The Desert Excursion: 365 days in Iraq - a 24/7 Soldier Medic

2007-07-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well folks, here it is. The is my last official blog from the Middle East.

It has been a long road but finally we can see the end. Our bags are on our backs and we are headed home. It has been lots of fun sharing this whole experience with everyone and I have enjoyed all the comments and e-mails from all of you.

Thanks to all of you that kept in touch, sent letters or packages, and thought about me. I hope to see many of you when I get home.

See you in the states,
Nick

The Waiting Game

2007-06-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

Another long break in the blog. . .

Next month I will be coming home. As exciting as that may seem for people at home, for the majority of us here it will be a nerve racking experience. Believe it or not, but I have more anxiety when I think about coming home then I have ever had while I have been here. In short: we are scared.

Inevitably, almost all discussions with my fellow soldiers at this point leads to talking about home. They chat excitably about what their plans are, where they are going to school, who they are coming home to, their jobs, their kids, and their spouses. Then they proceed with caution and nervous voices as they talk about what all those things actually mean. What am I doing when I get home? Who will be there when I get home? Will life be the same as it was before?

So, with only a few weeks left the tension is building and our patience is running thin. It's almost like punishment when you don't have any work to do because then your mind is relegated to thinking about home and the anxiety sets in again. I can only go to the gym so much and the rest of the time off I sit and stare at the ceiling. Most our our things are gone and the two bags left are ten minutes away from being packed. Now it's a waiting game and we are trying to find anything to make the time pass by unnoticed.

More next time,
Nick

The Eye of the Sandstorm

2007-05-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

One of the best sandstorms I have seen in the past 13months here. The sky is actually orange.

Well things are certainly interesting here lately in Iraq, but then again that is par for the course I suppose. I wish that I could talk about what has been happening but I will have to limit my narrative to those things that won't result in my blog being shut down by the "man".

We had a wicked sandstorm here the other day that undoubtedly is the worst I have ever seen. The storm actually left a silty layer of sand and dirt throughout the whole area. Stepping out of my room in the morning it felt as though it had snowed because you could actually see trails through the rocks where people had walked through the sediment that accumulated after the storm. You couldn't go so much as 20 feet without being completely covered head to toe in sand and yet even the shelter of the hospital couldn't provide relief. Our emergency room, halls and ward looked as though an explosion had shook the whole hospital into a cloudy haze.

I noted earlier that I have started boxing in addition to my daily workouts and I have to say that I am really liking it. I sparred for the first time last week and once this week also. I am getting a hang of the concept but it takes a while to really be comfortable out there one on one with somebody punching you. One bloody lip and and a bruised nose later I am ready to go again.

As this deployment winds down we hope that we can prevent as many losses as possible. It would be a shame to come this far to lose somebody now but we came close recently and that is something we would hate to have. It has been almost eerily inevitable, if you believe in superstition, that you will go the whole tour without a death and then just as you are handing off the mission to the next unit it happens. Sure, we have lost soldiers in our brigade within the other battalions but we have yet to lose one in our unit. So goal number one still remains: bring everyone home.

Anxiety is slowly setting in to those who are thinking about home. Next month should be our last, and for most the idea of going home is just an impossible thought. Are they really going to send us home this time? Most of us have held to the theory that we won't believe it until we are on that plane ride home and even then I am not sure I will be able to grasp the reality that I am heading back to the real world. What is that like again?

Pax,

Nick

An Oasis in the Middle East

2007-05-08T03:50:00.000-07:00

After another long break from blogging, I come writing again from beautiful Iraq; sunny skies and 115 degrees.

After plugging away through 12 months here and with the extension added we were allowed on pass for four days to Qatar last week. We had a great group of us from our unit going and needless to say we had a spectacular time together enjoying a calmer portion of the Middle East. It was almost surreal to us at first that we could actually go out in public without weapons, body armor, or armored vehicles. People didn't hurl insults at us, they didn't glare, and they weren't trying to kill us. It was an altogether great feeling to be accepted as a human being again without the stigma of soldiers in uniform; we were just there to relax, and the work of the soldier was put aside.

The beautiful country of Qatar that is famously known for it's early pearling endeavours and more recently their oil production is one of the richest countries in the world and quite modern by western standards. We were able to eat some great food, swim, see the Persian Gulf, and enjoy a little bit of the culture. The country is very small but rapidly rising and their racial diversity is near what you would see in urban America, with workers from the East and West migrating there for business prospects. The trip was definitely a highlight of my deployment here so far.

And now we are all back to work, and in our heads we still dream about all the fun we had. Now our focus is on how nice it will be to finally go home and trade our military life for the stark contrast of the civilian world. What a relief that will be and yet nerve racking at the same time. We had our "60 day out" redeployment brief the other day warning us about the things we are to expect upon going home. Some of it was serious, but most was quite comical. ". . .Watch out when operating lawn mowers, you haven't used them in a long time. . .Be careful swimming, you may not be as capable as you used to be. . ." And somehow this is ironic considering we have been carrrying and operating multiple automatic weapons, watching the highways for road-side bombs and hoping that a mortar or rocket doesn't fall on our laps while we sleep. Call me crazy if somehow a weedwacker just doesn't sound too daunting at this point.

Now I am not saying officialy or un-officially when we are coming home because I don't have the right to do that but I can say that we are packing three out of four of our bags in connexes by the end of this month. I will say that I am thinking I will be enjoying August in Minnesota and maybe even a couple weeks of July. Take that for what it is worth, but I can't say.

Enjoying the wonderful Iraq summer,
Nick

April showers bring May. . .Sandstorms?

2007-04-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

Well friends, it has been quite a while since my last post and I suppose I have wet your appetite.

With the temperatures rising and the days getting longer, the soldiers are beginning to scatter like camel spiders as soon as the sunlight begins to show itself. It is still relatively "cool" right now with temps in the 90's but soon enough we will be experiencing the full wrath of the desert rays.

Congrats to all the new units that have heard about the new extension orders for all Army deployments increasing from 12 months to 15. Since our unit has already been extended and we are nearing our 21st month on deployment I have little sympathy, however, I would never wish for any unit to go this long. With the Army making the new deployments 15 months, and like I said we are near 21 months away from home, the Army is shattering it's reputation and it's attempts to make this war appear like progress is being made.

First, taking a National Guard unit such as ourselves, and deploying us for nearly two years away from families, school, and occupations is ludicrous. Then, expecting them to deploy after only a year back home just puts the icing on the cake. The Army is going to lose many veteran and young soldiers alike, including myself, as a result of this decision. Second, National Guard families are not like Active Army families and the impact of these prolonged deployments will diminish the support of the families and in turn the soldiers' commitment to this military.

Today's Iraq Tip: Watch your boots when things get bloody, it's hard to wash off.

Until next time,

Nick

Book Recommendation: Henderson the Rain King, Saul Bellow

Bryan McDonough - We Won't Forget.

2007-03-25T20:23:00.000-07:00

Memories of Bryan

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It's been over three months now and I still cry every time I watch this. I will never forget Bryan or any of our other soldiers for the rest of my life. No matter what you think of this war, just remember that good Men and Women are putting their lives on the line, and some pay with their life; it effects us all.

Martius iam?

2007-03-13T12:24:00.000-07:00

Emily and I in the ER

So it is March now. If you may recall, this is when I arrived over here a year ago. More pointedly, March 14th was the date that we were supposed to hand over our missions to the unit replacing us. In effect, you could say that we now begin our official extension. I won't lament any further than I already have in the past, just quickly making the notice that, arguably, we have served our required time here; for most, March 21st will landmark the year and a half point for this deployment. The question now is, will our extension to support the "surge" in troops actually get anything accomplished? Only time will tell, but even then the answer will be murky.

Life in the ER is quiet here for the most part. Most of the time we see the common ailments, sprains, kidney stones, infections, cuts and so forth. Occasionally, such as the other day, we had a patient with a gunshot wound to the neck which would be the most excitement I have seen in a few months.

Spring is upon us and the key feature is the sandstorms; dust inhabiting every corner, falling lightly upon anything in our metal can that we call a room. We had one that lasted for nearly 24 hours last week and is was not a pleasant experience. Do we really have to stay here for another summer? It was bad enough to go through one summer here, but a second time? Luckily, I work the night shift and I haven't had to deal with the temps that are rising during the day. Nonetheless, we head into the wicked climate of the desert summer soon.

Until next time,
Nick

P.S.- Recomended fiction reading: Darkness at Noon, Alfred Koestler; Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov; Catch-22, Joseph Heller.

Non-Fiction: Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer; Marley and Me, John Grogan.

Agony

2007-02-26T05:41:00.000-08:00

Despite the fact that I work everyday in a war zone thousands of miles away from my family and friends, my most depressing point this week was somewhere else: the gym.

I stepped into the gym for the first time since getting sick two weeks ago. For the week and and half that I had been bed ridden I hadn't even thought about wanting to get out of bed, let alone lift an arm or a leg. I hadn't eaten the whole time I was sick and I was just able to get food down my palate when I decided it was time to get back to work. I stepped on the scale. I knew it wasn't going to be good, it wasn't. I had lost 15 pounds as a result of the infection and the resulting surgery. I didn't have 5 pounds to spare, let alone 15. My sanctuary was turning on me.

I began my workout and realized from the start that it was back to the basics. I couldn't lift nearly what I had before and it took every ounce of energy I had in me to persist through the sets. What had once been a place of calm, a place to burn off energy and release steam had become a place of perpetual torture and torment, with the weights becoming the tools of the torturer. Needless to say, I did not enjoy the workout.

Update: I am eating persistently now and I can even taste the food, although I am not sure that is an improvement at all. I haven't taken a day off since getting back to work for few reasons, but mainly that I have nothing better to do. My avid reading addiction has been helping to pass the time and my attempt now is to read the top 100 novels of the 20th century before I leave here. I have read 12 so far, but I am limited to the books that are here so I have had to order many to be sent. To keep pace, I have calculated that I must read a book almost every day. For this to be accomplished I am going to need a steady flow of books so I must get on the ball.

Regards,
Nick

P.S.- I am using a list published by the Modern Library, the Board's Choice for guidance on the novels.

What a week!

2007-02-19T07:56:00.000-08:00

It has certainly been an interesting week and a half since my last post. Let me fill you in.

The morning after the golfing extravaganza I awoke with a sore throat. I knew right away that I was going to get sick, I don't get sick often. Thankfully I didn't have to work that night so I tried to relax as best I could, drinking water and taking my multivitamin, hoping that I would beat this one out. Little did I know that my efforts never would have a chance to fight this one into submission; I began to run a fever.

At first I was just generally miserable: sore throat, myalgia, malaise, and fever. The fever was keeping me up all night and I was popping acetaminophen like candy, but the fever was getting the best of me and eventually it shot up over 103 at which point I decided it was time to get seen and get some antibiotics. The doctor saw Strep Throat and so I grumbled and started taking amoxicillin. I have had this before and at least I knew the antibiotics would help me kick it fast and I would be back to work in a couple days. I assumed too much.

Just a day after starting the amoxicillin I noticed that my throat was actually getting worse and I couldn't hardly speak with such swollen glands. I hadn't eaten in four days now and I was beginning to feel weak, ready to submit to this horrible monster. My fever was going down but the swelling was more prominent than ever, I couldn't open my mouth more than a few centimeters, and as a rather peculiar side effect to the infection, my salivary glands were on overdrive. I was paralyzed, fever ridden, and drooling; time to see the doctor again.

The diagnosis this time was clear: Peritonsillar Abscess. I needed to see a ENT specialist and so it looked like I was going to go for a helicopter ride to Balad. We found an accepting physician there and I was put on IV antibiotic therapy before I headed out on the chopper about six hours later.

Then next morning I met with the physician and it was clear that I needed surgery. Four hours later I was put out and under the blade. I came to about an hour later dazed and struggling to get myself into a bed in the ward. I don't remember if I went to sleep or not but I was quite relieved that the swelling that had been in the back of the throat was mostly gone now. I spent the next two days after that on IV antibiotic therapy and on the third day I was discharged. Now I was unto the biggest challenge yet: trying to make it back to home base.

I didn't have my ID card, a uniform, or a weapon, not a great start to get a flight. It was time to get McGyver again. I scrounged around the hospital and assembled a uniform from old Air Force tops and bottoms and found a pair of boots. Lacking the essentials that characterized me as military, I blended in as a civilian as I found my way to the ID card office. After sweet talking the clerk, she assured me that she could get me and ID the next day, I was in business. I had to cajole my way through security to get back into the hospital and the next day I claimed my new ID card.

0400 this morning- I walked my happy butt to the Passenger Terminal at the airfield in my newly assumed identity and carrying my armor and kevlar. No flights to my base, but there was hope that the Army could get me there in a Sherpa. Yes, it's a called a Sherpa flight. I made it to the Sherpa terminal just in time and two hours later I was riding in the small prop plane they call a Sherpa. I am back now and in just a few hours it's back to work, and it feels good. It felt like a month, but I am back to health.

Oh so relieved,
Nick

Fore!

2007-02-08T00:18:00.000-08:00

Forget running, just golf! Mike and I went out this morning after getting off work and did some golfing. Some random person back home sent a hodgepodge of sports items and as it so happened they sent seven different golf clubs also. To our dismay however, they didn't send any golf balls. So Mike went online and ordered 100 used golf balls and had them shipped over. Day in and day out we waited for the package to get here and then it finally arrived. We were so excited that we went out right after shift at the hospital. We climbed out unto one of Saddam's old hangars and swung away on a small pile of dirt.

While some may say we have too much time on our hands or that we spend too much time on the base, we disagree. To that we have only one response: we did our time out on the road, saw as much as we want to see, and now we are extended. So now it's time get comfortable and enjoy life on the FOB. I have also decided to begin another endeavour here.

Starting next week I will be publishing a second blog. It will have nothing to do with Iraq but instead will be a blog concerning topics in science. I have e-mailed a few friends to join in and to co-author the site. It is my prerogative to have a topic posted weekly or bi-weekly written by different authors of the site. The topic can simply be objective or the author can take a stance and voice their personal views on the topic. Then, readers/authors/visitors will have the opportunity to comment, critique, and voice their opinions. I guess you would call it salon of sorts. As soon as I have decided on the site I will post it here.

