Saturday, March 16, 2002
A-Troop, Who ???
A-Troop supported an event for the Brigade commander this week. It was kind of ironic that CPT McGraw and his troops were there. The ceremony was held to honor the soldiers and NCO's of the rotation for each company size element in Task Force Eagle. COL Marshall also recognized all of the Company Commanders and Battalion Commanders for a job well done this rotation. He recognized all of the Company's and commanders except CPT McGraw and A-Troop, 1-158 CAV. Of course we were there, supporting their ceremony. Our soldiers were pulling security and acting as ushers. CPT McGraw narrated the ceremony and helped give out the awards to his counterparts.....We will leave it at that.
At least the view was nice.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 05:46 PM EST [Link]
The Men of FOB Connor
Team_Viper1
We made it down to the FOB for one last time this past weekend. Most of the guys from Mississippi are headed back home w/in the next week. We went down to take a unit photo while everyone was still here. Of course, we had to be different and wear our Stetson's - IYACYAS !!
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 05:33 PM EST [Link]
WE WERE EVICTED !!!
You will never believe this, but we moved again! This time should be the last, we hope. Then again, the only thing we haven't tried is sleeping outside in our sleeping bags. This should be the last step in getting out of here. We had to make some more room for the incoming units. If this is what it takes to get them in and us out, no problem.
We are sleeping anywhere from 11-14 men per tent. It is not really that bad, then again it hasn't rained yet so we dont know how many holes are in the tents.
For the last week or so, our replacements have been riding along with us, learning our jobs. Next week is when we ride with them as they conduct the missions, and just make sure they are on the right track. After that, they are pretty much on their own. They seem anxious to get going, and we are anxious for them to get going also.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 05:22 PM EST [Link]
Saturday, March 2, 2002
I'll be back...........
OK, so there are a couple of perks to being up here on Eagle Base. Pizza, Movies, a PX bigger than a bathroom, and, oh yeah........famous people. MWR and USO actually visit Eagle Base, unlike FOB Connor. People like Wayne Newton, Clint Black, Cheer Leaders, and Ahhhhhhnold.
As you can see, the Cav was fortunate enough to have their picture taken with Arnold Schwarzenegger. By mere coincidence (yeah right), we happened to be near the air strip when Schwarzenegger landed. General Blum and Schwarzenegger came over and we took a couple of pictures....or so we thought. We had the camera set up on a tripod, set to the highest resolution possible and we all posed with big smiles on our faces. The Officer we had operating the camera took two shots and off the VIP's went. We were pretty pumped until we went to review the pictures, there was nothing, no trace of the Terminator.
Luckily we put out an APB for anyone who was in the area taking pictures. We got a couple, but this was about the best. What a shame. A bunch of high speed, no nonsense soldiers and officers, without a back-up for a unique opportunity, BUMMER. Lesson Learned !!!!!
With or without a picture of Conan the Barbarian, the days are passing. There are some new faces around here and they call themselves SFOR 11.....We don't know 'em, but we're glad to see 'em. We are down to a month until we fly to the US. It'll be worse than the month between Thanksgiving and Christmas when we were six years old hoping and praying Santa will bring us the toys we want. But then again, the reward of coming home is better than any of the presents I got when I was six. (though you usually did pretty good Mom and Dad !!)
Hasta La Vista...
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 02:54 PM EST [Link]
Sunday, February 17, 2002
Our New Job and New Home
We have gotten settled in finally. Unfortunately, we are spread all over Eagle Base. It is definitely not the same old cozy FOB we are used to.
We have split up into various groups and have begun our new missions. The organization we have been assigned to, is a brand new one. It has been reorganized and nearly tripled in size. The growth has been painful for everyone. We have had difficulties getting the proper equipment signed to us, but we are making do.
Some of us are assigned to Weapons Storage Site inspection teams. The local armed forces of Bosnia are required to keep all of their weapons and ordnance in centrally located storage facilites. These facilities are required to undergo regular inspections where quantities of all of their items are verified. We are responsible for going from site to site to verify their inventory. We are responsible for all of the Weapons Storage Sites in the US Sector, So We travel all over the area unlike our previous assignment where we were pretty much responsible for much smaller areas. It is quite a change, a good change.
The most notable change is our equipment. We kind of act like military liasons so we dress down a little to facilitate a better working relationship, unlike the more aggressive role we used to portray. We no longer wear full battle rattle such as our Kevlar and Flak Vests, and our transportation consists of SUV's (ie Toyota Land Cruisers and the like), not Humvee's. Although we always have our gear readily available and still carry weapons.
