Home Again

Nate's plane just arrived at McChord AFB, Tacoma, WA at 7pm central.

Cola Küsst Orange

From Nate's Facebook about a 3:45am Central time this morning...

Nathaniel Gies In Leipzig. Had a Bockwurst & roll with a Mezzo Mix soda ("cola küsst orange"). On to Maine, and then Washington.

Mezzo Mix and their competing orange cola, Spezi, were my favorite sodas when we lived in Germany. You can make your own poor imitation by mixing any orange soda with any cola.

Leaving Kuwait

About a half hour ago, Nate posted on his Facebook that they are loading up and moving out. The flight home (to Ft. Lewis, WA) will require a couple stops and take about 36 hours. I'm guessing they'll arrive Sunday evening, west coast time.

Camp Virginia, Kuwait

Nate is on his way home. He has arrived in Kuwait and should be staying in transient billets until his flight departs.

He seems to be comfy. This from his Facebook page: "Camp Virginia, Kuwait. Starbucks. Skim extra-hot grande caramel machiato" and "...watches Dave Ramsey talk about the Cash for Clunkers program on foxbusiness.com".

While You Were Out...

I want Nate prepared when he returns. Nate, I daresay you may not recognize the country. While you were out...

• The Republicans nominated a woman as vice-presidential running mate.
• Mickey Rourke made a comeback. And wow.
• Brett Favre made a comeback, leaving retirement to play for the Jets.
• The economy nosedived.
• Connecticut legalized gay marriage.
• We elected a black president.
• Minnesota elected a commedian to the U.S. Senate. Then didn't. Then did.
• California voted to undo the legalization of same-sex marriage that happened before you left.
• Illinois' governor sold the president-elect's former senate seat.
• Brett Favre retired. For good this time.
• A freakin' jet safely crash-landed on the Hudson river. All 155 alive. No shit.
• Vermont legalized same-sex marriage.
• A swine flu scare swept the country faster than, well, swine flu.
• Senator Spector revealed himself to be a democrat after all. Ok, you saw that one coming.
• A long shot won the Kentucky Derby.
• Maine legalized same-sex marriage.
• The California Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriage before you left upheld the ban the voters rode over the court. Those married between the court's initial ruling and the ban are still legally married. So to summarize, same-sex marriage is illegal in California, but there are legally wed same-sex couples. It's like, well, California.
• The U.S. nationalized General Motors to prevent the company's bankruptcy.
• General Motors, under new ownership, went bankrupt.
• Jay Leno left the Tonight Show. Moving to prime time.
• New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage.
• Michael Jackson died. Or was killed.
• Brett Favre announced he is interested in playing for the Vikings.
• Alaska's governor announced she was so efficient she finished her term of office early and is going home. You betcha.
• A latina joined the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing more or less that white men can't judge.
• Former President Clinton flew half way around the world to pick up a couple girls.
• Brett Favre announced he will not play for the Vikings and will stay retired. For good this time.
• Realizing he is adicted to retiring, Brett Favre became the Vikings' quarterback, committed to playing until that retirement bug bites again.

Can't wait 'til you're back! Safe travels!

Transfer of Authority

Well, we just completed our Transfer of Authority with the 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion.

Now we're just waiting around to leave.

261st TTSB

I think I probably forgot to mention that our higher echelon is the Delaware National Guard's 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade. The 261st TTSB's assistant JAG is CPT Beau Biden, our Vice President's son. I got to meet him and shake his hand 3 times.

That is all.

Nearing the End

I've got approximately 10 days left here in Balad. Then it's off to Kuwait, and then back to the states. A few weeks ago my unit had its Patching Ceremony, visually finalizing our move from 11th Signal Brigade to the 35th Signal Brigade which officially took place 1 May 2009. I've moved out of my CHU and into Transient Housing (tents) and am now living out of my ruck sack. The unit replacing us is the 72nd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 7th Signal Brigade, out of Mannheim Germany. They will have a 12 month tour as well. I've been getting my replacement trained up on all the ins and outs of travel here in Iraq. The 72nd's chaplain is female, which may preclude them from visiting some male-only outsites.

That's really all I've got to say for now, except to give some shout-outs.

