13 May 2008
Yesterday began work in earnest. We had to take a little time to get started, but once we got going, it began to fly. The Filipinos are great to work with and are extremely eager to get the work done. By the time the first day was done we had laid over three hundred block and core filled everything. It was interesting working with people who don’t really speak your language, but some things are easy to communicate, work (especially construction work) and sports are international in nature. At the end of the day it began to downpour and hasn’t stopped raining since.
This morning we decided that only a few people needed to go to the main job site, but I volunteered to go to our inside job and help strip linoleum tiles and replace them with some nice new ceramic tile. The tile that was in place was the color of dried blood, a poor choice for a health clinic. We are also tasked with placing a concrete pad for an outdoor waiting area so that we can add another treatment room inside. The reason that I volunteered to go to that job is partly because I didn’t want to be bored all day, but mostly I heard that there was a monkey at the next door neighbor’s house. I will post pictures of the monkey on the dropshots site. We spent most of the morning wading through mud and trying to dig some form of drainage to keep the pad from flooding. I don’t know what job I’ll be on tomorrow, but it should be interesting.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
getting back together
11 May 2008
The rest of our group joined us yesterday here in the Philippines. All of our stuff arrived safe and sound and we all have cots to sleep on now. I spent the morning out at the airfield with a few other guys unloading the second plane in the morning and just relaxing in the afternoon while the reinforcements unloaded the third a final plane. We did have a reception dinner at the local hotel, hosted by the mayor. The food was good, I found some kind of meat roll that I filled up on – they said it was an egg roll, but there were no eggs in it. It was pretty tame, they did give us all the beer we could drink, but we were only there for a couple hours and didn’t get into any trouble. Today we are just going to wrap up some of the details about our main project and catch our collective breath before we begin work.
The rest of our group joined us yesterday here in the Philippines. All of our stuff arrived safe and sound and we all have cots to sleep on now. I spent the morning out at the airfield with a few other guys unloading the second plane in the morning and just relaxing in the afternoon while the reinforcements unloaded the third a final plane. We did have a reception dinner at the local hotel, hosted by the mayor. The food was good, I found some kind of meat roll that I filled up on – they said it was an egg roll, but there were no eggs in it. It was pretty tame, they did give us all the beer we could drink, but we were only there for a couple hours and didn’t get into any trouble. Today we are just going to wrap up some of the details about our main project and catch our collective breath before we begin work.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Getting there!
09 May 2008
We were actually able to get off the ground today in Okinawa and make our way to the Philippines. We were too heavy to land on the airfield in Calbayog, so we had to stop at the old Clark AFB and shed some load. Unfortunately, we had no control over which box we were leaving behind, we just had to dump the ones in the rear. The good news is that our MREs (meals ready to eat) made it, the bad news is that our cots did not. I have to sleep homeless style, I couldn’t find any cardboard, but did manage to get a piece of plywood to break the contact between me and the concrete floor.
We are living in an elementary school compound that is fenced on all sides. I didn’t realize that this was a big deal to the people who live here. We were met by what I assumed was most of the population (it wasn’t, they were all on the street riding bicycles powered by many every conceivable means). It was a treat watching the local forklift operator try to unload our box off the back of the C-130, let’s just say that his concern for speed and smoothness of operation isn’t exactly what the military likes to see around multi-million dollar planes. Once we finally got it on the truck, we were hustled into a couple of moving sardine cans that pass for vans here and whisked off to our home for the next month. I was shocked when we were met by a group of dancing locals and a band. The welcome that we received here was unlike anything that I have ever experienced, it was almost like we were conquering heroes. Once the hullabaloo died down we had to get to work unloading the box and putting our stuff in order for the next day. We had to leave one of our seabags behind to follow us the next day on another flight. Unfortunately, the one I chose to leave behind is the one with my tent, sleeping bag, poncho liner, etc. in it, so I have to rough it for the night. Tomorrow hopefully we will get our other bags, cots, and mosquito nets. Apparently we have all been invited to the mayor’s house for dinner tomorrow, so I will let you know how that turns out.
We were actually able to get off the ground today in Okinawa and make our way to the Philippines. We were too heavy to land on the airfield in Calbayog, so we had to stop at the old Clark AFB and shed some load. Unfortunately, we had no control over which box we were leaving behind, we just had to dump the ones in the rear. The good news is that our MREs (meals ready to eat) made it, the bad news is that our cots did not. I have to sleep homeless style, I couldn’t find any cardboard, but did manage to get a piece of plywood to break the contact between me and the concrete floor.
