Home Visiting

Had a good time visiting back home in Jacksonville.  Went to the beach and had Aynslee's Birtday.  Glad I got the chance to spend some time with them.  It will be a little while before I am able to come back home.  See ya'll as soon as I can.  I love you all.

Bellagio Fountain video

Thought that I would try and put the video of the Bellagio Fountains on here.  I didn't know how much space the video would take up on my camera so I only took 30 seconds worth.  I wish that I would have caught the whole thing.  I think that I will put a video of Terry Fator on here  if this works out ok.  

Well, Erin and the girls are visiting.  It is a little cramped in this little room, but I think that we will deal with it just fine.  It is really good to see them even if the living conditions aren't the grandest.  

More from Flyback from Vegas

Ok,  Here are some pics of the Grand Canyon.  I have a lot of pictures from the BEAUTIFUL American landscape.  It is just really difficult to sit here and get all of them on my blog.  And lets face it, I still have to update the Flat Stanley Blog.  So, I am going to keep it brief.  

We flew from Las Vegas into Albuquerque, New Mexico and from there into Lubbock, Texas. We stayed the night there and then flew into Houston Texas, from there we hit up Dallas, and then on into New Orleans, Louisiana.  We stayed the night in the Big Easy and then headed out for a little gas-and-go in Alabama.  We flew into Charleston, South Carolina and had to stop due to weather coming in through North Carolina.  We stayed the night in South Carolina and got up the next morning into Norfolk, Virginia.  Yes folks,  that is four days of travel in the back of a HH-60H.  It was a long and fairly rough flight.  I was really glad to get back here in Norfolk. I would prefer to be in Jacksonville, Florida, but I will take what I can get.

Flyback from Vegas (Last Leg)

Ok,  I have a lot of pictures.  More than I could ever post on Blogger.  I will get some pictures of the Grand Canyon up here because there are some really good ones.  Other than that I don't think I will get too much more on here.  (Up Above)  Pictures from the Southern States.  (Bottom) USS Alabama in Mobile Bay; (2nd from Bottom) Gulfport water tower; (2nd from Top) Mississippi Delta; (Top) HH-60H over LSU Stadium.

Back-Log to Vegas

Little Paris

Entrance to the Mirage.

The Fountains at the Bellagio. (Really Cool)

Working to get her up!

Well, I had a good time in Vegas.  I am happier to be back in Norfolk.  (Never thought that I would ever say that.)  It was really cool.  I liked the land scape and the weather wasn't terrible. I didn't like the fact that it was so dry that my  nose hurt or ran the whole time.  There was obviously a lot to see.  I have a whole lot of pictures, but there are too many to post. 

While in Vegas:  Well, I would hope that you saw my post about Terry Fator.  That was pretty much the highlight of my trip.  I did see a lot of cool things.  The fountains at the Bellagio were really cool.  The fountains were to music, they would move and spray to the beat and rhythm of the music.  I have a video, but I am not certain as to how I am going to get it on here.  There were lots of lights.  Some of the Casino's were unbelievable.  I will put some more pictures of some of the interior of the Casinos. All in all, it was a good trip.  I am just glad to be back here. I wish I were back home, but this will have to suffice. 

Terry Fator

Terry Fator, Jay Fairbanks, Flat Stanley, and me

Well, I thought that I would be in the desert by now, but I am living it up in the City that never sleeps.  We took the opportunity to go and see the Terry Fator show.  If you don't know who Terry Fator is, he is one of the winners of "America's Got Talent".  His show was phenomenal.  I don't know if I can fully describe it.  The best thing I could do is tell you to go and look him up on google.  There will be several videos of him from "America's Got Talent".  

I have a lot more pics, but I forgot my cord for my computer to upload the pics from my camera.  Sorry, I will get them up as soon as I can.  Stay tuned and hope that all is well with everyone out there following.  

I love you, Erin, Aynslee, and Avery.  Miss you all so much.  

I am a little late on here, but Happy Birthday, Baby!

Redwolves and the "NEW" Navy Working Uniform

The Good Ol' HH-60H how I've missed you.

Now a member of the Red Wolves of HSC-84.

