week 4

It doesn't feel like it's been a month but it has. I pray everyone back home is doing well. I am good. Things have settled into a rhythm now. I got what could be good news about the length of my deployment but as yet unconfirmed. Keep you posted.haha I am having a impact in the office getting us training and equipment. Continuing the work of organizing with other groups in my career field on the base to organize the workload and increase communication. So I feel like an impact is being made. It amazes me the amount of construction that has been accomplished here in just a few years. Our land use planner (civilian) has been here 2 years and has seen almost 1 Billion dollars of construction!! I can vouch for those tax dollars. It's right here.

Worshiping in Iraq

Well we practiced Saturday night and it went great. Sunday morning I was a bit nervous, yeah I still get nervous. It turned out well and everyone was blessed. I think I was supposed to be here. It all works out too well. The worship team needed a bass player he showed up AND volunteered. They needed a drummer. I showed AND offered my service. All right on God's time. The new worship leader is right up my alley as far as taste. He is a big David Crowder fan. He leads a good size group back home. He's also a full bird Colonel.
I will send some pictures when I figure who was taking them Sunday. My band mates back in Shreveport are all going to prison or already have...They play an annual service with an evanglist at Wynn state prison in Louisiana. I will miss it.

playing in the old fabric shelter

The worship team in the new chapel in Balad Iraq

week 3

Hello again from sunny Balad AirBase, Iraq. My predecessor finally got to leave over the weekend after waiting two weeks. He was my roommate also and I was only alone 1 night and already got another. But my predecessor was in the room for months alone. That's my luck. So I am on my own with the shop. A very interesting mix of people. My days filled with meetings and construction site visits then desk work. Seems like every time I turn around we go eat again. Its a good distance from work so we all ride together. Most of the contractors here are TCN's(third country nationals). They are required to have one English speaking foreman so I don't have to speak caveman with my hand to get someone to understand what I am saying. I can't complain about my duty here I ride in an air conditioned truck listening to AFN rock radio. Pretty sissy stuff.
We have have numerous IFA's(Indirect Fire Attacks) since I got here. Happens quite regularly. Nothing close to me though. Haven't had to go diving for cover.
Started playing with the Protestant Contemporary worship team last Sunday, bongos only. I will be on drums next week. I was great. The new chaplain came in that service too, he's an old Baptist preacher that tells it with wisdom, frankness, and common sense. I am just glad he's not the timid type. They always have uncomfortable services.

First week

Well one week is over and I am starting to get the work requirements, meeting times, coworkers/subordinates, and location of things down.
I work for the legendary 332 Air Wing wich was the Wing that the Tuskegee Airman made famous. It was decomissioned after WWII and resurrected for Operation Iraqi Freedom. This is actually my second time to serve in the wing first time being 2003 at Tallil AB west of An Nasiriyah, Iraq. It is named Ali AB now. The 332 Air Expeditionary Wing has since move to Balad AB, Iraq @60km north of Bagdad.
As an E-7 MSgt for the AirForce I am in charge of a small shop of personnel. Our job ranges from conducting aircraft crash surveys to publishing, maintaining, and updating base mapping and imagery data, to construction inspection and soil/concrete construction material testing. Its quite a diverse career field. We are called a few differents names; Engineer Assistants, Site Developers (or Site 'D's).

My Truck

I just want to start a section for my truck to encourage other enthusiasts. I have a 1995 GMC Sierra extended cab C1500. I have spent some time and money no this and still in progress of getting the sport truck i want. I will post describing some of the mods I have done and wish to do.

I

Settling in

Upon arrival here at Balad AB/LSA Anaconda(Armies name for it) we deplaned (@o900hrs) and went straight to a inprocessing briefing. The typical threat stuff and reaction/protective posture information and personnel paperwork.
The NCO I replaced showed up to get me and we waited for the pallets that we assembled of our gear to arrive and it just kept getting hotter. Its been averaging 115-125deg this week they said. Whew! Anyway we packed my stuff in the truck and he took me to my new home. A "POD" they call it. A prefab little box in a row of boxes in a cube of boxes surrounded by other cubes of boxes which are all surround by huge 12' concrete walls for blast protection. So you can never see the boxes just endless concrete walls everywhere. Needles to say I was hard pressed to find monuments to navigate by, it all looked the same.
I must complain here. The military always sees fit to lay gravel everywhere. Well its all smooth round stone (which is not really gravel)that doesn't compact and is very difficult to walk on. They have installed a large amount of sidewalk to get around so its ok.
Anyway I have been learning my way around and the people and the job and so far its not too bad. I will have more soon.

The trip over here

I flew out of Shreveport on Tuesday 28 Aug 2007 through Atlanta to Norfolk, Va and stopped at the Norflk Naval Air Station to catchthe military flight overseas. Upon checkin at the NAS I was told the flight was not until the next evening @10pm. so I checked my bags got the ticket and signed into billeting. Along the way I ran into two others from Barksdale, a Capt from Security Forces and a Staff Sergeant from Airfield management. So we kinda stuck together had lunch and dinner and chatted. Going back to the terminal we found out the computer booking system was down and it took all night to get the flight before us out so I had to stay till morning. Not to mention the plane was broken, a generator and some radar thing. It was rescheduled for 0800hrs in the morning which is already Thursday, 30 August.
We left almost on time and made stops in Bangor, Maine & Lipzig, Germany where the starter on one of the engines broke and we ended up with a 5 hours lay over instead of two before landing in Al Udied, Qatar the 31st. Thank goodness for that we get tax exemption for August and some other extra pays since we are in that month. A small gift.
We accomplished some in theater processing and issuing of protective gear within 6 hours I was on a C-17 flying into Iraq. This leg lasted only 2 hours. The other airtime totaled 11 hours plus the 4 hour in states flights. Not so bad. I will post a pic I took inside the C-17 soon.