World Wide Weekend Warrior

merging websites

2007-01-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

I am merging websites. I have more than one you see.
I made this website to be a little more "family friendly" However, I find that I don't have enough time to upkeep two websites. Be warned, my other site is slightly more...."rough around the edges" shall we say. It's not all happy stuff. It's not all family stuff, it's not all nice stuff, it's not even all agreeable stuff. So don't say I didn't warn you! :) I hope you all still enjoy.

www.thezeke.blogspot.com

I shall leave this site up for quite a while to make sure everyone has the new address. Thanks all!

back in the sand

2006-12-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I've been back in the box now for about a week. It seems to suck a lot less than it did before pass. All that pent up resentment is gone. Going on leave was just the thing for me at this point in the deployment. Only a matter of months and it's all over.

My R&R was everything I hoped it would be. Lazing around the house, spending time with my family, and just doing what I wanted to do, without worrying about getting blown up when I'm out driving.Now, the count-down is on. It's almost time to go home and I am pumped! Yes, I must still keep my head in the game, stay safe, and stay low. But I can do that and still mark off the calender when I get back to my can.

2006-11-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

I am home on leave. It is wonderfull. I am very excited and happy to be home. I wasn't sure if I would be or not. I knew I was going to enjoy it, but I didn't know what to expect. I am still in "the mode." I get ancy when vehicles get too close, I yell "clear" when approaching a cross road. I constantly scan the roadsides even though I KNOW there are no bombs here. So I'm adjusting. About the time I do, it will be time to go back. Even so, I LOVE this. Eating where I want when I want. Not so much with the sleeping in because of the little one being up and ready for the day bright and early, but I cherish even this.

Learning new tricks

2006-11-02T12:24:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, the fine art of disguise. I love these things. They are super practicle for the desert. There is not much to report after our last big event. I am back on patrols and scanning the roadsides constantly. I don't realize how stressing just doing that is until I collapse in my bunk. I am counting down the days until leave (sorry everyone, I'll tell you "after" I'm home).

I got a really nice cheap Ibanez guitar online a while back, so I am brushing up on that again. I have given up on the Iraqi language and am studying my French again. Thankfully I brought some books and computer software. It's coming along slowly but surely.

I've heard the recent Kerry statement about uneducated people in Iraq. That guy just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper I tell you.....

I wish I had a dog over here, that would be cool. One of the guys got a sheep the other day. The guy thinks he's a dog or something, it's fun to watch. I guess that will have to do until I get home for good.

Down to the last Millisecond

2006-10-20T05:24:00.000-07:00

We were on bridge sweep yesterday (going under and around the bridge to check for anything that goes boom), I was on top of the bridge in the gunner seat with Mac driving while Donivan and Lamon went under. Well, we parked on the bridge, and this car kept coming after I waved the flag. He was still a long way off, but he wasn’t even slowing down. I picked up my flare and fired…..miss-fire. I fired again and it shot towards the car. The car sped up! “Oh no!” I thought to myself, “He’s not stopping!” I pulled up my M-16 and shot three rounds. Left, Right-Right, “Pop, Pop, POP!” Last round kicked up dirt 5 feet to the front-right of his tire! He still wasn’t stopping. I had two quick thoughts, images really. The first was, “It’s a VBED coming for us!” The second was “I’ve gotta kill him!” I threw down my M-16 and racked the first round of a 300 rd belt into the chamber of my 240b. Safety off, squeezing trigger...SCREEEEEEEEEACH!!! At the very last possible second the driver locked up his brakes , leaving two streaks of smoking black rubber while sliding sideways. Thank God for both our sakes that he stopped just in time.
All this happened within the space of a few seconds. Life and death decisions are made in infinitely small amounts of time.

Tick tock, man it's hot out!

