A Month into it

I have been down in Oklahoma for just over a month and I have missed my brother’s birthday, my mom’s birthday and a couple of good friend’s birthdays. I will have a lot more misses as more birthdays continue to come and go, and always the hardest, the Holidays. Since I last wrote I have wrapped up all my mobilization training and am certifiably ready to head over there. Speaking of over there, there is a FX mini-series titled “Over There” that me and my roomdogs have just finished watching on our Big Sheet TV. The series is about the Iraqi War centered around year 2004. I recommend checking it out if you get a chance.

I am going to try something different from this point on with my pictures and am going to just post them in a slideshow, this album will include what our living quarters look like, the white tents are where we eat and is affectionately known as the “MOB CAFE,” Geronimo's grave, an armadillo, some artwork, and me getting my third dose of the anthrax vaccination. Well I think that pretty much sums this month up, as always, enjoy the pictures.



My section has completed all its training as well except for one late MOBer, not exactly sure of his fate at this time, but as of right now, I will have 6 soldiers going over with me. Right now our focus is on the Mobilization Readiness Exercise (MRE) and our Command Post Network (CPN) training.

The MRE is our culminating event for which we are graded on to see if we as a Battalion are ready to go overseas. The CPN is basically a mobile AT&T that my section operates to provide voice, data and video to the Battalion Commander (BC).
I continue to fight for equipment shortages to ensure that I have the right equipment to do my job in Iraq, right now I am awaiting the results of the Memorandum I submitted to US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), I will let you know how it goes.

I got my third shot of my series of Anthrax, handled it like a pro, boy that shot stings and your tricep is sore for about 4 days after, it feels like you went to the gym and just smoked your triceps or like someone punched you real hard about 10 times in the arm….I think I get one more shot of anthrax before I leave Ft Sill and then another one once I am in Iraq.

I am proud to say that I have not had a chew since 03JUN08, I told myself once I left MN, I would quit dippin’ and so far so good! I have also picked up my running and have logged over 180 miles since getting here, which is about 40 miles per week. I have lost 10lbs so far going from 160 to 150.

I have not started lifting weights yet; I am waiting to do that once I get to Iraq. I run at 0500 when the temp is about 70 degrees and the humidity is 80% because it quickly warms up to 95 plus degrees. I placed a temp gauge on my website so you can see what it is down here and when I get to Iraq, I will update to reflect the temp there.

I am sad to report that I did not get to sing with nor make the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert on the 4th of July as I pulled Guard Duty with Grupe and another Officer so that our enlisted soldiers could enjoy the day off, regardless, I was still able to have some time off and enjoyed being able to wear civilian clothes for about 4 hours.

All my gear has been packed and is heading overseas, all I have left is the essential items to get me through the next month.

The wildlife down here is pretty robust, thus far I have seen tarantulas, deer, armadillos, elk, a fox, lots of raccoons and lots of skunks, which like to run with Grupe and I for about 25 yards before hitting the ditch, makes for an interesting morning.

I am looking forward to 4AUG as my parents, grandpa, sister, niece, nephew and friends are coming to visit me one last time before I head over there.

The First Weeks at Ft Sill

Well I finally got email...I am in Oklahoma now, been here for about two week. It is HOT, averages about 96 degrees, and outside is like your own personal sauna with the humidity as high as it is here. I live in a room that is about 20’x 20’ with 6 roommates. We do have our own bathroom, with one toilet and shower. The hot water can not keep up with us, so most mornings I take a cold shower, to be honest I don’t mind that much. I will try and get some picks of the building as well as my view, but for now, here is one view of what my room looks like before my roommates showed up:

I was greeted by a dead cockroach in the bathroom as shown in the picture below.




I have heard others encountered rattle snakes and tarantulas down here already, I have been lucky thus far. I got a lot of shots on the Friday I got down here to include, typhoid, Anthrax, small pox, TB tine and a blood draw. I am proud to say that I did not pass out this time! I thought I hurt my chest from working out, but I have come to realize that my small pox inoculation has caused my lymph nodes to swell in my left armpit, I am relieved that I did not pull a muscle, but dam my arm is sore!! Here we are all lined up down the hall way getting our TB tine read:

I typically get up at 5am to go running when it is only about 65 degrees out. I am up to running 6 miles a day with my training buddy and room-dog Chris G. We are working on leaning up and getting acclimated to the heat, eventually we will make it to the gym here in a little while, actually we were lifting in the evening, but we have gotten too busy so we made running our priority. Chris and I decided we are going to train so that we can run Grandma’s and the TC Marathons when we get back in 2009.

