Jeff

(Tybee Island Pier July 2, 2009)

So you might wonder - or maybe not - why I've got a post up on my blog about a base in Georgia. You might not wonder because if you've followed my blog at all you know I'm a huge supporter of our troops. Well, I'm especially proud to follow one troop.

Of all the great things that have happened to me since surgery this troop is without a doubt the best thing to come into my life. I've lost 130lbs and it's been just over a year (13mos to be exact). I can now fit into a booth at a restaurant, am wearing a size 12 pair of pants (formerly a size 28). I've got my own office at a job that, well it pays the bills and I'm grateful to be working in this economy. I still have my Lincoln and having my own car is amazing. LOL I can't say I miss mass transit and unless I move to NYC I won't go back.

No, as great as all those things are Jeff is by far the icing on my cake. We've been together about 5 months and I got to visit him at Ft. Stewart over the July 4th holiday. Since I'd never been to the beach or seen the ocean, we spent 2 great mornings on Tybee Island, toured Savannah on 2 hot afternoons, he showed me all over the post, and I met some of his friends. For 4 nights my pillow had a heartbeat and my blanket made me feel safe. For the first time in my life I was just Jenn. I wasn't "Bob & Marlene's granddaughter the dancer." "Debi's twin", "Don and Kari's older sister." Nope, I was just me and it felt AMAZING. It was a feeling I can't put into words. When he asked if this was the best weekend I told him it was the best weekend of my life and that I wished it could go on forever. I was worried how he'd react to my scar or the extra me that's still there. We were floating in the pool when he looked down at me and said "I'm in love with you Jennifer (last name)". I saw fireworks and my heart flipped like it was in the Olympics! I wanted him to say it over and over again. Instead I fell back on my old habits and joked "It's abut time you came around to my way of thinking" LOL I can't wait for him to get here. I know it means he's that much closer to deployment but I miss him in my arms and his heartbeat under my head. Is there a better lullaby to fall asleep to?

Ladies & gentlemen............. I am IN love!!

3rd ID getting ready to come home

(Tanks lined up at Ft. Irwin - Jeff maintains these)


FORT IRWIN, Calif. - It isn't easy moving a brigade, and all its stuff, from one place to another.
In the case of the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team and a handful of units attached to the brigade, there were 4,695 soldiers at Fort Irwin's National Training Center.
The unit's first main body personnel flights began Monday morning and will continue every day until the last flight out on Sunday.
But it isn't just about moving people.
There are Abrams tanks and Bradley armored vehicles and big cargo trucks; cases of meals-ready-to-eat and other food supplies; and all kinds of weaponry.
Then there's the matter of cleaning and returning hundreds of Humvees and other vehicles the brigade borrowed from the training center while deployed "in the box."
It's a massive production.
And it's all done inside a large, unpaved parking lot at Fort Irwin that the soldiers call "the dustbowl."
Car wash: Army-style
Under gloomy skies on Saturday, hundreds of vehicles underwent power-washing in an attempt to remove layers of sand and dust from a month inside NTC's "box," a nickname for the 1,200-square-mile training facility located in the Mojave Desert.
"It's really best to take the time and do it right the first time than to have to do it over again," said Spc. Rafael Ornelas, a 2nd HBCT soldier with Echo Co., 1st Battalion, 64th Armor.
Ornelas should know. He's been to the box before.
And when it comes to inspecting the equipment, the soldier said the slightest speck of dust on the undercarriage will result in a "do over."
So this time, he and 1st Lt. Erik Rastello were laboring over every crevice of their Humvee.
With pressure washers in hand, the two attacked dirty bumpers, headlights, taillights and tire wells.
Brownish water sprayed everywhere.
A thick sediment of sand clung to the cement cleaning bay's floor.
A yard away, Pvt. Travis Weyant of HHC, 2-3rd Brigade Troops Battalion was a little more cavalier about scrubbing his heavy expanded-mobility tactical truck.
"Ah, this should take about 10 minutes," he said confidently, as he attacked dirt on the large vehicle with a power-wash wand.
But Staff Sgt. Mark Samuel said it was unlikely.
"You can do it in 10 minutes if you want, but nine out of 10 times, you'll end up going back through the line," Samuel said, as he observed his men at work.
He estimated some 250 vehicles from the 1-64th Forward Support Company alone would have to be cleaned, checked for any mechanical issues and then handed over to either NTC or for transport via railroad back to Fort Stewart.
"We have to make sure everything is ... fully mission capable," Samuel said. "It has to be spotless. No dust. No problems. If there are, we fix it."
A big job
A day later, Sgt. Juan Hidalgo watched closely as three of his soldiers worked to secure a blown engine.
A few feet away, a large Army-green cargo box contained a shiny new engine block.
Behind the soldiers' work station was a greasy, gaping hole in the front of a mammoth Abrams tank.
"It blew the engine out there," Hidalgo said. "With the terrain up and down the trails so rough it causes a lot of wear and tear on the vehicles."
The non-commissioned officer said his crew went into NTC with the expectation of having to replace as many as five tank engines during the month-long training. They hauled new engines to NTC just in case.
This was the only tank engine to blow during their time in the box.
And it's a 24-hour job to replace.
It's also something the crew has to complete before they can ship the tank back to Fort Stewart - and before they, themselves, can go home.
"As soon as the sun goes down, there's no other option but to stop," Hidalgo said.
That's when the soldiers start daydreaming and planning what they will do once they get back home.
"I'm just ready to get home and sleep good the first few days," he said. "And we're talking about having a platoon barbecue to celebrate."