A Historic Blog of My Tour of Duty In Iraq

Back To Work

2006-12-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

I've enjoyed the past month off taking my leave. It ended yesterday and today was my first day back to work. I wasn't in the mood to go back to work. I had so much time off that I got used to hanging around the house all day. I was starting to enjoy it. We did go to California for a short vacation and I took the kids to Magic Mountain.

For some reason or another I had to go back to orientation. That's ok because I had to complete some electronic quizzes that were due anyway. Every was happy to see me and I felt like the most popular guy at work today. I'm sure the buzz is going around the hospital that I'm back now. It's ok but for some reason, I wanted to avoid people. I get tired of saying hello to everyone. I don't mind doing it but not all the time. Perhaps I'd hate being a celebrity.

I'm leaving this blog and moving on with my life. I just don't have the time anymore and the purpose of it was just to give everyone a glimpse of a soldier's daily life in Iraq. I'll be focusing on my MySpace website www.myspace.com/mrpetejr. I have a blog there that I'll be updating from time to time.

My laptop crashed a few weeks ago. It was the computer that I took with me to Iraq. Unfortunately I lost all my photos. Luckily, I had backed up most of them but I also had a list of names that I wanted to mention. I had a list of names of the people that would send me letters, stuff for kids, snacks, and other such things. I apologize to all of you that I haven't mentioned by name.

A BIG SHOT OUT GOES TO ALL OF THOSE THAT SUPPORTED ME DURING MY TOUR OF DUTY IN IRAQ. YOU ALL KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

THANK YOU & GOD BLESS!!!

I'm proud to be home, back in America.

Readjusting

2006-11-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I’ve been home for a week now. As everyone may be able to notice, I haven’t blogged much. That’s because my wife wants me to spend more time with her and less with the computer. It’s either her or the computer so I chose her. I won’t be blogging any much anymore either, maybe once in a while.

I’ve spent the last week eating out almost daily. I knew I would when I got home. The weather here in Phoenix has been absolutely beautiful. It’s been in the upper 70’s, lower 80’s all week. The skies have been clear and it’s been mostly sunny. I haven’t spoke too much of my buddies since we’ve all finished our post deployment. Most of the guys are planning on going on vacations and spending some time at home with their families.

One of my buddies was throwing a party last night. My wife and me were going to go but I changed my mind at the last minute. I didn’t feel like driving all the way to the west side of town to drop off the boys with Grandma and then drive all the way to Mesa. It was just too much driving and I didn’t feel like driving all over town.

Right now I’m trying to get readjusted. I just bought a cell phone this week and I’m still trying to learn how to use it. I also have some other things to do like call Tricare, visit the VA medical center, and enroll in the spring semester at Gateway Community College.

As far as everything right now I’d say it’s going pretty good. I’ve been spending lots of time with my boys and my young one is always telling me that he loves me. They both missed me and I missed them too. We have a bunch of catching up to do. When I left John hardly spoke and now he’s talking all the time. He’s also very, very into his Nintendo Gameboy. I have to find out how I’m going to get him to put it down and give it a break.

Welcome Home

2006-11-13T19:51:00.000-08:00

We’ve finally made it. 100%. We all came back home. It was an exhilarating feeling yesterday. We stayed up most of the night, Saturday night. We were told that we were moving out of the barracks at 0230 hours. We cleaned the barracks the night prior and put all of our linen away. We slept on the bare bunks without any linen at all but most of us didn’t mind. Some of us, like myself, ended up sleeping on the floor.

We left on the busses around 0300 hours on our way to the airport. We had to hang out in the hanger until 0700 hours for our plane to depart. So, it was a long night and most of us didn’t sleep at all. I tried to get some rest wherever I could but it was hard since we were always having a roll call or something.

We all walked out to our Southwest Airlines plane out in the rain. It was raining just as it had every day since we’ve been there. I figured the weather in Phoenix would be a beautiful 76 degrees with clear, sunny skies. I was looking forward to enjoying the nice Arizona weather. Sure enough, once we were in the air, headed south, the sky began to clear up.

Everyone on the plane began to get excited once we approached Phoenix. We came in from the north and then went east towards Scottsdale. At first I saw the Phoenix Mountains. Then I saw Piestewa Peak and Camelback Mountain. Then, that’s when I began to realize, that we were coming home. We were coming home and our mission was complete. We were finished. I left more then a year ago, unsure whether I’d be coming back and I was coming home now.

The plane landed at Sky Harbor Airport and taxied over to the hanger where a group of motorcycles, media, and family awaited. Flags were being hung and waived everywhere and the crowds were cheering. The plane stopped and the door opened. We began to exit and depart down the steps to the sound of revving motorcycles and marching band music. I was home. We all felt proud as we went to drop off our bags and get into formation. We would be marching into the hanger where the crowds of families awaited.

We marched our way into the hanger and the 1^st Sergeant put us to attention. He called the commander, who said just a few words. He mentioned to the crowd the number of combat missions we’ve accomplished and that the unit had come home 100%. He kept it short and dismissed us. We all rushed to our families and I rushed to see mine. The sense of happiness had overwhelmed me at the beginning. I had made it back home alive and from now on, I could get on with the rest of my life.

Outprocessing

2006-11-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

I was hoping that I didn't get stuck in medical holdover. I was forced to see behavioral health yesterday. That's because I stated on a questioniare that I may have concerns dealing with my relationship. I'm just a little concerned that's all and I care. I have to readjust back to life over here. I've been away from my wife and kids for such a long time and we've all changed a little. There will be stress because of the change we go through. It's expected.

Luckily I cleared behavioral health and medical so I'm almost cleared to go home. I'm hoping that nothing else happens so I could go on that first plane flight back home. Others that are not so lucky will be stuck here while the doctors do more examinations and whatever assesments they need to do. I never had any medical issues while I was gone, except for the toothache that occured in June.

Yesterday I finished clearing central issue. That means that all the equipment they've issued me is turned back in. Some of the guys were missing equipment which the commander when ahead and wrote off as a field loss. I'm glad I didn't miss anything. I'd hate to pay for equipment that I've lost. I have better ways to spend my money like on a little vacation with my family.

Today I get my TB skin test read and complete the demobilization outprocess. I'm almost finished and I can't wait. This process is so tedious and time consuming. Our command has discussed granting us an off post pass so we could go into town. I'd probably only end up going into some mall in Lakewood. I'm not interested in going all the way to Seattle. There's not to much to see there after I spent five days there last year. I think I've seen almost everything there is to see.

