Meeting the President

Last week, prior to my departure out to the beloved CP 3-C, I was approached while enjoying dinner at the dining hall by SSG Atkinson. It was Thursday, I believe. He interrupted one of the ever so intellectual conversations us Specialists have at dinner, and asked me to come see him as soon as I was finished eating. My brain scanned through all of the mischievous deeds I had done in the recent past and couldn't determine what I could possibly be getting in trouble for this time. Laughing it off, I finished my food quickly, and met him at a table across the hall, where he was eating. My team leader asked me to sit down, and told me upfront not to worry, it was a 'good' thing. Whew, guess I still haven't been caught. He then proceeded to hand me a printed sheet of paper, most of which included obscure details of everything about me, with a few pieces of information left blank. I inquired as to the origin of the information, and he simply said that I had the opportunity to meet with "a dignitary" and that first I must complete the form to have my background information processed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
I had been hearing a lot of talk on the television CNN World News channel that President George Bush was visiting the region, so of course my first thought was that I might get to meet our Nation's 43rd President. Anxious as I was, I had no idea about when, where, how, or what I would be doing, or for that matter, if it was even the President that I would be meeting.
Shortly upon completing and returning the form to my team leader, I was in my room, when a few people knocked and said how cool it was that I was meeting the President. Funny how word travels around here. My assumption correct, I definitely was interested in the details of my meeting. In the mean time, I put a fresh, never before worn uniform in the dry cleaners on post, pulled out and laced up some new boots, and gathered some new patches, so as to look "squared away" as the Army likes to put it.

I ended up traveling out to the Observation Post, and was told that I'd be coming back in on the weekend for my meeting with the "dignitary". They gave me a day to get my uniform together, then told me to meet up at the Squadron Tactical Operations Center (TOC) in the morning. Of course I was not advised to bring my beret, as we've been wearing our MFO boonie hats, but luckily I brought mine anyway. I give myself credit for forward thinking and not looking like an idiot on this one. Anyway, we loaded up into vans, and headed out.

The following is the account I wrote just after returning from my trip: "I just got back a few minutes ago from my trip to meet President Bush.
What an experience! 14 of us (two Colonels, our Command Sergeant Major
myself and 10 other enlisted men, plus a driver) drove 5km down the
road from our base, to the Hyatt Hotel. We went in the lobby, through
loads of security, and sat among the hundreds of secret service
members, all laden with ear pieces and hand mics, just like the
movies... although they were wearing everything you could imagine,
suits of all colors, down to regular clothes. Some were more obvious
than others, and everyone seemed to know eachother, regardless of how
awkward they looked next to each other. Most had ID badges, others
lapel pins. We waited around for an hour or so, then went down the
back side of the hotel terrace to a secluded building. We had to be
very quiet, and on the walk down, the man in charge (some sort of
organizer/ planner) told everyone to hurry up and get a move on.
There were Embassy workers, hotel staff, a few Marines in suits, among
other people. We went out back, where Bush and Mubarak were having
their interview. After it was over, Bush walked over towards us,
wiping his face of sweat, and made a joke about having to take his
makeup off to talk to us. It was surreal, seeing him face to face. He
appeared tall (I guess his 6' looks short on TV, but on the contrary
in person). We were in a group, the Colonel called us to attention,
saluted the Commander in Chief, and presented him one of our
terracotta colored MFO berets. He spoke with us, not too long, nor
too brief, but asked us how we were, and talked about our mission, how
we liked the country, where we were from, made sure to shake all of
our hands and spoke directly to all of us. Was a GREAT experience.
Unfortunately there were no cameras allowed, however, the white house
photographer took a bunch of shots and said we would receive official
photos in the mail in like six weeks. The picture is basically of the
13 of us, plus the President standing on the lawn next to where his
interview took place. I'm in the front row, President Bush is in the
middle, and i'm the second person to his right. CSM Zeangle and LTC
Langol obviously got to stand next to him... I'm not complaining. He
shook our hands again, patted me on the back, embraced my shoulder,
and said "Tell your family I said thank you," and of course I replied
"Will do, Sir." So there you go, President Bush wanted me to thank
all of you for supporting me and my endeavors across the world. Upon
leaving, we went our the side entrance, and walked along the ocean
pathway, with members of the Embassy. I talked to one gentleman the
whole way, pretty interesting. On the walk back to the lobby, we
passed Condelleeza Rice and two diplomatic aids having coffee on their
balcony. She waved. We also were passed by Secret Service Police...
now these guys weren't hiding who they were. They had enough weaponry
to take out the Egyptian Army. They said hello to us and kept moving
along. We also saw many snipers and Secret Operations officers
walking around... lets just say there was more gov't employees in the
hotel than actual guests. We went out to the trucks we came in on,
and had to wait for the president to leave for departure on AF1. The
convoy was nearly 50 cars long, in the middle being the two
presidential Cadillacs, and was mostly consisting of Chevy Suburbans,
many of which had the back window open and assault rifles protruding.
I have to get back to work out at the checkpoint, so I'll leave it at
that... definitely a worthwhile experience. Hopefully I'll get
emailed copies of the pictures before i get them in the mail in 6
weeks. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know! Have a good week!
Talk to you all as soon as possible."

