Settling in and Preparing for Departure

The commander’s guidance was that all the new lieutenants should come to Kuwait in a large group. This would allow for consolidated in-processing and arrangement of professional development courses upon arrival. What this translated to for me, was more time in Germany before deployment. Because, I would be unable to stay in temporary lodging on post for more than 60 days, I set my self hard at work finding a car and a place to live (realizing the former would likely be a requirement for the latter). By the end of March, I finally found what I was looking for in both categories. I picked up a used, 1998, BMW 525, diesel, station wagon for around $4,000. I wanted a station wagon so that I could carry large amounts of gear around (including a kayak and or bikes as necessary) and a diesel because they tend to get better gas mileage. I ended up having to put almost $1,000 extra dollars into the car on repairs and replacement parts, but it has served me well thus far and I hope it will continue to be reliable for the next three years, till I change posts again.

On the housing front, I had three necessary specifications: 1) that the house or apartment has a garage (not always a given in Germany), 2) that it not be on the “Dachgeschoss” or top level of a building as these always have slated roofs, which I tend to hit my head on, and 3) that it have enough space to store by large library and gear collection. Within the first week, I had realized that the Army housing office would not be able to offer me anything that met these specifications due to constraints they had (only certain size/bedroom allowance for certain pay grades and number of dependants); however, if I found my own apartment independently, I could still get the contract signed through the housing office. I did a number of searches both online and by looking in the papers (knowing German definitely came in handy here), and finally found a nice place out in the village of Theres (20 minutes east of Schweinfurt). The house met all three criteria. In addition, it was newly constructed (2005), had three floors and three bedrooms. At 138 m² it certainly had enough space to store all my gear and had a nice view of the surrounding fields and Main River Valley to boot. By the beginning of April, I had moved in and shortly thereafter my household goods from New Zealand had arrived. The US Army Europe provides basic furniture to single solders, on a loan basis, for the duration of their posting. Through this program, I received a washer, drier, refrigerator, kitchen table, chairs, desk, couch, bed, dressers (these are not built into German houses), and a few other things. This fulfilled my basic furnishing needs, but because my house was quite large and I did not own any furniture previously, I still ended up needing to buy a few things. There are many good shops around Schweinfurt that sell furniture and furnishing for reasonable prices, yet with the current Euro exchange rate, it still feels quite expensive. So far, I have bought a curio, two bookshelves, two industrial shelving units (for my gear room), lamps, and a vanity. I still need to buy quite a few things (to include another bedroom set, a new couch, and a patio set). These items can wait till after deployment however. Furnishing and decorating a new house is quite a large task, but I find it rather enjoyable.

 View from the living room toward the kitchen

Before leaving Europe, I tried to make the most of my weekends. Though going to the range and working on my hunting license occupied many Saturdays, I was still able to make it out on a couple big trips. The first was over the weekend of the March 9^th-11^th, when I drove down to Munich to visit my old friend Maik Gronau, who had lived across the hall from me when I was studying in Munich, and I had not seen in 3½ years. Maik is just about to finish up his masters at Universitaet der Bundeswehr and will be heading up north to be a platoon leader for a mechanized infantry platoon near the Polish border. While in Munich, Maik and I took a couple trips around the city. After paying a ceremonial visit to the Paulaner brewery (where we were able to get factory pricing for glassware and memorabilia, which I was pretty stoked about), I wanted to go see the “Innenstadt” (down town) again. We walked by the Rathaus, Frauenkirche, Oper, and the Feldherrnhalle. That afternoon, we drove out to Schloss Nymphenburg, where the Bavarian kings had their summer residence. I had never been to Nymphenburg before, but the grounds certainly were beautiful. Coming when the flowers are in bloom would be a magical experience I imagine.

 Paulaner Brewery

The following weekend, we had our “Jagerschlag,” or Hunter Initiation Celebration, after passing our final exam. The Jagerschlag was held at the Schiesshaus, a large, traditional, German restaurant located in the forest just north of Schweinfurt. The food was absolutely delicious. I ordered Bamberger Schaufel with Knodel. I had never had this dish before, though it was so delectable, I don’t think I will be able to avoid it in the future. We also upheld some hunting traditions, including blowing the hunting bugle, swearing the hunters oath, and getting rolled. All in all, we had a great night of fun, food, and camaraderie.

