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Cloutier - 5 March 2005

A big "Hello" from the soldiers of the 194th Engineer Brigade. We are starting settle into our permanent areas of operation for our mission in support of Iraq Freedom III. Before I give you an update on our deployment, I would like to take a moment to thank each one of you for the wonderful send-off that we received on Nov 1 of last year. We were prepared for our own family and friends, but none of us could have expected such an amazing turnout by the people of West Tennessee. If we were to use one word to describe how we felt, "awestruck" would be it. The people really showed their true colors that morning: red, white, and blue. It felt good to know that they were all out there in support of my fellow soldiers and I. In many military careers, some spanning several decades, that morning will always stand out as one of the proudest moments. Again, sincerely, "thank you"! It means the world to us to know that all of you support our efforts.

As most of you know, our deployment started with a flight to Ft. Bragg in the great state of North Carolina. We were housed in some WWII era buildings that could have used a little work, to say the least. Our first week or so was devoted to medical and dental screening to be sure that we were physically fit to deploy. All of the shots that we needed were given at this time, some of us needed only one or two but some of us were lucky enough to need more. I received eight injections on my visit, as were several other soldiers. What great fun that was! The next few weeks were filled with what seemed to be endless hours of classes and briefings. One of these briefings lasted from 6:30 am until around 6:30 pm; it was a very long day in a week filled with long days. As we moved through the training things got better, we received more classes but they were mixed with field training exercises, which involved more hands-on type stuff. We were refreshed on many basic Army tasks and learned many "theater specific" things. We were all re-qualified with our weapons and received some very good training out on the firing ranges. We all went on "compass course" training and yes, some of us got lost the first time out and had to do it all again. Therefore, we went back and we all got through it. We trained and we took classes and we were evaluated on all of it . Take a class, walk through training, and take a test, repeatedly. We were trained and re-trained, briefed and de-briefed. I am somewhat surprised that we did not have a class on how to go to class! Finally, after being at Ft. Bragg for nearly seven weeks, we were told we had completed all of our required tasks and were certified for deployment. We were very happy to hear that, but we still had no set date for when we would be moving on to our duty station. Adding to that feeling of uncertainty was the fact that Christmas was only a few days away, and we were all longing to be with our families for the holidays.

In a lasting testament to the leadership provided by Brigadier General Welch, Captain McDaniel, and all of the officers of this unit, the soldiers, of the 194th, were granted 10 days of leave to go home for Christmas before deployment. I simply can not stress enough how important this was to both the soldiers and our families. We were facing a very long and uncertain time and those days at home were and always will be cherished by all of those involved. Every one of us knew just how lucky we were, as there were many soldiers far away from home who did not have the option of being home for Christmas. Some National Guard and Reserve troops who were mobilizing out of Ft. Bragg at the same time as us were forced to stay on post or only given 1 or 2 day passes. We all counted our blessings many times this past holiday season and we all know that our leadership went above and beyond the call to make things happen so that we could be with our families for the holidays. Those memories will be cherished for a lifetime, and we will never forget General Welch, Captain McDaniel and an outstanding group of officers, made them possible. It is very easy for us to serve under such great leadership.

Very shortly after returning to Ft. Bragg from our Christmas leave, we were on our way "over the pond." We flew out of Pope Air Force Base just after dark and into Bangor, Maine. We were only off the plane long enough for it to be refueled and then we were on our way again. It was too bad for us that we did not have the time to explore the state, I know from experience it is a very beautiful place. We re-fueled and re-boarded the plane. Then "over-the- pond" we went...and over...and over ...and over some more, it seemed to take forever. When we finally stopped in Germany for more fuel it seemed like it was morning but I really could not say for sure. I do know that it only took a few more hours to get to Kuwait and it was already dark when we got there. We left the US at night, and after around 12 hours on a plane, we arrived in Kuwait the next night. On the clock it had taken 20+ hours but to us the trip had only been around twelve hours and leaving at night would have meant that it should be daytime. If it sounds confusing to you, then you can understand how we all felt that morning or night or whatever it was. Our bodies were ready for a sunrise and it was getting darker. We were a bit dazed, to say the least. We were taken by bus to Camp Virginia in Kuwait. We could not see much of anything from the buses in the dark but we could see enough to know there was not much out there to see, even if it had been daylight. When we arrived at Camp Virginia, it was back to basic Army stuff: we had hurried to get there and now it was time to wait. We waited and we waited and finally...more briefings! We listened intently as we all knew these briefings were like none before. We were here. The mission was finally underway. We were worn out but we knew how important the information was so we all listened. After the briefings, it was time to wait some more. As if we were not having enough fun already, we discovered that we had accidentally loaded another unit's baggage into the same truck as ours, and it had to be removed and put on a different truck. Unfortunately, the other unit's baggage had been loaded first, so all of our equipment was in the way. So it was decided that we would unload all the bags and reload them after we took off the other units stuff. I do not mind telling you that this was not a popular decision there in the middle of the night. However, we being the 194th formed a chain of soldiers and unloaded our three hundred pieces of baggage in order to get to the other unit's bags. We gave the other unit their bags, and then reloaded ours again. It was not one of our happier moments, but it was soon over and it was time to move on. It was getting close to sunrise in the desert and we were on our way once again. We got back on the buses for the trip to our home in Kuwait: Camp New York. As we watched the sun come up from the windows of the bus, it was confirmed that there was not much to see. There were miles and miles of nothing but flat sand. Kuwait reminds me of the pictures sent from Mars, nothing there but a flat surface.

