Our Wonderful Weekend

What a surprise for our family! Chris popped over for a two-day visit this last weekend. What a way to say "you're almost there." We sure enjoyed being together as a family again. He even took me to see a movie, like a real date (I sure miss those). Evelynn and Joseph couldn't get enough of him, and then like kids do, adapted quickly. I never took it for granted. It was one less diaper I had to change, an extra nap on Sunday, a little help with the breakfast, someone to talk to whose favorite question isn't "why?" It was surely wonderful to have my best friend home with me. I am so excited to get to SC and be a whole family again. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers. Loves to all!

Jack 'Em Up!

Defense Force Protection: We spent this day with the Security Forces (the people you see when you want to get on base). We learned procedures for when unknown people approach an entrance. If they don't know the password, they are about to have a really bad day.

STORY: The female Tech Sergeant instructing

us told a story about a time a well endowed female Major wanted to come on base. They had to search her. Our Tech Sergeant quickly checked her for concealed weapons & avoided her chest area because it made her uncomfortable. When she finished checking she turned her back to the Major. The Major pulled out a pair of sharp scissors from her chest and held them to the Sergeant's throat. "You just cost the lives of your entire team." Our sergeant learned a very important lesson that day. It doesn't matter why or how inconvenient it is for the person getting searched, "they shouldn't have been there, and now they are going to have a really bad day."

The Security Forces personnel are just one group of the military that put their lives on the line every day.

Our Sergeant liked to say "now you get to jack 'em up!" (Security Forces people are crazy like that- don't mess with them). Once a person fails the screening process we forcefully tell them to get down on the ground. Your buddy points the gun at the person, while you advance to bind him.

Once they are bound you look for concealed weapons, etc... You do this by taking a small piece of their clothes, grab it, and twist. You do this over the whole body front & back. There is even a clever way to check the pockets without "violating" them.

Overall this was a fun day, later we searched vehicles for weapons/bombs, and set up a defensive position using sandbags. The sandbags aren't as much protection as they look, but it's better than nothing.

Guns + Sand = A Big Mess!

Small Unit Tactics: This is why you should join the military, you get to play in the sand! Why do we "low crawl" you ask. The reason is if you are being fired upon, you still need to advance on the enemy. All of the wires and bars you see represent bullets flying over you. If you touch a wire than you are crawling too high and got hit by a bullet.

This image shows you just how low those wires really are. While you are doing this, you want to make sure your muzzle doesn't touch the sand- that's bad.

Once we were done practicing tactics and crawling around on the ground, we had the privilege of cleaning our M4's. You would be surprised how easy it is to take apart a rifle. However, all that sand you saw up above is now in our rifles! Which means we have to clean it all out- attention to detail, can't leave any specks.

There is no exact science once you have broken down the rifle. You just use cloth, gauze, or snakes to clean the rifle. A couple of the M4's were pretty bad and took about an hour to clean. I was lucky, mine barely had any sand! Once your done you put her back together, slap a little bit of oil on and lube up the M4, then your done!

Post Tear Gas

Chemical/MOPP procedures: I am pretty happy with myself because I stayed in for 3 breaths, a lot of people leave after 1 good one. Usually what kicks you out of the "chamber" is the choking. It doesn't feel so good, this is Kevin recovering from the gas in his lungs. Mmmm, good stuff! I did the same thing.

Once you leave the gas you just want to close your eyes, and you really can't see for about 5 minutes, I looked the same as John.

Reaction of different people after the gas

Ever wondered what it would be like to be tear gassed. Well it may not be as bad as you were hoping for. Here is the reaction of 5 of our flight members that went through it a second time, no masks, and determined to show how manly they were, by staying in as long as possible.

Before and During Being Gassed

Chemical/MOPP procedures: On this day we reviewed the dangers of chemical weapons, what they do, how long we have to react, and how the military responds to this threat. It is another death by powerpoint, in class we learn "MOPP" procedures. MOPP is just an acronym for us putting on a chemical suit. When the a chemical attack occurs, you have 9 seconds to (don) put your mask on.

PROCEDURE: "Gas! Gas! Gas!" Take cover, close your eyes, take out your mask from a side pouch, fit it on your face, pull the straps over your head, check to make sure the you have a tight seal, and blow hard to make sure you breath. It can get a little more involved but that is the jest of it. That is called Donning the mask.

Here is a picture of John with his mask donned, he is good to go.

In a addition to the masks are the chemical suites, called MOPP gear. Obviously these take more than 9 seconds, so in certain conditions you are already wearing this. That way when the alert sounds all you have to is don your mask. These suits add about 10 degrees heat to our ABUs (uniform). Now imagine wearing this in a desert where it is 120 degrees!

Here are 2 of my flight-mates ready to be gassed

Here is me with my mask donned ready to enter the "chamber"

After the briefing they drove us out to a little shack in the middle of nowhere. Flight by flight we took our turn experiencing the effects of gas with our masks on. Your skin begins to get hot, and you feel a slight burning sensation. Then we take off our masks and get the full effect. Your eyes immediately start to burn and you squint. If you take shallow breaths then you can withstand the gas much longer. But to get the full effect we tried to inhale one large breath. The bold ones stayed in for about 7-10 seconds. Here is what happens when you inhale the gas. You start to choke, longer exposure leads to coughing and possibly gaging.

