Hello Everybody,
Another week has come and gone, and as usual, I'm not sure where the time went. This is a good thing, as if every week passes as these last several I should be home before I know it. Again it was busy, though towards the end of the week our mission was the most boring to date.
Our only real excitement came as I was on the 24-hour OP from the 13th-14th. That night we headed into the city to find a house overlooking one of the busiest streets in town; one of particular interest to both us and the insurgents attempting to plant IED's. The walk out wasn't too bad, until our point man (the guy at the front of the group) led us through a "wadi." These are usually some type of drainage ditch, as most of this country is without any type of sewer system. This one was much larger than we had anticipated, and after several steps, left no doubt in our minds as to what we were stomping through. Once we overcame that particular obstacle, we found a house that looked like a good hiding spot. This time the gate was easy to get through, and the front door didn't pose much of a problem either. Once inside the front room, we were greeted with another door that led to the remainder of the house. One of the guys took two kicks, and we were through. Now comes the humor of the situation; as there were no lights on in the house, all we saw was a door that, upon trying the knob, was locked. Once we had secured the house, we turned on some of the lights so we no longer were relying upon our NOD's (night optical devices); the funny part was that when we inspected the inner door that had just been kicked in, not only did he kick the door the wrong way (meaning that it opened out rather than in) but the key was still dangling from the lock. Smart on their part, but looking for keys isn't what naturally comes to mind when we're trying to sweep a house. Live and learn, I guess.
The occupants of the house were the two wives (this remains a polygamous society) and their five children, ranging from about 2 to 14 or so. To the surprise of everyone, one of the girls about 10 years old looked like she belonged on the beach in California rather than this city in Iraq. She had light brown hair, was light-complected, and most starteling of all had bright blue eyes! We couldn't help but stare as she moved from their bedroom to the kitchen. One of the sergeants said "You think that's something, wait till you see an Iraqi with red hair." Still haven't seen that, but I'm sure it'll be tough to miss! As usual, our interpreter will talk to the family, and after we pay the family for damages to the house (in this case two doors) we try talking to them. A couple of us, including myself, have begun to pick up a little Arabic. Its a tough language, but the family always seems to smile, though its usually the smile one would give a young child as it struggles to form sentences. At one point, the little girl with blue eyes tried asking me a question; upon realizing that I had no idea what she asked, she mimicked putting a ring on her hand and pointed at me, asking if I was married. The rest of the guys in the squad thought this was hysterical, and I was teased relentlessly for hours. Oh well...at least I didn't scare her!!!
We didn't use the roof this time, which I was greatful for, but opted to watch from the windows instead. As we peeked around the still-drawn curtains, we had a nearly unimpeded view of the street; only about 50 meters of the road was obscured by a building further down the road. We passed the day peeking through a window, and occasionally trying to learn more Arabic from the family. As night began to fall, we started watching the road more intently, as the insurgents try to use the cover of darkness as much as they can. We heard on the radio that there was a group of people digging in the road, but they were hidden behind the building, obscured from our view. The Bradley down the road engaged them, and then several more Bradleys arrived on the scene. We called them on the radio from the house, and it was decided that there probably wouldn't be much more insurgent activity in the area, so we beat feet to the vehicles 100 meters down the road, and got a ride back to base instead. Beats having to walk back!
Later the next day about 12 of us loaded up and headed to one of the bases close by; our mission: fill 750 sandbags and bring them back. We managed to load 500 before we got word to bring back what we already had. We weren't disappointed, as everyone's back was sore by that point. Back to base for some Motrin and bed.
Since Friday we have been on "static positions" throughout the town, supporting a large-scale raid the Iraqi Police were doing. This means that we've been cooped up in the back of a Bradley for 6 hours on, and then had 6 hours off. We've been on this rotation now for about 4 days solid. This wouldn't be so bad if it was possible to sleep in the Brads, but we all found it nearly impossible, especially since we had all of our gear (including my aid bag) plus whatever we wanted as far as drinks, food, and stuff to pass the time. The worst part about it was how uncomfortable the seats are; they're definitely designed for function and not comfort, a fact to which our back-sides can attest. Mostly we just sat around and told stories; things we did growing up, what we did for fun, what we want to do on our mid-tour leave, and of course whats the first beer we're going to drink when we get back. After spending that much time with the guys, we all know a lot about each other. The good news is that the rotations should be slowing down, and we shouldn't have to go out for at least another 8-12 hours. We may actually get a full-night's sleep!!
The greatest news we received was about an hour ago; there was hot water for showers! For the first time since I left Kuwait, I was able to take a real shower, and it was hot!!! May not seem like much, but after about a month this really made our day! We're hoping that the plumbing is now fixed, but we're not holding our breath.
We're all doing well; seems as though everyone has finally gotten over the cough/cold that was going around. This is music to our ears as medics, as we are running low on most of the meds we'd been passing out. After 3 days of solid rain things are finally beginning to dry out again, though we're not sure how much more of the rainy season is left.
I thought of one thing that anyone could send if they wanted; I always try and give candy to the kids after we take over their house...some small token of good-will, I guess. I don't need a years-production from the candy shops, just a couple bags of the small candies and sweets to hand out. I'm just envisioning a Brock's truck backing up to the front gate of our compound, "delivery for Troy Ruffin...is he here?" I only need a couple bags, and I should be good...its not like I'm in someone's house every day, just a day or two out of the week.
Ok, I should go...need to finish some things around here before I turn in for the night.
Hope everyone is doing well. Keep the emails coming, its always nice to hear whats going on back home.
Thanks for the support and prayers!
Love you guys,
Troy
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Sunday, February 11, 2007
All that gear
Me with all my gear. Helmet and body armor with plates capable
> of stopping armor-piercing rounds on the front, rear and sides, 210
> rounds of 5.56mm ammo on the front, 2 medic pouches with Kerlix and
> tourniquets in front of my ammo magazines, another medic pouch on the
> side with more gear, earplugs for long rides in the Bradleys, and a
> pouch up top that is good for holding...well,
> nothing. M-4 carbine with the close-combat optics
> sight (just a red dot, no magnification), the "ganster grip" up front,
> with a flashlight; the flashlight has a pressure switch I taped onto
> my grip, just squeeze my left hand and the light comes on. 9mm pistol
> on my right thigh, plus 30 rounds of ammo. Medic bag on my left
> thigh, more gauze, tourniquets, occlusive dressings and 14ga needles
> for chest injuries. Soft elbow pads in my sleeves, and hard shell
> knee pads which are very hot in the summer. 3 liter camelbak between
> my body armor and my aid bag, and lastly my aid bag with enough
> supplies to treat my entire squad if necessary; fully equipped for
> intubation, surgical crics, I have a BVM, several IV's, drugs,
> splints, and a whole lot of gauze. Oh yeah, I forgot...2 10mg
> Morphine auto-injectors in my left shoulder pocket.
> Like the pic says...way too much gear. But, better safe than sorry.
> I always leave the aid bag in the vehicles if I can help it; I have
> enough supplies on me to stabilize a casualty till we get back to the
> Bradley. On our walking patrols I use a big satchel instead; makes it
> less obvious that I'm a medic...just one of the guys. Its better that
> way.
>
> So...thats about it. Hope you like the glimpse of my life here in
> Iraq. I'll try to keep taking pics and send out a couple cool ones
> when I can.
>
> Miss you all!!!
> of stopping armor-piercing rounds on the front, rear and sides, 210
> rounds of 5.56mm ammo on the front, 2 medic pouches with Kerlix and
> tourniquets in front of my ammo magazines, another medic pouch on the
> side with more gear, earplugs for long rides in the Bradleys, and a
> pouch up top that is good for holding...well,
> nothing. M-4 carbine with the close-combat optics
> sight (just a red dot, no magnification), the "ganster grip" up front,
> with a flashlight; the flashlight has a pressure switch I taped onto
> my grip, just squeeze my left hand and the light comes on. 9mm pistol
> on my right thigh, plus 30 rounds of ammo. Medic bag on my left
> thigh, more gauze, tourniquets, occlusive dressings and 14ga needles
> for chest injuries. Soft elbow pads in my sleeves, and hard shell
> knee pads which are very hot in the summer. 3 liter camelbak between
> my body armor and my aid bag, and lastly my aid bag with enough
> supplies to treat my entire squad if necessary; fully equipped for
> intubation, surgical crics, I have a BVM, several IV's, drugs,
> splints, and a whole lot of gauze. Oh yeah, I forgot...2 10mg
> Morphine auto-injectors in my left shoulder pocket.
> Like the pic says...way too much gear. But, better safe than sorry.
> I always leave the aid bag in the vehicles if I can help it; I have
> enough supplies on me to stabilize a casualty till we get back to the
> Bradley. On our walking patrols I use a big satchel instead; makes it
> less obvious that I'm a medic...just one of the guys. Its better that
> way.
>
> So...thats about it. Hope you like the glimpse of my life here in
> Iraq. I'll try to keep taking pics and send out a couple cool ones
> when I can.