We are living in an elementary school compound that is fenced on all sides. I didn’t realize that this was a big deal to the people who live here. We were met by what I assumed was most of the population (it wasn’t, they were all on the street riding bicycles powered by many every conceivable means). It was a treat watching the local forklift operator try to unload our box off the back of the C-130, let’s just say that his concern for speed and smoothness of operation isn’t exactly what the military likes to see around multi-million dollar planes. Once we finally got it on the truck, we were hustled into a couple of moving sardine cans that pass for vans here and whisked off to our home for the next month. I was shocked when we were met by a group of dancing locals and a band. The welcome that we received here was unlike anything that I have ever experienced, it was almost like we were conquering heroes. Once the hullabaloo died down we had to get to work unloading the box and putting our stuff in order for the next day. We had to leave one of our seabags behind to follow us the next day on another flight. Unfortunately, the one I chose to leave behind is the one with my tent, sleeping bag, poncho liner, etc. in it, so I have to rough it for the night. Tomorrow hopefully we will get our other bags, cots, and mosquito nets. Apparently we have all been invited to the mayor’s house for dinner tomorrow, so I will let you know how that turns out.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
getting sunburned
I would like to take back my premature statement of it being a “pretty down day”. As I finished typing the first entry, I got a knock on my door and had to go to work. The Marines/Air Force had originally stated that they would do all of the tie downs and palletizing of our equipment, but somehow there was a communication snafu and we (the Seabees) had to do it. We had to haul all of our equipment out to the airfield, chain all of the boxes onto 463L pallets, chain down our mortar mixer, etc., then stand by for an inspection of it to ensure that it was okay to be loaded onto our flight tomorrow. Long story short, we spent the entire day on the flight line making adjustments, finding chains and tie-downs, and standing by. Apparently one of the side effects of the malaria medication that we are on (doxycycline)is a decreased ability to be in the sun. I don’t think that I have been this sunburned in a long, long time. I never even came this close in Kuwait, Senegal, or Bahrain. There are many other side effects that make me wonder whether the cure isn’t worse than the disease. Hopefully the body will get used to the pills and I’ll be fine, in the meantime, it takes my mind off the itching smallpox growing in my left arm.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
getting ready to go
08 May 2008
Yesterday we spent the day repacking all of our tri-cons to be as evenly balanced as possible before we put them on the plane. There seems to be some confusion as to whether we can land the entire weight of the plane at the airfield in the Philippines. If we can’t, we need to do it in increments which will add a lot of time to the evolution. Hopefully we will find out sooner rather than later. Most of the people are flying down (as of now) on Saturday, while a group of us are flying with the equipment to oversee the unloading and putting it on the truck part of the job. This is lucky for me because it means more time on a C-130 with the super comfortable seats and the commodious bathrooms, not to mention the added couple of hours in the air.
Today should be a pretty down day. We had to turn our uniforms in to be “dipped”, which means they are going to spray them with some industrial chemicals to ward off two of the millions of mosquitoes that we will be feeding in the next couple of months. Once we get them back we have to wash them and repack them. As nice as it would be to get settled in here and prepare for the long haul, I am looking forward to getting down to the PI and getting to work. Time goes by so much faster when you’re busy and that’s what’s most important right now. The time change is still a little confusing. My body has pretty much gotten it, but my mind is still struggling. I just realized that it is eight o’clock in the morning here and the Sox are getting ready to play back home. I don’t know what the difference will be in the Philippines, probably a little less, but I’m not sure.
Yesterday we spent the day repacking all of our tri-cons to be as evenly balanced as possible before we put them on the plane. There seems to be some confusion as to whether we can land the entire weight of the plane at the airfield in the Philippines. If we can’t, we need to do it in increments which will add a lot of time to the evolution. Hopefully we will find out sooner rather than later. Most of the people are flying down (as of now) on Saturday, while a group of us are flying with the equipment to oversee the unloading and putting it on the truck part of the job. This is lucky for me because it means more time on a C-130 with the super comfortable seats and the commodious bathrooms, not to mention the added couple of hours in the air.
Today should be a pretty down day. We had to turn our uniforms in to be “dipped”, which means they are going to spray them with some industrial chemicals to ward off two of the millions of mosquitoes that we will be feeding in the next couple of months. Once we get them back we have to wash them and repack them. As nice as it would be to get settled in here and prepare for the long haul, I am looking forward to getting down to the PI and getting to work. Time goes by so much faster when you’re busy and that’s what’s most important right now. The time change is still a little confusing. My body has pretty much gotten it, but my mind is still struggling. I just realized that it is eight o’clock in the morning here and the Sox are getting ready to play back home. I don’t know what the difference will be in the Philippines, probably a little less, but I’m not sure.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
getting caught up
04 May 2008
When I first found out that I had been selected to go with a detachment to Senegal in 1997, I had pictured myself working alongside giraffes, zebras, chimps, rhinos, etc. When we arrived and the only wild animals were donkeys, I was disappointed that my imagination had run far ahead of the reality. Western Africa in the region of Chies, Senegal is pretty boring. I have hopefully learned my lesson as we step of on another detachment to remote third world countries. I still have pictures of monkeys hanging out in trees watching us work, but don’t have the same level of expectation that I had all those years ago. I am of course sad to be leaving the family, but am also kind of excited that we are going to four places that I have never been to. I know that for anyone reading this on the website was promised some sort of amusing commentary. I can’t guarantee that this will be the case, but I will strive to do my best. If you are hoping for amusing, then you are hoping for me to encounter morons, simpletons, snafus, etc., etc.; thanks.
