Trained to Roll

This is the Vehicle Roll-over simulator.

The goal is to learn to get yourself unbuckled and get the vehicle door open if you have a roll over. It is easier said than done when you are wearing all of you body armor and gear

Kuwait Kontinues

We got up early one morning to head out to the firing range.  Finally in the daylight the vastness of the desert was obvious.  Nothing but small shrubby-lookin' things, certainly nothing that you would think could sustain a herd of Camels or humans for that matter, but I guess I was wrong, because on the way to the range we passed multiple camel herds near the road, each had a tent-like bedouin-looking structure nearby.  Humans are pretty resilient making homes out of such inhospitable climes.....

Behold the vastness.....


I was looking for some "CamelBoys" (middle-eastern cowboys) to keep them doggies rounded up as they wuz gettin' close to the road.  Must be easier being a Camelboy as you can try and rope two targets, head and hump. Just watch out for those camel pies.

                                                                     Camels! Camels!

Here we are at the firing range somewhere in the desert, always a dangerous proposition with a bunch of healthcare providers toting weapons with live ammo. This was more of a weapons check as opposed to qualifying, just squeezed of 5-6 rounds. The 9mm is pretty fun to shoot actally and I'm told it has good stopping power to boot! The range next to us was using full automatic machine guns and the tracer rounds were pretty cool to watch, my Star Wars lovin' kids would've enjoyed it.



I'm wearing IBA or body armor and sporting my warrior pose.

Kwazy Kuwaiti

First morning in Kuwait found me shaking loose the jet lag fog. Before crashing in the cot, the big debate was whether I should break out my sleeping bag or just use my poncho cover with my awesome Walmart fleece blanket, I opted the latter, it was chilly that first night.




Here is my tent while in Kuwait, large and spacious enough for a few close friends (30 guys) and it has an air conditioner that is very robust...brrrrrrrrr



This post has Taco Bell, Burger King, KFC and others, although I don't know why you would go pay there when you can eat at a very nice dining facility for free.



Here is the interior shot of our temporary abode. Lots of head space. You can see me here wearing one of the two approved uniforms for the next 6 months (my ACUs being the other, this is my PT uniform), it gives cause for reflection



I caught the Kuwaiti sun going down.....aw pretty.

Kuwait has some other cool stuff that I'll show you next time...stay tuned for camels!!!!  Whahooo!

Up and Over!

After through all the Georgia hoops we had jumped, twas time for a wee bit bigger jump across the pond. We were happy to finally get going (see smile below)




We flew into Bangor, Maine on our way to the middle-east. They have a fun tradition there of having a welcome crew out to welcome soldiers who arrive there for a layover as they get off the plane. I remember seeing newsclips about these folks that get up in the middle of the night to do this. Vets, boyscouts and various other organizations all participate. They take your picture and post it on a website so families can see their soldiers while they travel. They shook all of our hands whilst saying thank you. It made you feel downright good. It was fun to be a part of, just wish I had got a pic of them...





"Welcome to Bangor", so says the sign

We stopped in Leipzig, Germany after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. They had a little German goody shop with some pricey merchandise. I surely wasn't going to be lugging it to the middleeast and back. Twas tempted to get a mug however.





We finally arrived in Kuwait in the darkness. They had large buses there to take us to the nearby installation. Because Maj. Chris Yao and myself were sitting up front, we were in the "shooter" spots which required we carry live ammo and remain vigilant throughout the bus ride, while others slept. We did a great job keeping the vehicle secure. I did take a picture of the taillights of the bus ahead of us from my "shooter" perch.



Here is a picture of the brave protectors!!  Imagine having bus security in the hands of a couple of doctors...scary.  Although I did qualify SHARPSHOOTER with the 9mm!  Chris and I had an interesting discussion on California's Prop 8 vote, his stance wasn't very compelling.  The big things on my head are goggles with the cover over them...pretty goofy lookin'.  There's a lot more goofy where that came from.



After a few briefings it was off to bed....our first night in the "real" desert.

Let's Get This Party Started!!

Hello Family and Friends!

I thought I'd start a blog to help ya'll peek in on my deployment as it passes. I'm enroute to be a healthcare provider at Camp Bucca, Iraq.  Of course there are some things that I can't show or talk about (else I'd have to kill ya....har har), but the interesting things both great and small i hope to present.

Best Wishes,

Captain Ryan J. Larson

On 1 November 2008 after a long hug and kiss from my beautiful wife, I flew into Fort Benning, Georgia to the CRC (the place where they train us up to go overseas. The weather in Georgia was peachy for sure :)





We were placed in these rickety barracks during our stay. I'll admit it had been a while since I had 3 roomies and slept on a bunkbed (ie Larson home circa early 80's). The Captain on the opposite side of the room snored like a freight train! I can hear him still.



The Army issued me a lot of stuff for this deployment and I had to cram it all into these lockers in my room. It was crazy finding stuff in there!!



Mindy would go crazy with this kind of organization!




The facilities. Very Impressive.

We did lots of fun stuff at CRC.  We put the famous Army mantra "hurry up and wait" to the test and it came through with flying colors.  Lots of standing in line, lots of doing redundant things, redundant things, redundant things...Lots of bus rides all over the place and lots of lectures.  We did do some fun outdoorsy stuff like qualify with the 9mm Beretta at the range.  I did pretty well and scored a "sharpshooter" mark, not quite an expert, but the next level down.  The targets were pop up targets and you had to shoot them before they went down.  Talking with others, I did better than most, but then I've always wanted to  be a cowboy.

                                             This way to the 9mm range!!

                                                  Go ahead, make my day!  Look at the fear in the eyes of the man next to me.



I didn't tell anyone about my "special hand gun"



One of Ft. Benning's outdoor training areas. There are a lot of beautiful pine trees down south.



                  The wheels on the bus go round and round...........it was great to see a bunch of grizzled Army docs singing that song.  J/K it didn't happen



We learned (AGAIN!) how to break down the M9 Beretta and clean it (AGAIN!)




More stuff to learn in the classroom....life is a classroom.



When I finished cramming all of my stuff into 3 duffles and a small back pack it was time for everyone to line up their stuff and wait. The duffle with my body armor was VERY heavy, I'm glad I could order some enlisted soldiers to come carry it for me! J/K We had to lug them ourselves.



smile before lugging! (The uniform "ACU's" make my belly look fat, its not my fat belly causing that, I promise)



Finally, got everything loaded and it is time to get on the bus to go the airstrip to fly outta here!



First Seargent Pemberton "SGT P", gives us some last minute instructions. For a small dog he had a loud bark!!  He was a prior drill sgt afterall.




From left to right, Here is a portrait of Mark Devenport (the other LDS kid in our group and a pediatrician), myself and Lloyd Runser(FP doc from Alaska). We are excited to be on the bus.



The took us too an enormous hanger at the airfield where we ate some grub, had our bags checked and waited to get on the plane.



Here is a better picture of our fiesty SGT. P. Yap Yap!

Needless to say it was a long flight!!!!!!!!!!!

Next entry: Can't wait to get to Kuwait, I'm a Can'twaiti!