Thanksgiving... Iraq style

Here are some pictures of the day. They are only from lunch as I had taken video from of the rest of the days events. First a little rundown on the events. This morning was a little rough for me. I had a surprise piss test at 0800. I had to go really bad when I woke up, so I went. When I showed up for the UA, I couldn't go. So after 45 minutes and 2 bottles of water later, I squeezed out enough to barely fill the bottle. Enough about that story. Burnham and I went to the JMMT (Joint Military Mail Terminal) and picked up our mail for the day, hurried back and sorted it so we could head to lunch. We decided to eat as a section for Thanksgiving, so we closed up the shop to go eat. They had the chow hall all decked out in Thanksgiving gear. They even went as far as to make swan ice sculpures that held fruit at each table. They also had a little table set off to the side with one chair, one rose, one lit candle, a Bible, and a plate and silverware set on it. This table was reserved for SSG Matt Maupin. SSG Maupin has been missing since April 9th, 2004.

The chow hall served prime rib and turkey as their main meat, and all of the fixin's to go with of course. I skipped out on the pumpkin pie and had chocolate ice cream with caramel syrup drizzled on top instead. It was a good time and was nice to have the section together. We normally take shifts eating chow to keep the office open for business over the lunch hours. We did, however, close up shop at 1600 for a little free time. I went back to my room and played a little Blackhawk Down that SGT Kane let me borrow. I think I'm about to beat the game, just a few more missions left to go. After a few hours of that, I headed on over to the stadium for the USO show. The show featured Jamie O'neal, John Popper from Blues Traveler, Delila, and the famous New England Patriots cheerleaders. Delila had two soldiers come up and she played sound clips from her radio show. The sound clips were from the soldiers' loved ones dedicating songs to them. It was real nice. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, only video. Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving feast. Enjoy.

One of the chow hall workers dressed as a Native American.

Some of the delicious prime rib I enjoyed for Thanksgiving.

My plate. Prime rib, ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, shrimp and some Iraqi Mountain Dew.

The section enjoying their Thanksgiving meal in the chow hall.

The table reserved for SSG Matt Maupin.

Happy Thanksgiving

Much like SGT Kane's Thanksgiving traditions, my family goes around the table before we start eating our Thanksgiving feast, telling what we are thankful for. I think doing this is important because it allows us to acknowledge all the things we have, and how grateful we are for them. So I compiled a list of things that I am grateful for. I would like everyone who reads this to leave a little note about what they are thankful for as well in the comments section.

I am thankful for:
-My family. Without them and their support, I would not be the person I am today.
-My fellow soldiers. Without them, this deployment would seem like an eternity. It is always nice to have them around, (like another brother).
-My health. I thank God everynight for giving me my health, strength, and talent.
-God. The one Person that has my life all planned out. I have had a good hand dealt to me, and I am thankful for that.
-My friends. Their support is greatly appreciated, and I love hearing from them.
- T-walls, Kevlar helmets, body armor, up-armored vehicles, Jersey barriers, the C-RAM. These all provide protection for us in Iraq.

That is all I can come up with off the top of my head. I want to wish all of you a happy and safe Thanksgiving, where ever you may be.

Going for Two and The VTC

Well it is official. I haven't really talked to many people about this, but some of you may have heard. There is an E-5 slot open in a unit back in Nebraska. In order for me to get it and get promoted, I have to transfer to the unit and fill the slot. The story with this unit is they are expected to deploy to Iraq, which means I could get sent along with them. I took a lot of time to think it through. After a few weeks, weighing the pros and the cons, I decided that I would transfer into the unit. Right now, I just have to wait to see if they put me into that slot. Due to OPSEC (Operational Security) reasons, I can't really tell you much more than that.
Last night I had the opportunity to participate in the Video Tele-Conference here on LSA Anaconda. A VTC allows a soldier to talk to his or her family and firends and see them on a video screen at the same time. My slot was set for 0015, 12:15 A.M. for you civilians. I was pretty tired, but it was definately worth it. I was able to talk to Dad, Mom, Meagan, Emily, Grandpa and Grandma Benes, and my cousin Christian. This time around I only had a 25 minute slot, where as before I had a little more time. It was nice to see everyone's smiling faces though. Emily wasn't smiling too much though. She looked a little shook up as she had just got off work and I guess a customer made her cry. That will happen though in the food service business. I remember my days back at the ol' P.O. Pears On The Lake, waitresses cryed when the customers gave them a hard time. In speking of P.O. Pears, it sounds like it is for sale. This may be a rumor though, so if anyone can confirm it for me, please do.

