2 Aug 07 - PROMOTE ME!

Well, my birthday is in 10 days. Get to celebrate my 21st birthday in Africa, weird.

Probably 10-13 days until I hear about E5 results, I hope I make it! If not me, at least Piper, he would make a good NCO, but I think we are both pretty damn deserving.

We should be heading back to camp in about 13 days. I only have 50 days left in this place, so it will be just over a month left once I get back to camp.

Most people get an Achievement medal out of here. I hope the leadership doesn't get lazy on me!

I'm going to try to call my mom and sister tonight. I hope to get ahold of one of them. It's been pretty boring lately. I'm really only responsible for my two SITREPs a day, and I try to help out wherever I can, but between not knowing how to drill wells, and my two SITREPs, I pretty much don't do much.

30 Jul 07 - You look fresh

Yesterday we went in for a resupply. I got a nice shower, but didn't have enough time for laundry. Maybe the Djiboutian women will be out there tomorrow.

"You look fresh! Get to work."

I went to the Cantina tonight and played a little spades. Kiki and I kicked ass as always.

I don't really have much to say tonight, because it has been the same old thing these last few days.

E5 results come out on the 15th. I'm hoping I made it but I'm not feeling super confident. I deserve the promotion, let's just hope the Air Force sees it that way as well.

27 Jul 07 - Gardens, Somalia, and Baboons, Oh my!

So I'm trying to quit smoking. I cheated already. Two cigarettes in one day isn't bad for the 20+ a day I had been smoking. I'm glad SSG Hipp is here, kind of like my conscience, but at the same time, he doesn't rub it in if I cheat.


Today we walked about 11 miles from camp to visit a local who has a garden with some guava. We're all dying for some fresh fruit. His place turned out to be amazing! Built completely out of stone, mud, and old construction junk left by the French.

Djiboutian's home/garden

There are buildings with thatch roofs, and a huge wall made of stone overlooking a large garden in a valley between two mountains. It was beautiful, but every rose has its thorn.

200ft to the south is the dreaded border to Somalia with an armed guard waving his AK-47 around like it's a damn toy.

We made our way back without much of an altercation and came across a baboon. It nearly massacred SSG Hipp's face, and it stole my pop-tart. Bastard ass baboon fuck, I was looking forward to my pop tart.

Bastard ass Baboon fuck.

Anyways, our orders got extended once more, we're now looking at Aug 15th before we head back to camp, hell yeah. The longer the better. I am not looking forward to going back to Camp Lemonier, not a big fan of politics. Then again, they do have pop-tarts.

26 Jul 2007 - Eventful day!

Being in Assamo kicks ass! Everyone is cool and we don't have to put up with the camp bullshit. We were supposed to be finished 5 days ago... HA! We wont be done until approx. 15 Aug. Money Money Money!!! Last night a team went in for re-supply. The SUV rear-ended the the support truck. They say it was totaled. Everyone is OK, but of course it brings tons of drama.

We have six Djiboutian women who wash our clothes every other day. They are very nice, but very intimidated by us. We had to run over and kill a snake yesterday that tried to strike one of them.. A "Death Adder."

Death Adder... On a stick!

Yesterday a formation of two CH-53s came in to bring us water. I had to play ATC for them. It's fairly stressful since I don't normally do that. Hell I'm not even a radio operator back home, out here you just do what they need at the time.

One of two CH-53s for re-supply.

SSG Hipp is a nice guy, he is constantly giving the locals gifts, like flip flops and soccer balls. I like to go watch the joy in their faces when they get them. I decided to partake, and give a local some flip flops. He was ecstatic, very good feeling.

Giving a local boy flip-flops. JOY!

The engineer's chain of command flew in, and I got a really nice coin from their commander, which is a pretty nice gesture since I'm not even part of their unit.



SSG Brown is the mission commander here. He is also a really good guy. He takes good care of us, and is fun to work with. Alot of short jokes and bald jokes go back and forth between the two of us. Good times.



