finally leaving

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.