So today was a pretty stressful day. We had media from 9 nations recording what the US has been doing on Azerbaijan's military training base and how they are integrating with the Azerbaijani Soldiers. The US Ambassador came to visit as well. I took a buttload of pictures of the event and was allowed to be in the VIP room with all the high up officials and officers. I was the lowest ranking person in the room, which felt kind of awkward but at the same time I felt really important. In one of the briefings we were all crammed in this room and went through a presentation about the communications on the base. When it was super quiet in the room, I dropped one of my still camera lenses. I thought no one noticed until I looked up and saw one of the officers (I won't say from where) started to laugh at me. :( Anyways, the US Ambassador visited the barracks that the US has been staying in. She needed to use the restroom and I got to personally escort her to the third floor and show her to the restroom. I had to kick the media off of the floor because they followed us. Now people are calling me the "Potty Guard" because I had to make sure the Ambassador was not disturbed while she did her business...I guess that's an honor...right? Afterwards I had to hop on the media bus as we followed around the distinguished dignitaries from Iran, Turkey, Georgia, Kanzistan, US, and Azerbaijan. Throughout the event, a lot of the photographers took pictures of me because they don't get to see American females in the military. I posed in pictures with the journalists...hopefully they don't use my image for anything bad. :I When we stopped at the cordon and search lane, we were told not to leave the bus while the event was going on. So all the media were stuck on the bus. I wanted to go out to the lane and since I was in uniform, I get special priveledges that the media doesn't have. So I jumped off the bus and ran out to the lane and got to hang out with CSM Oman and CSM Summers (the highest ranking NCO in the Utah National Guard and General Tarbet's right-hand man). The media was totally jealous!!! :D After the lane, we returned to the main detachment and had a photo-op with the Ambassador and I got to hang out with all the high ranking officials. I felt totally out of place but I still had a great time hanging out with everyone. I met the Azerbaijani 4-star General and got to catchup with UTNG's 2-Star, General Tarbet.
Thank goodness I'm going home soon. I can't stand the MRE's anymore because I've been eating the same freaking MRE for the past week...crappy grilled chicken breast. IT'S NOT GRILLED WHEN THE GRILL MARKS ARE FREAKING PAINTED ON IT!! Anyways, I'm looking forward to eating real food. But being in Azerbaijan really opened my eyes to new things. I'm totally grateful that I have a good home and food. Once we leave, the Soldiers will go back to eating flavorless bread and watery goulash. The Soldiers I've become friends with are conscripts and don't get paid for being in the Army. Some of the Soldiers just returned from the trenches in Armenia and have been in combat along side Marines in Iraq. The Soldiers are just kids...between 18 and 19 years old. I feel so lucky that I've had the opportunity to meet some wonderful and talented people. I can't wait to go on another AT. I'm trying to hop on the mission to Georgia later in the year. It would be awesome if I could do PA in that mission.
Well I gotta photoshop some of the pictures from today. Hope all is well with everyone. I'll see you soon Doug!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Big Day Tomorrow!
Privete!!! That's "hello" in Russian. Things are going well here. I'm known by the U.S. and Azerbaijani Soldiers as the "Ping Pong Queen." Also I'm getting a lot of compliments from the Azerbaijani Soldiers about my soccer skillz. There's this HUGE Russian guy who laughs at me whenever I try to guard him. He asked me "What are you doing?" and I replied, "Uhhh....marking you?" and he responded (in this thick Russian accent) "Why? You so little!" I'm aggressive out in the field and the Azerbaijanis aren't afraid to be rough with me back. They think it's cool that an American woman in the Army to be playing soccer and also really athletic.
I feel that being here really opened my eyes. I've been talking to some NCO's about changing myt MOS. I like public affairs but I don't like doing some of the things that I've been doing here. Officers keep coming up to me and have me do printing and computer work. It's not my job to be doing things like that but I can't say 'no' BECAUSE they are officers. I've been asking around about military intelligence because it will give me the opportunity to do more annual training in other countries. I also get extra points because I'll be able to speak another language which will help if I do go to certain countries. I heard about a Civil Affairs unit that drills out of Vegas. Civil Affairs focuses on more humanitarian things and works closely with the civilians of other countries like distrubuting food and water and making sure they get proper health care. They also are able to write stories and do photojournalism. I don't know....I just want to keep my options open.
