October 2009 877th Engineer Battalion Newsletter

Insight

Since deploying, I'm often asked for funny stories. There's generally something that comes to pass at one time or another that elicits a chuckle, but I rarely have anything significant that jumps to the front of my mind. Today is different. If there are folks looking for insight into the personalities of the members of our unit, this story will give it.

Picture this:

It's 5:45 in the evening on Saturday here. The last light of day is falling behind the skyline, and the temperature starts to fall. SGT Loyd Wright has been looking forward to this football game all week and fully expects Alabama to beat Tennessee. While the game isn't scheduled to start for some time, he wants to make sure all pre-game preparations are in place. He turns on his television. Check. He turns around and finds his favorite chair is properly positioned and ready. Check. His game-day snacks are laid out. Check. Time for the game. What he didn't realize, however, was that every occupant in his building was on the verge of torturing him for the next two hours. SGT Matt Barbee, SFC Ben Boyett, SSG Rusty Edmonson, SSG Donnie Franks, and 1LT Jodee Vick were on their toes, ready to pounce.

Dinner was had, showers were taken, and all were standing by talking about all of the games. The t.v. in Loyd's room is on the background but suddenly cuts off with no notice. No picture. No sound. Nothing. It's simply off. "What in the world," he asks. He walks to it, remote in hand, and pushes the power button. No problem, it's on again. "There," he says. Roughly ten seconds pass. It cuts off yet again. SGT Wright, getting angry now, clicks the remote, turns on the television, and watches as it turns off again. Over and over, as if the television has a mind of its own, it simply refuses to work.

Now he's really angry. Frustrated. Clueless. All the while, there are inaudible giggles throughout the entire building as SGT Wright begins mumbling expletives to himself and then to the television. "What the...?!" Rusty, being the kind soul he is, comes to the rescue. Ben is next. Matt quickly follows. SGT Wright is beside himself, and he begins explaining the issues to them, during which time, and to their obvious surprise, the television turns off. Collectively, they help Loyd decide that the best thing to do would be to disassemble the t.v. set and spray out the dust with compressed air. For the next twenty minutes, he works. "There! That will fix it."

The television is turned on. Ten seconds pass, and it's fine. Twenty seconds pass, no issues. Thirty seconds...it's off. Now he's REALLY angry. Not only that, he's beginning to grow concerned. "Holy cow, if this keeps up I won't even be able to watch any of the games!" He stands up and walks to the t.v. He checks the connections and then decides that he should try to play a DVD to see if the cable was somehow interfering. Yet again, thirty seconds pass, and it turns off. "I'm seriously considering just walking to the PX to buy a new t.v. right now," he says to no one in particular. Now they're all laughing out loud.

Rusty, such a caring friend, walks over. "Hey, do you remember how, on Sanford and Sons, all they did was hit the side of the t.v., and it would usually work?" He walks to the set and lightly taps the side. Sure enough, it turns on. It's working. Loyd mumbles under his breath, "This is crazy." What's even more crazy is that while he's standing in the hallway complaining out his possessed t.v., it turns on and off again. "I'm not even touching the remote!!" The problem now, though, is that after it turns on the volume starts getting louder and louder and won't turn down. Then it turns off. He decides to slap it around a little himself. BAM!! on the left side. Nothing. BAM BAM!! on the right side. Still, nothing. He walks into the hallway again. It turns on.

As the volume starts to increase, SGT Wright turns it back down. When it's at a reasonable level, it turns off. At this point, he says to himself, "I'm just going to have to unplug it. This thing may start a fire!" He looks at the clock, and realizes that it's a quarter to eight. This episode has been going on for two hours. He's had enough. Then, he says out loud, "I guess I'll have to go to the PX and buy a new t.v."

As he's changing clothes, Matt strolls into his room. "Don't go buy a new t.v., it might be something with the remote." Loyd thinks about it, "No, half of the time I wasn't even touching my remote!" "Not THAT remote. This one," As he presents his universal remote from his room that just so happens to also control SGT Wright's television.

He was a great sport about it though, realizing that it was one of the best practical jokes he'd ever witnessed. He was just happy that he didn't have to buy a new t.v. and that he'd be able to watch the game in peace! SGT Barbee admitted that he began to tell him the truth when he watched Loyd carry the television outside to blow off the dust, but realized he was having too much fun to let it go quite yet.

