More gear has arrived

As the date for deployment creeps closer, the last of the new gear has arrived - a new digital camera, since my old one is slooow to start and have started to eat batteries faster, and a hand held GPS just in case I get lost or separated from the team while in Sudan. I've actually been lusting for a GPS for a while now, but couldn't really justify one for biking to work... but now that I had a proper reason I got one.

The other big thing has been getting everything ready at home for me to be away for a prolonged period of time - the problem is that while I know I'm getting home on leave, it's impossible to say before I'm at the team site when my first leave is going to be. It can be one month after I deploy, it can be up to three. The average seems to be two, but we cant plan based on that.

Part of the preparations is to stock up on dried and frozen goods, and there is no cheaper place in Norway for bulk shopping than in Sweden. So I grabbed the new camera and the new GPS and went on my way...

Three lessons learned:

1. The basic map built into the GPS is very basic - thankfully I know where to get more accurate maps for free.
2. The GPS is quite accurate (if you put the coordinates in the photo into Google Earth and Google Maps, you'll discover what parking spot I was using).
3. The camera requires a little bit of getting used to to make good photos.

The things I pack

I've started to pack, and among all the other things I've packed two 'things' I hope I wont need.

One is my huge bag of medications, bandages and field dressings - I've must have gotten more bandages and antibiotics than most people will use in a lifetime. Hopefully I'll bring it all home unopened - apart from the anti-malaria medication , that is ;)

The other is my 'protective gear' - my ballistic vest, helmet and respirator. All in tasteful UN blue, which goes so well with my blue eyes... The vest is a Class IV vest by the way, so it's pretty damn heavy to lug around.

Like the medication, it's dead weight until it's needed. And if it's needed I'll be very happy to have brought it with me.

It's heavier than it looks, but the armour plates can quite literary stop a speeding bullet

 I also discovered a neat touch with the vest - the apron that protects my groin can be velcroed in an 'up' protection, giving my guts and chest an extra layer of protection if I'm sitting in a car. The collar can also be folded up, at the expense of limiting the mobility of my head - but doing so will eliminate the gap between my helmet and the vest.

Of the stuff I pack that I do plan on using, it's mostly clothes - uniforms, socks and shirts - and off course the 'sundry items'; a pair of extension cords, a small ½l water boiler, sunscreen, sunscreen and more sunscreen, as well as food and utensils. Most of my food will off course come from local sources, but all indications points towards how nice it is to have something quick, simple and Norwegian for comfort food. With that goal in mind, as well as the need for food that will keep well unrefrigerated, I've invested in an ample supply of dehydrated dinners and instant soups. To top it off some crispbread and instant oatmeal will make it into the box as well, along with - perhaps - a sleeve or two of dry cookies...

Dehydrated dinners - simply add boiling water, wait for five to ten minutes and enjoy.

No Real Norwegian would forget to pack coffee...

Lots of spicy soups to combat the bland food - rice and beans feature largely in the local cuisine.

Sunscreen, sunscreen and more sunscreen.

For eating on the go - proper plates I'll get once I've arrived and gotten my bearings.

For when I'm REALLY on the go - courtesy of the Swedish Armed Forces (got it in Finland from one of the Swedish
instructors)

All told I have two medium sized bags filled with soft goods, a small (60x40x40) Zarges box with various 'observer gear' and a large (80x60x60) Zarges with everything else. In addition comes the backpack and bag I'll carry on the flight as luggage - which will include what little civilian clothes I need to bring along.

End of initial training - good to be home

Lets face it - cramming three weeks worth of lessons into two weeks are going to leave you winded. I've been home for a couple of days and I'm not sure if I've landed yet or not.

The medical cases on Wedensday was very good. Instead of doing a huge case (which would have meant a few people got any real training, while the rest would be mere spectators), they had us work one on one, complete with make-up, bleeding wounds and some decent acting. Some less decent acting too, off course; we're officers, not actors on the silver screen... thankfully.

As for the IED and mine/UXO awareness... very centred on Afghanistan, less useful for me, but the bits on mines and UXOs was worth sitting through. Off course things are simplified a bit as an observer, since the UNs Standard Operating Procedure for travelling in an area that you suspect is mined simply says "Don't".

Thursday was something of a ragbag of lessons they hadn't had time for earlier - including one on the laws of war - and ending with beer and pizza in the evening, since it was the last night of the course for the UN personnel. The guys heading out for NATO still had another week to go, but not me...

Friday was spend mostly driving.. driving from Terningmoen back down to Sessvollmoen (about one hour) to grab the last odds and ends of our gear, as well as changing anything that didn't fit. Then from Sessvollmoen to Lutvann (another hour) to get the latest intelligence brief on Sudan, before driving home (a bit more than one hour) in time for food.

Overall, a busy two weeks but hopefully productive.

First part of the second week

As I'm sure y'all can understand, I've been a little too busy to do much blogging - when I get to Sudan things shou slow down a lot... everyone I talk to who has been down there points out the laid back approach to life all the non-europeans have down there. If it don't happen today, it may happpen tomorrow - unless it rains and we can't drive anywhere.

Monday was - apart from driving up here in the morning - more briefs and 'exchange of experience'. A fair bit of the later was very Afganistan spesifi, but still interesting to understand what is going o in that part of the world and to reaffirm my determination no to go there if I can at all avoid it.

Tuesday was a medical day - starting with a brief about the healthrisks in the area of operation (AO), and followng up with a brief on how to cope with stress caused by extreme situations irncluding, but not limited too, the after effects of decades of civil war in Sidan. The cliff notes of the former is "keep your hands clean" and "don't panic, most critters will rather run away", and of the later they read "it helps to talk about it, the sooner the better" as well as "call family daily". The last advice I'll have no trouble following - even less so since the options include the sat-phone (paid by the goverment, but don't abuse it), the UN phone system (cheap as dirt) as well as a - apperantly - well built out cell phone network.

Wedensday is meant to be a pretty 'hot' day - IEDs and mine awareness, complete with a medical excercise. I just hope the weather turns at least decent... tuesday was very wet.

The list of nice-to-bring item keeps growing, yet stays manageble by the simple fact that virtually anything can be bought in the capital before I am deployed to the teamsite. Of the things experienced voices suggests, the top items are a waterboiler, instant soup and oatmeal. Most teamsites offers decent - if somewhat pricey by the local standard - messhalls, which serves big, filling lunches... that means only breakfast and an evening snack needs to be prepared in the container if I don't feel like cooking.

Time to get cracking... only a few more days of training, and the intructors are making sure we dont waste time.

Initial weeks, days three through five

One thing is certain - we're not lacking in things to do and stuff to learn. They keep us going from 0730 to 2030 and beyond - every single day. Mostly briefs, but also more hands on work.

Wednesday evening we had the official course opening at Løiten Brenneri - the old, local distillery. A decent enough dinner followed by a reenactment / show / walk through of the actual still. Quite instructive and rather fun, in particular the part covering the prohibition

Thursday was set aside - for the most part - for CAC, or Conduct After Capture. We've come a long way from the name-number-rank I was taught when I first trained... but then the focus has shifted from conventional war to a more, how to put it, fluid situation. Thankfully it wont really apply for me in Sudan - the danger there is crime, not crazy fundies.

Today we're going to have yet more briefs before allowed home for the weekend. I'm looking forward to that.