Others are assigned to training and movement teams. Anytime weapons are transported, ammo is taken to ranges to be fired, or any other times the local armed forces are training with or moving ANY ordnance, they must request permission through SFOR. Our teams verify and supervise these activities. Again, they are taken all over the country side to accomplish this. Another welcome change.
A few others are assigned to the Mine Action Center. They primarily deal with supervising local demining activities throughout the US Sector.
The above picture was taken during a weapons storage site inspection. We are inventorying ammunition, hand grenades, and some explosives. This is a fairly small site compared to others. There are some of our guys, a couple of interpreters, and the site commander (A Captain in their Army).
We are getting close to the end. This move has broken up the monotony and time is beginning to pass rather quickly. We all look forward to coming home. Until next time...............................
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 07:31 PM EST [Link]
Thursday, January 31, 2002
"Retiring the Colors"
Here we are, packed up and ready to move tomorrow. We will be leaving the FOB for our new "home" at Eagle Base. We would all prefer to stay out here at the FOB, but, orders are orders. Right now, we are at the point where we just want to move and get it over with. It is amazing how much stuff we have accummulated over the last 4 and half months. Between the "stuff" we buy here and all of things that our family and friends send us, we all have 25% or more baggage than we started with. Some more than that.
Several of our soldiers will be staying at the FOB for another two weeks or so to finish a course they are taking. The medical section has offered an E.M.T. course to the soldiers. The second class is ongoing, a total of 24 people of the 125 out here will have taken the course. The national registry exam will be given when the second session is complete. It is a nice extra for the guys. Our platoon has 4 soldiers enrolled in the course and they are doing quite well. It is somethinig worthwhile they can add to their civilian resumes.
We are turninig in all of the gear we drew from supply including the Humvee's and related equipment. We will draw new vehicles at Eagle. In about two weeks we will be at 100% and conducting our new mission. One good thing about the change is that it will be a change of pace, and hopefully speed the time up a little bit. We are down to just over two months.
The picture above is a collage of pictures taken during a little ceremony we did to "retire" the colors. In the typical Cavalry tradition, we flew red and white "swallow tail" flags on our vehicle antennas. After the completion of our last mission under the command of FOB Connor, we retired them. The first picture is SFC Dacquel receiving the pennant from the 54 vehicle, SGT Creek. The second picture is SFC Dacquel handing the pennants over to 1SG Wilburn. The third picture is CPT Bolin giving a little speech to the guys. Lastly, is CPT Bolin handing the colors back to me. Though not in any Drill and Ceremonies manual, the ceremony went well.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 03:43 PM EST [Link]
Wednesday, January 16, 2002
Christmas Time
I know.....I know.....It has been a while since I made an entry. With the holidays and my leave, I have had plenty to do. Christmas at the FOB was "cozy". The mess hall did another fantastic job preparing a spread fit for anyones fine Christmas China. There was turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, etc. etc. etc. And you would never guess it, SNOW - there was plenty of that these last several weeks.
Most of the guys got plenty of care packages and Christmas presents sent to them. Heck, there were even a couple of Christmas Trees sent. The decorations and lights were limited though, due to the crazy fire codes. We were not allowed to have christmas lights hanging in the living area - Bummer. But then again, no one is trying to pass this off as home.
The snow is really getting to be a pain, that's all it seems to do around here. For many of the guys at the FOB from Mississippi, it was there first white Christmas. The bad part about the snow is that some of the patrols are being kept inside the wire due to the trafficability of the roads. The guys are getting stir crazy.
The worst news to come out during the Holidays was that we are moving to Eagle Base in a couple of weeks. About the time these Southern Boys had us talking funny, we have to pack up and leave. No more indoor plumbing, and cozy two man rooms. It will be a 50 meter walk to the showers and latrines, and we'll be living with up to 7 other of our closest friends. At least it will be change of scenery. We will travelling over a bigger area and seeing some new faces. Apart from the living accommodations, it will be a welcome change, only because we are so close to coming. Right now we have been away home for 5 months, and have 2 1/2 months to go. We are coming down the home stretch.
