Arrived at Taji, but the travel to my base took some time. When we left Kuwait, we got flown by C130 to Baghdad International (BIAP) where we would leave via helicopter. However, they weren’t ready when we first arrived, so we instead got placed in nearby Camp Striker. It was pretty good, well developed and fortified. The key thing was the T-barriers (about 12 feet high) that, though for protection, did a great job blocking the wind. The temperature there was rather nice. The DFAC was massive. There were contractors, DOD employees, and local nationals that ate there as well. Plus they had somebody dressed up as Santa wandering around wishing a Merry Christmas… in the old black boots that everyone knows. I sometimes do wonder how much people know about military uniforms and all the changes we’re going through now. Probably have to wait for some new movies to educate you all I guess.
Back to the point, we later left from BIAP to Taji but got delayed by the new group of troops coming that will replace my unit in the next few months. With the surge, we can send a unit in to get trained up while the other unit finishes the preparations to leave. That overlap can make housing difficult but is better to bring the next unit up to speed. This way the new unit can learn from our experiences.
Once again, having finally left BIAP at the wee hours of the (Christmas) morning, we arrived at Taji with an escort back to the Battalion (BN) HQ where they oriented us and got our temporary housing ready. We got our sleep in before reporting late morning to A Co. Some of the other LTs gave us a ride at lunch and helped orient us to Taji. Later that day we met the BN commander who interviewed us (myself, Jon and Kelly arrived a couple days before us) to get a feel of where we would be best placed. Kelly’s branch is Medical Service so she was easily palced in that company. For Jon and myself, there was a choice of a supply, maintenance, forward support, special troops (covering Military Intelligence, Engineers, other specialties) or fuel companies. The Colonel will make up his mind on who will fill spot as we come in and he talks to us, to include the three lieutenants following next week.
The next day (after another housing change to a permanent location… I’ve moved more times than I care to remember, and there’s only more of that to come) I received my location, with the automotive maintenance company. I am looking forward to working with them. I’m not much of a mechanic myself so this will be a good chance to learn a few things. The platoon and the whole company is squared away. The commander has a handle on everything, despite only recently taking command himself. The NCOs have a lot of experience and the soldiers beneath them are doing what they like. Also, now that we are about to redeploy, they are all in a routine and it’s really just on me to slide into it and find the best way to complement their stride. The hardest part of my job is really going to be just adjusting to them.
2LT Adam Ochylski
12-31-07
So now that I’ve begun integrating, I’d say it is going well. I feel comfortable in my position. I’m stepping up to the responsibility as I’ve done an initial counseling of my platoon sergeant (it just outlines my expectations of how we will work together to make a successful platoon) and then talked with another Soldier who has had a broken arm that never healed properly. Basically, he had a brace on the wrist area but was still using that arm for pull-ups and other activities. And you wonder why it never healed properly? The medical people should have issued a profile in the beginning, and put the arm in a cast. I’m also slowly getting to know the other NCOs and their Soldiers.
I think the Soldiers understand who I am and the way I work as well. They seem to take me in good stride. Granted, I’m not the first lieutenant for most of them. But they seem to enjoy me. I’m trying not to come in overly confident or self-important. These Soldiers have been doing their job for several months. They know thier job inside and out. They can do it with little supervision, which does not leave much for me to do.
The commander is doing a great job ramping up my responsibilities. He came in saying I’m not going to understand everything at first but then I’ll be too busy to catch my breath. He really seems to like his lieutenants. Probably due in part to us allowing him to delegate some of his duties out and be another pair of eyes and ears to watch out for any trouble. I think he also likes to be a mentor to us though, see how we develop.
For sleeping quarters, we have Consolidated Housing Units (CHUs) that are basically trailers the length of three rooms, two to a room. Only the walls are very thin between rooms and you can clearly hear next door. The female sergeant next door really likes House, by the way. And she can probably tell I like angry music. Anyways, you get a couple drawers, mattress and a heater… so I’m good.
DFAC is good. It serves a lot of people and it has the main line for food, but it has a lot of side bars. There’s a fresh fruit station where they will cut up some melon, the same for the gyro station’s fresh turkey, sandwich bar and then the self-serve of salad bar, fried foods, and canned fruit. Plus they have a special (Indian, Italian, Mongolian, etc) each night, which allows for a lot of variety. I never use the desert bar, but I can tell they have some delicious treats back there. You’ve also got eggnog and Baskin Robins. It’s third country nationals who do most of the work serving the food, with army mess sergeants supervising. Army loves contracting out all the services since it can cut costs down and allows everyone to be Infantry.
I do walk everywhere, unless the commander gives me a ride. There are not many non-tactical vehicles (NTVs, civilian vehicles), so it’s usually a ride in a HMMWv. I may ride with the commander to the gym and lunch or maybe to some other meeting. The speed limit is ridiculously low at 5mph in most areas. So sometimes it is just easier and quicker to walk and cut through areas.
2LT Adam Ochylski
