Our little expedition begins. Right now we’re on the plane headed to Bahrain. Yesterday’s plane ride included me, Dave and Charlie in the galley making sandwiches at 39,000 feet, which was fun! They’d devised a clever menu scheme, so we easily had everyone’s orders, and we cranked them out! It was fun. Then, with 3-4 hours left on the flight, I decided it was time to get some sleep. We were landing at 0730 Germany time, so this would be my night’s sleep! So I grabbed a fat black sleeping bag from beneath the seat and curled up on the sling benches and actually got 3 solid hours of sleep which was a good thing because we didn’t get any rest once we got to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. The coaches headed up to sleep for a few hours before our first appearance, but we had to organize all the SWAG and be sure we had everything we needed. We did grab a half hour to run and shower, and after that, I felt like a new woman!
We got everything organized and headed over to Landstuhl, the largest American hospital outside of the US. (and one of the top 5 largest in the world. Over 3 miles of hallway run throughout.) 30 people a day cycle through the hospital with an average stay of about 3-4 days. The military tries to get injured soldiers to Landstuhl within 24 hours, as if they do, they have a 97% chance of survival! As soon as they’re patched up enough, and stable enough to fly, they are flown to the US to recover. No expense is spared to get soldiers to medical attention, and home as soon as possible. Because of this, most of the soldiers there were very tired, very sick, and quite scared wondering what their lives will be like now, with their new injuries, so most weren’t up for visitors. We did get to visit with a few soldiers though, and they were pleased with the company.
One young man had facial injuries due to a blast in his face, and had just come out of eye surgery. The nurses commented that he’d been morose and quiet since he’d arrived….well of course he was, he was facing the possibility of being blind for the rest of his life. He was pleased to have a diversion, as the coaches gave him t-shirts and wished him well, and I handed over the first Wounded Warrior Project, UA backpack. He thanked us all, and when I told him about his new Under Armour, he said “Sweet!” Hopefully he’ll recover quickly and get back to normal life.
Another young man had pneumonia. Poor guy goes into battle, and ends up with pneumonia! Another young man in a wheelchair was recovering from pins in his leg from fixing an injury to his lower leg. All in all, it wasn’t what I expected. We visited with a lot of the staff, which is good. While being stationed in Germany isn’t such a bad deal at all, they have a tough job. They see the worst injuries, patch them up and ship them out. They don’t get to enjoy the pleasure of watching and helping someone recover, and with 30 people a day coming in, they don’t get a whole lot of rest. A diversion like this is welcome and a great stress buster for them, and they were thrilled to meet the coaches. We also met a 3 star general at the lunch before heading in to the hospital. He was traveling around with his entourage visiting troops in theatre and in the hospital. He was a very cool guy! It was interesting to see the reaction of all the military people. Between him and the coaches, you’d have thought that the entire cast of Friends was in the house! Pictures were being snapped, everyone was posing. It’s hard to imagine having that kind of attention all the time.
We left a bunch of Under Armour stuff in the Chaplains closet, and headed out. The Chaplains closet is where soldiers can go to grab a shirt, some toiletries, some pants and shoes as when they come in wounded, usually their clothes are bloody and have been cut off, so they don’t have anything, or the ability to go buy anything. I was thrilled that we could contribute to that. We also left about 50 Wounded Warrior backpacks, so people coming in would get some. That ought to last about 2 days! L.
We headed back to the hotel, had a quick 20 minute break before it was time for the next appearance. It was totally different, tables set up in the mall on the base for military families to come meet the coaches, and get some UA gear. I gave out socks, and pants to whoever wanted some. Call me Santa Clause! It was fun, and people were very pleased with us being there.
The mall was incredible. Cinnabon and a Haribo store with tons of kinds of gummi candies. Unfortunately you had to have a military ID to purchase anything, so I didn’t get any yummy gummi bears, but it was fun to see what the military had done for the families stationed there, so they’d have some of the comforts of home. I could have believed I was in a mall in Iowa for crying out loud!