The new Navy Working Uniform.  (Good bye Maytag Repairman)

   It has been a little busy for me as of late.  As stated in an earlier post, I am now in Norfolk, Va.  It is going okay thus far.  I like the base that we are living on, with exception to the rooms.  In the picture above I caught most of the room, believe it or not.  I have been busy trying to get my qualifications reinstated.  Not to mention that the Navy is undergoing an Uniform change.  I think that every time we change a uniform that the prices of them go up.  I started out in the good ol' Dungarees.  Then we moved on to the Utilities.  Now, we are in the Navy Working Uniform (NWU's).  I bought one set to start off with because they were $125.00 for just the set.  I just about choked when I saw the prices.  I guess that is what an Uniform Allowance is for.

  The Command that I have checked into is really interesting.  Nowhere else in the Navy would you get to do a mission as unique as this is going to be.  (Sorry, can't elaborate.)  Let's just say that it is very important and different than I have ever done.  I think that I am going to like it and it promises to be interesting.

  They have placed me in Quality Assurance.  It's not like I haven't done that job before, but this one is a little different.  I am going to have to get qualified in four more ratings.  That will be new to me considering that all of them have to do with ordinance or electricity.  (Certainly my wife can tell you that me and electricity don't exactly get along.  I would much rather bust a knuckle wide open than get shocked.)  So, it is going to be challenging, but I enjoy a good challenge every once in a while.  

   I think that pretty much covers what has been going on with me in the last couple of weeks and I will be sure to post some more in the coming weeks.  Don't worry, more pictures to come.

In Virginia

Well, I am now in Virginia and will be here for quite a while.  I am not entirely certain as to when I will be deploying.  I am just now going through indoctrination and trying to get checked in.  They say that it is really up to how fast I get my Qualifications back.  I will try to get some more pictures on here as soon as possible.

Long Days

Well, we are the duty platoon this week and we are working some long hours.  We have to make sure that everything is good for the day so that we can move a long faster.  This morning we loaded all the magazines for out shoot.  Our class is about 130 people and we each had to shoot 80 rounds.  That is a lot of ammo to load.  Once we are all done we are responsible for cleaning up.  That means that we have to retrieve all the expended rounds and dispose of them.  We are also responsible for cleaning up any classrooms that we use during this week.  Tomorrow we have to be up by 0400 so that we can get something to eat and get to the shooting range so that we can get everything ready.  We were up and at it early this morning and  we got back to the barracks about 2000.  It has been a long day.  Bare with me,  as soon as I get a chance I will put more pictures up.

Me in my battle gear

Well, this is the gear that we have to wear every day.  I guess it is good to get used to it now.  We will have to wear it when we get into theatre.  Over all the gear ways about 60 - 70 pounds. It isn't all that comfortable, but the longer you wear it the less you notice it.  The Army guys really believe in it.  We saw a video, that was recovered from some insurgents, where a corpsman got shot.  He fell down and then he got right back up and ran around his humvee for cover.  I will gladly wear it.

Training

We are getting some good training in and there are some long days, other than that things are going pretty good.  I still have some more pictures to upload, but I will get them as soon as I can.  I will get them posted on the appropriate entry when the internet is running smoothly enough to get the pictures up.  I recently took a picture in my full battle gear to put on here and I will get it up soon.  We have some full weeks here.  Saturday is a partial training day.  We have to be up and at it by 0400 in the morning.  We will train for the majority of the day and then we will be on liberty until Monday morning.  So, things are going pretty good and we are near a week down.  Two more weeks and we will be moving on to our next location.  Well, I had better get back to it.  I love you girls, Erin, Aynslee, and Avery.  I am thinking about you always and miss you very much.

Go NARMY!!!

Well, I have been in South Carolina for three days now and it has been pretty rough.  Not so much due to the training as to the amount of sleep that I have gotten lately.  Our flight out of Atlanta got canceled at the last minute and ended up driving into South Carolina after staying the night in Atlanta.  It was pretty late when we finally got into our hotel and we got up early to drive on in.  Needless to say, "Murphy's Law" was in control.  Our luggage did not make it into South Carolina until late the day that we got here.  Our bags finally made it here ay 0130 and we had to get up at 0415 the same morning.  Little sleep and classroom training do not go well together.  So that is where we are at right now. 

We got weapons issued to day and if you are really curious you can look at Flat Stanely's blog.  I got a picture of him with it.  I just wanted to post because I don't know when I will get to blog again.  It is really busy and there aren't a whole lot of outlets.  So, stay tuned and I will post more later.

Uniform Issue

Here is the uniform that I will be wearing.

