Shelby Farms re-visited

Hooked up with pcsenn for two days of caching in the Memphis area. Pcsenn was in a warpath to complete the West Tennessee Mega Multi series. We arrived at Shelby Farms and first picked up Ode to Spencersb. Had to beat down the briers to get to that one. We found The Mystery of the Lost Treasure of Beale and then pcsenn found the Up the Creek Up the Wolf cache of the WTMM. We did a lot of work on Cache Obscura, a very evil and ingenious hide. Then finalized with cache finds near the new greenway, The Frank Stockton Cache, The Lady, or the Tiger, Blue Trail???, Greenline- #1 and had some fun with The 385 Cache where pscenn knocked out another grid category.

After nine miles of hiking in Shelby Farms we headed to the nearby Osprey Park where pscenn found another WTMM, Osprey Nest Platforms. We also found West Lake, Lake or Pond? and walked across the new footbridge over the Wolf River to find Rusty's Trail.

The next day, pscenn completed the West Tennessee Mega Multi and I picked up a few park and grabs on the way home.

Overall, successful two days of caching, hiking over 12 miles and thankfully my knee didn't give me any trouble.

2010

The year 2010 is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. While my geocaching numbers way down due to a deployment to the Middle East, I did accomplish some goals. Managed to work off a few category grid finds, added the state of New York, countries of Kuwait and Iraq to my geo-profile. One noted stat is that I increased my cache to cache miles by 36,000 miles; know I have over 95,000 cache to cache miles. Since my return home, I have only gone after simple park & grabs due to the weather and lack of time.

Next year I should reach 3,000 finds and hope to complete the requirements for the Well Rounded Cacher.

Destination Afghanistan II Travel Bug

While attending the 1st Annual Jackson Area GeoRace/Challenge, Tiger130 handed me a travel bug, Destination Afghanistan II since everyone knew I would be deploying to the Middle East in a few months. I informed the travel bug owner of my pending deployment and asked me to hold onto the bug and take it to Kuwait. Generally, travel bugs should only be held for about 2 weeks. While in Texas, I dropped and picked up the bug in a cache to give the bug 1.047 miles and another state. A few days before I was scheduled to depart, I was held back for a medical condition and I handed the bug to soldiermama and she took it to Kuwait and once I arrived in theater, I grabbed the bug from her. I dropped the bug in Mr. Mister, probably the safest cache in regard to muggle raiding. Airroster took the bug to a cache at Ali Al Salem for a better chance of reaching the final destination. Ali Al Salem in the entry and exit point for many service members that rotate to Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and other countries in the region.

I am happy to report that on June 8, 2010, the travel bug made it to it's destination, a cache called Dragon Village in Afghanistan. Since then the bug has been bouncing from cache to cache in the war zone.

WRC & Bingo

In 2008, I begun to work on caches for the Well Rounded Tennessee Cacher and needed around 17 finds for all the category grid. Two years later, I have knocked that number down to nine. With four of those finds during this year 2010, even though I have been busy with military matters. I have plans to complete the requirements for Tennessee and Missouri WRC sometime in the year 2011. I think one of the most difficult parts, in regard to the Missouri WRC, will be finding a cache that was hidden in the year 2000. I do have a bookmark of caches on my target list.

Came across an interesting challenge using the game of Bingo, a cache by jeffbouldin. I already see I have completed the vertical and horizontal cards for this cache and debating, do I want to go after all three cards? The last being the diagonal. I do need a 4.5 Difficulty and 4.5 Terrain to master this and I only need Protector of the Great War cache by JoGPS.

R&R Part Four: Final

Final post of the two weeks of leave from Kuwait and this blog post will focus on some of the caches I liked. My caching begun when my R&R process begun at Ali Al Salem airbase and my favorite was Cache, Log & Email where I introduced two soldiers to the sport. I ended up with five finds before leaving Kuwait. Arrived in Memphis, Tiger130 and bitbrain were there and transported me to Jackson. A couple of the clever hides was in Union City, Water Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Drink and Skirt of a Different Color by TeamKC. Spent a couple of days with relatives in Olive Branch, MS, picking up some park and grabs and later two category finds in Overton Park. The following week, I headed to New York. Stayed the night in Ashland City, TN picking up hanging out a wally world and that afternoon I found my first New York cache What a Visita. Those two cache finds on one day, broke my old record of 440 cache to cache miles to about 800. While in New York, the most impressive cache was The Empire Strikes Back, a virtual on the 86th floor observation deck on the Empire State Building. I also liked Riftstone in Central Park which was within sight of The Dakota where John Lennon was shot. One thing I noticed about Riftsone, it's a physical cache with well over 1,000 finds, something I don't run across very often.