Pax,
Nick

P.S.- If anyone is interested in writing on the new blog, (i.e. is interested in writing some articles related to science) please e-mail me.

P.P.S.- Mike and I eventually were booted from the top of the hanger after we apparently almost hit someone. FORE!!!

Four Miles

2007-02-01T22:49:00.000-08:00

And the race begins, literally. Mike and I have decided that we are going to run the half-marathon in a couple months here. Every few months they host a marathon on post that coincides with the ones at home. The last marathon was the ING Miami and I think the next one might be the Boston. Anyways, we decided to run a pre-marathon 4 mile run to see where we stood. As one may see from the picture, Mike (on the right) looks as though he might need to start out slowly. In fact, we decided that we would have to "train" at a snails pace here for the next few weeks to break in our running legs. Although I would like to run the full marathon, my regular workout doesn't give me the time to train for running, so a half marathon (13.1 miles) will have to do.

I really enjoy my work here now. I spend nights in the ER with some friendly soldiers of the 466th ASMC from upstate New York. Ironically they are very similar to Minnesotans, I even daresay they share the "Minnesota friendly" attitude. Mike works nights in the Intensive Care Ward so we spend most of the night enjoying the quiet hospital.

A recommendation: "The War Tapes". This is a film that I saw when I was up in Balad. It is a film that was shot entirely by soldiers while they were on deployment. Since we shared the same mission as them, watching that film was like watching the memory of our convoy missions playing through my head. It is an honest film, untainted by the media or a Hollywood producer. Watch this if you want to see what my first nine months were like here, but beware, the film is real footage and, as such, has graphic scenes of the reality of war.

You can buy the film here: http://thewartapes.com . It won the Best Documentary at the Tribeca Film Festival and was the winner of the Best International Documentary of the Britdoc Festival.

Pax,
Nick

N.B.- The "beer" in my hand is actually a "near beer", NA Pauli Girl. If only it was real. . .

The Numbers Game

2007-01-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

447- days away from home
10,728- hours spent thinking about home
2- fire extinguishers used
7- job titles since arriving in Iraq
7- mission changes
2- times sent to combat stress therapy
32- books read
135- patrols/convoys
2- tires changed
3- vehicles stuck in mud
250- patients treated
53- times urinating on the road while on mission
1- brooms broken over roommate's arm
142- highest temperature reached
32- lowest temperature reached
3- longest straight days without sleep
56- muffins eaten at the DFAC
1- times our A/C has blown up
3-pairs of boots worn through
300- stress relieving visits to the gym
2- times vomited on
800-trips to the chow hall
50- times it was too hot/too cold/too far to walk to the chow hall
2- years of school missed
8- letters sent home
20- number of digits still on my hands and feet
122- pictures/posts to this site
15,349- visitors to this site
?- days left here
1- times I have said, "I love Iraq". (It was a joke)

A Change of Plans

2007-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Nothing in the military is a certainty, you learn that from day one. Semper gumby; always flexible. That is more true than ever today as I tell you that I won't be coming home when planned.

A passing soldier stops to ask a question:

"What's the big news on base?" queries the soldier.

"We just found out that we are being extended. . ." is the response.

"Now everything makes sense. Everyone looks like they are going to cry."

As a result of the call up for more troops in Iraq, the 1/34 Brigade Combat Team is being extended in Iraq for an unannounced amount of time. We are in our 16th month of this deployment and it looks as though it may just turn out to be a two year tour. Nothing is set yet but we have heard rumors about a July return date now instead of the planned March exodus.

All around base you can feel the misery that the soldiers are feeling. Laughter, sadness, and anger surrounds the conversations and mood when you greet someone. Plans shattered, most soldiers are frantically trying to talk to their loved ones that are thousands of miles away. They have to try and console their families and themselves at the same time, a quite difficult task.

Many will be missing weddings, school graduations, birthdays, anniversaries, and vacation plans. We all knew that we were going to be making sacrifices on this deployment but we never expected a two year deployment time, easily one of the longest deployments for any unit yet.

With my chin up I sit here and ponder the implications of an extended stay. You just can't make this stuff up.

Nick

Back "Home"

2007-01-05T04:56:00.000-08:00

I returned back to my home base on New Years Eve and started back up with my prior missions just two days later. I can't say for certain but it looks as though I will be getting a mission change again, but I will still be here counting the days until our replacements come. I think it's safe to say that counting months are over and now we will be counting days (days sound better than months to me).

It's five days into the new year and already I am hoping spring comes early. I saw some frozen water on the ground the other day, if I remember correctly it's called ice but I can't remember ever being warned that the desert had ice. Balad was a great experience and I will miss the work along with the people that made the job so much better to go to.

I had a months worth of mail waiting for me here including all of my Christmas mail so that was something nice to come back to. I received so many letters that I wouldn't have time to even send out thank you letters. So, thank you to everyone who sent me a letter or package.

After making an appointment with a physical therapist at the hospital I went in to get my finger looked at. A pain in my PIP (proximal inter pharyngeal?) joint had been recurring for the past two months or so. After they looked at it they think it may be a torn ligament, but they also suggested that a dislocation had caused the tear. Needless to say, I grimace every time that I have to grasp or pick something up. They don't seem to have any solutions for me, and I have that going for me.

The girlfriend, Carrie, is in Egypt right now and I am sure that she is probably enjoying this region a lot more than I am. Maybe I can hitch a ride there?

So embrace the new year and prepare, for this is the year that I return home.

Nick

Merry Christmas from Iraq

2006-12-22T19:57:00.000-08:00

Well the holiday season is more than upon us, two days until Christmas. December went with the blink of an eye and it won't be long until the New Year. The mornings here carry a chill in the air as the temperature of this desert winter drops into the 30's at times. I actually enjoy the mornings with a sense of nostalgia as I breathe in the cold air through my nostrils and then exhale slowly to catch the sight of my breath in the air. This of course can't compare to the winters that I'm used to back in the midwest where I would be sitting out on the ice, fishing until I got bored or was too cold. This will be the first winter in my life without snow and without ice fishing.

So what will I be doing this Christmas? Working in the ER at Balad of course and hopefully enjoying some food at the DFAC. Maybe make some hot cocoa and reminisce of times past, or go caroling throughout the ER all day long.

Life here in Balad has been great. I like the work and the people I work with are quite enjoyable. For the Air Force medics it's their job here, for me on the other hand it's a vacation. I would gladly spend the rest of my tour up here but command is sending me back to my home base to go back on patrols with the rest of the unit.

Merry Christmas everyone,
Nick

N.B.- The picture above is of me suturing up a gunshot wound to the back of the head.

Greetings From Balad

2006-12-15T08:33:00.000-08:00

I recruited some fellow Army to play a friendly game of football

vs.

the hosting Air Force ER team.

(me on the right)

Well I finally have good news.

I have been moved to Balad to work in the Air Force Trauma Hospital for a month. I have been here since the 4th and should be here for the remainder of the month. I have been put in the ER for the first half of the visit and so far things have been great.

I have seen and learned so much in the past ten days and I can't even begin to describe how great it is to finally do my job. Not only that but I have been able to pick up a huge wealth of knowledge from these Air Force folks on how they operate their hospitals. All the equipment is new to me so I have had to learn a whole new set of equipment but the basics are the same. In the Army I rarely have the opportunity such as this to work in a fully capable trauma center and see the traumas that we see here. Most of my work medically speaking has been in the field and so it's a little different to be on the receiving end as we get the patients from the choppers after they have already been worked on.

I will be here for the month so that would include Christmas as well. Although I didn't really come up here with anyone in my unit I have gotten close to the rest of the ER team and I am loving it. Although they only spend four months here I try not to give them too hard a time (I guess that's the Air Force for ya).

Alright folks, until next time,
Nick

Result of the football game: Air Force-42 to Army-35. It's a sad day.

Another Fallen Friend

2006-12-05T04:22:00.000-08:00

It is with a sad heart that I write this post.

From the Associated Press, 5Dec2006:

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota National Guard paid tribute to two soldiers from the same unit who were killed by a roadside bomb that injured two other member's of the Guard's contingent in Iraq.
Spec. Bryan T. McDonough, 22, of Maplewood, was driving and Spec. Corey J. Rystad, 20, of Red Lake Falls, was a passenger in the Humvee on patrol near Fallujah when the bomb went off Saturday.
Both men were assigned to B Company, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry, based in Crookston, and had deployed to Iraq in March.

Bryan was one of my dearest friend Sean's cousin. Sean is stationed with me here and we have know eachother since joining the guard. I first met his cousin in Camp Shelby, Mississippi where we were all mobilizing together. He was an outstanding guy and dedicated soldier.

Sean had been keeping tabs on Bryan since we have been over here and had always been worried about his safety. We knew that he was in the thick of the battle over here and it seemed liked Bryan was dodging danger day in and day out.

My condolences go out to Bryan's family and friends. I can't describe the heartbeaking feeling of knowing a soldier that has been lost here, let alone Sean's cousin Bryan.

Nick

December Here We Come!

2006-11-29T13:41:00.000-08:00

After a rather uneventful Thanksgiving here everyone is getting on their merry way to prepare for Christmas. See, if you just keep focusing on short increments of time here, time can pass by rather quickly. It's a trick we use and it works rather well - so bring on December!

Oh night shift, how cruel you are to me - only Ranch flavored sunflower seeds can get me through your time of dark, cold nights. I don't know how other people do it, but to change shifts every week can be a real strain. The night shift is the worst, we all seem to struggle and when we get back in the morning we can't sleep because the sun is up.

I don't have any really exciting stories for you guys this week. I was racking my brain for ideas but nothing popped into my head. We did, however, find a ton of unexploded ordinance from some bunkers of Saddam's army the other day. As you can see we had a little bit of fun playing archaeologists for the day.

Don't Play With Unexploded Ordinance!

Have a great day,

Nick

Post Scriptum- Next post I will be sharing some thoughts about someone near and dear to me. She knows who she is.

Turkey Day in Iraq

2006-11-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

Well, it's Thanksgiving finally. This is the second Thanksgiving in a row that I have been away from home as a result of this deployment. The good news is that it will be the last.

As you can imagine, I won't be having the day off but will be out and about "detecting and deterring enemy activity", as it has been stated. So, the holiday season starts today and although our team is away from home at least we are here together. We go out together every day and so we give thanks that we have each other to watch our backs. And although we are here, every day we see the conditions that people live in around here and we know that we are truly lucky to have the conditions we take for granted.

I give thanks for my family and friends that haven't forgotten about me while I have been gone. I say thank you to all the soldiers that are here serving instead of sitting idly at home questioning and criticizing this war. American soldiers are helping people here in ways that no one in the world could or would, dare or choose to do. We couldn't do it of course without the support of our family and friends at home, so thank you to everyone back home.

So as I have promised my truck that we can start the Christmas carols after Thanksgiving, today will be the last quiet day (Eric has been whistling them since July). Time to shower and put on my boots, it's time for work.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Nick

Brrrr. . . . .Winter is here.

2006-11-16T00:04:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I just switched my blog over to the new style so if there are any problems viewing the page let me know.

I haven't written in a while because there hasn't been a whole lot going on around here to talk about. My birthday was a few days ago, but it wasn't anything real significant. Thanks though to those people who sent birthday wishes and cards. I must have received over 30 cards in the mail mostly from people in Arizona. Hmmm, I think my mother must have been out telling people to write me again. . . .

We are halfway through the month, and if calculations are correct we will be heading home in about four months. Four months left out of an eighteen month deployment! The good news also is that we will be de-mobilizing at Fort McCoy, WI so we will be close to home. I guess most of the focus around here is on the time because we can see the home stretch coming.

It took me quite a while to read the first book I ordered from B&N last month: The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature. It was a very thought provoking book that contained many interesting conjectures on the theories of the why humans reproduce as they do. More interesting to me however were the thoughts on human nature and how we develop the human characteristics that we have. The reading level is elevated as you need some biology background to grasp some of the concepts presented, but if you take your time you can still enjoy the book. I'd recommend it to those of you interested in or studying biology/anthro/etc.

I am 3/4 the way through A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking and I will let you know how that goes. So far, it has strained my theoretical physics capabilities and sometimes I find myself having to re-read and spend a lot of time visualizing some of the concepts.

Oh yes and the weather of course. I mentioned a while ago that we were heading into the winter months and I can safely say that we are there now. It was down in the 40's the other day with highs in the 60's! Combine that with the rain and the mud and we have had some miserable days out on the road. Our gunners have had some miserable times up in the turret and the inside of our trucks have been full of water. You have to love the weather here, going from too hot and dry, to too cold and wet. I guess that is just the way it goes in the desert. No need for the air conditioner any more!

Have a great weekend!
Nick

Post Scriptum: I haven't mentioned the Vikings because I am worried about the comments I will receive from the Packers fans. Does somebody want to tell me what's going on with our team?

What? That's my seat!

2006-11-06T05:51:00.000-08:00

We as homo sapiens share a lot of characteristics with our animal ancestors. Humanity is filled with habit and routine; all you have to do is take a look at the things that you do every day that just come naturally.

Every day I wake up and go to the bathroom, this is a given for most people also. I eat breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, back to work etc. Granted these are things that must be done and almost everyone does, however, let's take a look at some other things that sociology takes interest in.

When you go to a class you generally pick a seat located in the room for a reason. Whatever reason that may be, you will generally choose that exact seat the next day if no other person is sitting there. It is so innate in the desire to choose the same spot that I have found myself upset to find someone sitting in my seat. Of course I can adapt and take a seat nearby and just scowl at the individual for the whole hour until they get the point, "hey dude, you're in my seat".

Alley cat brown Sketchers shoes, crest toothpaste, New Balance 717s, and Listerine. What do they have in common? When I run out of these things I simply go to the store and buy the exact same thing again (Particularly with the Sketchers. I have bought that same pair of shoes since freshman year of high school). Oddly enough, they are either shoes or hygiene products, but that's besides the point and I'm sure Freud would have something to say about that.

