Wet Container Living Unit - Move In Day!

Saturday, Feb 12, I asked the Billeting office what number I was on the list to move in to a wet CLU and I went from 5 to 1. After lunch when we work I didn't check my UNCLAS email after 2:16 pm. We were working hard and I didn't leave until ~6:45 pm with tasks to do Sunday. At dinner in the Galley one of my NMPS Gulfport cohort came by and some of us had already moved in to wet CLUs! By that time it was too late for me to find out any information. So Saturday night I just took it easy. I would normally catch-up on a week's worth (4 days) of The Daily Show , but they are taking a hiatus. I did watch the McLaughlin Group (04 Feb edition). Then I watched a few South Park episodes.

Sunday morning I got up early to be at the Billeting Office at 7:00 am when they opened. Yes, indeed I was eligible to move into a wet CLU. So after breakfast I went and checked out an SUV to move my stuff. I missed mass but I had got the job done by noon. Welcome to my new home West End CLU 518. It is right across from the Galley on the second level. This will easily save me about 10-15 minutes each way for work, etc. My wait of about 2 months is a little less than average. Just in time before it gets really hot.

Monday Night EDG - Horsed School of English

Monday night I decided to go out for a second night of English Discussion Group. This time the school had younger students most from 11-16 with a few older students ~18-22. We were there by ~ 7:00 pm but then students kept rolling in through ~7:20 pm. The class was evenly divided between girls and boys. In total the classroom I joined had about 24 students.

Many are shy, but some are not. This session focused on asking basic questions. The students would introduce themselves and then everyone would get a chance to ask the Americans some questions. Almost all the students were part of much larger families - some with 5 bothers and 5 sisters. It was an interesting evening and the teacher would help translate our answers to the students.

Hails & Farewells; English Discussion Group

In my office we had two good guys head home after a very successful tour of duty. Congratulations guys on the the good turnover and setting a high bar for those of us who are following in your steps. Likewise, we also welcomed a couple of new guys to the office - my immediate supervisor and an Army Major who will be working with me. We have some catching up to do on reports and then scheduling new meetings with missions coming back from down range.

I finally was successful in signing up for an English Discussion Group. It seems these volunteer opportunities are highly sought after because one can earn a volunteer service medal with enough volunteer hours over a certain time frame. These EDGs are held at English schools in Djibouti and provide a great opportunity to engage Djibouti students in conversations of various topics. For this Sunday we went to to the Africa School for English and French. Unfortunately, not soon after we arrived the power went out in the entire neighborhood. The school had a back-up generator but it wasn't working so well. Our group of 8 had to head back to Camp. Oh, well must try again for another day.

Sunday - a day spent at the Pool. Ran a 5k.

Sunday is our day of rest (we work half-days on Saturday). My buddies went golfing in Djibouti which I decided not to do. Since my work and CLU did not have power for most of the day, I decided to hang out at the Pool. Its is covered and 20 meters long. It is close by my work so I plan on using it for lunch breaks later on when it gets really hot. I swam 4 sets of 10 laps for 800 meters total. After a late lunch, the power was back on in my CLU and I rested a little while and then changed into my PT gear to run the MLK 5K run/3K walk. I wanted to see if I could handle the 5K and was able to finish it in 30 minutes so I felt pretty good about that.

I heard from the guys that went golfing that it was more like a Safari than a golf outing - Camels roaming around, sand and dirt but no putting greens!

I have been participating in morning fitness exercises for about 3 weeks now and am starting to get in better shape.

Whale Shark - Up Close & Personal!

Sunday morning began early. My CLU mate, and I had signed up for a whale shark sightseeing trip. A the Fish Market pier, our boat took us further west into the Gulf of Tadjoura where whale sharks swim in shallow bays feeding on plankton. The season for viewing them ends in late January so there was a sense of urgency in hoping to see one. From the mother ship, a smaller group of 10 jumped into a skiff from which we searched for the tell-tale signs of a whale shark - a fin out of the water or a large dark shadow in the water. Our group got lucky and everyone bailed out of the boat with their snorkel gear and swam out to the whale shark. It was truly an awesome sight! We found another one, but this one started diving down so we didn't have much contact time. However, on our third spotting, the whale shark never left shallow water and showed an intense curiosity for us snorkelers and the skiff. Luckily, Mike Sullivan, brought along a "waterproof" camera that took digital photos and they are excellent proof of what fun trip this was.