>
> Miss you all!!!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
one heck of a week
Hi Everybody
So no pictures in this update, though I promise I'm working on them. This week was incredibly busy; my platoon was up on the rotation for missions, which meant any missions that were assigned, I rolled out on, as well as having to respond to the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) too. QRF rolls for anything that happens in the city, such as shootings, IED explosions, and anytime we get info on where one of the high-priority bad guys are; generally when things go bad and they might want a medic around.
So, Sunday night we're supposed to have a raid looking for one of the head bad guys' driver, but the air was "red" meaning that we had no air support, so the mission got scrubbed till further notice; this just meant that we were up till about 2am waiting. I had a mounted patrol (in the back of the Bradleys) making sure everyone knew that we were still in town. Kind of hard to miss a giant armored vehicle, but hey...why not? Monday night we had a walking patrol; no Bradley, just a 9 infantry guys and I out strolling through town. This was definitely an exciting time; I'd never been on foot in town, so this was my first chance to really see what this town looked like, though most of the time we're looking down alleys and scanning rooftops making sure no one is going to shoot at us. But, it was night, and we have night-vision goggles, and the bad guys don't. We own the night, and they know that, so very little happens on these patrols. Still, doesn't mean the adrenaline isn't pumping. We went out about a mile from base and took over a house. Almost all of the houses have courtyards, so our first obstacle is getting through the gate; if we can't pick it from the outside, we toss over the lightest guy and have him unlock it from the inside. From there, we hit the door and take the house. This usually comes as a bit of a surprise for the residents, who at the time are sleeping. In charge a squad of heavily armed Soldiers, and proceed to occupy the house. After the house is clear of weapons, we set up observation points, generally on the roof, and watch the roadways, making sure no one is out doing anything stupid. Turns out, stupidity was running pretty low this week, and nothing happened. So, after scaring the snot out of a household, we thank them for their time, give them a couple dollars, and head on back to base. Not so bad, except that we still have to walk there, at night in a hostile city. We're quiet...very quiet, but there's one kicker; at night the city is full of dogs, and they all bark as we pass, generally letting everyone know exactly where we are. We can't shoot them as that would make even more noise, and the carcass is an easy spot to hide IED's. Talk about a Catch-22. We're still thinking of creative ways to solve this little problem. Walking with night vision isn't as easy as one would assume; we focus them for distance so we can see whats out there, but this leaves anything up close blurry....like the ground. I'd gotten pretty good at figuring out what was solid and what I needed to avoid, except for one spot. I was walking down a small bank, and everything looked solid; turns out I was wrong. I promptly sink my boot into muck almost as deep as my boot is tall, nearly falling on my face in the process. The last guy in the stack, my platoon sergeant, snickers and pulls me free of the quagmire. I'm sure I'll catch all kinds of grief for this back on base, but for now, silence is the name of the game. As soon as we got back to base, I was told QRF was rolling out to some big fire-fight in the city; this was news to us, as we had just returned and didn't hear anything like that. We heard some sporadic bursts, but nothing that would qualify as a sustained gun battle. Turns out it was nothing, but I still didn't get to bed till after 4am.
Up at 6:45, its now Tuesday, for pre-mission gear checks before we roll out for an Area of Operations (AO) patrol; generally making sure no bombs have been planted in the roads since we were last there. However, this mission was scrubbed as well. I would have gone back to bed, except that now people are coming into the aid station cause they're sick and its tough to sleep. I wouldn't have gotten much sleep anyway, as we got called out on QRF shortly after that. They got passed some info regarding the whereabouts of one of the guys they're trying hard to apprehend. So, into the Bradleys we go and race off into town. As usual, the info was about 5 minutes too old, and they had already left. We did, however, get to see the Iraqi Police (IP) in action, and it seems as though they know their stuff. Hopefully they'll be taking more responsibility in town, and we'll be doing less and less. Thats the plan, at least. So, after trying to track this guy down unsucessfully, we returned to base empty handed. For the rest of the evening we plan for and rehearse our upcoming raid late that night. There are two houses we're supposed to be taking down; both are supposed to harbor known terrorists, and we're hoping to catch them while we're sleeping. After rehearsing the plan ad nauseum, we're told to be back, fully geared in just over two hours; that equates to about an hour of time to sleep. Back up, blurry-eyed and ready to get this over with, we load into the Brads and descend on these houses. Only two occupants total, though there was enough incriminating evidence to detain them both. At the time I thought the old guy was going to have a heart attack, which would have made my life very interesting, but he eventually calmed down, and we took them back to one of the bases. After standing around at the base long enough to watch the sun climb well over the horizon, our commander had finally filled out enough paperwork to turn them over, as well as killing several large trees.
Its now Wednesday morning, and we got back to our base just in time to keep the cooks from tossing out the last of what was left of breakfast. Around 11 I finally crawled into bed to catch a couple hours of sleep; I think I got 3. My boss decides that we're going to clean the aid station; clean the shelves, reorganize our supplies, reseal the cracks in the windows and walls as best we can, and try to make it appear like an actual aid station. This was, is, and will always be a work in progress. However, after 5 hours or so of kicking up a giant dust cloud, we managed to make the place look respectable; as for now, we're just trying to steal some bleach for the floors and we'll be happy. After dinner, QRF is again activated as one of the fuel trucks broke down in town, and we need to pull security for the mechanics to tow this giant bomb-on-wheels back to base. Luckily it broke down right next to an IP station, so we were pretty secure. As soon as I drop my gear, one of our translators (Kevin, a pseudonym we've given him to keep his real name a secret from the insurgents in an attempt to keep both he and his family safe) comes into the aid station saying he's been cut. I never got the full story, but apparently he and an IA soldier were playing around, and he managed to get stabbed in the shoulder blade. Its not my job to figure out what happened, I just fix them so they can do more stupid stuff. He's got a good 3/4 to an inch long cut over his shoulder blade that definitely needs stitches. We've been given the "green light" by our PA to do sutures if the need arises, so long as the cuts aren't too complicated. So, no time like the present to work on my technique, as well as teach the other medics there. I did the first one, and they did the last 3, each one taking turns putting in a stitch. I must say, after we were done, it looked like a doctor did it. Pretty much pros! We were all happy with the way they turned out, and everyone learned something in the process. Thankfully this was all for the day, and I was able to get about 5 hours of sleep before we were up and at it again.
Thursday we spent several hours finishing up some of the cleaning we didn't get to the day before, and did a couple of classes on meds and anatomy/physiology. My platoon was given a 24 hour observation position (OP) that night, so that afternoon I was in briefings, and I spent the evening refitting my gear for a day-long operation. Normally, we don't worry about what we carry, as we're either not out that long or we have the Brads close at hand. However, now you have to carry 3 meals ready to eat (MRE's) and water to last the whole day, as well as anything else you'll need, i.e. snacks, poncho-liner (which is like a blanket, affectionately nicknamed our "woobie"), toilet paper, etc. We strip down the MRE's, taking everything out of the packaging that we can in an effort to conserve weight; I left everything I thought I might not eat, even went so far as to bring only one spoon. My kevlar, body armor (stuffed with medical supplies and 210 rounds of ammo) plus weapons and aidbag are very heavy, and I didn't want to add more than I needed to. After getting everything ready, its about 11pm, and I need to be up at 2 am so we can roll out at 3. I figured I'd be able to grab at least 2 hours of sleep; this, however, wasn't to be. One of the IA's came in after having fallen down a flight of stairs, spraining his knee. Took a while to figure out what was going on, but in the end all he needed was a couple of tylenol and an ACE wrap for his knee. Now its almost midnight, and apparently one of the interpreters had been acting funny, so they searched his room for drugs. One of the NCO's came in wanting to know what this blister-pak of pills contained. Oh great...they're Valium. No, they're not used for knee pain, and no, thats not how we dispense them. Yeah, so he's on drugs, and now everybody is bringing me pills to figure out what they are. After this stampede dies down, its 1:30am, and I'm supposed to be up in 30 minutes. No sleep for me tonight.