Another quick 10 minute break and it was time to head to dinner. We traveled for about 20 minutes before arriving at the lovely Bremmerhoff museum. Col Chris Lavalle, the person on the trip from AFE grew up in Germany, about 20 minutes away from the restaurant, and he was really looking forward to seeing if they have Bischoff, the beer from his home town. He’d actually purchased 2 cases upon arrival at Ramstein…one to take home, and one to give to the crew of our aircraft as a bribe for not drinking his case! It turned out the restaurant had the beer, and we all enjoyed them with our awesome authentic German meal. Brats, sauerkraut, potato pancakes (yum), mashed pots, wienersnitzel and some funky meatball thingie. It was yummy! The night ended around 2030, and we headed back to the hotel to arrive back at a very humane hour! Some people chose to go find a pub, or a few more drinks. I chose to go to my room, and enjoy a nice long 8 hour nap! While I’d felt good all day, I was starting to get tired, and welcomed the chance to catch some zzzzz’s. Plus, I knew that the 0545 call the next morning would come very early. Aside from waking up a few times worried that I would miss the wake up, I got some good solid rest.
0530 did come early, but I felt rested and popped up, packed up, dressed and went down to meet the crew. We had an hour delay or so, so we hung out in the USO lounge, I was able to download the blog, transfer some pictures to the computer, and have a few delicious German pastries for breakfast.
And here we are again, riding on the KC135, cranking out sandwiches for lunch. We’re about a half hour from landing in Bahrain where it’s going to be HOT!! I anticipate being sweaty for the next few days. I’m preparing myself for it now! Thank goodness for my Under Armour! The people on this trip are awesome, and I look forward to continuing to get to know them, and having some lifelong friends.
Oh, and the pink knife, the one I almost didn’t bring? The one that’s been of HUGE use the whole time almost stayed in Germany. I didn’t realize that we’d go through standard TSA screening at the air base, and popped it in my pocket for the flight. When I approached the metal detector and typical security setup, my stomach dropped. Not that I’m so attached to it, but it’s been so useful and a fun point of humor. When the security guy told me “Nein”, I passed it back to Pat who hadn’t come through security, hoping he’d be able to get it through somehow. I essentially wrote it off sadly. When we were seated on the plane and getting ready for takeoff, he came by my seat holding none other than, little pinkie!! He’d saved her and there was rejoicing in the land!! Next time, I’ll pack it in my luggage for the flight, which is funny because I have access to my luggage while we fly…..but whatever!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
Coaches Tour 2010: The Beginning
Sunday, May 23, 2010, 6:13pm CST.
I arrived in Wichita Kansas on Tuesday, May 18 and was the first person on our tour crew to arrive. The Under Armour travel agency booked me a rental car for JUNE 18, (and I’m the idiot who didn’t double check it) but Enterprise luckily had vehicles available. It was a luxury car for $20 more a day, or a pickup for the price of my original reservation. I took the truck. Fun! Little did I know how handy that truck would be. I found a nice little restaurant for lunch in Wichita and had some final quiet moments before I was thrust into the unknown. My last bit of control over my own time before surrendering, willingly to the tour. We weren’t scheduled to leave until Sunday, so the thought of 4 full days was daunting. I thought for sure I’d be doing a lot of sitting around and wondering what to do. I had planned to work out, keep a journal, talk to Dan on the phone and get some stuff ready. Frankly, I had no idea what we were going to do. My last trip overseas was very different than this one, so I didn’t have much of an idea what I was in for. Looking back, I’m really glad….REALLY glad I got there on Tuesday.
I met Major Patrick Knott (Nuggett) at McConnell Air Force Base. He signed me onto the base and got me and my truck a pass to get on and off base at will. He got me checked into Billeting (the base hotel) and gave me a little tour of the base. Mike Whalen (Poppa Bear) didn’t arrive for another hour or 2, so Pat gave me a little drive around tour of the base, and a quick tour of his squadron. McConnell is a very nice base. He dropped me at the hotel and went to get Poppa Bear. I ran to the gym, did a little workout. Quick shower, and news that they were back, and it was time to head to dinner.
Pat and his wife Karen made us a wonderful dinner at their house. We had a great time, drank some wine, listened to some of Poppa Bear’s stories and really enjoyed ourselves. We headed back to the base, and to bed at a reasonable hour.