It is that drive to be comfortable that makes people want some things to stay the same. Change can't always be good; sometimes you just want to order that same great meal every time you go to the restaurant. The list goes on and on and everybody has their particular habits.

One of my habits here has been to use the same bathroom stall and shower every day that I have been here. It's like the classroom, "What? There's somebody in my shower!" Sometimes I just have to go and wait somewhere and then come back so that I get the stall that I want. Call it what you will, but I know that everyone has their routines also.

Well today, after getting off of work, I headed to my bathroom. I did the usual routine, I put on my flip-flops and trudged through the rocks and went to the third stall from the end; my stall. Luckily it was empty, so I went in. About five seconds later there was a knock on the door and I heard this Indian accent, "bathroom cleaning". I know you are picturing this guy in a turban with his cleaning gear knocking at the door.

I promptly answered, "Yep, I'll be out in a sec'". He asked again and I replied the same way but he still would not listen or come into the bathroom to start cleaning. I was confused but just washed my hands and walked out, that I when I saw the smirk. Oh yeah, one of those, 'I am smiling because you are about to be embarrassed' looks. He points to the freshly painted sign next to the door and it read "Female Latrine". Not to be made fun of I asked when they put the sign up and they said it had been earlier in the day. I made the remark that they needed to put up some yellow caution tape or something because I think most guys will probably do the same thing I did.

I rounded up the other guys and we started a protest:
"There aren't even any females around here!"
"So I have to walk to the next bathroom? Thanks!"
"Yeah, nice"
"Nice signs, I am sure everybody will see those. . ."
"Give the women the other bathroom. This one is ours!"
"Yeah, give em' that smelly one over there (pointing)"

As you can see, it wasn't just me who was concerned about losing their bathroom, it is a human phenomena. Anyways, I guess I will have to find a new stall and make it my new routine. Let's just hope I don't stumble in the wrong bathroom in the middle of the night and scare some girl when I go to the urinal.

Adapt and overcome,
Nick

The Joys of Life

2006-10-29T04:25:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last post and when my mother is asking me what's going on I figure that it is time to write.

The past two weeks have held the usual comings and goings of work over here. Along with that come the ups and downs, including my mood which went from contentment, frustration, depression, and even led to me being quite irate for a while. All of this in the period of two weeks and I honestly didn't have anything good to say on the blog.

Today the writing will make you happy, sad, and possibly disgusted. It will be graphic yet simple and will be true to my goal of the blog: to provide insight into the life of a soldier on deployment in Iraq. Here goes. . .

I can't remember the last time I was sick. I have had allergies plague me daily but nothing has really put me down in a while, that is until this morning.

I woke up bright and early before the sunrise to a foggy, mist ridden sky. It was like all normal mornings except that I was hot, possibly even sweaty. It was quite the awkward feeling and it took me a few minutes to realize that my stomach was being twisted into knots. Most of you know the feeling, it's the one that makes you say, "uh oh". It was too late. I waddled in my pajamas to the bathroom to, um, well, use the toilet I guess I'll say. After ten minutes of torture, I began the slow saunter back to the room so I could go shower and get ready for work; I wasn't sure going to work today was a good idea.

When I met up with the rest of the team I didn't mention my problem immediately because I didn't see any need for concern and I thought I would save the embarrassment, but then I overheard the others. "How are you feeling?" one asked. "I was up all night hovering over the toilet!" he replied. "So was I", said another. "Just what the heck is going on?". Uh oh, sounds like we all ate some bad food. As people slowly showed up to work we realized that one person wasn't coming in, two had been up all night vomiting and I was in my condition. We decided to drive on because we had to mission to accomplish that day.

As we headed out onto the road everyone was weary of what lay ahead, the possibility of getting sick on the road and having to stop. Well as it turned out we had to stop four different times for vomiting and bathroom sessions on the side of the highway. There was nowhere to hide, you just hopped out and let it all go for everyone to see. People who had felt fine that morning were now joining the rest on the side of the roadway. It was quite the sight but we finished the mission and made it home.

When I got back, Chris who had gone out with us the other day came up to ask if I was sick. I found out that he too had been up all night with all of the same symptoms and was cursing the food we must have eaten. Two days past we had stopped at the Sheik's house for lunch and the sheep must have been tainted because it was the only thing we all ate. In total, six out of nine on the team had gotten sick as a result and so we still don't know what tomorrow will bring, except that we won't be going out with everyone sick.

That's the story folks. Take it for what it's worth. People want to know what a soldiers life is like, and sometimes their stories from war will sound just like mine. Living and working with the same people for this long brings out the best in human nature and sometimes it brings out the worst. You see it all and you take what you can from it, then you move on.

Smiles from Iraq and Happy Halloween,

Nick

I Believe They Call It Rain

2006-10-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

It rained today. The last time we saw rain here was in April and we hadn't seen a cloud in the sky since. It is actually comforting to see the lightning and feel the thunder; it brings hope that this place is not as desolate as it seems. Although I welcome the rain, I know what inevitably follows. Water plus sand and dirt equals mud, and I'm talking about mud that is thick enough to build walls out of. We trade the hot and dry for the muddy and humid days, I 'm not sure which is better. This is a turning point however, because this means we are hitting the wintery rainy season and we are over halfway home.

I have been having quite a bit of fun lately with one of my new books I ordered, the Iraqi phrasebook. Although it is pre-war written it has many useful phrases in it, however, it is the rest that are a lot of fun. "I want to visit Baghdad, where can I buy a bus ticket?", I say to a little boy in my best Arabic. He laughs and then I come back with another one, "I got hit by a car, my arm is broken!". Although the children are usually confused by what I say, the adults seem to get my humor and amuse me by correcting my horrible pronunciation. Because the book is written in phonetic Arabic you would think that you could just read the guide and pronounciate the words but that is not how it works in this language. If you say just one part of a word wrong, or emphasize the wrong part, it can take on a whole different meaning.

Sean has come down from where he has been up north training the Iraqi army on medical classes. He's only here for a couple days but it's good to see him and he seems to be doing well. He reports that the Iraqi soldiers are actually quite proficient at their jobs, well at least in regards to their medical capabilities and training them has been quite interesting. He should be returning here for the rest of the tour by the end of the month.

Our air conditioner has been on the fritz again lately making plenty of strange and sometimes loud noises. Soon enough though we probably won't need it as the temperatures during the day are slowly dropping as we hit the winter season. Cross you fingers, we don't need it to blow up or start on fire again (kidding about the fire, but it did blow up that one time).

Time to go to work. Valete.

Trudging through time,
Nick

A Close Call and a Pissing Match

2006-10-09T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

For some odd reason I am in a good mood at the end of my day here. I just got off of a 13 hour shift and you would think that I would be quite annoyed at this, but surprisingly enough I am quite chipper. I think I have given up hope that the hours may go down and we might see relief, so I just bite the bullet and wait.

Quite funny actually, at the end of our shift we came upon another coalition (US ARMY) vehicle and we immediately recognized it as friendly. We proceeded past it and kept on rolling but they eventually stopped one our trucks and "inquired" into why we were there. I say inquire because many words came out their mouths that I can't write on this blog, apparently we were intruding into their area and they didn't like having us around. After choice words were spat between our trucks we headed back home to end our shift and received a radio transmission on the way. We were told that our entire team was to report to the headquarters.

When we arrived it was clear what the call was about. Basically, HQ had a call that there was a tussle between the two units and a higher up person was pissed that we had come into their area. After explaining that we were ordered to go into the area by command, and telling this individual from the other unit that their soldiers were slacking on the job he was none too pleased. It was a pissing match that we came out on top of. We found out later that this unit had apparently mistaken us for the enemy at first and was going to engage us. It's a good thing they didn't because they would have had a hard time explaining how they engaged three other US military vehicles that clearly didn't pose a threat. Not the brightest bulbs on the tree huh?

In other news, much has happened in the world of Minnesota sports since my last post. The Wild won their first game I believe, the Twins were swept in three games, and I didn't get to see the Vikings game but I heard that it was a close win. Sorry Packers fans, if it's a win your looking for you may be waiting for a while.

Now I am drained, and I'm off to dream of a better place.

Have a great week everyone,
Nick

The Weekend Update

2006-10-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

After a brief stint back up in Baghdad last week we have been back to business here with our usual routine. Sleep has really been a hard commodity to come by lately, even when I have the time it's a failed attempt. This may have to do with the fact that I haven't had any set hours and so my body can't seem to fall into any rhythm; work when I have to and sleep when I can.

I woke up this morning to my alarm buzzing and not knowing where I was. Have you ever had this happen to you? I had been dreaming about home and apparently I didn't want to be here because it took me at least ten minutes for me to grasp that I was still sitting in Iraq. As you might guess, it left me in a sour mood for the beginning of my day.

The Vikings lost again yesterday, I don't want to talk about it but it may explain my foul mood yesterday while out on mission. On a good note however, the Twins have secured the AL Central Division and have home-field advantage against the Athletics with the first playoff game tonight. Good luck to them.

I bought some books yesterday from Barnes and Noble, finally cashing in on some gift certificates from the years past. They include:

Nonfiction-

Fiction-

Winter Range

I thought I had ordered more than one novel but it seems that I will be doing a lot more reading to learn than entertain. On top of that, I am taking a Latin refresher course online via the Rosetta Stone method and also a class on Orbital Mechanics (Satellites) to try and keep my brain active.

Have a wonderful week everyone,

Nick

Elation and Frustration

2006-09-25T00:16:00.000-07:00

It's Monday everyone, which means that's one more week I don't have to be here. When I measure my time left here in weeks it doesn't seem that bad. Only about 27 weeks until we leave this desolate country. One more Halloween, Thanksgiving, a birthday, Christmas, and New Years. Not that bad huh?

Of course it was NFL Sunday yesterday which is the highlight of my week here now. The Vikings were on at 9pm here which worked out just fine because lucky for me I had the day off. We had quite a few people over watching the game and it was a lot of fun, right until the ending of the game. I don't know what happened there but I am pretty dissapointed in the play calling. They ended up losing 19-16 to the Bears. So while it was exciting to see the game it was frustrating to see them lose. Thank God for football though because it's keeping me going week to week.

I have the day off today which is quite a relief with our busy schedule. Honestly I don't know what to do with myself, I feel lazy but I'm not too worried about it. Go to the Gym, study, take a nap, read a book; it's going to be a busy day.

Have a wonderful kick start to the week everyone,

Nick

A Chilly Wednesday Morning

2006-09-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to a cool 68 degrees and it was by all accounts, refreshing. It will still be 110 when the sun gets all the way up and then it won't be all that refreshing.

If you didn't notice I said, "I woke up this morning" which means that I have finally switched over to the day shift 3-4 days ago. We have a rotating schedule every ten days so my body will never get used to what is day or night here.

Sometimes life over here is not so bad. The other day we set out in our trucks as the sun was rising and the brilliant light was begining to shine over the mud huts and plastered walls of the local villages. We went as we normally do business donned with armored vests, helmets, and weapons loaded, prepared for the worse as always, yet there was a sense of calm. The Johnny Cash tune crackling over our headset from our ipod, the locals preparing their goods, the hum of the truck, and the bumpy ride down the back trails made the morning feel quite gemutlich, pleasant and easygoing. A friendly wave to the goat herder, a honk at a stray donkey in the road, and the gentle flow of the Euphrates off to our side; I couldn't help but take it all in with a smile on my face. Maybe it was because of the four hours of sleep I had the night before watching the Vikings win in overtime via the play-by-play on the internet, but it was a great day nonetheless.

Until next time,

Nick

Enough already

2006-09-10T20:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, so the posts lately have been a little shall I say "sappy" or "gushy" to quote comments to me. I admit that recent times have brought about more introspection about life and less information that people would like to know about my time over here. I also realize that many people are quite disheartened when I show a lack of enthusiasm and humor that I once had. Make no mistake, I have retained my sense of humor and I am doing just fine.

So I have a funny story. . .

Nick wakes up one humid evening in his sleeping quarters and rolls over to his side. He can't fall back asleep and realizes it is because of this humming sound that seems to be coming from outside, almost like someone power washing the side of his metal can. He goes outside to see what all the fuss is about, but to his suprise the sound disappears when he looks out there. "That's funny", he says to himself. When he enters his room and closes the door, the sound comes back. He is confused but doesn't have time to worry about it because he has to go to the gym.

Two hours later he returns to his room where his roommate Jake is rolling around in his bed trying to sleep. He can't sleep though because something had changed. Things just don't feel right.

"Bope. . .Why is it so hot in here?", he moans. Nick listens for the gentle hum and rattle of the air conditioning unit but can't hear it. He fumbles for the unit and instantly realizes he and his roommate were in for a treat.

The lights come on and they could see the destruction. The A/C unit had basically given it's last breath of air and in one last failed attempt to keep itself going had thrown everything in it's filter all over Nick's side of the room. "Son of a. . .[beach]", Nick's voice reverberates off of the metal walls.

Now Nick, being the responsible one, goes to billeting to make sure someone gets out to their room pronto. He leaves Jake in the room with the window and door open so that he might catch a breeze and a little bit of sleep. At billeting they assure him that a team will be out shortly to fix the problem.

Six hours and one midnight meal later. . . the team has arrived to fix the A/C. Jake is awake from the commotion and is scratching at the numerous bug bites he has received from sleeping in the open air. Nick just laughs and takes pictures because it really is just a scene that you don't want to forget. Now, the A/C unit has been "fixed" and is back in the wall, but they are still waiting for the next time it decides to puke it's filtrated particles out from it's black lungs and kick the can on them.

Have a wonderful week everyone,

~Nick~

My life to live

2006-09-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Still perplexed on how my life led me this route I contemplate. . .

What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you ever think you would be where you are today? Did you ever think that you would be the person that you are today?

I am a lucky man. Not lucky in the sense that "luck is on my side" or that I win the lottery every time I play, but lucky in a different sense.

Although my ideal life plan has not gone as planned, I wonder, what is the ideal? Is ideal what you see in the movies and call a happy ending? Idealistically, life would be easy street and everything would go as you want it, but what fun would life be if everything went as planned? Sure, I am a man of routine and habit. I buy the same pair of shoes every year since my freshman year of high school. I use the same stall in the bathroom every time. I buy the same toothpaste every time. In class I sit in the front every time and when I go to the gym I do exercises in the same order every time. It's just comforting when you have a plan and it goes your way, but let's not be foolish, that is not how life goes.

