It's pretty late right now. I'm getting ready for my last full day in South Carolina. I haven't posted on here nearly as often as I'd have liked to. I want to blame it on our days being long and tiresome. The truth is - because we have had free WiFi in the barracks, I've spent most of my time talking to Jen and the boys via Skype. It has been truly great being able to see the family again before heading out.
On the agenda for tomorrow is something the Army calls "Fit to Win". It's a 0.8 mile long obstacle course designed to motivate. If you're not familiar with the military, motivate simply means difficult and tiresome. I anticipate it being quite fun though. It rained today, so the course should be kind of muddy. I got all four of my seabags packed today. Somehow I managed to fit everything from underwear to 60+ pounds of body armor in all of them. We've been issued so much gear, it's ridiculous. Some of the stuff I hope I never have to use, like the 30+ pounds of chemical/biological warfare gear, and all the cold/wet weather gear. I heard it can get pretty cold in Iraq in the winter months though. I have gotten quite a bit of nice stuff out of it.... like 11 cream colored t-shirts. Just kidding. But there is some good cold weather gear in there that I'm sure I'll put to good use when I get back to Chicago for the winter next year... i.e. Goretex boots and nice fleeces. I remember turning my car on this last winter and it displayed -18 degrees! I'm not a fan of that. I know the Germans test their cars in extreme temperatures, but those kind of temps really put a hurting on the old Audi.
To answer some questions that were asked in a couple comments... to really contact me, you should write to me at corey.davidson@comcast.net That will change sometime soon though, and I WILL keep you posted on that. Also, I don't have a clue where I will be stationed in Iraq. There's seven main sites or FOBs (Forward Operating Bases) where I could possibly be stationed, and then there's Baghdad also. For security reasons, I wouldn't be able to tell you anyway right now, but once I'm there, for some reason, it will be okay.
Jen bought me a very very nice digital camera today, so once I get settled in (wherever that may be) I'll be posting some more pictures on here. Right now the only camera I have is embedded in my new MacBook, so it's not very mobile. I also got some new glasses today. They're nothing special, but I'm bored and thought I'd show them off to you. They're a little more trendy than what I'm used to having. CENTCOM (Central Command in Iraq) doesn't authorize contacts to be worn, so that's why I had to go back to the specs.
Another thing I know I'll be missing this year is my beloved Celtics. This is the first year in a while where they actually have a good shot at making some noise in the playoffs, so it'll be disappointing to not be able to see them.
Well, I'm off to bed now. I'll try to update this as soon as I can to tell you how my week in Kuwait has been. So it'll be a little while at least before updating. By the way... Kuwait is supposed to suck. Getting up at 3:00, sleeping in a tent with 7 other guys with no shower. They already told us to not expect to be able to shower for a week, and pretty much wear just one or two uniforms. I'll be showering with baby wipes I think. Have a good one.
-C
2 comments:
Thanks for the text. Hunter was thrilled to get it. I was at work when I read it and a new sense of worry overwhelmed me. I imagine it is worse for your mom and for Jen well, i can't even begin to imagine. But hey, it's cool that you (sort of) got to spend more time with her and the boys before leaving. Or maybe it was bittersweet, thinking you had already said good-bye.
So you go to Kuwait first. Why? And how big are seabags? I hope that "body arnmor" is reference to army garb. I didn't know that about not being able to wear contacts. Were you allowed to wear them while you were on the ship? Your glasses are very trendy, right up your alley!
Some of us at work wondering about your job, Electronic Warfare, what else can you tell us about it? Blase was wondering about your flight out of the U.S. What kind of plane? How many went? How long of flight? Any pitstops? Blah, blah, blah.
That's it for now. Wishing you more than luck!
Hello Corey:
Now don't pass out or anything like that, but this is your old grandpa B. just letting you know I think about you being so far away from your family and loved ones. When I was in the Air Force during Korea I was lucky not to have to gow very far or in harms way. Being a seasoned navy man that you are I know you will do the very best you can and hopefully time will pass quickly for you. I enjoy the writings and lokk forward to them. I just found out that I could write to you so this is mu first attempt and I hope it works. The very best to you my man and our prayers are with you.
Grampa and Sharon
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