After around an hour of riding through the Kuwaiti desert, the buses arrived at Camp New York. We pulled up next to our new homes, which were large tents. There were rows and rows of tents. They were a light tan color and looked to be well constructed. The tents were surrounded with nothing but sand. As we were briefed about the camp, someone pointed to the chow hall, which looked to be miles away. As it turned out it, the chow hall and PX were right at one half mile from our tents. It sure seemed farther the first few times across the sand, but by the time we left Kuwait it seemed to be only a two-minute walk. We all welcomed in the New Year together along with a new country, a new continent and a new hemisphere all together. A New Years none of us shall ever forget. Camp New York was actually very functional to be out in the middle of nowhere. We had a small PX, a Burger King, and a Subway right on the camp. It is amazing how Burger King and Subway taste just the same as they do at home. We got settled in and set up our operations center and started the planning for our trip into Iraq. There was a lot less work for most of us at Camp New York compared to the busy time at Ft. Bragg. We did some additional training with our weapons and, of course, had more briefings. But mostly we rested up and began preparing to move forward.

Our trip into Iraq was very well planned and even better executed. We all arrived safe and without incident around the middle of January 2005. We have been here now for six weeks and are becoming very familiar with our surroundings. We have begun to fall into a normal working routine, at least as normal as a workday in the Army can be. Some of us are working on different parts of this base and sometimes we can go days at a time without seeing someone from another section. Our living conditions are much better than many of the soldiers over here. We have single and two man rooms in brand new Italian constructed trailers. They are somewhat like mobile homes in Tennessee but ours are constructed entirely of metal inside and out, and seem to be much stronger than your average mobile home. They all have air conditioning, heat, and a window that opens to the outside for fresh air. We have all started to turn them into our little homes away from home. You would be surprised at how many different things soldiers can do to make themselves feel at home. The trailers look the same on the outside but are as different as each individual on the inside. Most of us have obtained TV's, DVD players, microwaves, coffee pots, stereos and such for our rooms. In addition to a great many of us have laptop computers and there are even a few desktop models around. We are able to view the Armed Forces Network TV stations free and have the option to purchase satellite service if we wish. The Armed Forces Network provides about 10 channels, which include the major news networks, and while I am not sure about the satellite system, I have heard that we can get several hundred channels if we wish. All of the rooms are wired for high-speed internet. We pooled our money, bought our own system, and set it up. We all now have capabilities to connect with our families whenever we are in our rooms. Instant chat and video cameras are great when you are so far from home. While we all contributed in some way, LTC Winstead, Maj. Pacetti, Sgt Jason Dexter and Sgt. Scott Whitaker were the driving forces behind getting our system bought and set up. Without them, it would not have happened and we are all most grateful for their extra efforts.

As I said, we are all settling in quite well. Our engineers are overseeing numerous projects, which include; a school, police stations, and highway patrol checkpoints. We also have an ongoing project of expanding and paving the main north-south highway. In addition, we are in the process of "adopting" a children's hospital nearby. One of our goals is to find out what types of things they may need at the hospital, and then have our sources back home try to arrange for shipment over here. We would like to make a difference in the lives of these small sick children. We have already been a part of getting one little girl transported back to the states for a surgical procedure that was unavailable here in Iraq. These are what we all came here to do, and it warms our hearts to know that we are able to do them. We hope to continue to make a difference as long as we are here.

The morale within the 194th Engineer Brigade is still very high. We are committed to our mission 100%, and everyone is giving their all to accomplish that goal. We all love and miss our homes and families, but we are surrounded by each other and are here to support one another fully. Fret not for us for we are fine! We are all highly trained, dedicated and driven to succeed. Pray for the Iraqi people and their new freedoms. Being a part of giving it to them has made us all tremendously proud. All of you, whether you are family members or just concerned citizens, should feel pride in supporting what we are doing. Again West Tennessee, THANK YOU!

SGT. Joseph R. Cloutier
Headquarters/Headquarters Company
194th Engineer Brigade (TA)
Tennessee Army National Guard
Tallil AB, Iraq

SGT Joe Cloutier is a radio/satellite system operator in the S-3 section of the 194th Engineer Brigade (TA). He is a resident of Jackson, Tennessee.