I feel no need to rewrite that, as it sums up my trip fairly well. I must, however, reiterate the coolness of the Secret Service Police. I wish I had a picture of them guys. Anyway, it was a great experience and I had tons of fun.

Update: my hometown newspaper ended up printing an article and color picture about my meeting with the President, way cool!

Gone Again.

I am headed back out to the Observation Posts again, so count on me not being around for a few weeks. I'll attempt to keep writing thoughts down as I go, so I can update this upon my return.

On a side note, I believe I have mastered the art of packing. While many members of my squad have trouble fitting their "necessary" equipment into 3-4 full sized bags, I've managed to fit everything I need into our ironically named 'three-day assault packs'. No, I don't intend on wearing the same uniform every day, I actually packed 7 sets of everything, along with books, my computer, and mission essential gear. I think they wrongly issued me a 'three-week assault pack' but I'm not complaining. Less for me to carry. I'm the assistant gunner for the machine gun, so I have to tote the spare barrel and tripod mount, so the less, the better.

Picture today: the long, barren road to the field.

No longer a Private.

I've reached yet another milestone in my Army career: I have, for the third time since joining the Army, been promoted, this time to the rank of Specialist. I was eligible for promotion based on my fulfillment of the promotion criteria, having achieved the required amount of time in military service and time in the grade of Private First Class. Turns out I was actually eligible as of December 23, 2007, but it took them a while to file the paperwork.
The Specialist rank is the fourth enlisted ranking, just ahead of Private First Class, and just behind Sergeant. Today I was 'pinned' with my new rank. The 1SG and Commander held a formation, ripped off my PFC Velcro rank and put on my new rank. After some applause, the formation was called to attention, and dismissed to carry on our duties.
As per tradition (one of those weird Army-only kinds of traditions), the eight guys in my squad lined up and were each afforded one punch at the new square rank patch. I don't make up these kinds of things, and I've never punched a newly promoted soldier, but I still play along with the traditions. Some of the guys were easy with their punches, but my new fellow Specialist buddies weren't so kind in welcoming me to the new rank. I guess it's their way of "breaking in" the new guy... quite literally. It wasn't all too bad, just got the wind knocked out of me a bit. I retired from the formation, bruised, but in great spirits. It's always nice to advance in your career, and it's even nicer to get a pay raise! Luckily, I'll get back-pay for the months before my promotion that I was eligible for SPC.

Today's picture is of me in the Quick Reactionary Force cage, wearing my new rank on my uniform and patrol cap.

Short Posts

I'm terrible at keeping up with this, so I'm resorting to shorter posts in hopes of getting some kind of updates in. Don't count on me to maintain this much, I really am quite busy, and it seems whenever I have free time, the internet is being uncooperative. Hmm, maybe the internet's the reason I'm always busy. I'll also admit that I'm hesitant to post anything that I'm not 100% pleased with, which is why you're not getting many updates. Perfectionism is the demise of efficiency. As always, I'll try to write more lengthy pieces about the important stuff.

As for today, just another day in the Sinai.

Picture today: my apology for being a slacker on the posts.