No matter how much control you have over your life there is a lot that you have to take without a hand in the matter. You learn as you get older that there are things you can control and things you can't. Really, all that matters is how you handle the things you can control.

Like I said, I have been blessed in my life and for that I credit the wonderful people that I have had the opportunity to be with. My parents raised me the best that they knew how and gave me unconditional love no matter what . My friends along the way have helped me to find out who I am and what kind of a person I want to be. Relationships helped me see a lot of what I want in life and what I expect from it.

So, would I trade my life for any other? No. Everything that has happened in my life has made me who I am and that's what makes people unique. This is my life and it is something that can't ever be reproduced.

Ever so sentimental,
Nick

Yes, I'm still in Iraq

2006-08-29T14:14:00.001-07:00

Well folks I have been back in Iraq for a week now and I would be lying to say that it's good to be back.

Things have changed slightly since I left earlier this month. The missions that we were running have been cancelled so we have been put on a new one. The good thing is that I won't be on the road as much, but the bad thing is that I will probably be working longer days more often. John, and Mike will be leaving soon to head up north and Sean already left for a small base up north working with the Iraqi Army so I'm losing some good friends for the next couple months. Other than these things life here is much the same as when I left.

There has been a lot of things on my mind since I have been back but mostly I have been thinking about home. It's coming to fall now which means that most of my friends will be headed back to school. If I hadn't been sent to this war I would entering my senior year at Gustavus and would hopefully be looking at medical school next fall. Apparently God had different plans for me because this will be my second year away from school. I wish more than anything that I could be back in school and graduating with my class and all of my friends, but that can't happen anymore. I get depressed thinking about it so I try not to remind myself.

In other news. Jake set up a Myspace page for me so I have that going for me. For those that know what that is anyway it is http://www.myspace.com/nickbope.

We had a good sandstorm here on the 18th, just take a look.

Well, I guess that I will end the post and call it a day. Have a great week everyone,

Nick

Leave Pictures

2006-08-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Back to Business

2006-08-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back. My, didn't that go quick?

I arrived back in Iraq yesterday after spendng two weeks of leave back in Minnesota and I can honestly say that I had the best two weeks of my life. Every day, hour, minute, and second were pure bliss as I was swept away by the sheer joy of being home. I know that it was supposed to be Rest and Relaxation but I couldn't help but fit as many things in as I could. I wasn't rushing everywhere, rather constantly going places.

Where to start? I saw a lot of good friends, had a few good beers, and went to many good places. Brainerd speedway, the Vikings game, a Twins game, the zoo, and bingo night to name a few. I was able to spend time with Mom and also Dad, Kathy, and Kristy; I had a great time seeing them all. I was lucky to have Carrie with me the whole time and I think she would say she had a good time also.

Now I'm back to work and it's back to business. Well, that's what I would like to say but of course my head is still lost thinking home. I had so much fun it's hard to be dissapointed being back here but I can't help thinking about it. These first few days are hard being back and I am facing the realization that I probably won't see those that I love for another seven months again. Luckily, I have some good friends here and they are helping me get back into the swing if things; of course I went to the gym the first night I got back and it helped a little.

The missions have changed while I left and so I can't say what my next task is going to be. I think I will be pushing for something a little more medically related because I have had enough time out on the road and I have seen enough. It's not that I have a choice but maybe I can work something out that will get me some hands on medical work.

Carl, we are thinking of you. Hope you are feeling better and keeping that food down!

Nick

P.S.- Thank you to everyone who made those two weeks the best time of my life, you know who you are.

Just Waiting

2006-08-02T16:00:00.001-07:00

You Can Never Really Be Too Safe

In just a few days I will be whisked away on a plane that will eventually get me home. There are many different emotions and thoughts going through my head right now.

What will it be like to be back home? Will things seem normal or out of place? What do people at home think of me being gone? What do people think about soldiers over here?

Although going home is great and I am really looking forward to it there are some feelings inside me that are making me hesitant. First off, I have to come back here as soon as the two weeks are over and then I will still have 7 months left on this tour. Second, there are always the mysterious feelings you get that say you shouldn't leave your soldiers behind even though they aren't really alone.

All being said, I think I will deal with leave just fine but you may have to force me on the plane ride back.

Well, some of you lucky readers may be seeing me soon and I can't wait. Others who won't be seeing me don't fret because I am going to try and update the blog at least once while I am gone. Some of you reading this will still be in Iraq and I'm sorry that I am going to gloat and plaster pictures of home all over this site. And as for the insurgents reading this, I have no news for you but don't worry you can look at the pictures too.

As always, thanks for stopping by,

Nick

This Fragile Life

2006-07-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

I am tormented. This will seem like an odd post because I had something serious to say but I couldn't help starting off with a quick little story.

On a trip to Baghdad recently a fellow medic was having a little intestinal problem before and during the trip. Luckily, his medicine held up and we didn't have any issues on the road. When we got to Baghdad we found some transient housing and took a peek inside. There was a bed and one cot. Since I was going to eat and he wasn't feeling well, I offered up the bed to him. When I got back from eating I found my friend passed out on the cot and was confused. Why would someone pass up the bed?

I went to the bathroom and finished getting ready for bed just as the sun was rising over a city ridden with turmoil. Of course this room didn't have any shades so the light was beginning to pour into the space. I contemplated the situation and immediately decided that it was time to get McGyver on this window so I pulled out the essential tools: a towel, a sandal, a carabiner, a key, a paperclip and a gum wrapper. By the time I finished with the window a vampire could have slept peacefully that day (well maybe a few burns here and there). Now it was time for bed.

Ahh. . . a mattress. I laid down my sleeping bag and smoothed out the wrinkles. A t-shirt with socks stuffed inside served as a pillow and I prepared to relax. Everything happened except for the relaxation because as soon as I went to lie down I was immediately sucked into the middle of the mattress. I had effectively become the wiener in the hot dog bun. There was no moving from side to side, there was no moving at all. "Good one Adam, you got me good this time. Really funny", I said out loud as if he could hear me in his sleep.

All I could do was laugh. I tried flipping the mattress over and quickly realized the problem, there were no springs down the middle. You could fold this thing lengthwise (hot dog style for you still needing help visualizing) and I'm pretty sure that's not normal for a mattress. Oh well, I slept through it and woke up with a slightly sore back. As it turned out, Adam had actually decided to let me have the bed and had never tested it out before I fell into that Venus fly trap.

Although stress can be combated, it doesn't mean that it is not happening over here. Being here in general is stressful but the job itself can take a toll on the human psyche.

Events that occurred later on this trip has really thrown a lot of new feelings with inside of me. I know that I am physically and mentally strong but there are some things in life that you just can't shake. You see or feel things that you never want to think about again, yet you know that said occurrence will never go away until the day that you are sleeping eternally.

Everything I have ever thought or said about dealing with stress, time, and just living life to the fullest has risen to it's tumescence. I can honestly say right here, right now that life means more to me than ever before.

I know it's hard to believe but life comes to an end sooner or later, although I prefer the latter. No mortal is perfect and you can never have a full understanding of life, but I thank god today that I am alive and have the life that few on this earth have the luxury to enjoy. I have seen poverty and I have seen death, I never want to take my life for granted again.

With the good comes the bad,
~Nick ~

A Not So Stressful Situation

2006-07-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

"A mentally or emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health." This is the textbook definition to stress.

Every person encounters stress throughout their lives and some would say that going to war should be the most stressful event in my life. At the beginning of this deployment I thought this was the case, but sitting under the starry night that every man, woman, and child sees anywhere in this earth I came to a realization. This is not as stressful as I once thought.

The many things that I thought were stressing have been brushed to the back of my head and I can see clearly now. Leaving my life behind, school, family, friends, and the like is a difficult thing, however, not something unable to be dealt with. When life throws a curveball into your plan you have to adapt and channel your energies elsewhere.

I sat outside with Sean and Parviz during the cooler dessert night tonight and I came to the realization that being here isn't that bad. I can adapt and overcome, to use the Army cliche. What I left behind is still waiting at home for me to finish it just won't be the same as when I left. Change is inevitable but necessary and let's hope this is only a temporary change.

I have learned from when I was young that stress is normal and can be harnessed, controlled, and put to good use. Many good things can come of this deployment. Seeing war first hand, lives taken by fellow human beings, is something that can never be forgotten but this will only further define who I am and what I believe in. In short, coming to Iraq and serving will allow me to come home with many things that I may have never seen, felt, or thought about before. It can only make me a stronger person.

I of course channel my stress through writing on this blog and through the sweat that I make at the Gym every free chance I have. Going through the stresses in my life before this war began prepared me more than anything, and having the knowledge of how to put stress to use has saved me from a horrible experience: a depressing year in a war.

Let's get through this and get home,
~Nick~

tiempo, ziet, tempus, temps, tempo, χρόνος, tijd

2006-07-16T18:32:00.000-07:00

I am exhausted. Forgive me, I beg of you, if this post comes out as tattered and inchoherent thoughts. It is 5:30 in the a.m..

Time is a funny thing. We quantify it using chronographs and act like we have mastered it but really all we have done is labeled it. Not many people for instance could give you a definition of time without using the word for the explanation. What day is it? A quick glance at my watch tells me that it is now the 17th of July. The day is inconsequential since nothing happens on any certain days here of significance, until of course football season starts.

Although this deployment is but half over, time is fleeting. I don't know what happened to June and I can't remember when it became July. I do know, however, that I will be watching the days closely for the next couple of weeks because I have a destiny with home for two weeks leave in August. I really should begin deciding what to do at home, but where is the time? In my head I dream about the green grass of the countryside and the clear lakes that feel oh too refreshing on a hot summer day in Minnesota.

Time. People rarely know how to manage it so that they get the best out of it. When do you sit down and do the things that you have always wanted to do? Do you keep pushing it off? If there are a few things that I am learning as I slowly enter adulthood it is that "time is of the essence" in all that you do. I don't mean that you have to rush or always be doing something, I mean that it is necessary to really look at how you want to spend your time and act on it.

Since I don't have a choice on how I spend most of my time for this 1 1/2 year deployment I know that when I get home I have a lot things to do and I will never take time for granted again. What is it that you want to do with your time? When you die will you be satisfied with how you managed this precious commodity?

Nick

-Tempus edax rerum-

L. time is the devourer of things (time flies)

One of Saddam's palaces in Bagdhad

2006-07-09T16:38:00.000-07:00

Local children during a patrol

2006-07-09T16:28:00.000-07:00

Sean and I on a mission.

2006-07-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

It's just the little things

2006-06-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I have decided to do a little venting today. I am not one to complain much about things, so I know that I am frustrated when I must bring this up on my blog.

When you are deployed to a war zone you would think that when you got there things would be a little more laid back when you weren't working. You would be assuming wrong apparently. Ever since we arrived in Iraq it seems that our chain of command has been sitting around in their air-conditioned offices thinking of ways to make our down time less comfortable.

They aren't absurd rules, but they are rules nonetheless. If you didn't know this about me already, I don't take well to being under someones thumb. If I think something can be better I get angry, if something makes no sense I question it, and if somebody clearly can't do their job I want to get rid of them.

The way that I see things is somewhat different from the way the Army would like me to see them. They want to help me be a better leader, but I don't want to be micromanaged. They try to act like they are making you important and give you kudos for things that any early hominid could do; give me a break! I don't need flattery and I sure don't want to be "developed into a leader", especially when I don't like the way "they" lead.

The problem that I inherently run into is this: If I don't follow the leader and the pack I will be struck down. NEWSFLASH ladies and gentlemen: I don't kiss anyone's rear to gain respect in this world. I will not change what I believe nor who I am to gain anothers respect or receive personal gain. If I move up in the military it will be because I did what I beleived was right. Likewise, if I want to get into medical school it will be through hard work and even harder studying, but I assure you I want to earn it.

This all may seem quite scatterbrained, but I assure you it makes sense to me. Some of you may know exactly what I am talking about, and the 'yes man' that says "yes sir" is scratching his head right now.

Of course I am not saying that I shouldn't respect my leadership, I should, I am just saying that I will not crumble beneath their power. Doesn't this sound reasonable? And for crying out loud, when the soldier has time off let's let him relax ehh? I think it is enough that you make him face killing or being killed that he has earned a little more relaxed attitude during the time off.

As always, thanks for listening everyone!
Nick

The Weekend Update: A Day in My Life

2006-06-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

First off, I don't work days I work nights. So should this be titled, "A Night In My Life" ? I'll leave it.

I wake up anywhere between 1pm and 5 pm. I open my eyes slowly and contemplate crawling out of my cozy sleeping bag. When I finally decide to wake I put on some sandals and open the door of my living unit to the blinding light of the desert sun outside. After brushing my teeth and using the restroom I come back to my livinng unit and mosey around for fifteen minutes or so trying to re-organize my room to make it look as neat as possible. I will get in my uniform and if I make it to lunch before 2pm then I am doing good.

If this is a day that I must go out on a mission I come back and pack up for anywhere between 2-5 days. I meet up with the rest of the group and we prepare for 2-3 hours before heading out. We have been going to Baghdad the past couple of missions but as for the rest of the details you will have to use your imagination.

When we return back, I usually go to bed beacuse I am tired from the mission. When I wake up, I begin the cycle over. When I have days off in between missions I will go to the gym before heading to midnight chow. The spare time that I do have I spend reading books and playing on my computer. If I am really motivated (maybe once a week), I will pull out my MCAT study book and cram some chemistry or physics down my throat before I lose my mind.

The conditions are actaully quite excellent on base when you condsider that we are at war. They have had time to build up the bases and so it really is nothing to complain about. Things change drastically of course once you "leave the wire" and head out of the base. Coming back to base is quite a relief when you think about the fact that people were just trying to kill you before you came to rest at the place you call home. Leaving the base has been equated to "playing the lottery" because you take a chance every time that you leave and you never know when it will be your time to get hit.

