Tuesday, August 31, 2004
The Other Shoe Drops
I’ve been pretty lucky in my military career.
I knew the risks when I joined. Thought about them a great deal before I signed my initial contract. While I am a musician for the Army, I am still a soldier. I qualify on the M-16 (expert, BTW), do Physical Training almost daily … I’ve even qualified as a hand-to-hand combat instructor.
But, I’ve been lucky.
When we invaded Panama, I was in the Armed Forces School of Music. I couldn’t be deployed, I had to finish training.
During Desert Storm, my unit was needed at Fort Bliss, and couldn’t be deployed. (There were 8 Army Bands deployed during Desert Storm, of the roughly 45 bands that existed at the time.)
No bands were deployed to Somalia.
I wasn’t in the one band that was deployed to Haiti.
We has, as of yet (crossing my fingers), to deploy a band to Afghanistan.
I was in Korea when we invaded Iraq.
Then, I shipped from Korea to Germany, and joined the Big Red One.
One of the first things I was told when I got to my unit last August was that we were deploying shortly after the first of the year (2004).
Great! I just spent a year separated from my wife in Korea. Missed our 17th anniversary, her 36th birthday, celebrated my 37th alone. And now, I get to miss another year.
On February 10th, the First ID (Infantry Division) Band met at our building. Families in tow. At 0:dark 30. With all of our gear, in fresh new Desert Camoflage uniforms, and boots that hadn’t been broken in, yet.
We, eventually got on buses and went to the airport in Nuremburg. Sat around there for a few hours with several hundred other soldiers from other units, waiting on a plane.
We, finally, boarded a plane and flew into Kuwait City. Did some initial inprocessing (at midnight), and waited for buses to take us to the camp we would stay at until the division was ready to move into Iraq.
We stayed at Camp Udairi in Kuwait for about 3 weeks. It was a hellhole. We lived in tents that didn’t begin to keep the blowing sand out. Sleeping on cots. Your living area was your cot. There was just barely enough room between the cots so that you could get in yours at night. The showers constantly ran out of water … forget about it being hot water, any water and you were lucky. It was a good 10 minute walk to the closest shower from my tent. There were no toilets, just porta-johns.
There were, however, two Burger Kings, two Subways, a coffee shop, and a PX.
We did a little training. But, mostly, we got bored, and stayed bored.
Finally, we moved out for Iraq. The band was lucky. We flew in, and didn’t have to go in the cross country convoys.
We flew to Camp Anaconda. Anaconda was nicer than Udairi. There were hot showers, toilets that flushed. But everything was incredibly spread out, and there was no transportation.
By this time, I had developed a case of “jock-itch� that was almost unbearable. So, the walk to the chow hall (a couple of miles), or the PX (about the same), shoot! Even to the toilets a few hundred yards away was an interesting adventure in pain.
After 4 days of cooling our heels in Anaconda, we, finally, got a convoy to our final destination. FOB Iron Horse. The home of the 4 Infatnry Division. (The camp was named for the division. The division’s nickname is the “Iron Horse Division�.)
We started settling in here. To give you an idea of what the place is like, the title of this post will take you to a write up on the camp at globalsecurity.org .
I had been here about a month when the unit got a rather unique tasking. They needed a non-commissioned officer to take over as the full-time assistant manager of the camp’s rather large Morale, Welfare and Recreation facility.
I started working in that job on April 3rd, and have been doing that ever since. I still live in the same building as the band, but this is what I do full-time until the end of the deployment.
The person in the band that is acting as a liason to our families in Germany has started a weekly newsletter about what is going on in the band.
I was the subject of one of his articles, given that I don’t work with the band, anymore.
Here is what he wrote up:
This week begins a new section in which one member of the 1st Infantry Division Band is featured. This will be a weekly (hopefully) feature in which members who don’t normally get recognized in other articles get their chance to showcase what they do here.
This week’s feature member is SSG Kevin Robertson. When performing with the band, SSG Robertson plays the euphonium. Kevin James Robertson is the Night Shift Manager, Assistant Non Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of the MWR Recreational Facility. Kevin hails from Abilene Texas and joined the Army in 1989.
Kevin must oversee the personnel and operations of the night shift. His shift begins at 3:00 PM and continues until 11:30 PM or 2:00 AM, depending upon events at the MWR. He has 4 military personnel under his direct control during his shift. One Soldier runs the “Sports Bar,� where Soldiers can go to relax and watch TV, or Sports (of course), hang out, listen to music (this is where Enter Sandman and Sandbox 20 perform in the evenings), and drink non-alcoholic beverages to their hearts’ content. The Sports Bar also sells snacks. Just outside the entrance to the “Sports Bar�, which is on the first floor is a kitchen that serves food from 7:30 PM until approximately 11:30 PM, depending upon demand. The other 3 Soldiers under Kevin’s control work here. The kitchen serves hamburgers, hot dogs and chips, along with other snacks.
