Sam in the Sand

Sine funding is currently very tight, slow days are the perfect time to go out of the office and meet your customers and take part in what they do everyday. I asked EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal, think The Hurt Locker) to let myself and the rest of contracting come over and take a few hours to see what they do on a daily basis. After getting a "Mission Briefing" we went downstairs into their garage where they keep all of their toys. They first showed us their robot, which they use to deal with dangerous items from a safe distance away. I decided that wasn't fun enough for me, so I had Tony sit on the ground and I would drag him with the robot. Tony was a great sport and while the controls were difficult to get used to, the robot was much more powerful and fast than expected.

Trying to line up the arm from the truck

Dragging Tony

After the robot, we got to put on the bomb suit and helmet. Not only is the suit very heavy, but it is difficult to put on, take off, or make any normal motions. The helmet is also heavy and surprisingly very successful at producing a sense of claustrophobia. To show us how heavy and burdensome the suit really was, EOD had us lift our arms up, do some pushups, pullups or squats.

Tony

The beard matched perfectly

Chuck didn't know why he could barely do 1 pushup

They are still good right?

When it was my turn to put the suit on, I raised my arms up and then did a squat. Who knew khaki dress pants, inside a bomb protective suit were not made for squatting...

After that embarrassment and everyone else getting a chance to put the suit on, we went out to the MRAPs for a demonstration and a ride. Sitting behind the driver was the best seat in the vehicle because you got to control the video turret (and gun if in a real world scenario). It had the ability to utilize lasers and night vision and infrared, along with real time video. So not exactly like a video game, but a seat which has a joystick and a screen where you can actually kill people. For some reason they let me drive the MRAP...so of course I went as fast as possible before trying to make a U-turn and failed to realize this 14 ton vehicle did not come with power steering. As the EOD girl freaked out a little, that the bearded guy with a hole at his crotch was going to flip the MRAP that he wasn't supposed to be driving, I managed to get it under control before she asked "politely" to get back behind the wheel. All in all it was a great day and I got to see how some of the items that I buy for the EOD guys actually go towards saving their lives and making the base a safer place as a whole.

Turret control center

Z conquered the MRAP

They let this guy drive?

Being the only person on base with any facial hair is very odd. I don't normally have people come up to me back home and say "I love your beard, can I touch it?". Even though it happens often here, it is still a little odd to me that someone wants to touch another man's facial hair. I am very reconginzable on base and you can easily see people staring or talking about the beard. (I always think people are staring because I have something stuck in it). I have come to grips with the nicknames of Leonidis, The Beard, Duck Dynasty, Spec Ops Guy and a host of other things I hear people say. With that being said, it is a glorious beard and James Harden will be jealous of me pretty soon... The beard is so awe inspiring that when the new Equal Opportunity Coordinator (in charge of stopping discrimination and enforcing anti discrimination rules on base) came by to introduce himself to the squadron, the first thing he says is "you must be the Host Nation Coordinator" as he reaches out to shake my hand. After setting him straight I thought that maybe he was trying to get fired on day one of his deployment, but as has been very clear during this deployment, we have nothing but our best and brightest in the military...

Having several new females in the squadron, the dynamic has definitely changed (from 1 of 14 to 5 of 14). Shockingly there is less diva-ness from Z and fewer pairs of shoes since Tony left...who knew? I am in the final few weeks now and definitely getting ready to come home. I have a little over a month left here and I am going to try and make the most of this great experience in my remaining time.

-SITS

I know it has been a while since my last post, but it is because I have been very busy over here (Ill go with that excuse for now). Since my last post I have been in three of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen- The Emirates Palace, The Grande Mosque, and the Burj Khalifa. Each is amazing in a unique way. Also, Peyton Manning and friends decided to visit me here and we had a day we had to work in battle rattle and eat MRE's.