2006-09-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Another day passes in the endless sands of time. We are fast approaching the 1 year mark since we left home. Isn’t that crazy? A whole year already! I’m trying not to look too far into the future, but I can’t help keeping a mental tally on the months until I am home for good.Right now I am trying to focus on the job at hand, taking each day in turn. Two months until I go on my leave back home. With any luck, after I get back to Iraq after leave, it will only be an additional two months until we pack up and leave. I’ll expect a longer stay, and hope for an early return. One thing I have learned is that having expectations leads to disappointments. Having an expectation is setting yourself up for failure.The days are passing ever so slowly. Even so, the weeks are flying bye. After this is all over and I am home once again, I know that this time will seem but a distant memory. I will however, look back on these days as the golden years of my life. I did my duty, I served my country, and I made my family proud. No matter what else I do in life, I can have done this, and no one can take that away.

My team members

2006-08-19T02:24:00.000-07:00

My vehicle recently found a pressure plate connected to an IED on one of the routes, it was close, and we are all thankful that it was spotted before damage was done. Scanning the roads for these small signs of danger is continuous for everyone. Sometimes we get blown up, sometimes we miss them, and sometimes, we find them. It is an ongoing search…find them before they find us.
I was driving out on a night mission last night. We were driving on and on down the road. For a minute I was driving down Hwy 2 back home…it was wonderful. Then I snapped back to reality and franticly scanned the road for pressure plates…nothing, open road.
I got back to my rack in the wee morning hours and fell into a deep sleep. Again, I was home. My wife and son greeted me as I got off a bus. We all went home together. I rocked my boy to sleep and stayed up with my wife. Then someone pounded on my door. Once again I was snapped back to a reality I’d rather not face. A new day in Iraq
I live for those moments in time….I thought I was home.

inside the hut

2006-07-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

This is a gathering of the minds. The tribe as it were. Actually, random people just stopped by our tiny hovel to chit chat. It got a little crowded, but it's all good.
However, Ryan and I have developed a reputation for liking our privacy and for the most part, these meetings have dwindled.

Living

2006-07-15T23:38:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of our living "alley." Side by side all the way down. It's like an inside out dorm. Our cans are 8ft x 16ft per two man. Thank God my roomate and I are best friends. The checker board things are "heskos" cloth and wire mesh squares filled with sand that is available at your nearest market! (To protect us from all those projectiles lobbed at us).

Brothers in arms

2006-07-13T22:22:00.000-07:00

This photo is taken while we are out on patrol. One of the few patrols we are on together.

The hour glass

2006-07-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

Time is ticking away. Thankfully my time here is flying by. It doesn't seem like it sometimes, but it's been a month since I last posted, and it's been 3 months since I arrived in country. I think it is going much faster than the train up anyway.
We found out the other day that now the train ups are only 3 months. They found out that it was too much time and it really wasn't needed. Too little too late I say. That means we were the last ones to go through the loooooong 6 month train up. No use crying over spilled milk I guess.

If everything goes as is rumored (and I stress RUMOR) we will be home some time in Feb. That means a little over 7 months and I'll be home! How about that!? It sure would be nice. It feels like I'm missing out on so much. Especially with my son growing in leaps and bounds before my very eyes (pictures that is).

By now you all know about my experience out on patrols. I pray every day before patrole, and I thank God every day that ends. God is good, and by his grace I am still here in one piece.

That is all for now, I'll try and post a little more often.

Same old same old

2006-05-29T01:19:00.000-07:00

Still here.
I am on patrols now and not towers. It is a change in pace, but a little more exausting. Sometimes I am out all day, sometimes all night. At night I have lots of time to think, and so I do. I think about what is happening in the here and now; will I make a difference over here? Is all of this worth it? Are the personal sacrafices I am making going to be worth the cost to my family? I think so. If nothing else I will have memories to last a lifetime. God is good. He protects me every day. I sure am learning to lean.
Hey, every once in a while, you even have fun! I don't know if there is a group of guys in the whole world who can be put in a misserable situation and still always be so happy. Sure, there are down days, but we realize there is nothing gained from being blue. I love these guys, they're the best I've ever seen, These will be days to look back on as the golden years of our lives.

Hello Family and Friends

2006-04-25T03:58:00.000-07:00

It's been a while so I thought I would post something anyway.
My days concist mostly of sitting in a tower on "the front" as it were. We make sure no one tries to get into the base that isn't supposed to. It's boring for the most part, but that is exactly how I want this deployment to be, boring.
We have two men per tower. In my case, my best friend Ryan and I. We have one man up, one down. Which means, one man watching, one man doing something else, mostly reading. I have read 2 books in a week. By the end of this I will be more smarter-er (wink)
That's about all for now folks. Take care.

