Questioning COT - (Korea) Day 350

Our old KATUSA in the old ROK army uniform during his ETS ceremony

Work call this morning was at 0830, but I ended up getting a call and had to go in at 0730. Our new KATUSA was supposed to be there, but never showed up and wasn't answering his phone. I left and when I arrived he was there, so I ended up going in early for nothing. I checked my email and printed out some copies of my orders. I also got one thing checked off my PCS checklist, I called lodging in Osan and reserved a room for the night before I take off for me and my wife.

We then setup for a KUB and afterwards I took our colonel up to the help desk that deals with all the secure systems so he could change his password. We then all headed to an ETS ceremony for all the KATUSAs that are finishing their mandatory service in the Korean army. Our old KATUSA was in it as well as my roommate. I've never seen so many smiles on KATUSA’s faces before! Once that was finished we all went to lunch at the R&R bar and grill here on post. It was a farewell lunch for me, our KATUSA, and our army major in the office. It was pretty cool because not only did our colonel buy my lunch, I also received a nice plaque as well as a certificate of achievement from our ROK sister office along with a business card holder. A very nice gesture from them for sure. I was also told that my award was not ready yet, so I am not getting it yet. The way things work it really would not surprise me if I did not receive it before I leave, but I'm just being a little pessimistic.

My goal after lunch was to get the rest of my checklist done today. I headed off to MedPros to get a PPD shot that is required before I can leave Korea. While I was there I also had my hearing tested. I knew before I tried to clear MedPros I would have to do that so I just got it done. When I finished I got a call from my NCOIC and I had to head back to the office to figure out some issues with my leave. When I got back there was a lot of confusion over my COT (continuing overseas tour) entitlements. I was told that I get 30 days of leave that is not charged as personal leave. The packet I turned in had my 30 days of COT plus a week or so more. For a bit I was told I could only take leave I've accrued and COT is not free leave as I thought, then my NCOIC looked up the regulation and found out as I thought that it is indeed free. The company then said I cannot take consecutive leave after my COT, I can only do one or the other. So it turns out I will only get 30 days leave, but it should be free. Knowing the army this will all get screwed up anyway…I'm not sure why I'm so negative today. Anyway I was able to make a new leave form and get it signed, but by the time I had it in my hand it was almost 1700 and the company was going to close. I'll have to do that first thing tomorrow.

Well I got three things marked off my "to do" checklist, but I've added quite a few more for tomorrow. I'm hoping I can get out for a while and get some of this done. By the time I got back to my room I had a new roommate already moving in. I knew it would be quick, but I didn't think they would have a replacement within hours of my old roommate leaving. The new guy seems nice enough, but he doesn't ever lock the door when he leaves which is going to drive me nuts.

I did some schoolwork and dorked around on the Internet for a while wasting time until I thought rush hour would be over at the gym. I guess with the four day weekend everyone was trying to get a good workout because the place was still packed even at 1930. It really screws up my workout, but I was able to make do with alternative machines when they became open. After the workout I headed back to my room and watched an NCIS before calling it a night.

the wife

You need to reiterate to me again when you need to be in Korea, and I need to know when we're leaving. I started second guessing the dates after we got of the phone. Love you my love... I'm one day closer to seeing you!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 02:40 PM

the wife

Crap, I meant Germany. Whoops.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 02:41 PM

Brandon

LOL...I'll chat with you soon :)

Tuesday, November 15, 2011 - 04:00 PM

Back Ache - (Korea) Day 340

SPC Roy checking out my iPad while the KATUSAs are getting their
safety briefing for the weekend.

Work call this morning was 0900. Today was a little strange at work. We had no meetings at all and didn't have any side work to do either. Our NCOIC ended up telling us to go ahead and leave at 1100 which was pretty cool!

When I got back to my room, my roommate was there and asked if I could go with him to the military clothing store. He wanted me to purchase some souvenir army sweatpants and sweatshirt for him. He's going to be out of the army for good soon and wants a little something to remember it by. Military service is mandatory for Korean males and is sort of like a right of passage for a young man. He'll now go back to civilian life and return to school at the university.

I purchased myself some icy-hot at the PX while we were out. I guess I worked out a little too hard at the gym on my back. It just started hurting pretty bad, I must have really strained a muscle. Back in my room I lathered on the icy-hot and then ended up taking a long nap. The nap helped, but I ended up lathering on some more and taking some aspirin. Hopefully it will get better soon, I need to keep working out because my PT test is on the 18th. I'm taking today off of course to give it some time.