Giving Kailee an opportunity for some driving experience, she drove to McKenzie where I preformed cache maintenance and then we went onto Parker's Crossroads Battlefield for The Force was Divided. The weather was not the best that day, but we did walk the battlefield.

On my last day in the United States, pcsenn drove me to the airport in Memphis and we found Aerotropolis TB Hotel and while in Atlanta, a US Navy Officer and myself found A Different Species of Big Silver Bird.

That concluded my R&R trip with 73 finds, adding two to my category grid, kayaking, bicycling, a new state (New York) and caching by subway.

R&R Part Three: Caching and Kayaking

This is a continuation of a series of blog entries from my R&R leave in August 2010. While home on leave, I extended my consecutive days with a find to 18, shattering my old record of 11 and did amass 73 finds during that time. The finds were in Kuwait, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, New York and Georgia. During that time I cleaned up my kayak and made one cache run with pcsenn where he borrowed a kayak and we went after Half Moon Island which turned into more of an adventure than expected. Using satellite imagery, we were going to launch the kayaks from Devil's Elbow on the LBL side of Lake Barkley but construction had closed that part of the LBL. Launching from Devil's Elbow would have been a short 1,200 foot paddle. However, we found a public landing near Ode to lil pirate where we paddle just over a mile to the island going broadside with the current and wind. The cache was missing and with permission from the cache owner, I replaced the cache with a .50 caliber ammo can and locked it to a tree. It should be safe from future muggles and flooding. We went back to the landing and then went after Little River/Goat Island cache. We paddled about seven tenths of a mile for this one and didn't fight the current and wind. We did see some goats on the island.

We settled to clean up the caches at Lake Barkley State Park, where I found, barley's bush, Hanging Bridge at Barkley, Blue Springs Trail Cache and Barkley Fitness Center Trail. We also enjoyed a good lunch at the state park. We returned to Paducah, KY to return the kayak and grabbed a few park and grab micros along the route. Upon returning home, I winterized my kayak for next year.

Stayed tuned for the next part of the series.

R&R Part Two: New York

Since deploying to Kuwait in late February of this year, I had been in correspondence with a friend of mine in Long Island, New York about making a trip to New York during my R&R Leave. With my dates set; I purchased an airline ticket through Southwest Airlines on April 30th.

Began my leave on August 16th and after a week at home I drove to Nashville, TN on the 21st for an early morning flight. The flight had a stop in Chicago, IL and landed in the rain at LaGuarida Airport in Queens, NY. My friend was there to pick me up and he drove to the village of Sea Cliff, NY to visit his home and lunch in a small restaurant and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Sagamore Hill, the home of former US President Teddy Roosevelt. Learned that even though President Roosevelt was a progressive politician, he did not embrace new technology at home disliking electricity, automobile and the telephone. I was intrigued with President Roosevelt's collection of animals from his African Safari's. While at Sagamore Hill we did walk down to the water's edge and see Oyster Bay. Afterwards we returned to Sea Cliff.

We got up late the next day which was on purpose to avoid the morning commute to Brooklyn, NY. We arrived and spent some time finding a place to park. This was not my first visit to one of the largest cities in the world and didn't take long for me to appreciate the country life of West Tennessee. After parking, I marked the car's position on GPS which would aid us some that evening. We walked along the Brooklyn Promenade and took pictures of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge in the light rain. We walked across the nearly two miles across the Brooklyn Bridge and took some time to view the awesome sights from the bridge. After getting soaked by the rain, we walked to Chinatown where I saw Columbus Park which was once the location of Five Points which was the setting of the movie Gangs of New York. While in Chinatown we stopped to get of the rain and have lunch at a Vietnamese Restaurant, where I enjoyed Chinese type food with a French flavor.

