By Major John Rosnow
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 2:51 PM
Sorry for the delay in emailing. I have moved into a new role here at the 19th and have been kept very busy. I was going to take over as the Supply Division Chief in July after MAJ V leaves, but he was gone for a week to a conference so I have been trying to be a technical expert and a manager. There are not enough hours in the day to do that.
Hope you have a great week.
1 June 2003 - Great day today. It was busy, but still good. I went to eat about 1730 today. I came back and did a little more work and was back home by 1930. It was still light out so I did a little cleaning and opened my mail. I got a package from with a nice Columbia shirt in it, some Cheeze-Its, a crossword book, and some candy. I also got a box with bugles (the kind you eat), some Cheetoes, and some beef jerky. There was also a nice letter and a picture. I got a letter from my mom dated the 7th of May and another dated the 20th. I also got a letter with an article in it about a friend of mine in California whose daughters put together a fund raiser to get packages to servicemen overseas. Very interesting. Tonight I am going to hopefully get caught up in email. I have about 70 now, but quite a lot of time to work on them. I got my lights and outlets working today in my room so now I can use my fan again tonight. Good thing as it was sunny and hot today. I have to do my OER also, but think that can wait another day. They want me to write my own OER comments and then send to the rater for review. It is kind of like writing my own award. Oh well, I bet this one will be good J.
2 Jun 03 - Beautiful sunrise this morning. I woke up about 0445, then went back to sleep and kept hitting the snooze. I did not get in to work until about 0615. I was tired. Busy day at work again. I heard some gunfire around lunch time. We heard a report that there were some attacks on the perimeter last night and some more planned. I worked until a little after 2200 and came back and went right to sleep.
3 Jun 03 - Good day today. Busy again working on getting food and water delivered. CW2 Urie and MAJ Page are leaving so they got awards yesterday. CW2 Urie is going to Fort Carson, Colorado. MAJ Page is off to the East Coast to a reserve assignment. He will be in charge off CGSOC instructors. The Supply Division had a little roast for Mr. Urie last night at dinner. Someone had to stay and watch over the division so I did that. Mr. Urie really enjoyed it. I found out that he was the one, or at least one of the people, that recommended me for the ACP.
4 Jun 03 - Another busy day today trying to sort up how we are going to deliver rations. I woke up at 0445 or so before my alarm went off and this time, I decided to stay up. I got in to work by about 0515. I never had time for lunch today so by 1800 tonight I was cranky as I had some cookies for a snack later in the day. I took a break and had something to eat, then came back and worked until 2000. I heard this morning that four mortar rounds landed outside the perimeter by tower 4. They are now looking at building bunkers again. I knew they should not have filled them in. We still have our big one outside the ACP, but they started to throw trash into it. I have to move out of my room at the ACP. They are putting the Equal Opportunity Office in there. It is not the worst thing though as I am just moving down the hall to CPT Peterson's room. He will be moving out and going to BIAP to take over command of a signal company. I will have a courtyard on two sides of me. There really is never a breeze so it is no big deal. I cannot connect to check my mail tonight. I have over 60 messages, but the connection does not stay up. I have already answered all the ones that I downloaded before so hopefully it comes up soon. SSG D just went to check with the node center to see if there is a problem. I need to check my pay also. I just had a deposit at the credit union and I am not sure what it was for. Maybe my tax rebate came in. We are in a tax free combat zone here. Well, I guess I will work on my OER for awhile and see if the connection comes back up. I cannot start moving yet as CPT Pete still has his stuff all over the room.
5 June 2003 - Well it is 2115 already and it looks like I will not get a chance to check e-mail tonight. Beautiful sunrise this morning and sunset tonight. Busy day at work again trying to feed the Corps. Tonight I am going to opt for a shower and a little reading of the paper before I go to sleep. I will try and check e-mail tomorrow. I did get to the post office today to mail a couple letters and a paper from Iraq to Stein and a training manual to Al. SGM Kelly stopped by tonight. He got a flight up here for a staff visit. They may all be coming up here soon.