Today,  we finally got our uniforms.  We had about 30 minutes to look over our gear and make sure that we got everything and it was in order.  I got everything except socks.  I am hoping that they will issues me some when I get to Ft. Jackson.  If they don't I am going to have to buy me some.  

Tomorrow I am catching a flight to Ft. Jackson.  I will be there for approximately three weeks. Once done there I will continue on toward Norfolk.  Things are going pretty good.  Missing home, Erin, and the girls.  Got to get to bed so I can get up early to get over to the airport.

Medical, OH JOY!

Well, today was all about medical.  We had to go through and see the Doc's to make sure that we are physically fit for the duty that we are about to take.  We then went through Immunization to get a years worth of shots at once.  I got everything for Hep B to Yellow Fever today.  FUN! FUN! FUN!  The worst part was the wait.  You ended up setting for hours on end for 5 minutes of service.  I am all but done and am checking into the ECRC (Expeditionary Combat Readiness Center).  The next couple of days should be light.  I hope so anyways.

Room with not so much of a view.

View from my room at Donnelly Hall in San Diego, California.

Picture of room.  Desk for our pleasure.

Broad view of room.  Two beds with a shared bathroom.  I am not going to put a picture of it on here.  (Some one may be using the toilet.)

A little late on this post.  When I got here it was late and the light wasn't really good for taking pictures.  This is where I am living for the 6 days of processing that we have to go through.

Another Long Day

Well, we had to report to the Navy Mobilization Processing Site (NMPS) at 0530.  I got there a little earlier than that.  I was there at 0500.  We had to get there early so that we could get fitted for our Uniforms.  We don't get everything that we are going to be issued at once. We will be receiving more gear when we get to our next training command.  All-in-all, we are looking at 3 seabags worth of gear.  I don't know how I am going to get everything to Norfolk.  

Today was mostly "DEATH by POWERPOINT". We had to sit through almost 5 hours of powerpoint presentations on everything from Tri-Care to Operational Stress.  It was a joy, let me tell you.  I have some things to look over tonight and I have to report back in tomorrow morning at 0700.  That is a lot better than today.  I think that I will try to get over to the galley and get breakfast before I muster.  Well, I think that about covers today.    

In San Diego.

Well, I have made it to San Diego.  I don't have any pictures as of yet, but they will be coming soon.  It is really late and I have to report at 0530.  So, this post will be short.  But, I am here and missing Erin and the girls already.  

On My Way

Here I sit in the Jacksonville International Airport awaiting for my departure to San Diego via Atlanta.  It is hard to say how I feel right now.  I just kissed my wife and my girls good bye.  I think that it was one of the hardest things that I have ever done.  I have only been separated from them for a short while, but I miss them already.

Those left behind.

Erin, Avery, Aynslee, and Me

The hardest thing about deploying is leaving the ones that you love so dearly behind.  This will be the first time that I have deployed since the birth of my first daughter, Aynslee.  She was born in June of 2005, and since then we have had an addition to our small family in the form of a beautiful, extremely energetic, little girl, Avery, born in February of 2007.  So, this deployment is uniques in the since that I will not only be leaving my wife, but I will be leaving my little girls for the first time for a very long time.  I want them to know that I love them so very much and I will miss them so. May the good Lord above take them under his watchful eye and keep them safe so that I am return to them quickly.  I love you. 

Packing Up.

Well, I am getting close to departure.  I have my bags packed with the exception of a few things that I still need.  The time is almost upon us in which I will be leaving.  Excitement mixed with dread is pretty much how I feel at the time.  I am excited about the new type of duty that I will be taking; dreading the extended separation from my wife and kids.  I know that I will miss them tremendously and will be in my every waking thoughts.  I only hope and pray that the time will pass quickly so that I will be home to them soon.  I love you, Erin, Aynslee, and Avery.

Got a camera, and getting ready to go.

Well, I got a camera to take with me.  We got a pretty good deal at HHGREGG.  It is a Canon so I am happy.  I am still trying to get things together for me to leave.  No, not really, I haven't even started packing.  I need to get busy, but I am in a little turmoil about what to pack.  I was told to pack light, but the command that I am going to says that I need a full seabag.  I am not too thrilled about that.  

On Leave

Well, I am currently on leave and will be leaving soon to start my journey to Iraq. I will have some stops along the way and my beautiful wife suggested that I create a blog to start documenting my progress and post photo's here for all to see. So that is what I will be doing.