Back In America

2006-11-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Wow does the weather feel nice here. I never thought the cold, wet, weather would feel so good. We arrived yesterday morning here in Washington State. The flight was long but I'm glad we only had one stop. We stopped in Germany to refuel before we left on final trip here to start our demobilization process. Of course we had the rest of yesterday off to recover from the jet lag on the plane. Most of the guys slept since 1600 hours and woke up pretty early. I tried not to sleep but got tired around 1500 hours. I took a nap and woke up around 1900 hours. After that I decided to get up and wash some of my equipment to get it ready for turn in. I went back to sleep around 2330 hours and woke up around 0600 hours this morning.

The plane flight was long, like always. They played around 8 movies from our trip from the Middle East all the way over here. I slept through some of the movies and watched others. Most of the guys slept right after take off. I could tell that our clocks were all messed up when everyone started waking up on the plane around the same time.

I'm glad we only had one stop. That was in Germany. I heard that other flights that are leaving after us will be stopping in several different places on their way over here. We had a big plane so it was prepared for those long trips.

Well, it feels really nice to be back in the states. We haven't been granted the freedom of leaving the post. We're confined and our command won't let us leave. I understand and it doesn't bother me much. They try to keep control of all the guys and they want to make sure that we all make it back home to Arizona safe.

We started our outprocessing today. We had a few briefings from several different agencies like the chaplain, finance, VA, legal, and medical outprocessing. Tomorrow we start turning in our equipment. I can't wait to get rid of that stuff. Some of the guys have lost equipment and I hope that I'm not one of them. If so they'll be taking that money out of my pocket.

Boring Kuwait

2006-11-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I'm here I'm bored. There's not much for us to do here but wait. It wouldn't be so bad if our command didn't place restrictions on us like having a battle buddy everywhere we go. They do have a few amenities here like a PX, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, library, bazaar, and gym. Well, I don't have much time since my battle buddy is waiting outside for me. So I'll just leave this post short.

The Way Home

2006-11-03T09:23:00.000-08:00

We had to get up early this morning. I didn't know how much a trip out of Iraq could turn into such a long day. We got up early this morning and started packing our bags. We all knew we were leaving Baghdad today for the last time. We cleared out the tents and cleaned them up. We waited outside for our busses to arrive to take us to the airport.Being at the airport is like being at any other airport. We waiting around forever for our flight. I spent my time playing Spades with some of the guys. It was a good way to pass the time really quick and have some fun at it too. We all missed breakfast this morning so we ate whatever snacks we could find. I walked over to Green Beans Coffee to get a mocha frappe. We ended up waiting about five hours before we boarded our plan for the flight out of Iraq.
We're all in Kuwait now and it finally seems like we're heading home. It's starting to feel pretty good and liberating. The trip here has been long and I'm tired. We ate dinner chow as soon as we got settled into our tents. The Big Man and me walked around a little bit just to get oriented with the place. It's only a matter of days before we're on another flight back to the states.

Animosity

2006-11-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

There was a lot of animosity today in the company today. I felt it as well. I thought I deserved better when what I got. I tried not to dwell on it too much, so I wouldn't be bothered by it. It’s mainly because of the award ceremony we had today.This morning we had a transfer of authority formation followed by an awards formation. A few bronze stars were awarded and I myself have trouble with the credibility of those that were awarded. Bronze Stars? I guess it’s ok if it’s honorable. But then they awarded the rest of us with medals, and what did they give us? They gave the rest of us Army Commendation Medals. Well, that might be ok too but they also gave it to some people that weren’t worthy of that award. So, that just puts us on the same level as that Joe that wasn’t worth a damn.

For a year in Iraq, and being recognized as the role model for organization and teamwork, I think they could’ve awarded us better. We’d hear praise about how great we were and how we were the best unit in the Brigade. They always said that they weren’t blowing smoke up our ass. Well, the least they could’ve done is shown that praise by maybe awarding us Meritorious Service Medals. And what about the appreciation from the Army for what my kids and wife has had to go through for the past year? At least some honorable recognition would be nice. ARCOMs are nice but for what we’ve done here in Iraq? After being told that we are the model for

Another thing is the coin awards. I like getting awarded the coins and they never have enough for everyone. Only a few guys in the unit got coins. I thought that maybe I’d be considered since I was chosen to manage the physical fitness for the platoon. It was an extra duty that I never volunteered for. I wasn’t happy about it when they told me back in Ft. Lewis but I did the job. While others were out messing around, I was busy making up the PT training schedule and managing the PT scores for the platoon. I received no recognition for that. Well, I see how they appreciate me now. And that’s why guys like me build a lot of animosity toward the unit.

Halo Forever

2006-11-01T20:42:00.000-08:00

I was getting a little wet last night. My cot is right next to the door of the tent. It’s a door that’s been ripped off by the platoon sergeant. He got mad one night and took his frustration out on the door to the tent. Now I’m the one that must suffer. A thunderstorm rolled in last night and the wind blew some of the rain right into the tent. I felt the mist that came in until the storm past. I just prayed that it would either stop raining or that the storm would go by.

I wasted most of my day playing video games. It wasn’t intended. I did plan on going the gym but I put that off to play a little Halo this morning. Then lunchtime came around so I at lunch. After that I went back to play Halo for about an hour. Well, an hour turned into a few and by the time I knew it, it was dinnertime. I played Halo from about 0900 hours until about 1600 hours with a lunch break in between. A true gamer may not say it but I think it was a waste of a day. At least I got some other things done like shower, clean my body armor, and buy some souvenirs at the PX.

Halloween

2006-10-31T09:48:00.000-08:00

I better get all the souvenirs I could get before I leave. We’re just hanging around now. We’ve pretty much turned the missions over to the new unit. Now we’re pretty much sitting around, waiting for the day when we fly out. They’re may be a little bit of a lag while I’m in my travels but I’ll try to post when I can.

I heard that when we get back to the States, we’d be on lockdown. I was told that we wouldn’t be able to leave the Fort or our area. I also heard that they’d have a no drinking policy. I could live with it but it still sucks.

This wasted my afternoon playing Halo in the Scorpion MWR. It’s not the same MWR that I was used to going into. This once is closer to the tents and further from our trailers. I got caught up playing Halo because this other guy from the platoon talked me into it. I’m not sure what we’re doing tomorrow, probably nothing. It’ll be another day for me to workout, watch a movie, and maybe visit the PX for the last time.

