June 24, 2009

Day 3
Our day started out at 6:30 a.m. It was going to be a busy day ahead of us. This will be my first time on a Blackhawk, and I am so fired up to ride! This was something I missed out on our tour last year because it was unsafe to ride. Today, I get to fly with the birds! Oh my gosh, putting on this bullet proof vest is hard. It's HEAVY! My back was hurting bad, and the ride was pretty intense. Can you believe the heat was 119 degrees at 8 o'clock in the morning? They were cooking me in that Blackhawk. It was nice looking out and seeing nothing but dirt and every so often some grass. There really wasn't much to see, actually. It took us about an hour to get to where we were headed. I will say that it was not a fun ride for Todd Day. He was about to lose it... we were all sweating extremely hard. Todd was rocking back and forth, and he took off his bullet proof vest and helmet. Keep in mind that while it's 119 degrees, the door was closed in the `Hawk, so it felt like 140. It was like someone was baking a cake in the stove. It was hot! Todd thought that pouring water on his head would calm his heat and motion sickness down. Guess what? As soon as the Hawk landed Todd took his belongings and went and sat down on one of these brick benches and let it go! YUCK!

Besides Todd getting sick, we were on schedule for our first clinic/meet and greet at Camp Bucca! Soldiers were there to greet us when we arrived. I checked on Todd, and he was fine once he let it go and was safely on the ground. Dale and a troop were throwing a football to one of the soldiers while we waited for them to get our bags and put them on a truck. Meanwhile, I went over to throw the football to one of our soldiers. I was throwing the ball all over the place. I guess football is not my thing... LOL! We gathered everything up and headed to our plod. Rushia (Brown) and I were in a plod together. We had a break before we had to do a meet and greet so that time was used as sleep time. Oh my gosh it was hot in that plod. I thought I was being baked! The a/c was not working at all. I took a nap and woke in a small puddle of water from my own sweat. It was 115 degrees outside, but in our room it was at least 125. We moved to another plod, and it was no better. In fact, I went to the guys' room (Dale, Todd and Oliver) and it felt like Athens weather in the winter. Now that's good a/c! We finally moved into our 3rd room and the temperature got better. Not great, but better! After everyone gathered, it was time for them to show us the base. We were not allowed to go where the detainees were, so we drove along the fenced-in area. They are downsizing this base so there will not be a lot of detainees at this base. After viewing the base, we met the soldiers who work at the fire department, and they were extremely nice to us. We took pictures and signed autographs and then headed off to meet the only Commander on base from the Marines. She was really nice, and told us that this base was once used to hold 24,000 detainees at one point in time, but now they have downsized it to 4,500. They have moved most of the detainees south, and now this base will soon shut down. Also, she talked about being in the position she is, different things coming about and how she has to figure out the best way to handle it. Among the many things she spoke about was trying to figure out where they are going to store 14 billion gallons of water. WOW!!! Anyway, we took pictures and signed autographs and thanked her for everything she is doing, and how we appreciate her and the rest of the troops. She mentioned that what is important that us being here makes our soldiers feel like they are home. It is good for their minds, because you coming here shows them that you truly care.

After that we headed over to chow time. Let me explain something here... You eat four times a day over here. You have breakfast, lunch, supper and a Midnight snack. I better say this just in case Oliver "Big O" Miller reads this blog... I love apple pie and ice cream! I told him I will eat apple pie for dinner everynight I'm here! Anyway, they have everything you could imagine. After dinner, it was time for us to put a clinic on. Basically these clinics consist of us putting the soldiers in different drills, competitions, and games. We had a blast and the soldiers truly enjoyed everything. I will say the five-on-five was a little rusty for the Pro's. The troops wanted us to go full court. But I have to be honest. I might not make it up and down the floor here. So, I made rules and everyone followed. The pro's won, even being a bit off and tired, but the troops definitely made it very tough for us! After that, everyone who participated took a picture with the troops. Finally the day was done. It was time for Rushia and I to go to our hot room. Let's get ready for the next spot!

Day 4
I really can't write much for today, because we are stuck in Bucca. There is a real bad sandstorm, and you can't see four feet ahead of you. We have to wait till the sandstorm passes. While all this is happening, we have one small problem. We left our luggage in Kuwait because we had to do that. Here I go again with no clothes and everyone is getting on me for these hot jogging pants I'm in! However, I'm prepared mentally, and I go with the flow. They assured us our luggage will be here tomorrow so we all will wait and see. In the meantime, they have a shop called PX, and it is similar to a Wal-Mart. We purchased a few things to keep us until our luggage gets here. The plan is for the luggage to arrive and for us to depart to the next Base. Let's keep our fingers crossed for both!

Day 5
Bags arrived, but we did not depart, and it doesn't seem like we are going anywhere. Our flight times are normally in the morning, and now they are saying we are flying out at 10 p.m. That doesn't sound right. If I were betting, I'd say we are not going anywhere. Looks like I might have to ask a Sergeant McCamee for some gear... LOL! If we stay any longer, we will be locals.

Day6
I woke up this morning, and I couldn't see a thing. We are not going anywhere. At least I have clothes though, and I am really having a good time meeting different soldiers and seeing how passionate they are about what they do. I met a few soldiers that have count downs for when they can go home. The last couple evenings while we were hanging out at the base, we had an opportunity to watch the soldiers play in their basketball league. Wow, they are so serious about their games! They go hard... it's kind of funny because some can play and some are marginalized. These were the good games too, because it was playoff ball. I loved that they played as a team and there wasn't any arguing. They really were getting after it. Ok, so I have to admit, it was painful to watch. But, I enjoyed being out there with them nonetheless.

Later that evening, Rushia, Dale, Brian (our tour manager) and I went to the game room area that they have built for the troops to watch a movie... Hangover! It was a bootleg movie, and it was a very bad quality. Yes, the soldiers have bootlegs... LOL! We were watching this movie at 2 a.m. and anyone who knows me, knows that I go to bed at 10 p.m. I was struggling to watch the movie. It had its funny parts, but I was ready to go to sleep and leave Camp Bucca. I feel bad, because we missed three bases and those soldiers did not get a chance to see us. We can't control the weather, so hopefully tomorrow is our day.

Day 7
I thought seven was my lucky day... well, it's not, and we are stuck here once again. Luckily Sergeant McCrey had a few things planned out for us. I'm very sorry, but I cannot write about what I saw today... we were asked not to. I will say that it was a great experience and we were able to learn a few things. Most importantly, we met some soldiers that we didn't get to meet. Everything works out for the best. Stay tuned, because they are saying tomorrow is the day we fly... Do you believe? I believe!