My Desert Adventure

My last post?

2007-08-05T14:18:00.000+03:00

This could very well be my last post. Tomorrow, I’m “wheels in the well” and on my way to Kuwait. I don’t know if I will be able to keep up with this blog from there on not (the military is cracking down on bloggers and quite often, the websites are restricted).

My original intent in writing this blog was to keep my family and a few close friends informed as to what I was up to while I was over here. I purposely tried to stay anonymous by avoiding using certain key words—words like JCCS-1, RFF-611, EWO and a few others. But, I guess Google was smarter than me. From time to time, other Navy guys would say: ‘hey I know you, you write ‘My Desert Adventure’ ”. Well so much for anonymity! I guess it is a good thing—I was forced to keep all of my war stories closer to reality.

I had no idea what Iraq would be like when the “IA fairy” touched me last fall. It truly has been a fascinating adventure, one where I learned a lot and saw many things. I tried to write about as many as I could; from the mundane (like the fact they use old tank treads as speed bumps) to the downright asinine (like having to fill sandbags in order to eat lunch) to the political (just who is who over here).

I enjoyed writing this blog—it gave me an opportunity to reflect on the world around me, share what I was experiencing and get to read some really wonderful comments that helped so much to close the miles.

This picture was taken at my farewell ceremony last night. This may have been a relatively short chapter in my life, but a significant one nonetheless. At times it was difficult and frustrating, but in the end, it a very rewarding experience. I hope that I made a difference.

One thing that I know for certain: all that I accomplished over here, I couldn’t have done without the tremendous and loving support of my wife, Braye. She bore the real burden of this deployment. It is because of her hard work, dedication and love; I could focus all my efforts into my job. For her I am so very grateful. She made all the difference.

MPs

2007-08-04T19:01:00.000+03:00

For the past nine months, I’ve been serving with a Military Police Brigade in Baghdad. “Oh great”, I thought when I first got assigned here, “I’ll be working with a bunch of Cops writing tickets and checking ID cards.”
Nothing could be farther from the truth! To have a functioning democracy, an effective police force is essential. It is also something that is fairly uncommon over here. Saddam, the Shah, and other leaders used their Army to control the populace. The collation has been busy building the Iraqi Police into a functioning force. That is where our MPs come into play. They provide much of the training and logistical support to the IPs (Iraqi Police) It is a difficult job on so many levels. Our guys are outside of the wire every day, visiting local stations, conducting joint patrols and providing security throughout the country.
It is tough work. On the street level, some of these police stations are located in some of the worse areas of the country and Baghdad. We have taken a lot of casualties as a result. One guy I work with was hit by IEDs two days in a row. Sometimes, the local police are loyal to the insurgents. On the national level, inefficiency, politics and corruption make this a very difficult mission.
I have 18 years in the Navy and I have to say that this is one of the best organizations I have ever worked with. All the way from the Commander, down to the lowest “Joe”, these guys are professional, dedicated and very very good in what they do.
One thing that demonstrates what kind of leather their saddles are made of is the fact that they are re-enlisting. Since 9-11, there has been a huge demand for law enforcement professionals across the US. Any one of these guys can get a job in their home town, making 3 times what they are making now. Why don’t they? Well, there are many reasons, some stay for patriotism, some because of the strong bonds of camaraderie, but most of all, it is simply who they are.
Some members on congress say the Army is broken—I sure don’t see it. Of course, what do I know; I’m just a guy on the ground.

Curse of the Flamingos

2007-08-03T12:46:00.000+03:00

I’ve learned a couple of things while I was here in Iraq. One of which—Flamingos are pure evil. Just ask any trailer park resident in “Tornado Alley”. The other thing I learned was that wives are often more right than I ever realized.

Last fall, my wife gave me a pair of pink flamingos to decorate my trailer. On the day they arrived, I spoke with Braye on the phone and told her that I was going to put one in front of my trailer that night when I got “home” from work. She relied “OK, but are you sure someone won’t use it as an aiming point?” At the time I thought “Well… someone has been watching the History Channel without me” and told her something along the lines: “I’m in Iraq, what could possible go wrong?”

Well a few hours after the Flamingo went into the ground, a rocket landed about 30 feet from my trailer. No big deal really since it was just a baby rocket. I was just glad that rocket missed my cable. At the time I didn’t suspect the flamingo of any wrongdoing.

A few days later, the flamingo was stolen. I was very upset (I had no idea that I was for my own good). Luckily, I had a spare flamingo (doesn’t everybody?) I proudly put that one on top of the concrete barriers surrounding my trailer. More visible than on the ground. Pleased with my rebellious display of individuality, I went to bed. Just before I entered REM sleep, a bullet hit my trailer! Had they only waited 10 minutes, I would have slept though the whole thing.
“Himm?” I thought “no way could the appearance of a flamingo have something to do with my sleep being interrupted?” I quickly put the thought aside. Things from then on stayed relatively quiet, but of course that flamingo was also stolen the next day.

Several quite weeks went by and one of my guys found my flamingos! Once again, I displayed my free spirit side and I put them on top of my extra tall concreted barriers (for some reason, the group of trailers that I’m in was the first to get the extra tall barriers). Sure enough, a little while later, a big ole’ rocket landed just across the street. Definitely not a baby that time!

The third time was the charm and both flamingos went into my closet. Things have been quiet ever since. Since I’m leaving soon, I decided to put the flamingos someplace where they can do no harm…. Both found new homes near my office—one on the island and the other on an old fountain. I pity to poor guy that decides to swim out there and steal one—he won’t have any idea what he is getting into.

Travel

2007-08-02T18:14:00.000+03:00

Hey look a crab (no its not a sand crab!). I never thought I would see a crab in Iraq. As it turns out, they live in the lake. Had I known, I would have asked my wife to send me some Old Bay. Himm… I wonder what they’ve been eating over the years?

OK, I know that I’m going home and I shouldn’t complain, but the military really need to stick with things it understands—things like shooting people and blowing up things.

The military doesn’t send the “Freedom Bird” to a hub like Atlanta or Dallas, but rather Baltimore. Why Baltimore? Well, I guess people a lot smarter than me came up with that one. No airline uses Baltimore as a hub and not too many flights fly out of there late at night.
We are due to arrive at 8:00 pm. Since it is so late, we will either have to stay in the terminal until 0600 the next morning, get a hotel room, or try to catch a 3-stop flight that takes over 14 hours to get to P-cola. As painful as it is going to be, it will be more than worth it to get to see the 3 G girls.

RIP/TOA

2007-08-01T14:49:00.000+03:00

One of the many Army acronyms I’ve learned is RIP/TOA which stands for Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority. In the Navy, we just call is a turnover. Today, I am officially out of a job. My relief is fully up to speed and to coin another navy saying, “he has the conn”. Between now and Monday, I will finish packing and mailing stuff back home.
This is a picture of me and my relief. I am the one with the faded uniform and happy expression.

End in sight

2007-07-31T17:30:00.000+03:00

Well maybe it is a good thing that I’m heading home soon—I’m starting to run out of things to write about. Today I did more turnover with my relief and I had to turn in some more gear that I won’t be needing. I also found out that I’ll be leaving Kuwait sooner, rather than later which means the counter on the blog is right after all. I am so looking forward to coming home. Now that the end is in sight, I miss Braye and the girls more than ever.

Slow

2007-07-30T19:37:00.000+03:00

Time is dragging by now. I have pretty much turned over with my relief and the days no longer seem to fly by. Most of my things are packed and I have completed just about everything on my “check out sheet”. I still don’t know the exact date that I’m leaving, so that adds to it. Either way, I should be home by the 17th or so. I hope it is sooner so I can have some” daddy daughter time” before school starts.
Last night, I took down all of the artwork our girls made and the family pictures that had been decorating my trailer—so now I’m back to living in a box in the desert. I’m thinking about getting an volleyball and naming it Wilson to keep me company until I head some…

Packing my trash

2007-07-29T16:47:00.000+03:00

Today, I’m finally starting to get excited about coming home. Of course, I don’t know if that will be on the 11th or the 15th. The navy still hasn’t made up its mind. I packed my duffel bags today. It was an easy job since 90% of all the stuff I never used while I was over here. ( I never unpacked it) Not much demand for a chemical suit, entrenching tool, or a few of the other items I lugged here from South Carolina.
We did some more turn over stuff today and did a tour of most of the base. A few more days of turnover to go and I’ll be just clock watching. I turned in my body armor and ammunition today, so it looks like I won’t be making anymore road trips. Tonight is the Asia cup soccer game, so maybe it is a good thing I still have my helmet.

One thing I'll miss

2007-07-28T18:40:00.000+03:00

Since I’m getting so short, I’m starting to reflect on the things that I will miss once I leave here. Yes, there are things I will miss about this place. Of course, I won’t miss the heat, the dust, mud, mortars and most of all—being away from my family.

One thing that I will truly miss is the Soldiers.
I worked closely with one a National Guard infantry company from Texas. In previous wars, they were called “GIs”, “dogfaces”, “doughboys” or “grunts”. This time around, they refer to themselves as “Joes”. Mainly they are kids, but there are some crusty old timers mixed in as well.

As a Naval Aviator, I may have had a preconception that they guys on the ground were a bunch of knuckle draggers. Nothing could be farther from the truth. They are true professionals—dedicated to their jobs and each other. Once, while I was out on a mission, one of the Corporals told me:

“Sir, I’m glad that you are coming along…we make a good team... since you’re a pilot, you’re technical and since we’re infantry, we’re testicular, so together we’ll be fine”.

Yeah, I’m going to miss these guys.

Busy day

2007-07-27T19:57:00.000+03:00

Today was a pretty busy day-- some days are like that. I went in around 0630 and I didn’t get out of there until 2000. Even after all of these months, I still find the work interesting and rewarding. A few things popped up that had to be taken care of and I’m trying to tie up as many loose ends before I leave. Tomorrow is when we start our turnover, so it will be another busy day.