06 May 2008
The first full day of our deployment is done. We lost the fifth of May crossing the international date line and will hopefully get it back when we’re done. So far things have been okay, the flight over was typical; cramped, long, and boring. I was luckily by myself and was not accountable to or for anyone else until I met up with the others in Tokyo. For some reason we were split up into different groups and only finally all got back together this afternoon when the last group made it into camp. We are at Camp Shields in Okinawa for a few days, gathering supplies and tools. Today we inventoried all of the tool kits and tested the generators and electrical equipment that we will taking with us. Tomorrow we take all of our stuff over to the airfield and load it onto a C-130 for the flight to the Philippines. Apparently a few lucky chosen few (yup me) get to fly with it and unload whatever we need by hand to get the weight down to the point where a small forklift can pick up the boxes. I get to be first again, I hope all this being first doesn’t hurt my chances to come back early too.
So far, nothing really humorous or thought provoking has occurred. Part of that is because I am still too tired to think (only about 10 hours of sleep in the last three days), hopefully tonight I will be able to catch up on some of it. The internet here in Japan is kind of spotty, but I will keep writing and posting as I get the chance.
When I first found out that I had been selected to go with a detachment to Senegal in 1997, I had pictured myself working alongside giraffes, zebras, chimps, rhinos, etc. When we arrived and the only wild animals were donkeys, I was disappointed that my imagination had run far ahead of the reality. Western Africa in the region of Chies, Senegal is pretty boring. I have hopefully learned my lesson as we step of on another detachment to remote third world countries. I still have pictures of monkeys hanging out in trees watching us work, but don’t have the same level of expectation that I had all those years ago. I am of course sad to be leaving the family, but am also kind of excited that we are going to four places that I have never been to. I know that for anyone reading this on the website was promised some sort of amusing commentary. I can’t guarantee that this will be the case, but I will strive to do my best. If you are hoping for amusing, then you are hoping for me to encounter morons, simpletons, snafus, etc., etc.; thanks.
06 May 2008
The first full day of our deployment is done. We lost the fifth of May crossing the international date line and will hopefully get it back when we’re done. So far things have been okay, the flight over was typical; cramped, long, and boring. I was luckily by myself and was not accountable to or for anyone else until I met up with the others in Tokyo. For some reason we were split up into different groups and only finally all got back together this afternoon when the last group made it into camp. We are at Camp Shields in Okinawa for a few days, gathering supplies and tools. Today we inventoried all of the tool kits and tested the generators and electrical equipment that we will taking with us. Tomorrow we take all of our stuff over to the airfield and load it onto a C-130 for the flight to the Philippines. Apparently a few lucky chosen few (yup me) get to fly with it and unload whatever we need by hand to get the weight down to the point where a small forklift can pick up the boxes. I get to be first again, I hope all this being first doesn’t hurt my chances to come back early too.
So far, nothing really humorous or thought provoking has occurred. Part of that is because I am still too tired to think (only about 10 hours of sleep in the last three days), hopefully tonight I will be able to catch up on some of it. The internet here in Japan is kind of spotty, but I will keep writing and posting as I get the chance.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The beginning
Just a brief blurb on the upcoming mission, this is the official storyline by some no name hack who writes for the Battalion public affairs. Hopefully the reporting will be better from here on out. The name of the mission is Pacific Partnership '08.
Our last scheduled trip is to Chuuk, Micronesia. Again, no definite tasking yet, but I'm sure there will be some interesting work to be done. 
This is a general idea of where we will be traveling to first. We are scheduled to build a social disease clinic here somewhere outside of Calbayog City,in the Philippines. Apparently it isn't a good idea to put your lepers in the same waiting room as your expectant mothers.
Our next scheduled stop is in Popondetta in Papua New Guinea. We don't really know yet what we will be doing here other than some rehab work on a health clinic.
Our last scheduled trip is to Chuuk, Micronesia. Again, no definite tasking yet, but I'm sure there will be some interesting work to be done. I don't know if anyone is interested in sending any mail, but if so, the addresses at which I can (hopefully) be reached are as follows:
CE2 Higgins
NMCB 133 Fly-In Det. (Seabees)
USNS Mercy (T-AH-19)
FPO AP 96672-4090
CE2 Higgins
NMCB 133 Fly-In Det. (Seabees)
USNS Mercy (T-AH-19)
FPO AP 96672-4090
The above address should be good until August, at which time it will be faster to just send stuff to Okinawa. We will be going in and out of Okinawa to resupply and regroup. The address in Okinawa is the safer of the two, we will be able to pick up our mail during our stops there. The first address is to the ship, they will supposedly fly our mail in once a week or so, but who knows. The address at Oki is:
CE2 Higgins
NMCB-133
Unit # 60254
FPO AE 34099-5041
CE2 Higgins
NMCB-133
Unit # 60254
FPO AE 34099-5041
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