The next day began at 0800. Let the games begin! We headed over to the LRS (Logistics, Readiness Squadron) to find all the Under Armour that was sent and get the process started. There were 15 palates of assorted Under Armour gear, and shirts from the coaches schools. 15 palates! It was NUTS!!! They moved it all over to an empty and available corner of the warehouse, and I got to work. Actually, I went to lunch, and when I got back, James Mortor, Heather “Cookie” Barnes, and Warren “dot com” Weldon were there. They’re boom operators on the tanker we’re flying on throughout our trip. They drive the boom that delivers gas to jets in mid air. Pretty cool! They were a lot of fun, and we spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out what the hell we had in all the 15 palates, and trying to get it organized for the next day. At about 1900 (7pm) we knocked off, and Pat, Poppa Bear and I went to dinner. We found a great Italian joint, had some great wine, and some laughs. Poppa Bear is a phenomenal story teller, and we enjoyed them all. Home at a reasonable hour, and time for bed.
Thursday, I saw military efficiency kick in. More of the crew were there (John, Jonah, Kyle, Col Thatcher) so we had lots of man power. We knew what was on each palate, so they started to bag everything and put it together. Dave and Charlie (GA football coaches at Iowa) arrived and started getting the lay of the land. We took a run to Office Depot and Walmart, and set up an office right there in the warehouse. We had everything….a printer, internet, supplies, etc! This would be Poppa Bear’s office for the next few days, as well as our meeting point. By the end of the day, we had all 15 palates in bags, organized by each stop, and they had the first palate built. The palates we put on the plane are much bigger than standard wooden shipping palates, and we filled 2 of them with A3 bags, over 5’5” high each. This would later become my bed on the flight. Little did I know sending so much gear for the troops would result in a comfortable place to sleep on the plane! What luck! The crew had everything organized and appropriately labeled by what was in each bag, and what base each batch of bags were for. It was very impressive, and will hopefully make our lives very easy when we get to each stop. Sitting here now in the plane, it is JAM packed! It’s awesome that we practically had no more space for anything else on board. We are bringing over the maximum amount of stuff we could possible bring on this tour. How’s that for maximizing the opportunity.
When we arrived on Friday morning, Heather, James, John and Warren already had the second palate all put together and ready to go. They were loading the plane at 1, so they were well ahead of the game. Now it was time to think about provisions. We were planning a cookout for everyone behind Billeting in the little pavilion, so we needed burgers and dogs (and beer!) for that. We also needed snacks for the plane, and other random supplies (zip ties, sun screen, TOILET PAPER, etc!) We also needed to ship a bunch of boxes, and pick up some rush banners that we’d had made. As the day ticked on and we took care of this little thing, and that little thing, time was running out, so Dave and I finally separated ourselves and went on the most amazing (and fun) speed shopping excursion I have ever been on! It was AWESOME! He had the list all made up, and we were flying around Walmart throwing everything in the cart that we needed. We FILLED 2 carts, including the underneath part, and walked out of there with $600 worth of supplies, in under an hour. There were definitely some high fives!! We rushed back and fired up the grill and proceeded to have an awesome time until 1 in the morning. Chip Kelly, the coach from Oregon arrived half way through the night, as did Blake. We had a lot of laughs, some great burgers thanks to Master Griller Dave, and a lot of beer! Pat and I engaged in the most hilarious tomato fight ever, and we had a great time. At 1, they needed to pop to the airport to pick up Coach Tim Murphy from Harvard, so the party broke then. We had a great time.
The next morning, I wasn’t as hung over as I thought I might be, thank goodness! Frankly, I was hardly hung over at all. Good old Coors Light! Today was the day for the 5K that Nick Mercurio (Call Sign Lois….now THAT’S a funny story) the Public Affairs Officer assigned to our tour had set up. There was also a signing with the coaches, burgers, a 40 yard dash competition and a flag football game. It was a great day, filled with Under Armour Raffles, and good healthy fun. We got to know the people on our tour a little more, and interacted with a bunch of people on base. It was a beautiful day despite very strong winds. (Kansas in windy!) We had a great time, and before you knew it, it was time for a quick shower, and our final party before the departure. The coaches went to Scotch and Sirloin with the General who is on our trip and the Friends of McConnell. The rest of us went to Pat’s house for a more casual get together. More bonding and getting to know eachother. Around 10, the coaches showed up, there was a ra ra session, pep talk, briefing, whatever the hell you want to call it. We were all fired up. We were leaving tomorrow!!! Charlie and Dave took my rental truck back to the airport (that had transported MANY people, and TONS of supplies) and picked up the last of our 4 coaches, Coach Rich Ellerson from West Point. (Coach Zook from Illinois had arrived at around 3pm that day.) The crew was assembled, and it was time for bed. We didn’t get back to Billeting until around 11:30pm, and I still had laundry and we had to pack. Finally around 1pm I was all ready to go, and tried to lay down for some sleep. I was pretty excited, but managed to get some rest.
