Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures taken during and after the announcing of the winners for Soldier of the Month and NCO of the Month.

1SG Cleveland Presenting me with Certificate of Appreciation for winning Soldier of the Month. One more pic since the first one was at a bad angle.
SPC Benes- Soldier of the Month SSG Bramsen- NCO of the Month

Soldier Of The Month

This week our unit had it's Soldier of the Month Board for October. I was one of the soldiers paricipating along with three others. During the Soldier of the Month Board, you are quizzed on your knowledge in several areas such as Army History, military customs and courtesies, Army Regulations, common tasks and general soldiering skills. I was pretty nervous at first, but I calmed down somewhat after being in there for a while. I was the first soldier to go, so I entered, reported, did some facing movements, and took my seat to begin answering questions. I answered questions from four NCO's. Each NCO had a variety of questions for me in several different areas. Overall, I felt like I did my best, but there were a few questions I didn't know, and some I knew I answered wrong.
After everyone went through the board, we waited until later on in the day when the winner was announced.
The First Sergeant said a few words and also had the other board members say a few words, and then he announced me as the winner. We shook hands and he presented me with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Along with the Soldier of the Month, a board was held for NCO of the month. SGT Bramsen won the NCO of the Month, and was given a Certificate of Appreciation as well.
The 1SG took a picture with the two of us, so if I can get a hold of it, I will post it for sure.

Stay Tuned

There hasn't been much for me to write about lately, but in a few days I should have at least two more posts. We are going to retire the "Crappy Cart" tomorrow, so I'll have a few pictures of that. I also have the Soldier of the Month board coming up, so I'll be sure to inform you all about how that goes.
I do, however, want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have been posting comments and for all who have been sending mail. I want to thank Bill and Cindy for sending me a case of Go Fast energy drinks. They were a big hit in the office. I also want to thank Grandma and Grandpa Benes for all the Eileens cookies, as well as Bryan and Cindy who sent me pictures of Bethany and Levi. They also sent a Toby Keith CD just after he came and performed for us here in Iraq, and Flight 93. Big thanks go out to Deb W. and all the gracious people in the U.S. Courts who started "Project Brent". Also, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Miller, Randy and Jeannette, the Woodward's, Lila Zech, the Slechta's, Marge Suchy, and Clarice Sabata and the St Mary and Joseph PCCW. I'm sorry if I have forgotten anyone, but know that your support is deeply appreciated by each and everyone of us.
As for now, I need to continue studying for my board.

"Midnight Ballers"

I figured for my next blog I would write about something that I usually do to keep myself occupied when I am not in the office. There is a little background information you need to know about this entry though. It all really started when LSA Anaconda's Mail Inspector came to inspect our subordinate units' mailrooms. When he went to do his inspections, he had me go along with him, so I could see how the units were operating their mailrooms, and so I could see what I needed to do to get their mailroom up and running. Following our last inspection, he was driving me back to my office, and he was asking me about where I go to school and all that jazz. He commented about the Huskers and their athletic programs. He also asked me if I played any sports, and I told him. He asked me if I was any good at basketball, and I said "Yeah, I'm alright".
"Well we play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the small gym at 2200 (10 P.M.). Only the real ballers show up, so you better bring your "A" game."
"O.K., I'll have to stop up there sometime."
I was anxious to finally step away from the easy competition at the main gym and see what kind of skills these other guys had. I told SGT Hunt about it, and we finally made it up there one night. SGT Rauschenburg (inspector) was right, they were pretty good. So SGT Hunt and I made it to the gym on a regular basis. Shortly after we had made it part of our routine to go play ball with these guys, SGT Rauschenburg re-deployed as he had finished his year of duty in Iraq. On his last night, he was able to play one last game with us (we let him win).
Since then, we have met other guys from other units, and we have built a camaraderie with them. We all came up with nicknames for each other. I actually have a few. Obviously mine was Beans, but normally you would acquire a nickname based on your style of play. For example, there was one night where I couldn't miss a three pointer. Before the night was over people were calling me "JJ", after JJ Reddick, and somehwere in the background I even heard "Beans-Nasty". Most of them know me as Beans though. A few other soldiers have nicknames because of their size. We call SGT Haugen "O" and "Oster" after Greg Ostertag. SFC Vasquez, an ex-Drill Sergeant, is known as just "V". Then there is "Flash", "ATL", "Quin", "LT", "Big Ticket", "Big Baby" and many others. We have all become a pretty tight-knit group of guys, and if you aren't there one night, you'll hear about it the next day in the chow hall. "Where were you last night? Afraid to get emberassed again?" Stuff like that. Games are played to 12, straight up, and you have to sign your name on the board to reserve a game. If you don't show up by 2200, you probably won't play until 11:00 because there are lots of people that play. We usually play until there isn't enough to run five on five, which is usually 2:00 or 3:00. If I have to work the next day, I am usually out by midnight. Last night I had to wait 2 hours just to get into a game.
That's pretty much what I do to help pass the time outside the office. And it counts as PT.

Convoy Security Missions

Well, the missions were a complete success. I had a wonderful experience working along side my buddies I used to train with back home. I felt like I was at home too. We didn't see much action, but I'll tell you a little about the mission and the few things that did go on.
I was the last vehicle in the convoy, making sure that all the trucks stayed in the convoy, and also made sure no traffic got into our convoy. It is important for this vehicle to be alert. Many convoys have had VBIED's (Vehicle Bourne Improvised Explosive Devices) drive up to the rear of the convoy and take out the last few trucks. Baghdad was on a curfew, so there was no traffic out while we were on the roads. I was the driver, and in my vehicle I had my TC (truck commander), and a gunner in the turret. There is a picture of him standing on the vehicle above.
Along with us, were TCN (Third Country Nationals) trucks. These are driven by civilians. They get paid to drive the trucks, and many of them are eager to get out on these missions because they get paid well. One of my responsibilities on these missions was to inspect the TCN trucks before rolling out. I had to make sure they had tow-bars, and a windshield they could see out of. We also had to check for leaking tires. Also, any trash on the trucks, we made them take off and throw away. We were particularly concerned with water bottles, because they have been used for IED's in the past. The reason for these inspections is to eliminate any trucks that may cause us to be stranded out in the middle of nowhere because of a break-down. I eliminated one truck because the windshield was all cracked. The driver was furious with me, and I had to call SGT Scott over to assist me with him. It is extremey frustrating to deal with an angry Iraqi who can only speak Arabic. After a few minutes, we finally got him to calm down, and he move his truck out of the convoy.
On the way down to Baghdad, we were stopped for some reason or another at an IA (Iraqi Army) checkpoint. Once we came to a stop, the TCN drivers started to jump out of their trucks. At first I was really worried, but then I soon realized that they were just trying to stretch and pee. SGT Scott had me turn on my cop lights and speed up to them. He yelled at them to get them back in their trucks. Once SGT Scott jumped out and chewed them out, the rest just decided to stay in their trucks.
When returning to base, another gunner for one of the guntrucks in our convoy said he saw five flashes come from one of the routes we had taken earlier. After we got back to base, we were told it was a daisy-chain. A daisy-chain is a line of IED's used to take out a large section of a convoy. This particular one had five IED's chained together. It gave everyone a weird feeling, knowing that we were on that road earlier in the night. Overall, I had a good time working with these soldiers, and I had lots of fun while on the missions.