I will take it slow

2006-10-30T10:47:00.001-08:00

That’s the motto of the day. It’s the phrase that the chaplain came up with. We went through some of our demobilization briefings today. There was also a liaison from legal and finance. They explained to us how our earnings would change and what we would receive. Legal told us about any legal issues that may arise such as court subpeona while we were overseas.

I thought the chaplain was the best of the three. He entertained us with humor and gave us the pleasure of only viewing a few slides on his power-point presentation. The first slide was a picture of a stack of books. He explained how he had read all those books to try and get into a soldiers mind but none of them really helped. Then he turned to the next slide that had a picture of a Maxim magazine, The Cat in The Hat, and a few other simple books. That’s when he said that he had found a way into the mind of a solider. His next slide had the simple phrase "I will take it slow." He had us repeat it a few times and then he told us about issues that would arise when we arrived home. After every issue, such as drinking and intimacy, we would all repeat, "I will take it slow." That was about it. The chaplain discussed suicide prevention as well.

Today was the last day to turn in our laundry. We also got dates for the rest of our demobilization until we arrive home.

Over Yet?

2006-10-29T10:10:00.000-08:00

I wanted to spread the good news but we’re not entirely finished yet. I may never leave the wire again but there are a few of us that still have to. So I’ll hold off for now. We had a day off today. I was glad since it gave me a chance to do some of the things I needed to do. I still need to go to he post office to mail a few more packages before we leave.

I got up this morning around 0700 hours. I got dressed and walked over to the chow hall. Since we don’t have our trucks anymore we have to walk everywhere we go. It doesn’t bother me too much since I like walking. There were rainstorms this morning, which made it hard for me to walk to chow. When I thought it was going to come down hard I’d start running for time and possible shelter. The Army PT jacket didn’t help keeping me dry. My back still felt a little wet. I made it to the chow hall in about 15 minutes and ate breakfast. Afterwards I went next door to the phone center to call home and talk with the wife and kids. They’re all expecting me and can’t wait for me to arrive home.

I had my morning planned out before I left the tents and I was sticking to that plan. After calling home on the phone I went over to the MWR to check my e-mail. The internet was a little sluggish mainly because of all the rainstorms. I spent about an hour on the internet before I went to the gym. It’s been a while since I’ve worked out and since I’ve finally had some time off I wanted to take advantage of it. I was almost done with my workout when one of the guys from headquarters platoon showed up. He got an extra to-go meal at the mess hall and offered it to me. I accepted and we walked back to the tents.

This afternoon I turned in my laundry for the last time. I also got my last haircut in Iraq as well. I had to go out of my way to go to my favorite barber but it was worth it. I have a few more things to do but hopefully I’ll have enough time to do them.

Changeover is Hell

2006-10-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

I had to smoke a cigarette today. They’re not hard to find. There are a lot of guys that smoke in the Army. Maybe it’s an Army thing. I don’t smoke but today I decided to smoke one. We’ve had a hell of a week and after it was all done with today, it felt relieving.

We were told last night that we were meeting up this morning in the motor pool at 0945. I decided to get up early to chat with the wife and eat some breakfast before the day started. I arrived at the motor pool at 0930 just to be on the safe side and found that I was the first one there. I wondered where everyone else was for a while. The next person on the scene was one of the squad leaders from the new unit. He’s a pretty good guy, tall, brown hair, and resembles Mel Gibson. He asked me where everyone else was. I told him I didn’t know, I was just told to be there at 0945. A few minutes later a few more of his guys started arriving. Only a few of the guys from my platoon arrived a while later. Some of the guys were already going AWOL and I was pissed cause leadership was doing nothing about it.

This afternoon we were having the change over. We were turning over our trucks and all the equipment. It wasn’t too bad. We had to wait forever because the supply sergeant from the new unit had to go through all the serial numbers on all the equipment for each vehicle. I grabbed whatever I had left and said goodbye to my truck. It was being turned over to a new team.
Another milestone happened today. We also turned in most of our body armor and ammo. That brought to me the realization of something else; I may never go outside the wire again. It’s still possible, but unlikely. I heard the guys are going back to Ramadi pretty soon. I’m hoping I don’t have to go with them. Not because I hate going outside the wire, I don’t, I just don’t feel like going through all the motions. After the day was done and the headaches were over with, I decided to have a cigarette.

The Return To Ramadi

2006-10-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

For a while I thought I’d seen my last day as a .50 cal gunner. We left to Ramadi yesterday and I sat in the back seat. I thought I was just going along for the ride. There wasn’t much else I could show the new gunner since he had already been trained. To me, I was basically coaching and orientating him a little bit. I’d help out with the other guys where needed as well. Most of the problems were with our radio communications and not our weapons systems.

When we got to Ramadi I thought I’d be done for the day. I thought I was finished and we’d go hang out at the MWR and find a place to sleep in the homeless shelter. Hopefully it’s the last night I’ll ever spend in Ramadi. It didn’t go as planned though. The PL wanted me to go with him to the range. The Hoosiers were going to go to the range to test out their weapon systems and troubleshoot any problems that arise. Our platoon wanted an NCO and I guess I was the best person he could find. Why me, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I didn’t do shit but sit in the back seat of the Humvee.

Luckily the PL and me left the range before the guys were done. They were able to take care of themselves and their 1^st Sergeant was there to oversee all the testing. We went back to AR Ramadi and ate chow. I knew our day was over with. Afterwards we went to the MWR to hang out for the rest of the night. I picked up another book in the library there. I wasn’t in the mood for watching a movie or television, or playing video games. It’s too noisy in that place and all I wanted to do was spend some quiet time reading a book. I’ve been reading a Star Wars novel but I dumped it. It wasn’t enjoyable at all and I got tired of reading it. I found this other book in the library there titled, “Second Sunrise”. It’s about this Navajo State Police officer turned vampire. So far it’s very entertaining.

Rainy Days Are Back

2006-10-25T22:07:00.000-07:00

It sucks. For a while I thought that I wouldn’t have to go to Ramadi tomorrow with the rest of the guys. I just found out the news that I’m going and I have to be up at 0445. As if I haven’t got enough sleep lately. But I have a plan for that. I know that I won’t be gunning tomorrow. It will be one of the Hoosiers and I have a plan on how I’m going to sleep in the back of the truck. I’m going along for the ride. I don’t know why I am, but I am. I had my hopes up too. I was planning on catching up on some sleep and getting a haircut tomorrow too. Now it’ll have to wait.