 Erik being presented his Jagerbrief

My last weekend before deployment, I was approved for a special four-day pass, and drove to Switzerland to visit my friends and host family from my exchange year. Since it was coming up on Easter weekend, the drive down from Germany on Wednesday night took longer than expected, and I did not show up in Bern until quite late at night. In Bern, I stayed with my host brother, Christian, at his Wohngemeinde (shared apartment). Christian is going to University in Bern and studying sports. On Thursday, I did a self-guided tour of Bern as Christian had class in the morning. I am quite familiar with the city and had a hit list of places I wanted to revisit including Zumstein Stamp Shop, Swiss Philatelic Bureau, Clock Tower, famous fountains, and the Swiss Alpine Museum. Around noon, I met Christian at the Bundeshaus and we headed out to the Altes Tram Depot for lunch. The Depot has since been converted into a brewery/restaurant and is located right next to the newly renovated Baerengraben. In the new enclosure, the bears have the ability to swim in the Aare River and climb trees, a great improvement on their old concrete jungle. That evening, I made the 20 minute drive into Speiz, where I would stay at my friend Florian Gomez’s house. The Gomez’s are always so welcoming, and even though they had a large gathering for the holiday, the still invited me over. They always prepare the absolute best cuisine as well, and I am always spoiled when I stay with them. On Friday, Florian, Oliver, and I went on a hike up the Justiz Valley. We were a little concerned about the possibility of excessive snow at higher elevations, but the recent warm temperatures had taken care of that. On our day trip, we basked in the sun, and lucked out on seeing both Ibex and Chamois, which is relatively rare. On the way back, we hiked though the “Sheep’s Hole,” a tunnel drilled high into the mountains as a defensive fortification during WWII. The Swiss made many such preparations due to the treat of a possible Nazi invasion. In typical Swiss style, the plan was to retreat to the mountains and fight out of many such alpine fortifications. On Saturday and Sunday morning, I went around visiting three of my old host families (the Gerber’s, Prior’s, and Schranz’s) and my old Rotary Counselor, Herr Pfanner. They are all doing quite well and I enjoyed far too much good food and coffee in the various visits. In addition, I got to go back to the picturesque villages, where I used to live, surrounded by crop fields and majestic views of the Alps. Switzerland has to be one of the most beautiful places on Earth. After a nice, long weekend, it was time to drive back to Germany, pack my bags, and prepare for the next stage in my life: deployment.

 Erik by the Aare in Bern

Transition to Europe

It is hard to believe that just over a month ago I landed in Frankfurt.  So much has happened in those few weeks, it is quite incredible.  The wheels started turning on EBOLC Graduation Day (4 February), when those of us with “wait” slots to Sapper school (6 lieutenants) were informed that all wait slots were cancelled.  This meant we would go straight out to our units, so I quickly sold my pickup truck, packed my bags, shipped out my household goods, turned in my TA-50 (military equipment), and got a ticket to Germany.  Five days later, I was walking through Frankfurt airport and catching a military bus out to Schweinfurt (a similar military bus would get assaulted two weeks later by a deranged Kosovar-German terrorist, resulting in the death of two airmen).  I spent the next few weeks going around post simultaneously conducting in-processing and pre-deployment processing.  The weekends have been mostly free though, allowing great opportunities for travel.

The first weekend in country, my sponsor, 1LT Ed Mallue, and I drove to Switzerland to go skiing.  The skiing in Laax was less than ideal due to low snow conditions, but the weather was fantastic; crystal clear skies and nice temperatures.  We spent the night at Christian’s house in Chur, enjoying fine views of the Alps from the hot tub in his back yard.  The warm water was a great respite after a long day of driving and skiing.  On Sunday, we drove back by way of Lichtenstein, taking a close look at the prince’s residence (a medieval castle) and making the most of our fuel rations (only good in Germany).