Peyton, Austin Collie, Vincent Jackson, Cowboy Cheerleaders, American Idols and others came to visit on a USO tour (you can see Peyton's view of the trip in his journal at http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/9020118/peyton-manning-uso-tour-journal . From our squadron I was selected "to have dinner with Peyton". As a huge Gator fan I couldn't be more excited to rub that in for a couple hours, while staring at the largest forehead in sports and maybe hear what its like to be the older, but not as athletic brother (ahem Jeremy). Unfortunately, the billing was not exactly right and I ate with Austin Collie instead. He was a great guy and was much more interested in hearing about our jobs than talking about his. He was very confused by the beard, as I am one of two people on base that has one. After dinner, USO put on a show with throwing footballs out, speaking, dancing and singing. It was more fun than expected and hearing an entire military wing sing the national anthem was one of the most moving moments of my life.

While I am only "highly encouraged" to participate in exercises, because I am a civilian and they can't force me to do much, I try to do as much as I can to be like the rest of the base population. I wore my "battle rattle" all day like everyone else and even ate the Meal Ready to Eat (MRE). I was surprised at how good a meal cooked with water in a bag could actually be. Luckily I got cheez-its in my meal, but I did not get the skittles or other goodies everyone hopes for. The patriotic (animal) crackers were my favorite part. It was a hot day wearing everything all day, but it makes the job seem a little more exciting. One of our vendors couldn't have been happier to get paid that day.

How many people can say they had a cup of coffee in a cafe in the house of a foreign president? OK, maybe I cant either, but its only because I don't drink coffee (and if I did I would not have paid the prices they were charging). From the moment you drive up to the building it is awe inspiring. I will say I do not like the rule that males must wear long pants. When you have calves like I do, you need to show those babies off. After being forced to change inside a guard shack we entered the property and went into the underground parking lot. As the first three cars we see are Maybachs, I quickly realized how extravagant everything would be. We were allowed to walk wherever we wanted in the palace/hotel and I was amazed by the detail and opulence of the entire building. We were barred from going out to the beach right behind the palace, as that was only for royal guests but it was still a spectacular view. We wandered around for a while and after going in the nicest bathroom I have ever seen, we may have pulled a Danny Herz and "procured" a bottle hand lotion. As we exited the Palace, Nathan and I could not pass up the chance to have our pictures taken with these two guys who look similar...

A few weeks after the palace, we went to the Grande Mosque. I have seen the building many times from the highway going to Abu Dhabi, but I was not prepared for the grandeur and complete audaciousness of the Mosque. Every single detail in the building was taken from a high end possibility to a show of wealth beyond any I have ever seen. Gold spires on the roof, individually laid mosaics in the courtyard, jewels in the columns, imported chandeliers/carpet/plants/anything you could think of show Sheikh Zayed the First's consistency in getting the best of the best for the Grande Mosque. Unfortunately he died before its completion (still has not been completed) but he is buried at the site and he has top Imam's from UAE praying at his grave 24/7/365. After our guided tour we walked about the mosque for a short while and were able to see the moon and the sunset through the spires, which was extremely beautiful. After the mosque we traveled to the Armed Forces Officers Club for an all you can eat buffet. As most of you know (and again following in Danny Herz's footsteps) I take that as a challenge. While I did some damage on the buffet, it was well worth the price of admission as each dish would have been delicious on its own.

My second trip to Dubai was even more amazing than the first. Tony and I had a wonderful ~~man date~~ day on the tour of Dubai and trip to Dubai Mall. After seeing some sights from the bus we arrived at the mall for the main attraction... The Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world.To access the Burj Khalifa you must enter through the Dubai Mall. Calling this a mall is completely understating its size- a neighborhood or town would be much more apt. After waiting in line for about an hour we finally got up to the elevator to go to the Burj's observation deck. Not only is this the tallest building but it must have the fastest elevator also- we reached the 127th floor in under a minute. After reaching the top and going outside it is amazing to see how much higher you are than buildings just a few moments before you considered skyscrapers. Unfortunately there was fog in the distance so we could not see the Palm Islands or anything more than a few kilometers away, but the view was breath taking nonetheless. Tony refused to take any pictures with me to commemorate our ~~man date~~ day (he wouldn't even buy me the green screen/gift shop picture), but I know he will always remember it. We also went to a huge toy store int he mall and saw that they teach the kids here how to drive very early on. As we were leaving I couldn't pass up the chance to commemorate the fantastic pose...