We took two different squads out today. The first gunner out amazed me with us this morning. Just by talking to him I got the feeling that he knew what he was doing. I don’t know how or why. Maybe it was his upbringing. I got the impression that he grew up on a farm and sure enough he did. He spoke of all kinds of things like windage and mathematics. He mentioned that he had a sniper rifle. I really recommended to him that he brings that thing out. I’m getting the impression that he’s the shooter of the platoon. Heck, no one in our company even has a sniper rifle. I also got the impression that he’s an expert marksman. Heck, I should be asking him questions instead of the other way around. In fact, next time we’re together I’m going to start asking and finding out what tips I could learn.

We came back to the camp for lunch chow then went back out. In the afternoon we took a different squad out. We took them through some of the mean streets of Baghdad, almost trashed a few cars in traffic, and gave these Hoosiers a little bit of a tour.

It felt a little relieving today. I felt as if I’ve move up to another level, alumni. I feel like I’ve graduated to another class, riding in that back seat today. I wasn’t gunning for the first time. I was actually, just along for the ride. I got to sit down and look around and see Baghdad from a different perspective. Now I am a coach. I’m not sitting on the sidelines, watching the action, and telling my players what to do. It also helps me realize that I won’t be here for long. These guys are taking over day by day. They’re pushing us out and I don’t mind. I feel sorry for them, but not for us. They have a whole year to spend here and we haven’t even finished ours. Pretty soon I won’t be riding along anymore and we’ll be handing over the rings and everything else to someone else.

Finishing Up

2006-10-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

Right now our 2nd platoon is having a barbeque. It’s looks like the biggest party on the whole camp. I’m sure others are wondering who the hell we are. They’ve got their Humvees pulled up around the barbeque pit with all the lights on. They’ve also got some cots and chairs situated around the grill. They ran an extension cord from outside the tent so they could also play their speakers outside too. They’ve got the stakes on the grill and the only thing they’re missing is the beer.

I’m trying hard as heck to get these guys prepared for what’s ahead. I’ve already let a few get comfortable with being outside the wire and with how to interact over here. All the training in the world could not prepare these guys for the real thing. Sure the training helps, but it doesn’t replace actually interacting outside the wire on the mean streets of Baghdad.

The way I figure it, the sooner I get them doing the job, the faster I get to kick back and start preparing to leave. I haven’t had time to do things like get a haircut and make sure I’ve bought all the souvenirs I want before I leave. I’ve waited till the last minute like always and now I think I’m running out of time.

Familiarization

2006-10-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

The weather wasn’t bad today. It was cloudy for most of the day with some very light rain. The weather has also been cooler, which I really appreciate. I can’t believe how nice the cool weather feels. It’s almost refreshing. So refreshing that it almost makes me want to move to someplace cooler. I’m glad the days of hot weather are long gone and even the rain is starting to feel a little nice. That’s as long as it doesn’t pour.

We went on some more missions today, showing The Hoosiers around Baghdad. I tried to talk and explain to the guys as much as I could think of. I did end up getting a little frustrated though. Well, maybe I wasn’t frustrated, just upset. That’s because we did some things that were ate up that I don’t think we should’ve done. The team in the lead truck of our patrol just came back from Ramadi. There have been some changes on the roadways and such. They just decided to put an inexperienced driver at the head of the patrol. I brought it up at the AAR. I recommended that the lead element have the most experienced and best driver, that way they don’t get lost. There’s nothing wrong with Ses’ driving, he just hasn’t driven here in a while. Stuff has changed since he’s left and came back.

This evening, on the way back to camp, I noticed these teenagers on the street with an AK-47. There were about five of them standing around a parked car on the side of the road. I was wondering at the time whether it was the real thing or a toy. I wasn’t sure and it was hard to tell. As soon as they saw us coming they put it away. I kept an eye on them though. I was waiting to see if they were going to try anything. Now that I think about it, maybe we should’ve stopped them. It’s not my decision though. I just reported it to my team leader, as I should. It’s not my job to convince him into investigating those teens. But, thinking about it now, they were trouble and I’m sure we could’ve easily confiscated that weapon from them. That’s only if they didn’t decide to make our day.

I was sitting in the tent this evening, after I ate dinner chow and showered to type up my blog. That’s when this girl arrived to talk to one of the guys here. It surprised me because we never get girls around here, especially around our tent. I’m right at the doorway so I asked what she needed. I had seen here before in the mess hall during a lunch one time. She mentioned that she was here for someone and I told her that he went out to the phone center. I figured she say thanks and walk away but she just stood there, silent. I didn’t want to be rude but I was curious as to why she just didn’t walk away. There she stood, looking into our tent, checking out as much as she could. Her silence caught me so I wanted to find out what else she wanted. She didn’t talk much and was pretty reserved.

So I got up from the cot, turned my laptop off, and walked to the doorway. I started a little chitchat but I really wanted to find out why she hadn’t left. There was something she wanted and I knew it. I kept repeated that the person she was looking for wasn’t here and that I’d let him know that she had come by. After I spoke to her for a little bit, she finally opened up. She mentioned that her husband had left her. Tears had begun to run down her face. That’s when I thought, oh God, not this and why me. She opened up to me, a complete stranger. Why, I don’t know. Maybe she wanted someone to talk to.

So I listened to her and asked her questions. I tried to understand her situation as best as I could. I recommended that she talk to a Chaplin but she mentioned that she had already tried that and it didn’t work. She needed help and I could tell. I had a long deep chat with her. It’s not one that I’d prefer to have but felt I had to do. I felt I had to give the best advise and direction that I could. I told her about my life experiences and my relationship with my wife and my buddies over here. I tried to talk her into finding some friends over here, true friends, someone she could talk to. I was a little worried at first and I have the feeling that she’s depressed. I don’t know. I’m no therapist. Heck, I’ll probably need therapy at home after this.

I think she’ll be ok. There’s no telling how her relationship goes. Her relationship all depends on how her husband and her work together. I told my buddy that she came by when he arrived. I let him know about what she told me. He already knew from the conversation he had with her earlier. I’m glad she was looking for someone she could talk to. I don’t trust her with that weapon of hers. Hopefully, she’ll be ok. I hate having to take care of even these things over here. I’m no Chaplin or counselor.