Which brings us to this morning! We met at LRS at 0830, packed up some remaining things, and went to get fitted for our Kevlar vests and helmets. (we are going into a war zone you know!) Then we headed to lunch, and waited for the plane to be ready. We were scheduled to leave at 1400 and we ended up leaving at 1430. If you had told me at 0830 this morning that we’d pretty much take off on time, I would have laughed in your face. It was amazing how everything came together. It’s great to work with people who are efficient and focused on a task. Wow! So here we are on the KC135 somewhere over the Atlantic headed to Germany. The plane is packed to the gills and everyone is very excited. At every stop, we’ll unload a little more and a little more gear, so on the way home, this is going to be a pretty empty plane. Should be a fun contrast.
I arrived in Wichita Kansas on Tuesday, May 18 and was the first person on our tour crew to arrive. The Under Armour travel agency booked me a rental car for JUNE 18, (and I’m the idiot who didn’t double check it) but Enterprise luckily had vehicles available. It was a luxury car for $20 more a day, or a pickup for the price of my original reservation. I took the truck. Fun! Little did I know how handy that truck would be. I found a nice little restaurant for lunch in Wichita and had some final quiet moments before I was thrust into the unknown. My last bit of control over my own time before surrendering, willingly to the tour. We weren’t scheduled to leave until Sunday, so the thought of 4 full days was daunting. I thought for sure I’d be doing a lot of sitting around and wondering what to do. I had planned to work out, keep a journal, talk to Dan on the phone and get some stuff ready. Frankly, I had no idea what we were going to do. My last trip overseas was very different than this one, so I didn’t have much of an idea what I was in for. Looking back, I’m really glad….REALLY glad I got there on Tuesday.
I met Major Patrick Knott (Nuggett) at McConnell Air Force Base. He signed me onto the base and got me and my truck a pass to get on and off base at will. He got me checked into Billeting (the base hotel) and gave me a little tour of the base. Mike Whalen (Poppa Bear) didn’t arrive for another hour or 2, so Pat gave me a little drive around tour of the base, and a quick tour of his squadron. McConnell is a very nice base. He dropped me at the hotel and went to get Poppa Bear. I ran to the gym, did a little workout. Quick shower, and news that they were back, and it was time to head to dinner.
Pat and his wife Karen made us a wonderful dinner at their house. We had a great time, drank some wine, listened to some of Poppa Bear’s stories and really enjoyed ourselves. We headed back to the base, and to bed at a reasonable hour.
The next day began at 0800. Let the games begin! We headed over to the LRS (Logistics, Readiness Squadron) to find all the Under Armour that was sent and get the process started. There were 15 palates of assorted Under Armour gear, and shirts from the coaches schools. 15 palates! It was NUTS!!! They moved it all over to an empty and available corner of the warehouse, and I got to work. Actually, I went to lunch, and when I got back, James Mortor, Heather “Cookie” Barnes, and Warren “dot com” Weldon were there. They’re boom operators on the tanker we’re flying on throughout our trip. They drive the boom that delivers gas to jets in mid air. Pretty cool! They were a lot of fun, and we spent the rest of the afternoon figuring out what the hell we had in all the 15 palates, and trying to get it organized for the next day. At about 1900 (7pm) we knocked off, and Pat, Poppa Bear and I went to dinner. We found a great Italian joint, had some great wine, and some laughs. Poppa Bear is a phenomenal story teller, and we enjoyed them all. Home at a reasonable hour, and time for bed.