I hope this a given a little insight into what it is like being in my shoes and for many around me. Of course there is more that I can't talk about, and someday I will be able to tell you. Have a great week everyone.

Nick

The Weekend Update and the Infamous Light Spectrum

2006-06-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

It has eluded me all my life. I have looked for it since my eyes opened to the light of the world, near and far. It is all around me and it surrounds me, yet it remains elusive. I have studied it in science and I have measured it using tools in the lab, but it means nothing to me. For while many use it, I have all but given up trying to understand it; simply the colors of the world.

If you are one of the lucky few afflicted with my condition, which some may call "color deficient", then you understand what I am going through when I describe the following conversation over none other than a bowl of ice cream:

Guest writer Sean Doheny will recount the story:
As Nick was savoring every bite of his mint chocolate chip ice cream he looked over to Mike and with a smile on his face asked, "Hey Mike how's the mint chocolate chip ice cream?" At which point a silence fell over the table. "What?" said Nick with a confused look on his face.
"Dude it's cookies and cream." Said Mike with a dissaproving look.
"How can you tell the difference" said Nick with a quiver in his voice.
"Well one is green and the other is white." Stated Mike.
With a look of utter shock and humilation, Nick's eye's starting to tear from this great secret being revealed after 22 years of ignorant bliss, but Nick refused to belive this. He was defiant and sure of this tasty treats color, that no matter what one said, he knew it was white. With a great act of defiance Nick jumped to his feet and declared in a booming voice that had the whole chow hall silent, and he declared "I don't belive you!" You could actually hear the jaws drop and the silence broken, replaced by laughs of the color seeing world. A stand off between Nick and the color seeing world had begun. Until someone with the courage to stand up to Nick and explain the actual color of mint chocolate chip ice cream. A young, handsome, strong man by the name of Sean Doheny said to Nick. "Mint chocolate chip ice cream is green not white!" By now Nick knew he had been defeated, but refused to go softly into the night and stormed out of the chow hall, but he broke down. This once strong and defiant man was redudced to a puddle of tears and sobs.
The day's to follow would be dark one's for Nick, withdrawn and sullen he would talk to no one. He went on a milk drinking binge. Until after 2 day's of a 2% milk indouced comma this man came to. After hours of research he did in fact learn that Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream is green. Nick is recovering, but as we know he is a strong man and will no doubtedly overcome his crippling disability. ~Sean Doheny

As you can see, this is not a joke people. It is very difficult to live in a world of color when you can't really differentiate the colors too well. On to other things.

I will be taking leave from here in August and though I haven't told anyone yet I think that I may be coming home to the U.S.. I just doesn't look as though I will be able to schedule a trip to Europe with limited time and unknown actual dates that I could coordinate with someone. So tentatively I am planning on going to Minnesota.

As I have been planning on providing pictures I know that you will be dissapointed when I say that it may be a while. I still don't have internet on my computer and that has been my major hindrance thus far, that and I keep going out on missions that prevent me from updating.

I have not seen the news recently but I can tell you that things don't seem to be improving quite a whole lot here. They had a memorial service here the other day for a fallen soldier and our people are begining to realize just what we are up against.

Wishing I could see green,
Nick

A Weekend Update (to say the least)

2006-06-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

This is really frusturating. My post was deleted so I am rewriting this, but I am sure it will be less enthusiastic than the original.

Where to start? . . .

I have a new mission. My old mission was cancelled and so I found myself with nothing to do for five days or so until I was told about a new mission. As I was preparing for the new duties of the mission I was told that my mission had changed again but that it was only for the rest of the month. It seems that medics are highly flexible and our command has decided to use them at their own descretion in any way they seem fit.

It was my cousin Julie's wedding this past weekend and I was sad that I could not be there. I could not get a hold of her before the wedding because I was actually on my way to Bagdhad and did not have a chance to use the phone. As soon as a got to Bagdhad I found a phone and tried to call any cell phone numbers that I could remember but to no avail. Frusturated, I thought quickly and realized the internet would solve my problems once again. I looked up the phone number to the recpetion hall and viola! I was on the track. I called the number and it went like this,

"Hello, My name is Nick and I am in Iraq. My cousin is having her reception there and I was wondering if I could talk to her?" I heard a muffled voice on the other end and then a woman explaining that she was looking through the crowds for the bride. When they found her they put her into a closet so that I could here her over the noise in the background. I congratulated here and told here that I wished I culd have been there. I actually smiled as I hung the phone up; smug that I had been able to get a hold of her.

Currently I am sitting on a FOB (base) between Bagdhad and home base. We are currently "delayed" so I probably won't be back until Wednedsday morning. Life on the road is not glamourous and the living quarters are temporary so we get into a tent without A/C and attempt to sleep during the daylight hours (it's 6:30 here right now and I still haven't gone to bed).

As you may have noticed I put a Weather Channel link on the right side of the page for An Nasiriyah which is close to home base so you can see what the current weather status is here. Last time I checked it was 111 and sand storms in the area. When I get back to home base I will try to get things updated and pictures up of course!

I would also like to say thank you to my family and wedding guests who left those wonderful comments, it was nice to hear from all of you. Have a great week everyone!

Stuck on the road,
Nick

Pictures

2006-06-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

A man and his wife take a ferry across the Euphrates River.

Low for the day: 80 degrees

2006-05-31T13:40:00.000-07:00

I always seem to stumble on words as soon as I am about to write. During the week I always think of things that I want to talk about, but then when I get to the computer I forget everything.

I wish that I could say that I have had a time to relax and possibly get a day off but things haven't changed. We are stretched so thin on people that our same group of people go to work everyday together and as you can imagine tensions begin to run high. Being in a leadership postition is not all that it's cracked up to be.

The only saving grace about my job is the personal interaction that I have had with the local people here. It is my fortune that I can stop and talk and even share tea with the people that have called this area home for generations (yes they drink chai here even when it's 113 degrees!) Of course I must talk through an interpreter but the rapport that I now have with the interpreters allow me hold a conversation that doesn't lay idle. Of course there are always the people that don't want to talk to you, but I haven't encountered many of them.

Ok, so I know that I promised to give a little insight into what it is that I am actually doing here and I will . . . eventually. I will put up some pictures that I hope will at least provide a different view of the landscape other than my whining about the sand.

Next goal: get new pictures up for everyone to see.

Nick

P.S.- Haven't had ice cream since last Sunday.

What flavor would you like sir?

2006-05-26T14:21:00.000-07:00

It is the question that I am asked when I begin to approach what some would call a guilty pleasure, "What flavor would you like sir?". It was a bad idea first when they decided to have a ice cream bar everyday at every meal here and second when they allowed me to see it. The man behind the counter patiently waits for my sometimes catious reponse as I think about and weigh the important decision. One scoop or two? Chocolate or Cookies and Cream? Both? This past week I decided to cut down my ice cream intake to once a week, down from the maybe three or four that times a week I have been doing. I checked my body fat percentage and I registered 13.5%. Not too bad, but I think I can get it down to ten but only if I start to limit my intake on the "good bads" (an oxymoron that I think I just made up, hence the "quotes").

As some of you may be able to tell, my mood is up slightly from the last few posts. I finally had a day off the other day and so I feel slightly refreshed although I don't know when the next day off will be. I am working the same hours and the same job but I don't know for how long it will last. Things are always changing.

Say for instance my two weeks leave plan. The person that was planning on going on two weeks leave to Europe with me has decided that he is going to go home. Some people just want to go home and see their families and their families want to see them. Although I know my family would love for me to come home for leave I decided from the begining that I wanted to spend mine in Europe. I have always loved traveling and the deployment gave me the perfect opportunity. The Army is already sending me there so all I have to do is get out of the plane and start traveling the countryside. But now I must find people to go with or I am not quite sure I will travel it alone. If anyone is interested in coming to Europe for a week or two, drop me a note.

I did some interesting things the other day, but I will wait for another day to tell everyone. I enjoy being secretive and all but I would much rather be able to tell you all what it is that I am actually doing over here. I'll share a little bit next post.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Nick

P.S.- I didn't check my grammar or spelling this time and I don't care! Hah, I am so bold.

Did you get that memo about the TPS reports?

2006-05-21T14:23:00.000-07:00

Dom: Hello, Peter. What's happening? We need to talk about your TPS reports.
Peter: Yeah. The coversheet. I know, I know. Uh, Bill talked to me about it.
Dom: Yeah. Uh, did you get that memo?
Peter: Yeah. I got the memo. And I understand the policy. The problem is, I just forgot this one time. And I've already taken care of it so it's not even a problem anymore.
Dom: Yeah. It's just that we're putting new coversheets on all the TPS reports before they go out now. So if you could just remember to do that from now on, that'd be great. All right!

This quote, coming from the1999 classic pop. cult. movie Office Space, seems to really emphasize what some of my days are like. You know the kind. When you go to work and somebody says so and so is looking for you and it's usually somebody above you. Then you talk to your boss and they point out something you did wrong and how to remedy it but of course you already know what to do but you say "yes sir" or "right away sir". As you walk away to get to work someone else above you pulls you aside and repeats everything your boss just told you. Then co-workers start hearing the buzz and they ask you about it and by this time all you want to do is pull the words out of the dictionary and never hear them again. This happened to me today which isn't all together surprising because we know that people love to talk about other people and their business. Anyone who has seen the above movie knows completely what I am getting at. If you haven't seen the movie, where have you been?

Let's see what else? My blog has seen over 6,000 visits since I started writing last September. Blogging is of course a journal for me, It's like leaving your diary on a bus stop for any stranger passing by to read. My original intention was to make this a virtual bulletin board so that people at home could know that I am still alive and well. Now I find that I am writing this for myself and I look forward to the next time I can put up a post. Anyways, I really appreciate all the comments that I have been recieving because it makes writing so much better when you know that people are still there to read what you put up.

Ahhhhh......funny. Anyone who has been in the military knows about the concept about the Armed Forces Network right? They have a few channels on the television at the chow hall or the internet cafe here that show things like sports, movies, and news. The real joy of watching comes when they take out all the commercials and put in their own messages i.e. , safety messages, recruting messages, and altogther comical skits. The other day however, I actually saw a real advertisement that they missed and it was just one of those things that makes you rememeber what life is really like. It would be much the equivalent if I were to walk outside and find a patch of grass outside the door of my living container here in the desert. (I am laughing out loud right now and people always look at me funny but I don't care). I also just realized that it was like being an Orwellian novel where the people don't know the truth about the "real world" or something.

Working on those coversheets,
Nick

Food for thought: Are you one of those people who reread your writings and check grammar and spelling even on something as informal as this? I guess I am, but I always miss something.

Has anyone seen my sanity laying around anywhere?

2006-05-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.

Lack of motivation is setting in and I find it difficult to even think about what I will write today. The hours are still long and the temperatures have nowhere to go but up. Even eating food is a chore because of my body and mind's sole interest in taking in fluid to replace what I have lost. In other words I am eating less, sleeping less, and drinking more water. Oh well, you aren't here to have a life, you are here to work. End of discussion.

If I haven't already said earlier I have moved into the permanent housing for the duration of this tour. They look like trailer homes save for the fact that they have three rooms with two individuals in each. They are they best we have had since we started this deployment last fall yet they are smaller than my first dormroom in freshman year. You would not believe the difference a real bed makes! After sleeping on cots for the past whatever time, a bed with a matress is the highlight of one's day.

I miss home. I really don' t think about it a whole lot during the day but I just wrote a letter to my Father and I realized just how much I miss being in Minnesota and having a life. I miss the seasons and I miss the miserable winters and humid summers. I miss the stress of having to prepare for finals week at Gustavus which is what all my fellow Gusties are doing right now. I miss seing my friends and family and the time I had to do whatever I felt like. I miss driving down the road without a care in the world because I knew that nobody wanted to harm me.

I am very adapt to stress. I have dealt with it all my life and I have shouldered most of it on my own. The stress that people encounter here is a very different stress from the kind that they felt at home, even I feel myself losing grip and I wonder if I will get up the next day to go to work. Of course I do get up, and of course I go to work, and when the job is done I go to sleep so that I can do it again the next day. That really is the life of a soldier.

I wish my best to everybody at home,
Nick

On the brighter side of things!

CONGRATULATIONS, IT'S A BOY: Congratulate Dan and Angela on the new member to their family: Ryan Willard born on the 9th of May in Detroit Lakes with all eyes, ears and fingers (as far as I know). Congratulations you two!

2006-05-13T15:01:00.000-07:00

2006-05-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Weekend Update. . ."Give me. . .[air conditioning] or give me death!"

2006-05-09T13:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever. . . . Been so hot that you thought you had died and gone to hell? If hell is as hot as it is when I put my battle gear on an go out at the peak of the desert heat then it is my only goal in life to go to heaven.

The power went out in the tent this morning. Luckily I was just getting up but some people were still asleep, well not for long because without A/C you can't survive. I had to go out again today and I think the temperature hit 109 degrees. Add the fact that I had all of my body armor on, I was packed into a humvee with and engine that stuggles to stay cool, and the beautiful sun was out and shining, and you can imagine the destruction to a man of European heritage such as myself. I urinated twice today. For informational purposes, I drink two Gatorades at every meal and two to four liters of water between meals. Where does the water go? Yeah, I stink. Forget about clean uniforms, I have given up. My whole top uniform is sopping wet to the point of being wrung out for salt water after every outing. But enough about this, you have heard enough.

We got released slightly earlier today which was much needed as our crews are starting to get worn out, tired, and cranky which is the last thing a leader wants when they need something from them. Supposedly we get to move into our "cans"tomorrow, which of course I found out randomly from people when I got off shift (doesn't matter, I will be at work of course). There could be a nuclear explosion in our tent area and I wouldn't know because I am never around nor do I see all the other people running missions.

I really enjoyed the responses on my last post. Who knew random thoughts could stir up such a public response.

I wish I learned Arabic before I came to Iraq. The fortunate thing for me is that I can have a translator with me all day and I ask him how to say certain formalities to talk to the locals. The second word I wanted to know after 'hello' was 'hot'. I have some key phrases down but that lasts a whole minute and then they invariably think I know Arabic. I will get better and by the end of this thing I had better be able to hold an informal conversation! I must go, the Gym awaits. Yeah, it's 1:22 am but at least nobody is in there to judge me right?