Over President’s Day weekend, (the 18^th to the 21^st of February) a group of LTs including Ed and myself headed to Rome on a Ryan Air flight.  We spent two days in the eternal city checking out the sights including the coliseum, the pantheon, St. Peter’s, and Castel Sant'Angelo before taking the train south to Naples.  In Naples we enjoyed some good food and went to watch a SSC Napoli soccer game.  The Napoli fans are crazy, setting off all kinds of flares, and throwing anything they can get their hands on from the upper decks.  Napoli won the games, which I am very grateful for, because if they had lost, I fear there might have been a riot!  The trip to Italy was lots of fun (with tons to see), but it made me realize how much I really love Germany and the Alps.

Erik at the Coliseum

In mid-February, I began taking hunting courses arranged through the military Outdoor Recreation office in order to obtain my “Jagdschein” or German hunting license.  Since starting the class, I have been at the range every weekend shooting pistol, rifle, or (most commonly) shotgun.  Having never shoot trap and skeet before, I have been gaining lots of experience.  Yet, experience comes at a price, and in this case, that price is calculated in Euros (gulp).  It seems that every weekend I go to the range I end up spending close to $100.  Shooting is not a cheap sport in Germany!  It will certainly be nice to finally get my Jagdschein though.  The final exam for the course is in a few weeks, and as long as I have not deployed by that time, I cannot foresee any problems.

From March 7^th to the 11^th, I spent the week at Grafenwoehr conducting “Theater Specific Individual Readiness Training” (TSIRT), with a dozen other soldiers from my battalion, in preparation for deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.  The course functioned as a good refresher for such topics as IED recognition, heavy weapons disassembly/reassembly, field first aid, and counterinsurgency strategy.  We also had the time at the range allotted for zeroing and qualifying on our assigned weapons systems (hooah- iron sights M16!).  I guess construction troops are not at the top of the list for receiving high speed equipment…  In other news, I will not know definitively what company I am going to until I arrive in Kuwait.

The last couple weekends have been spent closer to home and looking for a new home.   Going to the range every weekend really hampers travel opportunities.  I spent one weekend visiting relatives in Aschaffenburg and another celebrating Carnival in Cologne.  Last weekend, I remained in Schweinfurt and made a big push to try to find an apartment.  It is not as easy as one might think, but hopefully in the next couple of weeks things will really come together and I will be able to move in.  It will be nice to finally have all of my household goods.  I really can’t wait till the skis, packrafts, and kayak arrive…

Carnival parade in Cologne

Well, I’m at the airport waiting for a flight to Sweden.  Living in Europe certainly is grand.  It is nice to have friends all around the continent to be able to visit.  You all make life interesting.  Cherrio!

The Uncertainty of January

Big news in the beginning of January, I now have a “wait” slot for Sapper School.  This means that if they have open slots for the class I may be able to walk on to the class beginning February 10^th.  This is good news, as I really want to go to Sapper School and it is only a month long, thus taking less time out of my deployment than Ranger School would.  Sapper School is the combat engineers’ small unit leadership school.  It is very challenging and meant to test you in nearly every way possible (physical, mental, and psychological).  To top that off, the February class is the closest of the year—Essayons!

The final few weeks of BOLC have gone very well.  We finished up our last block of instruction on stability operations (think counterinsurgency) two weeks ago.  This block arguably has some of the most important material for the missions that we will be conducting downrange.  As a class, we also completed a large Capstone briefing, which was presented and critiqued by a Lieutenant Colonel and Command Sergeant Major.  I was chosen as the S2 (intelligence officer) for our class and had the privilege of intensely researching our area of operations (AO).  S2 briefs analyze infrastructure, capability, and leadership of the AO, along with the composition and disposition of enemy forces, the terrain, weather, and so forth.  It is a job I enjoy and excel at.  Overall, our briefing as a class went very well and we received kudus from the panel.

MLK Day Weekend was a four day weekend, here at Ft. Leonard Wood.  My friend, Andrew Sauceda, and I decided that we wanted to go skiing out west and settled upon Lake Tahoe as the best option as they offer free lift tickets to military service members.  We flew into Sacramento on the 14^th and were greeted by a warm sun, palm trees, and green grass (the first I had seen since October).  The drive up to Tahoe was picturesque and the skiing was even better.  Though we did not get any fresh powder, we did have some very nice spring skiing conditions.  We built up our confidence on the first evening during some night skiing at Squaw Valley, were the 1960 Winter Olympics were held.  The following day we headed over to Alpine Meadows and enjoyed fine skiing with exquisite views of the lake.  We made sure to hit up the double black diamond runs and the jumps in the terrain park for good measure.  That evening we crossed the state line (all of 100m from our hotel) and hit up the casinos of Nevada.  I spent the herculean sum of $4 on slots and decided to pocket the rest of the change.  We did some people watching and found a great place to have breakfast for $5 in the casino.  Sunday provided great skiing yet again, coupled with an early turn into bed as we had to catch a 0600 flight out of Sacramento the next morning.

