Veteran's Day, 2009

For many folks Veteran’s Day is just a day off, a day to run errands, be annoyed that the post office isn’t open, or juggle kids play schedules. For other’s it’s a lot more. The US, Canada and France all celebrate Veteran’s Day/Remembrance Day on November 11.

Ssg D e-mailed to say the battalion held a charity fund raiser event to celebrate Veteran’s Day. It seems kinda ironic that here these guys are overseas and they celebrate by raising money. They had a volleyball tournament (his team lost in the first round), threw water balloons at the Battalion Commander and the XO and had hamburgers. Grilled I assume. I’ll have to find out who they were raising money for.

How did I spend my day? I made applesauce, vacuumed part of the basement, cleaned house, read a bit - mostly puttered - and thought that if Ssg were home, we’d probably have spent the day on the couch watching a movie. But he’s not so I didn’t.

Just about everybody has a relative, neighbor, co-worker who has served. One of the more poignant stories I’ve heard in a long time came from Ecoyogini: Poppies and Lost Dreams. Let’s never forget those who have served. Thank you!

(Picture from Oct 2005 Deployment)

A Quick Visit Home

You've probably noticed that October's posts have been a bit on the slow side - that was because Ssg D was home on leave! Yes, from Oct 7 through Oct 21 he got to come home from the dry, dusty, hot sandbox, to cold, wet and rain. While we here in Minnesota had one of the warmest Septembers on record, October has turned out to be one of the coldest and wettest on record. Someone last week told me we've even had more rain than Seattle. Bleh. But Ssg D didn't seem to mind.

It was a busy couple of weeks: visiting family here in Duluth and down in the Cities, chasing trains, an evening of Jazz at the 'Toga, shopping (that was for me - I bought clothes and a tiller), and a fair amount of relaxing. Ssg had a very early flight out of Duluth: 6:30a. Luckily being a very small airport we knew we could get there an hour early, but still, that's a 4a wake-up for us. Iiee.

The flight back to Kuwait was pretty rough on Ssg. He flew from Duluth to Detroit, then Detroit to Atlanta where he processes back in and had a five hour wait. From Atlanta he went to Germany, where there was another delay - this time the plane broke and they spent 5 hours waiting for it to be fixed. It was 2am by the time the plane got back to Kuwait, and even later before he was back on base. First couple days were pretty brutal, but his internal clock finally adjusted.

Ssg D reports back that the temps have definitely dropped. Highs are now in the 90*s. However, this past week they had an unusual (to them) occurrence: thick, dense fog. Duluth fog he called it - where its as if a cloud parks itself over everything and doesn't move. Then it went away only to be replaced by a sandstorm. Alas, no pictures, his camera stopped working in the high humidity (he hopes that's all it was).

And the good news is we're at the 6 month mark! Hooray!

Life in Kuwait...

...is hot, dry, and dusty. Except on the days when the humidity goes up. Then it it hot, humid, and dusty. Here are some miscellaneous pictures from Ssg D's living quarters (shared) to sights from his drive to and from Kuwait City. Ssg D says the Kuwaiti's all drive like mad men. It is not uncommon on his travels to and from Kuwait City (2 hours one way) to see crashed and abandoned cars in the median.


Ssg D's room. He said there was a body shuffle and they lost one roommate so Ssg M and Ssg D have a bit more space now.



Burger King!

If I could also draw your attention to the right hand side of the page, I've added a couple of links. One is to the MN National Guard Website with newsy bits of info, and one is to the 1-151 FA webpage where they have some interesting pictures posted. Enjoy!

What the 1-151 FA does

This was posted recently on the MN National Guard website. At least that is where I think I pulled it from, I must confess I forgot to include the link!

Minnesota Guard relies on MRAPs for Convoy Escort Mission

The Convoy Escort Teams of the 1st Battalion 151st Field Artillery (FA), 115th Fires Brigade, are using Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP)vehicles and armored Humvees to escort truck convoys from Kuwait to Iraq. The battalion, based in Minnesota, is finishing its second month of running the convoy security missions.

"My battalion is currently at 495,000 (miles) with four crews coming back last night. So we should be over half a million miles now," said Scott A. St. Sauver, commander, 1-151 FA.

The battalion has completed 163 missions for a total of 512,504 miles for their battalion alone. The number of miles in such a short period of time is impressive to most, but even more rewarding is they've driven so many miles without any serious accidents.

Using an MRAP as the lead vehicle has a lot of benefits to the Combat Escort Teams (CETs). There are enough to have one in each CET with extra to rotate in if maintenance issues arise. A couple have even been configured as ambulances. The escort teams use the MRAP to add to their survivability.

"We need to keep our Soldiers safe and the MRAP does it," said St. Sauver. "My mission is long haul; we go from North to South (Iraq) and the missions last anywhere from six to ten days. MRAPs are a high visibility platform, have night vision capabilities and is the most survivable platform in case of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED)," said St. Sauver.

The height of the MRAP, which helps make Explosively Formed Projectiles(EFPs) and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) less effective. Another advantage is safety due to the armor it carries.

"I've got a visual of everything and my guys don't have to relay the situation back to me," said Staff Sgt. James R. Otto, CET leader, A Battery, 1-151 Field Artillery from Tracy, Minnesota.

