VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 DESERT REFLECTIONS JANUARY 2007 A NEW YEAR IS BEGINNING INSIDE THIS ISSUE: HAPPY NEW YEAR! LT OSMOND BE- 2 We have also been having wonderful times COMES A LCDR Time is flying for us here in Kuwait. We are together as a team: Thanksgiving, MWR more than halfway through the deployment trips, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. You’ll COMMANDER’S 2 COMMENTS and definitely have a chance to thinking about read about our PROJECTS & 3 homecomings. adventures in this TRAINING We are beginning issue and see to hear from our some great photos. THANKSGIVING 8 AT CAMP replacements, BUEHRING and that is a good Know that we are feeling! always thinking of MWR TRIP 10 DECEMBER 6 home fondly and We continue to looking forward to CHRISTMAS IN 12 manage huge our return. KUWAIT quantities of pro- jects and have As always, thanks MWR TRIP 14 JANUARY 3 some project for the support and completions to love. We couldn’t share with you. do this without you! WEATHER WITH 16 BEATRICE FED-KU Enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner at Camp Buehring A BET TO 17 REMEMBER PROJECTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION FET LIFE 18 MASTERCHIEF’S 18 CORNER The FED-KU Newsletter is a monthly deployed newsletter generated by the FED-KU Engi- neers. This Public Affairs func- Laundry Trailer Floor Replacement tion is dedicated to keeping our families, friends, and Naval Moving Laundry Trailer... Facilities command personnel informed of our activities. The contents of this newsletter are The FED is managing projects unofficial, are not to be consid- throughout Kuwait. Here are ered the views of the U.S. Navy, pictures of some of the pro- the U.S. Government, including jects under construction. ...to a new the Department of Defense or (continued on page 5) location any other military services. DESERT REFLECTIONS Page 2 LT OSMOND BECOMES A LCDR On the morning of 05 December 2006, COL NAVY PRIDE IN AN Alexander performed the swearing in for ARMY WORLD LCDR Osmond at the weekly Command and Staff meeting. LCDR Osmond’s promotion is effective 01 December. "It was nice to be promoted in the field, overseas, while on active duty by Colonel Alexander, Area Sup- COL Alexander, ASG-KU Commander, pins LCDR Osmond port Group Commander for all of Kuwait. It felt historic as he gave me Third Army command coins for Navy flag flying proudly over Camp Arifjan my two young boys." A handshake from the Colonel and A Big Smile! Jeffrey Jay Osmond COMMANDER’S COMMENTS As I think back over the past few months together on this blessing the music and testimonies were. I remember deployment I am struck by the meaningful things we being so struck with the presence of God in that service in have all shared. I am reading a book by Fredrick that little church in the middle of the desert. Of watching Buechner called ‘Listening to Your Life’. In it he writes that silly movie together and laughing as one. Of our gift “Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that exchange and the laughter that peppered the game. I it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the think also of the new baby born to LT Piskin while out excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to here; the bitter sweet of a new life even while he is gone. the holy and hidden heart of it be- Each of us uprooted from our families cause in the last analysis all mo- and thrown together in this quilted, ments are key moments”. I am mind- patchwork family. Each of us dealing ful of these key moments in our with being away from our families, and shared lives that easily pass by unno- the sharing of this, drawing us to- ticed. It seems important to take no- gether. These are the key moments tice of these key moments we all that, in part, define our time here as share while out here. part of each others lives, sharing I’m struck during this deployment of these rich memories for years to the many such events and moments come. How such events as these that I will remember for a long time to seems to put the rest of life in per- come. I think of Thanksgiving and the spective and give meaning to why we time we all shared together. A sense are here. I expect we will each bring of family that seems a bit hard to ex- back something of what we have plain or hold on to: there was serving learned together to those we love. Thanksgiving in this very tall, very Somehow I don’t expect any of us will white chef’s hat and the meaningful come back the same as when we left; talk and laughter we all shared. Then we