At long last

2006-04-07T05:55:00.000-07:00

We have arrived at our final destination.
It's not as hot as I expected the desert to be, but I'm not complaining.
So far so good. We're all in good health and great spirits. The clock has started ticking. Not much else to say, I will update when I have something to post.

Sunday and Smallpox

2006-01-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

I finally found a church here worth attending. Ryan and I decided it was high time we got back in the church groove. We had already tried a church that was dryer than a cement makers boots. So we decided to go to our battalions Red Bull chapel. Good times were had. Two soldiers brought guitars and played songs that I am familiar with from my own church. The only song I can remember right now is one by Audio Adrenaline. Good stuff. My batteries feel recharged.
We also found out about a bible study, and will be attempting to make it this evening.

I got my smallpox shot checked on today, as did all the guys who got poked with me. It itches like nothing else. I want to scratch it off and douse it in bleach. This too shall pass. But it will take like 6 weeks!!!

fun stuff

2006-01-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back from the field and I couldn't be happier. We had a day off, and that was a great boost to our moral.
The field was rough, mostly because of messed up leadership, but we survived and over came.
Through little food and less sleep, I at least learned what my body can take, and how well it functions thereafter.
All I can say is that it's nice to be in a bed, with roof over head in a heated area.

Travel stories

2006-01-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

When I was getting on a plane to come Home for Christmas, two soldiers weren't going to be able to get on the plane due to overbooking. The folks at the airport tried to get a spot for them, but to no avail. Finally, we were all boarded on the plane. The captain got on the speaker and told the passengers what was happening. He then asked if anyone would be willing to give up their seat and take a later flight, so two soldiers could get home, their was a loooooong pause.....everyone was trying to get home for Christmas.....then, first one, then two guys got up and gave up their seats so the two soldiers could get home. Wasn't that neat? I think it's awesome.

Good times

2006-01-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

What a joy to come home for Christmas! This "vacation" was just what we needed to recharge our batteries, and give us the motivation we need to continue training.
A good time was spent with both in-laws and "out-laws." This will have to go on record as a very memorable Christmas.
Happy New Year!

We'll be home for Christmas

2005-12-21T18:23:00.000-08:00

Yes!!! At long last we all get a much needed break from training.
Even though Dathan and I are in the same platoon, we hardly see each other. Since he came down a little after me, he was playing catch up, and our schedules weren't matching up until recently. Then I had my accident and was doing desk work for a while.
Now, after 3 months, I actually tracked him down (3 bunks down from me) and we got our first picture together!
See lots of you in a couple days! Merry Christmas!!!

Commenting

2005-12-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

You can all feel free to comment if you so desire. I have changed the settings so no one has to be a member or anything. Just type in the letters in the word varifcation so the site knows you aren't a "spammer." Thanks all

So there I was

2005-12-16T17:49:00.000-08:00

There I was, humping along(walking) through the woods sharpening my tactical maneuvering techniques with my squad. To make a long story short, I got caught up in some razor wire, tripped and split my knee open on my rifle. I laid on the ground growling for a while, not knowing I was actually hurt. One of my buddies carried my rifle, and another one helped me walk. I thought it was bruised. After a few minutes, I didn’t feel any swelling, so I took my rifle back and continued on. About 15 minutes later, as we neared the edge of the woods, I noticed blood soaking through my pants. I sat down and rolled up the pant leg. What greeted me was unexpected. I had a meaty gash right below my knee cap. I started to put my field dressing on. At this time my team leader noticed I was down. He came over and helped me out. Then I was combat carried across a field to the medics. After a long night at the army aid station and the civilian E.R. I had 13 exterior stitches and a few interior [muscle] stitches. That was about a week ago, and I am supposed to get them out tomorrow.So there it is, my story of the month.I have some pictures of the “wound” but none were very flattering.

