Lets see, we left California at 2 pm and arrived in Maine at 9pm their time (3 hr change), Left Maine at 10 pm and arrived in Germany at 8 am their time(4 hr change), Left Germany at 9am and arrived in Kuwait at 3 pm their time (3 hr change), left Kuwait at 11 pm and arrived in Al Asad at 1230 am (no time change). Good thing I'm small and have no issues with sleeping on a plane. It was all commercial flight until Kuwait to Al Asad where we took a C17, surprisingly not to bad.
*Note- Above times and time changes may be slightly off.. It was a long couple days so don't hold me to exact details!
Here is what I learned along the way: In Maine, retired Vets take turns on posts at this military airport to welcome in and out all the Military who fly through. Germany: They have no @ key and don't make phone calls.. I thought I was being smart by making short phone calls to each person but the minimum for each is $42, lets just say $600 later, they shut my card off. Also, drinks in Germany all have a lemon flavor..not very good!! Kuwait was more civilized than Germany by a lot. We were here for only about 10 hours which consisted of unloading bags, eating chow, getting a room, reloading bags, 2 hr bus ride, and off we went!!
Here is cute story for you-When we were getting ready to leave California and they asked who would like to get on the plane first so without thinking I ran up and said I would and volunteered the other 5 girls also. Who would of thought there would be a catch because I that surly didn't cross my mind.. So after loading 192 (people) X 3 (bags) onto the plane, off again in Kuwait, back on in Kuwait and off again in Al Asad.. I realized why all those who had been on deployment before were not so quick to jump to volunteer. Positive-Good Workout!
IN Al Asad we were living in a big wooden hooch with 22 females and going through our training. From MCMAP to shooting 4 weapons to learning to search, it was pretty interesting. Then our time came and we flew out on the helo into Haditha Dam...
Another cute story- Our last night in Al Asad at about 1130 pm (pitch black outside) Jennifer (Cpl San Martin) and I decided we wanted to take along shower and shave before heading to the field. We just get in pout shampoo in our hair and soap on our body when the lights flick off and Jennifer says "Is your water pressure going down?" Sure enough it was.. The power had went out. We get out of the shower, stumble for our towels and realize we have no flashlight.. I made her grab her knife at this point. We open the door and yelled for the Marine walking by with the light (of coarse he flashed it at us as we stand their in towels), he let us borrow it and about two minutes into dumping water bottles onto our hair, it dies.. What luck. We decided to finish in the dark and walk back to our rooms and wait.. Everyone got a kick out of us..
No pictures yet because my computer has adopted a Iraqi virus and I am unable to use my computer to get online or transfer my pictures without sending the virus. I will show all when I get home tho.
20080516
Its so good to be home! The weather in California is perfect and with mom being here everything is just right! I want to thank everyone for thier support for me while I was gone. I truly missed everyone and appreciate all the things that were done. I will be posting many new blogs very soon so be on the look out...
20080107
*GoodBye For Now*
Well lets see, today is Monday January 6th and its been a long day. Not much work but I did sit through pre deployment briefs all day and also got to meet my stafff non commisioned officer in charge (SNCOIC) for my deployment. Her name is Gunnery Sergeant Fulgencio and I love her attitude. She used to be a drill instructor, so her myself and six other female marines had some fun times sharing stories today at chow.
I checked into my new unit MWHS-3 in Miramar, California on Thursday and will be here until January 18th. On January 18th, we will flying out from the Air Force base into Kuwait where we will spend one night and then continue on a C130 to Al Asaad. We will be spending two days in Al Asaad doing weapons training and then hoping onto a helo and heading to Camp Korean Village (KV) for two days for ground fighting. From there we will take a convoy up to JBCC. Truthfully, I am not sure what JBCC stands for but if I took a guess I would say Joint Batallion Command Center. We will actually be gaudring three checkpoints near JBCC which is near Rupa village and the Syria boarder.
There is Corporal out here in Miramar who will be going with me who just returned from doing the lioness prgram four months ago and went to that same location. She had some crazy stories, some I will keep to myself and share all when I get back. To make you laugh a little at me I will tell you some things such as she said to expect an average of one shower a month, share a hooch (semant floor and walls) with all of us and it is about the size of my barracks room, We will be eating MRE's that convoys bring out to us from KV, but when we are hit with mortors and the convoys are unable to make it we will be eating Iraqi bread, cheese, and lamb.. MMMM!! We also use the bathroom in a bag and then burn it..
Out there we will be attatched with a grunt unit and the ratio of guys to girls is about 25::1. For those who don't know exactly what I will be doing or what the Lioness prgram is here it goes: I will be searching Iraqi women. Simple right? Well here are some horror stories.. lets just say we "credit card swipe" them (if you dont know what that is, ask around someone should) and those who are on the rag, well they don't use tampons or pads over there. We were told the number one thing to pack is gloves! They also get nervous and pee on you..
I think I will stop there because I know you are either laughing very hard at me or freaking out and neither is good, LOL. So wish me luck because its going to be one hell of an experience! See you in April!! LOVE YOU!!
I checked into my new unit MWHS-3 in Miramar, California on Thursday and will be here until January 18th. On January 18th, we will flying out from the Air Force base into Kuwait where we will spend one night and then continue on a C130 to Al Asaad. We will be spending two days in Al Asaad doing weapons training and then hoping onto a helo and heading to Camp Korean Village (KV) for two days for ground fighting. From there we will take a convoy up to JBCC. Truthfully, I am not sure what JBCC stands for but if I took a guess I would say Joint Batallion Command Center. We will actually be gaudring three checkpoints near JBCC which is near Rupa village and the Syria boarder.
There is Corporal out here in Miramar who will be going with me who just returned from doing the lioness prgram four months ago and went to that same location. She had some crazy stories, some I will keep to myself and share all when I get back. To make you laugh a little at me I will tell you some things such as she said to expect an average of one shower a month, share a hooch (semant floor and walls) with all of us and it is about the size of my barracks room, We will be eating MRE's that convoys bring out to us from KV, but when we are hit with mortors and the convoys are unable to make it we will be eating Iraqi bread, cheese, and lamb.. MMMM!! We also use the bathroom in a bag and then burn it..
Out there we will be attatched with a grunt unit and the ratio of guys to girls is about 25::1. For those who don't know exactly what I will be doing or what the Lioness prgram is here it goes: I will be searching Iraqi women. Simple right? Well here are some horror stories.. lets just say we "credit card swipe" them (if you dont know what that is, ask around someone should) and those who are on the rag, well they don't use tampons or pads over there. We were told the number one thing to pack is gloves! They also get nervous and pee on you..
I think I will stop there because I know you are either laughing very hard at me or freaking out and neither is good, LOL. So wish me luck because its going to be one hell of an experience! See you in April!! LOVE YOU!!
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