All SGT Wright has to say is, "Hats off to them."

Ending Well

SPC Bailey Bullock
166th Engineer Company
2nd Platoon


I'm sitting here on my cot, halfway bundled in my sleeping bag. Why you might ask? Well...it's ridiculously cold outside! You see, I and the team I am with have been out on a mission for the past five weeks. We are on a smaller base, and it lacks a lot of the things that the larger ones have. We have been living in one of our tents this whole time, which hasn't been a problem at all; with the cold weather upon us in the mountains of Afghanistan, it has made staying warm a little bit of an issue. We are managing just fine though. With warm sleeping clothes and a few space heaters, anyone can manage.


It is weird to say this so far into the deployment, but I think this is the hardest mission we have faced (by “we” I mean the guys out here that I have worked with a lot over these last nine months). We have reached that point in the deployment where home feels really close. Sure, we are still a few months away from redeploying to Camp Atterbury, Indiana, but home and what you want to do when you finally get there are popping into your mind a whole lot more now. In addition to that, the mental and physical fatigue of the entire deployment seem to have caught up with us. We seem to lack that energy at the start of a project that existed at the beginning. These things combined make for a hard mission, let alone the actual work that must be done, which is substantial.


I'm sure that many of you understand what I'm talking about. In any job one often reaches a point where you get burned out. The work starts running together, feels as though it's never ending and monotonous, and your “give-a-damn” seems to be broken. I know I speak for a few people when I say that we have reached this point. This doesn't seem to me to be a bad thing, so much as an inevitable point in time. It is what you do once you get here that matters. Do you slack off, or do you keep plugging away? Everyone faces this question. To me, it is this point that sets soldiers apart. When we join up we know full well that we'll see this day. In fact, in basic and other training we are intentionally pushed to this point so we can learn to face it. It's not a new to us, but it still requires grit and will to push through. We have been pushing through and we must continue to do so. As I have mentioned before, to me it is a matter of honor. If we slack off just because we are tired and ready to go home, we dishonor those men who have come before us, been through far worse situations, and had to sacrifice a whole lot more. We must end this well to honor their service...and our own. Otherwise, we have wasted our time over here.



I tell you all of this to let you know how we are and what we, on personal levels, are experiencing. And I tell you this to ask for your help in these final stages of this deployment. You back at home have been an invaluable part of our unit. You, our friends and family, have kept us going. Your words of encouragement and love when we get to call home, the care packages and letters that you have sent, the time we spent with you when we came home on leave: all of these things have kept us energized and morale high, which has made this such a successful deployment for the 166th Engineer Company. All that I'm asking is that you keep plugging away with us. We will probably need you more these last few months than we have the first nine. We have all been in this together since the beginning, and we have to finish it together. Thanks again for all you support.

Alabama Soldiers Keeping Tabs on Tide and Tigers While Tackling Their Mission in Afghanistan

A Thanks From Home

Jason Swift is a long-time friend. He was actually the first friend I made when I joined the military in 1995...taking me under his wing and making sure I stayed out of trouble. Today, he's a school teacher in Huntsville and sent a few thoughts to me yesterday. I've had these same considerations from time to time when I've been at home, enjoying a cold beer and the company of friends and family. It's too well-said not to post here.

"The leaves are starting to turn colors here and football is in the air. We had homecoming last week and it got me thinking about you and all the soldiers fighting over there. If it weren't for you patriots taking the fight to the enemy in his own backyard and making him constantly worry about his own life, then we probably wouldn't be able to have this football game; and all of these students and parents sitting in the stands without a care in the world, but for their son or daughter and what a great life they have. It's you and your men and women fighting the enemy and destroying their maniacal way of thinking that keeps us free to live our lives in freedom.

I want you and all of your soldiers to know that I appreciate the commitment you all have made to keeping my life free from the terror that plagues the citizens of weaker nations. I go to work and my students attend class and football games under the umbrella of protection that begins in Afghanistan and spreads across the globe. Without the sacrifice your making over there, my life would not be the same. What you all are doing on a daily basis makes a difference; not only where you are, but also here in America, and for this, you and your soldiers have my unending gratitude."