Thursday morning around 2:20 we do final gear check, last minute route-briefing, and determine the order the teams are supposed to leave. Since my team, consisting of 5 other Soldiers along with 2 IA's and a terp (interpreter), will be farthest from base, we leave first; off into the city again, in search of a house to take over. Besides the dogs, our trek is uneventful, if not a little straining on the shoulders. We find a house we think looks good, and after half a dozen attempts get the gate open. We pile into the courtyard, shut the gate behind us, and look at the door; this thing looks like its about to come right off the hinges, so we assume it should be easy to break open if need be. No one answers the knock, so they attempt to kick it in. Another lesson in why not to judge a book by the cover; this door was reenforced with steel, and wasn't about to budge. The owner of the house eventually comes to the door (after we broke out most of the glass) and says "Yes yes, I open." He opens the door, and calmly sits down on the couch. Hmm..something tells me he's done this before. No weapons in the house, so we put the family back in the bedroom and set up our guard posts. I'm left downstairs to watch the family with the terp "Mike" and the two IA's. Its cold in the house, and its even colder on the roof two hours later when I'm on the radio. Freezing on a roof, teeth chattering wishing I had some hand warmers isn't exactly how I pictured my February in Iraq. Could be worse, though. As we switched out shifts, 2 of us could sleep for a couple of hours, which was really nice, but not nearly long enough. Thanks to some screwed up rotation, I ended up pulling more guard shifts than the infantry guys, but I didn't mind. I ended up talking to the IA soldiers, or at least trying to. I'm starting to pick up some Arabic, but there was still a lot of gestures, confused looks, and lots of laughs. Oh well, it helps pass the time. The insurgents are getting smart, and now are giving kids candy to walk up and down the streets, looking for us on rooftops and in windows. Thus is the mindset of our enemies. As it got dark, we stopped sleeping and put more eyes on the roof watching for activity. My last shift on guard found me peering through a hole in the stone railing at a large open section of road. At one point, I thought I saw 4 guys walking down the street; however, it turned out it was only a couple of bushes. I could have sworn these bushes had gone strolling down the street, but no, they were definitely stationary the whole time. After we hit our 24 hour mark, we gathered our gear, payed the family for the broken glass and for missing work, we once again headed into the night, back to the security of our base. One of the NCO's told the other guys he didn't want to hear any complaining cause "Doc pulled more guard than anybody, and ya don't hear him gripin'." Got back to base just after 3, called home (and probably sounded like a zombie) and climbed in bed shortly after 4:30am Friday morning for some much needed rest, with the added bonus of having a completely blank schedule for the day. My platoon was finally off our mission-status rotation, and only had to pull guard on the base. My duties, however, keep my in the aid station, and won't be on guard much, if at all, since we need a medic there at all times. But, since the other line medic is out on an OP right now, I'm back on QRF, but hopefully nothing comes up. If it does, it'll probably only be for a couple of hours.
So, there was my week. Sorry it was so long, but it'd been a while since I last sent out an email. No injuries, and really the only "booms" were controlled detonations of IED's that were found by our bomb squad . One was REALLY close to our base walls, and nearly shook me off the litter I was sitting on...I think the bomb squad had a little too much fun with that one.
Life is good, and for now don't need anything specific. If you survived this email, grab a drink and let me know how you're all doing. Thank you all for your letters, emails, thoughts and prayers.
Best wishes from far away,
Troy
So no pictures in this update, though I promise I'm working on them. This week was incredibly busy; my platoon was up on the rotation for missions, which meant any missions that were assigned, I rolled out on, as well as having to respond to the Quick Reaction Force (QRF) too. QRF rolls for anything that happens in the city, such as shootings, IED explosions, and anytime we get info on where one of the high-priority bad guys are; generally when things go bad and they might want a medic around.
So, Sunday night we're supposed to have a raid looking for one of the head bad guys' driver, but the air was "red" meaning that we had no air support, so the mission got scrubbed till further notice; this just meant that we were up till about 2am waiting. I had a mounted patrol (in the back of the Bradleys) making sure everyone knew that we were still in town. Kind of hard to miss a giant armored vehicle, but hey...why not? Monday night we had a walking patrol; no Bradley, just a 9 infantry guys and I out strolling through town. This was definitely an exciting time; I'd never been on foot in town, so this was my first chance to really see what this town looked like, though most of the time we're looking down alleys and scanning rooftops making sure no one is going to shoot at us. But, it was night, and we have night-vision goggles, and the bad guys don't. We own the night, and they know that, so very little happens on these patrols. Still, doesn't mean the adrenaline isn't pumping. We went out about a mile from base and took over a house. Almost all of the houses have courtyards, so our first obstacle is getting through the gate; if we can't pick it from the outside, we toss over the lightest guy and have him unlock it from the inside. From there, we hit the door and take the house. This usually comes as a bit of a surprise for the residents, who at the time are sleeping. In charge a squad of heavily armed Soldiers, and proceed to occupy the house. After the house is clear of weapons, we set up observation points, generally on the roof, and watch the roadways, making sure no one is out doing anything stupid. Turns out, stupidity was running pretty low this week, and nothing happened. So, after scaring the snot out of a household, we thank them for their time, give them a couple dollars, and head on back to base. Not so bad, except that we still have to walk there, at night in a hostile city. We're quiet...very quiet, but there's one kicker; at night the city is full of dogs, and they all bark as we pass, generally letting everyone know exactly where we are. We can't shoot them as that would make even more noise, and the carcass is an easy spot to hide IED's. Talk about a Catch-22. We're still thinking of creative ways to solve this little problem. Walking with night vision isn't as easy as one would assume; we focus them for distance so we can see whats out there, but this leaves anything up close blurry....like the ground. I'd gotten pretty good at figuring out what was solid and what I needed to avoid, except for one spot. I was walking down a small bank, and everything looked solid; turns out I was wrong. I promptly sink my boot into muck almost as deep as my boot is tall, nearly falling on my face in the process. The last guy in the stack, my platoon sergeant, snickers and pulls me free of the quagmire. I'm sure I'll catch all kinds of grief for this back on base, but for now, silence is the name of the game. As soon as we got back to base, I was told QRF was rolling out to some big fire-fight in the city; this was news to us, as we had just returned and didn't hear anything like that. We heard some sporadic bursts, but nothing that would qualify as a sustained gun battle. Turns out it was nothing, but I still didn't get to bed till after 4am.
Up at 6:45, its now Tuesday, for pre-mission gear checks before we roll out for an Area of Operations (AO) patrol; generally making sure no bombs have been planted in the roads since we were last there. However, this mission was scrubbed as well. I would have gone back to bed, except that now people are coming into the aid station cause they're sick and its tough to sleep. I wouldn't have gotten much sleep anyway, as we got called out on QRF shortly after that. They got passed some info regarding the whereabouts of one of the guys they're trying hard to apprehend. So, into the Bradleys we go and race off into town. As usual, the info was about 5 minutes too old, and they had already left. We did, however, get to see the Iraqi Police (IP) in action, and it seems as though they know their stuff. Hopefully they'll be taking more responsibility in town, and we'll be doing less and less. Thats the plan, at least. So, after trying to track this guy down unsucessfully, we returned to base empty handed. For the rest of the evening we plan for and rehearse our upcoming raid late that night. There are two houses we're supposed to be taking down; both are supposed to harbor known terrorists, and we're hoping to catch them while we're sleeping. After rehearsing the plan ad nauseum, we're told to be back, fully geared in just over two hours; that equates to about an hour of time to sleep. Back up, blurry-eyed and ready to get this over with, we load into the Brads and descend on these houses. Only two occupants total, though there was enough incriminating evidence to detain them both. At the time I thought the old guy was going to have a heart attack, which would have made my life very interesting, but he eventually calmed down, and we took them back to one of the bases. After standing around at the base long enough to watch the sun climb well over the horizon, our commander had finally filled out enough paperwork to turn them over, as well as killing several large trees.
Its now Wednesday morning, and we got back to our base just in time to keep the cooks from tossing out the last of what was left of breakfast. Around 11 I finally crawled into bed to catch a couple hours of sleep; I think I got 3. My boss decides that we're going to clean the aid station; clean the shelves, reorganize our supplies, reseal the cracks in the windows and walls as best we can, and try to make it appear like an actual aid station. This was, is, and will always be a work in progress. However, after 5 hours or so of kicking up a giant dust cloud, we managed to make the place look respectable; as for now, we're just trying to steal some bleach for the floors and we'll be happy. After dinner, QRF is again activated as one of the fuel trucks broke down in town, and we need to pull security for the mechanics to tow this giant bomb-on-wheels back to base. Luckily it broke down right next to an IP station, so we were pretty secure. As soon as I drop my gear, one of our translators (Kevin, a pseudonym we've given him to keep his real name a secret from the insurgents in an attempt to keep both he and his family safe) comes into the aid station saying he's been cut. I never got the full story, but apparently he and an IA soldier were playing around, and he managed to get stabbed in the shoulder blade. Its not my job to figure out what happened, I just fix them so they can do more stupid stuff. He's got a good 3/4 to an inch long cut over his shoulder blade that definitely needs stitches. We've been given the "green light" by our PA to do sutures if the need arises, so long as the cuts aren't too complicated. So, no time like the present to work on my technique, as well as teach the other medics there. I did the first one, and they did the last 3, each one taking turns putting in a stitch. I must say, after we were done, it looked like a doctor did it. Pretty much pros! We were all happy with the way they turned out, and everyone learned something in the process. Thankfully this was all for the day, and I was able to get about 5 hours of sleep before we were up and at it again.