The Joint Operations Center (JOC) here is lame. They don't monitor their radio and then their commander bitches at me because he didn't receive our SITREP. Their priorities are all fucked up. It's ridiculous, and I'm surprised anything gets done. The engineers get absolutely no support from the camp, but then the camp bitches that we take too long. It's a damn joke. The 1132nd is busting their asses out here, they deserve much better treatment.



So far we've had: 2 flat tires, blown hydraulic lines, blown pump, broken trailer hitch, roads getting washed out again, a storm blowing down the tents, a broken arm on the drilling rig, a well with no water, a totaled SUV, a man down from kidney stones, a man out for a family emergency, another pump blowing, moronic officers in the JOC, and God only knows what lies ahead... To Be Continued.

15 Jul 2007 - Watch duty

Guam Army National Guard Sergeant Jesse Cabrera sharing some bread.

So I just realized I have one hell of a tan. I am sunburned again, but dark as hell. I woke up today to a camel spider in my bed. I think it's time to bust out the mosquito netting. It's storming something fierce outside right now. I hope it doesn't wash out the road to Assamo. As much as I love making per diem, I do want to get back to the camp eventually. Even the nasty overflowing showers on camp were nicer than a water bottle and baby wipes. I'm running out of shit to do. Since half our team is on a resupply back at the camp I'm helping with force protection duties. It's not bad, just boring.

Today a little girl came up to me wanting food. We aren't allowed to give them our food or water or they'll tell their friends and family and overwhelm us. I gave her a water anyways. She was SO cute and innocent. I was using one of the guys french phrase book to try to communicate with her, but she was very shy.

It's about time to "shower" so goodbye.

11 Jul 2007 - Road Repairs and Water bottle showers

Road Repairs on the way to Assamo

On the 7th I left for Assamo Djibouti. We are staying in Ali Sabieh while we fix the road to Assamo so we can get our equipment in. I have been working side by side with the Guam Army National Guard and the 1132nd Engineering Det. from Mooresville North Carolina. They are all great guys. There is one Navy cat here who is a douche. I really do dislike the guy, but he outranks me so I have to hold my tongue. My base has a ton of morons back home. They screwed up my BAH again, so the Air Force owes me money. Ok, my bitching aside, we have run into quite a few problems here- flat tires, busted hydraulic lines etc... However we're making progress, more money, and the climate is way better than on Camp Lemonier.

There are alot of crazy things to see here. Herds of goats, donkeys, camels, camel spiders, kids running around on rocks barefoot. It's a different place for sure. I have a hell of a sunburn. Time to go take my water bottle/baby wipe shower and hit the sack... More later..

6 July 2007 - Preparing to convoy out

Tomorrow I am leaving for Assamo, Djibouti. I will be living in a tent with no AC for a month providing radio comm for the well drilling team going down there. The guys all seem really cool, (even if they are Army :) ) and we'll all make alot of money, so it wont be all bad.

5 Jul 2007 - Independence Day

For Independence Day, yesterday, we got the day off, and got to wear civilian clothes. It was a nice change of pace. Finally the sons of bitches who push papers and make decisions from behind a desk in an air conditioned office listened to reason and allowed PT gear after duty hours. Desert Camo doesn't breathe well and it's so damn hot here already. I am truly starting to dislike the officers appointed above me here. Very few take care of us. The ones who do are generally prior enlisted. We do the work, they have no clue about what we do or how we do it, yet they make ALL the decisions, and have the final say, and then they get credit for what we do, yet somehow I owe them respect because they got a 4 year degree before I did.

I hate July 5th. 7 years ago today my dad had a heart-attack he didn't survive. It's always a somber day for me.