In the two weeks following MLK Day Weekend, we ran our final Army Physical Fitness Test.  The class had improved substantially since our initial test in September, and I did better in nearly every event too, scoring a 294/300 (although I was shooting for the max).  I’m pretty proud of my run time (12:32 two mile), which placed me 3^rd in our class of 66.  Granted, we did run at 25F temperatures, which probably gave me an advantage.  Last week we completed our final Field Training Exercise (FTX).  We were in the field four days and ran six separate missions including a dawn raid to recover a pilot taken hostage.  I was the platoon leader for one of our missions, which involved doing an infrastructure analysis of a village we were looking to assist in improving.  For the entire FTX, we used paintball guns, which was good fun.  It also allowed us to see who actually got shot and where they were hit (two big improvements over blanks).  I got shot once in my body armor, I’ll be sure to wear that stuff downrange!

This coming Friday is our graduation from BOLC.  It has been an interesting experience.  Exasperating at times and intriguing at other; a good transition back into the Army overall.  I’m looking to turning the leaf over now.  Hopefully I’ll get into Sapper, but hey, going straight to Germany is not all that bad either.

An Alaskan Christmas: A Tale of Cabins

I know it is a little strange to be writing about Christmas when it is already February now.  Yet, in my defense, Fort Leonard Wood now feels more Christmasy than ever before.  With six inches of snow on the ground and post shut down for the past two days due to a “severe winter storm” (mid-westerners seem to have a different definition of that than Alaskans), I’m in quite a jovial holiday spirit.  Plus, I don’t want to leave any chronological gaps in my blog!  :-)

“Exodus,” what the military seems to have dubbed Christmas break, began on December 18^th this year.  Two weeks were scheduled devoid of classes allowing BOLC students to take leave for the holidays.  While some lieutenants decided to hang around Ft. Leonard Wood rather than burn up precious leave time (pity their souls), I decided to use the entire 16 days of leave, and jumped right into action.  On my first day back, I hit the Beach Lake XC ski trails with my dad and Doug.  After a couple hours of good cardio, we stopped by Doug’s house to try out some of his home brew, (which by the way is mighty delicious).  As a family, we also went to church on post and had a nice candle-lit enhanced service where the candles provided not only auxiliary light, but also the primary form of hearting as the furnace had been turned off.

One of my goals over the holiday was to spend as much time outside as possible, and I accomplished that quite well, going skiing or sledding everyday save Christmas.  I was amazed by how many of my friends were home from work and school as well.  On the 21^st we went to over to Patrick McCormick’s house for the annual winter solstice bonfire, where a number of congregated and schemed plans.  The following day, I skied a community relay race at Kincaid with my dad and some friends.  That is when the weather started to get real cold.  During the race, the temperature hovered in the single digits and breathing hard made your lungs burn.  On the 23^rd, when Clint, Ian, Michael, and I skied around the Eagle River Nature Center as a warm-up for our upcoming overnight trip to Crescent Pass, the temperatures at the river dropped below zero.  We took it slow and easy that day.  I learned that long johns and swix pants were not going to cut it for the upcoming trip, so I beefed up my gear list in preparation for our trip.

Christmas Eve at Alyeska is always a riot.  Dress up as old Saint Nick and you can ski for free (saving $60 was more than worth making the costume preparations).  Michael, dad, and I drove down and before evening getting on the lift, we linked up with a pair of costumed figures we knew, Matt and David Smith.  We now had a true Santa ski party going!  Due to the cold weather, the slopes were almost all ours too.  With a handful of other Santa’s and a few less-spirited individuals to contend with, we tore up the slopes.  By the end of the day, I could not feel any of my stiff, white toes, but boy did I have a big smile on my face!