Thursday we spent several hours finishing up some of the cleaning we didn't get to the day before, and did a couple of classes on meds and anatomy/physiology. My platoon was given a 24 hour observation position (OP) that night, so that afternoon I was in briefings, and I spent the evening refitting my gear for a day-long operation. Normally, we don't worry about what we carry, as we're either not out that long or we have the Brads close at hand. However, now you have to carry 3 meals ready to eat (MRE's) and water to last the whole day, as well as anything else you'll need, i.e. snacks, poncho-liner (which is like a blanket, affectionately nicknamed our "woobie"), toilet paper, etc. We strip down the MRE's, taking everything out of the packaging that we can in an effort to conserve weight; I left everything I thought I might not eat, even went so far as to bring only one spoon. My kevlar, body armor (stuffed with medical supplies and 210 rounds of ammo) plus weapons and aidbag are very heavy, and I didn't want to add more than I needed to. After getting everything ready, its about 11pm, and I need to be up at 2 am so we can roll out at 3. I figured I'd be able to grab at least 2 hours of sleep; this, however, wasn't to be. One of the IA's came in after having fallen down a flight of stairs, spraining his knee. Took a while to figure out what was going on, but in the end all he needed was a couple of tylenol and an ACE wrap for his knee. Now its almost midnight, and apparently one of the interpreters had been acting funny, so they searched his room for drugs. One of the NCO's came in wanting to know what this blister-pak of pills contained. Oh great...they're Valium. No, they're not used for knee pain, and no, thats not how we dispense them. Yeah, so he's on drugs, and now everybody is bringing me pills to figure out what they are. After this stampede dies down, its 1:30am, and I'm supposed to be up in 30 minutes. No sleep for me tonight.
Thursday morning around 2:20 we do final gear check, last minute route-briefing, and determine the order the teams are supposed to leave. Since my team, consisting of 5 other Soldiers along with 2 IA's and a terp (interpreter), will be farthest from base, we leave first; off into the city again, in search of a house to take over. Besides the dogs, our trek is uneventful, if not a little straining on the shoulders. We find a house we think looks good, and after half a dozen attempts get the gate open. We pile into the courtyard, shut the gate behind us, and look at the door; this thing looks like its about to come right off the hinges, so we assume it should be easy to break open if need be. No one answers the knock, so they attempt to kick it in. Another lesson in why not to judge a book by the cover; this door was reenforced with steel, and wasn't about to budge. The owner of the house eventually comes to the door (after we broke out most of the glass) and says "Yes yes, I open." He opens the door, and calmly sits down on the couch. Hmm..something tells me he's done this before. No weapons in the house, so we put the family back in the bedroom and set up our guard posts. I'm left downstairs to watch the family with the terp "Mike" and the two IA's. Its cold in the house, and its even colder on the roof two hours later when I'm on the radio. Freezing on a roof, teeth chattering wishing I had some hand warmers isn't exactly how I pictured my February in Iraq. Could be worse, though. As we switched out shifts, 2 of us could sleep for a couple of hours, which was really nice, but not nearly long enough. Thanks to some screwed up rotation, I ended up pulling more guard shifts than the infantry guys, but I didn't mind. I ended up talking to the IA soldiers, or at least trying to. I'm starting to pick up some Arabic, but there was still a lot of gestures, confused looks, and lots of laughs. Oh well, it helps pass the time. The insurgents are getting smart, and now are giving kids candy to walk up and down the streets, looking for us on rooftops and in windows. Thus is the mindset of our enemies. As it got dark, we stopped sleeping and put more eyes on the roof watching for activity. My last shift on guard found me peering through a hole in the stone railing at a large open section of road. At one point, I thought I saw 4 guys walking down the street; however, it turned out it was only a couple of bushes. I could have sworn these bushes had gone strolling down the street, but no, they were definitely stationary the whole time. After we hit our 24 hour mark, we gathered our gear, payed the family for the broken glass and for missing work, we once again headed into the night, back to the security of our base. One of the NCO's told the other guys he didn't want to hear any complaining cause "Doc pulled more guard than anybody, and ya don't hear him gripin'." Got back to base just after 3, called home (and probably sounded like a zombie) and climbed in bed shortly after 4:30am Friday morning for some much needed rest, with the added bonus of having a completely blank schedule for the day. My platoon was finally off our mission-status rotation, and only had to pull guard on the base. My duties, however, keep my in the aid station, and won't be on guard much, if at all, since we need a medic there at all times. But, since the other line medic is out on an OP right now, I'm back on QRF, but hopefully nothing comes up. If it does, it'll probably only be for a couple of hours.
So, there was my week. Sorry it was so long, but it'd been a while since I last sent out an email. No injuries, and really the only "booms" were controlled detonations of IED's that were found by our bomb squad . One was REALLY close to our base walls, and nearly shook me off the litter I was sitting on...I think the bomb squad had a little too much fun with that one.
Life is good, and for now don't need anything specific. If you survived this email, grab a drink and let me know how you're all doing. Thank you all for your letters, emails, thoughts and prayers.
Best wishes from far away,
Troy
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
hot spots
It appears that the third infantry division has suffered its first casualty since deploying to Iraq. No news from troy, but this does not appear to be his base.
The following story covers the memorial service.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/02/atramadideaths070206/
The following story covers the memorial service.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/02/atramadideaths070206/
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Operation Package continued
Several people have approached me about putting together care packages for deployed soldiers. The following list was compiled by the Iowa National guard. I would happily collect items to put together to ship for Troy, and his unit.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Deployed Soldier Care Packages Ideas
We have received numerous inquiries about sending items to our overseas deployed Iowa National Guard soldiers. The items below have been identified by our soldiers as items that they would like to receive. Normal toiletry items are available to most of the soldiers through supply channels and the post exchanges. The units' overseas addresses are listed lower on this page. We will remove unit addresses from this list approximately 30 days prior to the unit's redeployment to the United States. Please understand that the Iowa National Guard does not have the resources to provide mailing and shipping of items to the soldiers. The soldiers will greatly appreciate your support. Thank you!!!
Chips Ahoy cookies, individual packages.
(Big bags often fill with dust if not eaten right away.)
Other kinds of cookies!!
Pasta and sauce
Spices
Smoked oysters and sardines
Squeeze butter
Pringles chips
Individually-wrapped licorice
Microwave popcorn
Ramen noodles
Macaroni & cheese
Olives, pickles, peppers
(lots of bubble wrap around these items)
Cereal bars
Microwave pasta that doesn't need refrigeration
Hot cocoa mix
Soup mix
M&M's
DVD's
Koozies to keep water bottles and cans cool.
Newspapers
Magazines
AA batteries
D batteries
Air freshener, stick-ups, Fabreeze
Holiday decorations
Holiday cards
Address book with names & addresses
Canned air to blow dust out of electronics
Stress relief squeeze balls
Sewing kit
Lysol wipes / wet wipes
Poker chips
Board games
Shoe laces for gym shoes and boots
Brown t-shirts
Boot socks
Underwear
Hand warmers
Inflatable seat cushions
Razors
Ink pens
Word Puzzle books
Icy/hot patches
Air activated heat wraps for sore muscles
Foot spa
Microwaveable plates and bowls, paper plates
Foot powder
Vitamins
Paperback books
These are links to help you put care packages together
http://www.iowanationalguard.com/PublicAffairs/Duty/CarePackageInfo.htm
http://www.anysoldier.com/WhatToSend.cfm
http://www.anysoldier.com/HowToSend.cfm
http://www.bragg.army.mil/18abn/sendingmail.htm
http://www.brandonblog.homestead.com/A_Soldiers_Blog_Care_Packages.html
http://www.treatsfortroops.com/
http://www.kansas.gov/ksadjutantgeneral/Library/Care%20packages%20for%20Military%20members.pdf
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Deployed Soldier Care Packages Ideas
We have received numerous inquiries about sending items to our overseas deployed Iowa National Guard soldiers. The items below have been identified by our soldiers as items that they would like to receive. Normal toiletry items are available to most of the soldiers through supply channels and the post exchanges. The units' overseas addresses are listed lower on this page. We will remove unit addresses from this list approximately 30 days prior to the unit's redeployment to the United States. Please understand that the Iowa National Guard does not have the resources to provide mailing and shipping of items to the soldiers. The soldiers will greatly appreciate your support. Thank you!!!
Chips Ahoy cookies, individual packages.
(Big bags often fill with dust if not eaten right away.)
Other kinds of cookies!!
Pasta and sauce
Spices
Smoked oysters and sardines
Squeeze butter
Pringles chips
Individually-wrapped licorice
Microwave popcorn
Ramen noodles
Macaroni & cheese
Olives, pickles, peppers
(lots of bubble wrap around these items)
Cereal bars
Microwave pasta that doesn't need refrigeration
Hot cocoa mix
Soup mix
M&M's
DVD's
Koozies to keep water bottles and cans cool.
