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Steve Smith's Army Blog
June 2004 - Posts
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http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=23063 In the sidebar, this articles points out: How many IRR soldiers have already been mobilized? 541; of those, 324 are on active duty, and 217 are awaiting training. So, clearly the mobilization Read More...
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Fox23News Reports One Army official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that as few as 2,000 IRR soldiers might actually be assigned to units preparing to deploy abroad. Army Public Affairs Announcement Stars and Stripes About 2,100 IRR soldiers Read More...
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A quote from this ArmyTimes article : Here’s the gist of a call-up message the Army is preparing to give the Individual Ready Reserve: “If you’re in the IRR, get ready.” So said Maj. Kris Carle, a spokesman for the Department of Read More...
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The transfer of power in Iraq has taken place , 2 days early. This is certainly good news since without a big, planned event to target, the insurgents will be less able to wreak havoc. And of course, it means they cannot keep the transfer from taking Read More...
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I flew home yesterday and had at least half a dozen people stop me and thank me for being in the military (I was in uniform - 99% of my civilian clothes got shipped home Thursday). One little boy who couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 and who appeared Read More...
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Most of the people in my CRC cycle shipped out today. About a dozen of us are on hold for various reasons. In my case, there was some confusion that didn't come about until late Thursday as to whether our orders indicated that we should report directly Read More...
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I've talked to a lot of people who have returned from a tour in Iraq and one of the questions I like to ask them is “What is the one thing you weren't issued that you wouldn't want to live without over there?”. Here are a couple of things Read More...
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http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/24/pentagon.troops/index.html Looks like I'm one of the critical skills Engineers being called up. Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | kick it! | live it! Sponsor Read More...
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Qualified on the M9 pistol today (again). The Ft. Bliss range nice and the instructor was top-notch. I think he significantly helped my accuracy with the pistol. Otherwise, not much new. Got back my DCUs from alterations and immediately gave them to another Read More...
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If you are an IRR soldier or otherwise think you'll be going to Ft. Bliss CRC, you should read all the information available on their website , here: http://www.bliss.army.mil/LocalUnitLinks/5035thMobilization/CRC/index.htm In particular, the schedule Read More...
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After many cancelled and delayed and missed flights Sunday, I made it into Ft. Bliss CRC. Monday started at 0400 and was a long, busy day of SRPs and first aid classes. Today started at 0500 and will include equipment issue and NBC training. First formation Read More...
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The Houston Chronicle reports. Ironically, the pentagon is fighting this move. Personally, I think it is pretty obvious that the Army needs more people. The fact that we're dipping into the IRR soldiers, the last reserve pool there is short of a total Read More...
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Andrew Carr emailed me this story: Voluntary Assignment of Individual Ready Reserve Soldiers to Army Reserve Troop Program Units Basically, if someone pressured you into joining a unit to avoid getting called up while in the IRR, you can change your mind. Read More...
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I learned that Paul Johnson was murdered today from CNN in the mess hall. I was deeply saddened and angered by this tragic act. I wish something could have been done to prevent it, and the only thing I could think of that might make people who do this Read More...
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It sounds like if/when I get to Kuwait, I'll be passing through an APOD, or Arial Point of Debarcation, called Camp Wolverine. It doesn't sound like there's any way into Iraq for soldiers except via this camp. Michelle forwarded me this Stars and Stripes Read More...
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I returned to CIF this morning with MAJ Huard as my unit representative. I managed to find Chris' clothing issue receipt and so, having met all of the criteria required by the CIF personnel, the two of us managed to get through the turn-in in just under Read More...
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One of the many 'check-the-block' items we have/had to complete at our mobilization station prior to going to a CRC (and from there to Kuwait and then Iraq) is something called a country brief, given by some military intelligence folks. This, I'm learning Read More...
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As an FYI for other IRR soldiers and perhaps as an tip for those folks tasked with mobilizing soldiers, here's some things to remember about CIF (clothing issue facility), at least at Ft. Leonard Wood. Expect half of your trips there to be a complete Read More...
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DCU (Desert Combat Uniforms) are not issued to IRR soldiers at Ft. Leonard Wood if the soldiers are going to a CRC. In theory, we'll get our DCUs at the CRC. My unit here at FLW sent us over to CIF (clothing issue facility) twice to pick up DCUs, and Read More...
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In the last couple of days I still have not received my orders, which means I haven't been able to schedule my travel, but that should happen tomorrow. I do know that I'm going to Ft. Bliss as my CRC, which means the appropriate info is here . And I know Read More...
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This post is for my mom, and for anybody else who has found this site to be of interest and is checking it daily (or more than daily) to see if I've posted any news. I just want to share with everyone some information about tools that will automatically Read More...
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I've learned that Ft Leonard Wood is expecting another several thousand IRR soldiers to come through the post, though I'm not sure what the timeframe is. This year, I'm pretty sure; probably in the next few months, if I were to guess. That's just what's Read More...
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Not much going on today. Michelle's come out to visit and is staying through Wednesday morning. My fellow IRR LT Chris is going back home on pass later this week and returning Saturday. We still haven't received our orders telling us where we'll be stationed Read More...
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Having wrapped up our CTT, medical, and administrative stuff pretty much the first week and a half we were here, the only thing left on our to-do list at our mobilization station (here at Ft. Leonardwood) is to do some “Engineer Refresher Training”. Read More...
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According to this ArmyTimes article , soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will begin getting access to facilities offering free access to net videoconferencing and phone usage this month. About 40,000 troops are to be covered by the initial collection of Read More...
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The Duluth News Tribune Reports (on 5/19/04): The Army on Tuesday confirmed that it pulled the files of about 17,000 people in the Individual Ready Reserve, the nation's pool of former soldiers. The Army has been screening them for critically needed specialists Read More...
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We were scheduled to do M9 Pistol qual yesterday and M16 today, but luckily we managed to get in both qualifications yesterday. Chris, my fellow IRR LT, and I both qualified on both weapons. We'll be doing so again at the CRC, I think. We also found out Read More...
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Upon completing my requirements here at Ft. Leonard Wood, my next stop will be a CRC, which stands for CONUS Replacement Center. The military loves acronyms, and this one is an acronym of an acronym. CONUS is short for CONtinental United States. Anyway, Read More...
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Until recently, all the press I read had Army officials denying that IRR soldiers were being activated, claiming rather that IRRs were only being screened . However, the New York Times reports: Also, for the first time in more than a decade, the Army Read More...
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Things are moving along slowly but surely. We had Monday off for Memorial Day, then yesterday pretty much all we did was go over some land warfare and geneva convention classes, then we were off doing medical appointments. Today was more CTT (common task Read More...
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