SGT Heis hard at work proving that Army broadcast journalists really can work 72 hours without sleep.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
MRE...and not the kind you eat...
After a week of mobilization inprocessing, paperwork, and other minute details we FINALLY get to do what a Public Affairs Detachment does...Public Affairs stuff.
Yesterday we started our MRE...Mission Readiness Exercise. We invaded "Camp Liberty" Public Affairs Office (otherwise known as the Ft. Dix Public Affairs Office) and set up the Media Operations Center. Almost instantly there was a flurry of activity with journalists finding story ideas and setting up interviews, officers looking for information on the website and monitoring input from our "white cell", i.e. the guys behind the scenes who are running our exercise.
Think the Wizard of Oz except you have to pay attention to the man (and woman) behind the curtain! We get so-called media queries, answers from higher, and other information from the white cell and we have to react accordingly with press releases or distribution of information or even photographs. It's very realistic and fun and a chance for me, as the commander of this fine unit, to finally see what my officers and journalists are capable of. So far it's been very impressive, even the half-asleep night shift.
We will do this at least through Thursday and then we can recoup, do an after action review, clean our cameras, load our equipment back on the conex, and continue through the regular mobilization process.
On another note, as our movement day looms closer and closer our Soldiers are starting to accept the reality that they are going to be gone for a year. While we were in Bryan they still had a lot of freedoms, freedoms that we no longer have, i.e. wearing civilian clothes and going out to restaurants, nightspots, movies, or any other form of "after hours" activities they choose. Now we cannot drive private vehicles and we have to eat chow at the dining facility. It's a very long list of things that we have had to adapt to as part of the mobilization process.
But we still have e-mail. I remember deploying to Bosnia in January of 1998 through Ft. Benning, Georgia. The Internet and e-mail was still relatively new and to check e-mail Soldiers had to go to one building at Ft. Benning and use WebTV that was very slow. Most Soldiers didn't use it because they didn't even have a computer at home, much less e-mail.
Now, here at Ft. Dix, you walk into the dayroom in the evenings and there are many Soldiers in there, hunkered down over laptops, sending e-mail and doing other things. Most of our Soldiers have laptops, including my little ultra-portable, and the barracks have wireless Internet access. We can e-mail or blog from just about anywhere these days. How things have changed!
Ahhh, technology...I'm guessing the next time I deploy (shut your mouth!) instead of getting into theater via aircraft I'll just be beamed from one place to another in an instant. :)
Yesterday we started our MRE...Mission Readiness Exercise. We invaded "Camp Liberty" Public Affairs Office (otherwise known as the Ft. Dix Public Affairs Office) and set up the Media Operations Center. Almost instantly there was a flurry of activity with journalists finding story ideas and setting up interviews, officers looking for information on the website and monitoring input from our "white cell", i.e. the guys behind the scenes who are running our exercise.
Think the Wizard of Oz except you have to pay attention to the man (and woman) behind the curtain! We get so-called media queries, answers from higher, and other information from the white cell and we have to react accordingly with press releases or distribution of information or even photographs. It's very realistic and fun and a chance for me, as the commander of this fine unit, to finally see what my officers and journalists are capable of. So far it's been very impressive, even the half-asleep night shift.
We will do this at least through Thursday and then we can recoup, do an after action review, clean our cameras, load our equipment back on the conex, and continue through the regular mobilization process.
On another note, as our movement day looms closer and closer our Soldiers are starting to accept the reality that they are going to be gone for a year. While we were in Bryan they still had a lot of freedoms, freedoms that we no longer have, i.e. wearing civilian clothes and going out to restaurants, nightspots, movies, or any other form of "after hours" activities they choose. Now we cannot drive private vehicles and we have to eat chow at the dining facility. It's a very long list of things that we have had to adapt to as part of the mobilization process.
But we still have e-mail. I remember deploying to Bosnia in January of 1998 through Ft. Benning, Georgia. The Internet and e-mail was still relatively new and to check e-mail Soldiers had to go to one building at Ft. Benning and use WebTV that was very slow. Most Soldiers didn't use it because they didn't even have a computer at home, much less e-mail.