The skiffs headed back to the mother ship where we had a french bread sandwich for lunch and then it was time for some snorkeling on a coral reef. I was able to swim with a sea turtle, hold a sea cucumber, and spot a sting ray hiding on the coral reef floor.

First real week of work.

This week has been a busy one. The Holiday work routine is over and it is time to get on with our jobs. I was able to finish two reports covering our work in East Africa. I am learning a lot about the purpose of CJTF-HOA and how all of these missions fit into a grander strategy. Being assigned here is interesting work. Everyday we apply what we learn to future activities.

Friday, I was asked to do roam around Djibouti City checking out restaurants, bars, clubs, and hotels to see if anyone is doing anything bad, i.e. patronizing off-limit areas and drinking alcohol. I was the driver. So within a week I now have experience driving during the night and day.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Next time I will eat at one of the local restaurants.

Lake Assal

Four colleagues, myself plus some other folks decided to go check out Lake Assal. We had a convoy of four Toyota Land Cruisers. I was the driver of one of the SUVs with two of my work buddies as passengers. We drove through Djibouti City and then out west along Route 1 passing through a couple of villages along the way. The Djibouti landscape is made up of mostly broken steppe, boulders, rocks, dirt, with a few scrubs and trees. The villagers and city folk had many goats, a few donkeys, and there were even a few Camels to be seen. Driving in Djibouti was an experience all by itself! The road leading down to Lake Assal had some bad potholes.

Lake Assal lies at 509 feet below sea level and is even more salty than the Dead Sea. We could float with no effort at all. Once one started to dry off you cold see the salt begin to crystalize on your skin. On the way there we saw the Djibouti "Grand Canyon". There were a couple of vendors selling very basic souvenirs - mostly geodes and some obsidian (volcanic glass).

New Year, New Blog

Happy New Year everyone!

I have been meaning to create a blog about my mobilization to the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa ever since I received my orders back on 12 April, 2010. I found out that I could add another blog to my existing Google/Blogspot account.

I spent New Year's Eve at the Commander's compound. It is one of the original buildings from the first French Base here. It had a James Bond theme with James Bond music and movies being played, James Bond Trivia, and some card games being played.

Not too bad.

My CLU - E110

This is where I sleep (front bunk). It is called a Container Living Unit or CLU.

Camp Lemonier has rows and rows of these. Hopefully I will be able to move into a "wet" unit- one that has a connecting bathroom.

CLUville

Here is a better view of my neighborhood. The rows and rows of Container Living Units are collectively nicknamed "CLUville". Block B has some nice plants, my block E does not.

Snorkel Trip to Mouscha Island

A couple of female work colleagues had organized a chartered boat trip to Mouscha Island for some snorkeling and sunbathing. The trip cost 7000 Djiboutian Francs. I bought $100 worth of Djiboutian Francs and received 17750 DJF ($1 = 177 DJF). The group left at 0845 and arrived with time to spare in front of the Djibouti Naval Base. Our charter arrived at a floating dock and picked us up. The ride over to the Island took about 20 minutes and soon we were a world away lying down on lounge chairs catching up on sleep and reading, etc.

Around 11:00 am I went snorkeling in the cove and enjoyed seeing some tropical fish and long stands of seaweed. At 13:00 lunch was served - a small salad and cold pizza followed by a beef dish in tomato sauce with some mushy peas and saffron rice. I had some water and coffee to go with it. A piece of pie (apple?) was served for desert.

After some exploring, reading and sleeping, we headed back at 17:00. Back for a hot shower and a good night's sleep.

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas everyone!

This is Manger Scene outside the Chapel.

Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass was held in an open-air basketball court called the "Thunderdome". The Roman Catholic chaplain is in the Reserve and has been in Djibouti only two weeks longer than I have. His home parish is in Buffalo, NY.

Extended Layover in Rota, Spain

Our Navy Rotator commercial charter flight left Norfolk on Sunday, 19 Dec at 22:35 and arrived in Rota, Spain ~12:00. Due to the severe winter storms impacting Northern Europe the relief flight crew was delayed in Germany. Omni Air International booked everyone a room at a 4-star hotel in Rota with lunch and dinner buffets included. We all had time to sleep and have a shower or bath. We left the hotel at 04:00 and the flight resumed at 07:30.

The Hotel had a wonderful display of the Holy Family. It is a Spanish business tradition to display the Christmas Manger in great detail. There are vendors all over Madrid's Plaza Major selling Christmas Display materials.

The plane landed at NAS Sigonella around 11:30 and had a normal 2-hour ground stop. The next leg was to Bahrain where we landed at 21:00 and after another 2-hour ground stop we took off for Djibouti.

Camp McCrady - Convoy Training

Our last exercise before heading overseas. Another very early start to get to the range. While waiting to do the actual convoy exercise our group gets instructions on conducting a "Sand Table"

mission rehearsal, followed by instruction on counter-IED (Improvised Explosive Device) electronic equipment, followed by a walk through what is euphemistically called the "Petting Zoo" - a series of stations featuring different types of IEDs (victim actuated, command actuated, suicide bomber, etc.). Out last set of instructions before our convoy exercise started covered manning a checkpoint and training on searching people and vehicles. For the exercise I was the Truck Commander of the lead vehicle. We simulated encountering an IED that knocked me unconscious and injured my ear. The final exam would be the next day and we would then just have to turn in our loner weapons and clean the barracks.

Camp McCrady - Buddy Carries

Because our group was not able to finish the first-aid training from yesterday, we started first thiung in the morning and resumed the first aid class. The Drill Instructors wanted to get everyone motivated so the class mustered outside to have series of relays practicing various combat buddy carries - fireman's lift, piggy-back lift, and two-man seated carry. This was lot's of fun but also quite tiring carrying someone who weighs as much or maybe more than you do.

Camp McCrady - Drill Instructors & Chow

Camp McCrady has its own Dining Facility, known as the DFAC to the Army and known as the Galley to the Navy. The food was served fast to accommodate so many people in training.

The Drill Instructors were all excellent - patient and knowledgeable, and humorous as well. They liked training us Navy guys.

Camp McCrady - Heavy Weapons Familiarization

Another wicked cold morning spent freezing our asses of in the bleachers as we waited for the range to open up - operators, ammunition, etc. Time we felt could have been better spent getting more sleep. However, since this range was named the Bastogne Range, and knowing that Bastogne was surrounded in Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, I felt I would stop complaining and be thankful I am not deploying to a real combat zone.

The actual amount of firing was limited to a couple of short bursts with each weapon - the 50mm caliber Heavy Machine Gun, and two types of 30mm caliber Squad Automatic Weapons. Aimed my shots at an Armored Personnel Carrier located about 800m downrange. The Drill Instructors encouraged folks to yell out "motivational" sayings as one fired the 50 cal HMG. One woman in front of me yelled "Its Plastic, its not Recyclable!" Another guy yelled "Yeahaw, Jester's Dead!" recalling a famous line from the movie Top Gun. Not having anything particularly pithy in mind, I just yelled out a line from a bumper sticker I once saw that is meant to offend everyone - something about Nukes, Whales, etc.

Camp McCrady - Reflex Fire & Stress Test Range

This day was dedicated to qualifying in the reflexive fire discipline - close range, quick reaction shooting. The second part of the training was a simulated, high stress shoot where the Drill Instructors would yell and keep you unverved all while you ere trying to shoot at targets from different firing positions - standing, kneeling, and lying (prone) on the ground. One had to run to each station and conduct an ammo reload during the exercise. Each person starts from inside a Humvee and the fun begins!