As far as going home, I won’t find out the exact date until around the first. Right now I scheduled to head home on the 15th, but it may be bumped up 4 days. I hope so. Our oldest is starting school in August and I’d sure like to get home before she does.

Soccer

2007-07-26T18:02:00.000+03:00

A picture of what will soon be my former office.

Yesterday was the semi final match for the Asia Cup. I guess it is some type of soccer thing. To the Iraqis, it's huge. There are 11 guys on the squad--Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. Not only do they represent all of Iraq, but these guys have overcome huge odds to come this far. There are no leagues anymore, training facilities are in total disrepair and, until recently, Uday Hussein had a bad habit of killing athletes that didn’t perform. Yet these guys have excelled. I soccer were a real spot, the closest comparison would be Rocky Balboa fighting Apollo Creed.
I admit it, I’m not a fan of soccer, but I’ll be watching and rooting for them when they go to the championship next week. After overcoming the odds they have, they will be winners no matter what the outcome.
Iraqis everywhere went nuts when their team won. People were shooting in the air (every 12 year old has an AK-47 around here) , honking horns and waiving Iraqi flags to celebrate. It was as if they all put aside their differences for a few moments and were one people at peace.
It was the one thing the terrorists couldn’t allow. 2 car bombs drove into crowds for joyous fans and detonated—killing 50. A soccer stadium in Mosul was blown up. Innocent people murdered because they choose to put aside hate for a few minutes to celebrate a simple game.
This is who we are fighting over here

So, how's the weather?

2007-07-25T18:44:00.000+03:00

Well that is something I haven't seen for awhile--clouds. They wontlast much past 0700 though. It has been getting hotter lately, with daytime highs around 120.
When I run at 0500, it is already 95. Yeah,yeah, it is a dry heat, but it is starting to suck just the same. StillI perfer it to a Alabama summer.

My new ride

2007-07-24T18:09:00.000+03:00

In a few weeks I’ll be back in Pensacola. After I take some leave, I’m going to start flying the T-39 “Saberliner”. The Navy uses them to train Navy and Air Force navigators. Typically they are flown by civilian contract pilots, but there are always 2 military pilots that fly them as well. I’ll be one of those pilots. The T-39 is a good jet that has the same wing as the Korean War vintage F-86 Saber. I’ve flown it a few times before.

Relief in sight—literally

2007-07-23T17:20:00.000+03:00

My relief flew in last night and I have to say I was happier to see him than he was to see me. I met him at BIAP (Baghdad Airport) drove him to his tent. Today, we spent a good portion of today seeing the sights and going over stuff. He has a weeklong school to go through and then we have almost 2 weeks to turnover. It is a far cry different from when I got here—we had very little training or turnover then.
Getting closer…

How cool was that?

2007-07-22T13:57:00.000+03:00

This is the “Perfume Palace”—according to local ledged, this was where Saddam and his buddies kept their concubines. I have no idea what it really was.

This morning, well before sunrise, I was out running when I came to the realization that I’m starting to like country music. When I left home, I took my wife’s iPod with me (along with the rest of her electronic gadgets). I was running along a canal when a Toby Keith song came on---the one where he talks about putting a boot somewhere. About halfway through the song, a flight of helicopters flew by a few hundred yards away, when one of them pickled a whole load of flares. Talk about lighting up the world like the Fourth of July. Way cool.

Gettng closer

2007-07-21T17:47:00.001+03:00

This is the “Victory over America palace” I guess Saddam should have waited to name it until it was finished. Those cranes haven’t moved since the invasion. Like most buildings around here, they were built with “Oil for Food” money. Another one of those great programs we can than the UN for.
My relief arrives tomorrow. If all goes well, I’ll be home by the middle of the month. I have a feeling that these last few days are really going to drag on.

Through the eyes of a 4 year old...

2007-07-20T12:46:00.000+03:00

Today, my wife sent me a present, although she may not have realized it at the time.

Recently she bought our oldest daughter an inexpensive digital camera. Today, she sent me a collection of our daughter’s handiwork. They are priceless! If I had a printer, they would be on my refrigerator right now. Sure, many are blurry and they are all taken from a height of 3 feet, but they are a window to her world. Seeing what she sees brings me so much closer to them.

This is one of the pictures she took today. Each morning, I get up around 4:30, so I can say goodnight to the girls. It really makes my day. Talking on the phone is one thing, but getting to see them is so much better. One of the most precious things any father can here is “watch me daddy!”. Even though I am on the other side of the world, I can.

Souvenir

2007-07-19T17:28:00.000+03:00

Since I’m leaving soon, I figured that I needed to pick up a souvenir. Most of what is sold in the Hajji mart is either Junk or made in China.

Recently, I came across one of these “mini T-walls”--they are an exact replica of the walls that surround everything around here. The company the makes the real ones—77 Construction, also makes miniature ones. I had to have one. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to want one around here so the waiting list is huge.

Today, I had some free time, so I drove out to the concrete plant. In addition to getting a souvenir, I got a tour of a concrete plant. 77 is a Turkish company with one American employee, one Iraqi and the rest Turks. They are a great bunch guys were happy to hear how one of their barriers came in handy one night. Of course, the whole time the question kept coming to mind: “So Billy have you ever been inside a Turkish concrete plant?”

Getting Short

2007-07-18T17:07:00.000+03:00

Well, I’m officially getting short. I found out that they guy that was slated to relieve me, will actually be my relief. He should arrive from Kuwait. After all of the training and turnover, I should head to Kuwait in the beginning of August. If all goes well, I should be home by the middle of the month. It won’t be a moment too soon—I miss my family very much.

Besides, Iraq is starting to get to me. I can live with the mortars and the heat, but they started doing karaoke in the chow hall.

Fishing

2007-07-17T17:55:00.000+03:00

I mailed my fly rod home the other day. With all the heat, thick clumps of weeds have overtaken the lake. As it is, the only fish that are biting are “masgoof”, which are Iraqi carp. They are pretty huge, but they are still a trash fish though—although the Iraqis love ‘em. Someone once told me that the only way to eat a carp is to filet it on a board, marinate it for 12 hours, throw the fish away and eat the board. Still, they are fun to catch, even though I’ve lowered myself to use a spinning rod and hunks of sausage for bait. In a few more weeks, I hope to take an “almost five year old’ fishing for the first time.

Getting better

2007-07-16T18:26:00.000+03:00

I watched the news yesterday and a bunch of politicians were saying that the “surge” has failed and the war is lost. Of course, the last of the “surge” got in place less than a month ago. I guess they are so heavily invested in defeat, the refuse to see progress.

As far as being a failure:

Just the other day, the commander of collation forces in Northern Iraq stated that he can start reducing troops by January.

2 Sunni tribes in Baqouba agreed to stop fighting each other and pledged to fight Al Qaeda. Baqouba was a pretty scary place not too long ago. Things have changed a lot.

Al Anbar province was the wild, wild west not too long ago. Now, local tribes are fighting the insurgents, essential services are being restored and US casualties are way down.
Sounds like a failure to me.

The three success stories, I found after reading the paper for 5 minutes. I guess some politicians are so busy, they don’t have 5 minutes to spare.

Summer

2007-07-15T15:18:00.000+03:00

Summer around here is hot, but not unbearably so. Typically, we have seen temperatures around 115 or so. Some days, it is pretty windy and it feels like you are standing in a giant hair dryer. Some days the dust rolls in from the desert and the visibility get less than 3 miles. Everything seems to lose all sense of color and it is pretty depressing. On other days, it is amazingly clear out. I took this picture at 0700 in the morning. It was only 90 then. In a way, it reminds me of Arizona—minus the scenery.

The Flag

2007-07-14T18:18:00.000+03:00

Some time ago, I was at the US Base in Balad, Iraq. It looks like everywhere else in Iraq—concrete barriers, dirt and a few trees. One thing that really made a difference to me though: on every flag pole on that base, the U.S. Flag was flying. I felt a touch of pride every time I saw one.
Here at my base, you may see one being raised momentarily on Flag Day or the 4th of July, but you never see one permanently flying. I guess “the powers that be” are afraid of offending someone. Funny, I think our guys getting blown up is offensive. Of course, folks a lot smarter than me come up with these things

Starting to see the light

2007-07-13T19:35:00.000+03:00

After many months of daily blogs, I’m starting to run out of things to write about. I guess it is a good thing that I’m headed home soon. If all goes according to plan, the guy that is relieving me is on his way to Kuwait as I write this. Of course I won’t know for sure when I’m coming home until a week before I leave Iraq.

The main reason for the uncertainty is that “the powers that be” don’t take into account that some people fall out of training or are disqualified prior to coming over here. I came over here with 35 other guys. Several months ago, 35 replacements were named to relieve us—no more, no less. So, if a guy drops out of training because they discover he has allergies to sand fleas—one guy over here gets extended. Since guys drop out at all stages of training, we have no idea how many replacements are coming until they get here

I know that there are a few guys that will try anything they can to weasel out of coming over. While the weasel is my favorite animal, it not right to make a guy extend over here

Speech

2007-07-12T17:42:00.000+03:00

I was sitting here, trying to come up with a topic to write about. I had the TV on in the background and the President just came on and gave a speech about the Interim Iraq Progress Report. I have to say it was one of the best speeches he has given. He laid out the situation over here perfectly—very clear and concise. Could things be better over here? Sure. Is progress being made? It sure is, but you have to be willing to see it. I see it and if the country is willing, we will prevail.

Packing

2007-07-11T17:15:00.000+03:00

Well maybe I’m getting ahead of myself or jinxing myself, but I started packing—mostly my winter stuff and things I never use. My relief heads to Kuwait on Friday. He will go through a week of training there before eh heads to Baghdad. Once he gets here, hell go through another week of training and then we will turn over. Once I pass the torch, I will head to Kuwait for 4 days of “Warrior Transition Program”—(you gotta love all these cool chest thumping names they come up with). After 4 days of that, I’ll be home. Of course all things are written in mud, so we’ll see.

The Bad Guys

2007-07-10T17:59:00.000+03:00

In Iraq, things are not black and white. Of course, we are the good guys that wear the white hats. The bad guys, that is a little more difficult.