The other day I was out on the patrolling lane (which was a 4 mile lane) with Hansen. We ran all over the place. We'd run up ahead of the platoons, take their pictures when they would walk by, then run back up ahead of them and take more pictures. I was so freaking tired at the end of the lane!! I didn't want to look like a wimp and jump into the Jeep that was following us because there were a couple Marine Master Gunnary Sergeants on the lane so we wanted to look like badasses in front of them...mission accomplished!!
I've been taking so many pictures...I have well over 2,000 and I'm about to go out to the firing range to take more. I'm hoping I'll be able to shoot an AK (Doug would be so jealous!!) and the Azerbaijanis are also firing an RPG...SA-WEET!! What's kind of funny is that I'm more interested in the Azerbaijani Soldiers than I am in our own Soldiers. It's a conscripted army and they have to serve 18 months when they turn 18 years old. The Soldiers are some of the nicest people I've ever met and are wanting to learn English. They appreciate it when we try to learn their language. I just know the basics like hello, thank you, see you later, good morning. If you say pis it (piss it) it means bad dog. LOL. Anyways, I took a lot of pictures of the Azerbaijani Soldiers. Whenever they see me or Hansen approach them with a camera, they get all serious because they want the picture to come out good. We took some pictures of the US Soldiers and posted them in the chow hall bulletin board and their First Sergeant and XO got SUPER mad because they didn't think their Soldiers looked enthusiastic enough. Oops!
Tomorrow is Distinguished Visitor Day where representatives from 7 other counties will be here along with the media. Luckily I don't have to escort media around so I can run around and take more pictures. General Tarbet (Utah National Guard's 2-Star General) along with CSM Summers will be here. CSM Oman is working on getting us a coin from the General...that would be super badass!! Then on the 26th is the Closing Ceremony and Cultural Day. Since we aren't allowed to go to Baku in the day, the Azerbaijani's are bring the city to us by setting up a bazaar and bring their families on post. I'm hoping there will be some cool little trinkets I can bring back home. One of the Azerbaijani PA Majors gave Hansen and I a beautiful blue dish. He said that in their country, women are first and treated like royalty....awwwww. His wife also made some ethnic foods for us to try. One of them was meat and rice wrapped in grape leaves...I had a hard time eating it. It tasted like a pickle and the meat mixed with it didn't taste right. I liked the meat and rice wrapped in cabbage. I tried to explain how it was like Chinese lettuce wraps and the Azerbaijani PA Majors looked at me funny. :( They've brought us breads, soups, cheeses, olives, and POTATO CHIPS so we can try their food. We totally got hooked up and all the other Soldiers in Headquaters are super jealous so they try to sneak in and steal our food. The Azerbaijani privates shoo them away from our food.
Anyways, I should do something productive, or at least look like I'm doing something productive. I'm looking forward to coming home but at the same time I'm going to miss a lot of people here. Glad you like all the letters you've been getting Doug...it wasn't easy to do all that work but it's well worth it. :)
I feel that being here really opened my eyes. I've been talking to some NCO's about changing myt MOS. I like public affairs but I don't like doing some of the things that I've been doing here. Officers keep coming up to me and have me do printing and computer work. It's not my job to be doing things like that but I can't say 'no' BECAUSE they are officers. I've been asking around about military intelligence because it will give me the opportunity to do more annual training in other countries. I also get extra points because I'll be able to speak another language which will help if I do go to certain countries. I heard about a Civil Affairs unit that drills out of Vegas. Civil Affairs focuses on more humanitarian things and works closely with the civilians of other countries like distrubuting food and water and making sure they get proper health care. They also are able to write stories and do photojournalism. I don't know....I just want to keep my options open.
The other day I was out on the patrolling lane (which was a 4 mile lane) with Hansen. We ran all over the place. We'd run up ahead of the platoons, take their pictures when they would walk by, then run back up ahead of them and take more pictures. I was so freaking tired at the end of the lane!! I didn't want to look like a wimp and jump into the Jeep that was following us because there were a couple Marine Master Gunnary Sergeants on the lane so we wanted to look like badasses in front of them...mission accomplished!!
