knoxville: My Year in Iraq is Over, Now back to Real Estate
- 12/21/09 02:40 PM
Well, over a year ago i was placed on a roster to go to Iraq. I spent several months training up getting ready to go, then was pulled off the roster last minute. having just completed Real Estate school I decided that since I was taken off of the roster I would hurry up and jump right in. I deposited all the money that was needed, found a Broker, and off I went starting my Real Estate career. To much surprise on my first day in the office on my own I received a phone call from the Army telling me I … (17 comments)
knoxville: Iraq, The Story Unfolds; "Time for Shift Change"
- 12/08/09 03:24 PM
Remember those days when you used to work shift jobs. Especially how nice it was when it came time for shift change and you see your replacement walk through the door. You know its time to go so you get your things together, hit the time clock, and out you go. Now imagine that you have been on shift for a year and you get to finally see your replacements. Thats where im at now. It has been over 330 days since I was activated with the Army Reserves. It started when I got a ten day notice to show up … (11 comments)
knoxville: The Stories the News Won't Tell from Iraq.
- 11/23/09 01:00 AM
I just thought that I would take a moment to talk about some of the things that the news is not showing in Iraq. I thought this would be a good topic as I know many people have this mis-conception that all we are doing is patrolling down the roads, shooting the bad guys and, get killed ourselves. We have two major operations right now, training the Iraqi goverment so that they can take over when we leave (Iraqi Army, Police, and the government itself). Our other mission is to do what we can to help the local economy and populace … (7 comments)
knoxville: Iraq, The Story Unfolds; " One Month to GO!"
- 11/18/09 04:43 PM
Well . . . in one month (ish) I should be back at home spending time with my wife and starting my Real Estate career. I still cannot give exact dates for security reasons but the song "I'll be Home for Christmas" is a certainty. I have already sent most of my un-needed items home and my bags are practically packed up and ready to go. Kinda wierd how a year ago this week I took and passed my Real Estate Exam. I was originally supposed to report to my unit for deployment on the first of December last year so … (7 comments)
knoxville: Iraq - The Story Unfolds; "The Weather Finally Changes"
- 11/02/09 06:23 PM
This is the 15th blog in my series "Iraq-The Story Unfolds". Wow, I didn't realize I had posted so many. For those that are not following you can go back through my blogs and see most of the different "untold" stories that I have for my deployment to Iraq. This is a much different side that you won't see on TV. Anyway this post is to talk about the weather again, seems to come up in alot of posts. So I came back a little more than a month ago. When I got here at the beginning of October the temperatures … (4 comments)
knoxville: Iraq, The Story Unfolds -- "Vacation from Iraq, Swine Flu Came to Visit"
- 10/20/09 01:05 AM
First off for those of you who have been following my posts I want to apologize for such a long wait time from the last one. Things have been very hectic in the past two months. Anyway I had left the last post talking about my up-coming leave. As you can guess from the title of this blog, it was not quite what I expected. So the days from my last post until I left got really crazy. I was placed in the administration office to help out the personnel section to cover down on other Soldiers that were … (10 comments)
knoxville: Iraq, The Story Unfolds -- 15 Days of Rest
- 08/12/09 02:34 AM
This is to follow on with my last blog about my tour here in Iraq. I hve decided what to do for my period of leave. If you have not been following and don't know about the military leave program, basically if you are deploying here for over 270 days you get a 15 day leave to go home and spend time with the family. I originally stated that my wife was really wanting to go to the beach and I was wanting to do nothing more than relax at the house. Understaning that there will probably be multiple people wanting … (6 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, The Story Unfolds" -- Counting Down the Days
- 07/29/09 11:43 PM
Which number do you like better; 39 or 130? Well I am definatley looking forward to 39 which is how long until I get to go on leave. I get a full 15 days to spend at home, plus whatever time it takes for travel. Looking at about 20 days total. However I would definatly say that 130 would be my magic number and that is the "Estimated" amount of days I have until I get to go home. Sorry I cannot say, and sadly I dont really even know when that magic day is. However, we have been told that … (11 comments)
knoxville: Iraq -- The Story Unfolds; "Wait . . I missed the 4th of July"
- 07/08/09 07:47 PM
My last post I had mentioned that we had finally past our half way mark. With that it seems like the time has suddenly started to fly by. I beieve that I had told you all that my biggest thing to look forward to was my Sundays, the one day that I get most of the day off. Well they seem to be coming and going faster than ever now. I believe this is because of two things, we have passed the half way mark so we are starting to talk about our re-deployment and everything that goes with it, … (10 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, the Story Unfolds" -- My Deployment is Half Over!