First, the USO. The USO makes life so much better out here. They've always got a movie playing, nice A/C, popcorn, coffee, and PB&J sandwiches. Plus free phone cards, free WiFi Internet, free Internet café (if you don't have your own laptop to use with the WiFi), and free Satellite and DSN phones. They are also a partner in the United Through Reading program which allows service members to read books to their kids on tape with a camcorder. The book, along with the DVD of the reading session is then sent to the kid(s) back home. The books, video session, and the mailing of both is completely free to the service member thanks to corporate and non-profit sponsorship. The USO is awesome. If you want to support the troops, supporting the USO is one great way to do it.

I also want to give a shout out to Green Beans Coffee. Through their Cup of Joe for a Joe program, people back home can go on their site and buy a cup of coffee for a service member over here. Service members sign up on their website, and then when someone back home buys a Cup of Joe for us, we get a notification by e-mail, and then we can go to the store and redeem our coffee. As a big coffee drinker, I, of course, love this program. It's nice to have a taste of home. And for the non-coffee drinkers, when a Cup of Joe is purchased and you don't want coffee, it can be used instead to get $2 off any other menu item to include fruit smoothies or tea drinks. Good stuff. How would we ever fight our wars without a coffee shop around?

Last but far from least, I want to give a shout out to all the many people that kept me and my unit in your thoughts and prayers over the last year. All the cards, letters, and care packages have been wonderful. It's always nice to get something in the mail when you're away from family and friends. Special thanks to Lutheran Church of the Living Christ in Madison, WI, Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, SC, Rev. Dan Kowert, Rev. Christopher Burger, Ruth Halverson, Hannah Messmann, Life Center North in Spokane, WA, and Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in Milton, WA.

This may be my last post before heading home.

Winding Down

Nate's unit is preparing to redeploy back to their home station, Ft. Lewis, Washington. They'll seal the last connex (shipping container) later this week, and Nate will be living out of a bag for a few weeks. The advance party of their relief has arrived from Germany. When the rest arrive they'll begin a process of handing over the mission and operations. Mostly left-seat/right-seat techniques in which a member of the unit being relieved pairs with a member of the relieving unit to gradually shift operations from one to the other.

Within a month, Nate's unit will be in Kuwait waiting for a ride home. Without giving away exact dates we can tell you he'll be home (Ft. Lewis and Tacoma, WA) by the the end of August. He and Katie are planning trips shortly after to visit family and friends.

I don't want to publish dates and travel plans, but will be happy to share them with you personally. Send me an email, and I'll let you know when they plan to be near you. He looks forward to seeing you all again.

Summer Is Here

We're officially into the 100-degree weather here in Balad, IQ. I have seen highs reaching 109'F so far. A few days ago, it was 86˚F at 0745 in the morning, and reached 100˚F by 10 AM, and continued to climb.

Today was not quite so bad, though. I think it only got up to 95˚. Nice cool day.

I wish I had been making posts more often, and I will attempt to be more regular in doing so through the remainder of my deployment, my goal being a post a week.

I still get questions about the time difference. Here in Iraq we are in the Arabia Standard Time zone which is GMT +3. Iraq does not observe daylight savings, and neither does Kuwait. This means that, because of  Daylight Savings being observed in the US, depending on the time of year I will either be 10 or 11 hours ahead of PST, or 7 or 8 hours ahead of EST. I am currently 10 hours ahead of PST and 7 hours ahead of EST. Whenever I call Katie when it's morning here, it is usually late in the evening the day before there. And if I call her in the evening here, it is the morning of the same day there in WA.

I have also had people wondering about my normal daily routine. My work week is Monday through Saturday. I usually get up around 0530 Monday through Friday (I usually don't do PT on Saturday mornings), and do PT with my first-line supervisor, SGT Prupis. Following that I will conduct personal hygine in the shower trailers (pre-fab buildings simular to our "Containerized Housing Units" or CHUs) then get breakfast chow to-go from DFAC 3 (Dining Facility 3), which is only a 2 or 3 minute walk from my housing area, H7. Housing areas (H4, H6, H7, etc.) are broken up into "pods" (I am in G-pod) or smaller areas enclosed in protective concrete modular T-walls (one such pictured above) usually consisting of between 20 and 40 3-room CHUs and maybe a half-dozen 2-room CHUs.

There are between 5 and 20 pods in each housing area, and a Shower/Latrine "cluster" (several shower and latrine trailers grouped together) will service between 3 and 7 pods. Latrine trailers have flush toilets. The nearest cluster to me is a pod away, but there are several chemical toilets (porta-johns) to a pod, outside of the T-walls. Each housing area is serviced by a housing office to administer over repairs of damages to CHUs, furnature in the CHUs, and safety inspections, as well as letting people into their CHUs in the event of a lock-out. In the same building as the housing office is a Laundry Point, for drop-off and pick-up of laundry. They have a 3 day turn-around (drop off today, pick up the day after tomorrow).

After getting breakfast, I will go to the nearest bus stop, which is just outside our housing area. There are a half-dozen bus routes that service Joint Base Balad, and nearly any major destination is either directly serviced by a route, or is within a 5 minute walk of a bus stop. I take the bus right to the Battalion HQ, as there is a bus stop right there. I usually arrive to work sometime between 0830 and 0845, I'll e-mail my supervisor letting her know I'm in the office, then make some coffee in a French-press travel mug I have, eat my breakfast, and call Katie on my office's DSN line.

I get an hour for lunch. I'll usually walk two blocks over to DFAC 2 (the Air Force DFAC) and get a to-go-plate, bringing my lunch back to the office. Usually around 1600 I am released for the day, or sometimes earlier if there's nothing going on. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings I go to an aerobics class at 1700 in the Red Tail Gym, inside the Air Force's gated and fenced-in housing area, H6. On those days I bring my PTs with me in a backpack. After that I'll go to DFAC 2 again for dinner, usually getting a to-go-plate and heading back to the office to eat while I call Katie again. Then it's over to the bus stop to head back to my CHU, or sometimes I'll walk if I'm impatient (the busses seem to run slower in the evening). It's only 7 blocks.

In the evening I'll work on school work, study for the AFAST, read one of the several books I'm in the middle of, watch AFN or play Xbox on my TV, or watch a DVD or play a game on my laptop. Then it all starts over the next day. I have Sundays off, affording me the opportunity to catch a movie at the theater if I'm interested. There are no Lutheran services here anymore, and so I usually do some devotions on my own.

The two main tennant units here at JBB (Joint Base Balad) are the Army's 3rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command and the Air Force's 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing. Each are commanded by a flag officer, though I'm not sure which of the two are the Installation Commander, or in OIF terms, Base Mayor; I'm not sure they know. The Air Force likes to think they run the place but that is really only true inside of their gated community. It is interesting to note though, that the official "Installation Chaplain" is the 332nd AEW's Wing Chaplain, a full-bird Colonel. (It is my understanding that a Wing would be roughly equvilant to an Army Division.) The Religious Support section of JBB is interesting in that, like I just mentioned, the Installation Chaplain is Air Force, and so is his Chaplain Assistant (Installation RST NCOIC). But the 3rd ESC provides the Staff Chaplain(s), and all other Installation-level Chaplains and Assistants (Resource Mgr, Plans NCO, Training NCO, etc.), and provides the office space for the Installation Chaplain, though he does not use it, instead preffering to be based out of the Air Force Chapel (Gilbert Memorial Chapel) in H6. An interesting colaberation to say the least.

A couple final notes about the 332nd AEW. The 332 AEW continues the tradition of the WWII 332 Fighter Group, The Tuskegee Airmen. They flew a veriety of aircraft, including P-40 Warhawks, P-47 Thunderbolts, and P-51 Mustangs, the tails of all their aircraft painted red. Today the Wing continues to honor them with their motto and by naming just about everything they can "Red Tail" and they even use it in callsigns for ground support units. The 332 AEW now flies the F-16, A-10 Thunderbolt II, HH-60 Pave Hawk (Combat Search & Rescue), and MQ-1 Predator (a UAV), as well as a small contignent of C-130s for air mobility support. I have yet to see an A-10 in the sky or on the ground here (I don't even know if they deployed with the rest of the Wing here), but I see Predators all the time, and F-16s are constantly taking off and landing, and taring around the skys above the base.