Down in the Swamp are We

2005-12-10T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hello out there.
I haven’t written in a while, mostly because there just isn’t a whole lot going on. I’ll bring you all up to speed though.
We’re closing on Christmas, and that is the beacon we are all looking at. Not much else comes to mind except the thought of going home. We are all pretty pumped, and looking forward to a break.
We have been doing various things over the past week or so. We completed some refresher coursed on various weapon systems, including the .50 cal machine gun, and the 240B machine gun.
Most of the company got certified as Combat Lifesavers also. We learned and refreshed ourselves on how to give rescue breathing, CPR, and basic first aid. We also put tourniquets on each other. We actually twisted them until the blood stopped flowing in the femoral artery. Wow did that hurt. We then took classes on inserting nasal airway tubes, and doc actually put one in his own nose (It’s about 4-5 inches long, and as big around as a marker, ouch). We did many smaller things inbetween, with the culmination of the course being us “sticking” each other and administering I.V.’s to each other. Good times.
Then yesterday we all got to pee in a little cup and get drug tested. Enough said there.
We have also been doing some pressure control points and basic restraints training.
That is pretty much it. That is all the training we have done in the past couple weeks. About two weeks of training that we could have done in 1-2 days.
I am always going to try to keep these posts upbeat and positive. However, one of our officers was talking to some reporters. He told them that our training is continuous and rigorous and the moral of the troops is high. I want to correct this. When they don’t have scheduled training for us, we make our own training up. This is a complete waste of our time and the tax-payers money. There is absolutely no reason for us to be down here this long. The moral of the troops is low. Very low. They continue to treat us like children and micro-manage everything we do. I am only saying this because I want the truth to be heard. I don’t want a suger coated picture that some officer made up and appears in the paper.
One of my fellow soldiers has a blog devoted to the truth. Good or bad he reports on it. Apparently our command doesn’t like the truth. They tried to shut him down, but, as he is doing nothing wrong, they don’t have a leg to stand on. He is not violating any operational security, so they have no leg to stand on. They are however watching him very close and tracking all his posts. Doesn’t feel very much like America down here.
So, I want to end on a happy note. The quiet of morning is my favorite time. It is the time I get up before anyone else, and the lights are off. I can read my bible, write in my journal or update this blog in complete quiet. I love it.
Only 2 more weeks and I’ll be home for a little R&R. It is much needed. Can’t wait to see you all.

It's a BOY!!!

2005-11-24T13:41:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I got an emergancy leave to come back home for the birth of our baby. It's a boy! 9 lbs 8 oz and 23 1/5 inch He's huge. We named him Landon.
It's back to the swamp tomorrow. It was a nice long leave, but not nearly long enough. Wow what a new perspective on life.
I had a "to do" list when I came up here, but I have spent my time in better ways. Taking care of my wife while she recovers, and spending lots of time with my son.
I'm sad that I will miss his first moments of life, but proud that I am helping to build a better world for him to grow up in.
To all of you from all of us, happy thanksgiving!

Down in the swamp

2005-11-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone.
You would think that with internet available I would have more time to post. Think again. We are kept very busy of late. We just finished FOB OPS (Forward Operating Base Operations). It could have been a very good training opportunity. Unfortunately it wasn’t. I would like to say that everything is going great, but it’s not. Here is the break down. We are supposed to go through several scenarios including; mortar attack, sniper fire, insurgent attack, and citizens approaching the base. We are graded on these tasks by a training group. Unfortunately, these “trainers” are the most backward people I have ever seen. Supposedly some have been to Iraq, but I want to know where they dug up some of these desk jockeys.
Classic example. We were attacked by mortar fire (simulated). The first thing you do when taking mortar fire is eat dirt (dive to the ground) then run as fast as you can out of the area. The trainers stopped us and told us that we were wrong, that we were supposed to do 3-5 second rushes. ie run for 3-5 seconds,lay down, then get up and run again and again. This tactic is supposed to be used when taking direct small arms fire, and attempting break up the enemy’s site picture, giving him a harder target to hit. Someone neglected to tell our trainers that morters don't have eyes.
Hopefully the weeks to come will see me having better report updates for you all back home.
Hey, I discovered a new word down here, I couldn’t quite figure out what it was at first. All these people down here keep talking about a “ya’ll”…..now, I wasn’t quite sure what a “Ya’ll” is, because I couldn’t reference it anywhere under my proper English handbook. I have come to the conclusion that it is some sort of migratory, herd dwelling animal. Possibly a cross between a Yak and a Water buffalo (my interpretation). That or a group of Southerners moving together in the same general direction, they are a group with low intelligence. (Brian Johnson’s interpretation)
On to the nicer side of things; April is scheduled to be induced into labor on Monday morning. Since it is an inducement, I will get to be there for the birth! I’ll get a 5 day emergency stay back home before coming back here.