One good note is that I got a chance to take two weeks of leave and see my family back home. Although it was cold back there, it is no comparison to Bosnia cold. My son has really grown up. When I left he was eight months old and barely crawling, now he is 13 months old, walking around the house and wearing my wonderful wife down. Now that I was home to see him, I better understand the wild emails Jill sent me explaing how crazy Hunter is. It was truly great to have the opportunity to see them and the rest of my family.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 06:01 PM EST [Link]
Monday, December 24, 2001
Posing with some of the band - Picture
Guys_w_Band
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 09:50 AM EST [Link]
Remnants of the Olympics - Picture
Olympic_Rings
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 09:47 AM EST [Link]
Outskirts of Sarajevo - Picture
Sarajevo_w_Castle_on_Hill
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 09:45 AM EST [Link]
A little R&R
Well, another patrol week has ended. Just like the big cities back home, things quiet down considerably during the winter season. Add the cold temperatures to the seemingly neverending snow, and no one wants to come out of their houses. I really can't blame them. The patrol week was fairly uneventful, though successful from an operational and intellegence standpoint. One highlight to mention was our escort trip.
We had to escort a band, "Off the Wall", from a little multinational base in Sarajevo named Butmir, to Eagle base as part of their tour through the Balkans in support of the troops. Butmir is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours from FOB Connor, and the band had to leave at 0830 Saturday morning, so it only made sense to go down there and stay the night of Friday. My section, half the platoon, was tasked with the mission. Keep in mind that Butmir is really the only base US Soldiers can go to consume alcohol, so there was little complaining.
We left early Friday in the heavy snow and arrived nearly 5 hours later. Our interpreter gave us a quick tour of Sarajevo then we headed to base. We checked into our rooms and linked up with the band, and were free to do what we wanted until the morning. There are seven or more nationalities on base, each with their own PX and pub. We got the shopping out of the way early and then we had some business to take care of...........relaxing. Most of us had not had a beer in over three months. Needless to say, we were all ready for bed quite early in the evening. Some earlier than others. It was quite a long and painful ride the next day, but the mission was a success in more ways than one.
Sarajevo is huge compared to the cities in our area. We came across our first traffic light in three months, not enough people around us have cars to warrant traffic lights. Sarajevo is quite an old city. Many of the old buildings still exist, at least the ones that were not destroyed during the long siege of Sarajevo. It is hard to believe the Olympics were here not too many years ago. What a shame.
Christmas is coming up so I am sure I will soon be adding another entry, along with some pictures.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 09:36 AM EST [Link]
Saturday, December 15, 2001
Time Keeps Ticking
Another week down. We are finishing up a week of night time base camp security and next week we will be back on patrols. It has snowed at least a little bit, every day for the last 9 days. Currently we have several inches on the ground. With the cold nights, the roads are quite treacherous.
Christmas is quickly approaching. Many of the guys have been purchasing items from the local Bosnian vendors, the PX, and vendors while on pass, to send home for gifts. SFC Dacquel is on pass this week. As with the rest of the guys, he has been putting in some hard work and should get quite a deserved rest while on Pass. Our leave will be beginning soon. Many of the guys are going home for ten days and many will be inviting their loved ones over and spending ten days in Europe. PFC Davis is fortunate enough to be home for Christmas and will be the first in the platoon to take leave.
We had a very nice Video Teleconferencing session on Tuesday. PFC Bingham, SPC Escobar, SGT Eggers, and myself participated in it and had an hour to "see' our families back home. It was a trip well worth the two hour ride to Eagle Base. I wish more of the soldiers participated in it.
The attached picture was taken last week when we were on patrols. It is near the Suceska Valley, a fairly remote place we patrol to ensure that the isolated returnees are surviving well. As you can see, we go through several places of very high elevation and the lower valleys fill with fog. It was quite a sight.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 12:20 AM EST [Link]
Monday, December 3, 2001
Some People Never Grow Up
We are back on patrols this week, so the guys are pretty anxious to get back outside the wire. Although before too long, the patrols will slow down just a little due to the weather. We got about 12-14" of snow last week all together. Though most of it has melted. Its just warm enough not to keep the snow around.
Well....... I was caught red handed. I was going to visit one of the returnee areas up in the Luka Valley with the commander last week. As you can see, the snow was pretty bad and we couldnt make it any farther. Unlike when it snows at home, there were no big yellow Anne Arundel County snow plows hitting the streets around here. Only the necessary road gets cleared, if they are lucky.