Board Results

Today was the Squadron Soldier and NCO of the Quarter Board. This time, we had the CSM, the highest enlisted ranking person in the squadron along with four of the 1SG's drilling us with questions from several different categories. I was a bit nervous going into this one because I had not studied much in advance. I thought, for the most part, I had done well. Better than I thought I would have done at least. Once all the soldiers made it through the board, the board members had us all march in, and from there they presented the winners. Congratulations go out to SPC Newell from the LRS (Long Range Surveillance). He will go on to represent the 1-167 RSTA in the Brigade Soldier of the Quarter Board. The top four soldiers competing for Soldier of the Quarter were all within 2o points. That's a pretty tight race. As for the NCO's, they had an even tighter competition as the top NCO came out only 2 points above his competition. I wish I would have won, but at the same time, I'm am glad. It took a lot out of me to prepare for the boards. Each time, I used a brand new uniform, which meant I had to take a lighter to them to burn off all the strings. Then I had to make sure my weapon was clean (although the second time my weapon had not been cleaned), and don't forget about the studying. It is difficult to study for a board because you never know what questions they will ask. Usually the Army Regulations and the Field Manuals always get me. This time it was the weapons questions that would eventually eliminate me from the competition. Thank you to SFC Kerchal for sitting in on my board, along with SGT Hanseling for putting my packet together. And don't forget about the loyal fan club in the S-1.
Now that the boards are over for me, I have a little more time for leisure. I have been playing in a softball league as well as a basketball league. Our softball team had it's first game on Saturday. We beat the Navy team we faced 16-3. A 1-0 start is exactly what the doctor ordered. I wish I could say the same for our basketball team though. We had a pre-season tournament we were eliminated from after our first game. We lost that one by three. Our second game, which was our first regular season game, went down to the wire as we lost by one. In both games we were careless with our second half timeouts as we needed them in our two close losses of the season. Our next match-up is on Thursday. We have have been practicing a lot, so we should be ready to come out and get our first W of the season.
I have abandoned the whole e-mail thing once I started this blog, but that doesn't mean I don't and won't still use my e-mail. I know some of you have addressed this with me, so if you'd rather send an e-mail, I still check it. Also, some have asked for my address so...

SPC Benes, Brent
HHT 1-167 RSTA
APO-AE-09391

Not much else to report.
Out here.

Weather Update

Well, the weather has been cooling off a bit lately. SPC Burnham, my room-mate and partner in crime, is majoring in Meteorology at UNL. Shortly after getting into country, he bought a weather station that is capable of reading the temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind direction and speed, dew point, cloud cover, etc. He tracks this on his own personal computer, and uses the data to determine weather patterns here in Iraq. He told me this morning that the low was 43.88 degrees Fahrenheit. Right now, (15:42) it is sitting at a comfortable 70.34 degrees Fahrenheit. Not too much rain lately, which is nice because that really cools it off here. Plus, whenever it rains, our HUMVEE's get all wet inside and we end up having to line the seats with plastic trash bags. I honestly prefer the dry 120 degree weather rather than the humid 80-90 degree weather. As I look around on base, I see more people wearing their winter PT (Physical Training) uniforms, and sometimes wearing their Goretex coats.
Happy Veteran's Day to all Veteran's and thank you for your service. I meant to post last night for Veteran's Day, but I ended up being pretty busy. I was even planning on catching the game, which aired at 23:30 (11:30 P.M.) but I fell asleep before the game had even started. My predictions were right though; get a good lead in the first half, blow it in the second but find a way to save the game at the last minute. That's how predictable we are. I think Callahan needs to get a new strategy, this isn't the NFL. It makes me a little nervous that we might be seeing Texas again because we haven't been playing impressive football the past few weeks. It is a little more comforting though seeing that K-State upset Texas. Let's just hope we can at least play a good game, and not embarrass ourselves. That's all I'm going to say about that. I usually don't get hyped up about the Husker's when they are in rough times.
The board is in two days, so be sure to check back for the results on the 14th or 15th. That's all I have for now.

Week in Review

It has been a pretty eventful week for me. I guess you could say I have been a little busier than normal though. Between being in a softball league, basketball league, and not to mention the Soldier of the Quarter Board, my schedule is pretty full. We just started the softball league, but have only had a couple of practices. Games should start here in a week or so. As for the basketball league, we have already played one game in the tournament. We ended up losing, but there is the regular season to look forward to. I have also been playing my usual games with the "Midnight Ballers" a lot lately, due to some of the guys getting ready to go back home. I figured I'd play basketball with them as much as possible because I probably will never see them again. You never know though. In the Army, you run into people you know quite often. I have already seen 3 guys from basic training and talked to a few more from AIT.
The Soldier of the Quarter board was a little rough this time around. There were harder questions, and when it was all said and done, I was sure I wasn't going to win it. Not to mention my weapon wasn't cleaned and the 1SG inspected it. We had our usual presentation of the winners in our little break area outside our building. The 1SG had a few things to say before he announced the winners. Basically, the soldier I was going up against had accepted a STPA offer for an E-5 slot in a Transportation Unit, so he could only compete for the NCO of the Quarter. So that only left me. I had no competition, and I was announced as the Soldier of the Quarter, and the guy I was supposed to go up against ended up getting NCO of the Quarter. Like I said, it was pretty rough, but it was nice to have SGT Hanseling in there with me. He is my team leader, so he sat in on both Soldier of the Month and Soldier of the Quarter Boards. All the guys in my section were pulling for me, so it was good to have a little support from them as well. Now SGT Hanseling and I have to put together a packet for the Squadron Level Board. The members of this board will include the 1SG's, as well as the CSM. That one should be little tougher, but I have plenty of time to prepare myself.
My room-mate made it back from leave earlier in the week. It is nice to have him back. I'm pretty sure he had a blast just by hearing all the stories he had to tell. Now we are making some final preparations before we start to get drilled with "Holiday Mail". Not much else to report. I'm not sure how many of you have checked out some of the links I have on here, but I just want to point out that I have a link to SSG Johnson's, SGT Hanseling's, and SGT Kane's blogs. They are all really good writers, and they always have good topics to write about. So check 'em out. Until next time, PEACE.