Saturday, January 12, 2008

Living on the FOB

So, it's been a while since I could post anything, but I am living in the middle of nowhere literally right now. Let me tell you winter in North Carolina is not warm and add to that the fact I'm living in a tent, showering in a shower trailer in lukewarm water and peeing in a Port-a-pottie. Oh and try having your period in such conditions. Army training is great! Ha!

Basically, we are learning how to be soldiers. I've been issued body armour, a kevlar helmet, an M4 rifle and an M9 pistol. Anytime I leave the Forward Operating Base (FOB) I have to wear all this gear and take my weapons with me. And my weapons have to go with me everywhere except the shower, and that includes going with me to eat chow and to pee. I've decided they are my new boyfriends. My rifle is Chuck and my pistol is Chico.

I get two hot meals a day, and lunch is an Meal Ready to Eat (MRE). Yummy! Meals in the chow hall are eaten standing at a table. There are no chairs. But the food is good.

Our tent is a 16 man tent, and there are 7 females on my team, so we have the run of the place. The tent is pretty huge and we have HVAC heating and air conditioning. It's not too bad, but I'll be glad when I'm not sleeping on a cot.

We are learning lots of fun things, like how to drive humvees, shoot our weapons, convoy security, gate security and more language training. It's all good stuff that we will definitely need over in AFG. And this is only for 5 more weeks until we get to AFG where we'll have hot water and live in real buildings with flushing toilets and heat and be a lot more comfortable then we are right now.

I had a great Christmas. Sorry to everyone I missed in UT, but my time was so short that I only had time for family. I got to see all my siblings and I even got to see my newest nephew who was born on 27 December while I was visiting my sister. He was only 3 hours old when I got to see him and he'll be over a year old before I see him again, but at least I got to see him.

I'm doing good. I get to go to church tomorrow morning, before I head off to the shooting simulator to learn how to shoot my M4. What a way to spend a Sunday! Life is good though and I'm managing to keep my smile on.