28 Jun 2007 - ASSAMO!

I haven't been writing much because there hasn't been alot to say. I found out this week that I'll be going downrange to Assamo Djibouti! WOOHOO! Per Diem! I've spent too much money, hopefully I can stop and save a bit of it.
Helo flights can get old fast. Hot, dirty, windy, and loud. Being in charge of sat phones is keeping me very busy though. OH! the band Lit came and played a concert at the cantina last night. They were really good and left me in a good mood.
90 some odd days left, it will be over before I know it. I'm tired but I can't sleep. Aimee has been writing me, but honestly, she is the last thing I need right now. She has a way of making me miss her even though I know we aren't a good match. I think I'll avoid it all together.
I'm sick of working every day already, but if I wasn't working everyday I don't know what else I would do to pass the time. My TV back home still isn't fixed - what the FUCK is taking Samsung so long? I'm rambling and running out of paper so I'm going to hit the sack. I've been feeling pretty lonely lately - Most of the guys I work with are lame, and the one guy I get along with really good, Piper, is down range.

Piper putting a hurting on chow hall crab legs on a resupply trip back to the base.

P.S. New castle is pretty good, everything else is skunk here.

21 Jun 2007 - Djibouti City

I haven't had the urge to write in a while. In fact I'm not in the mood now. Djibouti city is madness - people mobbing you trying to sell stuff, unwilling to accept no for an answer. They will follow you for hours begging. Their souvenirs are expensive, yet cheaply made. The people are unrelenting. If you are white skinned they will poke and prod all day wanting you to come see their shop, buy something, or begging for money. They are all high on Khat (an opiate chew) and they drive like absolute fucking nutcases. It's interesting to see but it's very unwelcoming. I will probably only go into the city once more for souvenirs, but I have no urge to go get robbed.

6 Jun 2007 - Learning the ins and outs

Lunch break - movie time.

Another day another dollar. Nothing special today. I think today was the hottest I've felt yet. I wish I could remember to take more pictures, there just isn't much to see these days. They're training me up for the Helo missions. I'll be calling in the checkpoints for the crew.
Yesterday I fixed a radio in the Joint Operations Center, which was the most excitement I've had thus far. One thing I can say I miss already is snacking. No food in the tents = no snacks, and since I don't have a personal workspace, I wont be able to keep the other fucks I work with from eating my shit.
I got into a pretty nasty argument with a Navy IT3 today. That fucker can be pretty abrasive and he seems to think he outranks me - he keeps giving me orders - yeah, umm... no. Being the new guys kind of blows - all the shit work comes our way. I hope to get to go downrange - more money and less BS. I guess I shouldn't complain too much, the work is easy and I'm not being fired upon all the time.

I'd like to go get a cup of coffee but it's too damn hot.

4 Jun 2007 - Ramping up

Another day of boring ass pointless briefings. I had to do an ISOPREP, it's basically a form that gives search and rescue some info about me they can ask me to verify my identity in the case that I need rescued... Pretty sobering. We were running missions around the borders the last few days - explains why our comm was out - can't risk OPSEC.

Piper gets to go downrange in a few days, lucky bastard. Can't wait for my chance. Awesome money to be made, and I'd like to get outside the wire and see the country. I think I'll volunteer to teach English and Western Civilization at the local schools in my off time. It will give me a chance to interact with the people.

The radios I work on are easy - hence pretty stress free so far. I don't know how to explain living in a tent... It sucks, but it's not THAT bad. Kinda cozy for lack of a better word.
Today the Djiboutian who works at the PX was singing Whitney Houston - i got a good chuckle out of that... Wow, I sure can jump from subject to subject.

2 Jun 2007 - Still Settling In

So I ran out of smokes and the PX has none. Luckily the gift shop had a few packs. Seems to me that bartering will do you well around here. It was hotter today than yesterday, and the phones and computers are down at the MWR tent - BOO!! I haven't talked to my family at all yet and my mom is gonna be upset if she doesn't hear from me soon.
Working the weekends doesn't seem like it will bother me too much - there isn't shit else to do and at least there is A/C at work. The A/C makes my whole tent shake and this pen sucks so my writing is really shaky. These dirka hadji cigarettes taste like ass, maybe they'll force me to quit... Nah, unlikely.
As ridiculous hot as it is here I woke up shivering last night. The A/C blows right on my head so I taped over the rip that allows it to do so. Either way I got little sleep last night. Hopefully I'll get better sleep tonight.

