Sgt. Ruffin

Hi Everybody
Just wanted to send along some pictures of my promotion ceremony from this afternoon. After two years 10 months in the Army, a 15-month deployment to Iraq and a paperwork battle with the Department of the Army, I have been promoted to the rank of Sergeant.
Since we have been back off leave after our return to the States, I have been filling the position of an NCO as Bravo Company's Senior Line Medic. I hope to be able to continue in this capacity, but as always things need to be fluid to ensure the unit is able to operate as successfully as possible.

The first picture is my platoon sergeant who "pinned" me. The term comes from when the rank was pinned to the collar, though on our uniforms the rank is attached by velcro to the center of the chest. With the pins, Soldiers of equal or higher rank would shake the newly promoted NCO's hand and hit the pins (hence the term "blood pinning")as a form of initiation or welcoming the SGT to the NCO corps. Today, this tradition carries on with a slight variation

In the last pic, the Soldier on the left (my right as I stand there) was promoted to Staff Sergeant, and the Specialist on the right (my left) received his Combat Medic Badge for actions taken while in Iraq.

Thought you would like to know
Troy

Home Safe Home

Troy called this morning to let me know that he his back in the U.S.

Troy's parents came out to celebrate the arrival of the 3rd ID back at their home base.

We look forward to getting to spend some time with troy during his post tour leave

Homeward Bound

Greetings from Kuwait!
We finally arrived in Kuwait sometime early this morning, and have only a few hours left until we start the final steps before we head home. The biggest obstacle is going through Customs; I finally got all of my bags packed, and early tomorrow morning will have to dump them out to make sure I don't have any rocket launchers or tanks hidden in my duffle bag. Once we've finished our inspections, it then becomes a waiting game. We've been given plenty of time to go through Customs, so I'm sure we'll have the better part of the day to wait around.

I couldn't help but laugh last night as we were boarding the C-17 cargo plane that took us from TQ to Kuwait. There were two long lines of Soldiers slowly loading from the rear of the aircraft, and as I looked up and watched some of the first Soldiers start heading up the ramp I saw someones arm raised well above their head...just flipping off Iraq. I think he summed up our feelings quite nicely.

We're outta here!
Troy

3/22/08

Hi everybody
I wanted to send out a quick email while I had the chance. Its official...we're finally coming home! I've got all my bags packed and ready to go; tomorrow we should be moving to the flight area of TQ to await our flight to Kuwait. Once in Kuwait, we should be there until sometime on Wednesday when we board the big bird bound for HOME!!!!! Project arrival is early morning on Thursday the 27th...just five days from now.
We've already torn down our aid station here and will be turning over supplies to the main aid station here on post. As of now, all of our efforts will be concentrated on getting home.
Since we should be arriving on Thursday, we won't start the re-integration classes until the following Monday, which will be nice; its strange to think that we'll actually get a weekend off!
Following the two weeks of classes, we'll be turned loose for leave; our start date should be April 12th, and be at least a month long.

Any more info I get along the way I'll try to pass along.

See you soon!!!
Troy

1/17/08

Troy has received word through the rumor mill about their return home. His unit has started to pack up, and move kit into containers. It looks like they will be getting back the end of March. More to follow