I've been taking so many pictures...I have well over 2,000 and I'm about to go out to the firing range to take more. I'm hoping I'll be able to shoot an AK (Doug would be so jealous!!) and the Azerbaijanis are also firing an RPG...SA-WEET!! What's kind of funny is that I'm more interested in the Azerbaijani Soldiers than I am in our own Soldiers. It's a conscripted army and they have to serve 18 months when they turn 18 years old. The Soldiers are some of the nicest people I've ever met and are wanting to learn English. They appreciate it when we try to learn their language. I just know the basics like hello, thank you, see you later, good morning. If you say pis it (piss it) it means bad dog. LOL. Anyways, I took a lot of pictures of the Azerbaijani Soldiers. Whenever they see me or Hansen approach them with a camera, they get all serious because they want the picture to come out good. We took some pictures of the US Soldiers and posted them in the chow hall bulletin board and their First Sergeant and XO got SUPER mad because they didn't think their Soldiers looked enthusiastic enough. Oops!
Tomorrow is Distinguished Visitor Day where representatives from 7 other counties will be here along with the media. Luckily I don't have to escort media around so I can run around and take more pictures. General Tarbet (Utah National Guard's 2-Star General) along with CSM Summers will be here. CSM Oman is working on getting us a coin from the General...that would be super badass!! Then on the 26th is the Closing Ceremony and Cultural Day. Since we aren't allowed to go to Baku in the day, the Azerbaijani's are bring the city to us by setting up a bazaar and bring their families on post. I'm hoping there will be some cool little trinkets I can bring back home. One of the Azerbaijani PA Majors gave Hansen and I a beautiful blue dish. He said that in their country, women are first and treated like royalty....awwwww. His wife also made some ethnic foods for us to try. One of them was meat and rice wrapped in grape leaves...I had a hard time eating it. It tasted like a pickle and the meat mixed with it didn't taste right. I liked the meat and rice wrapped in cabbage. I tried to explain how it was like Chinese lettuce wraps and the Azerbaijani PA Majors looked at me funny. :( They've brought us breads, soups, cheeses, olives, and POTATO CHIPS so we can try their food. We totally got hooked up and all the other Soldiers in Headquaters are super jealous so they try to sneak in and steal our food. The Azerbaijani privates shoo them away from our food.
Anyways, I should do something productive, or at least look like I'm doing something productive. I'm looking forward to coming home but at the same time I'm going to miss a lot of people here. Glad you like all the letters you've been getting Doug...it wasn't easy to do all that work but it's well worth it. :)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
No weekends for me....
So I am just about to finish another day here in Azerbaijan. I am so incredibly busy that the time seems to fly by. Today I road in an old school military jeep around the base with my Azeri public affairs counterparts to all the different places that the US and Azeri soldiers were training. They were training how to operate a checkpoint and how to properly and safely inspect a vehicle. They also did squad maneuvering and what to do if the squad leader spots and IED. They also practiced pulling security along a road. It's so interesting seeing Americans and Azeri's try to communicate to each other. Only 20% of the Azeri soldiers here speak English. The other soliders try to communicate to us by trying to use their hands in a sign language type of thing. Some soldiers have been trying to teach me the language as well. It's a mixture of Russian, Farsi, Turkish, and Arabic. They speak so fast that I can't keep up!!! So it sounds like I'm mumbling all the time and then they laugh at me.
I am enjoying my time here and trying to get the most out of this experience. I may have an opportunity to ride in a helicopter and take some pictures within the next few days but PFC Hansen wants to go on the ride so we'll see what happens. Tomorrow I'm recording a read for a radio news spot that will be used for AFN radio, which I am totally excited about. I finished writing the script so tomorrow I will be recording my voice and editing the soundbite to make my first official radio news package (I don't count the packages I did in AIT). Anyways, time to clean up and go. I'll be playing soccer with the Azeri soldiers. They said that they have never met a female who is really into sports...thanks Mom and Dad for making sure that I played soccer for all those years. The Azeris are still kicking my ass and some of the officers are 20 years older than me!
I love you guys and thanks for all your support. I will write again soon!
I am enjoying my time here and trying to get the most out of this experience. I may have an opportunity to ride in a helicopter and take some pictures within the next few days but PFC Hansen wants to go on the ride so we'll see what happens. Tomorrow I'm recording a read for a radio news spot that will be used for AFN radio, which I am totally excited about. I finished writing the script so tomorrow I will be recording my voice and editing the soundbite to make my first official radio news package (I don't count the packages I did in AIT). Anyways, time to clean up and go. I'll be playing soccer with the Azeri soldiers. They said that they have never met a female who is really into sports...thanks Mom and Dad for making sure that I played soccer for all those years. The Azeris are still kicking my ass and some of the officers are 20 years older than me!