Still wishing I could tell you more,
Nick

A Late Night Scribble

2006-05-04T15:24:00.000-07:00

It's 2:30 in the morning. My legs trembled feeling like rubber as Sean and I walked from the gymnasium to the chow hall, tripping over rocks and dragging through the sand and mud. We made it to the midnight chow at 1:39, nine minutes late. Much to our dismay they actually closed at 1:00 am and so we couldn't even get a banana. So we sauntered to the internet cafe because I demanded that Sean call home for the first time since we have been in Iraq. We casually laugh at the thought that we are preparing for "beach season" as we work out after work every day.

It has been over a month now since I have been overseas. The time is actually going by fast now and I couldn't even tell you what month it is, or year for that matter. Time is really awkward here. The lights are almost always out in our tent because everyone is working and sleeping at different hours. As you can tell I am working whenever I have to and so my hours seem to keep changing, Semper Gumby I guess.

So recent thoughts going through my head include:

1. "What in the am I going to do when I get home?"
2. "Are my arms bigger? They look bigger."
3. "Am I becoming more neurotic with every day that passes?"
4. "How did I get here in my life?"
5. "Seriously, I think I have at least a five pack now, just can't get that last one."
6. "I miss chemistry. I think I will draw out the molecular structure of 1,1,1,2-tetraflouroethane" And I did. It was the propellant in some compressed air I found.

Valete mi amici! Is that right? Anyone?
Nick

The Weekend Update (updated)

2006-05-01T03:07:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it has been a while since I last posted which can only mean on thing. . . .I have started working on our mission.

The days have been long with little time off, basically twelve hours a day with no days off. The only reason I can't work today is because some of our equipment is broken and so we are wating on parts to arrive. We run the mission by ourselves now so we are in control and on our own.

Th 'E' button on this kyboard is annoyingly stuck so I am trying to avoid words with that lttr.

I have some good pictures to put up but I don't have time so I will do it later. Sorry about the short post I will update when I can, maybe I will leave an audio post or something.

Nick

UPDATE!!!!!!!

This is what our tents look like during a small sandstorm in the middle of the day.

This is a picture of a boy with medical problems that we looked at on a mission the other day.

That is all for now, have a great week!

The Weekend Update. . .and What You Don't See on TV

2006-04-24T02:53:00.000-07:00

Every time I post a Weekend Update I find it entertaining because in this job there are no weekends and I have to check a calender to see if it indeed is a weekend. Nonetheless, I will keep putting them up because I know that for those reading this there is a weekend.

I went out yesterday for the first time. It was a strange experience to finally be outside the comforts of a secure base, riding in the humvee (I write this phonetically) and seeing the workings of a society of people that we are here to protect. So what don't you see from the media?

Let me tell you what I saw on this patrol that I have never seen in the news. I saw a mixed group of soldiers, young to old, white to black to latino, and national guard to active duty. What did they have in common? Each day this group goes out on patrols and each day they open their hearts to the people of this country. One soldier lives every day so that he can take as much food and water from our chow hall that can fit into his truck to give to children and their parents along the road. They know the people and the people know them. When they arrive the children come running from hundreds of yards away to smile and wave to the soldiers and the highlight of their week is when they get an orange or an apple or a bottled water from an American soldier. These same soldiers have been through the streets of Bagdhad and have lost men but they still give out to these people.

I am not a real political person and I don't want to go into that, I just think people should know of the good that is coming out of this place; a place that once had people starving under the hand of Saddam. Just remember that the media shows what they want to show.

It's always Monday,
Nick

More Than Words

2006-04-21T02:04:00.000-07:00

Ok. I don't have a whole lot to say today so I thought I would put some pictures up to speak for themselves.

The first picture is (from left to right) Swanson, Weisenburger and I in Kuwait by our Brigade mural.
The second is a picture of the plane ride here to Iraq in the C-130.

A desert sunset.

Have a great weekend! Happy Birthday Bryan!

The Weekend Update

2006-04-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

Hey Ya'll.

This past weekend I has the opportunity that most christians would regard as one of the best ways to celebrate Easter. I, along with fellow soldiers here at the base, attended service at the house of Abraham, the father of the Hebrews. Five chaplains made the event possible with a crowd of I would say over a hundred in attendance. The ruins along with the ziggurat of Ur (Ur of the Chaldees referenced in the bible) are some of the oldest remains in the world. This just shows one more positive thing that has come out of this tour.

I am slowly becoming accustomed to the base here. We have a lot of coalition forces here so we are not alone. The Italians, the Brits, and the Aussies have the largest forces here after the U.S.. The base is very simple with a mile walk or so to the chow hall but you can catch a shuttle if you are lucky. Yes, I am still in a tent living out of my bags. Other things of mention this past weekend: I witnessed my first real sandstorm that nearly knocked me on my rear and the temperature is easily hitting over 100 degrees during the day. Occasionally we experience brownouts and the A/C is cut in the afternoon. Guess how long it takes for our tent to be hot? About 2 min 30 sec. How long before it is nearly unbearable? About 6 min's. You would think the wind would help cool you off but you can equate the wind to oxygen fueling a fire, it just feels like a furnace.

I still haven't talked to to my family on the phone yet. It isn't that I don't want to but I have to find a phone a get a card and make sure that it is a decent time to call home. With an 11 hour difference to my Mom now that makes for awkward hours. The biggest problem is that everyone needs the phones at the same time and so the waiting time is long. I am going to make an effort to call tonight, FYI to you mom/dad.

I have pictures to post but I still am not able to get my computer on the internet; that is really frustrating for a "techie" like me. I promise I will get them up as soon as I can.

Have a great week everyone!
-Nick-

A note about the blog: You will notice that I don't talk about anything related to my mission here at that is for a few reasons namely for security, but also for the fact that this blog is meant to remain upbeat and give everyone a peek into how I am doing. Again, it is very difficult to not discuss my work but it is better to keep the discussion off of the war. That is the final decision.

Address updated

2006-04-15T01:39:00.000-07:00

My new address has been put up on the right side of this page and follows:

Sgt Bope, Nicholas R
C Co. 134 BSB
Unit#60,000
APO AE 09331-0000

Finally Where I'm Supposed to Be

2006-04-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

Yes ladies and gentlemen the day has finally come and gone. Yesterday, I flew in via a shaky military cargo plane to my final destination in Iraq. Although I am not in my final housing, at least I am in an air-conditioned tent for now. The base is just as expected with of course lots of sand and more sand.

Ask me, "So Nick, what was your first experience in Iraq?."

My answer would go something like this. . .

"Well I was loaded unto the back of a military cargo plan with all of my battle gear along with the rest of my company and our pallets of duffle bags. We were interlocked, packed in like sardines, with the temperature that day in the mid 90's. I put on my headphones for the flight and closed my eyes. . . . . . . I woke up because something wet has hit me in the face. 'What the hell?. . . Sgt Stee did you sneeze on me?' And then it hit me. This was not snot but projectile pink vomit from someone after we had dropped hundreds of feet in an instant. I wiped off my face and thanked the man upstairs that I was not sitting next to the individual, that person was Yang, the small asian man in our company. After I assesed the situation of myself, I wasn't too bad, I looked to see if I could help Yang. It was futile. His lap was covered as was his pistol and rifle. Thankfully we had only fifteen minutes or so left and I kept myself from vomiting also. I actually tried to get the 2nd LT next to me to puke also by describing the color and consistency of the vomitus. Needless to say the LT didn't puke and we landed safely at the base. We were now nine hours difference in time from home."

I hope everyone has a great weekend and a wonderful Easter with their families.

From Iraq Happy Easter,
Nick

Just Sitting Around

2006-04-12T12:17:00.000-07:00

Since my past post I have been partaking in a little bit of R&R. This would include waking up just in time for breakfast, playing monopoly and solitaire on my computer until lunch, working out at the gym until dinner and then watching movies until I feel like taking a shower and going to bed. You might think this is not so bad, but after a few days you begin to have that feeling like you need to work.

I have packed my bags up again as we anticipate leaving again sometime soon. Hopefully we will get there without a hitchup and when we arrive we will be placed in temp housing again with another line of tents. We probably won't be settled into our "permanent" shacks for another month because we have to wait for room.

I have made a few attempts to call people back home, but alas to no avail has anyone picked up their phone. Maybe I will try again here before I go to bed, it is 10:21 pm right now but only afternoon back home. Anyways, I will be out of touch again for a little bit while I make another transition to my new home. Have a great week and if I don't get to say it have a great Easter too.

Nick

P.S.- I will put pictures up as soon as I can connect my computer or have some that I can upload unto these computers. As for now just use you imagination (ie: sand, me, tent, sand, camels, sand, and sand)

Did I mention the sand and the camels?

2006-04-08T04:28:00.000-07:00

Ok.

So I know I already mentioned camels but I guess I didn't fully realize that they are all around us. We have been gone for the past three days on a training mission so I got some good time out in the "field". We came close to actually hitting a camel but it turned back at the last second; they can really move!

The sand. It wasn't so bad at first but now it is just annoying. When the wind picks up, which it invariably does every day, you just can't keep it out of your eyes, your mouth, your ears, your nose, and of course your weapon. I wasn't able to take a shower for the past three days so you can imagine the sand that I washed of myself last night.

More about the living conditions. We are living in tents with power and air conditioning which is actually quite nice, they even have cots to sleep on. We are still using port-a-john's for latrines ( a side note: every morning you get to read some funny new comment written on the walls inside) and showers are available if water is available. Like I mentioned before the saving grace is the food. They have activities here but you have to have an open schedule to get to them.

I have been jockeying to get internet at the base that we are headed to. I am sure they have internet available at some random building with long lines like here but it would be nice to have it in our rooms. Unfurtunately, we have to get satellite service which is really expensive and now always dependable. If we get enough people to share the cost should go down at least.

This is all I have for now. I am trying to fill my spare time today so that maybe time will go a little quicker. Everyone have a great weekend!

Nick

Weekend Update 24APR2006 (first overseas)

2006-04-04T03:55:00.000-07:00

Hello readers,

It has been quite a long time since a weekend update so I thought I would title this one so.

I have been actually quite busy since my last post. A group of about fifteen of us who anticipate being on the same mission together for the next year have been going to some extra classes to get us prepped for the mission. I wish I could explain the training but unfortuntely we are not allowed to talk about it as with most things that are my "life" for the rest of this deployment. It is awfully hard to have a chat with someone at home when you can't tell them where or what you are doing!

But there are other things that we can talk about....like puppies (ok, that one was for you nic).

I had to wait for an hour to get on this computer so I am going to get my worth out of it. This is me typing. This is me typing. . . seriously though.

Tron and I were able to drive around a little bit the other day to do a little "defensive driving' which was quite fun because you are in the desert and you can drive for miles without a road or hitting anything save maybe a camel. We actually saw a dead camel the other day which was sad yet entertaining because it added another verse to Sean and I's "rap video" that we are making out of pure boredom on the bus rides. Have you ever seen a camel up close, they are huge!

What else...?....It has just started to get hot here with the highs reaching into the 90's now but that isn't too bad. When it hit's 100 I think I will crap my pants, or maybe sweat to death. That is another awesome thing that I forgot to mention, they have free H2O!!! Everywhere! All we can drink is approved bottled water so it is everywhere you go; boy aren't they good to me.

To answer a few questions.

1. I know my new address for where I will be located.
2. I am not going to give the address until I am physically at the location because things are always changing and I won't get mail unless I am there.
3. No, I am not melting even though I have the fourth fairest skin tone in the company.
4. I am not in need of anything at this time, nor do I plan on needing anything but news from back home.

That is all for now. If you have any questions or want me to answer anything just leave a comment!

-SGT Bope-

Well, they didn't lie about the sand. . .

2006-03-31T00:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I have arrived safely overseas and have managed yet again to get on a computer with internet.

The weather is hot and sunny, with daylight actually being only a sliver of the day. Everything is filtered so I can't really say where I am but I will be moving again soon so you don't need to know anyways. The trip went without incidents and we are just basically jet lagged for the most part; there is a nine hour difference here.

The food. If I could say one thing that is absolutely awesome about being here thus far it is the food. The first dinner I had included the following: crab legs, shrimp, t-bone steak, potatoes, cheese cake and Baskin Robbins Ice Cream. If the food is this good where I am going I think I will make it through the year without complaint.

We started to do a few classes and mandatory briefs but nothing signigicant thus far has happened. Our mission has been changing slightly, but for the most part we will be doing what we expected and will be going where we expected.

I have to get a phone card to get calls made, but I probably won't be calling until I get where we will be stationed.

Enjoying the food,
Nick

A parting post

2006-03-25T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well the time has come and now I must post my final thoughts before I leave the United States.

In just a few short days I will be leaving for Iraq and some of you may be wondering "what is going through his head?"

Well. . .

1. I am not as anxious to go as I thought I would be
2. I do not harbor fear nor anger nor sadness
3. I feel prepared for the long road ahead, both physically and mentally

The past few days I have been quite lackadaisical, playing with my new computer, updating pictures on the website, and spending time reading a book. It seems as though tomorrow is just another day and the next and the next and so on. I know in my mind that we are going to war but I don't have any emotions or feelings that would lead you to believe that is where I am headed.

Anyways. Contact will be limited for the next month or so and by that I mean very little if anything. As soon as I can hop unto the internet I will update. If I can somehow call in a post I will also try to do that.

I want to thank everyone for keeping in touch via the blog site. At last check I have had over 3,100 visits to the site since I set it up on September 19th.

I send my to love to everyone back home, don't worry I will be home soon!
Love you Mom, Dad, Bryan, Kathy, and Kristi.

Goodbye Mississippi, United States, and hello sunny sand beaches of Iraq!

-Nick-

-Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. -Psalm 23:4

FYI

2006-03-22T13:53:00.000-08:00

I added a few pictures to My Photos at yahoo (the link on the right) under the folder listed as Pensacola.