The MWR Palace is one of three Presidential Palaces on the grounds of a sprawling palace compound that, at one time under Saddam Hussein’s rule, housed various recreational facilities including a zoo. In addition to the kitchen and Sports Bar, the 1st floor also has a gym where Soldiers can go get their workout on. The Internet Café, run and managed by Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), is on the top (3rd) floor along with living quarters and offices. The 2nd floor has the theater that doubles as the post chapel, the division Red Cross office and the Iraqi Bazaar with 13 Iraqi vendors, a barbershop, beauty shop, tailor and a masseuse. The basement houses a swimming pool that MWR hopes to open soon. Outside there is a basketball court and a volleyball court.
As part of his daily duties, SSG Robertson coordinates with KBR personnel for any special events that may be happening that evening. He also oversees the shift changeover, acts as sheriff enforcing the No Parking Zone on the street in front of the palace, getting food from the dining facility for the kitchen, and providing relief for the Sports Bar Manager to get breaks. At the end of the evening, he assists the kitchen and the Sports Bar to close down operations for the night. Occasionally, Kevin must attend the Battle Update Assessment (BUA) of the 4-3 ADA, who have the responsibility of providing services for the entire FOB, to include: force protection, physical facilities, and utilities. When he attends, Kevin provides the 4-3 commander (LTC Spurrier) with the MWR portion of the update. On Friday’s (the Muslim Holy Day), SSG Robertson comes in at 7:00 AM and covers the daytime duties as well as his own nighttime duties, this can make for a 20 hour day, as opposed to his normal 10 – 12 hour day. Then, Kevin gets a well-deserved break on Saturdays.
Kevin finds his job very rewarding since he gets to help Soldiers and people throughout his shift. “Everyday that I have been in this job there is at least one person that I have been able to help,� he said. There are times when Soldiers get stranded on the FOB without a place to stay, no money, no food, or a place to shower, and Kevin and his staff have been able to provide that for them. Kevin spends his precious little off time doing laundry, catching up with unit business, watching movies and doing logic puzzles. He finds time at the end of his shift to answer email, chat with his wife Amy, read the news, and surf the Internet and manage his 3 fantasy baseball teams.
Back at home, he and Amy are active in Community Theater, and he is an avid baseball fan. They are what he describes as “techno geeks� and enjoy computers, the Internet and gadgets. Aside from his wife, Kevin especially misses his two dogs. He had only returned from Korea for a year to go to Germany and deploy for another year away from them. He laments “that they listen at the door for me everyday,� and that they can’t be made to understand where he is and when he’ll be back home. The message he most wants to send home is, “I am good. I am safe. I work long hours, at odd times, but I am in a job where I get to help Soldiers on a daily basis. I have been able to make a number of Iraqi friends. I miss (my family and friends), terribly, but I feel like I am doing some real good here.�
I knew the risks when I joined. Thought about them a great deal before I signed my initial contract. While I am a musician for the Army, I am still a soldier. I qualify on the M-16 (expert, BTW), do Physical Training almost daily … I’ve even qualified as a hand-to-hand combat instructor.
But, I’ve been lucky.
When we invaded Panama, I was in the Armed Forces School of Music. I couldn’t be deployed, I had to finish training.
During Desert Storm, my unit was needed at Fort Bliss, and couldn’t be deployed. (There were 8 Army Bands deployed during Desert Storm, of the roughly 45 bands that existed at the time.)
No bands were deployed to Somalia.
I wasn’t in the one band that was deployed to Haiti.
We has, as of yet (crossing my fingers), to deploy a band to Afghanistan.
I was in Korea when we invaded Iraq.
Then, I shipped from Korea to Germany, and joined the Big Red One.
One of the first things I was told when I got to my unit last August was that we were deploying shortly after the first of the year (2004).
Great! I just spent a year separated from my wife in Korea. Missed our 17th anniversary, her 36th birthday, celebrated my 37th alone. And now, I get to miss another year.
On February 10th, the First ID (Infantry Division) Band met at our building. Families in tow. At 0:dark 30. With all of our gear, in fresh new Desert Camoflage uniforms, and boots that hadn’t been broken in, yet.
We, eventually got on buses and went to the airport in Nuremburg. Sat around there for a few hours with several hundred other soldiers from other units, waiting on a plane.
We, finally, boarded a plane and flew into Kuwait City. Did some initial inprocessing (at midnight), and waited for buses to take us to the camp we would stay at until the division was ready to move into Iraq.
We stayed at Camp Udairi in Kuwait for about 3 weeks. It was a hellhole. We lived in tents that didn’t begin to keep the blowing sand out. Sleeping on cots. Your living area was your cot. There was just barely enough room between the cots so that you could get in yours at night. The showers constantly ran out of water … forget about it being hot water, any water and you were lucky. It was a good 10 minute walk to the closest shower from my tent. There were no toilets, just porta-johns.
There were, however, two Burger Kings, two Subways, a coffee shop, and a PX.
We did a little training. But, mostly, we got bored, and stayed bored.
Finally, we moved out for Iraq. The band was lucky. We flew in, and didn’t have to go in the cross country convoys.
We flew to Camp Anaconda. Anaconda was nicer than Udairi. There were hot showers, toilets that flushed. But everything was incredibly spread out, and there was no transportation.
