Welcome to Nate Gnews

I hope you find this blog a good way to keep up with Nate and his gung-ho Army stuff. This should be the place you go to for the latest information on Nate -- insofar as he and his wife, Katie, keep his parents informed. ;-)

First we must play some catch-up. As you should be aware, Nate is an Army Specialist, assigned as the chaplain's assistant in the 51st Signal Battalion. As the chaplain's assistant, he has various duties, including being the chaplain's clerk and driver, as well providing physical security (as chaplains don't carry firearms, so somebody has to protect them).

On August 27th, Nate deployed with his unit (51st Signal Battalion) from Ft. Lewis, WA en route to Iraq via Kuwait.

They spent something on the order of about 2 weeks in Kuwait adjusting to the time change (CDT + 8hrs in Kuwait where they don't observe daylight savings, CDT + 9hrs in Iraq), climate; and receiving additional training. For example, anybody who has participated in marksmanship training in the military, law enforcement, or at a sportsmen's club would know how sterile and safe that environment can be. Rarely will a hostile situation permit soldiers to line up and face the same direction, take a comfortable shooting position, control their breathing, sight a plastic target safely downrange, and squeeze the trigger. In Kuwait, Nate and his comrades got some more realistic training; forming in small groups, running through an area with live ammo, surprised at various times by potential targets which had to be quickly identified as friend or foe, and if appropriate, engaged. Good stuff. Nate loved it. Sprained his foot, but a small price to pay.

In addition to combat skills training, they also received training about the local culture, including some basic Arabic -- "Please", "Thank you", "One at a time", "Keep your hands where I can see them" -- you know, typical tourist stuff.

Sunday morning we received word that his unit had moved to Iraq. The battalion HQ is at Balad Airbase (formerly Camp Anaconda), located about 68 miles north of Baghdad, in the Sunni Triangle (see map -- click on 'satellite' to see anything). Balad hosts over 30,000 coalition troops and civilian contractors, and unlike most bases in Iraq has the luxury of a base movie theatre, fast food, an indoor swimming pool, and dance lessons. No excuse for him coming back without serious foxtrot skills. Katie, are you ready for that?

He is still in temporary quarters, and expects to move into permanent quarters by Tuesday.

While HQ is at Balad, the rest of the battalion is spread all across Iraq. The chaplain, of course, serves the whole battalion, so Nate and Chaplain (Captain) King will likely be flying all over to provide ministry (or coordinate ministry for soldiers of faiths other than Ch. King's), offer counseling, evaluate and maintain morale (hand out candy, books, DVDs, etc.), and identify and treat combat stress. If necessary they will also plan and conduct memorial services, and notify soldiers of death or illness of family members back home.

Katie seems to be taking to her new role as "Army Wife", even under this most difficult initiation. She is learning how to access all the services available to her, and getting to know the other spouses in the battalion quite well. She is taking this semester off from school, and a part-time job she thought she had lined up fell through, so she is not as busy as she would like to be. It looks like an opportunity at a nearby Radio Shack may come through for her. She is kept company by a couple of kittens they got shortly after moving into their apartment in Tacoma in June. I thought they were intended as surrogate Nates in his absence, but she had them fixed last week, so perhaps I should reevaluate.

Please keep Nate and Katie in your prayers. They have maintained a great attitude about it all, but have already experienced the pangs of separation and all the anxiety associated.