will have grown; each one. And for there was more recently the Christ- these kind of key moments I will al- mas Eve time together; sitting to- ways, always be grateful. gether in church and the amazing CAPT(s) Gean VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3 Page 3 PROJECTS & TRAINING FED-KU AT THE RANGE On December first, the Gunny: UT1 Wynia, BU2 Johnson, BU2 Begaye, CS2 Bat- FED-KU team met at a tie, HM2 Alaniz, CS3 Lewandowski, EA3 Buencilla and northern range to fire our SW3 Calder. The weapons with the assis- professionalism of all hands led to a safe and successful shoot. EA1 Patterson shows off his target tance of Gunnery Ser- geant Ronald Russell, LCDR Davidson, CDR Tryon, LT Piskin, EA2 Tuten, CAPT(s) Gean, USMC, attached to CDR Matis, LT Petracek, LT EA2 Fine, LCDR Vaninger and LCDR NMCB 5. Helping the Osmond and CUCM Foster Kern LCDR Watson, CAPT(s) Gean WASH RACK AND CATCH BASIN FOR THE DUST FACILITY DUST stands for Direct Unit Support Team. The wash rack nical expertise to overcome the obstacles, and to direct is a place for the cleaning of materiel handling equipment, the design to a successful construction. like rugged field fork lifts. It is As staff civil engineer to DPW, Mr. Galicia pro- part of the logis- vides technical expertise in all matters of civil tics support for engineering from soil capabilities to concrete Operation Iraqi and other contingency constructions. Contin- Freedom that the gency means for the purposes of providing a Seabees are structure to support the needs of the troops at building. NMCB the “tip of the spear”, the war-fighter. He has 5 poured 195 managed projects by both private contractors, cubic meters of and this, his first, with the Seabees. Many of concrete in a these struc- sloping form to tures that Mr. channel water Galicia has into a catch ba- completed are sin. The Environ- both horizon- mental protection tal and verti- service contrac- NMCB 5, Charlie Company, back row, cal construc- LCDR Osmond, left, and Arturo Galicia. tors pump out tion: from this and treat the waste water that collects in the basin, be- wash rack, to fore returning it to earth. prefabricated metal build- The Camp’s staff civil engineer, Mr. Arturo Galicia, was ings. Many of the project manager for the project, with construction the projects management coordination support from LCDR Osmond, support the FET South’s Troop Labor Coordinator. LCDR Osmond View of sloped wash rack with fenced catch basin Directorate of assisted the Seabees and Mr. Galicia in working through to the right. Logistics, unforeseen conditions that resulting in the Seabees which gets the submission to the FET of several construction administra- necessary supplies and equipment sent forward to the tion documents: Requests For Information (RFI) and Field battlefield and back to Kuwait for maintenance and Adjustment Requests (FAR). Mr. Galicia provided the tech- even to the US for major repairs. DESERT REFLECTIONS Page 4 MWR CALL CENTER WALL The Zone 6 MWR Community Center is a place where thusiastic sports the Troops can go to participate in a number of activi- fans made it hard ties. Some of these activities are board games, bil- for the Troops liards, ping pong, and that were trying video games. There is to talk to their a theater in this facility families only a as well. One of the is- few feet away. sues that the facility The South FET staff asked the Sea- team set up the bees to upgrade was job and NMCB 5 the phone center. The Seabees got the phone center is located job done. The New MWR Call Center Wall between the internet completed job café and the large has greatly low- screen TV viewing area. ered the volume level inside the phone center. TV viewers There were no walls are no longer a nuisance to the Troops using the phones. separating the TV view- ing area from the One of the Community Center managers, Amber Lee, said phone center. During "This wall is the best thing that has happened here in a sports events, the en- long time; it's our baby. Thank You SeaBees." Phone stations GUARD SHACK INSTALLATION The main living area at Camp Arifjan’s Zone 6 has been suffering from too many vehicles among the pedestri- once two more pro- ans. The Command Cell requested that two guard jects are completed: shacks and drop-arm barriers be installed to resolve the Bulk Water Tie-In and problem, and a troop labor project was born. Lighting improve- ments, Zone 6 will be After acquiring the shacks from force protection, the able to completely FET turned the Seabees loose with lumber, concrete close off the LSA to all and cable.