As I mentioned earlier, I am in college again, finally. I am taking online classes with American Military University. This school affords me the ability to take classes even while I'm traveling, because I can do my assignments on my own laptop, and turn them in either on my own computer if there is Internet access available, or transfer my assignments to a work computer and turn in my assignments that way. I am almost finished with my first class with them, a manditory "Introduction to Online Learning" class. My next class, HIST 121 "Western Civilization Before the 30 Years War," starts on the first of June and lasts 8 weeks, taking me right up to the end of my deployment.

Some other things I have gotten questions about:

they drive on the right here, just like we do in the states

the country abreviation is "IQ" and their Internet TLD is .iq

the currency here is Iraqi dinar (IQD)

the Iraqis are avid football players. It's basically their national sport.

the native electric system here is 220V/240V and 50Htz requiring the use of transformers for all but our laptops or other items purchased from the PX that are 220V-compatable (all TVs, DVD players, microwaves, fridges, etc. they sell are 220V)

The only thing I need a transformer for is my Xbox. Everything else I have is either 220V or dual voltage, to include even my (US-bought) cell phone charger. You'd be suprised how many things we buy in the States are dual-volage. All that's requred is cheap $2 plug-adapters.

It should be also be noted that outside of the Middle East, the denominational difference between Shi'a and Sunni is just that: purely denominational, deriving from a split in the Muslim religion concerning who should take over as the "chief disciple" following the death of Muhamid, and is not a particularly great source of conflict. Here in Iraq, however, the troubles between the Shi'a and Sunni (and don't forget the Kurds) are more geopolitical than anything else. It's not about religion anymore, it's about the haves and the have-nots. The minority Sunni (or even greater-minority Kurds) could be likened, in a way, to other minority political parties of these United States, such as the Green Party, the main difference being that the political parties here are essentially directly derived from ethnicity or locale. At least this is my understanding of everything going on here.

It would take me a lot longer to discuss how the Muslim religion does play a part in their culture, but I am far from fully qualified to talk about all that. Suffice it to say that the troubles here are Geopolitical (and to a lesser extent, Ethnopolitical), not reglion-based.

[edited 06 May 09 at 2343, GMT +3]

"Any Soldier" Mail Suspended

Budget cuts have meant the military can no longer allocate cargo space for 'any soldier' mail. Thanks to your outstanding support, we still have a stack of boxes to send, and we have been successfully 'smuggling' them in. We cannot, however, handle the volume we have in the past, so we are no longer collecting your donations at church.

Thank you for your support, and please continue to send mail to service members you know. As always your continued prayers for our nation and our troops are most welcome.

~Tim & Kay Gies

Photo Gallery: Baghdad and Tallil

Nate posted some photos of his trips to Baghdad and Tallil in his online gallery at http://gallery.me.com/toxicjelly#gallery.

Back to Iraq

Nathaniel is leaving Tacoma this morning for his return to Iraq, which will take a couple days.

R&R

Well, I had hoped to post sooner, but as everyone told me it would, R&R went by too quickly, and now it is the day I head back to Iraq and I'm just now making a post.

Katie and I have had a good time together while I've been home.  We've gone camping on Bainbridge Island --breaking in our new camping gear-- and gone to Seattle twice, seeing a Mariners game, the Seattle Aquarium, the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo, the Science Fiction Museum and Experience Music Project, and gone up the Space Needle -- and of course, going to the Pike Place Market.

We also got through all 7 parts of the John Adams mini-series from HBO (a pirated copy bought in Iraq for $10).  What an amazing series, and an even more amazing man!

My unit’s year long deployment is 2/3 through, and I think this last portion of it will go by quickly.  After all, Summer is right around the corner and we will be back before the Summer is through.

Finally, both Katie and I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers.  We really do appreciate your support.

Arrived Home on Leave

Nate arrived at his and Katie's apartment in Tacoma just a few minutes ago.

When his flight arrived in Dallas, they disembarked to a walkway above the concourse. The public down below saw them and stopped to turn, applaud and cheer. Patriotic music played, VFW and bikers welcomed, and Boy Scouts handed out bags with goodies and water.