My team supports over 500 soldiers that we take care of when it comes to computer issues and automation support, so I have been pretty busy these past weeks. Currently my days consist of getting individuals permission to log on to the Ft. Sill network, requesting additional automation support like copiers, faxes, scanners, thumbdrives, etc…In addition we have a classified network that select individuals have access to that I also support. I have a team of 6 right now that assist me. I will have one more arriving in the next few days. We finally are getting settled in. I have our help desk set-up where people come and submit requests for support. I also have my battle-board set up which tracks where my soldiers are, tells me where I need to be, any major projects for that day, what our training focus is for the day and other important information.

I did start reading my one year bible that mom gave me, with the idea when we are done reading it, I will be home…right now it is tough keeping up, but I am doing my best. Mom, how are you coming along?

Here is a picture of the momentous people gave me before I left:



The big ticket training is going to start here this coming week, like weapons qualification, Convoy live fire, Vehicle rollover drills and the like. All our leadership flew to Ft. Rucker for an Aviation Training Exercise (ATX) so I have been left back to pick up the slack. I am the acting XO, S3 and the actual S6 so my life will be interesting for the next 10 days. Later on as I continue to write I will describe what an XO or S3 or S6 is, if you can’t wait, you can always Google them.

One last thing, Lynyrd Skynyrd is coming here to play on July 4th, HooAH, maybe they will let me on stage to sing "Sweet Home Alabama" with them!?!?

That’s all for now, as always, enjoy the pictures.

Depature Ceremony

31MAY we had our big send off with all the MN Dignitaries; Governor Pawlenty, the First Lady, MG Nash, BG Kelly, Senator Klobuchar , Representatives Bachman and Kline. Plus the most important people of all my family and friends…Lots of nice things were said and promises made…we’ll see what happens when we all come home.



We all decided to go out to Olive Garden after the ceremony…enjoy the pictures.

Here is my mailing address while at Fort Sill, Oklahoma:
CPT Kline, Christopher P.
HSC 834th ASB, S6
6609 NW FORT SILL BLVD
FORT SILL, OK 73503-1800

2008 Going away Party & Memorial Day

Well it has come and gone...a bitter sweet feeling. The anxiety before the party was driving me crazy, I needed to be a lone for a while before the party to energize for the big event, after all, I am a Rock Star...

The party kicked off at 1400, with a few guests showing up shortly after; of course the bulk of my family was already there!!

I walked up to the White Front from my parents, we'll I attempted to twice, but forgot a couple of things so I needed to turn around twice, by the last time, mom was back at the house to pick up something, so I just caught a ride with her...when I did arrive, I was in the zone and ready to party!! This is what I saw when I walked in:
(Thanks to Niener and Budweiser!)

The food was already out and kept multiplying...it was all delicious!! Niener did an awesome job and Thank you to everyone else who contributed, lots of positive comments!

The night could have not went any better, all my friends showed up, even those that I never thought would venture to Montgomery.

Even though I got there at 1400, I told myself I could not start drinking until 1800, and of course I held myself to the standard. Once 1800 hit, I had a Bacardi Lemon Coke and 2 shots of Patron.

I put my best friend Tim in charge of making sure I consumed water at the same rate that I consumed alcohol…he did his job because I remember having at least 2 glasses of water every time I had a drink in my hand. The only problem is that after so many shots of tequila, I can’t remember much of what went on unless somebody would say. “ Do you remember” then I could reminisce. I need to find that balance... I will continue to research!

Of all that I can remember is that, I am a rock star; and that I rocked the Microphone all night long. Speaking of Rock Stars, all I know is that my next T-Shirt I make will say on the front, "I'm a Rock Star" and on the back it will say, "Just ask me!"

I will eventually publish my address in Iraq to this page, I know many of you have been asking for it...I can't wait to see what goodies from HOME I will get!.

Thanks to everyone who came out and showed their support. Enjoy the pictures and see you all again in 400 days for the “Welcome Home” fiesta!!

Thanks,
Chris.

Vegas - Baby

My time here in the USA is growing shorter, so I need to take advantage of vacations and hanging with family and friends. No better thing to do, but combine the both and head to Vegas. I went to visit Heidi, my cousin and hang with some friends who live in Vegas and traveled with me. I left on 23 FEB and returned on 27 FEB.

We partied hard the first night. First we met up with Shawn, Brooke, Darcy and Brandon downtown on Fremont Street. Apparently Brooke had just gotten married last weekend to her mother's surprise.

We had a couple of drinks then made our way to RumRunner. Heidi and her roomy, Jill, have some connections there so we were able to bypass the ridiculous line and march right on in. The club was OK, but spendy, $10 per drink. The dance floor was respectably busy, but not obnoxiously packed which I like - although I never made it on the floor. On our way out we caught the last few seconds of the trapeze act - then we busted outa there.

