Student Letters

I've received some letters from grade schoolers in New York and I thought it would be interesting to answer their questions right here on the blog. I've tried to take at least one or more questions from each student. There was a great diversity in questions, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did responding to them.

To the classes: I just wanted to let you know I enjoyed reading every one of your letters and seeing all the great drawings. It sounds like everyone has had their own share of adventures skiing, four wheeling, horseback riding, break dancing and having fun with friends this year. I hope you all have a great summer!

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Question: Where do you sleep?

Response: I sleep in a tent on a nylon and metal cot, in a sleeping bag. The tent is supposed to hold about 8 people but we had 12 in it the first month we were here. The army gives soldiers one summer and one winter sleeping bag and I find the summer sleeping bag is just right in the mild air conditioning. Occasionally though the power goes out and makes the tent feel like a sauna. Hearing stories from soldiers who lived in the desert without AC makes me thankful we at least have some way to cool down. You can view an older image of what my room looked like from a few weeks ago here.
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Question: When are you coming home?

Response: This is the golden question that we wonder about often. Most people think we'll be back home in late February or early March but it could easily be earlier or later. This should put me at just over a year of overseas deployment and nearly a year and a half of total time activated by the army.
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Question: Do you have any adventures?

Response: Occasionally we do, most dealing with responding to car accidents or other similar emergencies. Once we had a robot detonate a package that we thought was explosives... which turned out to be tools. (You can read that story here). Overall It's a bit quieter in Kuwait than I would assume it is in Iraq.
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Question: Do you ever get homesick?

Response: I think everyone here gets homesick, but we all find ways to deal with it. Many people exercise, read, play games, watch movies and a variety of other things to keep their mind off of it. For the most part I just try to stay focused on what I'm doing here and look forward to when I can come home and continue life where I left off.
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Question: How did you feel when you left home?

Response: I should explain that I wasn't activated in the way most other soldiers were. I had been out of the Army for some time and was surprised to be called back. I had also just moved home to New York after living in Florida for a couple of years, so it was hard at times to be pulled away so soon after just getting settled again. After the initial shock, I decided to try and stay positive and prepare myself for new experiences. I've been lucky enough to be attached to a group from Hawaii and it's been enlightening, fun, and unique living with them. I don't think I could have the same experience with a unit from the mainland United States. That being said we also have a great group from Michigan attached to us as well and I've made some friends that I'm sure I'll have long after this deployment. They remind me of a lot of people from Northern New York, they have great small town qualities about them that makes me feel right at home.
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Question: How are you doing in Kuwait?

Response: I like to think I'm doing well! It was strange stepping off the plane from America, taking in the first few breaths of desert air and then seeing all sorts of new people and new things I was unfamiliar with. Right now it almost seems like second nature to see things that I would have originally gawked at like camel spiders and endless dunes of sand.
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Question: Do you know how to play piano?

Response:No but some of the Hawaiians have tried to show me how to play a Eukalalie.
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Question: Did you know some people you work with before you left Kuwait.

Response: No, I didn't know one person, but I've easily met over 200 different people and become friends with many of them in the course of my training and deployment.
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Question: What's the climate like in Kuwait?

Response: Being in the desert you catch both extreme heat and uncomfortable cold weather. I've seen it in the 40s at night and in the 120s during the day and I've only been here four months. The last two days have been a great example, it was in the 100s yesterday and last night it felt like it may have hit the 70s.
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Question: Are you sad?

Response: I think everyone gets sad now and again especially when you're away from home and dealing with the unnkown. Knowing there are good times ahead is an encouraging thought when I'm down.
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Question: What is your job there?

Response: My job is to patrol the entire base in a Humvee. The other 90% of our company guard gates around the camp, which we do occasionally. The job I was specifically trained to do is called a combat engineer. Most combat engineers deal with mines, explosives, building bridges, putting out razor sharp wire, and many other building jobs.
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Question: What is your favorite food?

Response: Nothing is better than home cooking, I don't think it matters what it is but a piece of pie or one of Grandma's cookies usually hits the spot. Over here I look forward to the steak and lobster nights they have a couple times a month, but it's not as good as what you'd get at home.
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Question: What do you read?

Response: I occasionally get books and magazines in the mail as well as the local Press-Republican newspaper that many of you probably read. The local store offers a decent variety of reading material too. It depends on my mood mostly, and I find reading helps pass the time better than anything else.
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Question: What do you drink?

Response: There is a huge variety of things to drink in the dining facility. They offer Red Bull, coffee, Gatorade, most every kind of soda and milk as well as loads of water that we can take. I mostly drink water which is located all over the camp on covered palettes.
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Question: What are your friends names?

Response: I can tell you a couple of the more interesting first names I've run across, Angel and Valentine.
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Question: Do you like to Ski?

Response: I've only tried to snowboard and most of the time I fell flat on my face, but I'd like to try it again. Most people here think it's odd that I lived in such a cold mountainous area and never learned to ski. It sounds like many of you had fun on your ski trip, and I heard rumors that a teacher took a fall which was surely a sight to see.
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Question: Are people friendly there?

Response: There are many workers here from all over the world that we deal with on a daily basis and for the most part their incredibly friendly people. A few days ago I almost foolishly threw away my ID in the garbage and one of them reached right in and grabbed it for me as I unknowingly walking away. It would have surely been lost had not helped me out, and it would have been a major pain to get reissued.
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Question: Would you like to drive your car when you get back home.

Response: Right now my car has been sold, but I plan on getting a "new" used car when I get back. As interesting as it may sound to drive a Humvee I'd rather be in my own car.
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Question: Do you miss your family and friends in your home town.

Response: I do quite a bit, and I think everyone her does, but being away from home lets you appreciate where you're from and what it has to offer.
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Question: Do you need any supplies?

Response: I've been sent so many great things that I'm a bit overstocked at the moment. People have been very generous.
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Question: Where do you live?

Response: I live in Kuwait, about a mile from the oceon in the middle of a ton of nasty factories. We should be moving to a nice base soon though.
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Question: I like animals do you? Did you have any pets growing up?

Response: I do like animals. I had two cats and a dog growing up. Currently I have (through relation) a very vocal and wily sheltie. Over here in Kuwait a group of guys actually caught a lizard that was easily over two feet in length and the strangest I had ever seen. He didn't look like he wanted to be a pet though so they let him go.
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Question: Have you ever had an adventure like that? (Referring to a strange noise and their escape from it.)

Response: We're constantly hearing new and strange things here. Sirens go off daily testing the emergency systems here, often wailing or loud bangs are heard in the distance and the the wind makes the tent sound spooky. In fact right now the tent is slapping around so hard it sounds like it's going to rip out of the ground!
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Question: What type of games do you play?

Response: We play a lot board games like Risk, Monopoly, and Scrabble. Most everyone here is obsessed with chess and plays every day. A lot of people have video games too including Gameboys, Playstations, and computers. It all helps pass the time.
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Question: Do you wear camoflage all the time?

Response: Whenever we're on duty we always wear our Desert uniforms. When we're not on duty though we usually where shorts and t-shirts or the army issued excercise uniform.
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Well that's it for now, if anyone would like to add any questions feel free to post in the comment section. If you'd like some general information on Kuwait click below.
Information on Kuwait