Newspapers
Magazines
AA batteries
D batteries
Air freshener, stick-ups, Fabreeze
Holiday decorations
Holiday cards
Address book with names & addresses
Canned air to blow dust out of electronics
Stress relief squeeze balls
Sewing kit
Lysol wipes / wet wipes
Poker chips
Board games
Shoe laces for gym shoes and boots
Brown t-shirts
Boot socks
Underwear
Hand warmers
Inflatable seat cushions
Razors
Ink pens
Word Puzzle books
Icy/hot patches
Air activated heat wraps for sore muscles
Foot spa
Microwaveable plates and bowls, paper plates
Foot powder
Vitamins
Paperback books
These are links to help you put care packages together
http://www.iowanationalguard.com/PublicAffairs/Duty/CarePackageInfo.htm
http://www.anysoldier.com/WhatToSend.cfm
http://www.anysoldier.com/HowToSend.cfm
http://www.bragg.army.mil/18abn/sendingmail.htm
http://www.brandonblog.homestead.com/A_Soldiers_Blog_Care_Packages.html
http://www.treatsfortroops.com/
http://www.kansas.gov/ksadjutantgeneral/Library/Care%20packages%20for%20Military%20members.pdf
Setteling in
Hey-
Things remain calm for the most part in our sector; nothing major has really happened, which is good. Last night the "fly boys" were having a good time; we heard multiple jets screaming overhead for quite a while. Not sure as to what they were up to, probably trying to suppress mortar teams, but they were certainly making a good display out of it. It would not have been a good idea to be out trying to do something stupid last night; apparently the threat of having a 2,000 lbs bomb dropped on your head is sufficient enough deterrent.
Small groups of Soldiers from the outgoing unit have already begun to leave; they're all ready to get out of here, and they're already making plans to have a beer when they get back together. They're all based out of Germany, so I'm sure they'll be having quite the celebration.
Went out on my first mission today; everything went as planned. The only minor hitch was when they realized they hadn't told the medics they were going to need one of us. So there I am, laying on my bunk reading, and a Lieutenant barges in my aid station; "Doc, we need to you roll out with us, time now," meaning that I was already late for a mission I didn't know about. Oh well; improvise, adapt and overcome. 5 minutes later I'm cramped in the back of a Bradley with my aid bag between my legs, my rifle hooked to my gear, and side arm on my thigh. I have come to realize that my 6' 1" frame is not designed for the Bradley. I barely fit without any gear, but with my helmet on I am forced to cock my head to the side the whole time. Not the most comfortable ride in the world, but 35+ tons of armor certainly makes up for it. We were doing a simple route recon; making sure nothing stupid was being done, and that there was nothing in the road that would go "boom." Not a bad way to start my trips "outside the wire." We've gotten good at preventing them from planting any bombs in/on/near the roads; seems like the current tactics are working well. My only views of the city today were through a tiny porthole-type window about the size of a 3x5 index card, though it doesn't take a panoramic view to tell that this is not a very nice city; trash, rubble and stagnant water are evident in every area of the city. Sanitation is apparently a foreign concept here.
Most of the outgoing Soldiers claim that 3rd ID have brought with us the plague, as nearly everyone has come down with some type of cough or sniffle. We're waiting on resupply for most of the OTC meds we've been giving out; hopefully they arrive with the next convoy in the next couple of days.
Speaking of arriving, we have started to get mail. This is much sooner than most of us have been expecting. We get supplies every 3rd day on our convoy which we call LogPak (logistical package), along with mail, meds, and water. Unloading the LogPak has now taken on a much greater interest.
We were down to two medics today (actually just one when I was out for my mission) as the others were out on 24 hour observation missions. These are generally scattered through the city, watching major roadways and preventing the placement of any ied's. Seems to be working, so we'll be doing a lot of these as we completely take over our sector.
We've only been here for just over a week, and already we're finding ways of combating the boredom. Several of us have taken to playing several games of dominos throughout the day, and usually after dinner as well. Plenty of people play ping pong, there's usually a poker game going on somewhere in the building, and there's always people watching movies. I've been going through our "library" of accumulated books and reading some of the more interesting ones. Most are obscure, though I did find Deception Point by Dan Brown, which was surprising. Also, when all of the medics are actually here, I'm usually teaching a class on something. Our "peripheral nervous systems" class had to be pushed back as we had two short-notice missions come up, both lasting 24 hours.
As the outgoing unit begins to leave, and we have a little more room to expand, we've begun to clean and improve our new home. Most of these improvements are funcional in specific, as there isn't much we can do to make this place more asthetically pleasing. The broken plaster, bullet holes and RPG craters do add a certain ambiance of their own, though. Still, I doubt this place would come close to a 5-star rating in the "real world," but we're just happy to have a solid roof and actual beds to sleep on. I believe plumbing is high on the order to be improved; working showers before the heat of summer hits is a good idea. We shall see...
Thanks for all the emails I've been getting. Its nice to have word from home; I usually check my email first thing in the morning, around 5:45-6:00am. Funny to think that I'm starting the next day as most of you are just ending the previous one.
Ok...back to the aid station for me; I'm sure someone needs something for the sniffles.
Miss you all very much!!!
Things remain calm for the most part in our sector; nothing major has really happened, which is good. Last night the "fly boys" were having a good time; we heard multiple jets screaming overhead for quite a while. Not sure as to what they were up to, probably trying to suppress mortar teams, but they were certainly making a good display out of it. It would not have been a good idea to be out trying to do something stupid last night; apparently the threat of having a 2,000 lbs bomb dropped on your head is sufficient enough deterrent.
Small groups of Soldiers from the outgoing unit have already begun to leave; they're all ready to get out of here, and they're already making plans to have a beer when they get back together. They're all based out of Germany, so I'm sure they'll be having quite the celebration.
Went out on my first mission today; everything went as planned. The only minor hitch was when they realized they hadn't told the medics they were going to need one of us. So there I am, laying on my bunk reading, and a Lieutenant barges in my aid station; "Doc, we need to you roll out with us, time now," meaning that I was already late for a mission I didn't know about. Oh well; improvise, adapt and overcome. 5 minutes later I'm cramped in the back of a Bradley with my aid bag between my legs, my rifle hooked to my gear, and side arm on my thigh. I have come to realize that my 6' 1" frame is not designed for the Bradley. I barely fit without any gear, but with my helmet on I am forced to cock my head to the side the whole time. Not the most comfortable ride in the world, but 35+ tons of armor certainly makes up for it. We were doing a simple route recon; making sure nothing stupid was being done, and that there was nothing in the road that would go "boom." Not a bad way to start my trips "outside the wire." We've gotten good at preventing them from planting any bombs in/on/near the roads; seems like the current tactics are working well. My only views of the city today were through a tiny porthole-type window about the size of a 3x5 index card, though it doesn't take a panoramic view to tell that this is not a very nice city; trash, rubble and stagnant water are evident in every area of the city. Sanitation is apparently a foreign concept here.
Most of the outgoing Soldiers claim that 3rd ID have brought with us the plague, as nearly everyone has come down with some type of cough or sniffle. We're waiting on resupply for most of the OTC meds we've been giving out; hopefully they arrive with the next convoy in the next couple of days.
Speaking of arriving, we have started to get mail. This is much sooner than most of us have been expecting. We get supplies every 3rd day on our convoy which we call LogPak (logistical package), along with mail, meds, and water. Unloading the LogPak has now taken on a much greater interest.
We were down to two medics today (actually just one when I was out for my mission) as the others were out on 24 hour observation missions. These are generally scattered through the city, watching major roadways and preventing the placement of any ied's. Seems to be working, so we'll be doing a lot of these as we completely take over our sector.
We've only been here for just over a week, and already we're finding ways of combating the boredom. Several of us have taken to playing several games of dominos throughout the day, and usually after dinner as well. Plenty of people play ping pong, there's usually a poker game going on somewhere in the building, and there's always people watching movies. I've been going through our "library" of accumulated books and reading some of the more interesting ones. Most are obscure, though I did find Deception Point by Dan Brown, which was surprising. Also, when all of the medics are actually here, I'm usually teaching a class on something. Our "peripheral nervous systems" class had to be pushed back as we had two short-notice missions come up, both lasting 24 hours.
As the outgoing unit begins to leave, and we have a little more room to expand, we've begun to clean and improve our new home. Most of these improvements are funcional in specific, as there isn't much we can do to make this place more asthetically pleasing. The broken plaster, bullet holes and RPG craters do add a certain ambiance of their own, though. Still, I doubt this place would come close to a 5-star rating in the "real world," but we're just happy to have a solid roof and actual beds to sleep on. I believe plumbing is high on the order to be improved; working showers before the heat of summer hits is a good idea. We shall see...
Thanks for all the emails I've been getting. Its nice to have word from home; I usually check my email first thing in the morning, around 5:45-6:00am. Funny to think that I'm starting the next day as most of you are just ending the previous one.
Ok...back to the aid station for me; I'm sure someone needs something for the sniffles.
Miss you all very much!!!
medical scope
Ya know how we always wondered just how much an Army medic is allowed to do without someone watching over their shoulder? Yeah, well I've got a pretty good idea now. Granted, nothing much has happened, but my company is out on our own base, and the only medical providers are the other three medics and myself. We got a little visit from our PA the other day, and he was pretty impressed with the way things look; we've got a nice little aid station set up, with a good stock of supplies, including drugs from NSAID's to narcs, creams to antibiotics. Dude, we've pretty much got carte blanche out here. He said whatever we need to do to keep our guys alive and healthy, do it. He just wants us to check in if we think we need to prescribe antibiotics, in case it needs a follow up, though I'm pretty sure after a month or so, he'll tell us to stop buggin him and do whatever we've been doing. I've got surgical cric kits, my intubation roll, suture kits and Histo-freeze for wart/cyst removal. This is true rogue medicine! Most of the stuff the outgoing medics have done (and us to some extent) would put people in jail back home!!! The nice thing is that if we can't handle it, two minutes down the road we've got an air-evac set up on another base with at least one MD/DO. I think you'd dig it, man!