I watched the movie "Shaolin" that PV2 Charlie let me borrow. It's a Chinese movie with Jackie Chan as a supporting actor. It was actually pretty good if you like martial arts movies. I was a little skeptical before I started watching it because it was a foreign flick, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's about feuding warlords and how some Shaolin monks get caught in the middle. They end up taking a stand using only martial arts against guns and cannons.

The rest of the night was spent doing schoolwork and taking more aspirin…my back is so sore….grrrr.

Clash of the Titans - (Korea) Day 192

Our ruck march to Han river in Seoul. Here we are walking right outside of post
(notice the concrete wall with barbed wire to the right)

This morning's PT was a ruck march. We didn't exactly have a ruck sack though, but we did have to wear our body armor as well as our assault pack filled with stuff. We were to report in front of the office at 0535. Everyone arrived (along with a special guest...the LT from our Protocol office) except for our sergeant. He overslept and when Special K called him, he said he'd be right there…LOL. While we were waiting the Protocol LT told us about one of the KATUSAs in the protocol office. First let me state that being a KATUSA is a coveted position by ROK soldiers because they get a lot of special privileges that normal ROK soldiers do not get. Second, protocol KATUSAs have one of the easiest jobs here, they just drive VIP guests around. Well one KATUSA told everyone that he was going to his barracks to sleep because he had a mission coming up. The actual mission got pushed back a day, so when their sergeant found out where he was he called him and told him to get back to work. When he didn't show up right away their sergeant called and asked what was up, it turns out that particular KATUSA took an office car and drove it to his parents house thinking that he wasn't going to be needed until later. The sergeant flipped out because it's basically stealing the office car and using it for your own personal use…and the KATUSA was lying about where he was and left post without permission. Turns out this KATUSA will be going to jail for 15 days and then will be put in the normal ROK army to serve out the rest of his mandatory time which is still over a year. He's going to be hating life.

We ended up going for a little over 4 miles for our ruck march once our sergeant arrived. It didn't feel like much while doing it, but when I got back to my room and took everything off I was soaked in sweat. I was able to get ready and video chat with my wife for a bit before heading to the office for a work call of 0830. Once there I did basic office work checking email and such. Special K and I took off with our office car to check it out for another week at the TMP.

At lunch our sergeant gave us money to go eat at the KATUSA Snack Bar and asked us to bring him back a to go plate. Me, SPC Mick and our KATUSA left, but it turns out our sergeant didn't give us enough cash. I had some extra Won on me, so I chipped in and settled the difference. No worries, both our KATUSA and SPC Mick have bought me lunch before.

While I was updating the events calendar, SPC Mick and our KATUSA setup for a meeting in the secret conference room. I heard when they got back that SPC Mick called "stand-by" for a two star general that was hosting the meeting, but there were already other two star generals in the room. The two star that he was calling "stand-by" for looked at SPC Mick and said "Are you crazy? There are already two stars in the room" and then proceeded to enter the room. It was all pretty funny when he was telling me about the incident. I was laughing about it the rest of the day.

When we got back we had to do some spring cleaning. We focused mainly on the colonel's office. Our new colonel is coming soon and there was quite a bit of dust around. We dusted, windexed, and vacuumed everything. We then went to setup for a KUB in our conference room, but the ROKs were still having a meeting in it. They were scheduled to be out, but showed no signs of leaving. I'm not quite sure what happened next but this caused a lot of tension between CPT Hooah! and a major in our office. At one point I thought they were going to come to blows! We ended up setting up for the KUB in an alternate conference room. The whole incident was pretty crazy. I'm sure CPT Hooah! wanted to just go in and kick the ROKs out, but the major wouldn't let him. Pretty Crazy.

We ended up staying until about 1730 waiting for the last meeting to end so we could clean it up before leaving. After we left SPC Mick and I headed to the food court where we ran into PFC Pickle. We all ate some Taco Bell together and then headed our separate ways. I headed back to my room for some schoolwork and then proceeded to watch Apple's WWDC…some awesome stuff coming out soon…I can't wait!

CIF - (Korea) Day 15

My Katusa roommate and his buddy visiting 

getting ready to eat some yummy Korean delivery food

Last night my KATUSA roommate took me up on the internet for food offer. He ordered some Korean food and had it delivered. I enjoyed some chicken with some great seasoning with vegetables and side dishes as well. It was delicious. It’s making my mouth water just thinking about it as I write this.

As we were sitting on the floor of our room eating we discussed more about being a KATUSA. I found out that even though they make the same amount of money as their counterparts in the ROK army, they do get a lot of benefits and amenities that the regular soldiers do not get. Staying in this room with me for instance is one of them. The ROK soldiers barracks have 12 or so to a room and they share showers and bathrooms much like we had to in basic, only they have to for the entire two years they are in. The KATUSAs also get to go home each weekend on leave while their counterparts have to stay. So in a lot of ways they are the lucky ones.

This morning when I got to work I ended up holding a door for all the officers coming to a meeting. Each time an officer would come near I would have to stand at attention and after they passed I would go back to parade rest. Funny the things I find that I’m doing now as a 25B...I am now a doorman...lol

A little later on in the day I did my actual job for the position I’m filling. It’s a pretty simple job just making sure everything runs smoothly. I just need to figure out any of the troubleshooting steps for the times when something goes wrong.

I took a break at lunch and headed back to my barracks for the internet to get installed. The guys came right on time and had it up and running in a few minutes. Right after they left I had my wireless router up and running in a couple of minutes. We are now good to go...I called my wife via Skype and it was so nice to be able to talk to her without all the background noise. I think I’ll be getting my money out of this after all.

Today was “bring your gas mask to work day”. At 14:00 we heard a siren go off and at that time we had to strap on our equipment. This is basically a bag that has our gas mask in it. We wear it on our hips. We had to keep it on our hip for about 20 minutes. During this time we didn’t have to take it out or anything...we just had to wear it. Not sure what this accomplished, but I did it and it’s done.

I then headed out to CIF finally to pick up my gear that the base will be issuing me. Luckily I had Special K and SPC Roy drive me there and help me out. I was issued a whole crapload of equipment. In addition to the cold weather gear I’ve been waiting for, I also got everything from body armor to a rucksack. Pretty much everything I had in basic and then some! Once they gave it all to me we dumped it all out to make sure I had everything that was on their list. We do this because when it is time to leave and you return everything, you will have to pay for anything that you do not return. So it is very important to make sure the list of what they say they gave you matches what they actually did give you.

When we left all three of us had our hands full carrying everything I was issued. We stopped by my barracks to drop it all off before heading back to work. We got back just in time for our sergeant to say he wanted to bond with us all a bit, so it was off to The Navy Club for a couple of drinks. I work with some great guys who go out of their way to help out the team. Even though the actual job isn’t exactly what I expected, I’m glad I have the co-workers that I do.

What is a KATUSA? - (Korea) Day 10

A photo I took of Seoul Tower from my barracks

Woke up this morning and planned on doing some cardio for my workout. I went to the gym which is right across the street from my barracks pretty much. This was the first time I've been in it, so of course I had to input all my info into the little machine at the door before I could go in. Once I was processed in, I went in search of a treadmill. Sadly the gym has no treadmills! They do have some bicycle machines and some elliptical machines, so I tried out the elliptical, which I don't really care too much for. I think weather permitting I'll just try running outside for my cardio days.

Speaking of the gym our sergeant said we all have to meet at the gym tomorrow on Saturday because two of our guys failed their PT test. Since we are a team we have to go in together. I didn't have anything planned and if we end up playing some basketball it could turn out to be fun.

The day started off pretty slow. The specialist that is training me (I can't keep calling him that…from now on his name is SPC Short) came in very late. He had to help out with a PT test I think. So during this whole time I just sat and read the newspaper at his desk.

The day was pretty slow. I was able to finish some online required training to get setup on the computer systems in the office. I was also able to turn in all my TA (tuition assistance) paperwork at the education office as well. I am now in the system and ready to start school. I should have a counselor contacting me within a week or two to get started. I can't wait, this has been a goal of mine for years and I have put it off for a long long time.

I had to find out a little more about the KATUSA today because I wasn't quite exactly sure how exactly they work out. A KATUSA is a Korean national that is in the ROK (Republic of Korea) army. It stands for Korean Augmentation Troops to the United States Army. They volunteer to be a KATUSA. I guess they have to take a test on their English and receive a minimum score in order to volunteer. All the volunteers are put in a database and chosen at random according to a ROK soldier I was talking to. A KATUSA helps out the US Army, they wear ACUs but with a Korean flag, and they report to the US commanders. Even though they report to the US commanders, they still attend ROK meetings and such. All Korean males have to serve in the military for two years and being a KATUSA serves this purpose as well. Our KATUSA seems like a nice kid. He's 22 and actually went to Ohio State University for his schooling. He works his butt off too!

The 11B (infantry) people stationed here at Yongsan started a drill today. They surrounded our office building with razor wire and closed most of the entrances and exits to get to the office. They setup a perimeter and then stood guard and checked everyone's IDs and bags. There are hummers and machine guns setup and they are all in full battle rattle. I saw them eating MREs for lunch. I heard they are going to do this for 24 hours straight. That sucks for them! It was raining when I left the office. They also closed a number of gates around the base for the drill, so traffic was pretty heavy trying to get to the couple of gates that were open.

The other specialist in our group (let's call him Special K) took our sergeant to a doctor's appointment today, but forgot to pick him back up. So at the end of the day the sergeant had him do some push-ups in the office…that was pretty funny. Special K is 40, so out of the junior soldiers I'm not the oldest! I was then given my first safety brief in my new unit. It consisted of SPC Short telling us to be careful this weekend especially if going off post. He made sure we all had each other's numbers in case something happened. Our sergeant then told the specialists to recite the NCO's creed. Then all four of us had to sing the army song and recite the soldier's creed. We didn't sound too good singing the song, so he had us do it again. The same thing happened with the soldier's creed…lol.

Now I'm at the food court using the free wifi before heading over to the movie theatre to watch The Tourist. Love that the movies here are free!!!!

Happy Birthday Sucka - (Korea) Day 9

A view from "Google Earch" of where I work. The big parade 

field (in the middle) is Knight Field and the building behind is the building I work in.

Today I woke up and did my PT in my room. I did a bunch of push-ups and sit-ups. My plan is to do that on Tue & Thurs then run on Mon, Wed, & Fri. I was able to make it to the food court after getting ready and chat with my wife for a bit too via Skype.

I went to work and did a lot of waiting around today. The morning started off waiting near a conference room for a general to arrive. He was almost an hour and a half late. There were colonels, majors and all sorts of other brass just hanging around waiting. When you're a general though, people have to wait on you.

I then was shown more about the equipment I'll be responsible for. I was shown how to turn it all on and gave it try one time before we had to go. There is a lot of stuff, but I think once I get the hang of it that it won't be too difficult.

A young Korean KATUSA (the ones who are in ACUs and help out the army) had a birthday today. Me and the two specialists I work with ran around the base getting him a card and a gift certificate that some of the officers in our office put some cash in for. During our trip we ate lunch at a little Korean cafe on base. I was finally able to try some of this food I've been hearing all about. I ordered some sort of spicy pork and rice dish. I also sampled from a number of items one of the Korean specialists ordered. Everything was pretty good…and yes I did try kimchi and it wasn't bad.

Once we got back we had a little birthday celebration, after having to do 22 push-ups (his age) the young KATUSA was then taken outside and given a beating. I guess this is how it's done in Korea…lol. We didn't really beat him but all of us lined up and gave him a number of fake or soft punches. He was then told he could leave for the day (after he took the garbage out…lol)

The rest of us had to do a little more drill and ceremony. This was more of the corrective training from the incident a couple of days ago. We have had to go outside each day and do a bunch of marching around in this field. Today was a little different though. Out of the blue the sergeant told me to post (get in front of the group) and then lead everyone around. It seems pretty easy to do when you are just the one following the orders, but it's a bit tougher when you are the one calling the orders. You have to call things at certain times and be in the right place the whole time. After messing up a bit at first, I got the hang of it and was able to have my group do the basic movements.

I went to get a special ID card today that will be in addition to the additional one I had to get in order to get into the building I work in. I had to go with a navy gal over to another building and we arrived there only to find out that their special ID card making machine was broken…try again tomorrow. I guess I'll be heading back there tomorrow, but this time we'll call first to see if it's fixed.

An exciting day in my new life as a soldier in Korea. Now I'm at the food court using the free WiFi. Unfortunately there were so many people here that I was never able to make and keep a call going with my wife via Skype. That was frustrating. I guess we'll just try again tomorrow morning.

That's all for now…over and out