November 10, 2006 11:34 pm by Ray Moser.

Hi Folks.  It’s been an entire month since I’ve been put on Active Duty.  So far, the Army has stuck lots of needles into me, told me about big spiders and snakes, and have spun tales of great diseases to be wary of.   Seriously, we all passed the medical.

 Next, we spent some time on primary marksmanship, and then qualified on the range.  We day qualified, then fired our weapons with our gas masks on and then qualified night firing.  This really isn’t easy.  I have no idea how all the bad guys do drive-bys at night.

Another thing the army wants us to do is learn how to live in tents, so to do that, they sent us out into the field for 9 days.  Imagine this, it’s colder than hell, no hot showers and the heater craps out in the middle of the night.  Thankfully, one of the guys from Chicago went to Clothing sales with me and I bought a bunch of under-armor clothing and this is exactly how I kept warm. 

 Of course, in-between all of this, we received equipment issue, got up to date on Military law, rules of engagement and Afghan culture.  

 In early November, the lot of us traveled to Ft. Gordon for some training needed prior to going out of country.  We expect to finish this training prior to Thanksgiving and then take a few days to go home and see our families at Thanksgiving.  We do not anticipate any more time off from training to see our families, so at least I plan to make the best of it.

The rules here at Ft. Gordon are a little relaxed and we are allowed to go off post unlike Ft. Dix.  However, we still are not allowed to inbibe in Alcohol.  Not that it matters for me.   Most people know that I am an avid drinker of micro-brewed beers and I do not plan to see any until Thanksgiving.  To get off post even for a little bit is a nicety in my opinion.

 I have to leave now because my laundry is almost finished and Carlos Mencio (on TV) is too funny and keeping my concentration level to a minimum.

 Peace to all. 

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October 7, 2006 11:35 pm by Ray Moser.

I spent the last week wondering what I would do during my last “free” weekend home. Technically, this isn’t my last weekend home since I will be here next weekend, but next weekend is Friday the 13th, reporting day! You would think that it would be any other day, but it’s just not so. I kind of feel like the dead guy who wants to live just a little bit longer, to take care of a few more things, or to say that special word to that special person.

But, I digress. This Saturday, I spent some good time with my family. We went to a huge community garage sale in a wealthy, gated community. It was here that I picked up several Tom Clancy books and a genuine US Army duffle bag. My wife, on the other hand, went wild with baby stuff. Our daughter is definitely spoiled rotten.

Then, in the afternoon, I installed the surround sound system that has been sitting in the corner for the last few years. I found out that it is so old, that it is not compatible with the TV, DVD player or anything else that I had. I purchased a new Sony DVD player that upscales the signal to 1080i (High-Definition) and it was also incompatible with the Audio/Visual system. So, I trotted back to Circuit City and bought a Sony A/V system (6.1 channel). I’m not an audiophile and I hate remotes, so this makes an interesting partnership. The TV remote is kind of stupid. I have to plug-in codes to make it operate the DVD player. The DVD remote can control the TV out of the box and the Sony A/V remote will work the DVD player. A big confusing circle jerk. I guess if you have the A/V stereo remote in your hand, you’ll win. This took almost all day.

Who has time on the weekends to do this kind of stuff? With one weekend a month for the reserves, that leaves me a total of six days a month with my family (on four weekends per month). Remember, in my civilian job, I travel and am away from home, so I try not to use my weekend time to make home repairs.

Tomorrow, we will pack up everything and see how it fits. Then, I will pack up most of my stuff and put it in the attic to keep it out of the way and so that I can find it when I return.

The only things left to do is sort out what goes on the plane with me and what will get shipped in the connex container.

I have just about all of my loose personal ends finished thanks to the generosity of my Boss and my Company because they both gave me the time I needed to really take care of everything.

If I get everything packed, perform the storage ritual for my motorcycle and get the garage cleaned up, then I’ll do some flying before I leave. My goal is to break 100 hours before I leave. I have a little over 95 flight hours now.

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October 4, 2006 7:33 am by Ray Moser.

If you know someone in Iraq or Afghanistan or their family members, please forward this info by clicking on the email link below:

Free computers for spouses or parents of deployed soldier in ranks E1 - E5.
Free phone cards.
To sign up for sponsoring soldier care packages for theater
Free shoebox care package
Free cookies
Lowest airfare available.
Free care packages
Free air travel for Emergency Leave, and for the family members of injured soldiers to travel to Medical facility

Airline discounts for R & R
Free books, DVD’s, CD’s
Free care packages (your family member signs up to have sent to you)
Free care packages
Get adopted to receive stuff
Free gifts and care packages

Thanks to Mr. Potts for forwarding this over to us.

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September 9, 2006 8:00 pm by Ray Moser.

I opened the proverbial mailbox today to find not one but two sets of orders. The first order moved me from my present reserve unit to a mobilization element.

The second set of orders were the real McCoy. These orders actually mobilized me. The orders didn’t spell out where I would go or when I would get there. Rather, they set a date for me to report locally here in Orlando. My report date is October 15th, 2006, a Monday. Then, on or before October 18th, I have to report to Fort Dix, New Jersey to begin mobilization and readiness training.

The orders also said that I would be activated for a period not to exceed 505 days unless extended or relieved earlier.

So, it’s official. The government is giving me an all-expense paid trip to Afghanistan for an entire year and then some.

I also spoke to a warrant officer who has some knowledge of things (they always seem to know which way is up and what’s on the up and up) and he gave me some information regarding the deployment, but nothing that I will share at this time since it is subject to change at a drop of the hat.

So, I have about five weeks until I have to report.

Posted in Army Afghanistan | Print | 1 Comment »

September 6, 2006 9:04 am by Ray Moser.

After several freebie false-starts, the Army has concluded that we will mobilize on 15OCT. What? Wait? Make that Friday the 13th of October.

First, they said it would be Monday, September 11th (doh!). Then they said September 15th, then they said September 25th.

I hope the Army Command in Afghanistan is much more organized.

Over labor day weekend, I had a going away party last Sunday (3rd of September) at my house in Oviedo. My entire family came which was a major miracle and everyone behaved themselves pretty well.

I grilled ribs, chicken and HOT Italian sausages. In addition, I cooked Adobo, a family Philipino recipe. The grande finale included home-made Pistachio Ice Cream that I made with Splenda so that my diabetic friends and family could partake.

It was nice to see everyone. It will be the last time that everyone will be assembled together for a long time.

Posted in Army Afghanistan | Print | 2 Comments »

August 17, 2006 4:58 pm by Ray Moser.

I’ve heard that we will be going to Bagram Airbase to support some of the operations. I don’t have any specific details, but this is the location that I pinpointed early on in my analysis of Army Ops in Afghanistan. I guess I haven’t lost all of my skills yet.

I’ve enclosed a few pics.

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July 20, 2006 8:50 am by Ray Moser.

This morning, on my way to interview for my security clearance with the Special Investigator from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), I received a call from my section sergeant advising me that I have been involuntarily activated for duty to Afghanistan (AF).

He basically started off the call with, “Hey, you better sit down, I have something I need to tell you.” I replied that I couldn’t really sit down as I was driving down the road and to go ahead and spit it out.

I thanked him for the call and continued driving down the road to my appointment.

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