First, you have the Al Qaeda types. Those are the worse of the worse. To them it is their way or the highway. They are the most brutal and fanatical killers. Some are Iraqi, but Iraq is like Woodstock to a Jihadist and they come from miles around.

Next you have the Shiite militias. The Shiites are in the majority and they just seem to have a ball killing people. Sunni, Al Qaeda, Americans, other Shiites—they don’t care. Even though Shiites were in the majority in Iraq, the Sunnis held all of the power. Now they have a pretty big chip on their shoulder and they are looking to settle a score. Of course, Iran is a Shiite country; I wonder what they have been up to?

Finally, you have the Sunnis. Since they were in the minority and Saddam did some pretty nasty things to the Shiites, a lot of them are scared of the prospect of ethic cleansing by the Shiites. They also target Americans because they see the US as aiding their enemy the Shiites. They honestly feel they are fighting for the survival of their people. Recently, the Sunni tribes have been taking up arms against the Al Qaeda types out in the Al Anbar province and recently, south of Baghdad. I guess Shari law doesn’t settle with them very well. I also think they are starting to realize that it will be better for them to work with the Collation than against it.

Of course to the vast majority of Iraqis are good people that just want to get on with their lives. They are the ones that are suffering and we have a moral obligation to help--why? Because we are the good guys and it is the right thing to do. Of course, many people in our country don't see it that way. I guess ours isn’t a perfect country either.

Reset the clock--again

2007-07-09T19:42:00.000+03:00

Just one of the friendly streets of Baghdad

If you’ve noticed, I’ve reset my countdown clock—again. The latest word is that I will go home on time. Although a lot of our replacements didn’t show up for training, apparently there are enough of the “right kind” (we have different kinds of jobs over here) of replacements to take my job. A few of the guys that I came over with will be extended, but only until the next class shows—which will be about 10 days.
So, I’ve reset the clock, but I know that I won’t be done with this assignment until I am home and I’ve unplugged the phone from my wall.

By the way, we’re the good guys

2007-07-08T12:22:00.000+03:00

I take my camera with me everywhere, just in case a good picture presents itself. Today, I was in the motor pool when the guys were getting ready for a mission. On the hood on one truck, right in front of a Squad Automatic Weapon (SAW) is a box of toys. When the guys go out on missions, they often take toys for the local kids as well as other things. There is no such thing as “Operation Toy Give-a-way” These guys give toys and other things to kids because, well…because they are kids and our guys…well that is just who they are. Sure doesn’t sound like the guys the members of the far left like to refer to as “Nazis”.
What do Michael Moore’s “freedom fighters” do for kids? Recently, a couple of them put 2 small children in a car bomb—so to not arouse suspicion while driving through a check point. Once they got through, the insurgents ran off and detonated the car bomb—with the kids still inside.

Yeah, we’re the good guys over here—make no mistake about it.

Free Time

2007-07-07T19:38:00.000+03:00

This picture was taken at “Warrior Park”, which is a spot on base that has picnic tables, volley ball nets, horseshoes, barbeque grills and of all things—a model car race track. Every night, on my way home from work, these guys are our racing their cars.

On another part of the base, there is an outdoor stage—the same one the Toby Keith played on a few weeks ago. Last night, a bunch of Soldiers got together and put on a play. Too much culture for me—plus it was 108 degrees .

These kids are over here for 15 months now and they gotta take a break from time to time. Just about everyone picks up some sort of hobby. Fishing is another popular past time as are the gyms. I have devoured quite a few books. One private I see comes into work with blood shot eyes after playing Dungeons and Dragons until 0300—just try to call him a geek though-he carries a gun with him everywhere he goes. I can, but that is because I carry one too.

What it will take

2007-07-06T17:32:00.000+03:00

I had a long lunch with one of the Iraqis I work with. He fled in the 90s when ole’ Saddam went on a killing spree. He made a good life for himself as an engineer in the States, but decided to come back here to work as an interpreter. He has been away from his family for over 2 years now. He is an American citizen now, but his home is Iraq and he is here trying to make it a better place. He is a very interesting person to talk to.

Today I asked him what he thought needed to be done to fix this place. His answer: Pull out of the city and let a full scale civil war break out. After a while, when the different factions have sufficiently thinned out each other’s ranks, have to collation come back in and restore order.

It might work, but seems a bit draconian to me. Innocence will always get caught in the middle. Besides, I don’t think they will ever get tired of killing each other.

Some people suggest that we partition the country into a Kurdish region, a Shiite region and a Sunni region. The only problem is that the Arab Shiites will start killing the Persian Shiites. The Al Qaeda Sunnis will keep on whacking the regular Sunnis.

What I think needs to be done is that we need to do is hunker down for the long haul—this thing used to be called “The Long War” until the powers that be said we couldn’t use that phrase. Slowly, things are getting better. Up north in the Kurdish areas and out in Al Anbar in Ramadi are two examples. Most people don’t know that there are shopping malls that are open and doing great business in parts of Iraq.

As their neighborhoods became safer and their living conditions improved, average Iraqis started to take more ownership in their condition. This ownership soon developed into a sense of pride and social responsibility that drove the fanatical elements out of their neighborhoods. It worked up north and it is working out west. Baghdad is much more complicated, but it can be done here as well.

Iraq is in a unique position. Not only do they have vast amounts of oil wealth, but they have the agricultural capacity to be breadbasket of the Middle East. With its rich archeological and religious sites, Iraq can become a travel destination. The city of Krabala, for example, has 100,000 visitors a day—right now. Just imagine how much more appealing the place would be without car bombs going off.

Iraq will get better, but it is a question of time. Time that is measure in years and not election cycles

Well said

2007-07-05T17:52:00.000+03:00

This was painted on one of our concrete barriers. You may have to click on it to read it. I think it says it all…

July 4th

2007-07-04T14:40:00.000+03:00

For the fifth time this century, Americans are celebrating July 4th in a hostile land far away from their homes and loved ones. Out here, we will celebrate with barbeque, fried chicken, “near beer” and if we are lucky, our neighbors will treat us to a fireworks show. It will also be a day of reflection, a day for all of us to remember what we are fighting for and what our ancestors fought for.

July 4th does not commemorate the creation of our government nor does it mark the end of the Revolutionary War. It marks the day that our founding fathers declared that we were no longer the subjects of an oppressive King and that we exercising our God given rights of freedom and liberty.

July 4th 1776 was the beginning of a long and difficult struggle. The Revolutionary War would rage for another seven years. Thirteen years would pass before our founding fathers agreed on a government. Two more years would go by before the Bill of Rights would become the cornerstone of our nation. Only then were we a people at peace, united under a government by the people, for the people.

Events of today are not that far different from what happened in American 231 years ago. A fledgling democracy is struggling under extreme odds. Just as the French assisted us in our fight for freedom, we are helping the Iraqis obtain the same God given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that we hold so dear. It is a long and difficult struggle, but the cause is just. Although he spoke these words over 40 years ago, John F. Kennedy said it best when he said:

“The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it."

With the blessings of the Almighty and the prayers of all of you back home, we will prevail. God bless and have a happy 4th of July.

Evenings

2007-07-03T17:11:00.001+03:00

As you can see, I live in an exclusive neighborhood. We don’t allow just anybody to drive through.

Evenings around here are different from those back home. By the time I head back to my trailer, the sun is just setting, but it is still well over 100 degrees. Back home, things seem to be winding down, but not here. Helicopters regularly fly overhead and convoys continually rumble by. There is a big pot hole in the road the runs in front of my place, so if a truck hits it going fast, my entire trailer shakes. Before the weather got warm, you’d see Soldiers sitting around outside cooking on grills and drinking “near beer” under the shade of camouflage netting.

Mornings

2007-07-02T18:46:00.000+03:00

Like all neighborhoods back home, mine over here has its own personality. After a while, you get used to the daily routines and everything seems “normal”. Although to the folks back home, I’m sure that this place would seem so very far from the ordinary.

Take for example mornings. Right now, it is a cool 92 degrees. The sun just came up, but you can’t see it though the haze and dust. A couple of guys just walked by on their way to work. Instead of business suits and briefcases, they are wearing body armor and carrying machine guns. Just down the row of trailers, there is a guy sitting outside in a folding chair typing on a laptop. Since it is early morning, it is evening back home. Most likely he is outside to get a better wi fi signal in order to Instant Message someone back home. The concrete T-walls wreck havoc on the signal at times. Another common sight is Soldiers talking on their cell phones outside. Since most people here have roommates, they often go outside to make phone calls so they can get a little privacy.

Just like back home, mornings are peaceful for the most part and are my favorite time of the day.

OH NO! THEY DRAFTED SCOOP!!!!

2007-07-01T17:21:00.000+03:00

OK, if you don’t have kids, then you haven’t seen Bob the Builder.

If you have, then your notice that the backhoe “Scoop” is now in the Army. The other day, I saw “Lofty” the crane putting concrete barriers out in town—he was all armored up as well. I haven’t seen one yet, but there are also armored cement mixers around here—no kidding, they are named “Dizzy”.
They have got to be the safest vehicles in Iraq. Not because of the armor, but because who could ever hurt any member of the gang from Sunflower Valley?…Except for that annoying Spud guy—I’d shoot him myself.

Should I tell the girls?

2007-07-01T03:53:00.000+03:00

I saw that thing again today...maybe the girls wont care. Who knows?

No thank you, Mrs. Speaker

2007-06-30T19:42:00.000+03:00

Recently, the Speaker of the house reiterated her desire to pull out American forces from Iraq. She stated that withdrawal was the best way to support the troops:

“Democrats are committed to an American military that is second to none. That is why in this Congress we have made huge investments in America's military readiness. And we will always do whatever it takes to support our troops. But we believe that the best way to support our troops in Iraq is to bring them home.”

This is a sentiment shared by many people in our government.

Funny, no politician ever asked me how they could help. I hate being away from my family, but right now, my place is here. If I have to stay another year, I will. For if we cut and run now; 9-11 will have not have been an isolated incident. 3,500 Americans would have died for nothing. Tens of thousands of more Iraqis will die.

