Monday, May 24, 2010
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Protecting the Border
This is a photo of the forward operating base that Jake was stationed at in 2003-2004. The base is the walled in area at the top right of the photo. This photo was taken in 2004 and the vehicles you see parked within the walled in area are the Strykers that our guys drove. One of those Strykers is Jake's.
This next photo is the same exact area taken in 2009. The Strykers have been replaced by what appear to be Humvees. And as you can see there is a lot more activity at the border crossing. Notice the line of trucks on the left waiting to enter Iraq from Syria. Also note the road construction that has taken place in the past few years.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Al Faw Palace
Jake works someplace in Al Faw Palace. This was one of Saddams palaces in Baghdad. It's located on Camp Victory. He says he lives close by - I'll try to find out where.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A Little Education About Patriot
Click the link to view a video segment taken from the History Channels Mail Call.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Close Up of Patriot Launchers
Close up of the launchers and the command center that controls them. Click the photo for a better view. The launchers are on the little squares. The control center is the the larger regtangle.
Al Rifa Air Base - Bahrain
Here is where Paul works. This is Al Rifa air base on the southern end of the island. The loops at either end of the runways are where the fighter aircraft are housed. The blue circle marks the patriot emplacements. These are the Patriot missles that Paul and his buddies are responsible for.
Isa Air Base - Bahrain
This is where Paul livesin Bahrain. This is Isa Air Base. Not that large, with a very short runway. I think it's mostly helicopters at this base. He works at another location.
Photo of Comms Hill
Desolate and dirty. Not the most picturesque location in Iraq. But it's built for utility and functionality - not beauty.
The highest point at Camp Victory
Click the photo for a larger image. Comms Hill or Radar Hill is the tallest objest on Camp Victory. It's a man-made structure created from the earth removed to make Lake Victory.
The hill is also used for PT. The road around the base fo the hill is almost exactly one mile. Makes it easy to do a ten mile run.
The hill is also used for PT. The road around the base fo the hill is almost exactly one mile. Makes it easy to do a ten mile run.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Paul and Michelle
Our younger son Paul is in the regular Army and is deployed over seas in Bahrain for a year. He's a 14E Patriot Fire Control Enhanced Operator. He says it's a fancy name for somebody who gets to shoot s&!t out of the sky.
A couple weeks ago he met Michelle Rodriguez. They had a soup kitchen lunch and he had his picture taken with her.
Michelle was on the television show Lost, had a great part in Avatar and has been in a couple dozen other movies. This is a photo of her as "Trudy Chacon" in Avatar.
Another Entrance to Camp Victory
This is an alternate entrance into Camp Victory. Notice the concrete barriers across the road every few yards. This is designed to slow down a vehicle that is trying to crash through into the base. In order to negotiate the curves a vehicle would have to slow down to the point where it could be neutralized by guards at the entrance.
Entrance to Victory
This is the main entrance to Camp Victory. All vehicles must pass through the check point in order to enter. There are other entrances but this is the main entry point for Camp Victory.
Interior of a C-130
Jake didn't get to ride in a C-17 on his way to Baghdad. He got to ride in this instead.
Interior of a C-17
Riding in a C-17 is alot different than riding in a C-130. Here is the interior of a C-17 outfitted to transport troops.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Camp Victory
This is Camp Victory north east of Baghdad International Airport. Jake will be living at Camp Victory for the next year. Click the photo to get a better look. At some point maybe we'll know where it is he lives on base. The dark line is a moat that encircles the base.
The Trip In
He's been in Iraq for about 5 days now.
They were suppose to leave Washington at around noon on the fifth. The plane got delayed and they didn’t head to the airport until the next morning at 5am. They waited until 1PM when the airplane finally arrived. They boarded and left for Bangor, Maine. Upon arriving in Maine, the plane is refueled and they reboard the plane, wait an hour or so and are asked to leave the plane. The flight crew can’t fly, they are over the limit of hours in a day. They are taken to a hotel with what I was told are very nice rooms and stay the night. After breakfast in the morning they head back to the airport. The plane can’t leave until early afternoon, so it's lunch at the airport.