I've been teaching a lot of classes to the infantry guys, making sure they know how to treat their buddies if I'm not right there immediately. Even these guys know needle decompressions and IV's! Of course, the basic medic can do surgical crics, so everyone is able to do more than their civilian counterparts. I've also been giving a lot of classes to the other medics in my company; tonight we're starting the autonomic nervous system including sympathetic and parasympathetic responses. In the last week, these guys have learned almost every drug in our cabinet by heart. Pharm 101 took on a whole new importance once we got here.
You asked if there was anything you could send; if possible, if you could get your hands on some filter needles and send them my way, I'd be greatful! We've got a lot of meds in break-neck vials, but no filter needles; we've been able to get around that by just giving it IM. Not the greatest solution, but it works; improvise, adapt and overcome.
So whats new with you? Last time we talked I was still in Kuwait, and Freya had just recovered from being spayed. How's Christine? Getting excited for October? You've gone back to school, right? How's that going? Let me know how things are going for you back in Iowa. Got an update from my folks this morning; apparently its rather Arctic-like...can't say I miss that, though I do miss the snow.
Anyway, its time for chow, so I should go.
Hope all is well!!
Talk soon,
Troy
I've been teaching a lot of classes to the infantry guys, making sure they know how to treat their buddies if I'm not right there immediately. Even these guys know needle decompressions and IV's! Of course, the basic medic can do surgical crics, so everyone is able to do more than their civilian counterparts. I've also been giving a lot of classes to the other medics in my company; tonight we're starting the autonomic nervous system including sympathetic and parasympathetic responses. In the last week, these guys have learned almost every drug in our cabinet by heart. Pharm 101 took on a whole new importance once we got here.
You asked if there was anything you could send; if possible, if you could get your hands on some filter needles and send them my way, I'd be greatful! We've got a lot of meds in break-neck vials, but no filter needles; we've been able to get around that by just giving it IM. Not the greatest solution, but it works; improvise, adapt and overcome.
So whats new with you? Last time we talked I was still in Kuwait, and Freya had just recovered from being spayed. How's Christine? Getting excited for October? You've gone back to school, right? How's that going? Let me know how things are going for you back in Iowa. Got an update from my folks this morning; apparently its rather Arctic-like...can't say I miss that, though I do miss the snow.
Anyway, its time for chow, so I should go.
Hope all is well!!
Talk soon,
Troy
Home sweet hole
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Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 03:46:11 -0800 (PST)
From: "Troy Ruffin" View Contact Details Add Mobile Alert
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Subject: Home sweet...hole
To: "Brandewy", "Kelly Calhoun" , "Colvin" , "Nicole Crocker" , "Cheyenne Cudddeback" , "Gregg Duethman" , "Tammy Gibb" , "John Halbrook" , "Bryan Humphreys" , "Sarah Hurt" , "Sara Knecht" , "Dennis Knowling" , "Erica Knowling" , "Maureen Knowling" , "Rick Knowling" , "Cami Kos" , "Kristen Lindholm" , "Luci" , "Jill Miksch" , "Dan Paulsen" , "Sigrid Pelton" , "Pam Persons" , "Sean Persons" , "Amy Rath" , "Caitlin M Ruffin" , "Deb Ruffin" , "Erin Ruffin" , "Tim Ruffin" , "Nichole Sallee" , "Kathryn Schoel" , "Elizabeth Shehorn" , "Jane Smalley" , "Kayla Sondrol" , "Christy Stutzman" , "Andrea Thrapp" , "Carrie Tope" , "Roy Werner"
Hey everybody,
Finally made it to our new base in Iraq. I got bumped from a flight twice, then we finally got a flight with 3 hours notice. We left Kuwait around 1030 on the 23rd, and landed in Iraq just after noon, so it wasn't a long flight...just uncomfortable. We were crammed into a C-130 with all of our gear. Not exactly a 1st-class ride. I had just dozed off when I woke up in near zero-gravity; we were starting our descent into Iraq, and the pilots were doing a "combat landing." Basically, its diving for the deck, with an occasional cork-screw just to spice things up. Its supposed to make it harder to shoot at the plane since they're always changing directions, all it did was make some kid sick in the back.
After getting on the ground, we had a couple hours to kill before we caught a helicopter out to a base close to our little "fire base." Once there we were given a little chow, and hung out until we finally packed into Bradleys to get here...our new little home. Theres one main building here that could be either an old hotel or maybe a barracks; doesn't resemble it too much any more with the sandbags, the wire, and the holes in the walls. Since the unit we're replacing is still here, things are, and will remain, a little cramped for a couple weeks. These guys are so happy to see us right now, as I'm sure we will be in about a years time.
The other three medics and I will end up bunking in our aid station, which is a lot nicer than we were expecting. They have it stocked pretty well, and have divided the room with a set of lockers; front half for patient care, back half for us to live. We've got two sets of bunk beds, which means space is going to be very tight for the next year. For the first time in almost 2 weeks, I slept on an actual bed last night; since Kuwait we've only had those old canvas cots. Hopefully once our predecessors move out, we'll be able to spread out a little bit. Besides the aid station, things are pretty rough. There's two shower heads that "work" enough to dribble water on you, though its debateable if you're cleaner before or after the shower because of the questionable water supply. Drinking the water is way out of the question; everything is done with bottled water. Outside the compound there is standing water everywhere, and trash just thrown about. There are a couple windows on one of the upper floors that we can take quick peeks from; pretty much a ghetto. It reminds me a lot of a bad town in Mexico; don't drink the water, don't eat the food, watch out for standing water, and walk around the trash...except there's not too many people shooting at you in Mexico. So far there has been no hostile actions here since we've arrived...we're hoping to keep it that was for as long as possible. The head medic that we're replacing has been a great source of information; we were up last night till after 1am picking his brain and trying to get the most out of his experience. We've got a couple weeks to learn from him, but there were so many questions we wanted to ask. Sounds like they've got a really good operation set up, and hopefully the transfer will go very smooth.
Chow here is ok...its prepared by Army cooks, which isn't the best, but at least its edible, and we know its clean. I have a feeling that we'll all end up loosing a little weight, though.
I need to get back to the aid station; wanted to let you all know that I'm here, we're all safe, and that I actually have a roof over my head. I'll email again soon with a little more info.
Love you guys,
Troy
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Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2007 03:46:11 -0800 (PST)
From: "Troy Ruffin"
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Subject: Home sweet...hole
To: "Brandewy"
Hey everybody,
Finally made it to our new base in Iraq. I got bumped from a flight twice, then we finally got a flight with 3 hours notice. We left Kuwait around 1030 on the 23rd, and landed in Iraq just after noon, so it wasn't a long flight...just uncomfortable. We were crammed into a C-130 with all of our gear. Not exactly a 1st-class ride. I had just dozed off when I woke up in near zero-gravity; we were starting our descent into Iraq, and the pilots were doing a "combat landing." Basically, its diving for the deck, with an occasional cork-screw just to spice things up. Its supposed to make it harder to shoot at the plane since they're always changing directions, all it did was make some kid sick in the back.
After getting on the ground, we had a couple hours to kill before we caught a helicopter out to a base close to our little "fire base." Once there we were given a little chow, and hung out until we finally packed into Bradleys to get here...our new little home. Theres one main building here that could be either an old hotel or maybe a barracks; doesn't resemble it too much any more with the sandbags, the wire, and the holes in the walls. Since the unit we're replacing is still here, things are, and will remain, a little cramped for a couple weeks. These guys are so happy to see us right now, as I'm sure we will be in about a years time.
The other three medics and I will end up bunking in our aid station, which is a lot nicer than we were expecting. They have it stocked pretty well, and have divided the room with a set of lockers; front half for patient care, back half for us to live. We've got two sets of bunk beds, which means space is going to be very tight for the next year. For the first time in almost 2 weeks, I slept on an actual bed last night; since Kuwait we've only had those old canvas cots. Hopefully once our predecessors move out, we'll be able to spread out a little bit. Besides the aid station, things are pretty rough. There's two shower heads that "work" enough to dribble water on you, though its debateable if you're cleaner before or after the shower because of the questionable water supply. Drinking the water is way out of the question; everything is done with bottled water. Outside the compound there is standing water everywhere, and trash just thrown about. There are a couple windows on one of the upper floors that we can take quick peeks from; pretty much a ghetto. It reminds me a lot of a bad town in Mexico; don't drink the water, don't eat the food, watch out for standing water, and walk around the trash...except there's not too many people shooting at you in Mexico. So far there has been no hostile actions here since we've arrived...we're hoping to keep it that was for as long as possible. The head medic that we're replacing has been a great source of information; we were up last night till after 1am picking his brain and trying to get the most out of his experience. We've got a couple weeks to learn from him, but there were so many questions we wanted to ask. Sounds like they've got a really good operation set up, and hopefully the transfer will go very smooth.