The Tent

2006-10-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

I guess that I should perhaps describe our tent a little bit. They’re supposed to fit 50 of us in here but right now there’s only like 30. Thank God. That leaves more room for us. These tents aren’t your typical Vietnam era tents either. We have an a/c unit attached to both sides of the tent, blowing out cool air. The tent is also equipped with a two fire extinguishers and smoke detectors throughout the inside. The flooring is tiled with smooth plywood and cots are lined up and down the tent on both sides. In some ways I like it and in some ways I don’t. I like the fact that there’s more social interaction here but less privacy. We get to know each other a little bit more now because we have to live with one another. I’m already pretty familiar with my platoon buddies but we’re also sharing the room with 2^nd platoon. I’ve started socializing with guys from that platoon that I’ve never socialized with before.

We took the guys from Indiana to Ramadi today. We didn’t take all of them since there wasn’t room for all of them in the trucks we took. We passed a few cordons here and there but there wasn’t anything significant. The ride there and back wasn’t too bad actually. The only thing I hated about the trip is the fact that we had to take out a spare truck because our original truck didn’t get dispatched. Hopefully, we’ll be able to take that truck out tomorrow.

I did forget to mention one thing about today. It happened after we left the wire this morning, about 10 miles out. One of the trucks in the convoy was almost out of fuel as soon as we left. We had to turn around and come back to the camp so he could fuel. It was a pain in the ass and we were all pissed. It added about 45 minutes to our trip. Talk about not being prepared. I wonder what The Hoosiers were thinking of us. Maybe they didn’t think much about it since they didn’t bring it up in the after action review.

The Orientation

2006-10-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Right now we’re in the tent, planning our bank robbery when we get home. Our plan is to rob a bank using our weapons and Humvees on a drill weekend. We’re just dreaming, thinking, and planning but we’re not going to do it. We’re just using our imagination and dreaming like little boys. But we’re coming out with a nice plan. And now, the tent is quiet because all the guys are thinking about it. The other funny thing is these guys actually think they could do it. They’ve got it all planed out. It’s what happens when you get a bunch of bored guys together. Heck, I might just get in trouble for mentioning it. We’re not supposed to talk about our locations, activities, or other such things that may endanger our lives but they never said anything about planning a heist. These guys have been watching too many crime movies.

Today was the first day the guys from the new platoon went out with us. They’re all from the Indiana National Guard. I’m glad they’re guard members like me. It’s easier for me to relate to them even though I’ve been in the regular Army before. They guys had lots of questions about everything from how my deployment has been here to questions about our mission. I answered all of their questions and tried to tell them about as much as I could think of. I couldn’t get to everything because I couldn’t think of everything at the time. I explain about as much as I could. The other nice thing about these guys is that they’re infantry soldiers. That means I could focus my training on field experience rather then military tactics, techniques, and procedures.

I guess I’d compare it to getting a policeman that’s been trained but doesn’t have the experience in my city. Most or some of them may have no experience at all but the thing is they are all well trained for the job they will be performing.

It was overcast today with a few light showers. The weather has been cooler and it’s been a little windy. I was told that it’s supposed to rain for the next two days but these guys never get the weather report right.

Clearing the Conexes

2006-10-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

We spent the whole day going through customs. They went through all the crates and personal boxes we were going to ship back home overseas. The were looking for things like alcohol, pornography, cigars, cigarettes, US government property, ammunition, weapons, and flammables, It was a pain in the ass because we had to unload all of the stuff that we had just loaded the other day. It wasn’t hot but some of the guys got sunburn from being out in the sun all day.

It was an all day event. The customs officials were MPs from another unit. We worked from 0630 until 1600. We had a lunch break from 1200 to 1300. We weren’t done after the customs officials went thorough everything. We still had inventory to do. It’s a daily thing that we’re doing now because of the NVGs that got misplaced. Well, I’m glad we finally got everything packed and ready to go. I know we’ll have to do the same thing when we get through Kuwait.

Closing the Game

2006-10-19T11:56:00.000-07:00

Boy I hope nothing happens to us now. That would totally suck, to be here for a year and to get hit. That’s all I would need at this late point in the game. We weren’t supposed to go out on mission today. I had gone to the MWR to check my e-mail and get some lunch when I got the news. It was bad news and it was a note that was hanging on the window of my Humvee. They had found my truck at the parking lot of the chow hall and left the note on my truck. I opened it up and it read, “1300 mission at the TOC.” Great I thought! It’s just what I wanted to do, go out on mission.

It’s not that I’m worried. I’m not. I just didn’t feel like going out. I wasn’t in the mood for it, especially on late notice. Maybe it might have been alright if they gave us an advanced notice instead of an urgent notice. We all linked up at the TOC and got ready to head out. I put the .50 cal together, T-Rex did the checks on the Humvee, and The Colonel was making sure everything was getting completed. We got set and then rolled out the wire. Along with us were the new officers from the new unit that was going to replace us. Our mission was to give them a tour of the IZ. I’d rather scare the shit out of them and give them a real tour, Sadar City perhaps. Maybe fuck around with them a little and maybe play some pranks on them here and there. T-Rex could drive real fast and I could yell that we were getting shot at, taking fire. We have to initiate these guys somehow.

We stopped at some little street store operated by a couple of kids. The oldest looked 14 and his little brother appeared to be 10 years old. They were selling all kinds of souvenirs and goods. What surprised me was that they were also selling paperback books that looked like they were donated by organizations back home. They even had stickers on the front cover displaying which organization donated the books. Now they were for sell. They sold flags, knives, swords, coins, pins, and other items with Saddam’s face on it.

The weather has been warm during the days with high humidity. It’s been raining just a little bit every night almost. There still hasn’t been as significant an amount of rain as the other day. Last night there were some evening thunderstorms that were reminiscent of the monsoons back home in Arizona, without the haboobs.

Moving out

2006-10-18T01:39:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe we went out on mission this morning but we did. What could we do? The mission still had to get completed whether we had packed our bags or not. It’s a fact I didn’t like but I had to deal with it. I knew my morning would be occupied with a mission out in Baghdad. I also knew that we would be back around noon, which wasn’t too bad. Once we got back to the camp things turned hectic.

First off we had to pack our personal boxes into the conexes. We took all of them out and loaded them to get shipped overseas on a ship. We won’t see them for about 2 months so they told us to pack whatever we wouldn’t need for 2 months in there. I didn’t realize until my box was already in the conex that I still had stuff I had to put in there.

My room was a mess and so disorganized I didn’t know how I was going to start packing to move. I just started throwing stuff into duffle bags as fast as I could. I didn’t have much time so I tried to move as fast as I could. That’s when we got interrupted. All the NCOs had to go to the team leaders’ room for a meeting. Oh no, I thought, it’s another one of those. It’s never a good thing, only a bitch session. It’s a time to put it out about how messed up things are and how bad we all are. It didn’t bother me though because the issue at hand was the missing NVGs. Apparently they were found but the point that was brought up was that us, NCOs had to step up.