This is a real war, with real bad guys. They cannot be reasoned with and they will not go away if we simply leave them alone. I want to see this thing through, so my children will never have to fight or be afraid like we all were on the morning of 9-11.

If you want to support the troops—give us the tools we need to win. Stop making statements that are harmful to our morale and encouraging to our enemies. Stop attacking our President and allow him to devote his attention to being the Commander in Chief. Most importantly, either stand with us or get out of our way and let us do our job.

Of course, what do I know? I’m just a guy on the ground.

Reset the Clock

2007-06-29T18:11:00.000+03:00

Well, today was another day. I reach a milestone in a couple of days—I’ll be down to double digits (funny, I have a strange feeling of déjà vu). Sure we are disappointed about the possibility of being extended, but what can we do? As a British Sergeant Major once told me while we were sitting on a curb outside of an Irish Pub in Bahrain:

“Bloody hell, I take the Queen’ s shilling and I eat the Queen’s biscuit, so I do the Queen's bidding...”

The funny thing is, I was truly embarrassed when I told my Army boss that the Navy has no idea of when our reliefs will show or why enough didn’t show up for training. The Navy is still relatively new at this game and I’m sure the process will go through some growing pains for some time to come.
I just hate the fact that all I can give my family are vague answers and more uncertainties. If that isn’t bad enough, I saw something today that my girls may be very upset to see (or they may think it is cool) Who knows?

Extended

2007-06-28T17:32:00.000+03:00

We got word last night that my group may be extended over here. How long? Hopefully no more than a month, but who knows? Apparently, there was supposed to be 35 people in the group coming over to relieve us, but only 15 showed up for training. I wonder if coming to Iraq is optional now? I guess I could get mad, but there are enough angry people around here.
Ever since we were married, my wife and I lived by the motto “plan for the worse, but hope for the best.” I’m just glad that my family and home are in such capable hands.
I wish now I hadn’t promised our daughter that I would be home in time for her birthday. Good thing she doesn’t know how to read a calendar—we may have to “move” her birthday a little to the right.

Road Warrior

2007-06-27T17:10:00.000+03:00

These are some of the vehicles that the route clearance teams use to hunt IEDs. The little guy in front is called a “Husky”and the bigger in back is called a “Buffalo”. Both of them are heavily armored and have “V” shaped hulls to deflect the blasts from landmines. They look like something straight out of a Mad Max movie. Everyday engineers go out in these vehicles to hunt IEDs. It is pretty clear what type of leather their saddles are made of. As tough as these vehicles are, the guys that ride in them are much, much tougher.

Running

2007-06-26T18:03:00.000+03:00

One of the things I like about running around here is that it reminds me of home. When I’m out pounding the miles, I often forget that I’m in Iraq. It is a nice escape. Take for example, the run I had the other day.

While I was running along, I saw a coyote on the side of the road. They are pretty used to people, but they usually sulk away. This one, however, just stood there. I then saw why: her 3 pups were attacking a rat that was bigger than they were. They were having a grand old time, but the rat was taking things a little more seriously. I think it was the animal world’s version of “Mommy is too sleepy to cook breakfast, so have Pop Tart instead.” Except in this case, it was “have a rodent instead.”

I was so busy watching the coyotes that I didn’t see the water pipe sticking out of the ground. I tripped over it and went rolling over the ground like something from a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon. I scrapped my knee and hands fairly pretty good, but my pride was hurt most of all. The momma coyote just kept staring at me and I’m pretty sure, I saw her shake her head ruefully. Good thing she wasn’t a hyena, I would have shot her for laughing.

Dusting myself off, I limped away to finish my run. I try to stay off the beaten path as much as I can and I took a detour down a “tank trail”, just like back home running along mountain bike trails. Of course a tank comes rumbling by (again, just like back home). It hasn’t rained here for quite a while and a 30-ton tank kicks up a lot of dust. Combine the dust and the fact that I was all sweaty=instant brown sugar cookie. I was covered head to foot.

I finished my run and I was walking back to my trailer, when I ran into a solider I know, carrying a .50 cal machine barrel over his shoulder. (again, just like home) Looking at me covered in dirt with blood on myhands and knees, I answered him before he could ask:
“Somebody tried to tell me to take my iPod off”
“Dammmmmmmmmmmm!!, he outta know better”

Just like home

Water

2007-06-25T18:54:00.000+03:00

You are looking at acres of pallets of bottled water. As the temperature goes up, this “water field” has been getting bigger and bigger. All of our water comes from the Tigris River and I guess it gets purified along the way (I’m sure the recent case of flesh eating bacteria had nothing to do with the water). Somewhere I read that the water from the river is just as clean as the water in any reservoir back home. Considering how dirty it is outside the wire, I doubt it. Once it bakes a while outside, it tastes something like dirty bath water (my kids would love it).
Down in the Green Zone, the folks there have it much better—they get to drink authentic Kuwaiti Spring water. Every time I go down there, I try to grab a few.

Humanity

2007-06-24T12:53:00.000+03:00

The other day, one of my guys came down with a case of appendicitis and had to go in for an emergency appendectomy. The nearest hospital was located at a detention center. There, the worst of the worst kept. These guys aren’t your everyday criminals. These are the guys that blow up mosques, plant IEDs and execute children.
When I went to visit him, he was in the ICU recovering. There were a few detainees there as well, some of which were in pretty bad shape. One thing that really struck me was the compassion the nurses showed the detainees. I watched a nurse comfort a detainee while a doctor was adjusting none of the many tubes running into him. She was the same nurse that was looking after my guy and there was no difference at all in the quality of care that she provided. This was true of all of the nurses and doctors I saw. They are true professionals and it made no difference to them who they were treating or what they had done. It spoke volumes about their humanity.

I’m sure that the insurgents treat our prisoners with the same level of compassion and care.

Of course, I must be mistaken, according to the senior senator from Massachusetts:

“Shamefully we now learn that Saddam's torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management.” Edward Kennedy

I didn't know it was warm out until I saw the sign...

2007-06-23T19:47:00.000+03:00

We topped out today at 117 degrees. OK it is cliché, but it is a dry heat and it isn’t so bad. Alabama in July is much worse. I’ve gotten a few bad headaches from not drinking enough, so I make a constant effort to drink all of the time. The little Crystal Light packets are real life savers (except for Raspberry Ice or peach tea—they are so nasty they can’t give that away in the DFAC) since the Tigris river water tastes pretty bad—too many dead bodies I guess. Of course summer isn’t here yet. The funny thing is that when I went to work this morning, it was 81—and I felt cold!!

Continuing my rant…

2007-06-22T19:23:00.000+03:00

Yesterday, I went off on about how certain members of our government seem to have no incentive for us to win over here—in fact, they seem determined for us to fail. Of the 14 troops lost, one was from my brigade, so hearing Lou Dobbs cheerfully announce the latest casualties, it bothered me more than usual.

These statements also have a lasting impact on our enemies as well.

Taking a lesson from history; one of the most trying times in America’s history was the winter on 1777-1778. That was when Washington’s army spent the winter at Valley Forge. Out of his army of 12,000 men, over 2,000 died from disease and starvation. Desertion was a constant threat. Those were dire times. How do you think their morale would have fared if they saw a British newspaper account stating:

“Parliament declares King George III’s America policy a failure and demands immediate troop withdrawal from the colonies”.

While a story like that wouldn’t put food in their bellies or help fight off pneumonia, it would help motivate Washington’s men to hang on a little bit longer. It is amazing how a little hope can help men endure the most difficult of times.

Life ain’t easy for an insurgent. They are fighting the world most advanced military. The Iraqi Security Forces are increasing their capabilities every day. We have CSI guys over here that are way smarter than any of those guys on TV—we are talking scary smart. Just recently, tribal leaders out in the Al Anbar province have taken up arms against Al Queda. Life sucks for them. In 2004 the late Al Zarqawi complained to his buddy Osama that their situation was becoming ever more desperate.

Now take the statements such as “the war is lost” and America’s involvement in Iraq is a “grotesque mistake”. What effect would those words have on an insurgent? I would imagine they would be pretty encouraging and would help them carry on the jihad for another day.

To me, it sounds like aid and comfort. But what do I know? I just live here.

Words mean things

2007-06-21T17:50:00.000+03:00

Certain politicians will exploit any tragedy to further their political position—regardless of the damage they cause. They have forgotten that words mean thing. The war in Iraq is a tragic example of that.
How would a mom and dad feel when, after losing a son or a daughter, would turn on the TV and hear the Speaker of the House say that our mission over here is a “grotesque mistake” ,or the majority leader of the Senate say the “The war is lost”?

Words mean things. With their vicious rhetoric, they are adding insult to injury to the family members of fallen heroes. It is inexcusable. I for one, am ashamed.

It is sad that so many Americans —many of which are Democrats, are so invested in our defeat. What would JFK say today? Back when he was president he said:

“The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.”

JFK would be ashamed of his party. Today the Democrats have embraced the likes of Michael Moore, who said:

“The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the revolution, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow - and they will win. “

Operation Gratitude

2007-06-20T18:58:00.000+03:00

Some time ago, someone signed my entire unit up for “Operation Gratitude” Yesterday, we had two truckloads of care packages show up—each one was addressed to one of the soldiers. It really made a lot of people’s day-it was like Christmas morning with everyone opening them up. Of course, since I’m on loan to the army, I’m not officially assigned to my unit, so I didn’t get one. I guess I was the bad kid that got a lump of coal.
We have it pretty good here in Baghdad and a bunch of our guys took their names off of the packages and immediately sent the packages to some of our units that are way out in desolate FOBs and need every bit of care they can get. Soldiers take care of their buddies.

Relief in sight

2007-06-19T17:30:00.000+03:00

Well not exactly, but pretty close. Few weeks ago, my boss from back home emailed and told me about a guy that is coming over here to do the same job that I’m doing. Not only is he coming to Iraq, but he is showing up a few weeks before I’m due to leave. So, I got in touch with him, made a few phone calls and he is going to be my relief. As nice as it is to know that I have a relief, I pressed for him to take my job for strictly unselfish reasons.