Thank you, Jason, and, again, thank you to all of the friends and families thinking of us here.

September 2009 877th Engineer Battalion Newsletter

Commander’s Update – from October 13, 2009

My initial plan was to forego taking leave during this deployment; however, with the news of an addition to the family I couldn’t give up the opportunity. With the two weeks behind me, I can only say that I’m extremely thankful to have made the trip. Our son is amazing, and leaving him was one of the most emotionally difficult things I’ve ever experienced. He’s also, if I do say so myself, pretty photogenic.

Having returned to Afghanistan, I find no great surprises in terms of progress. My intent when taking command was to ensure that the company would be able to operate with or without my presence, that the unit leadership is encouraged and capable of taking initiative and making decisions autonomously. They’ve done a fantastic job over the course of the last month, and I can’t be more proud.

Of course, most of the actual work comes at the hands of the NCO’s in the company (kidding), but I have managed to get a couple of photos showing what 1LT Penn and 1LT Vick have been doing lately.

Our project in Bagram is complete, and we were able to maintain our timeline to wrap it up by the 1^st of October. We were also able to complete the Winterization assessments of the Afghan National Army operating bases ahead of schedule.

We’ve tried, for the most part, to maintain platoon integrity in the missions we’ve received so that 1^st Platoon is the main effort in working on completing the Container Storage Yard, 2^nd Platoon is the main effort in the Winterization projects, and so on. The mission in Bagram, however, was so large that it required more than just one platoon. With that project and with key leadership beginning to take their R&R leave, we’ve somewhat been thrown off of our rhythm and have moved more toward focusing on assigning skill sets needed as opposed to keeping platoons together as a whole. We have ten or twelve soldiers from each platoon working together as teams on each ongoing mission, allowing us to shift platoon leaders and platoon sergeants to manage as needed. 3^rd Platoon remains at FOB Shank, working for the 168^th Engineer Company, to complete expansion projects there.

Some projects seem to be never-ending. The container storage yard continues to come back time and again with additional needs. The latest is the addition of a B-hut and interior fencing to separate it from the rest of the area.

We’ve also been working for some time here at FOB Sharana to tear down the HESCO barriers (wire and canvas baskets filled with dirt to protect against any enemy indirect or small arms fired at us), replacing them with more permanent concrete barriers.

Another project on which we continue to work is the new Entry Control Point (ECP). We pick up additional projects with a greater priority, and that reduces the number of soldiers we have available to maintain a steady work rate. Nonetheless, the project is a large one and is coming along very well.

Winterization is ongoing as well, but we’re beginning to make some serious progress toward completing the work at all of the sites we’ve been assigned. We did receive the majority of the materials we will need but are finding that moving all of it still proves difficult. I expect that, if all goes well, we’ll meet our deadline of 15 November for finishing that project as a whole.

We’ve picked up a few new projects as well, both here at FOB Sharana and at one of the Combat Outposts nearby (COP). We’re improving housing and pouring concrete slabs here and working to expand and better fortify the COP. Again, these are combined efforts with soldiers from 1^st, 2^nd, 1613^th Engineer Company soldiers, and assistance from the Arizona’s 920^th Engineer Company soldiers who are responsible for the earthwork portion of the missions.

Despite the continued fast-paced environment here, folks still make time for enjoying daily life. One such instance was celebrating SPC Roley’s birthday last month.

In the coming months, I expect to receive several other projects here at FOB Sharana. We’ll also begin taking steps toward preparing for receipt of our replacement company, the 226^th Engineer Company from Kansas (Winfield, Kansas, ironically enough). We don’t yet know the exact timeframe for our redeployment, but we continue to anticipate returning in February 2010.

As I’ve said in every other update, our soldiers continue to do amazing work and they do it without the slightest hint of a complaint. It’s beginning to ease into the colder months here, with highs in the upper sixties and lows in the upper forties each night. I think it’s a much-welcomed change throughout the country as well. Families and friends at home continue to support us with care packages containing all sorts of much-needed items, including blankets, which are starting to be put to use. Our thanks go out to everyone who keeps us in their prayers and remembers the soldiers of the 166^th Engineer Company each day.