Retour au France...

OK, ok, so I've been back from Kosovo for about two weeks, just been slacking a bit on the update.  After getting back to France, and sort of getting back into the regular groove of base life, we were let out (more like let loose) for 3 weeks of vacation.  After that, it's back to Castelnaurday, where I did my basic training.  This time, it's for FSE12 AKA "stage santé", or for those not versed in the heathen language of the francaise, the medic course.  Should be around 13 weeks long, and then rapidly after that, it'll be another 10 weeks based in Castelnaudary for CME1 aka "stage caporal", or the corporal course.  So, I won't be back to St. Christol for about 5-6 months.  Unfortunately, Castelnaudary is somehow wetter AND colder than St. Christol...and we all know how much I just adore cold weather.  

As to what exactly I've been doing...well, it's kinda complicated.  Basically, we got to do a little of everything.  Nothing too exciting though.  The reality is, Kosovo is somewhat quiet, and although violence can (and occasionally does) break out, it did not happen while we were there.  Nevertheless, it was not a vacation, at least not for those of us at the bottom of the totem pole.  After spending the first month up north by the Serbian border, beefing up a checkpoint, as well as a small base (well, not exactly beefing up the base defenses...there was NONE before we started), we spent some time looking for unexploded munitions in the hills.  We demolished some guard bunkers at the main French base, and then spent weeks putting up new ones...I think at last count we used something like 4000 sandbags.  After that, we were kept busy rebuilding a school in a Serbian enclave, just in time for the start of school...not sure the local kids were totally down with that though.  And of course, they waited until we were 3 weeks out from coming back to give us our most dangerous mission, literally...we went poking around a minefield for, well...mines.  Thankfully, we didn't find anything dangerous.

Best part...interacting with soldiers from other countries.  Most were much better equipped than us, some were better trained, some were worse.  Some seemed extremely un-professional, others just made us shake our heads.  But in the end, we all had our jobs to do, and for the most part, got it done.  Some of us just laughed more.

Worst part...French military in general, but especially the officers.  I just cannot respect someone who does not lead by example or lead from the front.  If you're incapable of leading combat soldiers, puffing your chest out and yelling and screaming just don't help you look more competent.  You might be trying your hardest, but it just ain't good enough.

The Kosovar people in general are super friendly, but there seem to be an underlying sadness or resignation.  There are very little infrastructure and unemployment is very high.  The "country" has little to few natural resources, and although the countryside can be quite beautiful, there isn't much tourism.  KFOR (the NATO task force) and UNIMIK (the UN task force) pumps a lot of money in the local economy by employing Kosovars and buying local products, but if that cashcow ever gets cut off, then the economic situation would be much worse.  In addition, the market in Kosovo is quite dominated by blackmarket and/or pirated goods, and while that is ok for trying to catch the latest released movie on 3€ DVD's, I can't imagine the Kosovars making that much money off of us dudes in the camo duds.

And because pictures are worth more than some random sum of words...here's some photos from Kosovo. Some of y'all might not be able to access this link from a school or business network, as Facebook is frequently blocked...just FYI.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005043&l=a6ef6&id=1036871611

Edit...2nd (not the same) album

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2007854&l=60e2a&id=1036871611

Cheers!

Photo album Kosovo 2008

Public album on Facebook. Enjoy!

Off to another country

Off on my first overseas deployment with the Legion. Don't know what exactly I'll be doing, except that I'll be kept busy.

Hope everyone has a great summer! I will update if and when I can.

(Almost) famous and that cordite smell

December 2007 I spent almost 3 weeks in Paris conducting "vigipirate" patrols at the Eiffel Tower. Little did I know that I would end up in the March 2008 edition of "Kepi Blanc", the monthly magazine of the Legion. And apparently the same photo is in the March 2008 edition of the French Army monthly magazine as well. Cool experience though, no doubt about that. Now according to tradition I have to buy my section a case of beer...



Spent 2 weeks last month in the BFE of France, shooting and blowing stuff up. Managed to get some video's that y'all might enjoy...but no way as much as I did. I dialed down the quality so that it wouldn't take bloody forever to upload or download, but enjoy.


We went through (each) about 700 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition each.


Bangalore explosives, for breaching obstacles such as barbwire. BOOM!