Last fall I was told that I was going to Iraq. I had a general idea what I would be doing, but I had no idea what exactly, or where I’ll be going. It was very unnerving. Would I be living in a tent, eating MREs and getting mortared every night? I had no idea.
I didn’t find out that I was coming to my brigade until the night prior. Pretty unsat.

The guy that is taking my job now knows a couple months out exactly what he’ll be doing, where he will living, etc. I also work in a fantastic unit and I’m glad to see that my job is going to a good guy. He can also mail his stuff out if he wants and gets to inherit a “wet” trailer. Too bad this isn’t the way it works for everybody.

A religion of peace?

2007-06-18T19:39:00.000+03:00

I will go out on a politically incorrect wing here and ask the question “is Islam a religion of peace?”

I base that question on what I have seen—not what the talking heads on TV say. Some things that happen over here are simply unspeakable.

Today, one of those things happened. Ideology, religion, and politics aside; all children are innocent and precious. They should be protected at all costs and never, ever targeted. To do otherwise in not only unholy, but it is inhuman.

My first instinct today was to call home and check on my girls. My second though was ‘thank God we are fighting them here and not at home.”

There are truly evil people here and they do terrible things often in the name of Allah. Where is Al Sadr? Why isn’t he condemning the violence? Isn’t he a spiritual leader? The silence is deafening! Draw a cartoon of Mohamed and they come out in droves; setting fires and looting stores. Plant explosives in a girls school—silence. Years ago, I was riding in a cab in Bahrain and I asked the driver about a mosque that we were driving by. He said “that is the Grand Mosque, if you go inside with shoes on, I will kill you.” Of course using a Mosque as a weapons cache is ok.
Yes, the vast majority of Muslims are good, decent people. Only a small fraction of Muslims are committing these evil acts. To stand idly by while evil men pervert your religion and kill innocent children in the name of you God—that is not the mark of a religion of peace.

Cluster map

2007-06-17T15:47:00.000+03:00

I’ve added a few “Widgets” to this blog a little while ago. My favorite is the Cluster map. If you click on the Map, you can see where people that have viewed my blog live. At first, there were only a couple of dots on the map—Baghdad, that was me. Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, New Jersey; that was my family. After that, I saw that Lumpy, Duck, Goober, Pee Wee and a few other guys I know were showing up. Before long, folks from Rome, Alaska, California, Thailand and Singapore checked out the site. Way cool. Today, I saw that some more people from England, Canada, Australia, the Low Countries and a bunch of other places started checking out My Desert Adventure. Way, way cool.
I originally started this blog, just to keep in touch with my family. I’m amazed how much it ahs grown. Every now and then, I would meet an IA over here and they would say something like “Hey I know you…sorta, I read your blog before I came over”. Well so much for being anonymous

Camel Spider

2007-06-16T19:57:00.000+03:00

I saw my first Camel Spider today. According to legend, their bodies are a big as softballs, they are very aggressive and they can jump high enough to bite the belly of a camel.

The truth is they have a body the size of a ping pong ball. I haven’t seen one jump, but they will “chase” you (actually, they chase your shadow to stay in the shade.) When they run, they raise their front legs over their head and look like one of the bugs from Starship Troopers.

Oh, by the way, they don’t taste like chicken.

MEDEVAC

2007-06-15T19:54:00.000+03:00

For part of my trip to Qatar, I tagged along with a MEDEVAC (medical evacuation) flight. After leaving my base, the helo went to the large military hospital nearby and picked up some more passengers. A kid took the seat next to me. His right hand was gone and he had a huge bandage in its place. Across his chest was a piece of tape that had his name, serial number and “Right hand amputation” written on it with a magic marker. He was on his way to Germany for more medical care.
We landed at a nearby base to be processed before we left the country. I saw the same kid sitting on a bench. He was looking at the X-ray of his stump--as if he couldn’t believe what happened to him. He looked sad, scared and like he was about to cry. He was all alone. I sat next to him and we talked for a while.
He is 19 years old and has been in the Army for less than a year. An avid video gamer, he hoped to win a professional Halo-2 tournament when he got back to Kansas City. I guess that if this were a Gary Cooper movie, he would have been an All-American quarterback. Dreams are still dreams and I guess they change with each generation. The loss of a dream is always tragic.
Despite all that he was going through, he still got up to go to the OR to check on his buddy that was wounded along with him. Only 19, he has more character than most people I know.
While we were talking, he mentioned to a nurse that his arm was hurting and if he could get some pain medication. The nurse said “sure, it will be about 10 minutes”. After an hour went by (and no pain medicine) we went to another room for the customs brief. (Since we were leaving Iraq, everyone has to go through a customs briefing and have their bags inspected.)
An Air Force Sergeant came in to give the brief and I asked him if some of the guys could get some pain medicine before we got started. The sergeant said that brief had the priority and that they will administer medication when he was done. The kid with one hand was a private and if a sergeant tells him to wait, he’ll wait. That didn’t sit well with me. He was in pain and needed medicine. Long story short, I had a “discussion” with the sergeant a few minutes later, a nurse came in and took care of the guys. I know the folks that work at that facility are tired and overworked, but something like that should have never happened.

Tanker

2007-06-09T14:27:00.000+03:00

A lot of our supplies are shipped in via convoys. Many of the drivers are civilian contractors and most of them are from other countries. I have a lot of respect for these guys. A good number of them come here to provide a better life for their families. Sure the money is good, but there are a lot of risks. Driving a truckload of jet fuel down the roads in Iraq isn't the healthiest way to earn a living. I really appreciate what they do. Maybe I'm going soft, but don't run my air conditioner during the day. No, I'm not going green and I haven't hugged a tree over here. We get our power from generators and the fuel for those generators is trucked in. Every little bit we save adds up to one less trip these guys have to make. To me it is worth being a little warm when I first get back “home” in the evening.

Getting nowhere

2007-06-09T08:17:00.000+03:00

Well, I got to Sather Air Base at 1600 yesterday day for a 2200 take off on a flight to Balad, Iraq. At 2200, I was told that the new take off time would be 2400. Then 0200 and then 0300. At 0330, I was told “Opps, the helo landed at 0200, but the command post forgot to tell us that it was on deck. They just left” . There comes a point where you are so tired, you just have to shake you hear ruefully. Maybe tonight I will have better luck.

I had plenty to time to walk about yesterday. I have to say, the Air Force are masters of providing the best living conditions for its people. One of the things they did was paint state flags on the concrete walls. Under the flag, there is a big white square. Anyone that is from that state can write their name there. Pretty cool. I was going to take a picture of the Alabama flag since I was sure someone in my wife’s family would recognize someone’s name, but the Alabama wall was in a secure area.

On the Road

2007-06-08T13:49:00.000+03:00

Well, I’m off on a business trip for a few days. I leave tonight on a round-a-bout route that will eventually take me to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. I should be there for about a week. I checked the weather and the daytime highs down there should be around 125—should be fun.
If I miss a few blogs posts, that just means that I am having more fun than is humanly possible.

People watching

2007-06-07T15:18:00.000+03:00

This guy is cool. Every day, prior to going on a mission, he is asleep on top of his truck.

Going to the DFAC is like going to the mall--you'll see a little bit of everything. On any given day, you'll see Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Soldiers. It really is a multi-national collation over here. So Macedonians, Georgians, Iraqis, Brits, Australians ,Jordanians, Japanese, Poles, Ugandans and few I have no idea where they are from.

But just like in the mall, there are a few that always stand out. One group in particular are the “Rambos” they are usually “Fobbits”—the folks that never leave the FOB (Forward Operating Base). Since they are in Iraq, however, they feel compelled to dress the part. Today I saw an Air Force Captain with 6 magazines on his belt and an 18” K-Bar knife strapped down his leg. I’m sure in his mind he looks cool—DORK.

We also have a lot of civilian security contractors here. One guy I saw had his flight suit at half mast with the arms tied around his waist. Underneath he was wearing a tank top that revealed his 19”guns. A guy like that, I call…SIR (hey, I’m not stupid). Of course his buddy was dressed the same way, but he made Gilligan look like Hulk Hogan—so back to the whole DORK thing.

Now if you see a rumpled, mismatched, long haired ball of fluff roll by…yup, it’s the Navy. The Army guys I work with give me such a hard time about how the KBR employees look more military than the Navy guys.

Is that New Jersey???

2007-06-06T17:09:00.000+03:00

No, wait! It’s Iraq. I always get the two confused. As you can see, it’s a dump out there. This is a picture of one of the cleaner streets in Baghdad. As you can see, there is trash, debris and dead animals strewn everywhere. And I thought that this place was ugly from overhead. Sure there is a war going on, but a lot of guys tell me that Bosnia looked the same way. I guess the locals have more important things on their minds to worry about. With a 60% unemployment rate, you would think the GOI (Government of Iraq) would hire a bunch of people to clean up. It would put money in their pockets, give them something to do and would be safer for us. Who knows, if they fix up their neighborhoods and take some pride in where they live, maybe, just maybe they will start to stand up to some of these thugs.

EM-350 Urban Assault Vehicle

2007-06-05T17:25:00.000+03:00

Only in Iraq, would you come across a armored Winnebago. I’m not kidding. Around here it is known as the Rhino. It reminds me of the EM-350 Urban Assault Vehicle in the movie Stripes. Sure, it might be the safest thing on wheel…but folks-- it is a Winnebago—I’ll ride in a HMMWV thank you.
You see a lot of strange things on the roads here—besides things that can or already have gone boom. There are a lot of civilian security contractors riding about. They ride around in big Ford pickups with gun turrets welded to the top or heavily armored Chevy Suburbans. From what I hear, the contractors used to roll around in vehicles that look like something from Mad Max. Not any more, it looks like all of their trucks are professionally made.
The strangest thing I ever say was a local driving around in a mint condition 56 Chevy. He had to have been either very brave or very untouchable.