After lunch we walked to the World Trade Center site and saw the construction of the Freedom Tower and wanted to visit the site of the 9/11 attack. We continued walking and hiked towards the Hudson River and into Greenwich Village. In the village, we boarded a subway and traveled to 72nd street and walked to The Dakota. Took pictures and saw the location where John Lennon was shot. We walked across the street to visit Central Park, find a geocache and see the memorial for the Ex-Beatle. We once again boarded a subway and made our way toward the Empire State Building. During the visit to the 86th floor observation deck, I felt we were one of the few Americans on the floor and my friend might have been the only New Yorker. After the Empire State Building we once again boarded a subway and traveled to Brooklyn. We arrived back at Sea Cliff and dined at an Italian Restaurant.

The last day we visited local sights around Sea Cliff then back to Queens for my flight home via Dulles Airport in Baltimore/Washington D.C.

R&R Part One

This is the first installment of a multiple part series of my R&R leave that began on August 15 and ended on September 3. This part will be about time spent with family. Later parts will reflect on travels and geocaching.

We left Arifjan sometime after midnight on the 15th of August for Ali Al Salem where we went through more briefings and instructions about leave. In between briefs, I did manage to find a computer at the MWR and send messages to those who would transport me once I arrived in Memphis, TN and let them know the latest news. About mid-day the lockdown process begun and I went through security and customs. Wisely, I choose not to have any checked bags and only a carry-on. Much of the afternoon was a hurry up and wait. In the early evening we boarded buses for the airport in Kuwait City and then onto the Freedom Bird that took us to the United States via Shannon, Ireland, sleeping much of the way after taking a Tylenol PM. We had a stop in Ireland and I took advantage of the duty free shopping to pick up a few small items. Took off from Ireland and took another Tylenol PM and went back to sleep. Awoke near Atlanta and landed there around 7 am EST. After making calls of my arrival, I proceed to hear another briefing and went through customs....again. Didn't take long and found the kiosk for Delta in an attempt to find an earlier flight. Everything was booked and took my chances on a stamd-by. I was told of a flight to Memphis that was leaving in about 45 minutes. Immediately, I headed for the gate and was able to get on the flight.

Arrived in Memphis about an hour and half-later where fellow geocachers from Tennessee were there to greet me and transport me to Jackson, TN. bitbrain greeted me in the airport lobby and Tiger130 drove me to Jackson where I met my wife. From Jackson, we went home where I saw the remodeling of the house. Much of the work I liked. Since I arrived before school was dismissed, I drove to Dresden High School and picked up my oldest daughter, Kailee. From the high school, we drove to the Elementary School and visited with my youngest daughter, Carolina.

During my stay at home, we did make a trip to Olive Branch, MS to attend a wedding and visit some of my cousins. While in Olive Branch, I treated the family to a dinner at a Japanese Steak/Sushi Restaurant. We also visited the Memphis Zoo and Brooks Museum located in Overton Park in Memphis, TN. I visited Carolina at school, ate lunch with her and spoke to her 2nd grade class about Kuwait and about what we were doing in Kuwait and Iraq. Did take the girls out on a couple of bike rides, one in Wingo, KY and another on the Brian Brown Greenway in Martin, TN. I was also home for Carolina's 8th birthday and did participate in her party. While at home, we attended church at Dresden First Baptist and stayed for the Homecoming celebration.

Stayed tuned for more, which will be of my trip to New York and kayaking on Lake Barkley.

Geo-Stats

For the most part of my geocaching career, which has spanned 5 and 1/2 years, I have used different statistics program such as itsnotaboutthenumbers, GSAK and my geocaching profile. The itnsoutaboutthenumber site was closed and I do miss the site. The site has the coolest map displays and since I could look up my many friends and my one nemesis alike, I was able to see what others were doing, especially in the quest of the Well-Rounded Cacher. Currently, I am 11 catagories shy of the quest. With my R&R leave two short weeks away, I hope to knock out three of the catagories. Those being: Giving Back #3 Here you go Memphis!, get the kayak out for Half Moon Island and I have solved the puzzles for: Flip Dizzy-The Monkey Comes In and Overton Park Mystery Cache.