2006-03-22T13:05:00.000-08:00

Carrie and I at McGuire's Irish Pub and Brewery in Pensacola

2006-03-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

My Mother and I

A lot to tell

2006-03-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have a lot to tell everyone but I will try to keep it short.

The day before the departure ceremony my mother and I spent the day together here at the camp enjoying the food that came down from Minnesota. If you didn't see it on the news Mancinis and two other restaurants from St Paul along with Schells brewery came down to feed the soldiers and their families a going away steak dinner. Governor Pawlenty was there along with the house rep and the senate majority leader from MN. Later that night I went to a nice dinner with both my parents.

The ceremony went good on the 16th minus the pouring rain and the fact that I was sun burnt from the rehearsal the day before. I said goodbye to my dad after the ceremony for the last time and then went to dinner wearing civilian clothes for the first time! The next day I went to pick up Carrie who missed her flight in Memphis but managed to catch a lift with another couple who missed the same flight. After having dinner together with my mother we drove to Jackson to drop off mom for for her flight the next day. I know it was really hard for her, but who wouldn't find it difficult to see their youngest son off to war.

Carrie and I spent the first night in Hattiesburg then went to Pensacola the next day to meet up with some other soldiers on pass. We returned the next day and spent a lot of time just relaxing and enjoying each others company. I undesirably dropped her off at the airport this morning and returned the rental car before coming back to base.

I have a lot of pictures from the past week and I will try and put them up tomorrow if I can. I had a great time but now it must come to and end and with just a week or so left I have to start saying goodbye.

Nick

On the brighter side

2006-03-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I didn't really mean for my last post to come out so seriously and for that I apoligize. It is now the eleventh of March. I for the first time since I got here know the date that I will be leaving. Unfortunately I can't tell you, but it will be by the end of this month. There is a departure ceremony that is being held here on the sixteenth and I am excited because both of my parents will be in attendance, which is a rare event to say the least. Half of the brigade is on pass this weekend so it seems awfully more desolate here than usual. I have BN CQ tonight so I guess I won't be sleeping, but that is okay with me I will just have to waste time somehow.

Have you ever wondered about what dirt is made up of? Most people really don't look around their world very often and think about what everything is made of, the physical elements, molecules, atoms, protons/electrons, bosons and quarks. They all come together to make everything we see, feel, touch, hear, and smell. . . including us. Have you ever studied so hard and long that you wake up in a sweat seeing only atoms of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen swirling around you? It is a completely different world when you start to look around with something more than your eyes. Being able to understand what you see seems to me to be the most quintessential purpose in life. Of course this pretty much explains my distinct interests at school when I all seem to be taking is chemistry, biology, phsics and Latin (I don't know where the Latin came from). Try taking a look at the world sometime through another persons eyes, I wouldn't suggest mine because you may just get bored but maybe someone a little more interesting ;-) .

I hope that everyone is doing well and I wish you a happy weekend. I am brainstorming how I will keep up to date with this world while I am over there because I haven't seen the news in five months and I can only imagine what will happen while I'm gone. Let me know what you are up to everyone, it is always good to know that life still exists in Minnesota.

Nick

P.S.- You won't know if you don't like something, unless you try it

Awaiting what lies ahead. . .

2006-03-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

"You are not going on a deployment, let me make that clear. You are going to War" - Chaplain Morris

It has been an interesting week with a lot of random things going on, notably the two day course I had on critical incident stress debriefings.

The course that we had was geared towards medical personnel but also included other job specialties. The course was intended to give us some knowledge on how to hold what they call a "defusing" after a critical event (ie: loss of a fellow soldier or killing of an Iraqi insurgent/civilian). The Army is attempting to reduce the amount of PTSD and other mental health related issues for this war. Soldiers sometimes need to talk about critical events that occur and hopefully this will reduce the mental side affects of war.

I think that I actually gained a lot of insight from this course, more so than I have from any other class or training event. Chaplain Morris, who was a special forces intel officer in Iraq, shed a lot of insight into what to expect and what the mentality of the insurgents is. Few people in our company have really been to war, this is where we are going. As soldiers of the US Army we have a lot of weight to bear, including the reality that we may have to kill someone to protect the innocent. Our enemy believes we are the infidels and we have invaded their land, we are evil and they are fighting for what they believe is true. I watched a recruiting video by a terrorist group caught off the internet by an intel officer and it really makes you step back a bit. Clips are shown of US soldiers being murdered, Americans killing insurgents, and of course the twin towers falling as they laugh in the background. Do you know where this was made? England. The terrorists have an unlimited pool of people willing to sacrifice themselves to kill me, a US soldier.

As medical personnel we not only have to take lives, but save them. This is as personal as you can come to another human being. Our goal is to help heal the people of Iraq and bring everyone home alive.

Nick

P.S.- Since I will be leaving soon, stop sending mail to the Mississippi address. I will get an APO soon and I will give that as soon as I know it.

2006-03-01T19:57:00.000-08:00

2006-02-25T13:02:00.000-08:00

fooling around in back of the ambulance

2006-02-25T12:56:00.000-08:00

an Apache at our FOB

2006-02-25T12:50:00.000-08:00

the "faux-hawk"

A much needed update. . . .

2006-02-25T12:13:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I can't believe that it has been almost a full month since I left for Louisiana. We got back last night after the long bus ride home back here to Mississippi. I never thought I would actually be relieved to be back at Camp Shelby, but it has kind of become our home away from home.

We can finally say that we have finished all of our required training in the eyes of our battalion, brigade, and the Army standards. Most of our gear is already in it's way to meet us in Iraq. Since, we don't have hardly any equipment left there is not a whole lot we can do. I know people kind of want me to elaborate on the stuff we have done over the past month, but is the same thing we have already been doing. The only thing I will mention is that my preconceived notions of the south seem to have been slightly off (it actually gets a little chilly here, like 22 degrees at about 3 am one night). Now, I understand that it is cold at home in Minnesota. but we aren't exactly wearing parkas and snow boots either, followed by working for 12 hours outside at a time. Oh crap, I forgot to mention that it has been raining for the past month also, I still haven't seen sunlight since I started the night shifts.

My moral has been higher than most people would expect, probably more than I ever anticipated for myself. Some things are getting to me, or should I say some people. I get along with almost anyone, and very rarely does anyone have a problem with me, but when you eat, sleep, piss, and work the same people every day you are bound to run into somebody you can't get along with. Top that off with the fact that these people may be your superiors and you can't exactly say, "shove it" or "I quit". I did buy 20 frosties from Wendy's for people on the bus ride home and that helped to put a smile on those lucky individuals.

Other random things: I cut myself a "faux hawk" which is pretty sweet, I am reading "On Killing" which is really good, and we have decided to have a blindfolded teatherball tournament when we get to Iraq.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!

Nicholas Robert Bope

AKA: Bope, Sgt Bope, Nick, Bopetastic, Boperah, Boppee, Bopey, or even the wild Bopealope
(I will probably have twenty more by the end of this deployment)

FYI: T minus one month approximately until beautiful sun sand beaches of Southwest Asia

Stuck at Fort Polk

2006-02-16T04:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been a while.

I am going to make this quick because I have limited time (don't ask). It is the 16th an we end the "war games" on the 19th, so that means we are almost done. I have been working the night shift from 7pm to 7am which isn't so bad, but makes for long days. We have been busy during the day, but not so much at night. Mostly I have been dealing with real world injuries and bringing them out of the "war zone" and out to the medical clinic on base. I have been living in a tent with 200 of my closest friends and sharing three cold showers with over 1000 other men.

As far as our medical assessment goes, we have been performing as smooth as possible and the observers mdon't even bother evaluating us anymore. We have perfected our procedures and nobody is better than us. It has been determined also that we have the number one rated brigade in the ARMY. This is a national guard brigade, but it is the top overall above any other brigade in the ARMY, just thought you should know.

I have to wrap this up but I will be in contact when this stuff is over and I am back in Mississippi on the 21st hopefully. Have a great week everyone!

SGT Bope

Class is out!

2006-01-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

I finished the last day of my medical refresher course today. It has been a hectic past couple of days. We went out to the medical "lanes" to run through rapid trauma assessments. I will put some pictures up when I get the chance that will show you where we were and what it looked like.

Each team, a collective of two medics, has to go through five different stations. Each station has a different scenario, but all have the same mission. We needed to get all of our patients out of the line of fire and the perform a rapid treatment, you only get ten minutes. It really tested our ability to stay focused with multiple casualties, gun fire/ explosions, real patients, and the instructors breathing down our neck and yelling. I didn't even mention the smoke and the low light conditions. My team did pretty good, we had a few issues but we got the mission accomplished. As tiring as the whole ordeal was, it was a lot of fun and should serve as our baseline when we respond to real emergencies in Iraq.

This will probably be my last post before Ft Polk, so I can't guarantee any posts until we get back. I will try to leave an audio message when I get the chance. We have a meeting with the BN Commander tonight to get a briefing with more detail on our mission (as a company) overseas.

Have a great rest of the week and February for that matter!!!

Bope out.

Have you ever thought about your dream home?

2006-01-20T14:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, So I had just a little bit too much time on my hands in class today. We finished our basic/advanced PHTLS yesterday. Today we started TC3 (tactical combat casualty care), but I don't think that I could tell you what they said. Instead of listening to the instructors, as I probably should have, I was thinking about how I would design my dream house. It ended up that it is settled on a lake in Minnesota, nestled in the pines but still accessible. It has a four car garage with heated floors so that I can work on my cars and had a guest room above. I apparently lost so much track that I drew a full schematic of it out on a piece of paper, detailed down to the siding and the lilacs bordering the walkway to the front entrance. It is oh so much fun to dream. . . .

When I am not dazed out into space, I have been reading my MCAT study guide book. So far I have gotten 3/4 the way through the physics section, but I seem to be stuck on electromagnetism. Classes will be done on the 26th and sometime thereafter we will be leaving for JRTC (joint regional training center) at Fort Polk, LA. Just a heads up: I will probably have no contact with the outside world for the month of February. We have already packed up an turned in three of our duffel bags and our tote box. That means that we only have one bag and our rucksack left. We won't see the bags that we turned in until we get in country at our FOB.

Things will be happening quickly now and before we know it we will be on the plane with our rifles headed over to the sandbox. It still seems so weird that we haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg on this deployment, we still have another 14-16 months left to go. I can only imagine the amount of stress this is to all those people who have families at home. I go through the barracks and look at the pictures of their wives and kids and it just makes me want this whole thing to be over so that they can go home to their families. It is almost more difficult for the ones left at home to deal with this deployment and in turn the stress can be shifted onto their marriage. Let's hope that everyone back home is doing what they can to support the families through this whole ordeal.

Well I think that I have said enough for one day. I added pictures to the yahoo photos (link on the right side of the page Christina) if I didn't already say that. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!!!

Nick

2006-01-18T10:50:00.000-08:00

A Weekend Update. . . .

2006-01-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

Ok, I have to make this quick because I only have ten minutes left on the internet.

Yes, If you haven't heard I am back in beautiful Mississippi. Since I got back, I have been in my medical classes every single day. I am getting a little bit worn out, I'll admit. Getting up every day at 5:30 for class at 7:00 is not exactly my cup of tea. We have been going through our continuing ed. credits for our EMT registration and so it is pretty easy stuff. On Wednesday we begin PHTLS (pre hospital trauma life support) certification which should be a little more interesting. My classes won't finish until around the 26th or so, which at least means I have a set schedule until then which is a plus.

Also. I mentioned the other day that we have a tentative mission plan for when we get to Iraq. NOTHING is ever set in stone, I can't stress this enough. We were told where our company is going to go and what we may be doing. Right now I can't tell you if I will be performing medical tasks or not. The troop strength for the missions will determine where everyone will go and what task they will be doing, so it may turn out that I could be tasked to something non-medical.

Well, I have to go but of course I will let everyone know as much information as OPSEC allows. Some things I can't share, but most is safe. Have a great week everyone!

Nick

P.S. I will really try to get a day when I can put some more pictures from here on my yahoo photos site. I will let you know.

2006-01-10T05:54:00.000-08:00

2005-12-31T11:50:00.000-08:00

Just a little perch in the fish house.

2005-12-31T11:49:00.000-08:00

On the top of Granite Mountain, Prescott, AZ.

2005-12-31T11:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays

2005-12-31T11:17:00.000-08:00

It is New Years Eve and I am sitting in my Fathers house. I am finally back in Minnesota, if only for what seems to be a fleeting moment in time. The weather is everything I could have hoped for, plenty of snow falling and temp's below freezing. It is funny how what seems to be horrible weather to many, is the greatest thing I have felt in months.

The Update. . . .

I made it into Arizona safe and sound to see my Mother and Brother on the 22nd. We went to eat and enjoy the weather. Bryan and I climbed up Granite Mountain, a peak of 7,800 or so near the city. It was a pretty good work out, but it was worth it to make it to the top. The family had a good time together but it came to go our separate ways. Bryan left the morning of the 29th and I left a little later that day.

I drove from Minneapolis up to Dad's in about 4 hours, an hour longer than the usual time it takes to get there (maybe because I was driving through a snow storm). I went fishing with my dad yesterday morning but we only caught a half dozen Perch or so, we were hoping to get some Walleye. After we blew off the driveway we went snowmobiling towards Perham and stopped at the local watering hole on the way. After fishing again this morning with Dad, Kathy, and Kristi we gave up on the hope of getting a Walleye. Now I am packing up again to head down to Minneapolis to see some friends for New Years and the Vikings game tomorrow.

I hope everyone had a great time with their Family and friends and I will talk to you next year!

~Nick~

What the heck?

2005-12-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

Apparently the audioblog that I left the other day didn't get posted so.. . . . I guess you are all wondering what is going on.

We have been really busy lately, or at least I have. We headed back to the FOB to do some more medical lanes etc. . . We received training on more weapons recently and I am now familiar with three more weapons systems.

I can't remember the last day that we had to rest. We received our new desert uniforms but we can't wear them yet and all of our old gear was turned in because we are receiving new stuff.

Let's just get to the point of how things are going. "I'm a little tired, I'm a little wired . . . " I can positively say that I am excited for the holiday leave that I am taking and it is most needed. I plan on relaxing as much as possible before I have to come back down here and go back to work.