Most of the roads through the mountains do not have guardrails on them, so many are just sheer drops straight down. With the roads uncleared, it makes proceeding in deep snow too much of a risk. You are not able to see the side of the road and it would be quite a mess if the Humvee were to start sliding.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 03:19 PM EST [Link]
Back On Base Camp Security
Not too much to report. We had base camp security last week, so not much eventful happened. I did have the opportunity to meet with the Chief of Police of Srebrenica, Chief of Police of Bratunac, and the gentlemen who runs the radio station in Bratunac (Slobo), from center clockwise around the table.
The Chiefs of Police are fairly new to the positions, it seems all of the Police Chiefs around us have been replaced recently. Just to kind of break the ice and as a good gesture we brought them to the base camp to have lunch and show them around. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and it was an opportunity to talk and not have to discuss business. Although business did come up.
Continuing around the table, there is 1LT Allen (the platoon leader for one of the Mississippi platoons), myself, the Interpreter - Annie, and our "Doc" - 1LT McMahon. McMahon is a cardiologist in the outside world, so its nice have such a qualified doctor out here, especially when we are so far away from everything.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 03:06 PM EST [Link]
Friday, November 23, 2001
TURKEY DAY !!!!!!!
For many of us, including me, this was the first time we have celebrated with Thanksgiving without our relatives and family. But it wasn't, however, a dissapointment. The dining facilty and the Mess Sergeant did one heck of a job putting on a Thanksgiving feast. Everything from turkey, to giblet gravy, to pecan and pumpkin pies. The food was out of this world and the decorations really set the atmosphere. There was, of course, plenty to eat. We could not help but think about our families at home celebrating Thanksgiving, but we had nothing to complain about here, I guess it was the next best thing.
With Thanksgiving over, and waking up to heavy snow this morning, there is no doubt that winter and the holidays are upon us.
Well, I guess I better be off to the treadmill and work off some of Thanksgiving !!
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 08:06 AM EST [Link]
"Welcome to the FOB, I am LT Dement, and I will be your tour guide this afternoon!!"
It was V.I.P. day at the FOB on Wednesday, 21 NOV. Major General Blum was out to visit and brought with him Dr. Steven Ambrose (well respected writer, i.e. Band of Brothers), and ten WWII vets from the 29th Infantry Division who were on the beaches on D-Day.
As the only platoon from the 29th ID out at the FOB, it only made sense for the scouts to escort the General and his guests down to Srebrenica for a "tour". We posted two escort vehicles in front of the bus and two to the rear, as is typical escort formation, somehow I got the duty of riding on the bus and acting as the tour director. There was a lot that happened down in our area of responsibility. Some of the worst atrocities happended in our area, and the area today still stands as one of the hottest spots in the country.
We stopped several times to take some pictures and give some history lessons. Luckily, the General is quite versed in the history of the area so some of the pressure was off me. The attached picture is when we stopped in the city of Srebrenica. This wasn't where I would have stopped given the chance, thus the perplexed look on my face. The storefront in the background was once a high end department store such as Lord & Taylor and the like. As you can see, it is far from that now !!
The guys did a great job as usual, and the General was rather pleased with the performance of his scouts. He awarded the platoon a division coin to show his appreciation for a job well done.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 07:53 AM EST [Link]
Thursday, November 15, 2001
The Knights of Second Platoon
Click photo for larger view.
Well, here we are. All except for SGT Wagner and PFC Bingham. From left to right --
Front Row: SSG Chase, SPC Howard, SPC Anderson, SGT Powell, PFC Davis
Middle Row: SFC Dacquel (platoon sergeant), SPC Escobar, SGT Kiaunis, SPC Mosley, SGT Wheeler, 1LT Dement-Me-(Platoon Leader)
Last Row: SPC Talinao, SGT Creek, SGT Bader, SGT Eggers, SPC Dougherty
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 05:48 PM EST [Link]
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
Click photo for larger view.
Well, as you can see, winter is here. We got some snow on 11-14-01. The ground at our elevation was not warm enough to keep the snow, but as you can see, not too much higher up in the mountains around us, the snow is still around.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 05:24 PM EST [Link]
Still Going...........