Chow here is ok...its prepared by Army cooks, which isn't the best, but at least its edible, and we know its clean. I have a feeling that we'll all end up loosing a little weight, though.
I need to get back to the aid station; wanted to let you all know that I'm here, we're all safe, and that I actually have a roof over my head. I'll email again soon with a little more info.
Love you guys,
Troy
Moving Soon
Hi Everybody,
Wanted to let you guys know that I'll be moving north very soon, and we're not sure what kind of facilities they'll have there. For the first couple of days we should be ok, as we'll be at an Air Base before we head to our soon-to-be-home. The only problem with us moving is that they're not sure how they're going to fit that many Soldiers on our FOB. Its only designed for a battalion (about 1,000 Soldiers), but my battalion is taking over for the one there...1+1=2,000 troops. Things are gonna be cramped for a little bit.
Was medical coverage for our last range today. Some of the Bradley's still hadn't zero'd their big guns, and had to do that before we could leave. I got to experience our first sand storm. Its not as much fun as one would think. It wasn't nearly as bad as the ones they have up north, as we could still see about 100 meters the whole time. It probably wouldn't have been so bad, except the Humvee I was in, had a broken door...the one I was sitting next to. Instead of latching, they had to bungee cord the thing closed. "A" for effort...but the result was somewhat less than perfect. Oh well...just another story in an already growing list.
I'll email again as soon as I get the opportunity.
Thanks for the emails from back home!
Love you g
Wanted to let you guys know that I'll be moving north very soon, and we're not sure what kind of facilities they'll have there. For the first couple of days we should be ok, as we'll be at an Air Base before we head to our soon-to-be-home. The only problem with us moving is that they're not sure how they're going to fit that many Soldiers on our FOB. Its only designed for a battalion (about 1,000 Soldiers), but my battalion is taking over for the one there...1+1=2,000 troops. Things are gonna be cramped for a little bit.
Was medical coverage for our last range today. Some of the Bradley's still hadn't zero'd their big guns, and had to do that before we could leave. I got to experience our first sand storm. Its not as much fun as one would think. It wasn't nearly as bad as the ones they have up north, as we could still see about 100 meters the whole time. It probably wouldn't have been so bad, except the Humvee I was in, had a broken door...the one I was sitting next to. Instead of latching, they had to bungee cord the thing closed. "A" for effort...but the result was somewhat less than perfect. Oh well...just another story in an already growing list.
I'll email again as soon as I get the opportunity.
Thanks for the emails from back home!
Love you g
Operation Package
All,
As per a conversation with Maj Halbrook, I would like to start Operation Package. Operation Package would "Adopt" Troy Ruffin's Platoon or Company for the duration of their say in Iraq.
This would include letters from home, goodies, things like that.
I would also like to have CAP pick up the postage. I do not know costs, regs, or anything like that yet, but I will know more by the end of the day.
Other problems is that Ruffin needs to get us on the OK list to get packages.
Thoughts??
Jimmy
As per a conversation with Maj Halbrook, I would like to start Operation Package. Operation Package would "Adopt" Troy Ruffin's Platoon or Company for the duration of their say in Iraq.
This would include letters from home, goodies, things like that.
I would also like to have CAP pick up the postage. I do not know costs, regs, or anything like that yet, but I will know more by the end of the day.
Other problems is that Ruffin needs to get us on the OK list to get packages.
Thoughts??
Jimmy
1-19-2007
Hey Guys,
Things remain much the same as before; more ranges, classes, and attempting to scrounge medical supplies. They say we'll get a bunch when we get north, but i still didn't want to go empty-handed. Made some friends down at the clinic here on base, and they're hooking us up with some of the basics, kerlix, tourniquets, motrin...nothing too outrageous, but its a start.
Biggest news of the day is that we finally got our address for where we'll be in Iraq (I'll post that at the bottom.) Everyone was happy to see that on the board this afternoon.
Been teaching some medical classes to the infantry guys; for some its like trying to train a rock, but for most of them they're taking to it quite well. They're all eager to learn, especially when they know its for their buddies that are to their left and right. Afterwards, they reciprocated by teaching me all about the heavier machine guns that they carry. Interesting quid pro quo.
Some of our unit has already begun shipping north; the first flight left this afternoon, so it shouldn't be more than a couple days and we'll be joining them. I'm sure we'll be a sight for sore eyes to the unit we're replacing; they've been deployed for 15 months, the last 9 where we are headed. Rumors continue to fly about us getting extended, but since we've been over here not even a week, I'll keep thinking good thoughts that it'll just be a standard 12 month-tour. The big question is regarding the troop-surge, and what that will do to the rotation as far as relief. I think they said the unit that was supposed to replace us will be over here around June/July, and that their scheduled replacement will be right behind them. Who knows...nothing to do but keep driving on.
Not much else to report; our train-up is about done, so we'll have a couple easy days over the weekend before we hop on the northbound C-130 and set up shop for a year. I'm actually looking forward to leaving this camp because I'm tired of living out of my duffle bags...my "great bag of convenience." Its anything but "convenient" because you can never find what you need, and end up burying whatever it is you're looking for. It'll be nice to have a semi-permanent "home" to live out of.
My address is:
PFC Ruffin, Troy
Bravo Co, 3d Plt, 2-7 INF
Unit # 73431
Camp Hit
APO AE 09333-3431
Hit is actually the area we'll be in, but its pronounced "heat." We've been told mail takes about a week to 10 days from the states, which isn't bad considering the miles it has to travel, and all the hands it passes through. Mail in general will be greatly appreciated, and I'll do my best to respond, though it may have to come in the form of an email. We'll see what life is like, along with the facilities we'll have on our FOB (forward operating base.)
Some of you have asked if I'll get to come home at all while I'm here. I'll have 2 weeks R & R, rest and relaxation. Right now I've put in for the 2d and 3d week of October, so it'll be a while. John, I've heard good things about getting what we've requested, so I'm staying hopeful about being there for the wedding.
That's about all for now. Thanks for the emails, the thoughts and prayers and continued support.
I'll email again before we head north.
Love you guys,
Troy
Things remain much the same as before; more ranges, classes, and attempting to scrounge medical supplies. They say we'll get a bunch when we get north, but i still didn't want to go empty-handed. Made some friends down at the clinic here on base, and they're hooking us up with some of the basics, kerlix, tourniquets, motrin...nothing too outrageous, but its a start.
Biggest news of the day is that we finally got our address for where we'll be in Iraq (I'll post that at the bottom.) Everyone was happy to see that on the board this afternoon.
Been teaching some medical classes to the infantry guys; for some its like trying to train a rock, but for most of them they're taking to it quite well. They're all eager to learn, especially when they know its for their buddies that are to their left and right. Afterwards, they reciprocated by teaching me all about the heavier machine guns that they carry. Interesting quid pro quo.
Some of our unit has already begun shipping north; the first flight left this afternoon, so it shouldn't be more than a couple days and we'll be joining them. I'm sure we'll be a sight for sore eyes to the unit we're replacing; they've been deployed for 15 months, the last 9 where we are headed. Rumors continue to fly about us getting extended, but since we've been over here not even a week, I'll keep thinking good thoughts that it'll just be a standard 12 month-tour. The big question is regarding the troop-surge, and what that will do to the rotation as far as relief. I think they said the unit that was supposed to replace us will be over here around June/July, and that their scheduled replacement will be right behind them. Who knows...nothing to do but keep driving on.
Not much else to report; our train-up is about done, so we'll have a couple easy days over the weekend before we hop on the northbound C-130 and set up shop for a year. I'm actually looking forward to leaving this camp because I'm tired of living out of my duffle bags...my "great bag of convenience." Its anything but "convenient" because you can never find what you need, and end up burying whatever it is you're looking for. It'll be nice to have a semi-permanent "home" to live out of.
My address is:
PFC Ruffin, Troy
Bravo Co, 3d Plt, 2-7 INF
Unit # 73431
Camp Hit
APO AE 09333-3431
Hit is actually the area we'll be in, but its pronounced "heat." We've been told mail takes about a week to 10 days from the states, which isn't bad considering the miles it has to travel, and all the hands it passes through. Mail in general will be greatly appreciated, and I'll do my best to respond, though it may have to come in the form of an email. We'll see what life is like, along with the facilities we'll have on our FOB (forward operating base.)
Some of you have asked if I'll get to come home at all while I'm here. I'll have 2 weeks R & R, rest and relaxation. Right now I've put in for the 2d and 3d week of October, so it'll be a while. John, I've heard good things about getting what we've requested, so I'm staying hopeful about being there for the wedding.
That's about all for now. Thanks for the emails, the thoughts and prayers and continued support.
I'll email again before we head north.
Love you guys,
Troy
Greetings from Kuwait
Hey Everybody!!