I love you guys and thanks for all your support. I will write again soon!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
First few days....SO BUSY!!
Oh wow so much has happened since I landed in Baku on Wedesday. I went to Chicago, Iceland, Liepzig, Germany, then finally to Baku, Azerbaijan. It is so different here. There was a mosque right there next to the airport. The sun was setting and the lights of the mosque were on...it was a beautiful sight. There were about 180 soldiers in a 12 bus caravan driving on the freeways in Baku. We caused quite a sceen. People were slowing down and looking inside the buses. I was kind of scared because I didn't know what was going on. Police escorted the caravan as we exited the freeway and took the backroads through Baku to get to the military base. It took about an hour and a half to get to the base. Along the way the busdriver lost sight of the road and swirved to get back on and almost flipped the bus. Yea....pretty scary. I didn't want to get injured right before the mission started. What was really crazy was seeing the uneven distribution of wealth. There would be this great big house surrounded by houses that were missing a roof or ones that were run down and old. There were oil fields everywhere...and I mean EVERYWHERE!! I couldn't believe it.
The Azeri soldiers have never seen blonde American females, let alone blonde American females who are in the Army. During chow time the privates stare at PFC Hansen and I. It was really super awkward at first but we're used to it now (I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing....sorry Doug, you know I love you). The chow could be better but I guess it's better than what the Azeri soldiers are used to eating. The other day the cooks took sliced bread and deep fried it. I think it was their attempt to make french toast. I ate it with ketchup because I thought it was fried potatoes.
Today we covered the opening ceremony of Regional Response 2009 (that's the name of the mission). General Hamm from Europe (4 STAR GENERAL!!!!) was here and so was the Command Seargeant Major of Europe as well. He have me a coin for the work I did covering the ceremony. Hansen and I were running all over the place taking pictures then getting out of the way. The Azeri Army is so disciplined. They march like the Russians and it's such a cool thing to watch. They have so much pride in serving their country, which became an independent nation in 1994. Some of the privates I've talked to (some speak English pretty well) said that they returned about a month ago from the trenches and were fighting against Armenia. These soldiers are just kids...18 years old. The privates are strictly infantry. It takes them years to rank up and be able to go to school and learn a trade (like AIT). My counterparts are all officers (majors) and some of them speak English. They have been so friendly to us and don't treat us differently because I'm female. The privates are scared to death of me though. I get saluted all the time and it's pretty funny. I salute them back because I don't want them to think that they're losers. :D
I'm so exhausted all the time. I run around and get pictures all the time and then edit them and then run off to do another assignment. I'm so happy that I will be going home soon. I'm also hoping that Hansen and I will be able to go to Baku for the day and take pictures and experience the city. For security reasons, MWR day was cancelled. I guess it's because 9 other nations including Iran and Turkey, will be here later next week. Regional Response 2009 is now a multi-lateral mission. Hopefully I will be able to totally kick ass at my job and get some pictures published.
Well gotta go...the public affairs lieutenant is giving me crap for typing so fast and being on the computer. Wish me luck and I miss all of you. Doug, I'm glad you've been receieving my letters. :D
The Azeri soldiers have never seen blonde American females, let alone blonde American females who are in the Army. During chow time the privates stare at PFC Hansen and I. It was really super awkward at first but we're used to it now (I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing....sorry Doug, you know I love you). The chow could be better but I guess it's better than what the Azeri soldiers are used to eating. The other day the cooks took sliced bread and deep fried it. I think it was their attempt to make french toast. I ate it with ketchup because I thought it was fried potatoes.