They finally leave the United States. THey arrive in Ireland with no problems and are out of their in about 45 minutes. Off to Kuwait.
When they arrive in Kuwait Jake is picked for baggage detail (unloading the bags from under the plane). It was in the mid-ninties and not a cloud in the sky. Bags are loaded onto a truck and soldiers onto a bus.
They arrive at Camp Buehring, a piece of desert in the middle of nowhere. Unload all the bags, it's hot and miserable. They throw their bags in a big tent, eat, and then get some sleep.
They are supposed to leave the next afternoon sometime. This gets pushed back until the following morning. They load up all the bags into the trucks and take another bus ride to an airbase in Kuwait. Unloaded all the bags, and then loaded them on to pallets for air transport.
They wait around a few more hours, and then load up the C-17 (big cargo jet) strap in and get ready for takeoff. They start up the engines and realize they are having problems with the elevators, so they unload and wait on the tarmac for about an hour and they decide that they can’t fix it. It's back on the busses and back into the base. That was the only C-17 going into Baghdad that day.
They wait around a few more hours. Finally get some news, they are taking 3 trips in a C-130. They unload all the cargo and reload it onto different pallets. Jake is at the end of the alphabet so he gets the last flight, at 2 in the morning. He had been awake for 24 hours now.
He lands in Iraq, wait around for in-processing, then unload the pallets and get on another set of busses to go to Baghdad. It's only a few miles. He gets to Camp Victory at 7AM unload the trucks and told to put their stuff away and go meet the people they are replacing.
They head into “work” and immediately start getting briefed. He gets to bed about 6PM and sleeps until 5AM the next morning.
He's getting into the regular schedule, working 12 hour shifts from 7am to 7pm.
It’s a 6 hour flight from Lewis to Bangor Maine, 6 hours to Ireland, 7 hours to Kuwait, and 2 hours to Iraq. It was a long trip.
They were suppose to leave Washington at around noon on the fifth. The plane got delayed and they didn’t head to the airport until the next morning at 5am. They waited until 1PM when the airplane finally arrived. They boarded and left for Bangor, Maine. Upon arriving in Maine, the plane is refueled and they reboard the plane, wait an hour or so and are asked to leave the plane. The flight crew can’t fly, they are over the limit of hours in a day. They are taken to a hotel with what I was told are very nice rooms and stay the night. After breakfast in the morning they head back to the airport. The plane can’t leave until early afternoon, so it's lunch at the airport.
They finally leave the United States. THey arrive in Ireland with no problems and are out of their in about 45 minutes. Off to Kuwait.
When they arrive in Kuwait Jake is picked for baggage detail (unloading the bags from under the plane). It was in the mid-ninties and not a cloud in the sky. Bags are loaded onto a truck and soldiers onto a bus.
They arrive at Camp Buehring, a piece of desert in the middle of nowhere. Unload all the bags, it's hot and miserable. They throw their bags in a big tent, eat, and then get some sleep.
They are supposed to leave the next afternoon sometime. This gets pushed back until the following morning. They load up all the bags into the trucks and take another bus ride to an airbase in Kuwait. Unloaded all the bags, and then loaded them on to pallets for air transport.
They wait around a few more hours, and then load up the C-17 (big cargo jet) strap in and get ready for takeoff. They start up the engines and realize they are having problems with the elevators, so they unload and wait on the tarmac for about an hour and they decide that they can’t fix it. It's back on the busses and back into the base. That was the only C-17 going into Baghdad that day.
They wait around a few more hours. Finally get some news, they are taking 3 trips in a C-130. They unload all the cargo and reload it onto different pallets. Jake is at the end of the alphabet so he gets the last flight, at 2 in the morning. He had been awake for 24 hours now.
He lands in Iraq, wait around for in-processing, then unload the pallets and get on another set of busses to go to Baghdad. It's only a few miles. He gets to Camp Victory at 7AM unload the trucks and told to put their stuff away and go meet the people they are replacing.
They head into “work” and immediately start getting briefed. He gets to bed about 6PM and sleeps until 5AM the next morning.
