Address...

So, I hear some of you want my address... well here you go! Also, below is my DSN office number-- for anyone who has DSN and wants to give me a call, I am in the

office 10 hours a day, 6 days a week!!!

Alexandra Ulrich

Army Education Center

Camp Buehring

APO AE 09330

DSN: 318-828-1058

Tent City to Trailer Row

Well, here are the pictures of my new place that I promised! Eat your heart out...

What, what... 85-B representin! I have two windows and a door!!!

Home Sweet Home-- I honestly was expecting to be living with a handful of people, stuck on the top bunk somehwere in a random tent! This is like going from Motel Inn to a Hilton and I even got beach front, well... minus the water!

The lovely neighborhood! There are probably close to 120 trailers in my "pad," (thats a military term for basically a neighborhood). So, I am moving up in the world-- I was in a tent at first and now I have 1/2 a trailer... oh yeah!

Connected at the hip....

Above: The entrance to my wonderful dwelling!

I am slowly settling into Camp Buehring and after being here only a little over a week, it is really starting to feel like home! The roommate dilemma has been taken care of and now I am living it up in my new digs on the other side of the Camp. That's right... I have been moved to a trailer where I get to enjoy half of it all to myself. I have my own entrance and share a bathroom with the female that lives on the other side of the trailer. Now, I refer to her as "the female," only because I have yet to meet her. From my understanding, she is another contractor that has a place out in town, as well as 1/2 my trailer. So, in the last 3 nights-- I have yet to see her. Not too bad... it's like night and day from what I was putting up with from the AAFFES girls! Don't worry, I will have pictures to come, I promise!

Above: Some poor guy walking by that I used to prove my point-- oh, another thing... I only see people dressed in camouflage or in PT gear!

So, now on to what I really wanted to cover. One of the many things here that has absolutely amazed me is the fact that a soldier's weapon REALLY becomes part of his or her body. Now, I know this sounds crazy-- but I am not exaggerating in any way. Where ever that soldier goes, his weapon goes with him. That's right, breakfast, lunch and dinner, that darn weapon is right by their side. If you need something to snuggle with at night-- it's cool, you've got your gun! Or, need to use the bathroom... don't worry you're not going alone, you have your lovely M-16 to keep you company! During my first time at the gym I wasn't sure what to think... everyone had their weapons slung over their shoulder as they were curling dumbbells-- honestly one of the oddest things I have seen. The best part is, the soldiers don't even act like they are a bother to them. Personally, I am not sure how I would handle carrying around a bulky, awkward, heavy object that was roughly the length of a yard stick and that was very unforgiving if it clocked you the wrong way. Then again, if I knew that it would save my life-- I would have no problem lugging that bad boy around. I guess it is just one of those things that you just don't see normally and I am sure I will get use to it.

Desert Highways

The drive from Ali Al Salem was pretty quick and very different. We basically got onto this road and went straight for a long time. We passed a junk yard from Desert Storm… that was pretty neat. Then, all of a sudden, my boss started slowing down and I had no clue what he was doing… but I could tell he was looking for something. There was nothing around us… not even on the horizon. He eventually turned left onto what is supposedly a road; all that was marking it was a pile of rocks that were painted red. From my perspective, it just looked like every other part of the desert… nothing like a road! But I am finding out that there are not too many marked roads around here. We drove kind of at an angel and crossed over a few sand dunes and passed through a heard of camels and then suddenly the camp became visible in the distance. It was the craziest thing, but we got there!

(Above: Oh yeah... that is right-- I have a sign outside my door!)

Here are some pictures of my office and of this evening’s sunset… not the best picture--- but it was beautiful! I am sure there will be more. I am still trying to figure out my housing dilemma, I should have a permanent place by tomorrow.

(Above: My wonderful office that is stil a work in progress! Hey, my chair is really comfy... can't beat that!)

(Above: One of the many beautiful sunsets! This is my favorite part of the day!!!)