Christmas day was filled with the usual fanfare, opening presents, eating good food, and calling relatives.  The signature, not-to-be-missed Tomsen Christmas dish is Alaskan king crab.  This year, mom planned well in advance and bought a 15 pound box of king crab at the Commissary when they had it on special.  What a feast that was!  (Don’t be a gluttonous fool; we only finished off a few pounds worth).

The four days following Christmas were spent on overnight cabin trips with high-school friends.  Firstly, Patrick, John, Nicholai, Gina (Nicholai’s fiancée), and I skied up the Eagle River Valley to a hut owned by Patrick’s friends.  We arrived rather late after crawling under numerous aspen trees bent over by the weight of the snow.  The cabin warmed up nicely however and we enjoyed a fine dinner of bratwurst only topped by John’s pancakes the following morning.  This was the first trip that I managed with these guys in half-a-decade (reminiscent of good times floating the Kenai and Willow), so I’m glad we pulled it off.

The following trip, which I devised weeks ahead of time, would take Ian, Clint, Michael, Katrina, and I seven miles up the Carter Lake Trail to the Crescent Saddle Cabin.  Lucky for us, the weather warmed up slightly and the trail was well broken it (perhaps too well broken in?) by snowmachiners.  The first two miles of trail ascended out of the Trail Lake Valley.  The climb was steep and most chose to forgo their long, fumbling skis for the ease of packed snow and boots.  Being an adamant skier, however, I retained my skis for even the steepest parts, when even the herring-bone wished to slide and the wood-filled sled threatened to drag me back down the hill.  Upon reaching the crest, it was easy skiing all the way to the cabin, much of the time over the frozen surfaces of lakes.  The worst bits involved overflow, where slush and water coat the surface of the otherwise frozen lake.  Pass through this and your skis transform into a powerful adhesive, collecting incredible amounts of snow on their bases and unpleasantly spiking the coefficient of friction.  After roughly four hours on the trail, we reached the quaint, little Forest Service Cabin at Crescent Saddle.  Clint and I immediately set to work chopping wood, while Ian stoked the fire.  Within an hour we had it glowing red hot and the cabin a pleasant 50 degrees.  Another few hours of cooking dinner, playing cards, and enjoying our little retreat and the cabin had hit 70 degrees.  The insulation in this place was simply amazing!  Before hitting the sack, we jammed a massive log into the stove (it was such a tight fit, we had to remove the bark!), set it alight, and retired soundly for a fine, warm night’s sleep.

The following morning we awoke to clear skies and six inches of fresh snow.  The crisp, pristine landscape which enveloped us as we departed the cabin was amazing—almost to the point of being surreal.  The blue of the sky and the white of the snow matched each other perfectly.  As we skied back across the frozen lake, I could not help thinking to myself, “This is what Alaska is all about.  Oh, how I’ll miss it when I’m out in the boiling sands of the Middle East.”  The steep climb we had ascended the previous day, turned into a four foot wide downhill alley, barely wide enough, and almost too steep to snowplow down.  Having burned all the wood we carried in, Ian claimed the now vacant sled and used it to toboggan down the hill at breakneck speeds.  I followed closely behind, managing to face-plant into the snow bank once or twice.  The trip was a resounding success.

That night, the 29^th, Jan arrived in Anchorage after spending Christmas in Hawaii and Oregon with her boyfriend Chad and his family.  After running some errands in Anchorage and going skiing at Russian Jack, the whole family headed north, to Jan’s cabin in Denali. On the night of the 30^th, we made Swiss fondue and enjoyed the simply luxuries of a cabin with electricity (and internet to boot)!  On New Year’s Eve, we Jan, Dad, and I went for a ski on the network of little trails that bisect the Denali Park entrance’s tundra.  We were passed by a few dog teams to add authenticity to the experience.  We gorged on another fabulous dinner that night (my sister has become a might good cook in the image of my mother).  Come New Year’s, it was time to head south again, back to Anchorage and an awaiting flight to the Lower 48.  Not before visiting my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins at their cabin in Talkeetna.  This final stop made me realize that perhaps Alaska nickname should “the land of cabins.”  And oh, how I love it so!