Army Graduation and New Friends...

Tuesday - Travel to KC

9/14/10

I don't think that any of us got any sleep the night before...the airport shuttle arrived promptly at 6:15am. We boarded the plane on time for a 9:05am departure, or so we thought...Engine number two was having a slight issue and even though it was within safety standards, the pilot refused to fly that plane to Kansas City. We deplaned and returned to the terminal. The airlines were kind enough to provide us snacks and water until they found us a suitable plane. After devouring our culinary delights, I offered to dispose of the containers, needing to stretch my legs, I opted for the bin across the terminal. I was strolling along when a lady on a cell phone flagged me down and asked me if, by chance I was headed for Fort Leonard Wood (I was wearing my "Army Mom" shirt) I said yes, and she went on to explain that the delay from Phoenix was going to cause them to miss their connecting flight to the Fort. They were wondering if we had room in our rental car for at least two of the five travelers.

It turned out that their soldier, Joe Griffin was also in E-787 MP Bn and would also be graduating on Thursday. We chatted for a few minutes and eventually hatched a plan to all drive to the Fort together later that evening. Upon arrival in KC we upgraded our rental to one of those big black Chevy Suburbans, loaded up and headed to a BBQ joint for some grub.

After a detour in Kansas, Alyssa's magic cell GPS phone saved the day and we found this great restaurant, had a wonderful meal with our five new family members and squeezed into the gas guzzling SUV for the four-hour trip to St Robert's where our hotel rooms awaited us. We had such a fun car ride; we laughed, joked, told stories and had an amusing ride through the back roads of Missouri. Twisty, turny roads, pathches of fog, road kill in all shapes and sizes and a quick trip through a place called Tightwad, MO. Population 63...this little blip of a town also had a bank; you guessed it, the Bank of Tightwad.

During the journey, Joe called his wife Sarah and Josh was texting Alyssa and I. The best parts of the conversations were, "You would never guess where we are and who we are with!" At one point Josh walked over to Joe's barracks and spoke to him while he was still on the phone...it's a pretty amazing and wonderful story. We all made it safely to our hotels tired but feeling pretty great about our new family members...

Family Day

09/15/10

We headed to the Fort and immediately found our new family standing in line to get in to the theater for the morning program. They let us in at 10am...now the anticipation is running high for everybody, families and soldiers alike. And there they are, 200 soldiers in green, sitting in the front theater with hands on their legs staring straight forward...it became a game of find your solider...it took a few minutes and many folks had their cameras and were trying to get the attention of their soldier...we finally found Josh and he was able to crack a very small smile to acknowledge...there was an awards ceremony, a prayer by the Chaplain, an address by the Commander and then, finally we were all set free to meet up with our soldiers outside the theater...That reunion hug was one of the best in my life, we were all so happy and filled with pride it was simply just the best...

First up was food, Josh wanted off the Fort and wanted some BBQ. We found a great place and who do you think we ran into at the restaurant? That's right...the Griffins...so after lunch we all piled back into the SUV, all eleven of us and were entertained with a story about squirrel enchiladas and headed back to the Fort. We pulled up to the security gate with eleven ID's and were promptly informed that the Fort has a regulation, one seatbelt per passenger. Yeah, we were cramped with nine and luggage the night before and we were out of regulation with eleven crammed into every free space in the truck. We said farewell to the Griffins for the afternoon as they graciously exited the vehicle and caught a Post cab.

We spent Family day with Josh doing a tour of the Fort, a trip to the MP Memorial, the MP Museum and some shopping on base for all kinds of stuff...it was just great to all be together. We dropped him off in the rain shortly before 8pm for final barracks formation.

Graduation Day

09/16/10

Graduation was at 9am, the ceremony was really special...Each platoon marched up on stage, did a cadence and then each soldier stepped forward and said their rank, name and the city they were from. Josh was loud and proud...it was a voice I had not heard before and it still echoes in my head...

Many pictures were taken, many goodbyes were said and stories shared. A Drill Sergeant also thanked Josh for not getting in trouble (a great mom moment...)

We also had to say goodbye to the Griffins who were headed to the airport to catch their flight back to Phoenix. Meeting this great family made this special trip even more wonderful and memorable...we have made some great friends in the Army Family...

The rest of the day was kicked back, more eating, more shopping on Post and some much needed down time at the hotel...

Travel Day - Home

09/17/10

We hit the road at 9am for a trip to Lexington, the site of a Civil War battle in 1861; a side trip on the way to the airport...

In the airport we met a Full Bird Colonel who was just returning from two years in northern Italy, his arm patch indicated he was special services...he was very gracious and welcomed Josh to the Army Family.

The flight back was uneventful as we all reflected on the great couple of days that we had at Fort Leonard Wood and how lucky we were to have Josh with us for the next three weeks...

After we dropped our gear and did a couple little things, we headed over to the Greenrock's house to visit with Trent before he makes the four-day journey back to Afghanistan. He gave Josh a 10th Mountain Division patch for his uniform; it's the patch Josh will wear when he gets to Fort Drum in a few weeks...

Thanks for reading, stay tuned as the Army adventure rolls along...

For the full photo album:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050912&id=1433466926&l=8473fd5f18

Gold Phase...

There is a countdown board displayed in the Echo Company of the 787 MP Brigade that reads "10 days"...it's 10 days to graduation for the senior MP Company on Battalion at Fort Leonard Wood. The board also lists the accomplishments and other milestones of the Battalion. What this board really means to Josh is that he graduates in 10 days and gets to come home!

The big event of the week was the final FTX. They departed Monday morning under blue skies and sunshine, by midweek the weather had turned to constant rain. By Wednesday they had orders to pack up everything and head back to the Fort. Then the DS's changed their minds and they unpacked and re-set up all the equipment and began training again. On Thursday they went through the same exercise again...they eventually stayed as scheduled in the field until Friday.

The week was full of missions and exercises designed to put all of their training to use. Josh was in charge of the big grenade launcher mentioned last week, so each and every time they packed and unpacked he was in charge of that; it takes two guys to carry the darn thing and they carried it with them everywhere...

During the five days they got to play both roles of MP's and insurgents. During one of the more fun missions Josh got to attack a convoy and storm a watchtower...They also got to do a VIP mission where they picked up the VIP and transported her to the secured location where they got to clear and secure buildings on the compound. Except for the rain, he had a great time using all the skills that the Army has taught him.

They spent most of Friday unpacking and storing all the gear and he finally got to hit the showers Friday evening. So he also set a personal best for lack of showering, Sunday night to Friday night.

Saturday was spent in the motor pool using fire hoses to clean out the Humvees. He elaborated a bit on the vehicles that they use for training; they have been handed down so they are not the luxury models, hard plastic steering wheels, toggles for gauges and other functions. His favorite feature is the nylon strap they use as the gunner seat, he was in the gunner a few times on the mission, and not very comfortable was the general comment.

Today and the next few days he will spend cleaning all of the equipment he has been issued over the last few months, and it is quite a bit of stuff, ruck sacks, duffle bags, Kevlar helmet, chemical gear, outdoor gear, canteens, weapon and much more.

The anticipation of graduation is definitely running through our little family as we prepare for our trip to see Josh graduate and bring him home...his buddy Trent will be in town from his leave for a 12 hour overlap so as soon as we get to Phoenix, Josh is going to hop in his truck and go see his brother in arms...

My next blog will be a recap of graduation...thanks for reading everybody...