Now, here at Ft. Dix, you walk into the dayroom in the evenings and there are many Soldiers in there, hunkered down over laptops, sending e-mail and doing other things. Most of our Soldiers have laptops, including my little ultra-portable, and the barracks have wireless Internet access. We can e-mail or blog from just about anywhere these days. How things have changed!
Ahhh, technology...I'm guessing the next time I deploy (shut your mouth!) instead of getting into theater via aircraft I'll just be beamed from one place to another in an instant. :)
Sunday, January 11, 2009
What'll get us out of here faster?
That's the answer we've had to the main question around Ft. Dix this week.
Ft. Dix is halfway between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants so there is a good balance of fans from both teams here. So, as we've moved through inprocessing and people have asked us "are you Eagles or Giants fans?" we respond with "what'll get us out of here faster?"
Or if we see a jersey from that team we start talking about how wonderful Donovan McNabb is or how talented Eli Manning is...hoping that we'll be done just a bit quicker.
It has been crazy busy here since we arrived late Tuesday. The mob process used to be 3 months long...now it's about 21 days so the minute we got up Wednesday morning everyone wanted a piece of the 211th and its staff. I was expected to defy physics and be in no less than 4 places at one time! As usual, we handled everything with our usual mix of humor, inside jokes, and a touch of sarcasm.
So far we've worked our way through finance, family support, and medical...including yet another typhoid shot for me! I don't know how the Army continues to find shots to give me.
Next week we start our MRE...Mission Readiness Exercise. We deploy to "Camp Victory" (otherwise known as the Ft. Dix Public Affairs Office) and run our Media Operations Center 24/7. This is the first time our journalists have been able to get out and do real stories on real Soldiers doing real things so it's going to be nice to see their talent. We've got 4 - 5 days of that and then we go into range operations. We qualified with our M16 rifles when we were here in October but since then we have acquired M4 rifles so we have to requalify. Considering it's going to be about 4 degrees outside when we do, that's going to be a fun day. Not.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers...we're doing a fine job and all of our friends and families should be proud of us!
Ft. Dix is halfway between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants so there is a good balance of fans from both teams here. So, as we've moved through inprocessing and people have asked us "are you Eagles or Giants fans?" we respond with "what'll get us out of here faster?"
Or if we see a jersey from that team we start talking about how wonderful Donovan McNabb is or how talented Eli Manning is...hoping that we'll be done just a bit quicker.
It has been crazy busy here since we arrived late Tuesday. The mob process used to be 3 months long...now it's about 21 days so the minute we got up Wednesday morning everyone wanted a piece of the 211th and its staff. I was expected to defy physics and be in no less than 4 places at one time! As usual, we handled everything with our usual mix of humor, inside jokes, and a touch of sarcasm.
So far we've worked our way through finance, family support, and medical...including yet another typhoid shot for me! I don't know how the Army continues to find shots to give me.
Next week we start our MRE...Mission Readiness Exercise. We deploy to "Camp Victory" (otherwise known as the Ft. Dix Public Affairs Office) and run our Media Operations Center 24/7. This is the first time our journalists have been able to get out and do real stories on real Soldiers doing real things so it's going to be nice to see their talent. We've got 4 - 5 days of that and then we go into range operations. We qualified with our M16 rifles when we were here in October but since then we have acquired M4 rifles so we have to requalify. Considering it's going to be about 4 degrees outside when we do, that's going to be a fun day. Not.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers...we're doing a fine job and all of our friends and families should be proud of us!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
How Do You Measure A Year?
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee,
in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
how do you measure a year in a life?
Jonathan Larson - Seasons of Love - Rent Soundtrack
Tomorrow, January 5, is the Big Day. You know..That Day. That Date. The one that's printed on our mobilization orders. The Date we've been working towards since 10 October (and sooner). The Date that it all begins.
How do you measure a year out of your life? A year away from your kids, spouse, lover, friends, life? How do you measure a year of your life with little privacy and few personal freedoms? Right now a year seems immeasurable... a lifetime from this perspective at this moment in time. I just put my car in storage and it's going to be more than a year before I drive it (or probably any other vehicle) again. All my household goods are in tan boxes in a storage unit. I said goodbye to my friends and family last summer when I relocated to Bryan but it's still difficult knowing that they are soon going to be so much farther away than they are now...out of text and phone call reach. Other Soldiers in my unit are spending today saying good-bye to their families, their friends, their lives. Tomorrow we will all be back together at the Reserve Center in Bryan and doing final preparations for our departure to Ft. Dix early Tuesday morning.