- 06/23/09 06:35 PM
Well, we have finally reached the half way point. My unit was mobilized at the end of December, got to Iraq in the beginning of Feburary and we are now half way done! I guess looking back the time is kinda flying by. While each day seems to take forever I believe the past six months has flown by. I think it has helped that most of us find something in the near future to look forward to. For most it is that beloved Sunday that we get most of the day off. Alot of units do not get that … (23 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, YAAAY Its Raining"
- 06/17/09 12:09 AM
Well today was the first in about two months. It finally started raining. It is almost a foreign feeling. We have been seeing clouds gather and the wind pick up for the past week or so with no results. This is great as the temperature today has dropped from about 120-125 degrees down to about 105-110. The light cloud cover outside also makes a huge difference. There are three main problems with this. One, there is so much dust and sand just floating in the air here that when it rains, everything gets nasty. By the time that it hits the … (9 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, the Story Unfolds" -- Entertainment in Iraq
- 06/07/09 08:02 AM
So what do we do for fun here in Iraq. First I will say that there are two groups of people here in Iraq, with a few in the gray area between. There are those that are working the office setting like myself and those that are constantly on missions. My last tour over here was with the second group where now I am with the first. Those that are on missions. Most days consist of five to seven hours of sleep. You wake up, shower and shave, and get ready for the day. The only way you are going to … (14 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, The Story Unfolds" -- How we Live
- 06/02/09 12:26 AM
Today I am going to talk about the living and working conditions for my unit here in Iraq. Before I start this blog I first need to say not to assume that this is the way that everyone lives or works, every unit is different . . and I mean that literally, every unit lives differently, has different "anemities", different schedules, different jobs, so this is just for one simple unit in Iraq. The Camps, or FOB's -- We started our tour working in a huge building in Camp Victory . .one of the biggest, nicest bases in Iraq. Many would say it is … (21 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, the Story Unfolds" -- For the Dog Lovers
- 05/29/09 06:40 PM
Well, after I wrote that post last night I thought of another good one . . to be honest I am surprised I did not think of it earlier. It is about my new friend, Abbie. Abbie is a eight-nine month old part lab, part . . .something dog that we are trying to rescue. First off I need to say that we are not allowed to have pets here, or mascots as the army calls them, so for purposes of saving her life I will be referring to her as our "force protection dog". Anyway here is her story. The … (21 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, the Story Unfolds" - I Made it to Iraq
- 05/29/09 04:01 AM
Okay so this part of the story will probably be more boring than the rest. Last time I left of with me in Kuwait. As I stated before I stayed there for approx. two weeks. Things did not run as smooth for me as most becuase my unit was already in Iraq. I was running about two weeks behind them since I had to go get that specialized training in Fort Huachuca. Since I was running behind that meant that I did not have guarenteed transportation, lodging, and other amenities that whole units get when coming through. Basically when you have … (13 comments)
knoxville: "Iraq, The Story Unfolds" -- Deployment Starts
- 05/26/09 01:55 AM
So the deployment starts, first I am asked by my unit to go to a course at Fort Huachuca Arizona to become an Electronic Wafare Officer. Cant say too much about this as it is a classifed job. The simple answer is that I spent a few weeks in sunny Sierra Vista, Arizona learning how to protect our convoys and troops from IED's. You know, those bad things you hear about on TV that blows up and has killed most of our troops in Iraq. For me it was a very interesting course, I actually enjoyed it. Anyway few weeks went … (17 comments)
knoxville: New Agent in Iraq, as the story unfolds.
- 05/25/09 01:18 AM
Well, I posted a quick blog this morning as my first blog on AR, telling about my story as a brand new agent, first day on the job, and getting called back to active duty that very day. I have had several people comment that they would like to see a routine blog about what it is like over here so here I am, ready to talk about the experience. First I will tell a little about myself. I originally enlisted in 1999 as a Cavalry Scout into the Army Reserves. I have spent most of my career as a Cavalry Scout … (18 comments)
knoxville: Getting Started
- 05/24/09 11:47 PM
Well, I am finally able to get started on my career as a Realtor (R), and guess what happens . . .On my first day with a stack of leads on my desk, the army calls telling me I have been called back to active duty. Two weeks later Im sitting in Fort Huachuca, AZ learning new skills for a new job that I will be performing over seas. Just my luck, after 5 months of taking classes, studying my butt off, and being precepted at my new job, and on the first day Im working here we go. So now … (74 comments)
Well, over a year ago i was placed on a roster to go to Iraq. I spent several months training up getting ready to go, then was pulled off the roster last minute. having just completed Real Estate school I decided that since I was taken off of the roster I would hurry up and jump right in. I deposited all the money that was needed, found a Broker, and off I went starting my Real Estate career. To much surprise on my first day in the office on my own I received a phone call from the Army telling me I … (17 comments)
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