Foxholes and Dogtags

NCO Business

So last week my NCOIC asked me if I have ever been inducted to the NCO corps. I gave him a blank look, which led him to believe that I hadn't been (of which he would be right) so he told me I would go through the whole ceremony next Tuesday, amidst my air sampling duties and to have a pair of shined boots and a pressed uniform.

I've been an NCO for 2 years and I'm just now getting inducted? I would rather cut the jazz and continue on with my duties. But he insists otherwise, so I guess after two years I will finally officially be inducted into the NCO Corps.

Who knows? Maybe this is what I was missing?

Meanwhile, I was put on the list to attend PLDC (primary leadership development course, in lamens terms, Sergeant School) even though I knocked that out before I got my promotion and had to inform them that I needed BNCOC (Basic Non-Commissioned Officer Course, AKA Staff Sergeant School). Yes, I've been doing the promotion thing properly and was focused on getting the school I needed for the next promotion up, not the one below. Unlike half of the E-5s in the task force who got conditionally promoted to E5 and are seeking out their E-6 without attending PLDC. Apparently, with the whole army thing of everyone getting deployed, they waived PLDC all the way to E-6 as long as they got into the class as soon as they returned from Deployment. Apparently a lot of people came back and let it slide, carrying the rank of E6 without ever even attending PLDC.

Way back when, PLDC was required before you could even get your E5. Now, because so many soldiers are ignoring it, if they don't get the school out of the way within a certain time period, the army will revoke the promotion and recoup the extra money you made at that pay grade.

Sucks to be them. Glad I got that out of the way.

My current quest, that of the Staff Sergeant, is now under speculation. I put in a promotion packet way back in November (though I put it together in August and had to work on it because of the absence of several things outside of my control) and I should get some word soon on whether or not it went through.

Suriname, South America

Back in 2002, I got the privelige of going to Suriname South America on a MedRette, AKA Medical Readiness Training Excercise. We went down there for two weeks and provided medical support to the people of Suriname, serving a duel purpose of getting our medical personnel valuable training as well as building a relationship with the people of Suriname to strengthen our aliances.

It was an interesting experience, and I took a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, some of them are MIA, but overall a neat experience. I've had these online for a while now, don't know why I didn't share them earlier.

Suriname Photo Album.

I dyed my hair dark during this time hoping to blend in a bit more. It really didn't help. And the brown faded really fast.

Here in Kosovo, they do something similar except they call them MEDCAPs. I'll get the opportunity in the near future to go on one of these. I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures.

meanwhile, enjoy Suriname.

Drill And Ceremony

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. They finally had a ceremony for the change of command here in Bondsteel as Task Force Med Falcon X retired its colors and Task Force Med Falcon XI was put up in its place.

Members from both Task Forces were required to attend. I was one of the unfortunate ones picked to be in the formation.

I usually don't mind formations. Honestly. But I have to admit that the army has a love affair with having a ceremony for everything. Whether it be graduation or change of command or a retirement or whatever. Sometimes, we just have to run through a graduation for a two day course where we are the only ones attending. Yes, I've had to do that before, dress rehearsal and everything.

In this circumstance, we had to wear our Kevlar and pistol belt and have our weapon at our side. I usually have my KFOR badge on my sleeve but in this case obviously that had to be put elsewhere. It is considered a sensitive item so I had to keep it with me.

I decided to put it up in the mesh of my Kevlar. I've put things up there before, sometimes it's a good place to store things you don't want to get lost. Like your cover.

Stupid me.

I had a severe headache as the thing pressed into my skull halfway through the ceremony. And my feet were getting soar, and for some reason, I had this really bad itch on my chest that was asking to be scratched.

Ehehe, I was in the first squad. Damn it. No scratching for you sarge!

One of the little ceremonies they performed was the change out of the unit colors, the ceremony begins with the Color Guard bringing out the American Colors, along with the Task Force Falcon Colors (I think, I didn't really get a good look at it) as well as the outgoing unit Colors. There's this little drill that happens where they take out the old and bring in the new.

