Next Stop - Kuwait

As I reflect back on my days here at good ol’ Ft Sill, I come to realize 100 plus degree weather isn’t really that bad, but honestly, I do prefer the Minnesota weather. If I need to be in this type of climate, I much rather be sitting on a nice sandy beach in the Caribbean with a fruity drink or nice ice cold beer and beautiful scenery like beautiful women in their favorite swimsuit….oh, I must of started day dreaming there, sorry…..where was I , oh-yeah, Ft Sill. Well the past few weeks I have begun to turn-in some of the equipment I am signed for and certain rooms out at the airfield I was responsible for. Since I am leaving ADVON, I needed to do a 100% inventory of all the equipment I am signed for and sign it over to my NCOIC who will then make sure it gets all turned in and my hand receipt cleared. I did receive 99% of the automation equipment I requested so me and a couple of my soldiers made sure to get all them packed so they can ship STRATAIR. (BTW – I included an acronymfinder link under Links of Interest on the right)

I did a secure Video Conference with my counterpart via the internet using Adobe Breeze interface, that was cool. It is basically the same as using CISCO Meeting place, or along the lines of Skyping or Yahoo Video conferencing. Speaking of, my Skype handle is “chrispkline” so if you have a Skype account, look me up.

As for this Blog’s picture album, you have to be patient, I have my people sending me pics, but here are a few for your viewing pleasure:


To help keep the morale up and also show us that our leadership trusts us, they allowed for us to go off post for an evening to eat dinner as a section and to catch a movie. My section, S6, CSSAMO, the Chaplain and some peeps from the S1 all went to Meers Restaurant, somewhere out in the boonies. I got to say, the food was divine and the service was great! To top things off, if you can believe this, an Army Vet that was eating there picked up the tab for all 30 of us, over $400 bucks….he tried to sneak out, but we were able to rustle him back in and say THANKS!! We are also planning to do something for him as we got his business card….stay tuned.

Well Kolacky Days of Montgomery have come and gone, I heard the weather was nice…other than that sounds like I didn’t miss too much. No big bar brawls, marriage break-ups, or stabbings…I guess for the police, this year was kind of boring!?

There is one funny story I can include in this month’s Blog, it is a short story that I call “The Cockroach Hunters.” I do not remember the exact day this event took place, but I do remember the events of the day very vividly. I believe it was about 2300 hrs, and I had just drifted off to sleep when I was awakened by a loud “aaaaahhhhhrrrgggg!!! COCKROACH!!” from the Chaplain, then Grupe comes running out of the bathroom, yelling “COCKROACH!” By this time all of that were sleeping are up by now. The Chaplain then yells to turn on the lights, so WAM! Lights on, I roll over to see what is all the commotion and through my tired, sleepy, pasted eyes, I see Grupe with a broom… and he is stretching it as far as it can reach to attack the cockroach. The Chaplain then Yells, “Don’t smash it; you’ll get the eggs all over!” So here I see Grupe ever-so-gently-trying to squish the cockroach…after that I knew it was all safe and I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Just a few days ago we had the Big Farewell Ceremony and BBQ Bash. The Governor came down, senators, the TAG, the DIV Commander, a whole bunch of supporters from MN to cook us steaks and a live performance from JB Layton. More importantly, my favorite visitors were my parents, sister, nephew, niece, grandpa and friend Verna all came to visit for a few days. I took them to see Geronimo’s Grave, the Historic Medicine Hill Bluffs and a mini tour of Fort Sill. We spent most of our time hanging out by the pool, enjoying the weather and some tasty beverages. They all just left a couple of days ago, and they all owe me pictures!!!

Verna and I did make a trip up to Oklahoma City (OKC) where we attended a Reggae festival and also went to see the OKC Bombing Memorial.

Well that wraps it all up from Fort Sill, the next entry will be from Kuwait, where I hear it is even warmer. I think someone explained it to me like this – if you want to know what it is like, take a hair dryer, put it on high, aim it right at your face, and then try to breathe…. So it may take a little getting use to. As always, enjoy the pictures.