Why I joined the Navy

2007-06-04T17:03:00.000+03:00

The other day, I was asked why I joined the Navy. Tough question. First and foremost, I wanted to fly. The Navy gave me an opportunity to fly airplanes before I finished college, so I jumped at the chance. I had always wanted to serve my country and to be able to do so while I was doing something I loved to do was the perfect fit. It also helped that the Navy lowered the bar and said yes to may application. Do I have any regrets? Sure I do, but I think every course of action has its painful moments as well as good ones.

Do, I want my kids to join the military? Well, I’ll support them in whatever decision they make, but I think this family has served enough time.

Chuck Norris

2007-06-03T16:18:00.000+03:00

One of the more popular things around here are the “Chuck Norris facts”. Little tidbits of wisdom like “Chuck Norris counted to infinity—twice!” or “Chuck Norris’ tears cure cancer—too bad he has never cried!”Maybe it is a guy thing, but I think they are great. You will over hear these facts while you are waiting in line to eat, written on a wall, or on a sign on someone’s desk. I’ve even been known to slip one into a brief from time to time.

I just finished reading the Da Vinci code. Not a very good book—not because of the religious aspects, but because the author is a mediocre writer that wrote about a treasure hunt that only a pencil neck geek would appreciate. I am amazed at the popularity of the book and how the phenomena of “Da Vinci code tourism” has started. People actually travel throughout Europe looking for the clues that were in the book.
I think they need to come up with a “Chuck Norris Facts tour”, where you travel throughout Iraq, looking inside port-o-johns for clues that will lead you to the next Chuck Norris fact.
OK, so maybe I’ve been here too long.

A guest blogger

2007-06-02T19:35:00.000+03:00

As I was getting ready for work today, I was listening to Lou Dobbs on CNN. If I only listened to him, I would have to say: “Wow, what an awful country we live in.” I then thought that I would really have something to say about this in my blog. Well, today was a very long day and I'm tired. So in keeping with the Naval Aviation tradition of ‘”Never create when you can plagiarize”. I’m turning over today’s blog to Jay Leno:

A commentary about the U.S. by Jay Leno The other day I was reading Newsweek magazine and came across some poll data I found rather hard to believe. It must be true given the source, right? The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president.In essence 2/3s of the citizenry just aren't happy and want a change. So being the knuckle dragger I am, I started thinking, ''What are we so unhappy about?'' Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is theability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year? Maybe it is the ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we move through each state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe motels we would find along the way that can providetemporary shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine from around the world is just not good enough. Or could it be that when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services to help all and even send a helicopter to take you to the hospital. Perhaps you are one of the 70 percent of Americans who own a home. You may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thussaving you, your family and your belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of your many flat screen TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes, an officer equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you and your family against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell phones and computers. How about the complete religious, social and political freedoms we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world?Maybe that is what has 67 percent of you folks unhappy. Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats the world has ever seen. No wonder the world loves the U.S. , yet has a great disdain for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here. I know, I know. What about the president who took us into war and has no plan to get us out? The president who has a measly 31 percent approval rating? Is this the same president who guided the nation in the dark days after 9/11? The president thatcut taxes to bring an economy out of recession? Could this be the same guy who has been called every name in the book for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled ungrateful brats safe from terrorist attacks?The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army that is out there defending you and me? Did you hear how bad the President is on the news or talk show? Did this news affect you so much, make you so unhappy you couldn't take a look around for yourself and see all the good things and be glad? Think about it......are you upset at the President because he actually caused you personal pain OR is it because the "Media" told you he was failing to kiss your sorry ungrateful behind every day. Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered to serve, and in many cases may have died for your freedom. There is currently no draft in this country.They didn't have to go. They are able to refuse to go and end up with either a ''general'' discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst case scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after afew days in the brig. So why then, the flat-out discontentment in the minds of 69 percent of Americans? Say what you want but I blame it on the media. If it bleeds it leads and they specialize in bad news.Everybody will watch a car crash with blood and guts. How many will watch kids selling lemonade at the corner? The media knows this and media outlets are for-profit corporations. They offer what sells, and when criticized, try to defend their actions by "justifying" them in one way or another. Just ask why they tried to allow a murderer like O.J.Simpson to write a book about how he didn't kill his wife, but if he did he would have done it this way......Insane! Stop buying the negativism you are fed everyday by the media. Shut off the TV, burn Newsweek, and use the New York Times for the bottom of your birdcage. Then start being grateful for all we have as a country. There is exponentially more good than bad. We are among the most blessed people on Earth and should thank God several times a day, or at least be thankful and appreciative. "With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, "Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?" Jay Leno

Congress

2007-06-01T13:53:00.000+03:00

Some people think that service members have no say at all in their daily lives—in fact that we give up our freedom of speech. Well, it is true that we are somewhat restricted in how we say something, the First Amendment still applies to us. One of our rights is that we can contact our elected representatives. It is something that I have done quite a bit since I’ve gotten to Iraq. Time and time again, I see some idiot politician talking about something that they don’t have a clue about and I think to myself, “someone need to educate that moron”. Well, I’m one of those “someones”. I’ve written both of my Senators as well as my Congressman and explained to them my personal views on issues that are important to me. I still see politicians running on about something they don’t have a clue about, but at least I can say now that I did what I could.

I am so glad people have their priorities straight

2007-05-31T15:01:00.001+03:00

In Pensacola, there is a great Irish pub and restaurant called McGuire’s. We even convinced them to allow us to have our wedding rehearsal dinner there. It is a fantastic place with great food, drink and atmosphere. There is a moose head that has been kissed more than a time or two, thousands of dollar bills hanging from the ceiling, and great Irish music. Part of the fun and games are the signs for the restrooms. As you can see, it basically says “Ladies Room” and in smaller print: “that way”. I remember watching many unsuspecting souls walk into the wrong room. Rumor has it, I actually saw the inside of the ladies room once, but that is something I cannot confirm or deny. Harmless, silly fun. Well some overly sensitive, whining, moron that couldn’t read a sign decided to call the Health Department and complain. After much negotiations, they reached a compromise where McGuire’s will install an inner door to the restrooms so the poor, misguided, illiterate ultra-sensitive, won’t feel like the true idiots they are. I am so glad people have their priorities straight

2/3rds

2007-05-30T18:57:00.000+03:00

Just another one of the typical sights here in Iraq. Dirt, dust, pallets of water and walls--yep, that's about it for around here.

Well, if the Navy sticks to the plan (not holding my breath on that one) , I have 3 more months to go. So that means I’ve been gone for 6 months now and I’m 2/3rds of the way through my tour. There were times when the days really dragged by, but for the most part, time flew by. I realized lately that I’ve been setting small milestones for myself along the way. So instead of looking forward to a date 9 months away, I was looking forward to Tuesdays, when my favorite TV show comes on and to Fridays, the day I can sleep late since I don’t run on Fridays. I once heard a saying “Yard by yard, life is hard…inch by inch, life is a cinch”. It really applies to here.

Things that go bump in the middle of the night

2007-05-28T19:33:00.000+03:00

The other night, something work me up around 0130. I was half awake when there was a huge flash of light that lit the inside of my trailer and a loud “BOOM” that shook the dust from the rafters. That woke me up. Running to a bunker crossed my mind, but my floor was cold and my flip flops were on the other side of the room. So, I just pulled my mortar resistant comforter over my head and went back to sleep. A few hours later, I got up and went for a run long before the sun came up (it was already 95 degrees outside). Things didn’t look right. A tent was knocked down and half of it was hanging over a wall. A tree was knocked down. My first thought was “wow good shootin’ Hajji”. When I passed the 10th down tree, I figured that we had a pretty big storm. The funny thing was it was a dusty as ever.

When I got to work, I found out that we had 75 knot gusts during a freak windstorm. It did a fair amount of damage—but not a single port-a-potty blew over.

Memorial Day

2007-05-28T08:40:00.000+03:00

Today is a sad day for me and a lot of the guys I serve with. In the past, Memorial day was a day off from work filled with BBQ, family reunions and long drives. Sure, the intent was to honor the fallen, but they were a bunch of dead guys from a long time ago that died in some far away place. The biggest tragedy always seemed to be how much gas prices went up on just in time for Memorial day.
This year its different. It is more personal. We are honoring guys that were just here—some of which haven't finished making final trip home yet. It has been a bad couple of weeks. We have taken some bad losses lately.

Where is the civility?

2007-05-26T18:32:00.000+03:00

Sorry, today's post has noting to do with Iraq,
but something I came across in the news.

Today, I read a story about a 12 year old Alabama boy that killed a 1100 pound wild boar. His proud dad put up a website: www.monsterpig.com. On the website there is section for comments. As you can imagine, some people have issues with hunting and they said as much. One comment really stood out. Remember, the boy is only 12 years old:

F@#$ YOU YOU F@#$ING IDIOT!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE F@#$ IS WRONG WITH YOU?? YOU LITTLE FAT ASS PUNK!!! THINK YOUR SO COOL CUZ YOU SHOT A HUGE PIG! JUST BECAUSE IT WAS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER PIGS DOESNT MEAN THAT IT DOESNT HAVE A LIFE, A MATE, A FAMILY!!!! HOW WOULD U LIKE IT IF U WERE KILLED FOR NO REASON OTHER THAN UR FAT!?! I WOULD SURE BE HAPPY!

My only question is; where is the civility? I can understand not approving of what the boy did, but to attack him with such hatred and foul language? That is simply inexcusable. He is a child after all. I simply don’t understand how someone could have such compassion for an animal yet such disdain for a person. I thought liberals were kind and compassionate?

The real hero

2007-05-26T14:22:00.000+03:00

There is nothing heroic in what I’m doing over here. I’m here, I go to work and hope that by the end of the day, I’ve made a difference. Noting special-- just doing my job.