I hope our Colors were not an omen. As soon as they were taken out of their bag and rose with the rest of the colors, the flag somehow lost its hook and slid down the staff. And it stayed that way throughout the entire ceremony.

Our colors at halfstaff, not a good sign. And I couldn't help but wonder when I could scratch.

The Military Mindset

I think I'm getting the hang of things here. You adapt habits when you are in uniform for any length of time.

One of the things that hits you right away is your cover. If you walk outside without it, you automatically feel naked and know immediately that you are missing something. The Cover was engrained into your brain in basic training, if you step outside and take more then a step without having your hat on your head, the drills are all over you and telling you to beat your face.

Needless to say, I picked up on that one really quick. Its funny after being in uniform for any length of time and then putting on civilians and not wearing a hat. After I got into AIT and was actually allowed to wear civilians, that was a trip. I felt. . . naked.

The same thing is going on here, except for one minor difference. Something I've been calling my fifth limb because it is usually slapped over my shoulder and hanging down off my right side and conveniantly smacking into things but most consistantly other soldiers. I've been calling it Jadacious Maximus, Instrument of Death (Jay for short, don't ask what Jadacious means, I made it up) and if I leave it anywhere and start walking out of the room, I suddenly feel naked. Again.

It's hard to ignore a 9 pound rifle (or however much that sucker weighs with the Combat sling and Fully Loaded magazine thats hooked to the buttstock ready to load when need be) when you are used to it being there, as well as the absence thereof. The only time I don't have it on me is when I take a shower or go to the gym. When I'm working in the hospital, I am allowed to lock it up as long as the room it is secured in is also secure, but must have it in my possession once I leave.

Its kind of like a security blanket. It is ALWAYS THERE! You can't help but name something that is always present.

This was engrained in my head this morning as I was walking out the door to go to work, but couldn't shake the thought that I was missing something.

It was my cover. And my rifle. Don't leave home without either.

Letters and Care Package Type Thingees

In case you have the desire to send items that don't contain poison or Anthrax, this is my Snail Mail Address.

SGT Kami Erickson
Task Force Med Falcon 6B
Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo
APO AE 09340

It is an APO address, so it SHOULD cost the same as if you were sending mail within the continental united states. It does require a customs form if you are actually sending something other then a letter.

I only give this out, because it isn't that difficult to find it on the web. Most specifically, it is listed here, sortof. But truthfully, you can't just come up and find me using this address. There are no building numbers so I think I'm safe.

If you want to be nice and send care packages for all soldiers within my Unit and not just me (because I have become rather spoiled) you can send it to my section by replacing my name with Preventive Medicine. I think they would appreciate the good will shown by my readers if you feel the need.

We also go out on MEDCAPS from time to time, which is where we go out into the community and provide medical support to the local people who may need it. In these circumstances, we can give things to the people of Kosovo as well.

But from what I hear, they have the best dressed children in any orphanage anywhere, however.

Updated Note: Somebody asked me what I want them to send me and I stood back thinking about this. See, I have this problem, and everybody in my family who has tried to shop for me during Christmas can vouch for it. I am an impossible person to shop for because if I need/want something, I usually go out and buy it on my own. So, I never know WHAT i want material wise.

One thing that never fails is hand written letters, about stuff going on back in the states or what not. Just a personalized little note or whatever. Things like that always go over well with me. And if you send me a hand-written letter, I promise I'll return it. (unless of course, I get swamped with letters)

Somebody else asked me if I had an Amazon wishlist up or not. I admit I have the same problem, and with Amazon I'm largely surfing it and picking up things now and then on it. So for kicks and giggles, I made a wishlist.

Its largely in the works, as I'm not expecting a bunch of strangers to buy me a $90 boxed set of the original Twilight Zone :)

OPSEC and Blogs

I've been here for just over two weeks and already something has come up out of the ordinary. But this incident has brought up an important aspect in regards to my blog.

Some things I can't talk about. Specifically, things about my job that is out of the ordinary.

This incident that popped up? Can't talk about it. Can't even give slight details in regards to what it is about.