Thursday, I saw military efficiency kick in. More of the crew were there (John, Jonah, Kyle, Col Thatcher) so we had lots of man power. We knew what was on each palate, so they started to bag everything and put it together. Dave and Charlie (GA football coaches at Iowa) arrived and started getting the lay of the land. We took a run to Office Depot and Walmart, and set up an office right there in the warehouse. We had everything….a printer, internet, supplies, etc! This would be Poppa Bear’s office for the next few days, as well as our meeting point. By the end of the day, we had all 15 palates in bags, organized by each stop, and they had the first palate built. The palates we put on the plane are much bigger than standard wooden shipping palates, and we filled 2 of them with A3 bags, over 5’5” high each. This would later become my bed on the flight. Little did I know sending so much gear for the troops would result in a comfortable place to sleep on the plane! What luck! The crew had everything organized and appropriately labeled by what was in each bag, and what base each batch of bags were for. It was very impressive, and will hopefully make our lives very easy when we get to each stop. Sitting here now in the plane, it is JAM packed! It’s awesome that we practically had no more space for anything else on board. We are bringing over the maximum amount of stuff we could possible bring on this tour. How’s that for maximizing the opportunity.
When we arrived on Friday morning, Heather, James, John and Warren already had the second palate all put together and ready to go. They were loading the plane at 1, so they were well ahead of the game. Now it was time to think about provisions. We were planning a cookout for everyone behind Billeting in the little pavilion, so we needed burgers and dogs (and beer!) for that. We also needed snacks for the plane, and other random supplies (zip ties, sun screen, TOILET PAPER, etc!) We also needed to ship a bunch of boxes, and pick up some rush banners that we’d had made. As the day ticked on and we took care of this little thing, and that little thing, time was running out, so Dave and I finally separated ourselves and went on the most amazing (and fun) speed shopping excursion I have ever been on! It was AWESOME! He had the list all made up, and we were flying around Walmart throwing everything in the cart that we needed. We FILLED 2 carts, including the underneath part, and walked out of there with $600 worth of supplies, in under an hour. There were definitely some high fives!! We rushed back and fired up the grill and proceeded to have an awesome time until 1 in the morning. Chip Kelly, the coach from Oregon arrived half way through the night, as did Blake. We had a lot of laughs, some great burgers thanks to Master Griller Dave, and a lot of beer! Pat and I engaged in the most hilarious tomato fight ever, and we had a great time. At 1, they needed to pop to the airport to pick up Coach Tim Murphy from Harvard, so the party broke then. We had a great time.
The next morning, I wasn’t as hung over as I thought I might be, thank goodness! Frankly, I was hardly hung over at all. Good old Coors Light! Today was the day for the 5K that Nick Mercurio (Call Sign Lois….now THAT’S a funny story) the Public Affairs Officer assigned to our tour had set up. There was also a signing with the coaches, burgers, a 40 yard dash competition and a flag football game. It was a great day, filled with Under Armour Raffles, and good healthy fun. We got to know the people on our tour a little more, and interacted with a bunch of people on base. It was a beautiful day despite very strong winds. (Kansas in windy!) We had a great time, and before you knew it, it was time for a quick shower, and our final party before the departure. The coaches went to Scotch and Sirloin with the General who is on our trip and the Friends of McConnell. The rest of us went to Pat’s house for a more casual get together. More bonding and getting to know eachother. Around 10, the coaches showed up, there was a ra ra session, pep talk, briefing, whatever the hell you want to call it. We were all fired up. We were leaving tomorrow!!! Charlie and Dave took my rental truck back to the airport (that had transported MANY people, and TONS of supplies) and picked up the last of our 4 coaches, Coach Rich Ellerson from West Point. (Coach Zook from Illinois had arrived at around 3pm that day.) The crew was assembled, and it was time for bed. We didn’t get back to Billeting until around 11:30pm, and I still had laundry and we had to pack. Finally around 1pm I was all ready to go, and tried to lay down for some sleep. I was pretty excited, but managed to get some rest.
Which brings us to this morning! We met at LRS at 0830, packed up some remaining things, and went to get fitted for our Kevlar vests and helmets. (we are going into a war zone you know!) Then we headed to lunch, and waited for the plane to be ready. We were scheduled to leave at 1400 and we ended up leaving at 1430. If you had told me at 0830 this morning that we’d pretty much take off on time, I would have laughed in your face. It was amazing how everything came together. It’s great to work with people who are efficient and focused on a task. Wow! So here we are on the KC135 somewhere over the Atlantic headed to Germany. The plane is packed to the gills and everyone is very excited. At every stop, we’ll unload a little more and a little more gear, so on the way home, this is going to be a pretty empty plane. Should be a fun contrast.
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