Next stop Coyote Ugly. Again our connections got us right in without having to wait in line. Once in we got hooked up with drinks and begun to get our groove on. Lots of ladies dancing on the bar, how can you not like it. Not too many single ladies out on the dance floor - well at least I could not single any out!! My crew, we just kicked it, Heidi, Jill, Tim, Holly, Tom and Shawn - we had fun!

So much fun I don't even remember taking this picture. The thing I remember quite vividly about that night was the end because I ended up puking my guts out. Heidi had to come rescue me...but I am glad I did, because I felt just fine the next morning.

Sunday's highlight was a comedy show at Hooters featuring Bobby Slaten, outstanding, that kind is down right dirty and hilarious. After the show we made it to the Hard Rock Cafe where I started playing my favorite game - Craps! I was lucky to get on a hot table and met some cool people from Germany and Tehran. We were on fire, I almost pissed my pants because I did not want to leave because the dice were so hot. After all was said and done, I was up $135!! Tim on the other hand got to catch a couple doing the hibbadibady in the men's room and was solicited by a hooker - I call that a successful night!

Monday was poker night, Tom, Holly, Tim and I took our chances on a $40 buy in game, I took second place, not too bad. We were downtown and decided to just stay down there and gamble. We tried Pia Gao, Black Jack, and finally craps. We had beginners luck on our side as Tim and I got on a hot role and were able to win back some of the money we lost playing the other games.

Tuesday morning I woke up and went for a run. I only wanted it to go for 40 minutes, but it turned out to be about 80 minutes because, this is hard to admit, I got lost. Good news was I had my cell phone and Heidi was able to rescue me again - Hey! I was only a block away!

We all got ready for another day on the strip. This time we stared a little earlier. First Heidi, Tom and I grabbed lunch at Chipotle, my favorite, before hitting the strip. We met up with Tim and Holly at their room, they stayed at the MGM, had a couple beers them went to NY NY to ride the Roller Coaster. Boy I wish I had a camera with to take a picture of Tim, let's just say he DOES NOT like Roller Coasters. After the ride, we went to gamble a little bit at the MGM, Craps of course, this time the house took back a good chunk of their money, fortunately I was able to walk away with some money still in my pocket! I headed back to Tim and Holly's room to have some more beverages and wait for Heidi to come get us so we could get ready to go out for our last night in Vegas.

We were planning to go out to Planet Hollywood. On our way to get ready we stopped at the Olive Garden for dinner, this was at 2100 hrs. By the time we were done eating, we all kind of look at each other and Heidi says, maybe we should just go chill and watch a movie...I think we were all glad to hear that because no one wanted to be the one to "cash" out...so everyone kind of at once said "yeah" or that's a "good idea." I think no later than 5 minutes after hitting the couch, we were all out cold!

Wednesday morning came early, Tom and my flight left at 0910. Heidi got us to the airport safe and on time. We said our good byes - and off into the sunset we went...hence the next adventure starts, the ride home.

Check in was smooth. While standing in line, I initiated conversation with this rather charming looking young lady. She happened to be there on business. After Tom and I made it through security, quite the long line, we found out Lindsay was on our flight. The flight was not full, so I made the move to go sit with Lindsay. We had a good time chatting it up, so much so that we apparently were annoying the elder couple ahead of us. The flight attendant came to us and asked if we could take it down a notch. We did our best, however, I think it wasn't good enough.

When we finally landed, the old lady ahead of us, stood up and with a sneering face, said, "Did you get it all talked out?" I made a comment and they were on their way. All through the airport this old lady would give us dirty looks, funny, ha ha I think.

We said our good byes, Tim came to get Tom and my friend Kelly came to pick me up and thus ends my Vegas vacation.

Getting Started

In preparation of my next big adventure, I decided to set up this blog site instead of sending out monthly Word attachments to everyone's email address. I am sending this link out to you all to have if you want to hear/see/learn about my adventures, or to delete if you could careless; makes no difference to me.

Nothing to exciting going on right now, still finishing up all my home station training, I don't expect to go on to active duty orders until end of MAR when I start my Annual Training.

One thing to note is that I am planning a going away party for 24MAY, down in Montgomery, the town in which I grew up in. It is tentatively set up to be at the Whitefront Bar from 2-6pm, with follow on partying through out the evening, of course everyone is invited, there will be free food and beer from 2-6pm!! I will post updates to this site as I finalize my plans.

That's all for now, just trying this Blog thingy out.

Later.