Deployment Blog

I found out this morning that I am pregnant! Josh knew before he left that I was probably pregnant, but now, it is official. I had a test at the University clinic this morning to confirm numerous positive at-home tests. We should be expecting a baby around the end of May or early June. I will know a more definite date after my first prenatal appointment, before the end of October. Although we both know it will be difficult with his deployment, we are both extremely happy and looking forward to starting our family. Josh will probably NOT be able to get leave for the birth, but we'll do all we can (thanks to technology) to make sure our baby knows Dad until they can meet each other in person. Thanks for your well-wishes and prayers.

From Kelly | Posted at 10:15 PM | Permalink

Josh called me at 7:00 this morning to report that he made it to Camp Shelby, Mississippi. They have a couple of areas where he can get cell phone reception, but he won't be calling again for awhile. Although he can sometimes get cell phone reception, the bigger problem is that he has no way to charge his phone. It seems they only have a few working generators at the Camp and as you may have guessed, they have more important things to power-up than people's cell phones. Their electricity goes "in and out."

So you will NOT be able to call or email Josh in the near future, but you CAN send him snail (regular postal) mail! I have his address in Mississippi. Although he indicated in his mass email to everyone that I would post his address to this site, I have decided it would be more prudent to simply share that I DO have his address. I don't think he wants the whole world to know his address and it wouldn't be nice to have a terrorist send him a package (posting his address on the web might even violate certain Army rules/regulations), so IF YOU WANT JOSH'S ADDRESS, please SEND ME AN EMAIL or leave a comment to this post indicating your interest in his address. I am more than happy to share the information with Josh's friends and family and I know he'd love to hear from you (even if he might not be able to respond right away). That's all for now - it was great to hear his voice and to know he made it to the Camp safe and sound. When I get more news from him, I'll be sure to post it here!

Update: Although I have an address for Josh, it seems that the Army is still unsure of where to deliver his mail. Although he is with the HHC, he was sent to Camp Shelby with a different company. Josh is NOT officially on the rosters with EITHER company so his mail seems to be getting held up or returned at the moment. Josh is VERY unhappy with this situation, but hopes it will be fixed once the Army officially decides where he's supposed to be assigned and gets his name added to the appropriate roster. Fun times.

From Kelly | Posted at 8:14 PM | Permalink

I got up at 3 AM with Josh to drive him to the armory at 4AM this morning. He's leaving with his National Guard unit today. It wasn't much of a send off - just families in the early morning darkness, hugging, crying, whispering to each other, saying goodbye to their soldiers. Josh loaded up his stuff on the bus that will take them to the airport later this morning and we hugged and kissed, said we loved each other, and then he headed off to join his unit gathering and preparing to leave.

They think they are going to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, but won't be positive of that until their plane touches the ground. They could go to Fort Stewart. That would work out better seeing as how Camp Shelby does not (at least as of yesterday's briefing) have electricity, phone service, internet, running water, or housing (even their tents were blown away in the hurricane). Not that the Army really thinks they need those things, so at this point, they are still more than likely going to Camp Shelby. I don't expect to hear from Josh until I get a "snail" mail letter from him in a week or two (whenever he finds out if he can actually send/receive snail mail from there). (Just a warning to those of you sending him emails - as of 3AM this morning, he might not be able to read your email until December or so.)

They were all joking yesterday that for as much as Camp Shelby has to offer, they might as well go straight to Iraq - at least Iraq has running water, electricity, and shelter for them! Some places even have internet! Ah well - they will be there soon enough. For now, Josh is just heading to Camp Shelby for 6 months of training with the other 4,000 members of his brigade. I'll be posting updates from him as I get them, but at this rate, there might not be anything new from him for a few weeks. We'll see...

From Kelly | Posted at 3:46 PM | Permalink

Friends and family,

Once again, I apologize for the necessity of sending out a mass email. As most of you know, in a couple of days I will be returning to active duty, mobilizing with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, of the Minnesota National Guard. We will be going to a mobilization station in the US for approximately 5 months of training before we go overseas in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Most of you know that I had been trying for some time to deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan. We've known that the brigade would be deploying since about March of this year. The date has changed more times than I can count. That's just the way it goes sometimes.

I will be on the brigade staff for this deployment. Although my precise role is not exactly top-secret, I won't send it out by email for a number of reasons. What's most important to me is that I won't be stuck in the Brigade TOC (Tactical Operations Center) writing orders for 12 straight months! I would go nuts if that were the case.

The expected length of the mobilization is about 18-19 months, which includes 5-6 months of training and about a year in Iraq, plus a little time after we return to turn in equipment, outprocess, and do a few other things. As many of those who have been deployed to Iraq know, one year "in country" can turn out to be a bit longer. That's just the nature of war - our enemies don't usually agree to go along with our schedules.

My plan is to return to school in the fall of 2007 and complete my MBA in the spring of 2008. of course, that's a long time from now and a lot might change.

In the meantime, I expect to have some degree of internet access, but probably not enough to stay in touch with people to the degree that I usually do. Therefore, Kelly has set up a website at http://www.thesimers.com/blogs/, where I will be posting updates. It's impersonal, but I'm afraid it will be the best I can do. Once I properly register it so that the folks in intelligence can make sure I'm not giving out classified information, I will post there as often as practical. Don't expect a lot of specifics, though.

In the meantime, I wish you all the best during the time that I will have poor communications, and look forward to catching up when I return. If you are interested in sending care packages, Kelly will post my snail-mail address - but let me say this: I probably will not be desperately in need of anything while I am mobilized. Leave the care packages to immediate relatives; it would mean more to me if you took that time and/or money and gave it to the Red Cross or otherwise spent it making your community a better place. Of course, if you're one of those still serving our country on active duty, you're covered. ;)

I will accept well-wishes. I will not accept sympathy. I'm glad to be going and participating in this war, and fifteen years from now when my kid(s) ask what I did in the war on terror, I'll be able to say that I was part of it - not one of those cheering or booing from the sidelines (see George C. Scott in "Patton" for a more colorful speech on that subject).

From Josh | Posted at 6:43 PM | Permalink

This is where we'll be posting updates from Josh, who is being sent with his National Guard unit for training and eventual deployment in support of OIF. For now, I'm just posting to let you know that there will be more coming soon!

From Kelly | Posted at 6:01 PM | Permalink