Goodbye Europe... hello Middle East

On Friday, Joe and his wonderful wife took me to Ramstein so I could catch my flight! I was lucky and got out on the first day… I know some of my co-workers had to wait a couple days. Below are some thoughts that I jotted down as I sat there and waited for my plane to leave…

So, here I am sitting in a sea of camouflage. Everyone keeping to themselves, some are reading, some are starring endlessly at the televisions that are scattered randomly through out the terminal, while others are just sitting there allowing their eyes to wonder around the room. There are some lucky ones that are accompanied for the time being by family and it is as though there is an unspoken agreement that those few lucky ones remove themselves from the cluster that is alone. As time slowly passes, I can sense the level of anxiety steadily increasing. Outside, the sky is growing gray as the sun slowly falls behind the uninvited clouds. The terminal that was at one time illuminated by the bright sun rays has now fallen cool and dark. A little over 2 hours until take off… I am actually looking forward to the plane ride; I hope I can get some sleep!

(Below are some more thoughts I wrote down while on the plane and once I arrived at Ali Al Salem.)

So, I thought just the people that were at the terminal with me were going to Kuwait, but I was wrong. I walked up to my gate and as I walked into the waiting area I was greeted by at least 270 more troops that had flown over from the states. Again, there was a sense of awkwardness in the air and everyone kept to themselves. Eventually we all piled onto the DC-10 and off we went. The flight was roughly 5 hours and I slept a good bit of it. We arrived at Kuwait International around midnight Kuwait time (2 hours ahead of Italy and 8 hours ahead of the east coast).

Now, deplaning was different than the normal routine. Before we got off, we were briefed and then instructed to exit down the stairs of the plane and immediately boarded a bus. There was about 10 buses and approximately 30 people per bus. The bus was quiet and the curtains were drawn so no one could see in. Our baggage was put into big semis that followed us in convoy style to Ali Al Salem. The ride was about 2 hours and we finally arrived around 3:30. Again we were briefed and told to exit the bus. Once we were all off, formation was called… the Sergeant called out “all military to the right and all contractors to the left… well, guess who was all by herself to the left--- yup, me! It was pretty funny; a lot of people got a laugh out of it!

(Above: Just hanging out in my tent at Ali Al Salem! Surprisingly, it was

almost 5 in the morning and I was wide awake... but surrounded by people sleeping)

Once I was in-processed I was given billeting which consisted of calling dibs on a mattress in a tent that held 12 people. I think I finally got in my tent around 4:30 and had the hardest time falling asleep! After catching a few zzzz’s, I found my way to a phone and called my boss down here and told him arrived safely and to come get me! A few hours later… I was on my way to my new home… the wonderful Camp Buehring!

(Above: Tent city at Ali Al Salem... yup, that was

home for one night!)

CTC is the place to BE!

(Above: Poor Joe... I think he was trying to hide himeself!)

Last week was composed of a lot of training for my job and mentally preparing for my deployment downrange. Of course, before Morgan left and the work week began, we had to hit the town for one more round of fun!

(Above: Morgan and I in Hieidelberg at the "Dubliner Irish Pub!" The only picture I have from Heidelberg for now... the rest are on a diposable!

Some how, Morgan talked me into going down to Heidelberg on Friday… the day I returned from IRT (yup, I was exhausted). So, although I was pooped, there was no way I was going to leave her hanging… so off we went on another one of our crazy adventures!!! We eventually made it to Heidelberg around 11:30 at night--- just in time for the fun to begin. Actually, we did have some reason to make the journey down to Heidelberg… one of our co-workers (who lives in Germany) is deploying with Morgan to the Sinai, but to South Camp (Morgan is at North Camp). So, we found the “Dubliner Irish Pub” that he and his friends rented out and partied up with a ton of people! That night we crashed at a near by hotel and spent Sunday touring Heidelberg. The area was very cute and definitely worth going back and visiting. (I unfortunately have no pictures of Sunday b/c I had no camera… sorry!)

