Hello all,

Finally made it to the FOB.  I was stuck on medical hold for awhile because one of the appt i needed took a week to get into.  My first night out here wasnt so bad but i felt really down on the ride out here.  probably cuz it was another little step towards the unknown.  I didnt really know what to expect and i didnt really know anyone either cuz this is not my unit.

but the first night was fine.  the 2nd night, however, was miserable.  it got down to 7degrees so our tent was only 33 throughout the night and in the morning. our heater doesnt work that well and our tent is not sealed up that well either.  the next night was better, probably about 50 in the tent.  its slowly been warming up though.  Its been snowy, rainy and cold which i feel is great training for desert conditions, huh? 

Its taken me so long to contact everyone mainly becuz we dont have wireless internet in out tents.  they have a computer lab. but like our chow hall and showers, its about 1/4 mile away.  it doesnt seem that far, but when its freezing outside the long walk to the showers really sucks.  also, we get done training lately between 8-9pm (wakeup is between 4-430am), so the last thing you have energy for is walking to the computer lab.  alot of times people dont even make it to the shower.  they just pass out in their bed or a port-a-pottie.

yes, thats right.  the generous army has supplied us with ample amounts of porta crappers.  very yummy and extremely inconvenient with all you gear on and a weapon too.  If you have ever wondered what it would be like trying to wipe your butt if you were paralyzed, this is about as close as it gets.

 

until yesterday, my back has been holding up alot better than i expected.  we've got at least an extra 50-60 pounds of gear on and wear it from sun up to sun down.  this wont be the case when we get overseas.  you will only wear it out on missions.  so if we can all get past this next month, it will get a little better.  i finally had to go in and get some muscle relaxers cuz my left foot went numb and i could hardly get in and out of a chair.

Since i am with a military police unit, most of the training is new to me and probably not much of it i will have to know.  however, the commander wants all of us training together so we know whats going on.  We have had some combatives training which was fun and informative, but with only 6 hours it doesnt really make you efficient.  We learned alot of different ways to get out of positions if the enemy is on top of us, how to get into the position of control and some good choke holds.  these will all come in very handy at our next topless wrestling match.  (you know who you are, watch out girls!!)  We also learned 10 different pressure points and had to do them on each other.  it was a painful day, but again fun.  These will come in handy for nights after too much Jagermeister!!  or for amusement around work or home.

Weve also learned how to properly search vehicles and personnel, what steps to follow if a car/person is approaching w/out stopping.  we've done a 3, 5 and 5 mile road marches and a long land navigation course (love these, but it poured all day so we were soaked and lots of blisters) so there has been alot of walking, all the heavy gear is the only negative to that.  we have alot of people going in for hurt back, shoulders, knees, etc.  Its just so long without a break from all that weight crushing your vertebral disks and pulling on your muscles.

 

we have had a few days training on how to handle attacks in different situations.  a few days doesnt really seem like quite enough but im sure if it were the real thing it wouldnt go as we planned anyway.  we have had some middle eastern culture classes and a few arabic language classes.  hopefully i can learn something while i am gone :) I know there is more stuff but ive forgotten some of the things (thats reassuring huh?)

the people in the unit have been very welcoming (even the females) and they seem to be a great bunch of soldiers.  A senator came to see our living conditions, give us a pep talk and take some pictures. The family is doing a little better back home.  the baby is great and she has only had a few crying times on the phone.  if i call too close to bed, she seems to cry so i try to call earlier.  my husband, on the other hand, is not doing the best (sorry honey).  he also got to clean up his first middle of the night puke mess when the baby had the stomach flu.  Our extremely supportive family and friends make it better and my sister living in our house has been a God Send.

They are still preaching every day that where we are going is not good. i just want to yell "we get it already, do you need to ruin everyday we have here?!"  the food is good here, except we have MRE's (meals ready to eat) for lunch, but cant complain about that.  Losing weight, so that is nice and so far people are sleeping so hard no one has commented on my snoring :) (or maybe they are just too afraid to say something).

Time still isnt going as fast as people said it would, so still waiting for that to kick in.  it could be a while until the next email but you are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Love you all,

J