We have five platoons out here at the FOB (one from Maryland the four from Mississippi) we rotate through duties on a five week rotation. We have presence patrols throughout our area of responsibility for two weeks. We come off of that and go into Night Time Base Camp security for a week. We then rotate to serve as a Quick Reaction Force (QRF) for a week, this serves kind of as quickly deployable section that can lend a hand with various situations at a moments notice. The fifth rotation is back on base camp security, day time this time, for a week, i.e. manning the guard towers and the gate into the FOB. It is a pretty good rotation, however, if the QRF is not needed during your shift, the platoon may go three weeks without leaving the base camp. In general the guys really like the patrols outside the wire, and they usually can't wait for the patrol weeks ( I would have to agree). They get to talk to some of the people in the towns and the countryside and also hit some of the shop in the cities, time and security permitting. The only tough part is serving as a gunner, especially since winter is coming. The cold windy days up in the turret really take a toll on the guys. We try to rotate gunners out but there are limited number of people qualified as gunners for the various weapons systems.
The temperatures are really starting to drop. We even got some snow the other day (see the picture). And the holidays are creeping up on us. The dining facility is planning a great meal for Thanksgiving. Of course it is not the same as sitting around with our families and watching the football games, though we will take what we can get.
The guys continue to be in good spirits. They are really enjoying their "house" here at the FOB, relatively speaking. Most of us would rather be at the FOB than any other base in Bosnia. It is like pulling teeth to get guys to go to Comanche on patrol to take care of Administrative things. At the FOB, the highest ranking officer is a Captain, and we have a little freedom in how we do things. In general we left to run the base camp without real close supervision. Unlike Comanche where you will see Colonels and Generals.
The passes are also keeping the spirits up. We have sent four guys in the platoon to Hungary for a four day pass. Needless to say, they are coming back with 24 hour grins on their faces. Apparently the beer is pretty good :)
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 05:03 PM EST [Link]
Sunday, October 14, 2001
Srebrenica Overview
View full size photo (636x960) then use your BACK button to return to the journal.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 06:21 PM EST [Link]
Things Get More Interesting
I didn't realize it had been so long since my last entry. Obviously much has happened since then. We have been conducting air strikes for over a week now, and as you can imagine, security has been tightened here as it has been all over the world. There is a very real threat to the soldiers on this deployment. More so than we anticipated 18 months ago when we first knew about our deployment. But, as we have been trained, our guard is constantly up and situational awareness is a priority.
Overall, however, everyone from A Troop is doing well. Unfortunately the Troop is split up. 1st Platoon is up at Camp McGovern (two hours north of Eagle Base), the Headquarters platoon is at Eagle Base, and we (2nd platoon) are down in the south, two hours south of Eagle. 3rd platoon is back in Annapolis keeping the armory safe for our return. We regret being broken apart but, I suppose its all in the name of mission accomplishment.
The guys down here are enjoying themselves. Especially their time on patrol. We alternate regularly between presence patrols and base camp security. We are really starting to like our little camp down here at FOB Connor. Though it does not have all of the luxuries of the main post, we have everthing we need. For the most part there are enough phones around for the soldiers to talk to their loved ones back home quite regularly. Though computer access is not as convenient, with enough patience, we can keep up with our emails.
I have posted a picture of a town called Srebrenica. It is about the second largest town in our area of operations. The picture is taken from an overlook at what used to be a Hunters Lodge. This town was actually a little vacation spot prior to the war. Now, the town is faced with 80% unemployment and poor electric an running water.
I will try to stay in touch better, thats all for now.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 06:15 PM EST [Link]
Thursday, September 20, 2001
We're Here
Well, it has been a long time coming. We were at Fort Dix for four weeks and we were getting restless. We flew out Monday night, had a layover in Ireland, and then to Tuzla. By then it was Tuesday evening and 2nd platoon broke away from the rest of the troop and we headed from the main base where we landed to Forward Operating Base Connor (FOB), down in the Southern part of the US Sector. We were all anxious to see what the living conditions were going to be. The FOB is a small. It houses about 100 soldiers and has pretty good fortifications. The accommodations are more than adequate. We will have access to a gym, day room, phones, and computers. Though there are only four or five phones and computers. We went outside the gate on our first patrol today. The countryside is quite beautiful. Unfortunately the view is tarnished by the burned out and bombed buildings and houses. I had an opportunity to talk to some of the locals (with an interpreter of course). The folks we talked to are currently living out of a tent. Although they are quite sociable, the conversation always leads to politics.
Overall the men in the platoon are doing well. Spirits seem to be up, and they are eager to get outside the gate and begin patrols. I am looking forward to it as well. We still have some settling in to do, but things are going well.
Posted by 1LT David Dement @ 11:22 AM EST [Link]