I guess that was said because of the carelessness and irresponsibility from some of the other team leaders. I’m not a team leader myself so I didn’t care so much. In fact, I felt the issue had nothing to do with me. I just blew it off and hoped that the bitching would end so I could go back to my crib to pack my things.

We finally finished moving out at 1800 hours. The new unit arrived around 1500 and had to wait around for us to clear out the pad. I’m sure it would’ve been done earlier if some of us didn’t have to go out on mission this morning. We’re moved into tents and now we’re trying to get situated for the duration of our stay here in Iraq. I time is getting very short now. It won’t be long before we’re on the plane out of here.

Getting ready to move

2006-10-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

I went to the post office this morning to ship out my box. I went first thing in the morning. I think that was a mistake because everyone else decided to do the same thing. I had to wait in line for 40 minutes, which wasn’t that bad. I took a book to help pass the time. I’m glad I finally got though that headache. It ended up costing me $54 with insurance.

We’ve been on lockdown all day because of the missing NVGs. The PL went searched through our rooms and all of our bags looking for it. They weren’t found and I doubt they’ll find them. They’ve been missing for a month and no one knew about it until just the other day.

This evening we searched for those NVGs some more. We weren’t able to find them, of course. During that time The Colonel broke a few of us for chow. I decided to run over to Burger King and while I did that would go and get my rank sown on my cap. What I found at Burger King was the same nightmare I’ve been finding at the chow hall, post office, and just about everywhere else. There was a long line. The camp has also been a little crowded since the past week too. That’s because of all the troops that have arrived here. I’m sure it’ll get a little more crowded once our relieving unit arrives.

I never really thought of it but tonight is our last night in the trailers. Some of the guys are having a barbeque tonight. I think it’s in honor of our last night here. I’d join them but I have tons of stuff I still have to take care of.

Tomorrow we’re moving out of the cribs and into tents. It’s just another step towards making our way home. We’re moving out so the relieving unit could move right in and make themselves at home. I don’t have much stuff now, only a few duffle bags full. Luckily, this time I’m prepared unlike a lot of the other guys in the company. I found that this place looks more and more like a flea market. Guys are just putting the stuff they don’t want right outside their doors. As I look up and down the pad I find junk in front of rooms everywhere. Sometimes I wished I could throw money away as easily as some of these guys do. I’m really, really conservative with my money. Before I buy anything I usually consider to myself whether I really need it and whether I’ll use it. That’s why I never bought much stuff over here. I’m sure it helps being married with children too. It causes me to have a tight budget.

In A Hurry To Get Things Done

2006-10-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

So today I got word, maybe official. We’re moving out of our cribs and into tents on the 18th. So today I felt a sense of urgency to start getting rid of my stuff and finding out what I’m going to carry with me on the plane back home. The less stuff I take, the less I have to carry. Then there’s always the issue of weight. They weigh all of our bags to make sure the plane isn’t so heavy that it can’t lift off the ground. I didn’t have time to do much because this morning we had another inventory. This time it was a kind of a turn over inventory. A supply sergeant from the advanced party was going through all of our vechicles and recording all of our equipment.

Afterwards I had things to do so I knew I’d have to plan accordingly. I needed to get a haircut, mail a box at the post office, and pick up a plaque that I ordered, customized, at the bazaar. Plus I had to drop off some laundry at the cleaners. I had a lot to do today and little time to do it. Whatever I didn’t finish today, I knew I would have to finish tomorrow.

So I dropped off my laundry and then headed over to the Bazaar. It was closed for some reason or another. So then I went over to the post office to mail my box of personal stuff home. There was a long line at the post office and I knew that I’d have to wait for a while. So I decided to go to the post office tomorrow and get a haircut today. So I drove over to the barber, got a haircut, ate dinner, and went to the PX to pick up a few things. As soon as I got back The Colonel asked me if I could drive around and look for Private Pennis. The commander wanted to see him right away in his office about some Article 15 Non-Judicial Punishment. I found out that he was on another camp so I drove over there to find him. I got there and luckily found him in no time. I gave him the word and drove back to our camp.

I went to the recreation tent to get on the internet to check my e-mail when T-Rex walks in and tells me that we’re on lockdown. I asked why and he told me it was because some NVGs (Night Vision Goggles) were missing. I asked who’s and he told me. It was from a team that left Iraq to train some troops that are on their way over here. Great I thought. It’s just another thing to get bothered with. I know what the deal is in these situations. They’ll search around everywhere and still won’t find it. I knew it too. Soon enough we were asked to go out to the motor pool to be prepared to search the Humvees. It sucked because it was already dark and we’d be looking for these things at night. They are very sensitive and very expensive. Losing one could cost a Joe his career.

So we searched all the Humvees in the platoon in darkness to no avail. We were unable to find any NVGs. Then we searched a few rooms. We ended up finding some pornography, which is contraband, instead of the NVGs. A few of the guys that last handled the NVGs had to fill out witness statements and the rest of us are now locked down in our room. I’m sure the search will continue tomorrow.

Country Rock

2006-10-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

We spent the night in Ramadi last night. That’s the reason I didn’t get to blog. It’s not that there’s not internet access over there. There is. The problem is that we could only get on for a limited time so I only had enough time to check my e-mail.

We’re lucky we had a place to sleep this time. The transient barracks were full. That’s because there was a unit that was leaving and of course, they needed a place to stay. It’s usually full when a unit is coming or going. These guys were a National Guard unit out of Colorado and were on their way home. I was happy for them. We were fortunate to find a couple of unoccupied bunks to sleep on for the night. We had to got Ramadi late because of a cordon that took hours. When we got to the Ramadi I really didn’t feel like hanging around the MWR there. I wasn’t in the mood for watching a movie on their big screen TV or watching some college football. I didn’t feel like playing video games or lifting any weights. The place was crowded, noisy, and disturbing and I didn’t feel like being there. I went into the library to read and get some peace and quiet. I started falling asleep so I figured that I was tired. That’s when I decided to go next door to the transient tent to lay down and read on my bunk. I felt relaxed on my bunk. It was nice and quiet and more peaceful then the MWR. I ended up falling asleep around 2200 hours.