Commander Capt. Jeff M. Nelson agrees, "The MRAP is an asset we have that provides increased security and protection for our Soldiers to increase their survivability. The MRAP is a lead vehicle that can take a hit and survive. It helps our Soldiers come home safe." Nelson commands A Battery, 1-151 Field Artillery and is from Zimmerman, Minnesota.

Not everything about the MRAP is good.

"It's a bumpy ride but I think the benefits are worth it; you definitely feel a lot safer," said Pfc. Craig A. Dokken, MRAP gunner, C Battery, 1-151 Field Artillery. He's on his second tour with the National Guard. Ten days is the longest mission he's been on.

The MRAPs have only been used here for the CET missions a while. While it takes time for the operators to learn the MRAP, it can also throw a wrench into the maintenance operations. Since it's fairly new to the Army inventory it will take some time to get the mechanics trained to repair and maintain the MRAP.

"These are a new vehicle to us; we've only been working on them since we got here," said Sgt.1st Class Albert R. Marcus, motor sergeant, Headquarters 1-151st Field Artillery. "Our mechanics train each other. Four of our mechanics have deployed before and they train the younger guys."

"I've had small issues, nothing major. If it was serious it would take longer than a Humvee to get repaired," said Otto. "It's hard to get them worked on while at Forward Operating Bases because not all mechanics are familiar with MRAPs," he added.

Although familiarization is an issue, the mechanics also bring a lot of skills from their civilian jobs. Their experience helps since each vehicle drives 200-1000 miles each mission.

"We have guys who weld, electricians, fabricators and air conditioning guys in their civilian jobs. They all use those skills from civilian jobs here," Marcus said.

The repairs can range from changing a light bulb, to replacing the springs in the suspension system, to more major repairs.

The Soldiers are on the road anywhere from four days to ten days, some up to two-and-a-half to three weeks. The responsibility placed on these Soldiers give them great training and leadership opportunities. Due to the extensive amount of driving, hands on training is essential.

"We don't have the MRAPs in our unit back home, so we are training everyone we can on the MRAP during our deployment," said St. Sauver. "We do rollover training and even after Soldiers return from leave, we do refresher training.

Before each mission the Soldiers conduct Pre Combat Checks (PCC) and Pre Combat Inspections (PCI). This ensures that the vehicles have been inspected twice before being sent out on convoys. This may seem like a lot of work, but according to the Soldiers of the 1-151 FA that drive and maintain MRAPs, the benefits of the MRAP's outweigh the maintenance.

"It's the best platform to keep our crews safe. I want more of them," said St. Sauver.

Master Sgt. Largent
115th Fires Brigade
28 September 2009

Keeping Busy!

Work has definitely picked up for Ssg D these last couple of weeks. First, about two weeks ago he was approached to do some radio training. He agreed and said he could do twelve people in a class. Those-With-Power said, "Okay, we'll send you forty". I do believe there was some subsequent negotiations and his classes ended up being closer to twenty.

Then his section (ie Ssg D and Ssg M) were notified that they would be switching vehicles, so all the radios and GPS systems had to be pulled out and moved around.

But it gets better! In addition to that, Ssg has been driving down to Kuwait City to "AJ" (main facilities where the uber-bigwigs run things) two to three times a week. This is a two hour drive one way. His counterpart Ssg M went once, but came back with the wrong stuff and so he doesn't like to go.

When I talked to him on Sunday, he had been up late Saturday night helping someone with some electronic problems. They weren't able to resolve the issue and at midnight or one o'clock called it quits. Ssg D agreed to finish helping the fellow Sunday morning even though it was his day "off". He said he had a ten o'clock meeting he had to be at anyway so no biggie (other than not getting to sleep in).

Ssg also reports that the temps have started to drop. I asked him what that meant as my idea of dropping temperatures is going from 70* to 50*. He said it was closer to 110-115* than it was to 120*. He noted night time temps were even cooler so sleeping has become more comfortable.

Happy Anniversary!

10 years ago today, at 4:15p in the afternoon, we said "I do". It really all began in 1990 when we first met, but we don't like to rush into things...

It was a crisp, overcast, Fall Saturday; the leaves had turned color and mostly fallen. The wedding was a very small simple affair at Manor on the Creek B&B in Duluth. Honeymoon was up the North Shore of Lake Superior, where after a spectacular 7" of rain on Saturday night (part of which ended up in the truck because we left a window open...), all the waterfalls were rushing full and fast.

And wouldn't you know it, no digital pics from '99! Here's some pictures of the happy couple from the last decade.

(Mobile AL, 2006 Deployment)

(Milwaukee, WI, Labor Day 2007)

(Milwaukee, WI, Labor Day 2007)

(Las Vegas, K4's wedding, 2008)

Happy Birthday!

Ssg D has a birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!


Remember? This is what lots of water looks like... Edisto Island, SC


Baseball! Milwaukee Brewers game


Boldly Going Where No One Has Gone Before... Innerspace Cavern, Georgetown, TX


Smile for the Camera! Bayfield, WI

We'll have a brewski for you and best wishes for a safe and speedy return to the States!