By this time, I had developed a case of “jock-itch� that was almost unbearable. So, the walk to the chow hall (a couple of miles), or the PX (about the same), shoot! Even to the toilets a few hundred yards away was an interesting adventure in pain.
After 4 days of cooling our heels in Anaconda, we, finally, got a convoy to our final destination. FOB Iron Horse. The home of the 4 Infatnry Division. (The camp was named for the division. The division’s nickname is the “Iron Horse Division�.)
We started settling in here. To give you an idea of what the place is like, the title of this post will take you to a write up on the camp at globalsecurity.org .
I had been here about a month when the unit got a rather unique tasking. They needed a non-commissioned officer to take over as the full-time assistant manager of the camp’s rather large Morale, Welfare and Recreation facility.
I started working in that job on April 3rd, and have been doing that ever since. I still live in the same building as the band, but this is what I do full-time until the end of the deployment.
The person in the band that is acting as a liason to our families in Germany has started a weekly newsletter about what is going on in the band.
I was the subject of one of his articles, given that I don’t work with the band, anymore.
Here is what he wrote up:
This week begins a new section in which one member of the 1st Infantry Division Band is featured. This will be a weekly (hopefully) feature in which members who don’t normally get recognized in other articles get their chance to showcase what they do here.
This week’s feature member is SSG Kevin Robertson. When performing with the band, SSG Robertson plays the euphonium. Kevin James Robertson is the Night Shift Manager, Assistant Non Commissioned Officer in Charge (NCOIC) of the MWR Recreational Facility. Kevin hails from Abilene Texas and joined the Army in 1989.
Kevin must oversee the personnel and operations of the night shift. His shift begins at 3:00 PM and continues until 11:30 PM or 2:00 AM, depending upon events at the MWR. He has 4 military personnel under his direct control during his shift. One Soldier runs the “Sports Bar,� where Soldiers can go to relax and watch TV, or Sports (of course), hang out, listen to music (this is where Enter Sandman and Sandbox 20 perform in the evenings), and drink non-alcoholic beverages to their hearts’ content. The Sports Bar also sells snacks. Just outside the entrance to the “Sports Bar�, which is on the first floor is a kitchen that serves food from 7:30 PM until approximately 11:30 PM, depending upon demand. The other 3 Soldiers under Kevin’s control work here. The kitchen serves hamburgers, hot dogs and chips, along with other snacks.
The MWR Palace is one of three Presidential Palaces on the grounds of a sprawling palace compound that, at one time under Saddam Hussein’s rule, housed various recreational facilities including a zoo. In addition to the kitchen and Sports Bar, the 1st floor also has a gym where Soldiers can go get their workout on. The Internet Café, run and managed by Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), is on the top (3rd) floor along with living quarters and offices. The 2nd floor has the theater that doubles as the post chapel, the division Red Cross office and the Iraqi Bazaar with 13 Iraqi vendors, a barbershop, beauty shop, tailor and a masseuse. The basement houses a swimming pool that MWR hopes to open soon. Outside there is a basketball court and a volleyball court.
As part of his daily duties, SSG Robertson coordinates with KBR personnel for any special events that may be happening that evening. He also oversees the shift changeover, acts as sheriff enforcing the No Parking Zone on the street in front of the palace, getting food from the dining facility for the kitchen, and providing relief for the Sports Bar Manager to get breaks. At the end of the evening, he assists the kitchen and the Sports Bar to close down operations for the night. Occasionally, Kevin must attend the Battle Update Assessment (BUA) of the 4-3 ADA, who have the responsibility of providing services for the entire FOB, to include: force protection, physical facilities, and utilities. When he attends, Kevin provides the 4-3 commander (LTC Spurrier) with the MWR portion of the update. On Friday’s (the Muslim Holy Day), SSG Robertson comes in at 7:00 AM and covers the daytime duties as well as his own nighttime duties, this can make for a 20 hour day, as opposed to his normal 10 – 12 hour day. Then, Kevin gets a well-deserved break on Saturdays.
Kevin finds his job very rewarding since he gets to help Soldiers and people throughout his shift. “Everyday that I have been in this job there is at least one person that I have been able to help,� he said. There are times when Soldiers get stranded on the FOB without a place to stay, no money, no food, or a place to shower, and Kevin and his staff have been able to provide that for them. Kevin spends his precious little off time doing laundry, catching up with unit business, watching movies and doing logic puzzles. He finds time at the end of his shift to answer email, chat with his wife Amy, read the news, and surf the Internet and manage his 3 fantasy baseball teams.
Back at home, he and Amy are active in Community Theater, and he is an avid baseball fan. They are what he describes as “techno geeks� and enjoy computers, the Internet and gadgets. Aside from his wife, Kevin especially misses his two dogs. He had only returned from Korea for a year to go to Germany and deploy for another year away from them. He laments “that they listen at the door for me everyday,� and that they can’t be made to understand where he is and when he’ll be back home. The message he most wants to send home is, “I am good. I am safe. I work long hours, at odd times, but I am in a job where I get to help Soldiers on a daily basis. I have been able to make a number of Iraqi friends. I miss (my family and friends), terribly, but I feel like I am doing some real good here.�
