More Pictures - The Trent Report

Trent sent another set of pictures, and though I have been posting a lot lately, I had to add these to share. The first three are from when he was training before deploying. The rest are from Iraq.

Trent qualified sharp shooter (on the 9mm) before leaving but had to requalify when he went for pre-deployment training at the CRC. There, he qualified expert, I believe. I wonder which qualification he gets to wear since one is from the Coast Guard and one is from the Army.

Trent's "CHU"

Dust Devils / The Trent Report

Trent e-mailed us this photo and called it the Dust Devils. I thought I would share it. They had just been out in a dust storm and are in the necessary dust storm gear.

Sitting Waiting Wishing / The Trent Report

Trent has passed the half way point of his time in Iraq. I think if he ends up staying an extra week until his replacement arrives, this is still true, but I could be off by a day or two.

In the last week, job assignment season has kicked in full force. Trent had to put in his "dream sheet" after looking at the "shopping list" last fall. New jobs pop up from time to time of course and then, if interested, you just alter your dream sheet. Early this month the Commander's List (O-5) of job assignments went up. A couple of weeks went by to allow those individuals to say yes, to choose to retire, etc. and now placing the Lt. Commanders (o-4s) is in full force. Late last week, Trent e-mailed me with a list of new job codes that were up. He then talked with his program director and later to his detailer. The fun part of this is getting to hear from Trent even more often. Now, however, comes the sitting waiting and wishing. That is a great Jack Johnson song by the way. Trent has updated his dream sheet for the last time, and we should know in a week give or take where we are headed this summer. We feel fairly confident that we have a good idea what job Trent is getting, but since nothing is final until it is final, I won't speculate on the blog.

Also on the sitting, waiting wishing note, February is almost over, and I still haven't received my two copies of the Naval Law Review. That is right. This is the month in which Trent's paper is supposed to be published, and they are sending us two copies. I have read the paper several times, but I would really like to see the final edit on it. I am not surprised that it is a little slow, but I still wait for it every day.

On a final Trent Report related note, Trent's replacement has been named. I am admittedly biased, but I think it reflects well on Trent that his replacement comes from the Coast Guard. The fact that Trent is in the Coast Guard is not why he is there. He works for CLAMO (the Army's Center of Law and Military Operations) right now, and he is who they got when they asked CLAMO for someone. CLAMO doesn't have someone of the same rank available to replace Trent, because that individual will be in Afghanistan. Instead of looking elsewhere in the Army JAG Corp, they are replacing him with another member of the Coast Guard. There could be several practical reasons for this including the Coast Guard's own desire to be involved with Multi National Forces Iraq. I, however, choose to think that it does, in part, reflect well on the job Trent is doing.

Six more weeks and change.

The Trent Report / How's the Weather

As I am writing this up, we are on our second day of cancelled school for snow and mainly ice. The temperature is finally high enough that the rain is melting the ice on the driveway. The tree branches and bushes are still iced over though they are melting as well. A couple of weeks ago, we woke up to a 56 degree house. The weather report said it was 3 degrees outside. When our home teacher called to check on us, I learned that heat pumps stop working at around 20 degrees. Boy did that explain a lot (like why the house fell to 56 degrees overnight). Thank goodness for the propane fireplace. It heats the living room up quickly and well.

You get the idea. It is winter. Therefore, it is cold. Our highs are going to be in the upper 40s for the rest of the week. We might see the 50s on Sunday.

Trent has been able to call us every Sunday he has been gone so far. They are short calls, but it is always great to hear from him. It means he is working late, but I guess that is o.k. He is currently working at Camp Victory rather than in the Embassy and has been doing some operational law work. He is doing well overall. We got a package off to him this week, so I guess we will see where it falls in the 1 to 3 weeks time frame.

Why do I bring up our cold weather? It is because Trent noted that it is still "cool" there. He says he has to wear his fleece in the mornings and evenings but takes it off otherwise. I looked at the 10 day forecast for Baghdad. They have forecast highs in the 70s and lows in the 40s. Cool indeed. This last Saturday, it was a warm (50s) and sunny afternoon. I felt like a cat or a reptile in my attempt to bask in any ray of warm sunshine I could.

The funny thing is that when these things happen, it seems that Trent is out of town. In California summer of '06, we had a few days of over 100 degree weather. Our house didn't have an air conditioner, because with a few exceptions, we didn't really need one. It got so hot in the house that I slept all the kids downstairs with a window open and fan blowing on them. Our great friends, the Perrys, took pity on us and entertained and fed us all Sunday one day so that we could be somewhere where there was air conditioning. Trent was at scout camp that week where the temperatures were pleasant. It is somewhat ironic that for the super cold spell, he is in a more moderate climate.

The Trent Report / Safe Arrival

I thought I would post quickly and let those interested know that Trent made it safely in country. He was able to call us along the way at his various stops and let us know how he was doing. He called early this afternoon, nighttime for him, as a "morale call" to let us know he made it and was safe. He has had a bit of a cold, but he is starting to feel better, and having to be up all night to catch his final connecting flight helped A LOT with the jet lag, so he should be good to go for work tomorrow morning, which will start about the time I go to bed.

The Trent Report / Another Uniform

Trent's deployment means we add yet another uniform (well uniforms I guess given that he has more than one desert uniform). I was sewing the insignia on the other night and talked to a Coast Guard acquaintance about re striping his bravo jacket and tux with his new rank the other day. This got me thinking about how many uniforms he has. There is the uniform he wears most days here at the JAG School, the ODUs (Operational Duty Uniform). It also has an impressive parka for the winter.

There are the trops, which he wore most every day in California. It also has a sweater to wear in cool weather and it's own jacket.

His Bravos for Court and other occasions

His dress whites

and a tux that he has most of the pieces but not all of yet and hasn't had to wear yet but will to the next formal event of any kind now that he is a Lt. Commander.

Now, I am sure this really isn't that many uniforms if I compare it to suits and shirts and ties and all of that that he would wear otherwise. It just feels like it. I also don't want to sound ungrateful, because the Coast Guard outfitted him with his desert uniforms for which I am very grateful. It is just kind of fun and funny to catalog them all.

Oh, I almost forgot, each uniform has required shoes and cover (hat). Therefore, he has 4 different pair of shoes and 6 different covers.

I guess we should consider this menagerie of uniforms the first Trent report. I will try and keep an update every now and again of how he is doing for those interested.