keeping us up to date on what they know. so i have no idea when or even if i'm going, and if i do i don't know where or what my job will be. this week we started on military police training. the training will last a little more than 3 weeks, and it was supposed to be training us for the work we will be doing in iraq (the regional detention facility). but now, nobody knows anything, yet the training continues.

also friday i finally got my smallpox vaccine, which is something i've been avoiding for the last 6 years. they finally got me! it's just now starting to blister a little, and it should take about a month to run it's course.

new post!!

2009-01-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

finally, eh? well i've pretty much been training nonstop for the last few weeks... three weeks ago i spent the week in the field for "rear area security training". i was the platoon sergeant and was in charge of coordinating patrols, gaurd duty, and a react force around the clock. i know that this means nothing to most of you, but basically i didn't sleep or shower for 5 days. that's pretty much what it boils down to. also there were horrendous temperature differences between night and day. i've never experienced anything like it.

two weeks ago i spent the week getting classes on iraqi culture from an iraqi. this was extremely valuable training in my opinion and they've gotten it down to a science. i was impressed with it, and i learned a lot.

all this week we've been doing ied (improvised explosive device) defeat training which culminated in ied lane training where we went on convoys through an ied laden field. we would sometimes spot the ied and call it in over the radio, and sometimes we wouldn't spot it and we would get blown up and would have to call in for a medevac over the radio. lots of explosives and chaos so i liked it a lot.

next week: 240G training. a 240G is a machine gun. i don't know how they are going to stretch the training for it over a whole week, but i guess they are really going to turn us into some 240G experts. i'll let you know how it goes.

combat lifesaver

2009-01-07T19:22:00.001-08:00

yesterday i gave somebody an iv for the first time! here is the video i made:

and today we stuck tubes down up each other's noses. that was extremely painful. some guys got nose bleeds. my eyes teared up

tomorrow we get certified as combat lifesavers and then we do some humvee rollover training. then next week we're going to the field for a few days. ah, predeployment training.

karl strauss brewing company, san diego

2009-01-04T15:58:00.001-08:00

this weekend i made a few purchases: a 15.4 inch macbook pro, a canon vixia hf10 16 gb flash drive high def camcorder, final cut express 4, and an air card from sprint so i can get online where ever i'm at, which is actually the only reason i'm finally able to post a new blog entry.

yesterday my roommate and i went to seaworld because they let military go get in free. and last weekend i went skiing at big bear with two other friends. i met a guy who had been snowboarding since 1987. he said that back then they had to make their own snowboards with wood benders and putting bicycle tubes that had been cut open onto the boards, then connecting golfing spikes to the bottom of their boots! he said that right where we were at was where snowboarding got started. the first camcorder i bought got destroyed in a ski crash which is why i upgraded to the canon. but at least i got it on film!

one more thing before i go, i've been trying some san diego beer, and one brewery in particular i like a lot. everything i've tried of karl strauss brewing company i've loved and i'm going to bring a lot to tuscaloosa next time i'm home. it looks like i'm not leaving for iraq until the end of march so i might come home for a few days at the beginning of march, and i will definitely bring a lot of this beer for everyone to enjoy.

swim qual, pft, and gas chamber

2008-12-19T14:48:00.000-08:00

ok, i'm sorry it's been a few days since i've updated this. i haven't had access to the internet over the last few days. so just to bring you up to date: all the 'recall marines' (there are 14 of us in each of two platoons) have been checking in all week. we finished checking in wednesday and thursday, which was yesterday we had to go to swim qual in the morning and then run a pft in the afternoon. then today we went to the gas chamber and then to a mandatory fun event.

swim qualification is really easy to do. there are several levels and as you go through the qualifications it gets harder and harder, but the lowest level, which is the only one that is required, is really easy. however, it was like 40 degrees when we did it!! absolute torture. we have to have our whole uniform on, too. so we were all just freezing.

then a few hours later we had to run a physical fitness test (pft). i did 15 pullups, 100 crunches in 2 minutes, and ran 3 miles in 25:21. this was the worst pft i've ever done. by a long shot. it's scored out of 300 points, 100 possible for each event. 100 points for 20 pullups, 100 points for 100 crunches in 2 minutes, and 100 points for an 18 minute 3 mile run. i wasn't the worst though, we had two guys take over 35 minutes to run 3 miles and one of them couldn't do a single pullup. they were both recall marines.

and today was the gas chamber. we got in full mopp gear (those radiation suits you see on tv) and walked 2 miles into the woods. then put on our gas mask and went into a little concrete building that has no windows and is full of cs gas. then we went through the routine of making sure our masks were working and closing our eyes and taking them off and then putting them back on and clearing and resealing them. then we left. it's actually not bad at all if your gas mask is working. a few people had defective masks and they started freaking out. pretty funny to watch.

and tonight everyone is driving to san diego to fly home because everyone in my company is taking 15 days leave to go back home. everyone except for me, because i'm going to wait until march to take leave. i really don't understand why everyone's leaving when we get two 4-day weekends anyway: one for christmas and one for new years.

also, i just bought a digital camcorder so i'm going to start putting some videos and pictures on here soon!

graduation day

2008-12-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

today i graduated from the school of infantry's fresher course! we even got certificates explaining all that i had accomplished in the past 5 days. first aid courses, m16 and machine gun fires, and on and on. i'm very glad for it to be over.

i'm still looking forward to either friday or possibly as late as monday that i will get dropped to my unit. that's when i'll meet the marines i'll be going to iraq with and learn what my job will be and even exactly when i'll be leaving for iraq. these have been the main questions i've had since i found out that i would be getting recalled.

another thing that happened today is that major general (two stars) stone spoke to us today for quite a long speech, and there are only 67 of us. he's actually getting promoted to lieutenant general (three stars) in a couple weeks at which time he will be the commanding general of the entire marine corps reserves. he told us that this small group of marines is the closest thing the united states has to a draft right now. i agree.

december 04, 2008

2008-12-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

i'm three days in to checking back into the marine corps. yes, i had to shave off all my hair. i've been vaccinated (the anthrax shot is the worst - my arm is still tender and swollen), had a complete physical, and finished my travel claim and other admin type paperwork. we're living in the same quonset huts that the clint eastwood movie "heartbreak ridge" was shot.

so far all the other mobilizing marines and i have been allowed to remain in our civilian attire, though that will end tomorrow or the next day. saturday we are going to start our predeployment training which will include live fires with our m16 service rifles and machine guns, and other activities that are typical for the field.

i've been recalled to active duty for 12 months starting december 1, 2008, and i am going to be documenting as much of it as i can on here. i've never kept a blog before so i expect it to get better and more interesting as i go along so i encourage anyone who has any suggestions for me to leave a comment or e-mail me.