The adventure begins: Rosemount, MN and Ft. Lewis, WA; Part 2

The buses rolled out of the Rosemount Armory with a police and fire department escort. Pretty quiet on the bus. Lots of thinking going on, not a lot of talking. Once at the airport, it was hurry up and get our bodies and duffle bags to get them checked onto the plane for our flight to SeaTac in Seattle. We made it onto the plane finally and settled in for the flight. Before we knew it, we had landed in Seattle.

Rainy, dreary Seattle. Just a glimpse of what the next few weeks would bring. After a 40 minute bus ride, we arrived at North Ft. Lewis. We made our way to our home for the next few weeks. WWII era barracks, still in pretty good repair, but not what most were accustomed to, as far as lodging was concerned. But I’ve been in worse before, so no need to complain. Not that it would do much good anyway!

Well if the first day at Ft. Lewis was any indication, it was going to be a long, cold and wet stay. For the most part that was exactly the type of weather we had while there. Out of the roughly 4 weeks at Ft. Lewis, we had (I think) 9 days without rain or snow. It wasn’t constantly raining, but at times just misty and annoying. Actually our first full day there, it was snowing at 5am.

Being the last group in to Ft. Lewis, we spent the first couple of days getting our training organized. Army training and musical training. Once the details were worked out, things ran pretty smooth. Mandatory briefs on culture, suicide, sexual harassment, weapons classes, driving class, etc. Also out into the field environment for more hands-on training. Things such as dismounted patrolling, convoy operations, IED (Improvised Explosive Device) recognition, rifle marksmanship. Not to mention going to the get the final issue of clothes and field equipment that we would need while in Iraq, from huge warehouses. (Do you remember the final scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”? All the boxes lining that huge warehouse? That’s kind of what the inside of these warehouses looked, at least to my imaginative mind.) Some of the best times were when we had a little down time, and were able to visit with our instructors; all who had served previously in Iraq. Their insight and stories were very helpful to set the tone for what we were preparing for.

Not every day was filled with basic Army training. We had opportunities for our MPT’s (Musical Performance Teams) to rehearse and keep an edge on musical skills. We were tasked by Chief to polish what we had worked on and to continue to build the repertoire of each group. This was the best part, give a musician the time to improve his/her skills, and lots of good things will happen. The “Red Bull Riders” took full advantage of this time. Not a lot of time, but very productive. I’m very proud of our progress as a musical group for only about 6-7 months of being together.

Well as time began to wind down, all of our groups spent a late afternoon and evening performing for the 34th Infantry Division soldiers and anyone else who happened to be in our AO (Area of Operations). Don’t you just love all the Army acronyms? It might be possible to say a whole sentence by just using Army acronyms (might have to try that sometime). Anyway, we were well received by all who attended. It’s amazing, the one thing that we as human beings all have in common, is our need for musical release. Either through performance or through listening. We all need it. It’s what makes us complete. To see people tapping their feet and smiles on their faces is our job. And we take that seriously.

Well it wasn’t all work and no play for us. We all had a four day pass to use while at Ft. Lewis. After talking with Karen, we decided that I would spend mine visit friends in the Northwest area and have some alone time. Alone time is something that there is very little of in the Army. When you get it, it’s very precious. So I kind of just bummed around Olympia and Seattle, taking in the sights. Nice and peaceful. Very refreshing. I took my pass earlier than the main body of people, so while they went on pass; I stayed at Ft. Lewis and guarded weapons, made airport runs, etc. Kind of like having a second pass! More peace and quiet. Get it while you can, because you don’t know when it’ll be there again!

Now our time was real short at Ft. Lewis. Instruments were packed away for shipment, and the wait to go to Kuwait began. Nothing worse than having nothing to do! Spent a lot of time on the internet and Facebook. Who knows how much time we’ll have once we get there? Always more questions to be answered.