1/15/08

Thanks for the update man!!! And congrats on your new job! That's awesome. Sounds like you're really enjoying it, too. Thats great you'll be able to spend more time at home as you'll be working the proverbial "normal" schedule. Must be nice not to have to worry about working overnights or weekends, huh? So are you full time there, and no longer on staff at Midwest?
Trying to wade through the paperwork and check off all the appropriate blocks for recert through NREMT. Gotta love paperwork from 10,000 miles away. I think we'll be able to get it done over here, even though we should have 90 days after our return. But...better safe than sorry. I loved EMSLRC, but I'd rather not have to pay to go through it again...still paying off my first go-round, don't need to add a second.
Hopefully you got the two pics of the snow we received over here. It totalled just under 2 inches. i've got a couple more I still need to take off my camera so I can email them out to people. It was definitely different seeing everything white instead of tan. Too bad the snow only lasted about a day and a half. Its still below freezing most of the time, and if you look closely we can still spot the occasional patch of snow hiding in the shadows, but its few and far between.
According to our battalion commander, we've got less than 100 days remaining; definitely beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just another month and a half of ops, and we should start moving and turning over everything to the new incoming unit. Hopefully it all goes well.
Got another coin; this time from our battalion commander (Lt Col), and is the 2-7 Infantry Regiment's coin. Pretty cool; its actually a lot nicer than the ForceComm coin (4-star general) I have.
Still thinking about re-upping for Ft. Carson, CO. Also have been considering going to flight medic school. I've been looking at the new deployment schedule the Army has put out, and was somewhat surprised to learn that my brigade is schedule to return to Iraq the same month I'm supposed to be getting out. Yeah...that means I'd be stop-lossed even before I got on the plane! I'm not trying to get out of another deployment...just would like to do it within the "normal" confines of my enlistment contract. Plus, Colorado's a lot easier to get to than Georgia. If I get out there, maybe you and Christine could come visit for a weekend of skiing. We'll see...
Talked to Kelly a little while ago. He's still trying to get me to go SF, or at least SOCOM medic. Its always an option, and would be a heck of a challenge. But he said that he may be in Iowa sometime in April or May. When I hear back from him I'll make sure to let you know.
Anyway, hope everything is going well with your new job. I'm sure you'll do great things there, John.

Talk to you later
Troy

1/14/08

Just thought I'd say hi; not a whole lot to report, besides it being COLD!!! Doesn't help that there's nothing out here to stop the wind from Syria to Baghdad . oh well...thats what snivel gear is for, huh?
Finished "In the Company of Heros" and "Clan of the Cave Bear." Both great books!!! Really enjoyed both of them; I've left them in the chow hall for other people to pick up if they want.
Will try to get the day light pics of the snow off my computer tomorrow if I get the chance. Also, I got a short little video clip on my camera of one of my buddies sledding!!! He took a sign of the back of a humvee and bent the corners up so he could put his feet there, and took off down the hill. its pretty funny, but probably too large to email. Most of the snow is gone...it lasted for about a day and a half, but now the only places it remains is where the sun doesn't hit. It was sure fun while it lasted, though. You should have seen all the infantrymen and their snowball fights! Good times.
The Battalion Commander stopped by our "humble abode" today. I guess Paul overheard him talking about trying to give coins to deserving Soldiers, and he dropped my name in his ear. So, later this afternoon he stopped by the aid station and presented me with a coin. Its pretty cool looking, too. Its the 2-7 Infantry Regimental coin. Now I've got one from my battalion, division and major command ( Lt Col , 2-star general, and 4-star general respectively.) My collection is growing, plus we'll all get one for the deployment. Paul was really happy that it worked out; he was really happy with how I was able to take care of my guys with no direct oversight since we left Hit. He was bragging to everybody we saw this afternoon that I got a coin from the BC. Kinda cool.
Other than that, not a whole lot going on right now. Will have a couple things to take care of tomorrow, but nothing too big. I've been slowly working at typing out an email (aka abbreviated version of events since we left Hit) but it is taking more time than anticipated. I'm not sure anybody will read the whole thing, but it'll be nice to have a record (if somewhat abridged) of events over the past several months. I'll get it out when I can, but there's still a ways to go.
Just got off the phone with Kristen before I sat down at the computer to write you guys. Not too many people out right now as it is COLD and the wind is really howling...makes guys tend to stay inside next to the heaters (like normal, sane people). She's doing well, and is trying to get ready for her next semester of classes. I guess U of I doesn't start till next week; seems late, but then again its been a while since I've been in college. Can't WAIT to get my degree finished!!! That'll be really nice to have completed that step in the process.
Speaking of completing processes, we're trying to get everything together for my paramedic recert; the packet you mailed off will help immensly, thanks for doing that! Looks like I may have to spend several days on KV to be able to go through some classes with Doc Brown so I can check off the necessary blocks. I'm definitely not opposed to this, as it'll be a great learning experience, plus it'll be the only real test of knowledge I've had since I joined the Army.
Well...I should probably head to bed. 07 comes early...

Love you guys more than fresh-fallen snow!
Troy