Work Forty Hours A Week? How About Awake Forty Hours
Here is a recap of the recent mission I went on.
We left Taji on Sunday around 1630 and traveled to Tarmiyah with another team and four trucks of Iraqi soldiers. I was the gunner on the 240B. We stopped in Tarmiyah and stayed at our command post until 0200. We were told to get some rack time, but I could not sleep. When I am told to sleep, I never can. We left at 0200 and we pulled Quick Reaction Force (QRF) duty until 0500. Basically we sat at a check point listening to the radio. If anything would have happened and they needed support, we would move in. At 0500 we went back to our command post and gathered up the Iraqi soldiers. We then proceed to assist them in clearing a seven mile road. Took forever, because they had to walk it. We made it to where the mission was taking place around 0800. We sat at the mission location until 1700. When we got there at 0800, they had already completed the main part of the mission. We were there as support. We stayed outside all day long. I felt like the sun was burning my face off, it was so hot. I drank about two gallons of water and I know I peed over a gallon. See as the gunner, I can't really just get down every time I have to go. So I keep a 1.5 liter empty bottle up there with me. I filled it twice. When I was relieved (no pun intended) a couple of times, I peed in the bushes. So it was easily over a gallon. That is a good thing, because it means I am hydrated. Bottom line though, no matter how miserable it was we got a couple of the guys we were looking for. I was awake for over forty hours. I crashed last night and sleep until 1000 today.
Later,
Randy (the photos are from the 3rd of July)
Just don't empty the pee bottle out the front window of a car when the back window is down. :-) I don't know if you remember that story from our camping days with Nana, Grampa, and Kevin. I am glad you are staying hydrated. That seems to be a concern right now for the football practices and marching band practices. I am sorry that you had to be up for 40 hours. I know that I couldn't do it if I wanted to. The last time I came close to being up that long, I think, was when Jennifer and I went to camp out in the J'ville parking lot for Rolling Stines tickets in 88 or 89. I pulled an all nighter, which doesn't even begin to compare. Besides that, I might have been younger then than you are now. Thanks for the myspace message. You made your BIG sister smile. I love you too!!! Stay safe.
Renee'
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Nay |
9:55 AM