Regarding stats, some of inquired why I have not found and logged 7 Mile by my friend airroster. There are two reasons. 1) I want to rack up cache to cache miles. Having a cache to find once I return from R&R will give me another 7,000 cache to cache miles. Currently, I stand at just over 69,000 miles. 2) Since I don't have a find on September 4 or 11, finding the cache on either day will accomplish that goal. In the next month I may have the opportunity to log 16,000 miles.

Also, I have plans to set up 2-3 caches that will be 4.5 and 5 star terrain caches. Cachers, you have been warned!

Update 8/8/10:

Have also solved two 5-star difficulty puzzle caches. (5) Sudoku Series and (1) Sukoku Series.

Camp Adder

Recently, I volunteered to go on mission to visit a country that I have not been to since late 2003 and add another country to my geocaching profile, Iraq. On the way north, we stopped at Camp Buering and with some time on my hands, I managed a few finds. History on the Walls was an easy find very close to where we parked the bobtails and stayed two nights. I found that one just before midnight and found Cold Frappe' and a Hot Spot after midnight with a group from our convoy who wanted to obtain some coffee from Starbucks. The next afternoon, we began to head out and after picking up Class I supplies (Snacks, Gatorade, Ice), I picked up Camp Buehring TB Hostel a large ammo can very near the staging lanes that sets right under the noses of hundreds of muggles that pass by.

Our trip took us north to FOB Kalsu where there were no geocaches. FOB Kalsu did seem to have the best DFAC (Dining Facility) in theater. Leaving Kalsu, we arrvied at Camp Adder in Southern Iraq, the based used to be called Tallil. In 2003, I was based nearby at Camp Cedar II and visited Tallil Airbase on occasion. There I made my first geocache find in Iraq with ground flare #3 (incomming). It was an easy find that required climbing an old Iraqi bunker. I was in the area visiting the Organizational Maintenance Shop to replace a tire. The following day, after getting some direction of where the PX was located I picked up three more caches. Israel, which was interesting that it was located near ancient marshland. Mikaaiyl, a walk and grab nano on the way to the MWR and finally Transient Altoid Tin-Tallil which is located near the MWR.

The trip added a fourth country to my profile and recently had a patch made for myself "Combat Cacher".

Franklin Mountains

The 1171st Transportation Co. flew to Fort Bliss, TX on December 4, 2009 and soon as I got off the plan I saw the Franklin Mountians and immediatly wanted to go caching in the mountains. I did manage to get away a couple of times to cache with two trips into the mountains from El Paso, TX.

After completing training, the last group was at Ft. Bliss awaiting a flight to Kuwait, the motor sgt. arranged for a group outing to take a trolley up one of the mountains (Ranger Peak). We took the trolley, a couple of people were a little nervous but we were safe and arrived at the scenic platform. Four of us immediately set out to find Take a Hike OR Get taken for a Ride. The GPS was going nuts with all the metal and antennas on and around the platform and we searched and searched. A ranger noticing we were searching for something inquired what we were doing and I told him about the geocache. He remembered something about a geocache and called the office at the bottom of the mountain and turned out the cache was located in the gift shop that was closed. After contacting the cache owner of our issue and showed pictures of us on the mountain with GPS, he allowed us to claim the find. With that aside, the views from the top were breathtaking.

Being held back again, this time for a medical issue I saw my friends leave again. This did give me one more chance to visit the mountain range. The last full day before departing for Kuwait, I went after Backyard Fun. This cache gave me a solid workout and I was huffing and puffing on he way up the mountain. Found the cache after some searching and sat to admire the view of El Paso from high up.

10 Years! -Kuwait!

Was deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in late Feburary, my company, the 1171st Transportation Co. had already been in Kuwait about 6 weeks prior to my arrival. I started caching at Camp Arifjan the first week I was in-country. Later, after reading the 10 year birthday party events being set up back home. I came up with an idea to create an event in Kuwait. After a few emails with the region reviewer, I set up 10 Years! -Kuwait. Just after listing the event, Airooster posts a will attend. I sent invitations to other cachers who had been visting Arifjan, some would attend, some could not, due to being on missions, R&R leave or re-deployment home.

