Two VERY Long and Rewarding Days!

February 4, 2010 Q-West Northern Iraq

So this morning we had a lobby call of 2:30am for a 3am departure. After walking to the car, eyes half open, backs hunched and feet dragging we load our SUVs and continue on for 1.5 hours to Ali Ah Saleem where we received our body armor (battle rattle) and waited for 2 more hours.

Ali Ah Saleem is a hub base where the soldiers being deployed into Iraq take off from. When we loaded the C-130 we were among a full flight of deploying soldiers. Of course we 5 cheerleaders are filled with excitement, fed from our curiosity, and smiling from ear to ear. The crew we were flying with was from Fort Hood and the aircraft proudly displayed a Texas flag. While on the flight we socialized among the soldiers at the beginning and then each of us were able to go into the cockpit during flight. About an hour into it I looked to my right (toward the back of the plane – we were sitting in the front) and saw rows of soldiers facing each other, squished shoulder to shoulder, covered in battle rattle with their backpacks on their laps and eyes closed… ‘sleeping’. This was the first real tug on my heart. These soldiers are heading into Iraq to serve our country. We have no idea what they have left behind and we are ignorant about what they are about to embark on. At the end of the flight I asked a man from the crew if I would have a chance to say something to these soldiers. I just felt compelled to let them know how appreciated they are.
We arrive to Q-West and get to our ‘rooms’ also known as our CHU (chew), which stands for Container Housing Unit and it was literally a metal container, equipped with heat of course, and our bathrooms were 70 yards away. Our CHUs and the restrooms were behind huge concrete barricades! We then were taken around to different units to simply meet people around the base, this is when we found out were doing a performance that night, remember we were up at 2:30am and still had not recovered from jet lag! During our tour of Q-West were able to ride in an MRAP (Military Response A? P? – can’t remember). This is a simulation of a roll over in one of the HUGE military vehicles. It was awesome. We all buckled in, got the briefing and began to roll. We had our helmets on for this but unfortunately my head it too small and as we started going upside down my helmet fell off my head and tagged the soldier across from me in the stomach. It should not have been funny but I was upside down and the soldier was okay so I proceeded to have a laugh attack while hanging upside down. I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head!
That was our last stop before we had a measly 40 minutes to rest before going to the MWR center to prepare for the performance. The performance went well for how exhausted we all were. We followed the performance with autographs and pictures, and then called it a night. I’m pretty sure I was out the second my head it the pillow. It was the first good sleep I had in 4 days!
FFD – I am too tired to think of one since that was yesterday… you have now learned what a CHU is, so that’s your fact for the day.

February 5, 2010 JSS McHenry, Combat Patrol Base Daria & FOB Bernstein

Today’s activities came as a surprise to everyone. Last night we were informed that we would be loading Black Hawks at 9:00am and we would be on them for approximately 5 hours before we arrived at where are staying. They mentioned it would take this long due to stops. Unfortunately nobody said the stops were appearances of ours at small secluded bases. So we all decided to dress warm and comfortable for a long day of stop and go on a helicopter. As soon as we land, about 20 minutes later, I asked the guy if he knew why we were stopping if we were the only passengers on the Black Hawks. This is when we found out each stop was an appearance. Needless to say, with out showering, some in glasses (they don’t recommend flying in contact due to dust and possible chemicals) and helmet hair from our battle rattle, we pulled it off!! Oh, and Black Hawk helicoptors are the coolest thing I have ever been in.

The ride is so much fun and from Q-West to JSS Mc Henry we had to do some crazy maneuvers that felt like a rollercoaster!!!!!!
Our first stop was JSS Mc Henry. This place was just west of Kirkuk, the #1 oil producing city in Iraq. All of the places we stopped today are in the region of where Saddam Hussein was found. This was quick and fun appearance. It’s nice to visit the secluded camps because it is very rare that visitors see these soldiers. We received an excellence coin from Sergeant Major Blakey and then were on our way to the next FOB (Forward Operating Base).

Stop two was at Combat Patrol Base Daria. The black hawk ride there was the first time I felt a little fear. We had been in the air about 5 minutes and I suddenly see a flair come up from behind the aircraft right passed our open window that our side gunmen sit at with machine guns. Another flair immediately followed. I was on headset with crew and did my best to understand what they were saying but Ashley and I quickly grabbed hands and tried to breath! A few minutes later the co-captain comes on head set and asks ‘was anyone scared’, I came back with ‘hell yea what was that?’. I could not hear the explanation at the time but they explained when we landed. Basically the front of the aircraft has equipment that can detect different types of threats, when a threat is detected it sets off flares from the back of the helicopter that shoot to the front of the helicopter to warn the pilots and passengers. Of course I kept asking questions and as he continued to explain, another guy interrupts and says ‘that info is actually top secret’, so they stopped explaining.
At each base were briefed for safety on what to do in the case of an emergency and we are shown which bunker we are supposed to go to. During our briefing at Daria it was emphasized how important it was for us to understand what we were to do because they had two sneak attacks in their area in the past two months. Obviously nothing happened and we are fine. After our appearance they presented us with a hat they all wear!

Our third and final stop of the day was FOB Bernstein. Again it was an autograph and picture appearance. There were a few special things about this stop. We were the first visitors to ever pay a visit to the soldiers at this base and we participated in a reenlisting ceremony. Two of the soldiers decided to reenlist while we were there. The five of us held the flag behind the two soldiers while they were sworn back in.

We are now settled in at the location we are staying for the night and our accommodations are awesome. We each have our own room with big beds, across some rocky paths from a gym and lounge that has a restaurant, computers, tons of TVs, movies… it’s nice here. I will talk more about it later ;-)

Thanks again for following the blog. I hope you are enjoying reading about my experiences and maybe even learning a little bit about what it’s really like over here!

FFD – Tonight’s FFD isn’t really a fact but something I want to share. While we were at an appearance when of the soldiers was talking to one of the cheerleaders and mentioned that he and his girlfriend were going on a trip soon. She says how wonderful that is. He says he is very excited but nervous because sometimes they simply feel forgotten and it’s these trips that determine if that is true or not. If you are close to a soldier that is deployed, take the time to do something for them that let’s them know they are not forgotten!

GOD BLESS!!