Up and running...1 week later

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Things couldn't have gone smoother with my return from R&R.  I arrived back in the IZ the morning of Palm Sunday, even got to attend service that evening.  We had a wonderful sunrise service yesterday for Easter.  I'll see if I can get some photos to share here.   

As for my return from R&R probably the one thing I was looking the least forward to was the possibility of having to stay overnight in Kuwait.  Our flight landed in Kuwait at 5 p.m., and we were greeted by a local team that takes care of all the transportation of Gulf Region Division employees to and from the airport.  They also help get us manifested on the military flights that are traveling into Iraq.

When the team picked us up they asked if we wanted to get out that night.  There was a midnight flight.  Well, we were all for that and after getting to the air base and picking up our protective gear, we only had to wait a few hours for our flight.nnThe flight was about an hour and a half and another team was at the airport in Baghdad to meet us...at 1 a.m.!  They got us over to the Gulf Region Central district headquarters where we were all given rooms for the night.  I got about 4 hours of sleep because I wanted to get up in time to see if I could get on the first transport heading to the IZ.  I got back safe and sound, and I am grateful everything went so smooth.  

When I got back I found out that Carolyn (my new boss) had asked one of our Operations sergeants to give her some weapons familiarity training.  She is not around weapons and even though her husband is in the military they don't have weapons in the house.  She wanted to learn how to load and fire.  While we all hope and pray that we will NEVER be put in a position where we may have to pick up a weapon to defend ourselves (civilians at GRD are not armed) it's probably not a bad idea to know what to do in the case of an extreme emergency.  So Carolyn invited me to come with her and I took her up on the offer.  

The Dalrymple clan can attest to the fact that I have several hours of target practice in the Arizona desert but it's always good to have some refresher training.

Mr. Roboto (as I call him) showed Carolyn and I how to load magazines, pull and lock the chamber, make sure the weapon is ready to fire, what to do if it jams, and how to aim.  (I probably just used some improper terms but I'm sure Tom will comment if I did.)  I believe it was a 9mm we were handling. 

Below are some pictures Carolyn took of me during our impromptu weapons familiarity training.  I think it made Carolyn a lot more comfortable and it was good review for me too.  Carolyn liked the fact that I was wearing  my "Love can bloom anywhere" t-shirt that my prayer group at work sent me for Valentine's Day.  Cause truly...I'm a lover not a fighter :)




      

Comments

  1. KenApril 26, 2009 at 7:25 PM

    Looks like you are right handed, but left eye dominant! Welcome to the club. :-)

    ReplyDelete

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