Not Just Chris

So for those of you wondering, this is not a forum for Chris to go on and on and on.... It is for our whole family.  I am here too and when the kids give me a few moments, like just after breakfast, I might actually make this a regular thing.  Keep checking and you'll see what our family is like when we don't live in the same place.  I think this might happen a lot, so it could get interesting.  No, my life has not been as interesting as my sweet husband's.  I don't get new clothes, or nights/weekends off, and I haven't gone anywhere fun.  I have attended the temple, secured our health coverage at Fairchild, organized our finances, and actually watched a tv show or two.  The last one, though not interesting, is a first since Chris went to ASBC.  I even got to go out with my sisters (Renee' and Katie) for a girl's night where I ate horribly unhealthy, but very tasty food, and played cards (Continental, which Chris hates) while we talked about family, friends, and anything else that would pop into the mind of a tired woman at 12am.  It was great fun and the first relaxing, fun thing I've done since Chris left.  YEAH!  Well, here's to week four.  Wish us luck!

Deploying

In addition to the duffle bag you are already carrying, you need to be issued a helmet, flack vest, M4 rifle, and another duffle bag. The vest adds another ten pounds alone. It was a black flag day, which means hotter than crap- your only allowed to do limited exercises. The sun was beating down on us and I was severely dehydrated. Camp was a little over half a mile away, with a small hill and the end. Yep, we walked all the way there.

We will do anything to fine shade on this day
Here are some of my flight-mates, ready to deploy!

And here I am severely depleted of liquids & trying to stay alive

Week 3 of 6

The chapter of our lives in Moscow & Pullman has closed. Tamy is now among friends and family in Spokane, and I have just completed week 3 of my Air Force Training. Tamy is attempting to sell our cars and preparing to travel to Oklahoma, where her brother awaits. I spent a week at "Blue Thunder," where we learned 4 important skills for deployment: Self Aid Buddy Care; procedures for chemical attacks and wearing the proper attire; protocols for security and ID checks; and small unit tactics, gun cleaning, and navigation skills. Most days are death by Powerpoint. We have done some fun obstacle/puzzle courses, where our flight has to solve a problem (like a puzzle) and complete the task. The nights are usually pretty social. We (as a flight), have been bowling, swimming, boating, gone to a baseball game, eating at Alabama restaurant, and sat at a few bars. We have a pretty good time in the evenings.

As most of you know, I have spent a few hours of my free time reconnecting and finding old friends, I must say I have been quite sucessful. Here is my one plug for Facebook (FB). I joined Facebook almost three weeks ago, I was one of those reluctant ones to do so. What forced my hand was dwelling on all of the friends I had lost contact with, starting a decade ago. I still haven't been able to find any Filipinos I knew, but I just got an address of one of my old Ward Mission Leaders. In 3 weeks I have reestablished contact with 5 of my former mission companions, reconnected with our first ward as a couple, met people from England (including Danny Williamson), made friends with people in Moscow/Pullman (so now we have their contact information), and found some old high school friends that I have been wondering about. What is nice about FB is that you don't have to talk to those people or write them, but they are there just a click away. People I havn't seen in the last decade, are now only a page away. Anytime you want to see what they are up to you just pop on to their FB page. If you want to call them or send some mail you just leave them a message requesting their info. It feels satisfying to know what my friends are doing and how they are. The main reason I am such an advocate is because addresses change, phone numbers change, papers get lost, but the FB page will always be there. It is a great way to stay in touch no matter where you may end up.

I also strongly believe that Blogs are an excellent way to stay in touch. To those who worry about spending too much time, or neglecting family history I say, oh contrar'. You spend as much time as you want and need to. I think Blogging/FB would make a great Sunday afternoon activity. If that is still too much, there is nothing wrong with once a month, that is still 12 times more the communication you would have, than if you didn't have them. True, nothing can replace the personal intimacy of a journal or hand written note, but how many notes do you hand write? With one blog/FB all of your friends can stay updated on the latest with you. Wouldn't you kill for a digital image of where your grandparents used to work, or what there house looked like, or their hobbies? I would argue that a Blog can be a wonderful addition to your family history. A digital archive for your posterity to see. And FB lets you catch up with friends and family too. For those worried about privacy and safety, these sites are full of security measures. If you don't want people or are worried about others poking around your life and pictures there are ways to shut them out. Don't let privacy be the issue keeping you from doing this. Don't let "time" be the reason either, you don't have to have pictures, it doesn't have to look pretty, it is just a page where people can communicate with you and see your thoughts and what you are doing. O.K. I am done with my plug, you make your own choice.

I think that is enough for now. I have 3 more weeks of ASBC (training) left, then I'll be done. I will post some pictures from here in Maxwell so you can so what it is like. Take Care.

Goodbye Palouse!!!

Well, we have crossed over the hump. Only 3 more weeks until Tamy & I are united again and start our lives in Shaw, SC. Tamy has been doing a terrific job on her own. Not only has she been a single parent with 2 kids, in her second trimester, but she prepared our home to be packed all by herself. She tied up all the loose ends, gave our furniture to others, and put the cars up for sell. The movers (ya, we got people), came Aug 6 and 7.

Summary: We lived in Pullman & Moscow for 4 years. I arrived in Pullman directly after our vacation in Europe. Tamy & I lived almost 9 months and 80 miles away from each other. Both Evie and Joseph were born at Pullman Hospital. We lived next to Eric and Mary for over a year. Tamy obtained her B.A. and teaching certificates, and I achieved my B.A and commissioned in the United States Air Force. We gardened for a summer with the Gibbs, and had wonderful FHE's; ate great vegetables and fruit. We lived in a community of Latter Day Saints and made dear friends. Thank you to everyone, we will miss you and look forward to watching you grow.

Thank you to all those who helped Tamy prepare to move.