The event was fun with many stories about geocaching and making friends. I soon found that one of the Chaplians of the new brigade that recently moved in is also a geocacher, chapredeb. Two US Navy officers showed up, having just arrived at Arifjan 45 minutes before the event. One of them, jeepnjudy has visited two Geo-Woodstocks.

The following day, I revisited the most of the geocaches at Arifjan; the 3rd time for Zone 6, with jeepnjudy and I found 3 that I had not found. After the archiving of one cache, I have found all at Arifjan. We ended up walking 3-4 miles and on the way back to Zone 6 in the rain, chapredeb saw us and gave us a ride after seeing us with Garmins hanging on our necks.

TF's Civil War Geocache Series

Upon reading an article on MSNBC website that the State of Virginia has proclaimed April as Confederate History month, I decided to use my blog to describe the geocaches that I set up in reference to the American Civil War or as some call it, the War Against Northern Aggression.

Northwest Tennessee didn't see the heavy action as did parts of Virginia and Middle Tennessee. Soon after the fall of Ft. Donelson, the fort at Columbus, Kentucky was abandoned and Union forces occupied my hometown of Dresden and West Tennessee. During the war, there were some skirmishes by local militia and cavalry raids conducted by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

My favorite hide is Forrest Raids Dresden. It's a difficult cache to find in that the terrain is very difficult and with that, there have not been many finders of this cache. In December of 1862, Gen. Forrest made his first West Tennessee raid to cut the communication of Union Gen. Grant has he moved south towards Vicksburg, MS. Gen. Forrest was successful in his raid cutting all railroad communication for the rest of the war, forcing Gen. Grant to rely on the Mississippi River for supply. My geocache is located next to an opening next to the railroad bed. Visitors to the cache can go inside the opening and see the several stumps with axe marks left by Confederate soldiers.

Charge 'em both ways is located at the battlefield of Parker's Crossroads. The Confederate line was near what is now the westbound lane of I-40 and during the battle Forrest was surprised from the rear. When a junior officerr asked Gen. Forrest what to do, he ordered the force to charge both Union forces. The action prevented the a defeat and allowed the CSA forces to leave the area and return to Middle Tennesse.

Battle of Lockridge Mills is located between Latham and Palmersville, TN and saw the largest combat action during the war where a patroling Union force from Iowa was defeated by a large Confederate force.

Skrimish at Shades Bridge is located between Greenfield and Skullbone, TN. During this engagement, Confederate militia failed to prevent a Union force from crossing the bridge over the Obion River. After the Union force crossed the bridge, the militia returned to burn the bridge.

Unknown Confederate Dead is located in Union City, TN and judge from the logs is one of the most popular and found cache that I own. A monument to the unknown soldiers sets in a residential neighborhood next to the old railroad bed. Over 20 unknown Confederate soldiers are buried here.

The Charge is the only geocache that I own in reference to the Civil War in Kentucky. The Charge is located just across the state line in Dukedom, where a historical marker and kiosk inform visitors of Gen. Forrest 2nd West Tennessee raid and into Western Kentucky. Gen. Forrest's troopers passed through this area on the way to and from Paducah, Kentucky.

The last two geocaches in reference to the Civil War are not locations of any combat action. When I joined the Sons of Confederate Veterans I obtained permission to place a geocache at Bonnie Blue Travel Bug Hotel which is in Greenfield, TN. Later, I assisted in the placing of a huge Confederate Battle Flag in Trimble, TN and was asked to place a geocache near the location to bring attention to the flag and called the cache St. Andrew's Cross. On that cache page I borrowed a poem from Dr. Michael Bradley, "I am their Flag". I have had the honor to actually hear this poem repeated by H.K. Edgerton in person while attending a Lee-Jackson Banquet.