6 June 2003 - Well I did get a shower in last night, but it was after 2300. I checked a couple of e-mails over at the office before I left. Beautiful sunrise this morning. The day was pretty evenly paced this morning, then about 1600 all hell broke lose and we got slammed. I was working on a rail movement, refers, and getting fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV) out of Turkey. I packed it up by 1800 though and then went to eat, came back and opened up a box that I got from Veritas that was mailed in April. That must have been lost in the mail. I got a bunch of things to bring into the office tomorrow. I then went for a run around 1945. I ran between 45 minutes and an hour. It did not seem that long. I ran over by the airfield, down to the end of the runway, then over to the main street and back. I took a shower and washed my PT uniform in the shower when I was in there. It is hanging outside now. Funny how you can hang clothes out at night and they dry. I am watching a little gecko run across the floor out here in the lobby. He is really small. I may have to move out of the ACP. There are some LTC's and COL's that came up from the Sea Port of Debarkation (SPOD) (not really sure why) that may need a place to stay. No big deal, I just move about a block down the road. I will be in a room with 3 or 4 other guys, other than that, not much different. There will be a lot more people. It is nice and quiet here and I will miss that. Plus I can get on the NIPR here whenever I get time. I do not think that will happen when I move, but we will see. They will probably let me stop by here every now and then and plug in. It looks like the connection is working tonight so I am going to check my pay and my e-mail.
7 June 2003 - Long day at work. I almost got to go to Germany for a conference. It was between myself and MAJ V. COL H picked him to go so he needs to go and pack and then leave in the morning to get back to Germany. In a way I am glad I am not going. I am not in the mood to pack every thing up, go for a few days, then have to come back. I am sure it would be nice when I would be there, but maybe I was just too tired to get overly excited about it. Tonight was my first night sleeping in AC. It felt good to crawl into my sleeping bag, rather than just laying on top. They have AC in the room I am in as it will be an office for the EEO. I figure I might as well use it. Someone had turned it on today.
8 June 2003 - I tried calling my mom this morning. Do not disturb was on. Then I tried Julie and the phone number could not be reached. At least I got through to the Minneapolis MWR number. Busy day again with MAJ V gone. I came in around 0530 and worked until after 2300.
9 June 2003 - Early day again. In around 0530 so I could walk LT E through the AM meeting again. I talked to mom this morning. It was night time there. They had a big fire and explosion at Dogwood. The captured enemy ammunition blew up. We had a few folks down there. They said it was like the 4th of July.
10 June 2003 - Well it has been a busy few days. I need to go back and update the journal. It is now 2330 on the 10th and I am still at work. I did sleep in until 0730 this morning though so I was not in to work at 0530 like normal. I am just going to finish this up and then leave. I have lots of e-mail to respond too, but I am not going to get through all of it tonight. I hate leaving things left to do for the next day. I have had so many meetings lately that I do not have time to catch up on my work e-mail, let alone my personal e-mail. I am still keeping a handle on all the refers in the country. I usually stop and talk with the KBR truck drivers in the evening. A nice bunch of guys.
11 June 2003 - Moving day today. We are moving out of the tent into the building to work. They do not have all the lines run yet and the place they want the division chiefs to move to will not be ready until tomorrow. It is nice and quite in here, but I am tired so I better get going and get some rest. It is already after midnight.
12 June 2003 -When I got to work, it was just my desk in the tent so I moved out of the tent. I have been doing a right seat ride with MAJ B from the 321st MMC today. It is basically a transfer of information. We lost power from the power grid today so the ACP building is out of power. The place we work went back on generator so we have AC at work again. It was sure hot when the AC was out.
