Thought you might like to see my vehicle.
I am the proud owner of a Chevy Suburban. I use this truck to get around Forward Operating Base (FOB) Diamondback. My office (MAO) is located on FOB Diamondback. This FOB basically contains the Mosul airfield. There is another FOB just west of the airfield, FOB Marez. The ground combat unit, 2-7 CAV, is located on FOB Marez. Some of the other offices I deal with on a routine basis are also on Marez. I drive the Suburban over to Marez at least every other day.
Anytime we leave this specific AO (Diamondback and Marez), we travel in up-armoured vehicles. I have 2 personal security detachments (PSDs) that provide the up-armored vehicles, drivers, and security personnel for all of the trips out of the AO.
I spent yesterday and today conducting pre-deployment administrative processing. My time was occupied by walking around to various stations having various items checked to make sure that I am ready to deploy without any issues or concerns. The first day was medical and dental, and the second day was personnel actions, such as finance and legal. Mugs will be happy to know that I now have in my possession a current will and power of attorney. She’ll probably be even happier when I can get them mailed to her!
The highlight for my medical processing was the shots. After having my records reviewed, the physician’s assistant determined that I needed to have 7 (yes, seven) different shots. These ranged from Anthrax to Tetanus to Hepatitis (A and B). The last of my 7 shots was for Small Pox. I previously received the Small Pox vaccine in 1985 while at Ft Bragg. My unit was preparing to go to Egypt for an exercise. I ended up not going to Egypt because I went to the West Point prep school instead. Anyway, the Small Pox vaccine is administered using a bifurcated needle that is dipped in the vaccine and then jabbed into your arm. I was glad to hear that there are 2 doses depending on whether you’ve had this innoculation before or not. One group gets 3 jabs, and the other group gets 15 (yes, fifteen) jabs. Much to my dismay, I was in the group requiring 15 jabs. Apparently, if you’ve had the vaccine before (but not within the last 10 years), your body has built up a little immunity to the vaccine, so you get more jabs! I guess that’s why they make Extra-strength Tylenol!
After finishing the pre-deployment processing today, I got issued my uniforms, equipment, and weapon. On Wednesday I have some individual skills training, such as identifying IEDs. Then the final training event on Thursday is the range for weapons qualification. Sometime on Friday, I’ll begin my travels to Iraq!