In 1861, when they perceived their rights to be threatened, when those who would alter the nature of the government of their fathers were placed in charge, when threatened with change they could not accept, the mighty men of valor began to gather. A band of brothers, native to the Southern soil, they pledged themselves to a cause: the cause of defending family, fireside, and faith. Between the desolation of war and their homes they interposed their bodies and they chose me for their symbol.

I Am Their Flag.

Their mothers, wives, and sweethearts took scissors and thimbles, needles and thread, and from silk or cotton or calico ­ whatever was the best they had ­ even from the fabric of their wedding dresses, they cut my pieces and stitched my seams.

I Am Their Flag.

On courthouse lawns, in picnic groves, at train stations across the South the men mustered and the women placed me in their hands. "Fight hard, win if possible, come back if you can; but, above all, maintain your honor. Here is your symbol," they said.

I Am Their Flag.

They flocked to the training grounds and the drill fields. They felt the wrenching sadness of leaving home. They endured sickness, loneliness, boredom, bad food, and poor quarters. They looked to me for inspiration.

I Am Their Flag.

I was at Sumter when they began in jubilation. I was at Big Bethel when the infantry fired its first volley. I smelled the gun smoke along Bull Run in Virginia and at Belmont along the Mississippi. I was in the debacle at Fort Donelson; I led Jackson up the Valley. For Seven Days I flapped in the turgid air of the James River bottoms as McClellan ran from before Richmond. Sidney Johnston died for me at Shiloh as would thousands of others whose graves are marked "Sine Nomine," - without a name - unknown.

I Am Their Flag.

With ammunition gone they defended me along the railroad bed at Manassas by throwing rocks. I saw the fields run red with blood at Sharpsburg. Brave men carried me across Doctor's Creek at Perryville. I saw the blue bodies cover Marye's Heights at Fredericksburg and the Gray ones fall like leaves in the Round Forest at Stones River.

I Am Their Flag.

I was a shroud for the body of Stonewall after Chancellorsville. Men ate rats and mule meat to keep me flying over Vicksburg. I tramped across the wheat field with Kemper and Armistead and Garnett at Gettysburg. I know the thrill of victory, the misery of defeat, the bloody cost of both.

I Am Their Flag.

When Longstreet broke the line at Chickamauga, I was in the lead. I was the last off Lookout Mountain. Men died to rescue me at Missionary Ridge. I was singed by the wildfire that burned to death the wounded in the Wilderness. I was shot to tatters in the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania. I was in it all from Dalton to Peachtree Creek, and no worse place did I ever see than Kennesaw and New Hope Church. They planted me over the trenches at Petersburg and there I stayed for many long months.

I Am Their Flag.

I was rolled in blood at Franklin; I was stiff with ice at Nashville. Many good men bade me farewell at Sayler's Creek. When the end came at Appomattox, when the last Johnny Reb left Durham Station, many of them carried fragments of my fabric hidden on their bodies.

I Am Their Flag.

In the hard years of so-called "Reconstruction," in the difficulty and despair of years that slowly passed, the veterans, their wives and sons and daughters, they loved me. They kept alive the tales of valor and the legends of bravery. They passed them on to the grandchildren and they to their children, and so they were passed to you.

I Am Their Flag.

I have shrouded the bodies of heroes, I have been laved with the blood of martyrs, I am enshrined in the hearts of millions, living and dead. Salute me with affection and reverence. Keep undying devotion in your hearts. I am history. I am heritage, not hate. I am the inspiration of valor from the past. Look Away, Dixie Land!

I Am Their Flag.

Trip to Camp Buehring

My first trip outside the “wire” leaving Camp Arifjan was to travel to Camp Buehring which is also in Kuwait. I have been to the camp once before in the fall of 2003. Back then it was called Camp Udari and I participated in training in close quarters marksmanship and convoy operations. This trip was to be simple trip to sign for new body armor. I had the geocaches in the camp loaded onto the Garmin and hoped to get a find or two. Our time was tight and after obtaining the body armor, we drove near the DFAC for lunch. I attempted to grab One Degree of Separation and unable to find it. After lunch we boarded the bus to head back to Arifjan, which was about 1:30 in the afternoon. The guards at the gate would not permit us to leave without an escort. We then drove near the PX and waited several hours to finally leave the camp. During that time, I introduced another soldier to the sport of geocaching finding diecast64 and PT- Good for you, good for me. Having the new geocacher was helpful on the last cache since he is a few inches taller than me.