Here's what home looked like while we were away...actually, it was just like where we were (but I forgot to take photos).

Happy Chinese New Year!

Just wanted to wish everyone a great Chinese New Year! Gong shi fa tsai!
Those turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 (?!?)...it's YOUR year! Just watch out for them cats.

Dave

I must have multiplied

OK, there seems to be about a million Dave/David Chen's on facebook.  But the link is up, and hopefully some content sooner rather than later.

Cheers.

Yup...still alive and kicking

So it's been a little while since my last update. The last 5 months have passed in a blur. Sometimes the day passes like a leaf in the wind, other times it's weighed down like an anvil in a forge. So what exactly has been occupying my time during this time? Well...2 weeks in August climbing mountains, getting the brevet for basic mountain alpinism. 2 weeks in September back at Castelnaudary learning to drive a truck like this . 1 week at Valdahon doing combat training, then 2 weeks at CENTAC (Centre d'entraînement au combat) playing war in October. Followed by another 2 weeks at CENZUB playing war again, but this time in an urban setting in November. After that, cleaning all the gear we used the previous 2 months. Trust me, they got used. Spent 2.5 weeks in December guarding the Eiffel Tower, finally got back the 28^th of December, and then finally had a break from the 29^th to the 9^th of January. Somewhere in there we had a military parade for St. Barbe, the patron saint of combat engineers (I had NO idea), which meant having to practice marching, singing, and all that fun stuff. I would have thought the Legion embraced St. Jude more than anyone else.

Climbing mountains was fun. We don't remember how many we climbed, and how high...nothing too epic, probably about 3500m maximum (11,500ft or so), including one where one side was France and the other Italy. The course for driving trucks was tough...first I haven't driven in a while, two the roads here are much narrower, the signs are different...and the truck had EIGHT speeds! I thought I had failed the course, but somehow managed to pass. The combat training was also quite...entertaining, although that doesn't quite describe the visceral experience. The living in a VAB for 4 days straight at CENTAC and CENZUB was not. It's kinda cramped in there, and not exactly well ventilated. After 4 days it was a total mess in there, and me usually being the low man on the totem pole, guess who got the privilege of cleaning it? I did get the chance at CENZUB to cart around a AT4 anti-tank rocket launcher in addition to the assault rifle. I'm proud to say I took part in the ambush and destruction (simulated, of course) of 3 "enemy" tanks. It's always the little guy that gets the big guns for some reason...never figured why that is. Guarding the Eiffel Tower was fun, and honestly pretty relaxed. All we did was walk around the Eiffel Tower with our rifles, and every once in a while point out where the restroom was for the tourists (for future reference, it is behind the EAST leg, open from 1030-2030). More of a deterrence thing then anything else, and photo ops for the tourists. By sheer chance (or karma), my group ended up spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day on patrol. Nope, Santa hats were not authorized attire for those days unfortunately. Something about it being "not reglementaire". Whatever. Spent New Year's Eve in Amsterdam with 2 fellow legionnaires. We were good (really mom!), didn't do anything too crazy or wild. Passed the night in an Aussie bar-turned-disco...definitely something to remember. Most assured, I will be returning there to explore Holland some more. Beautiful country, and extremely friendly people, and it seems like they all speak English (and very well, I might add). Spent the last week in Paris just louging around, finally did go to the Louvre and had a great time exploring Paris with 3 lovely ladies who are on vacation in France, and exploring parts of Paris as well. Can't complain about that.

Good times.

2008 promises to be just as busy as the latter months of 2007. I won't do anything silly like promising to update the blog or send out updates more often, but I will try. Don't know where I'll be going or what I'll be doing in any particular detail yet, and things usually change on the fly anyways. But rest assured I'll keep my head down and always checking my six, and hope that y'all do the same.

Oh yeah, before I forget...I'm trying to get on Facebook. Just encountering some difficulties on getting regular Internet access. Check for a link on my blog soon (within the next...2 months?)

All y'all take care now, ya hear?!?

These are probably NOT the only photos of me floating around on web with a gun at the Eiffel Tower. Plenty of Japanese tourists with cameras at the Eiffel Tower...can you imagine a camera the size of a credit card with 10x zoom and a super-bright flash?