Today we covered the opening ceremony of Regional Response 2009 (that's the name of the mission). General Hamm from Europe (4 STAR GENERAL!!!!) was here and so was the Command Seargeant Major of Europe as well. He have me a coin for the work I did covering the ceremony. Hansen and I were running all over the place taking pictures then getting out of the way. The Azeri Army is so disciplined. They march like the Russians and it's such a cool thing to watch. They have so much pride in serving their country, which became an independent nation in 1994. Some of the privates I've talked to (some speak English pretty well) said that they returned about a month ago from the trenches and were fighting against Armenia. These soldiers are just kids...18 years old. The privates are strictly infantry. It takes them years to rank up and be able to go to school and learn a trade (like AIT). My counterparts are all officers (majors) and some of them speak English. They have been so friendly to us and don't treat us differently because I'm female. The privates are scared to death of me though. I get saluted all the time and it's pretty funny. I salute them back because I don't want them to think that they're losers. :D
I'm so exhausted all the time. I run around and get pictures all the time and then edit them and then run off to do another assignment. I'm so happy that I will be going home soon. I'm also hoping that Hansen and I will be able to go to Baku for the day and take pictures and experience the city. For security reasons, MWR day was cancelled. I guess it's because 9 other nations including Iran and Turkey, will be here later next week. Regional Response 2009 is now a multi-lateral mission. Hopefully I will be able to totally kick ass at my job and get some pictures published.
Well gotta go...the public affairs lieutenant is giving me crap for typing so fast and being on the computer. Wish me luck and I miss all of you. Doug, I'm glad you've been receieving my letters. :D
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Getting Ready
So it's now 6:17 in the morning and I still haven't packed my things yet for the trip to Azerbaijan. I've always been a procrastinator so this isn't anything new. Still no sign of my military ID card, but there's still hope since I don't have to report to Camp Williams until 1300 (1 pm for those who are military time illiterate).
Preparing for this mission has pretty much been a rollercoaster ride. I've been excited, scared, worried, nervous, anxious...I don't know what to expect or exactly what I will be doing over there. All I know is that I will be equipped with a bulky video camera and a tripod and shoot any action that is taking place. I should be able to trade off with PFC Hansen and take still shots and help out with interviews. Other than that, I don't really know what I'll be doing.
I'll miss Doug. It's tough being on the military side of things. It's the worst feeling in the world when you leave someone behind like this. I know I'll see him at the end of the month, but still...I'll miss him so much. I just hope he eats more than just top ramen and Wendy's 99 cent double cheeseburgers. I set up something special for Doug while I'm gone. He'll figure it out when it happens.
Can you believe I'm still expected to write a 2,000 word essay for my psychology class?! I don't know for sure when I'll be able to use the internet while over in Azerbaijan, but I still need to type, upload, and email my essay. Super lame...I thought being in the military you get special treatment from professors and TA's. I guess that doesn't happen for those who are only going on a 2 week mission. On the bright side, my sport psychology TA is sending me all the notes from class. With her notes, I'm pretty much guaranteed to get an A on the final exam.
Anyways, I should start packing my things. Going active duty is super easy when it comes to figuring out what to wear so it won't be too tough. It's either ACU's (Army Combat Uniform) or PT's (Phyical Training uniforms). I'll do my best to post as much information as I can while I'm away. I love you guys. Thank you for all your support and believing in me. Doug, I love you and mees you...I'll see you soon.
Preparing for this mission has pretty much been a rollercoaster ride. I've been excited, scared, worried, nervous, anxious...I don't know what to expect or exactly what I will be doing over there. All I know is that I will be equipped with a bulky video camera and a tripod and shoot any action that is taking place. I should be able to trade off with PFC Hansen and take still shots and help out with interviews. Other than that, I don't really know what I'll be doing.
I'll miss Doug. It's tough being on the military side of things. It's the worst feeling in the world when you leave someone behind like this. I know I'll see him at the end of the month, but still...I'll miss him so much. I just hope he eats more than just top ramen and Wendy's 99 cent double cheeseburgers. I set up something special for Doug while I'm gone. He'll figure it out when it happens.
Can you believe I'm still expected to write a 2,000 word essay for my psychology class?! I don't know for sure when I'll be able to use the internet while over in Azerbaijan, but I still need to type, upload, and email my essay. Super lame...I thought being in the military you get special treatment from professors and TA's. I guess that doesn't happen for those who are only going on a 2 week mission. On the bright side, my sport psychology TA is sending me all the notes from class. With her notes, I'm pretty much guaranteed to get an A on the final exam.
Anyways, I should start packing my things. Going active duty is super easy when it comes to figuring out what to wear so it won't be too tough. It's either ACU's (Army Combat Uniform) or PT's (Phyical Training uniforms). I'll do my best to post as much information as I can while I'm away. I love you guys. Thank you for all your support and believing in me. Doug, I love you and mees you...I'll see you soon.
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