His plane tickets were for a Monday flight from Dallas to Seattle, but he was able to get a seat on a flight out right away. No fanfare at Sea-Tac, but he didn't expect the more liberal crowd there to be appreciative. Sea-Tac isn't the friendliest place to wear a military uniform. But, more important, Katie was there.

Now they're together for a couple of weeks. Plans include a camping trip, a Mariners game, and visits with Katie's family.

En Route Home on Leave

Nate left Iraq a day or two ago to begin his trip back home (Tacoma, WA) for two weeks' leave.

First stop Kuwait, to pass through Navy Customs. Had to make sure nobody sneaks out ammo, weapons, or other souvenirs.

Four hour flight to Leipzig, Germany; then 11 hours to Dallas. He arrived in Dallas on a charter full of service members returning from abroad. The plane taxied under an arch of water sprayed from fire trucks. They disembarked to a welcome ceremony from boy scouts, etc.

That's about all the news we got from him before he had to board the next flight, direct to Seattle where his wife, Katie, and her family are planning a personal welcome.

More to come...

Baghdad

Nate spent last week in Baghdad. The official purpose for the trip was to attend the Brigade Prayer Breakfast. It was a nice breakfast and Nate enjoyed it.

The rest of the week, he played tourist. He went to the "green zone", which is secured section of the city. After passing through a check point it was like being in civilian Baghdad with homes, shops, etc. He made some Iraqi acquaintances, especially a coffee shop owner who also sold pirated DVDs.


Nate also visited typical sight-seeing things. He took lots of pictures, but not any of the ones published in this post. Given the difficulty of sending a lot of large files electronically, he will be sending me a DVD with photos to post. The pictures in this post are downloaded from various web sites.

He toured the palace that served as Sadam's main residence. It was more than simply a palace. It was an estate that included a large lake, hunting grounds, and mini-mansions for guests. He saw a few other palaces as well, including that of the Republican Guards. At one of the palaces Nate worked on his golf swing on the palace driving range.

En route to one of his destinations they drove past a palace commissioned by Sadam to commemorate his "victory" over American forces in the first Gulf War. The palace was still under construction at the commencement of the second war (which legally was still the first and only war, Iraq having violated the terms of the "first" war's cease fire). The site has a heavily bombed palace surrounded by rusting cranes and other construction equipment.

Nate was also impressed by the Hands of Victory monument, the Iraqi memorial to their unknown soldiers, and other things.

He had, it sounds like, the best time of his tour so far. He said it was like a vacation from work and hopes he will be able to go back again in 10 or 15 years as an un-uniformed tourist with some more freedom to wander at will.

Sadly, his return to Balad brought news that his mid-tour leave has, again, been pushed back to May. He's feeling a bit down about that, and some other work-related issues that came up. We're hoping some of that works out as this week passes, but we're getting to the point that it's hard to trust leave plans until his boots hit American soil.

Pictures

Here's a couple pictures...

 

Picture of the BN HQ building at the start of sunrise, upon returning to Balad from some travels.

 

A picture of CH King on one of our convoys in an MRAP.

 

~Nate

On the Road

First, Nate passes along his thanks for the many kind gifts and letters sent to 'Any Soldier'. Not only are these packages practical, or pleasant little luxuries, but they serve as a tangible reminder that we care about them back here on the home front. Some of the soldiers can be quite touched by your notes of appreciation.

Nate's been traveling the past week. He got around to a number of different combat operating bases (COBs). He also participated in a convoy for the first time since being in country. Most of the time he and Chaplain (Capt.) King have flown at night by helicopter. This week they made one of their trips by a road convoy. Nate had a window seat in a MRAP (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle), like the one in the photo.

Nate has noticed a pattern during his visits. It seems the troops who are stationed in more remote locations with less (or no) access to a recreation center or theatre have higher morale in general than those on large bases with many recreational amenities. Counterintuitive, perhaps, but it makes sense in a way. Those soldiers tend to have more focus on a mission that keeps them busy and offers variety. When 'real' entertainment isn't available, troops make their own, and a good graphic novel, dogeared as it passes from soldier to soldier, is more dear than a movie theatre's bill changing 3 times a week.