I drank alot of water today, and I don't look forward to the walk to the head I'm inevitably going to have to make - probably right after I fall asleep. The Djiboutians seem nice - I'll talk more about them later.

1 Jun 2007 - Midnight

Naples Italy, the next pillar over (cut out of pic) says "Zona Fumatori" or Smoking Zone

It's almost midnight and I woke up, couldn't fall back asleep so now is a good time to continue writing. The flight coming over here was long and boring. Ireland had a lot of cool stuff we could buy and I want to grab some crazy liquor for display on the way back. Italy had a little food mart type place but nothing else. Greece was a room... A boring room we couldn't leave until they finished fueling the plane. Bahrain... Wow, walked off the plane and it was so humid and hot that I had a hard time breathing. Before I made it to the terminal I was dripping wet. Finally we landed in Djibouti.

Djibouti's airport is no bigger than a McDonalds, in fact it was difficult to squeeze the 30 or so of us into the terminal. One of the things I realized was that you get so busy trying to go through customs and get your baggage, that you don't take in the sights.
We got to the base, unloaded, did a quick in brief and stood around waiting for our stuff to arrive. It was probably about 4 or 5 am. Our stuff didn't arrive until about 7am.
Piper, the guy I came with (my battle buddy) and I still had no clue what we were doing over here, or who to talk to to find out. Shit, we didn't even know where our tents were or anything.
By noon we had everything figured out. My tent is pretty decent. I have something like an 8x8 foot square section to myself. I have a bunk bed, a wall locker and a foot locker. I share the tent with about 20 others.

Laying in my bunk, bored.

It's a bit weird being in a joint unit... I don't know Navy, Army or Marine ranks for shit.. I know - shame on me.
The food is excellent. I ate Pizza and chicken nuggets for lunch with a gatorade. After that I went back to my tent and crashed. I missed dinner. Did I mention it's fucking hot? Mind wandering, exhaustion setting in...

1 Jun 2007 - Arrival

I have neglected getting started writing about my experience in Djibouti so far, but today and the past few days have been pretty interesting. We flew in from OKC and our route took 3 days. OKC-Dallas-Norfolk-Shannon Ireland-Naples Italy-Souda Bay Greece-Kingdom of Bahrain-Djibouti Africa.
There is alot to talk about, but my trip was long and the malaria meds are making me tired, More to come...

Wasting Time

Have you ever felt like you were just buying out your time somewhere? I look at the picture in my header and see a 4 year old boy with the world ahead of him. "Mom, when I grow up, I wanna be a firetruck! Or an Astronaut" And damnit, if that's what he wanted that's what he'd do.


Now that 4 year old boy is a 21 year old servicemember, serving in the worlds greatest Air Power, The United States Air Force. I look back at the decisions made that took me where I am now, and I can't help but wonder if I sold myself short. I got "wiser" and realized being an astronaut, or firetruck weren't likely career fields for me, but how much "wiser" did I really get? That 4 year old could be anything he wanted to be, but with the "wisdom" he's gained over the next 17 years his possible career fields dwindled.


Seems a little bogus to me.

I don't regret any of the decisions that I made to get me where I am today, I am optimistic and I anxiously look forward to what may come my way, but damn, I miss that 4 year old in me.. adventurous little bastard..

Welcome to "What the hell happened to me?" a web log of some of my experiences and thoughts. Stick around, it will get VERY interesting as you catch a preview of the chaos that is my brain.

I'll be starting it off by transcribing entries in my little journal thing from my deployment to Djibouti, Africa in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Disclaimer: Due to OPSEC reasons, some things will be deleted/modified, and as I wrote the thoughts EXACTLY as I had them you will find a lot of mature language.



-Max