The real hero in our family is my wife. We had very little notice that I was deploying, and suddenly she was left with a house to run and 2 kids to take care of—all on her own and during a very difficult time in our lives. She didn’t have the option to take a “down day” or to sleep in if she was sick. She was faced with real challenges and took them on head on. From replacing a faulty water pump in our truck to painting the garage floor—she has done it all. Just yesterday our oldest daughter finished her first year of school by earning an award for being the best overall student in her class. I’m extremely proud of our daughter and all she has accomplished. So much of the credit has to go to my wife as well. She has spent countless hours helping our daughter with her schoolwork and fostering a love of learning. The results of her hard work are evident every time I look at our kids.

A sight for sore eyes.

2007-05-24T12:00:00.000+03:00

Since they days are getting longer, it is getting lighter and lighter when I go out for my morning runs. As a result, the iPod and shirt Nazis are becoming an ever increasing threat. So to compensate, I’ve been running off of the beaten path on dirt roads—away from prying eyes. When it rains the roads become pretty muddy. Baking in the 115 degree sun, they dry unevenly and are as hard as concrete. The uneven surface has been wrecking havoc on my ankles lately. I was about to give up and start living by the rules, when I saw a road grader smoothing the roads down.

Pimp my ride

2007-05-23T17:17:00.001+03:00

In the Navy, I seldom knew which jet I would be flying until maybe a hour or so before launch. As a result, all of the jests were very standardized.
Not in the Army however, guys are assigned to a truck and that truck is the one they roll in. If that truck was to go down for a maintenance problem (which rarely happens), they wouldn’t swap trucks, another truck and crew would take their place. These kids get attached to their trucks, and inevitably they “pimp their ride” with custom light bars, sirens, bumpers, loudspeakers—not quite Road Warrior, but pretty cool. The best thing I saw, or rather herd, was some guy rigged up the music system from an ice cream truck. So the other day, I was walking along and I heard “It’s a Small World” blaring down the street in downtown Camp Victory, Iraq. It was great! Just hearing that sound brought me back to a simpler time and place. I think it made quite a few people’s day.

What to do...what to do?

2007-05-22T18:10:00.000+03:00

If all goes according to plan, I should be coming home in September. I would like to go on a family vacation. I wonder where we can go??? Some place the kids will enjoy and Braye and I can relax and watch the kids have fun. A real family kind of place...I’m sure something will come to mind one of these days. I just don't have any ideas right now...

BX

2007-05-22T17:40:00.000+03:00

This is the BX here on the base. Technically it is the AAFES (Army and Air Force Exchange Service) store. There motto is “we go where you go”. That part is true, every FOB has at least a BX trailer. Think of it as a Wal-Mart whose inventory is managed by a couple of monkeys. For some reason the sell 42” plasma TVs, but can’t seem to keep anything else in stock. You can’t be choosey wish it comes to shopping there. If you have a favorite brand of something, you might be better off having someone ship it to you. The other day, the only shampoo they had was Island Coconut. OK, I secure enough in my manhood to walk around smelling like Pablo the pool boy.
One of the nice features is that they take debt cards and you are allowed to get $20.00 back for each purchase. There are no ATMs in theater, so it is the easiest way to get cash. Right before I left on leave, I bought quite a few $22.50 sodas.
In addition to the BX, there is a Green Bean Coffee shop, a Taco Bell and Pizza Hut Trailer. There is a local “Hajji mart” there as well. Half of their goods are made in China and most of it is junk. I did buy a holster there—it is 6 months old and is now held together with wire ties and tape. Someone mentioned that, in the picture I posted the other day, the musicians didn’t use sheet music. Since they don’t know how to play, I don’t think that it would do any good.

Another Day

2007-05-21T17:28:00.000+03:00

Another day here in Iraq. The temp is over 105. The bad guys are still out there doing bad things and we are still here doing our best. Our guys keep getting blown up and certain politicians back home celebrate another “Bush Failure point”. My meeting tonight was canceled--again. Just about the only thing that overrides meetings are memorial services. We’ve had quite a few meetings canceled lately.

So, this one time at Band Camp…

2007-05-20T15:09:00.000+03:00

OK, I normally go with the flow about certain things, but I hit my limit with this one. Each Army Division has their own band. So, when it comes time for parades, they have their music to march to. No problem there. But, someone along the line came up with the bright idea that band music is motivating for the troops, so everywhere you look, there is the band. One day I was out running at 0500, and there was the band (Stetson hats and all) playing in the middle of a field. Strange, but no harm done. Today, when I was going into the BX, there is the band playing along (in 105 degree heat) . Goofy, but more power to you guys.
The thing that puts the ass into asinine, however, is then they bring the band into the chow hall. OK, the flute section by itself can add a little ambiance. But about once a week, they bring in the big horns. The music is so loud you can’t even think, let alone talk. It would help if they could actually play. I know, I have often said to my wife: “Hey honey, let’s go out for dinner, I know a restaurant that has a great tuba player!”

My intellectual equal...

2007-05-19T11:29:00.000+03:00

Well, it took me 6 months to find my intellectual equal over here—a fence post. OK, maybe I’m giving myself too much credit. One thing that stands out is the fact that they use concrete fence posts over here. I don’t know if it is because of the extreme weather or if because of the lack of timber. Just one of the many things that make this place so different.
On a happier note, I was told that I have to turn in my Fitness report for all the things I’ve done while I was here—think of it as a report card. They are due way in advance, but it is still the first step in heading home.

Green Zone

2007-05-18T13:52:00.000+03:00

This is a picture of a street in the Green Zone. For a Baghdad street, it is pretty clean. All kinds of people are out and about. Of course, you have Soldiers everywhere, but also embassy employees, contractors, Iraqis, private security guards. You name it-- a total mix.
Somewhere in the Green Zone there is the “Baghdad Country Club” a real pub where you (unless you wear a goofy digital green uniform in the middle of the desert) can get a real drink. Where do they get alcohol? Well, right outside the wire in any Iraqi liquor store. Maybe Iraq isn’t the fanatical Islamic country that some people think it is. True you have your “Bible”… er.. I mean “Koran thumpers”, but I guess some folks bent the rules a bit.

I hope it isn't so...

2007-05-17T17:39:00.000+03:00

I just read yesterday that the Senate failed to cut off funds for the war. By a vote of 67 to 29, they voted against a measure that would have cut off funding for the troops and essentially ended the war. I hope the real reason is that they decided that cutting and running isn’t the way to go. I have a feeling that the vote went the way for a more ominous reason. To me, it seems like one political party views this as “Bush’s war” and any failure in the war is a victory for them. Just look a Lou Dobbs on CNN, he almost gleefully announces the war dead each and every day on his TV show. Why? To keep the drumbeat alive that the President has failed. I have a suspicion that many political figures secretly want the war to continue (and for the body count to keep increasing) to help their chances in ’08. Could it be that they don’t want victory?
But hey, what do I know? I’m just a guy on the ground.
This is a picture taken in the Green Zone in Baghdad. The dome ahead has a name that escapes me. To the guys, it is known as the Golden nipple.

More Flamingos

2007-05-16T17:30:00.000+03:00

No, these are not my flamingos. Rather, someone else had the same idea. This is a courtyard in front of Saddam’s military museum in Baghdad. At first I thought my flamingoes were bad luck—now I know they are all evil. On a lighter note, finally some good news to report from the war front. Things definitely seem to be turning around in Ramadi. Stars and stripes had a good article here. Funny, I didn’t hear about this on ABC or CNN.

BBC

2007-05-15T17:10:00.000+03:00

I know that they are hard to see, but these geese are mean!!!

The other day, my wife sent me a clock radio for my iPod. Since then, I have started listening to the BBC news. It is an interesting perspective. It is clear that tat news isn’t an entertainment industry in England—I haven’t heard a thing about Anna Nicole or Natalie Holloway since I’ve starting listening to it. The BBC isn’t as anti-American as I was led to believe. Most of the stories are very informative and offers an interesting perspective on the world. Too bad they have drunk the “global warming cool-aid”. Every other story is a bunch of whining about the plight of pigmy shrimp or how global warming raises the risk of post partum depression. I have yet to hear a balanced discussion on the subject.

The Real Heroes

2007-05-14T19:47:00.000+03:00

Here is one of the guys shortly before a patrol. Despite the dangers of going outside the wire, he was able to catch a few Z’s beforehand. These are the real heroes over here. All of us receive our pay tax free while we are out here. It doesn’t matter if you are driving down the street in Baghdad or living in a 5 star hotel in Dubai. Personally, I think these kids that go outside the wire every day deserve more; I think they should get 2 months tax free for each month they are over here. I’ve seen it from both sides—from a boat in the middle of the gulf to here on the ground. It is something that we owe these guys .

Honest, the bird is fine...

2007-05-13T16:22:00.000+03:00

Actually, there are 4 falcons hanging around the palace. They are normally very docile, but the other day, they were fighting each other. This one particular guy allowed me to get within a couple of inches of his face. (So close he tried to peck at my camera) Urban legend has it that they used to be hunting falcons, so that is why they are used to people. Who knows, maybe they belonged to Saddam himself—word has it, that he was a big animal lover. Whatever the case, things get monotonous around here and it is nice to see something new from time to time.

Navy

2007-05-12T20:05:00.000+03:00

No, I didn’t write that, but it is a sentiment I’ve seen written on quite a few walls. Every now and then, I’ve seen similar things written about The Army, but that graffiti is short lived. Someone erases it in short order. Is it leadership? Pride in service? Who knows? The Navy graffiti seems to stick around for a while.
If the Navy were a county, it would be the 3rd largest collation partner over here with over 5,000 Sailors.

I would venture a guess that the majority of the navy guys over here are individual augmentees—guys that were plucked from shore duty on very short notice and sent to Iraq to work in jobs very far from what they normally do. We have quite a few disgruntled folks over here. To listen to some of their tales of woe is pretty depressing. I lucked out, however, I have a job that is rewarding and I work with truly outstanding Army unit.

My 15 minutes of fame

2007-05-11T16:55:00.000+03:00

This little guy has been hanging around the palace for a couple of days now. He was so tame I took this picture without a zoom. In fact I got within a foot of him and he stayed perfectly calm, I then realized that he was too calm and had to be up to something—so I shot him.