He's getting into the regular schedule, working 12 hour shifts from 7am to 7pm.
It’s a 6 hour flight from Lewis to Bangor Maine, 6 hours to Ireland, 7 hours to Kuwait, and 2 hours to Iraq. It was a long trip.
Had it Wrong - Camp Beuhring, Kuwait
Had it wrong - he flew into Camp Beuhring. Here's part of the tent city at Camp Beuhring. Soldiers bunk in these large tents, which are air conditioned.
Scary Night
This past Friday night was a really scary night. Ava was at Nicole's parents house for the evening, my wife was at a scrapbooking party and I was home watching TV.
Just before 8PM Nicole's mom called and asked if I could watch Ava. Nicole, who was at work, appeared to be leaking amniotic fluid and needed to go to the emergency room as quickly as possible. Her mom would meet her there.
I said I'd certainly watch Ava and said we'd meet at the emergency room. Her mom and I arrived at about the same time and transfered Ava from one vehicle to the other. Then off the two of us went, passing Nicole as she arrived at the emergency room.
Ava and I had a good evening. Well actually her evening was better than mine. We stopped at Nicole's house on the way home. Let the dogs out, fed them and took care of a couple other things befoer heading home.
It was a long evening, not knowing what was happening at the hospital. Naturally I feared the worst and thought that Nicole might lose the baby. My wife and I went through the same thing many years ago but this would be different. I was there for my wife but Nicole's husband was 7000 miles from home and wouldn't be able to be at her side if the worst happened.
Nicole's mom called me while Ava was taking her bath and let me know that the second of two test came back negative for amniotic fluid. This was a good sign. The tear that allowed the fluid to leak had repaired itself. They wanted to keep her a little while longer to see if things were actually OK before letting her go.
I'm not sure how things like this work. I know that when I "tear" something it usually takes more than an hour or two to heal. But then again a bloody nose can stop bleeding within a few minutes. The human body is a remarkable thing and will go to great lengths to protect the unborn baby.
Ava probably sensed my uneasyiness because she didn't settle down to go to sleep. It was about 10:30PM when I heard a car in the driveway. It was Nicole coming to pick up Ava. I was so relieved to see her as she walked up the walk to the front door. As she came inside we hugged, I told her not to scare us like that anymore and all the while Ava is saying mama, mama.
We sat and talked for a bit, everyone releived that the evening had turned out good.
Just before 8PM Nicole's mom called and asked if I could watch Ava. Nicole, who was at work, appeared to be leaking amniotic fluid and needed to go to the emergency room as quickly as possible. Her mom would meet her there.
I said I'd certainly watch Ava and said we'd meet at the emergency room. Her mom and I arrived at about the same time and transfered Ava from one vehicle to the other. Then off the two of us went, passing Nicole as she arrived at the emergency room.
Ava and I had a good evening. Well actually her evening was better than mine. We stopped at Nicole's house on the way home. Let the dogs out, fed them and took care of a couple other things befoer heading home.
It was a long evening, not knowing what was happening at the hospital. Naturally I feared the worst and thought that Nicole might lose the baby. My wife and I went through the same thing many years ago but this would be different. I was there for my wife but Nicole's husband was 7000 miles from home and wouldn't be able to be at her side if the worst happened.
Nicole's mom called me while Ava was taking her bath and let me know that the second of two test came back negative for amniotic fluid. This was a good sign. The tear that allowed the fluid to leak had repaired itself. They wanted to keep her a little while longer to see if things were actually OK before letting her go.
I'm not sure how things like this work. I know that when I "tear" something it usually takes more than an hour or two to heal. But then again a bloody nose can stop bleeding within a few minutes. The human body is a remarkable thing and will go to great lengths to protect the unborn baby.
Ava probably sensed my uneasyiness because she didn't settle down to go to sleep. It was about 10:30PM when I heard a car in the driveway. It was Nicole coming to pick up Ava. I was so relieved to see her as she walked up the walk to the front door. As she came inside we hugged, I told her not to scare us like that anymore and all the while Ava is saying mama, mama.
We sat and talked for a bit, everyone releived that the evening had turned out good.
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