I'm still here

2005-11-10T19:34:00.000-08:00

Well, some technical difficulties have hindered me thus far, but here I am anyway. We now have internet in our bay, purchased by us. It is really slow, and we can only have a few guys on at a time, but hey, it's internet and I won't complain.
We just started getting into some decent training now. So far the Mississippians have been doing there darn best to "learn us raaight." The training we did today actually made sense, as it was company driven. We familiarized ourselves on the .50 cal machine gun. Tried out some new communication systems, and uploaded TOW missles and 20 mm ammo on the Bradley's. All good training to be sure. Some more of that tomorrow.
The mysterious "they" also reffered to as "them" have decided to throw massive ammounts of road marching into our training for some odd reason. My feet are falling apart, so I will need several of these to toughen them back up.
That's all for tonight folks, I'm up way past my "bedtime" and need some sleep before our zero dark stupid wake-up (5am).

Finally, some internet access

2005-10-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Finally, internet.
Hey everyone, I am down in hurricane torn Mississippi. I finally got on internet down here. It's hard to find. I'm paying $4 for one hour.
Several dozen of the guys and I all went in on purchasing a dish for our barraks so we can have our own internet. It will only run us a few dollars a month. So hopefully as of November 2nd I will be updating this site more frequently.
Training has been marginal at best. We do more training in a regular guard drill weekend than the command down here has us do in two weeks. It's hot and muggy during the day, and freezing at night. Guess I'm getting used to the desert already :)
My beautiful wife is due with our baby any day/week now. I'll get to come home for a short emergancy leave. I'm looking forward to it, and am really excited to come home for a bit. We have been down here just shy of a month, but it feels like forever.
I can't wait to get out of Mississippi and into the sandbox. It doesn't help that this state is in competition with Louisiana to see who gets voted as the most illiterate state in the union. (trust me it comes out in the training).
So, things could be better, and they could be worse. It's just a matter of how you look at that glass of water.
The food is pretty good, but repetative. Our immediate command is pretty squared away, but the upper chain of command is lacking severely on common sense. If something makes sense, we don't do it. Whoever said the army is tough wasn't referring to the job, they were reffering to having to deal with people who's 6th grade education is the only thing that makes up for a severe lack of common sense.
Sorry sorry sorry. No more complaining.
I couldn't wish for a better group of guys to be deploying with. Most of the guys here are my close friends on the civilian side too. BJ lost 40 pounds in one month so he could come with us. One guy started drilling in his home town of Bemidji with us so he could deploy (his home of residence is KY. now that is a commute! Needless to say, we all support each other and keep our moral as high as we can.
Thats the thing that keeps you all together, the brotherhood under arms.
I just completed a 32 hour course in army GPS systems. It helps us know where we are when traveling. (boring stuff let me say)
Shortly we will be getting into what we do best, walking through simulated Iraqi towns, urban combat and survival, advance weapon systems training, convoy escorts etc

It will be a long 5 months before we end up going over, and longer still once we're there. I just take it a day at a time. It's the only thing you can do.
Well, I'll update more when I can.

2005-09-23T07:37:00.000-07:00

Pre-deployment picture

What happened to one weekend a month?

2005-09-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

This is the question that we in the National Guard often ask ourselves. What started as an easier way to experience the military part time, turned into two deployments. The first was to War torn Bosnia in the fall of 2003-spring 2004. Now my 11b unit is preparing for a massive deployment to Iraq, the numbers of which have never been surpassed in the history of the U.S. Army national guard.
This blog is for family and friends of mine. To keep you all up to date on the happenings of this deployment when internet is available. I will update this site as often as time allows.