13 June 2003 - Hot night in the room last night. We had no power. It reminded me of when we first moved in. I did a lot of tossing and turning. I was really tired when I left work. I wanted to take a shower but was too tired. I figured I would do it in the morning, but I woke up to the alarm clock at 0730 and was still tired out. I hit the snooze a few times and then got up and went to work. Another long day. I am 160+ messages behind at work. It is 2135 right now. I have not written in the journal since the 10th as I have been so busy. Time to get it caught up, check a few of the e-mails, then take off. I could really use a shower tonight. I moved out of the ACP down to the 19th tonight. I was going to move to CPT Peterson's room, but the COSCOM 1SG came by and told the CSM that I needed to move as I was with the 19th and there were some O-6's coming in to stay there. I was going to move in with Alex and Jay, but figured I could get kicked out of there too, so I just moved down to the 19th. Right now there is 4 other guys in the room, but it is a larger room. One guy is only in there for a few nights. MAJ V will be out of there in a few more weeks. Hopefully we will get some AC in the building as it is only going to get hotter. The last few days have been real busy. I spend a lot of time in meetings, then doing the right seat ride has kept me busy. I hate getting so far behind in email, but at least I have a good staff that can solve the issues in my absence. Well, it is almost 2230. I am going to check a few more emails and then get going. Maybe I can get a shower in tonight, although it is pretty windy and dusty outside.
14 June 2003 - Hot night in bed last night. We have a couple of fans in the room, but the breeze was not hitting me. I slept good though, I must have been exhausted. I woke up about 2 minutes before the alarm clock. I took a shower at the 19th shower point this morning. It was great. Best shower I have had since leaving home! There was plenty of shower pressure. For breakfast I had a granola bar and mandarin oranges. I gave my uniform to the platoon sergeant to turn in for laundry turn in today. I got in to work and had a couple of meetings, then I actually got caught up on some e-mail, had another meeting with the section, and a few more e-mails before going to get some lunch. My lunch today was bugles, a peanut butter sandwich, and some vanilla pudding. I mailed some Iraqi military gear home at lunch. I sent a helmet, a duffle bag, and ruck sack with all the attachments, minus the belt as I am wearing that. I found out that there was an attack the night before outside the North gate. It made fox news. Some Iraqis attacked an M-1 tank. Then they conducted a dismounted attack. They had 27 KIAs. No US soldiers were hurt. I got some more e-mail done this afternoon, had a meeting at 1700, did some more work and then went to dinner. We had hamburgers tonight. They were good. Baked beans too. They were UGR heat and serve, but still tasted good. After dinner I picked up a box then went to church with Tom. I have not been to a catholic mass in a long time. I still remember a lot of the mass. After that I got a power strip for the room so I could use my fan tonight. I came back to work and my e-mail count was back up over 150 again. I had it down to the 128 before dinner. I tried calling dad again tonight but could not get through to the DSN operator. I will try a few more times before going off to bed. I want to get up early and go for a run as I have a PT test the 1st of July.
15 June 2003 - Well I woke up about 0130 and had to go use the latrine. I heard a few gunshots when I was out there. Then about 0300 a fighter jet flew over. We were not sure what it was at first. It was so low it shook the building. I was ready to grab my helmet. I got up at 0600 and went for a run and did a few push ups and crunches. My push ups are lousy. I did 20 and I was feeling it. I ran well though. I would stop and do some more push ups, then run again. Towards the end of my run I would ran fast (not really a sprint, but close), then walk for 30 seconds, then run again. I did that about 10 times. Good workout followed by a good shower. I had cereal this morning for breakfast. I have had a box of corn flakes for over a month. I now had some milk to go with them. I also had a cup of fruit cocktail, then went off to work. I sure got sleepy about 1000. I wonder if it was the milk, that usually makes me sleepy, hence the reason I do not have cereal for breakfast very often. Good day today, not too hectic. I had a bag of cheetoes, a few strips of beef jerky, and a couple boxes of raisins for lunch. I did not want to walk back to the room to get anything else. I saw the 101st Music video today. It is really good. I will have to save it to CD and send a copy home. We had early dinner tonight because of Fathers Day and because there was a USO show tonight at the stadium. We had our first UGR-A meal. We had a choice of jambalaya (shrimp with rice) or chicken teriyaki. We also got a small chicken breast. We had peas and carrots, rice, and peach cobbler for desert. It was good, but not much different then the regular UGRs. After the BUB tonight I walked down to the stadium to watch the soldiers show. They were a traveling military band from Fort Belvior. They were good. I listened to a few songs and read my mail, then went and talked with the KBR guys and had a soda with them. I walked backed to the stadium to see if anyone else was going to show up, but there was not anyone else going to play. The band was on break so they let some soldiers up on stage to play. The guy playing guitar was great, then someone joined in on the drums, then I left to get back to work. It is 2055 now and I am going to try and get my work e-mail to under 100 before I leave tonight. It is at 135 unread ones now.