Nate and others in his battalion have also had the opportunity to participate in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. (You may have seen or heard Ramsey on Fox News or his radio show on personal finance -- where being debt free is replacing the Mercedes as a status symbol.) Apparently this program has caught on across the Army, and his battalion purchased a number of kits to offer the course to soldiers for free. Each week, for 13 weeks, they view a video, listen to a lecture, and participate in small group discussion. Nate's really been enjoying the course, and appreciates Ramsey's sense of humor.



Nate also recently enjoyed a show put on by Filter, a metal band touring the sandbox. It was sponsored by an organization called Stars for Stripes, that sends stars on tour around the world to entertain the troops. If you're on Facebook, check out Nate's new profile photo of himself with the band. Nate's the one with the rifle.

Nate with Iraqi Mortar

High angle fire!

The American Legion VetCam

The American Legion VetCam offers you, your family and friends an experience that is the next best thing to being there. Don’t miss out on those important events in your life.

Because you can’t always be there, The American Legion is making it easier for you, your friends and your loved ones to stay in touch.

They offer you VetCam: Free one-on-one video conferencing – to enable you to talk face-to-face with friends and family across town or overseas. One-on-one. Or with several people at a time. You decide.

Members of The American Legion, as well as members of the United States Armed Forces (active duty, Reserve and National Guard), their families and friends, are welcome to use this complimentary technology to remain connected with those people most important to you.

You have to sign up to use it, and of course, you have to coordinate with the service member to arrange to be on line at the same time.

Sign up now!

Four Chaplains Day

H. RES. 86 Expressing support for the designation of Four Immortal Chaplains Day in remembrance of the 4 men who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of compassion for those of different races and faiths.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 26, 2009 Mr. FILNER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESOLUTION Expressing support for the designation of Four Immortal Chaplains Day in remembrance of the 4 men who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of compassion for those of different races and faiths.
Whereas on February 3, 1943, The Army Transport Service troopship Dorchester was torpedoed in the North Atlantic Ocean by a German submarine, an event that resulted in the loss of nearly 700 lives and for which witnesses have recounted in the Congressional Record the heroism of 4 chaplains of different faiths: Lieutenant George L. Fox, Methodist; Lieutenant Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lieutenant John P. Washington, Catholic; and Lieutenant Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed;
Whereas witnesses verified that during the approximate 18 minutes the ship was sinking after being torpedoed off the coast of Greenland, the 4 chaplains went from soldier to soldier calming fears, distributing life jackets, and guiding men to safety;
Whereas when there were no more life jackets, the 4 chaplains removed their own life jackets and gave them to others;
Whereas the 4 chaplains were last seen arm-in-arm in prayer on the hull of the ship;
Whereas many of the 230 men who survived owed their lives to these 4 chaplains, and witnesses among them recounted the unique interreligious spirit and love for their fellow man that was later illustrated in a popular postage stamp issued by the United States in 1948, called `These Immortal Chaplains--Interfaith in Action';
Whereas Congress passed House Concurrent Resolution 90 in 1957 to honor these 4 chaplains and the men who died with them, and President Harry Truman and President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued similar proclamations calling for national recognition and participation in memorial services throughout the country that have been observed annually by the American Legion on the first Sunday of February;
Whereas Congress created a special medal for valor given to the 4 chaplains in 1960;
Whereas the Senate passed a unanimous resolution on the first day of the 2d Session of the 105th Congress, on January 27, 1998, designating February 3 as Four Chaplains Day; and
Whereas memorials to the chaplains' heroic sacrifice abound in many places throughout the country, including the Heroes Window in the National Cathedral in Washington, District of Columbia, the Chapel at the Pentagon, and the Chapel at the United States Military Academy at West Point: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives remembers the Four Immortal Chaplains who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of compassion for those of different races and faiths and requests the President issue a proclamation calling on the Federal Government, States, localities, and the people of the United States to observe a day in their honor with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and activities.

Gift Cards and Pre-paid Calling Cards

The Department of Defense Military Exchanges have been authorized to sell pre-paid calling cards to the general public who wish to give them to troops serving overseas in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). These can be used at AT&T phone centers located throughout the area of operations, including the USO at Balad Air Base. You do not need exchange priveleges to buy these.