Tonight when we got back to Baghdad I found out that there’s a live concert. I didn’t know who it was and figured it must be some amateur rock band from the camp. I heard the music from my trailer so I figured I’d go check it out. I do like some rock but I’m more into alternative. On the walk over there I ran into a buddy that just came from the concert. He said that it was a country band. I couldn’t believe it, hearing the music from where I was. The band had set up on a stage and was playing outdoors. There were stands in front of the stage for all to sit on. I approached and found another one of my buddies sitting, listening to some of the music. I love listening to live bands so I wasn’t going to pass this opportunity up.

The band was very different for country. I’m not sure how old country fans would take it. To me, it was more like a mix of rock and country. It’s perfect if you like rock, and you like country. I enjoyed it and I’m sure others, mostly rock fans, would too. Afterwards the band, with lead singer Brian Stace, signed autographs and took photos. They’re on tour here in Iraq and will be around to see the soldiers over here. I’m glad they came out.

Laughing My Ass Off

2006-10-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

There was a late notice last night. I was at the gym yesterday afternoon and went next door to the MWR to see what was playing in the makeshift theater. On the door to the entrance was a flyer for, “The Comics On Duty World Tour”. The show was going to start at 2000 hours that night. I was a little excited about it and planned my night around it. I came back to my trailer, took a shower, put on a clean uniform, and went to eat dinner. After dinner chow I was going to walk over to the MWR to see the show.

The comedy show featured Drake Witham, Steve Mazan, Dave Mishevitz, Keith Alberstadt, and Tom Foss. I knew there wasn’t going to be a big audience because of the short notice and sure enough, there wasn’t. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the way the crew at the MWR set up the chairs. They set up the chairs in a sort of a box fashion around the front of the stage. I would’ve liked it more if the chairs were set up in rows in front of the stage. I got the sense that even the comedians were uncomfortable with it.

I’m sure they thought it was a rough audience too. Hardly anyone was laughing at any of the jokes at first. If we were we weren’t being that loud. I think that we were too embarrassed to have a good time and make loud noises. Most of us weren’t comfortable laughing out. Some of the first few comedians had a hard time getting us to laugh out loud. I wondered what they began to think. Some of the jokes were ok and had me laughing here and there. It was the last entertainer, Tom Foss, who had me laughing my ass off. He was hysterical! It’s like the whole mood of the audience had changed once he got up there to perform. He said he was from West Virginia and even reminded me of a buddy of mine from Snake Creek. He was funny too. I even wondered if they might be related because he resembled him a little bit too.

Well, I’m really glad that these guys came out to entertain us troops. They’re doing a tour through Iraq and will be going from location to location. They appreciated our service, shaked each and everyone’s hand, and gave us all these Comics On Tour patches. They also had guest books they wanted us to sign after the show.

Moving Right Along

2006-10-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

This morning we started off by having a vehicle inspection. Our 1^st

Sergeant wanted to go through our Humvees to make sure they were in appropriate condition to turn over to the next unit that will relieve us. Unfortunately, I had to clean the windows again because it had rained a little last night. It’s been raining almost nightly now for the past couple of nights. But there hasn’t been a significant amount of rain. The only other thing the rain did to my Humvee was leave dirt spots all over it just after I washed it. Someone had remarked that it had to rain because we washed our Humvees. Of course.

This afternoon we had to go to the medical clinic to start our out-process. We had to complete this questionnaire on these PDAs that they handed out to each and every one of us. There were questions such as what was our job here, where we served, if we’ve had any illnesses, and what types of agents and working conditions we were exposed to. I felt like a regular health assessment to find those at risk for any health or mental problems. I doubt I’ve acquired any diseases or medical problems while over here. The only thing I’m worried about is the amount of dust that may have accumulated into my lungs.

Tonight The Big Man and me ran into a 1^st that got on our ass. He came up to us tonight while we were selling some more of our stuff on another pad. Most of the stuff was the Big Man’s. He was selling his TV, microwave, fridge, and some other small stuff. The reason he got on us was because we had parked in an unauthorized area when we were selling our stuff. He came by and asked who’s truck it was and we said it was ours. He said that we couldn’t have it there. So I told him ok and that we would move it. I didn’t know his rank at the time because he was wearing a PT uniform. At that time The Big Man was in the middle of a sale. That’s when I told him we’d just move over to the parking area and do a deal over there. It’s wasn’t even a minute before the 1^st Sergeant got on us again about moving it. The Big Man was ending the conversation and getting into the Humvee. I was going to ground guide him out of there. That’s when the 1^st Sergeant got on our case again. He said, “I told you to move this vehicle.” I replied, “Roger, we’re moving it right now.” Then I walked over to The Big Man and told him, “Hey, we have to get out of here right now. This 1^st Sergeant is getting on us.” I was pissed because he didn’t allow us the time to get in, start the Humvee, and drive off. I think he would’ve rather us fly out of there. I don’t understand what his problem was but that’s the way they are sometimes. I would completely understand if we had blown him off and didn’t start moving out but we were. He had told us that we weren’t allowed to park there but there were no signs anywhere in sight that said there wasn’t any parking allowed. I was just pissed off at the 1^st Sergeant’s behavior, attitude, and lack of understanding. I had apologized to him for parking there when I didn’t know we could park there, and had motioned to move the Humvee the minute he told us to move it.

The pics above are from the living conditions in Ramadi. They live like pigs. I'm glad I'm not there and if I were I'd probably have them clean up a little bit.

For Sale

2006-10-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I found out that we’re moving next week. We’re moving out of our cribs and into tents. It’s a change that makes it seem more and more like things are moving along. It’s really starting to feel like we’re leaving pretty soon. I didn’t realize how soon it was until I looked at the calendar and noticed that we actually have less then a month here. WOW! I can’t believe it. Less then a month and I’m sure it’ll come by in no time.

So, I tried to come up with a plan so start packing and shipping my stuff. It’s time to start sending my junk home and selling the stuff I can’t take home. Before I was able to go to the PX to buy a Gorilla Box I had to go to the motor pool and wash one of the Humvees. We have a vehicle inspection tomorrow because of the change over of units.

At the PX I ran into a solider that had a drawer in the register line. So I asked her how much she was paying for it. She told me $25 and I told her I have one exactly like it that I would sell for $5. Obviously she wanted it but couldn’t come to my pad to pick it up. I guess her unit just arrived and she didn’t have any ride except for the local bus transportation that makes rounds. The only other way for her to pick it up would’ve been for her to walk all the way to my side of the camp.