I guess that is a problem that has come up in the blogging community and most importantly, MilBlogs. Especially in regards to something that details confidentiality. I was specifically told "this doesn't leave the room".

So why do I mention it if I can't talk about it? Because I guess it details the limitations of this blog and what I can and cannot say.

As a soldier, I don't do a lot of soldier tasks within this deployment. I do my job and the items detailed within it, such as surveys and inspections, and then I go back to my room for the remainder of the evening. I get opportunities to go out and about during the day and see some of the country, as well as basic maintenance tasks that involve taking care of a HMMWV as well as clean my weapon (which goes everywhere with me) and shine my boots when I feel like it, but it is limited.

Kosovo has so far been low key, some action might pick up this spring when they start looking more at declaring independence, or when the UN decides if they want to continue in the direction we are going, but I got to thinking about the whole issue with Kosovo. Up until I got word of the deployment, which I volunteered for, I had forgotten about it. Has Kosovo, which largely appears to be rather a successful and peaceful mission, lost its interest in the news because there is no interest in something that might be percieved as an overall success? Or is it still to early to tell whether or not the long term effects of the multinational occupation might hold?

It seems that many people have forgotten that we are even here. Roughly 2500 US troops still in the Balkans, and it appears that we are going to be here for a little while longer.

Iraq stealing all of our glory and here I am, stuck here doing my job and I can't even talk about it.

I guess i can start with the little things. And the routine things. Sometimes, even those things can be interesting, if not glorified.

Being In Kosovo

I have now been here for about, eh, two weeks, give or take a couple days. It has been fairly interesting, to say the least, not to leave out that we've been pretty much non-stop since we got here. This is supposedly my day off. I spent it collecting air samples and learning the procedures for returning a HMMW-V from Dispatch, which includes hosing it down. That was fun, when it was just at freezing temperatures and there is snow all over the place. I haven't been taking advantage of the kodak moments like I should be. I did manage to get one of me hosing down the Four Seater (military terminology would term it as a M998.)

My computer has just ran out of batteries and will not let me show you however. Curse the computer.

My favorite (note sarcasm) has been the MASS-CAL excercise, however. Becuase our offices happen to be located inside of the hospital, most people seem to be under the impression that our job intails patient Care. WRONG! We are anti-medics, we don't see patients, our job is to prevent the medics from having to see patients. And if they have to see patients, it is for bullet holes, not because they are actually sick. But because our job only goes as far as recommendations (we recommend that you do not eat this sandwich made from ingrediants that have been sitting out on the counter for the last four days), the medics will still have a job.

*sighs*

Meanwhile, back to MASS-CAL's, you might be asking yourself, what this fascinating acronym I have just bestowed upon you might mean, well, in short, it means Massive Casualties. That means anything more then the Hospital is capable of taking care of on a regular day to day basis. Those numbers are not for me to share.

The MASS-CAL excercise is to prepare all the doctors and nurses and other 91 Series MOS' to prepare themselves in case a situation that would present itself as being deamed worthy to be called a MASS-CAL might come up.

I have been given the task of QRF. Don't ask me what the official Acronym stands for, I just know it means 'stand outside the EMT entrance and make sure nobody that's not supposed to get in the hospital gets in'. It is a taxing job, but I guess somebody has to do it.

So anyway, for the last week, they've been prepping us up on this MASS-CAL excercise practically every evening for a couple hours, where I proceed to suit up in Full Battle Rattle, head outside the door, and stand there. Then I freeze.

I loved how the Sergeant Major put it. "It is your job to put yourself between the aggressor and the hospital, so that if he has anything, you are to get him as far away as you can so that he doesn't blow up the nurses and doctors."

In other words, I'm expendable. That's good to know. If I do have to blow myself up for the sake of the hospital, they better give me something. Like a medal, or something. Or rather, the doctors I just saved can patch me up again and make me almost as good as new.

Yeah, that's it.

Meanwhile, this has turned out to be the better deployment to be in, by far. It's basically come to here or the Sandbox. If I stay in for any length of time, I'm sure I'll get my shot there too.

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