The face value of the cards are for US domestic phone calls, so understand they are worth fewer minutes calling from Iraq to the US. A "550" minute card is worth 143 minutes (15 cents/minute), and a "300" minute card is worth 80 minutes (22.5 cents/minute).

They can be shipped to you, or you can have them shipped directly overseas. If you send them for 'any soldier', remember to ship to Nate Gies, Attn: Any Soldier (see this post for the complete address), and he will distribute them.

For more info, see https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx.

Similarly, anybody can order gift cards and gift certificates. You can purchase these for any recipient with exchange priveleges, even those stationed in the US, so these could be a great gift for your friend or loved one stationed state-side. Gift cards are redeemable at the store (PX, BX, NX, etc.) worldwide. Gift certificates are redeemable for exchange service catalog orders. These, too, can be shipped to you or directly to the recipient. There is no shipping charge! For more info, see https://thor.aafes.com/gcs/default.aspx.

'Any Soldier' Mail and Packages

Our church, Lutheran Church of the Living Christ, is collecting items to send to 'any soldier' in Nate's battalion. You can drop off items there.

If you can't drop off, but want to participate by mailing your own letter, post card, or package, please read these tips for sending mail to Balad Airbase in Iraq (or service members overseas in general). Mail cannot be addressed to 'Any Soldier', but must be addressed to an individual by name or title. Nate is responsible for distributing 'Any Soldier' mail in his battalion, so address the mail to

Gies, Nathaniel
Attn: Any Soldier
51st ESB, HHC
APO, AE 09391

There are females in his unit, so if you are sending items intended specifically for a female, send it 'Attn: Any Female Soldier'.

Nate passed along requests for the following especially desired items:

Suggested “Any Soldier” items:

Toiletries such as:

• Toothbrushes
• toothpaste
• floss
• soap
• shampoo and conditioner
• unscented deodorant/antiperspirant

Food items:

• Canned nuts
• trail mix
• sunflower seeds
• microwave popcorn
• instant oatmeal (plain and flavored; single serv. packets)
• chewing gum (esp. big red)
• gatorade/tang/crystal lite/propell powdered drink packets
• other instant drinks: apple cider, hot cocoa, coffee (both ground and instant), tea (esp. green tea) (single serve packets)

Magazines:

• cars
• computers
• beauty/fashion
• outdoors
• cooking
• music
• gardening
• sports
• popular science
• etc.

Other items:

• nerf balls
• darts sets
• baseball gloves
• movies (DVD)
• greeting cards (to send home to loved ones for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, other special occasions)
• stationary/writing tablets and envelopes

A card or note would also be great.

Thanks for your help!

War Without Internet

It turns out the loss of wi-fi access at the BX is permanent. He has access at his office, but that is a gubmint computer that is authorized for official use only, so access to personal email, Facebook, etc. is blocked. His new quarters don’t have access. That leaves the USO as the only access point, and that requires signing up for a 30-minute appointment, which is now in much higher demand since the BX went dark.

Oddly, he has found he has better access when they fly out to smaller, more forward-deployed operations bases. With the much smaller population they have a better supply/demand ratio, I guess. One such base he visited lately was so small he could stand in the middle and view all four walls.

Enough of that. If internet access is one of his major issues, then we are grateful that so much more of his situation and condition is satisfactory.

So why the new hooch? Nate has a new squad leader, a new buck sergeant. She was worried about maintaining accountability over her charge, so she had all of her squad members who were living someplace other than her housing area relocate to be near her. Her predecessor must have had amazing tracking skills.

Nate's had an interesting time adjusting. He didn't expect things at a forward operating base in war zone half way around the world to be so "normal" and familiar. He expected some major culture shock, and having to deal with living under some sense of imminent danger. But no, it's like any other American military base. Plus sand. Plus contractors who don't speak english. Or spanish. It's strange how the familiar can be disconcerting when you expect the unfamiliar.

He'll get a chance or two to get away from it. He had requested 2 weeks of R&R to come back to the states in March, but a classic Army foul-up has made it April now. He is also told to expect a 4-day pass or two to Qatar. That sounds like a good time on a world-class beach.