I was interviewed on a Pensacola radio show today. My 15 minutes of fame. With Mother’s day so close, I figured I better toss in a couple of shout outs in. As it was, Braye missed it. Oh well, now I have to hurry and send a card.

Ok, so I didn’t really shoot the bird.

Another day starting

2007-05-10T18:13:00.000+03:00

This picture sums up what it “feels” like over here. Everywhere youlook there are concrete barriers, gravel barbed wire. Everyting is covered in a fine coating of dust. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that it is depressing, but the blandness of it all isn’t very uplifing. In Baghdad, a locan man decided he didn’t like the way things looked either, so he started painting murials on some of the barriers. No one told him to do it, he just wanted to make his little piece of the world better. I think he one of the Iarqis that “gets it” and it gives me some hope.

Holidays

2007-05-09T19:08:00.000+03:00

I think it says "Happy Birthday infidel!"

Holidays can be difficult over here, they tend to remindyou of all the things back home that we are missing. I recently had a birthday. My family were great and I defintly did not feel forgotten. It occurred to me that mine will be the last family event that I will be away for. As I like to point out to my oldest: “I’ll be home for your birthday, and your’s is next” As soon as we get to double digits, I think I’ll put a countdown timer on this blog.

Something else I never thought I'd see..

2007-05-08T18:29:00.000+03:00

There are several man-made lakes around here. One of them has not one, but 2 sunken house boats. Well, I guess they really are party barges. They look like something from Aladdin. Good ole Saddam liked to compare himself to leaders from the ancient past. You can see that in the architecture of the buildings and some of the art work. The Roman emperor Caligula had 2 giant party barges on a lake in Italy—I wonder if Saddam got the idea from him?

Sanctions

2007-05-07T17:54:00.000+03:00

This is one of the ceilings inside the old Presidential palace

Most of the pictures I sent have been from an exclusive part of Iraq—where the privileged members of the Baath party worked, lived and played. There is another part of the country—one that is trashed and derelict. It is difficult to take pictures in those areas, since I have other things worry about.
Interesting, the quality of life hadn’t diminished for the elite of Saddam’s regime. Saddam funneled money from the UN’s oil for food program and spent it on palaces and other luxurious items. His people suffered. I guess the suffering of average Iraqis didn’t matter to the anti war crowd—if it were up to those folks, they would just keep giving the UN another chance. To them, results don’t matter, only the appearance of doing something does.

Well, would you look at that…

2007-05-06T17:14:00.000+03:00

I didn’t know those things went into triple digits. I would say it is getting warm around here—I wouldn’t say hot yet since I’m sure the best is yet to come. Right now it is very windy outside, so it feels like a hair dryer blowing. At least it is a dry heat. Running is a bit more difficult, by bearable so far…

½ Half Marathon

2007-05-06T03:32:00.000+03:00

We had the Baghdad ½ Marathon the other day. I thought about running it, but I didn’t—that was way too long to go running without an iPod. Funny, for a service that prides itself of physical fitness, they can sure make running difficult.
Speaking of running, while I was over here eating Bon Bons and watching Jerry Springer, my wife actually placed third in a race back home. So she is officially “Googable”. I'm so proud of her

A Great Dictator, but…

2007-05-05T05:26:00.000+03:00

The grounds in front of one of Saddam’s palaces

I spoke with one of our interpreters today. He had a similar opinion ofSaddam Hussein that I have heard several times before: "He was a greatdictator, but a terrible person". He did keep the trains running and thewater flowing. He also killed anyone that was a threat to his power.He told me that Saddam wouldn't kill innocent people (unlike his sons),but the problem was that a lot of people threatened him. He then told mean interesting story. The guy I was talking to is an Iraqi Christian.One day, a gang of Muslims broke into his church in Baghdad andthreatened the Priest (Apparently they were upset that the infidelPriest was allowing women to enter his church). Saddam gotwind of the trouble and told the leader of the crowd to leave the Priestalone or he and his family would disappear,

Boys will be boys...

2007-05-03T19:00:00.000+03:00

The other day, I was riding along in a convoy when I saw some teen age boys standing on the side of the road. One was bigger than the rest and was standing a little closer to the road than his friends. He then throws a rock at the truck in front of ours.
An insurgent in the making? Nah, just boys being boys. I’m sure he was trying to show off to his buddies how tough he was by throwing a rock at the big truck with big guns. I guess it is the Iraqi equivalent of throwing an egg at a police car. Our guys did noting—it was no big deal. His buddies were patting him on the back and he was strutting like a peacock. Still looking to impress his buddies he then gave my truck the Middle Eastern equivalent of the finger. I just had to smile back at him—boys will be boys.

Love me wall

2007-05-02T19:24:00.000+03:00

Like most aviators, I put together an impressive “love me wall”. All of my squadron plaques, awards citations and pictures of planes I’ve flown were proudly displayed on a wall in my house. Well, it lasted for about 2 weeks after we were married. Since I’m alone here in Iraq (and presumably in charge of my new “home”) , I started to assemble a new “love me wall” Except this time most of it is made with finger paint, magic markers and the only airplane pictures on display are of the Koala Brothers.

Evil

2007-05-01T17:38:00.000+03:00

The other day, I came across something that really bothered me. I can mention it now because the military released the information to the media. You can find the Stars and Stripes article here.
Al Qaeda decided to plant a bunch of artillery shells and other explosives inside a building that was under construction—presumably to detonate them when the building opened later this month. It wasn’t a military facility or a government building—rather, it was a girls school. They wanted to kill a building full of school girls. Girls no different than mine. The only difference is, to these girls, monsters are real.
These are not Freedom Fighters” or “Holy Warriors”. They are a bunch of evil cowards that are only brave enough to take on a bunch of little girls. It would be a disservice to call them men—they are pigs.
Evil is like a cancer—you can’t reason with it or sympathize with it. There is no rehabilitation for these people. They need to be eliminated. I don’t care what made them they way they are or why they do the things they do—all I care about is making sure they don’t hurt anybody again.
Now that this story is out in the media, where is the outrage in our country? We wept over Virginia Tech and rightly so, but I predict that this story will not make the main stream media. Even if they were successful in their attack, I doubt this story would make it past the scroll on the bottom of CNN.
We have a responsibility. If we ignore evil, then by our silence, we condone it. By turning a blind eye, we encourage evil doers. I would like to think that we, as Americans, are better than that.

Did I mention…

2007-05-01T03:27:00.000+03:00

I don’t like Baghdad. War aside; this isn’t a very nice place. It seems like everything is brown and covered in either mud or dust (and sometimes both). Outside the wire, it is trash covered with mud or dust. It occurred to me that if you painted everything grey instead of brown and replaced the dust with black soot—this place would be a ringer for one of the cities in Eastern Europe. At least that is what it reminds me of. I guess when you live under an oppressive regime , aesthetics go out the window. Maybe that is why the last time I was in what used to be East Germany, I saw that they painted a bunch of grey buildings purple, yellow and blue—just to lighten the place up a bit. I wonder if place will have some color in a few years.

Oh well, at least I’m not in New Jersey

More on where I am at...

2007-04-29T17:41:00.000+03:00

As far as I can tell, this base used to be two separate areas. One was the “zoo” or the hunting club. The other area, with the lakes and palaces used to be for the exclusive use by the senior members of the Batth party. Form all of the walls and guard towers, you can tell this place was pretty exclusive. At least they said please.

Demoralized

2007-04-28T20:52:00.000+03:00

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I have to say that the recent actions of congress has had a demoralizing effect on me. I truly feel that they are committed to defeating the president at every turn and thus, any indication of success over here will not be tolerated. Constantly, we hear our leaders say the “war is already lost” and how we have failed miserably. “We support the troops” is starting to carry as much weight as “the check is in the mail”. Since when does crushing morale and giving aid and comfort to the enemy equate to supporting the troops?

To the troops, this is known as the “Long War”. I wonder if we were fighting in the “Clinton War” or the “Obama War”; would the actions of congress be any different? Sadly, it think so.

It was once said: “that when it comes to war, the only good politics are no politics.”

I thought this was the desert?

2007-04-27T18:05:00.000+03:00

Today was a bit of a change for us. We all thought that the rainy season was over, but we wound up having some pretty good thunderstorms roll through. So now we are back to the muck and mud. It’s OK though—the dust was starting to get bad. Things often turn out different than what we expect are around here---it rains in the desert and the bad guys are not the only ones that will snipe at you. Funny place.

Huh?

2007-04-26T17:52:00.000+03:00

This is a picture of “The Bird House” which is located in one of the trailer parks known as…Dodge City. Rumor has it that this part of the base used to be a zoo. Another rumor is that it was Saddam’s private hunting preserve. No one seems to know for sure. I asked some of the Iraqis I work with and they really don’t know. What they tell me is that place used to be desert and then Saddam built “something”. All they could see were the walls from the road that leads to the airport. Most had no idea what this place was even called and most were afraid to ask.

What’s in a Name?

2007-04-25T17:42:00.000+03:00

Back in World War I, the bad guys were known as “The Huns”. In WWII, the bad guys were the “Japs” or the “Krauts”. In hindsight, not very politically correct. In Korea, they were known as “Reds”. OK, not very original. In Viet Nam, the official designation of the bad guys was “VC” which stood for either Viet Cong or Vietnamese Communists. Pretty descriptive and more politically correct than some of the other names used back then. To the troops, however, the enemy simply became known as “Charlie”.

Over here, there are several official names for the bad guys. Collectively, they are all lumped together as “AIF” which is Anti Iraqi Forces. Within the AIF you have the “AQI”-- Al Qaida in Iraq and “JAM”-- Jaysh al-Mahdi. Very politically correct, but not very easy to say. Instead, they are often known as “Hajjis”. The funny thing is, the only Hajji I know of is from Johnny Quest and he was from India.

I know, I know, a lot of people will be like: “oh don’t say that, you might offend them”. I would imagine that they have more important things to worry about and I’m sure their name for us is equally non-offensive. Besides, what’s in a name?