(Above: Debbie and I hard at work! She is the best trainer ever-- she

taught me all I know... THANKS Debbie!)
Once the work week began, I spent most of my time at the office with Debbie… who is the most awesome trainer ever! I also hung out with Joe a lot and bothered him with lots of questions and random thoughts that I had. He was a good sport about it--- actually, he was absolutely awesome and I am so glad I got to hang around Headquarters… everyone was great, which made the work atmosphere enjoyable!!!!

IRT (Individual Readiness Training)

Even though this all happened about 2 weeks ago, I still wanted to share it with everyone!

IRT was a blast… I am not trying to be sarcastic—I really did enjoy myself! Wait, let me back up… Morgan and I arrived in Mannheim, Germany on the 3rd (thanks mom for taking us to the airport at the crack of dawn!). I was there for the evening and stayed in the cozy Weber Inn, right outside of Colemen Barracks (that is where the CTC Headquarters is located for this region). The following day I drove up to Grafenwoehr with Kristen (a fellow co-worker) to start IRT. We got there on Saturday evening and made it with only getting “a little” lost. We stayed in the Tower Inn on the base for one more night of warm, comfy sleep! I also experienced Schnitzel (type of German food) for the first time… a lot different from Italian cuisine, but good!

(Above: Representing a good football team! I was obviously at IRT on

Superbowl Sunday... but I still showed my spirit!)

Sunday was the real beginning of IRT and the beginning of a long, cold and snow filled week! The training covered a lot of material and was broken up into classroom lectures and field experience. We covered everything that one could come in contact with while deployed downrange. Below it an email that I wrote while I was there, it kind of gives you an idea of how I felt while in the experience.

(Above: This is what we rolled around in all week long! It was

actually very pretty... kind of peacful at times.)

So... it has been really cold... highs around 2c and lows around -14c... but I am making it. Snow covers the ground and ice has become my worse enemy. I am one of 2 civilians (the other is my co-worker Kristen) and we stick out big time! In all fairness though, the soldiers have accepted us and actually respect us for what we are doing. Most of these troops will head for Iraq or Afghanistan after this training and will be downrange for at least a year.

(Above: Dressing warmly was key... it was REALLY cold!!!)

I have met a ton of new friends and the experience in this short time has been priceless. I cant really put into words the feelings I have had over the last few days. In a way, it is like a culture shock, sure I have been raised around the military... but when you are thrown in with troops that are your age and younger, you get a totally different perspective. There are guys that are 18 heading for war and you can see the fear in their eyes and the uncertainty in every move they make. The most impressive thing I have noticed is that the older more superior guys taking the younger ones in and mentoring them!

(Above: My lovely living quarters for the week! Not too bad... really!!!)

My barracks consist of all the females here and the plastic mattresses are to die for! No, really... the best part is when I have to go to the bathroom and I have to bundle up from head to toe like the little boy from "A Christmas Story," so I wont freeze when I make my trek down the sidewalk about 100 yards to the "latrines" (those are the bathrooms for all you non-military folks)!!! Honestly, the experience has been awesome. No complaints!

(Above: Oh yeah!!! Man... all that gear weights a lot and makes

it really tricky to shoot a M-16, on target that is!)

Today was a little more graphic than I was expecting. We talked a lot about IEDs and close gunfire. We watched some movies and saw some pictures. I never heard a room with 80 people be so quiet in my life. At one point our instructor read several emails from the Dept. of Defense that announced the deaths of US troops. He covered the last month and probably named off 20 soldiers plus. Three soldiers were killed on my birthday and 2 of them were younger than me... talk about hitting hard. I felt guilty and selfish... I kept thinking over and over again about the families they left behind and the life and experiences that were taken away from them. It was hard listening to him read these names and I could sense that I wasn't the only one who was feeling a little uncomfortable.

Well, that is IRT in a nut-shell! I loved being there and I think it was a GREAT experience for me.

OK...

So, I know I have been really bad about keeping this updated, but I have not had a computer for the last week! I made it through IRT and had an awesome time. I have lots of information to share about my experience... hopefully I will have time this week to post some! I am still in Mannheim and will be heading out for Kuwait on Friday... if all goes well. Check back for updates, I promise they are on their way!