Vigilant Guard

Last trip with the HIANG I will miss these folks, we have good times where ever we go.  There was so much that goes on, and it is sad that I will never remember it all.  We went to Anchorage Alaska for CERFP training.  Our role is to go where there is a disaster and with our search and extraction team find people and decontaminate them. Our scenario was that there was a big earthquake, local groups were over tasked and we were called in to assist.  My job is in the hot zone doing triage.  I am part of a team of four and we suit up and spend anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour accepting patients and triaging them and then handing them over to the army guys that work the decon area.  We have our medics at the end to treat and take care of the patients.  After our shift we also have to be decontaminated before entering in the cold area.  The last day we suited up and went out 4 times.  The last day was the longest and there were a lot of Dvs (distinguished visitors) that had to see the show.  They were flown in by blackhawks and they landed nearby, so that was pretty cool. 

Our group was known as the dance group and we did have the most fun.  Even the observers (folks that were making sure we were doing things properly) thought we were a riot and even gave us dance request. There is nothing funnier than trying to dance in a plastic suit, boots that are 5x too big, and a PAPR.  Our final dance was the chicken dance while we were going through decon, and yes we were getting hosed down at the time!  Good times!  There are so many pictures.  Everyone was taking pics and I can’t wait to see them all and steal them.  I have some good ones but there are some of us dancing in our suits. 

Carmen and I lucked out and were able to have a day to do school work so we weren’t so behind due to this trip.  We are both graduating this month! WOOT!

 

Friday we got to see a wee bit of Alaska.  It was fun, cold, and a lot of wilderness.  Didn’t get to see any wild moose, did see some reindeer though.  Found out there is a shittier Whittier in Alaska.  I guess California can’t have all the fun! :P 

I am blessed with the people that have and are in my life.  I wish I could round up everyone and keep them with me. 

I love laughing so hard my abs hurt and I have tears rolling down my face, and that was the norm on this trip. 

I’ll load my pics, but I will constantly be adding to the collection due to everyone posting their pics on FB or in picassa.  
Below is a link that talks about what we were doing in Alaska.... if you want a news report ;)

http://www.nationalguard.com/news/2010/apr/27/alaska-hosts-vigilant-guard-exercise

Another weekend over

Well, no school work was completed this weekend :( I had my drill weekend. On Saturday I had the pleasure of going to Kauai to do some work and then stopped at Maui and Hilo on the way home. Got a lot of pics from the sky, didn't spend a lot of time on the ground except on Kauai and there I was working. I do want to go back and spend some time on Kauai. It's beautiful. A lot of chickens though LOL

Cute story of the other day-decided to spend a couple of hours at the beach cuz I need a zen moment. I had a bag of cheez its and when I opened the bag all these cute little birds showed up to beg. Usually they just hop around, but one little guy (or gal) actually flew up to my hand when I had a cheez it in my hand. I was surprised but I took a little piece and held it out to him and he flew up and took it out of my hand. It was so cute, I felt like Snow White (is she the one with all the animals or is that Cinderella that has all the woodland creatures hang out with her?)... it doesn't matter. It made me smile before getting back to school work.

Well, here are my pics from Saturday. We flew on a C26, ummm yeah it's a little smaller than I thought but it was fun. I'm not going to get into my school work till tomorrow. I have test in 4 of my 5 class this week. Not too happy bout that :(

Michigan

Well I survived my week of EMEDS training at Alpena Michigan. We flew out Friday night and got to Alpena Saturday afternoon. After a quick change into civies we took the good ol' blue bus to "town" and went to Applebees. When we got back Carmen and I scouted out the local area, where I took it upon myself to cut some wood due to the cold weather (see pics). Sunday started out overcast and rainy but we headed out to Mackinac Island anyway and it turned out to be a beautiful day! They don't allow cars on the island so it's all horse drawn or bicycles. It's a cute touristy town with plenty of fudge and salt water taffy shops. We checked out the fort, and needless to say that's when the picture fun really began. I haven't laughed so hard in who knows how long, my stomach was aching!
On Monday we had a day of classes, well... more like death by power point. It went quickly. On Tuesday we headed out the "the field" and set up a couple of tents and put some gear inside. Wednsday was training day and the PAM team went on a field trip to town (it is a cute little town) to check out a water treatment plant and a waste water plant. Yep, the second one stunk but heh somebody has to clean up everyone else's poo :P Thursday was the big exercise day. It went pretty well and before I knew it, it was Friday and we were tearing down the tents. Friday night there was a steak dinner for everyone, oh and a bonus it was my 33rd birthday. I had a great time! During one of our breaks on Friday someone started to look up how to say Happy Birthday in different languages, I was wished a Happy Birthday in over 10 different languages :) Good times!
I need to give a shout out to my old employer at the North Shore Soap Factory. They DO have mosquitoes out there and I used the beach bar soap and their bug-b-gone spray. Not ONE bite :D WOOT! By friday night everyone was using my bug-b-gone instead of OFF and whatever other chemical crap they were using!