I believe that the year spent in Iraq will go by quickly. Before we know it we'll be welcoming our replacement unit (if there is one) and getting our gear ready for our return to the US. Then we can do the reverse of what's happening today...seeing our families, seeing our friends, getting back into our lives.
And in between?
A lifetime of adventures. A chance to experience a culture directly opposite of what have here in the US. A chance to grow personally and professionally, to look back in 5 years and say "I was a part of that" or "I did that". A chance to meet new people and learn new things. A chance to grow as a human being and learn something new about yourself.
This year will be good or bad for each Soldier, depending on the attitude they bring with them tomorrow. For me, it's melancholy...it was 6 years ago that I was doing the exact same thing at this time: prepping for deployment to Kuwait and then possibly Iraq. I left for mob station at Ft. Benning on 4 January 2003 as ADVON for the 318th PAOC. We didn't know what the future held for us at the time since there was still a chance that Saddam Hussein would turn himself in before the 18 March deadline. How ironic that I was one of the first Public Affairs Officers into Iraq in 2003 and, hopefully, will be one of the last ones out.
Here I sit in my apartment, empty of everything except what is going to Iraq with me. My life feels kind of empty as well right now. But tomorrow? That will change as I work with the unit to get the last of the gear packed and shipped, talk to our bus drivers, turn in my computer, and clean out my desk.
Then for a year I'll be busy and my life will be full. Adventures. That's how I'm going to mark my year.
Oh yeah, and definitely cups of coffee. ;)
five hundred twenty five thousand moments so dear.
Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee,
in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes,
how do you measure a year in a life?
Jonathan Larson - Seasons of Love - Rent Soundtrack
Tomorrow, January 5, is the Big Day. You know..That Day. That Date. The one that's printed on our mobilization orders. The Date we've been working towards since 10 October (and sooner). The Date that it all begins.
How do you measure a year out of your life? A year away from your kids, spouse, lover, friends, life? How do you measure a year of your life with little privacy and few personal freedoms? Right now a year seems immeasurable... a lifetime from this perspective at this moment in time. I just put my car in storage and it's going to be more than a year before I drive it (or probably any other vehicle) again. All my household goods are in tan boxes in a storage unit. I said goodbye to my friends and family last summer when I relocated to Bryan but it's still difficult knowing that they are soon going to be so much farther away than they are now...out of text and phone call reach. Other Soldiers in my unit are spending today saying good-bye to their families, their friends, their lives. Tomorrow we will all be back together at the Reserve Center in Bryan and doing final preparations for our departure to Ft. Dix early Tuesday morning.
I believe that the year spent in Iraq will go by quickly. Before we know it we'll be welcoming our replacement unit (if there is one) and getting our gear ready for our return to the US. Then we can do the reverse of what's happening today...seeing our families, seeing our friends, getting back into our lives.
And in between?
A lifetime of adventures. A chance to experience a culture directly opposite of what have here in the US. A chance to grow personally and professionally, to look back in 5 years and say "I was a part of that" or "I did that". A chance to meet new people and learn new things. A chance to grow as a human being and learn something new about yourself.
This year will be good or bad for each Soldier, depending on the attitude they bring with them tomorrow. For me, it's melancholy...it was 6 years ago that I was doing the exact same thing at this time: prepping for deployment to Kuwait and then possibly Iraq. I left for mob station at Ft. Benning on 4 January 2003 as ADVON for the 318th PAOC. We didn't know what the future held for us at the time since there was still a chance that Saddam Hussein would turn himself in before the 18 March deadline. How ironic that I was one of the first Public Affairs Officers into Iraq in 2003 and, hopefully, will be one of the last ones out.
Here I sit in my apartment, empty of everything except what is going to Iraq with me. My life feels kind of empty as well right now. But tomorrow? That will change as I work with the unit to get the last of the gear packed and shipped, talk to our bus drivers, turn in my computer, and clean out my desk.
Then for a year I'll be busy and my life will be full. Adventures. That's how I'm going to mark my year.
Oh yeah, and definitely cups of coffee. ;)
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