Finally got access to a computer and wanted to let you all know how I'm doing, and where in the world I am. Since Sunday around 3:30pm local time (which is 8 hours ahead of Eastern) I've been in Kuwait. Before we left the States, I got put on baggage detail, which means I got to load everybodies gear into the belly of the plane. The nice part about that, was that I got a seat in business class which made the flights a whole lot better. We flew out of Savannah, GA at around 4:30pm EST to Liepzig, Germany, which was right around 8 hours of flying time. I've flown a lot, and its been a long time since a landing made me nervous! We kinda came down on one wheel, bounced, and then came down like we were supposed to. I'm counting that as two landings! My buddy Andy (another medic in my unit) said that was the first time he's landed in a plane in almost 4 years; he was in the airborne, so he always left the plane before they landed. In Germany I took an Ambien...great drug!!! I was out before we even moved, and the next thing I know we're descending into Kuwait City!
We drove for about 2 hours to Camp Buehring, which is where I am now. Kuwait is much like you would expect a desert to be, flat, brown and devoid of any features. There's nothing out here! We literaly drove by nothing for 2 hours. The camp is big, as its the main entry point into Iraq for all military members. They actually have more restaurants than we did back on Ft. Stewart! My first meal in Kuwait...Chinese food. Go figure.
We've been doing a lot of good training here; classes on intel gathering, cultural awareness, to IED recognition classes Today we did some medical labs, and roll-over drills (in the event our driver decides to roll a Humvee). Dates are still up in the air as far as when we actually head north, but we should be here at least another 5 days or so.
Its actually been chilly here; I've been wearing my Gortex jacket every morning. At night its actually cold, especially with the constant wind. Its probably in the 30's at night, maybe low 40's when we wake up. Yesterday it rained all day, from before dawn to well after dusk. The whole camp has been turned into a quagmire, but things are slowly starting to dry out; however, there is still standing water in many places. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that we went to the firing "range" yesterday, in the rain, the cold, and the muck. I put range in quotes as it was just a couple of targets stuck into the ground, not a whole lot of planning went into this. No backdrop, no berm to fire into...but since there's nothing there for as far as the I can see, we didn't have to worry much. I got my M-4 zero'd well; most of the infantry guys thought I wouldn't be able to shoot well at all, and I ended up out-shooting most of them. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have 20 years of experience, either. I spent last night cleaning my weapons, since they ended up with sand/muck all over them. I've been given an M-4, which looks like a shorter M-16; it works well for me since I'll be getting in and out of vehicles a lot.
Everyone's spirits are pretty high, especially since we're living in relative luxery for our time here. Trying to "live it up" before we have to move North where we won't have anything like this. From what we've been told, we're moving into a rather spartan base. We won't even have port-o-pottys; like in the movie "Jarhead" we'll be burning everything instead. I'm lucky, though; medics aren't allowed to perform care for 48 hours afterwards, which basically exempts us entirely from that joyful little job. I'm not complaining.
I'm living in a giant tent with half of the infantry company I'm attached to, so I'm getting to know some of the guys. The sergeant in charge of our platoon has done a great job taking me under his wing and letting me know how things run. He's happy he got me as a medic, and I'm happy he's my platoon sergeant, so things are going to work out just fine. The guys are great; crazy, just like most infantrymen, but they're a great group of guys.
I don't have an APO address yet, but should get it before we move North. I'll make sure to get that out to you.
Gotta go...time for chow.
Love you guys!
Troy
Finally got access to a computer and wanted to let you all know how I'm doing, and where in the world I am. Since Sunday around 3:30pm local time (which is 8 hours ahead of Eastern) I've been in Kuwait. Before we left the States, I got put on baggage detail, which means I got to load everybodies gear into the belly of the plane. The nice part about that, was that I got a seat in business class which made the flights a whole lot better. We flew out of Savannah, GA at around 4:30pm EST to Liepzig, Germany, which was right around 8 hours of flying time. I've flown a lot, and its been a long time since a landing made me nervous! We kinda came down on one wheel, bounced, and then came down like we were supposed to. I'm counting that as two landings! My buddy Andy (another medic in my unit) said that was the first time he's landed in a plane in almost 4 years; he was in the airborne, so he always left the plane before they landed. In Germany I took an Ambien...great drug!!! I was out before we even moved, and the next thing I know we're descending into Kuwait City!
We drove for about 2 hours to Camp Buehring, which is where I am now. Kuwait is much like you would expect a desert to be, flat, brown and devoid of any features. There's nothing out here! We literaly drove by nothing for 2 hours. The camp is big, as its the main entry point into Iraq for all military members. They actually have more restaurants than we did back on Ft. Stewart! My first meal in Kuwait...Chinese food. Go figure.
We've been doing a lot of good training here; classes on intel gathering, cultural awareness, to IED recognition classes Today we did some medical labs, and roll-over drills (in the event our driver decides to roll a Humvee). Dates are still up in the air as far as when we actually head north, but we should be here at least another 5 days or so.
Its actually been chilly here; I've been wearing my Gortex jacket every morning. At night its actually cold, especially with the constant wind. Its probably in the 30's at night, maybe low 40's when we wake up. Yesterday it rained all day, from before dawn to well after dusk. The whole camp has been turned into a quagmire, but things are slowly starting to dry out; however, there is still standing water in many places. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that we went to the firing "range" yesterday, in the rain, the cold, and the muck. I put range in quotes as it was just a couple of targets stuck into the ground, not a whole lot of planning went into this. No backdrop, no berm to fire into...but since there's nothing there for as far as the I can see, we didn't have to worry much. I got my M-4 zero'd well; most of the infantry guys thought I wouldn't be able to shoot well at all, and I ended up out-shooting most of them. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have 20 years of experience, either. I spent last night cleaning my weapons, since they ended up with sand/muck all over them. I've been given an M-4, which looks like a shorter M-16; it works well for me since I'll be getting in and out of vehicles a lot.
Everyone's spirits are pretty high, especially since we're living in relative luxery for our time here. Trying to "live it up" before we have to move North where we won't have anything like this. From what we've been told, we're moving into a rather spartan base. We won't even have port-o-pottys; like in the movie "Jarhead" we'll be burning everything instead. I'm lucky, though; medics aren't allowed to perform care for 48 hours afterwards, which basically exempts us entirely from that joyful little job. I'm not complaining.
I'm living in a giant tent with half of the infantry company I'm attached to, so I'm getting to know some of the guys. The sergeant in charge of our platoon has done a great job taking me under his wing and letting me know how things run. He's happy he got me as a medic, and I'm happy he's my platoon sergeant, so things are going to work out just fine. The guys are great; crazy, just like most infantrymen, but they're a great group of guys.
I don't have an APO address yet, but should get it before we move North. I'll make sure to get that out to you.
Gotta go...time for chow.
Love you guys!
Troy
EFMB babby
Hey Guys,
Just wanted to share a couple pictures with you, let you know what it was that I was after these past two weeks. I successfully completed the course; I was one of 25 that made it, and we started with 178. Not too bad.
I'll write more later, but as for now I'm going to shower and finally climb into bed. I've only been up since 2am this morning.
Hope all is well
Talk to you later,
Troy
Troy departs soon
Hey Guys,
Thought I'd share some pictures with you. These were taken at the formal party for the infantry company I'm attached to as a medic. It was in Savannah at a microbrewery, hence the drinks in most people's hands. The food was good, and it was an open bar which kept everyone in "cheerful spirits." The uniform we're in isn't the standard "Class A" uniform; the shirt is white instead of green, and the bowtie instead of the necktie. My roommate had difficulties keeping his bowtie from listing, as is obvious in some of the pictures. It worked out, though, because most people were listing by the end of the evening, so I'm sure his tie looked just fine.
The second pic is 3 of the 4 medics attached to Bravo Company, 2-7 Infantry Battalion. The 4th wasn't there because his wife was due with their child any day. The Soldier on the left is my boss, Corporal Goeman; my roommate is on the right (with the crazy tie) Specialist Harding. For those of you with a keen eye, Goeman is still wearing Specialist rank; he was promoted about a week after this event.
Pic 3 is the Company Commander, Captain Fitch with the three of us. He's in charge of everyone in Bravo Co., around 150 Soldiers.
The last one is me and Harding with our Battalion Commander, Lt. Col. Chrisman. He's the boss of approx. 1,000 Soldiers that make up 2-7 Infantry Battalion.
The Soldiers at this event are those with whom I will be running missions in Iraq. All three of us were treated quite well during the party, and more than a couple drinks were shared that evening.
Things continue to be finalized down here in Georgia as we prepare for our departure next week. Only a few issues remain, and they will all be taken care of by Friday. All of our gear that remains will be packed and ready to load before the weekend; after that its just a waiting game until we draw our weapons, load the bus to the air field in Savannah, and board the plane for a long, long flight to Kuwait. I plan on giving myself a hefty dose of benadryl to make the flight as short as possible. Better living through chemistry!
I'll do my best to send updates after we get overseas. I'm going to a base that hasn't been "modernized" as much as the larger ones, but they promise we'll have access to the internet...we'll see.
Happy New Years!!!
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