We finally managed to leave the camp near dusk and later arrived at Camp Arifjan about 9:30 pm. I have been caching for a little over 5 years and have ran across many light pole, guardrail and storm drain caches. But in a the warzone, barrier caches are popular.

Cachin' in Kuwait

I have managed to carry my hobby of geocaching across the pond and have grabbed three finds at Camp Arijan in Kuwait. Being a fobbit for the most part, I will be limited in my caching opportunities throughout this region. One thing I discovered, I will not cache alone with the high presence of muggles. This has given an opportunity to give others in my company a chance to see what the game is about first hand. Thus far, with three geocachers within the company, about 10% has witness the hunt in action and over half have verbal knowledge of the game. A few others have shown interest. The negative part of showing others; is that I am unable to pick a good cache, such as a regular size container or an interesting location. Being a military base in a flat desert, there is not much I can do about it.

My first find was on the way to the motorpool with a mechanic. The cache page indicated a small container and we found a altoids container next to a tent. I waited a couple of days for my next find after scouting out the location. Being in the location of the female barracks, I waited for a female cacher to go with me on this hunt as to not give the idea I am stalking around the female barracks. Soldiermama had attempted to find this cache twice before and thought the cache was missing. After a good search and thinking outside the box and remembering similiar type hides, I found the cache. After that find, I found another cache within Zone 6. Currently, I have two more caches to find in Zone 6. There are other caches to be found at Camp Arifjan and will go after them in time.

I will be hosting a cache event on May 1, to celebrate the birthday of Geocaching.

Tale of a Flight

Finally arrived in Kuwait this week after being on training hold and later medical hold at Ft. Bliss. Last Friday I was informed there would be a flight leaving Ft. Bliss on Monday; my information was taken for the manifest. Packed most everything and was ready when I received the call at 11 am on Monday to have my bags in the parking lot to be transported to get my weapon and proceed to the airport at Ft . Bliss. I was informed that I would be a tag along with units.

In my military career I have found that flying on chartered aircraft brings or awaiting a flight can bring about some drama. In 1991 our job completed in Saudi Arabia, our company was split with half going home, leaving the unmarried, higher NCO's and officers back; there dealing day to day of how we would get home. In 1998, trying to leave Equador our flight was delayed a day and stayed the night in an Equadarn Army base. In 2003, our flight to retrive my company in Kuwait was delayed by weather on the US eastcoast. With no real place to sleep, some of us stayed up all night and I had the opportunity to try out a Cuban cigar.

These time around the plane was not able to take off due to ice on the wings. Cold fuel was added to the plane and it was unusually cold in El Paso, TX and I slept on the floor of the airport terminal. Next morning the flight took off without any trouble and proceeded to Hahn, Germany. Landing in Germany, I added this country to my European list that already included: Belguim, Italy and Ireland. While in Germany in the terminal, I purchased an hour of internet for 8 Euros. Money well spent since I was able to use Skype to call someone in my section to gather last minute information of what zone and building number and also alert the company that I was on the way.

With 22 years of experience in the military and making my 3rd overseas deployment I had the odd feeling that some would go wrong (a Charlie Foxtrot was in the making). We arrived at Kuwait City International Airport and the escorts for the buses informed me that we would all go to Camp Arifjan. I got some sense of relief and boarded the bus after dealing with the baggage. Got in a short nap and awoke looking around and the location was no longer familiar. I pulled out my GPS and saw that Ali Al Salem Airbase . I had downloaded a pocket quarry of all the geocaches in Kuwait and knew I was heading the opposite direction of Arifjan. Like I told my 1st SGT later, can't fool a geocacher. We went to the airbase to check in and there I was informed I was on my own and to get on the 1830 bus to Arifjan. I did not have time to find a wi-fi and make another attempt to call anyone in my company. Arrived at Arifjan bus terminal and it was just a set of benches. Met other service members and they asked if I knew my way around. I told them that may last visit to Arifjan, most of the roads were not paved and building were underconstruction, that was 2003! They pointed the way to another bus that moves about from zone to zone. My feeling continued to sink due that I was hauling over 300 pounds of gear that included body armor and a rifle. Leaving any of my bags unattended was out of the question. Arrived at my zone (Zone 6) and thankfully there were two soldiers on the bus who recognized my patch and knew where my company was located and helped me get to my baracks. I entered the building to the surprise of everyone that I made it from Ali Al Salem totally on my own.