The governor (Tim Pawlenty) stopped by the other day to talk with the troops and answer any questions they had about Minnesota etc. . . (does it seem like I use a lot of etc's or is it just me?).

This post is really more random abstract than usual, and for that I apologize. This will probably be my last post before Christmas when I'll be with my Mom and Brother in Prescott AZ. I will try to keep it updated during my leave, but I think that I will most likely just leave an audio message.

Congratulations to everyone who finished their finals already and for the rest, just keep pushing on. Congratulations to my brother Bryan who finished his associates degree last week!!!! Good work (and you thought it would never end)!!!

Have a splendid holiday break everyone!!!!

Bope out.

What got into the Vikings?

2005-12-11T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
I know it has been a long time since updating but I think you can understand. We finished our field training (medical lanes) on Friday so we finally have a day off. Let me explain what we were doing:

1. We set up all of our equipment in our ambulances and aid bags.
2. We developed procedures on how to react to a call
3. We made plans on how to setup our ambulances and the different teams
4. We went through scenarios and practiced reacting to calls.

What would happen is that we would receive a call from our headquarters notifying us of a location for casualties. We would send out a team on an ambulance with a security force to the location. When we got there the lead medic would triage and then radio back if we needed assistance or a air-evac. But there were many twists. . . The Iraqi civilians in the town would be yelling and shouting at you. They would sometime get hostile with your team, and gunfire would erupt and had to return fire. Sometimes, explosions would take out your whole vehicle and you then you would only have one medic left to take over all of the patients. It was a lot of fun, but also very stressful because of all the adrenaline you have running through you and the decisions you have to make on the spot. After we picked up the patients we brought them back to the FOB to the treatment team who took care of them afterwards.

I can't believe the Vikings! What has gotten into them? You would think that somebody is threatening them with their lives to win. I haven't been able to watch the games but I can see the scores on the ticker on the screen. Well whatever is happening, let's hope it keeps happening. I am not too hopeful for the playoffs but it's nice not being in the same situation as the Packers (ouch. . . I don't mean it, really. . . .oh yes I do).

I bet everybody is getting anxious to finish classes and get home. So, to all you at school who have finals coming up I am praying for you (especially those of you who I know need it this semester).

I don't have much more to say today. Everyday I wake up and I count the days left until Christmas leave on the 22nd. I'll see everyone soon!

Nick

P.S. - I am really considering not doing a shoutout ever again, unless it is to a single person. I received too many phone calls and comments. Angela and Angela, I'm sorry that I you didn't get included so this is for you.

HELLO ANGELA AND ANGELA. CONSIDER THIS YOUR SHOUTOUT!!!!!!!!

2005-12-10T14:48:00.000-08:00

Brrrr......it's cold in here (the tent that is)

2005-12-01T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

So as I predicted we were sent to the field on tuesday to FOB Hurricane (forward operating base). The site is a mock representation of a base in Iraq complete with a local town called Trebil. It takes about thirty minutes to get there from our barracks here (I am back for the day for a class but will be back to the FOB for dinner).

FOB life wouldn't seem that pleasant to most of you reading this but I don't mind the setting. Let me explain: there isn't running water, we have light (electricity) sporadically, and it has been below freezing the past couple of nights. The food is even worse there then it is back at the barracks. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Oh, did I mention the mortar attacks we have a couple of times a day?

It's shout out time: Hello to Mom, Dad, Big Brother Byran, Carl, Emily, Nicole, Carrie, Jimmy, Kim, Lisa, Dave, Justin, Matt, Mike, Pam, Kristy, Kathy, Tura, Justin L., Christina, Tyler, Brian, Kirsten, Sally, Doheny, Matt Nygaard, T-Roy Fields, Eric, Patty, Lisa R., Alex, Mitch, Adam, Guy, Nick, Haas, Scotty, Max, Breanna, Justin M., Rachel, and Nick R. .

If I forgot anyone and they feel left out, just leave a comment and I will get you next time!

Happy December 1st Everyone,
Nick

A Well Needed Update

2005-11-26T21:22:00.000-08:00

It is pouring outside right now, and you will note that it is 11:22 at night as I am writing this. The reason I am up so late as that I will be performing Battalion (hereafter denoted BN) CQ (charge of quarters?) until nine in the morning (I started at 6:00 pm). So, what does this entail you may ask. . . . I have to answer all phone calls, make a radio check every hour, and stay awake! It will be a long night.

Thanksgiving was not much to talk about. We actually had a BN parade that included "floats" from each of the companies. I actually was put in with task of making ours and we decided to make it a Christmas theme with the Commander (CO) as Santa. I will put up pictures when I can get them uploaded. The dining hall (DFAC) did prepare a afternoon meal that had turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes. It was good enough for me, I really can't complain because food is food.

We haven't really done a whole lot since. Minor things like cleaning vehicles and going to classes about vehicles have been done. We are supposed to be going out to the field on Monday until the 15th of December but we aren't really sure how this will work. I will have to update my blog by phone if I can get a signal where we will be. So, if there aren't any updated for a while you'll know why.

I pray everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving and they were able to spend time with their families. As for us down here, we just think of it as one Thanksgiving down, one to go (but the next one will be in Iraq). I am already thinking about going to Arizona for Christmas to visit my Mother and then getting back to Minnesota to visit the rest of my family because guess what?.. . . .that means that is is one Christmas/New Years down and one to go. LOL :-). And yes those will also be in Iraq the second time around. Ohhh, I will also see a second birthday in Iraq, that is kind of weird to think about. I will have turned 21 and 22 when this deployment to Iraq is all said and done.

So keep your chins up everyone, the Holidays are right around the corner and for most of you that means a break from school (finals finished of course) and for some a break from work (me). I hope all you Gusties are studying hard and keeping up the good work at school so finals can come witha little less stress.

Until next time,
Nick

2005-11-25T05:44:00.000-08:00

The Vikes Win Again

2005-11-22T16:59:00.000-08:00

mmmm.......this is our lunch (MRE's everyday)

Okay, so I am sore tonight.

Yesterday we had the combatives class like I said on the audio post. It wasn't what we were expecting but, it was still good training. Nothing about the class included non-lethal techniques, that is to say you would not use these in a bar room brawl. Hopefully, I will never have to engage an enemy without a my rifle and hit somebody in the jugular notch (better yet, they won't be that close). It was cold enough to note the presence of slain (sleet + rain = slain).

This morning we woke up and headed to the track to conduct our physical fitness test (from now on will be referred to as PT test). I knew that I wouldn't be in the best of shape as I haven't done a sit-up since. . . . well I can't really remember. I did well on the run and the push-ups but I guess my rectus abdominis failed me and I failed myself. I have never failed before, so this is a wake-up call to get my butt in gear.

We had class after lunch about extricating patients from vehicles, which was less than exciting and not very educating. After that, I finished reading The Time Traveler's Wife and now I am going to read Virgil's Aeneid. I have read four books in the two weeks I have been here and I think this is a good pace, but a costly endeavor (I spent 115$ at the bookstore the other week). Thankfully, people have been lending me books and thank you Carrie for sending me those two :-).

Oh, by the way, the Vikings won . . . .again. ... . . . . . . against the Packers. I will not gloat, but I will say that I am happy with the outcome.

Have a fantastic week everyone!
Nick

Post Scriptum- Nick's book recommendation of the week: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey

The Weekend Update (21NOV05)

2005-11-21T06:01:00.000-08:00

2005-11-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

Frustration and Confusion

2005-11-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Well I thought I left an audioblog yesterday but apparently it didn't go through. I wanted to let everybody know that the surgery went well and my teeth are good. I still have today and tomorrow on percocet so I am not allowed to carry a weapon around when on narcotics. Instead, I have been carrying around the light up sword that Nicole so thoughtfully sent with me. I carry it to formation with me every night and people seem to get a kick out of it, and I tell them that the army is now issuing these instead of rifles.

Frustration- I can't clean my teeth very easily. For people who know me, I like to brush my teeth three times a day and listerine often. I have been careful not to disturb the sites of the missing teeth.

Confusion- Yesterday as I was lying on my bunk thinking about life I wondered just how I had ended up in such a place doing such things. I paused and thought about what I want to be doing with my life and somehow being at Camp Shelby was not what I envisioned (go figure). It is funny how over 70 men and women in our company get up everyday to do things that they have no real control of. We have been put here to do what we are told and yet nobody sits down and says "hey, this isn't what I want to be doing right now!". Instead, we get up and do what we need to do everyday and then at night we call home and go to bed. I guess I had never really thought about it this way, but I am riding along on this journey whether I want to or not.

I wish I could explain this better to everyone and maybe I will find the words to eventually explain the situation. I am having a great day (maybe the percocet is helping) and I hope everyone back home is enjoying the snow and the W the Vikings somehow managed to pull off on Sunday.

Have a wonderful Thursday everyone,
Nick

The Weekend Update (14Nov2005)

2005-11-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I'm am alive and kicking! I may be just a little high from the Percocet so excuse me if I can't write too well.

Saturday- We had some downtime at the unit, so we took advantage of going into town and I bought a new MP3 player to keep myself occupied. I finally had some civilian chow at a Chinese buffet. I did a little bit of reading from my MCAT study book.

Sunday- The company sang happy b-day to me for morning formation and was quite possibly the worst rendition ever accomplished (which was their goal of course). We went over to a supply building to offload our medical equipment that we brought down from Minnesota. We loaded up five or six ambulances and aid bags. We also found out that we would be losing about 12 soldiers pretty soon to other companies. I mentioned earlier that we are short medical personnel in the line units so they will be taken away (mostly male). Unfortunately this included Fields and Nygaard, two of my best friends here from E Co. In replacement we are receiving females from IRR (inactive ready reserve). These are individuals that are non-active duty but still deployable, so they were activated back to active duty to support us. There is a very good chance that I will also be moved within time.

Monday- I headed into town for my dental appointment. I had my wisdom teeth pulled (1,16,17,32). They put me under intravenously and so the whole procedure took less than a minute in my mind. I remembered my camera so I took a picture of myself afterwards, but I can't remember taking the picture.

Isn't that a cute picture? I am actually doing really well. It is hard to eat without screwing up the sockets and the stitches but I'll be able to eat better tomorrow.

I just wanted to thank everybody for the wonderful birthday wishes and the cards that I received. It is nice to know that everybody is doing well and hasn't forgotten about me.

Love you and miss you everyone,
Nick

P.S.- I guess you guys like the audio posts, so I will make sure to do one or two every week ;-)

2005-11-14T06:12:00.000-08:00

2005-11-11T04:23:00.000-08:00

2005-11-10T05:04:00.000-08:00

The Weekend Update (7Nov2005)

2005-11-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

Ok everyone here it is. . .

So, I am on a computer with internet at our company headquarters because nobody is around and the internet is working (for free).

Saturday- I finshed the lax day with no issues and started to settle into the barracks. I was able to get some more gear today, which included my body armor (metal and ceramic plates) and some other desert issue items like sand goggles and things. Not a whole lot more to report.

Sunday- We started our in-processing here at Camp Shelby which included 8 hours of briefings; power points and DVD's etc. . . Everyone back at the unit was preparing for the GAC (ground assault course) for the next day. I worked on some latin and called it a night.

Monday (today)- I woke up and worked out at the small gym behind our unit and then went for a run. I took a shower finally and then got dressed to go eat chow. We left for our medical and dental checks which lasted all day. I ended up with 5 immunizations to include anthrax, hep. A, yellow fever, and the flu shot. And of course I was flagged to have my wisdom teeth removed because they don't want me to have any problems overseas (they will be pulled on Monday). I remember prediciting they would pull them before my b-day but it looks like it will be the day after. They lost my audiology test so I had to do that over again. Needless to say to all you civillians, it was a long and trying day.

Well Mississippi isn't that bad, although I do miss Minnesota and the beautiful fall/winter climate. I am adjusting quickly to the environment and everything is falling into place. I have been put into ambulance platoon for the company so that is where I'll be. We know what our BCT mission is now. We have been charged with taking over the task of securing convoy routes in Iraq, details are scarce but for security purposes I am not able to say where or what exactly this would include. For all intensive purposes, you can just imagine that I am going to be "over there". I know that we are short medical personel and there is a good chance that I might be pulled out to a "line unit". Line units are the front infantry on the line and they can only be males, so that would be me That's all for now folks!

Sgt. Bope

Post Scriptum- Magistra Maria, if you read this you will be happy to know that I am studying my latin in anticipation of writing.

Down in the South

2005-11-05T14:29:00.000-08:00

Family and friends,

I am now at Camp Shelby, Mississippi for our mission training to Iraq. I made it in yesterday evening to Gulfport and then bussed to the base. I live in the barracks with the rest of the enlisted men. I have a top bunk and a locker, that is it. Let me phrase it this way, I have a 3'x6' area to myself. I will put pictures up on yahoo when I get the chance because it costs 4$ an hour to use this internet and I can't access it in the barracks. Needless to say, I don't know how often I will be updating the blog but I hope once or twice a week. My phone does have service here so I can make calls or people can leave a message and I can get back to you. Here is the address for those of you still writing snail mail:

Sgt. Bope, Nicholas
C Co. 134 BSB 1-34 BCT
2490 25th Street
Camp Shelby, MS
39407

Tomorrow I am going through more briefings and by the end of the week I will training with my unit again until Christmas. Then, in January I have to go to the 21 day medical refresher course. It is good to see everybody has been having fun down here, lots of hard work, but good training. I don't really need anything sent to me right now, so letters are just fine. I know a lot of you are wondering why we are spending so much time here and not leaving for Iraq sooner and I'll explain briefly.

First off, we need to go through the medical refresher course to make sure we are all prepared to treat battle injuries.
Second, we are deploying with a combat team and we are expected to be prepared to engage in combat and react appropriately.
Third, we must get used to the active duty lifestyle which doesn't include a whole lot fun, but long days and hard work.

Once we have completed these things we will head out to Iraq, and be more prepared then any of the other military units present. If we can be better prepared, then we can reduce the number of combat casualties and send more people back home. Have a great weekend everyone!

Sgt. Bope