In my haste to report on yesterday's events I failed to note an important milestone. Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of my unit reporting to Camp Shelby, MS, for our pre-deployment training. Today bears witness to a more ominous anniversary - my annual anthrax booster shot. It's ominous because it means I'm due another annual booster. The anthrax shot is a real bitch. I can't adequately explain the pain. It's not from the needle. About thirty seconds after the needle is extracted from your arm you feel a painful burning from within your arm. This burning pain can last for a few seconds, a few minutes, or even a few hours. I have this shot to look forward to later this week. There's no choice in the matter. All immunizations are mandatory when they are due. It's a standing order.
Our training was complete so our only order of business was a return flight to Liberty Pad. Unfortunately, our flight wasn't sourced so we were forced to pursue space available. The stroke of good fortune was that the brigade we trained was able to manipulate the manifests to get us on a flight. Our showtime was 1715. That gave us the rest of the day to chill. FOB Falcon is a very small place so it isn't difficult to walk around and see everything that it offers. It was slightly warmer outside so after breakfast I walked the loop around the place just to see everything. Then I stopped by the internet cafe to send in a SITREP and check my e-mail. After lunch I went back to the ALOC to make sure all was well with our flight. Then I walked back to my hooch, packed, finished reading my magazines, and took a short nap. I never did see anyone from my team. They laid low all day.
My ride came to pick me up about 1645. Once we checked in at flight ops, we walked to the DFAC for supper. The only thing on TV was the election returns from the Michigan primary. Nobody seemed interested. One thing I can say about Joe, he votes but he isn't prone to political discussion. It's one of those subjects that he keeps to himself. That's fine with me. I hate talking politics with anyone.
Back at the pax terminal, we were joined by a bunch of Joes that were on the same flight. There was also a French journalist who had an interesting story about Kuwait. Apparently, his cameraman was Mexican. When the Kuwaitis saw his passport, they immediately told him that, "Mexicans are not welcome here. You can't come here and take our jobs." They put him on a flight to Mexico and sent his camera equipment on a different flight to Malaysia. They told him not to ever come back. The Frenchman was completely baffled (as were we). He then told us how happy he was that France now had a new President who was promoting good relations with the United States (he was being genuine). He called Jacque Chirac a "pussy" who always went on vacation to Libya or Lebanon with his "money friends". The Frenchman was a talkative, jovial sort. His stories were quite enjoyable. He had been imbedded with some of the Joes on our flight and it was obvious they had struck up a strong friendship. The Joes were sorry to see him leave.
About 1900 we headed to our Blackhawks. There was no frost on the "Bridge of Peril". Everyone crossed without incident. By 1930 we were at BIAP. We still needed to get to Liberty Pad, which required a series of shuttle buses. First we rode one to Striker Stables. Then we rode another bus to Victory Base. From Victory Base, we rode to Liberty Pad. It was almost 2100 by then. My team was dragging ass by now. We walked in slow motion to our NTV, loaded up, and took off to our billets. I was back in the hooch about 2130. My night drama wasn't over. I arrived at the hooch to find my heater/AC unit wasn't working. I tinkered with the thing for another thirty minutes when, amazingly, it came back to life. By 2230, life in my Liberty hooch was back to normal.
Our training was complete so our only order of business was a return flight to Liberty Pad. Unfortunately, our flight wasn't sourced so we were forced to pursue space available. The stroke of good fortune was that the brigade we trained was able to manipulate the manifests to get us on a flight. Our showtime was 1715. That gave us the rest of the day to chill. FOB Falcon is a very small place so it isn't difficult to walk around and see everything that it offers. It was slightly warmer outside so after breakfast I walked the loop around the place just to see everything. Then I stopped by the internet cafe to send in a SITREP and check my e-mail. After lunch I went back to the ALOC to make sure all was well with our flight. Then I walked back to my hooch, packed, finished reading my magazines, and took a short nap. I never did see anyone from my team. They laid low all day.
My ride came to pick me up about 1645. Once we checked in at flight ops, we walked to the DFAC for supper. The only thing on TV was the election returns from the Michigan primary. Nobody seemed interested. One thing I can say about Joe, he votes but he isn't prone to political discussion. It's one of those subjects that he keeps to himself. That's fine with me. I hate talking politics with anyone.
Back at the pax terminal, we were joined by a bunch of Joes that were on the same flight. There was also a French journalist who had an interesting story about Kuwait. Apparently, his cameraman was Mexican. When the Kuwaitis saw his passport, they immediately told him that, "Mexicans are not welcome here. You can't come here and take our jobs." They put him on a flight to Mexico and sent his camera equipment on a different flight to Malaysia. They told him not to ever come back. The Frenchman was completely baffled (as were we). He then told us how happy he was that France now had a new President who was promoting good relations with the United States (he was being genuine). He called Jacque Chirac a "pussy" who always went on vacation to Libya or Lebanon with his "money friends". The Frenchman was a talkative, jovial sort. His stories were quite enjoyable. He had been imbedded with some of the Joes on our flight and it was obvious they had struck up a strong friendship. The Joes were sorry to see him leave.
About 1900 we headed to our Blackhawks. There was no frost on the "Bridge of Peril". Everyone crossed without incident. By 1930 we were at BIAP. We still needed to get to Liberty Pad, which required a series of shuttle buses. First we rode one to Striker Stables. Then we rode another bus to Victory Base. From Victory Base, we rode to Liberty Pad. It was almost 2100 by then. My team was dragging ass by now. We walked in slow motion to our NTV, loaded up, and took off to our billets. I was back in the hooch about 2130. My night drama wasn't over. I arrived at the hooch to find my heater/AC unit wasn't working. I tinkered with the thing for another thirty minutes when, amazingly, it came back to life. By 2230, life in my Liberty hooch was back to normal.
2 comments:
I was doing some research on FOB Falcon and saw that you were there. I maybe heading to FOB Falcon in a few weeks and was wondering if you could give some information on it? Such as gym, internet, PX, and the general surroundings. I really appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks.
SGT Evans, Robert
robert.evansii@gmail.com
I was doing some research on FOB Falcon and came across your blog. I maybe heading to FOB Falcon in a couple weeks and was wondering if you could hook me up with some information? Such as PX, gym, internet in the chu's or not, and just general information on your stay. I really appreciate it.
Thanks
Bob
robert.evansii@gmail.com
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