Continue to stay behind at Ft. Bliss

My company, the 1171st Transportation Co. has been in Kuwait for about three going on four weeks. The purpose that two parts clerks and myself staying behind was to attend a convoy live fire training. Attended the training which was more less a waste of time and not realistic to current Iraq. I was given live rounds, but didn't chamber a round or fire my weapon. Unlike in 2003, where I kept my rifle pointed out the window, current up-armor does not permit this since I am protected by armor and the gunner takes out the target. I felt the training was a joke since we kept driving through the hostile area, which is fine, if we were military police or infantry. But being transportation, the gun truck role is to engage the enemy and keep engaging until the convoy passes. I was the truck commander since I am a Staff SGT, one of the parts clerk was a driver and our gunner was a Texas Army National Guard infantryman, at least his training was realistic.

Since I had been at Ft. Bliss for nearly two months, I was required to go through SRP (Soldier Readiness Program); it was discovered that my hearing loss in both ears was not equal. This hearing test occurred last August. I visited an audiologist and concluded the findings and sent back to SRP. From there, I had to visit a medical case worker and informed that I may not go to Kuwait this weekend. The case worker and other medical staff are concerned my hearing loss could be a medical problem, possible tumor. I am guessing the problem is from constant ear infections in the left ear. I guess we will see after the MRI and seeing the Ear/Nose and Throat specialist.

I will again watch my friends board a bus for the airport and will be left behind. This is really bothering me. In 1990, preparing for Desert Shield/Storm, I saw about 10% of the company stay behind for various reasons. I held much resentment after I returned home in May of 1991 and saw the held-backs still in the Guard. I have always felt that if one can not deploy, it's time to leave the Guard. Saw some of the same again in 2003 but not the same amount as 1991.

This time, it's me that held back and feel I have let my friends down. Prior to deployment, worked on three of my known medical problems: back, knee and feet. I also lost 15 to 20 pounds to make myself more physically fit and now a hearing problem!

Will continue to post updates.

EDIT: Feb. 18, 2010

Have been cleared by the Ears/Nose/Throat Specialist and will rejoin my company in Kuwait in the coming days.

Christmas Leave

When I was called in late November that the 1171st would officially be on active duty on December 1; was informed that Christmas leave would be from December 23 to January 1. Being I didn't have the money for a plane ticket, I first thought about using the leave to visit relatives in Lubbock, Texas. However, a charter bus was worked out and took the bus home for Christmas. 23 miserable hours were endured on the crowded bus that had air conditioning problems. I did manage to grab a couple of caches in Texas to add that state to my geo-profile. At one cache I did introduce a young soldiers to my sport. The cache was a simple park and grab skirtlifter.

Arriving home I did spend a lot of time with my family attending Christmas service at the Methodist Church in Dresden. Completed some geocaching and returned to the Land Between the Lakes hiking to Fence Line and working the hard terrain at Panther Creek Spring. Also picked up a cool location cache Standing Rock Bridge.

On New Year's Day, I once again said goodbye to my family boarded the bus for another 23 hour trip.

Staying behind at Bliss

Returning from Christmas leave, I attended a 2-week computer course at Ft. Bliss, TX to become more acquainted with the SAMS-E computer which has everything to do with dispatch, equipment, work orders and parts. A school I have been seeking for over two years.

Return to the 1171st Transportation Co. at Camp McGregor, was informed that I will be return to Ft. Bliss with about 16 other soldiers to make up training that was missed.

On a positive note, during the trip back to Camp McGregor, I introduced two soldiers to the sport of geocaching and the cache Along the State Line was the most interesting where we took time to take pictures.