16 June 2003 - Well I got the email to 48 unread before I left last night. It is now 2250 and I have 74 unread. I have not even got to the point where I left off last night. I had meetings today from 0900 until 1300. I had a couple hours to get some projects completed, i.e. staffing plan, planning for the 4th of July Holiday meal, and working a water plan for all forces in Iraq. I had another meeting at 1700 to 1800, quick dash down the road to dinner, and another meeting at 1830, followed by a meeting with LTC B, then a meeting with MAJ V (he just got back tonight). After that, I got back to work email again. It was 118 here today. The good news is the high temperature for July is only 123. July is the hottest month. We are typically a few degrees hotter than the forecast though as the forecast is for Baghdad. I am glad we have AC at work. The main power grid is still not on so a lot of those folks are out of luck with no AC. I got a chance to burn a CD tonight so I will swing it by the historians tomorrow.
17 June 2003 - A long and somewhat frustrating day today. The day started out good. I got up around 0600 without my alarm clock. I worked out and went for a run, then took a shower. After my shower I did a load of laundry, ate some breakfast, and then came in to work about 0900. I was in meetings from 0900 until 1715 when I finally had enough and left to go eat. I came back to another meeting from 1830 to 1930 at which point MAJ V was back so I let him take the meeting so I could go back and work on the water plan for the CG. It is now 2300 and I have not read any email today from my SIPR account. It is now at 120+ unread messages. I have been crunching numbers all night and finally had to just give it a rest. I cannot make the chart show what I want it to show. I sent it to a couple other folks to look at, but I will leave it until tomorrow. Thursday we have a meeting in Cedar. If we drive, we need to leave Wednesday and come back Friday. I do not want to be gone that long for a few hour meeting. If we fly, then I want to go as it is a chance to fly, and we will be back the same day. Not sure what will happen though as I have been so involved with water planning and the 4th of July meal I have not had time to do anything else. I was going to check some NIPR email, but I think I will just finish this, do my daily SITREP for the morning so it is done, and then go to bed.
18 June 2003 - Well it is 2245 and I am back below 100 unread emails in my SIPR account. We had a few explosions this morning. It was EOD blowing some things up. It was interesting to see the different reactions when the explosions occurred and shook the windows. A bunch of folks ran to the window to see what was going on and then started scurrying about. We got so used to the explosions at Dogwood, that the folks that I was on the ACP with just kind of shook it off. Time to try and get the NIPR drive in and send out a weekly update and download my email. I have not had a chance to do this in a long time. It has been over a week at least. I will work on that an hour or so, then go get some rest as I want to do PT in the morning. It seemed to cool off a bit tonight. We had a breeze. We are supposed to get AC on or around the first of July. That will be great! Tomorrow should be a good catch up day as the commander, the CG, and DCO will all be out of the area. I do not get to go to the trip to Cedar. They left today, and will not be back until Friday. I am glad that I did not have to drive down. The flight would have been good, but not that long drive through ambush country.