So I offered to deliver the drawer set for $7. I was happy to get rid of it and was willing to drive wherever. Once I got to her pad I had to find out where her room was. The minute I got there someone else was asking me how much I wanted for the drawer. I told them it was already sold but I had plenty of other stuff to sell, mostly my roommates stuff. Their unit had just got her today. So now I don’t have to worry about selling all of my stuff. I told her to ask around to others in her unit and see if anyone else was interested in anything.

Taking Out The Winch

2006-10-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

On our way to Ramadi we ran into another one of those car bombs. Luckily, we weren’t at the scene when it exploded. We arrived after the fact. There was debris everywhere and the truck was still smoking. There’s definitely no fire department here because the mess was still there on the way back. It ended up leaving the overpass black. Pieces of the truck were everywhere.

On the way back from Ramadi we ran into some Marines. They had their bot out too, looking for IEDs. So we just drove around them and moved on. At this point, bombs are no big deal. I’ve even heard a story of a local Iraqi boy who picked up an IED to show some guys in our platoon where it was. They ended up giving him candy, money, and cigarettes of all things. I heard he was begging for cigarettes.

This afternoon when we got back we had to stop off at the motor pool to drop off the trailer and some tires. As we left we didn’t realize that our winch had become unlocked and was getting released. We were leaving the gate when some of my buddies from the other team started yelling at me to stop. I wasn’t sure what all the commotion was about. I looked and saw this cable and heard one of the guys say, “you’re dragging a wire!” I didn’t realize what it was at the time. I just went ahead and yelled at the driver, Oregon, to stop. He stopped and they got out to look at it. We actually got lucky cause if we hadn’t have known we might have dragged the fence all the way back to the parking lot.

Switchover

2006-10-08T10:34:00.000-07:00

There’s been another change. I’m now switching teams and going to another truck. I really don’t have any problems with it and I’m kind of glad. I like the team I’ll be moving to. The only thing I don’t like is the fact that I won’t be riding in a brand new Humvee like before. I’ll have to make some minor changed too like move some of my personal stuff from one Humvee to another. I’ll have to get use to the dirt again. Our new truck was clean. This new truck I’m going to is dirty and has lots of problems with it. It’s like going from a Cadillac to a Pinto. Oh well. I could deal with it.

I’ve started packing some of my stuff. We brought these big boxes with us when we came over. They’re job boxes and were sent just for the purpose of storing the additional stuff we accumulate over here. I myself haven’t bought much stuff since I’ve been here unlike other guys. Some others have lots of stuff to get rid of like big screen TVs, stereos, DVD players, furniture, and other stuff like guitars. I, myself never bought much stuff because, for one, I’m broke because I’m married with children and two, because I didn’t want to end up shipping a bunch of stuff home.

My job box is now packed and the packing list has been filled out. It’s only half full. We’ll be putting them in the connex soon to be shipped overseas.

The Bullshit We Have to Deal With

2006-10-06T11:16:00.000-07:00

I think I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The hardest thing to deal with over here isn’t the insurgents or the living conditions; to me it’s the politics. It’s all the rules they place on us. I can’t complain much because I’m not supposed. Sometimes I could understand and agree with some of the regulations they place on us and other times I think that we’re being micro-managed. And sometimes I think it’s ridiculous. For example, today we were told we were going to have some instruction on proper use of force. OK, I’ve been here since December of 05 and in the field that whole time and now, right before we’re getting ready to leave we’re going to have this kind of class? And to top it off it’ll probably be by a person that has less experience as a gunner in the field then I do. So, in essence, someone who hasn’t done my job will tell me how to do it. Great. At this point in the game we should be getting briefed on how to readjust with civilian life and adjusting to change and demobilization.

I received an apology from the Platoon Sergeant during lunch today. I can’t talk much about it but he said that he was sorry for not helping me earlier and he never understood. I’m glad he finally realized the situation. It was about time but at this point, I don’t care anymore. I’m proud of myself for dealing with all the bullshit that I’ve had to put up with. I never thought it was fair but I was able to deal with it and drive on. I’m still here and this mission is almost over. It’s almost time to go home, and now most of us are looking forward to it.

Suicide Rover

2006-10-05T23:35:00.000-07:00

At least the weather was almost perfect. Today would’ve been a good day to die. At least it would’ve been on a day when the sun was shining brightly and the sky clear. Our headaches started this morning before we left the camp. Today, for some reason the captain, Roughneck Six, decided to join us. He had some business to attend to in Ramadi I guess. We linked up at the TOC as usual before we move out. What gets me is how time is wasted while we’re waiting before rolling out at the TOC. Instead of trying to work out commo issues while we’re all prepping, some of the guys would rather chat and give the morning greets. It’s crazy. It’s like some of these guys haven’t seen each other in months. Well, as we were getting ready to leave commo became an issue. Roughneck Six was unable to get anyone on his radio. So there we were, wasting another half hour while they tried to get their comms together. We were all set and ready to leave the camp. Our Humvees were running, everyone was wearing their seatbelts, and it looked like everyone was ready to roll out.

After the nightmare that was commo, we left the camp and headed to Ramadi. All was smooth sailing and it looked like it would be an uneventful trip until we passed Fallujah. We were driving down the road at a high rate of speed. I wasn’t even paying attention until T-Rex began to hit the brakes really hard. OH SHIT!!!! FUCK!!! “BACK!!! BACK!!! BACK!!!” I yelled! He already knew and I really didn’t have to yell. It was an IED right on the side of the road, a.k.a. roadside bomb. At the same time I got up in the turret. We were the lead Humvee. The next thing I was worried about was the Humvee behind us. I wanted them to know that we were backing up urgently and without much notice. I started waving my hand in a backward motion to get them to shift the transmission and go in reverse. We had stopped about 10 feet from the bomb and I was expecting it to go off. At least it wouldn’t be a surprise and I’d be ready for it. No shaking here. I was ready to see it explode and hear the loud sound of a boom.

Finally we started get far enough away that I was starting to feel comfortable. I wasn’t as worried and if we did get hit I knew it wouldn’t do anything significant. We sent the robot, The Roughneck Rover, to investigate the bomb and check it out. We kind of hoped that it would explode and take the bot with it. We wanted to watch the toy RC blow up. I guess it’s typical of boys. We like to blow stuff up. I wished to see the 4-wheeler burst into pieces and fly up into the air.

We called the bomb squad and awaited their arrival. They came, took care of the bomb, and we continued on our way.

It Rained?

2006-10-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and went to the latrine. I overheard a conversation from some of the guys that were in there that it rained last night. Actually it rained in the early morning. They said that they heard it around 0500 hours and there was some freaking crazy Joe outside their crib yelling, “It’s raining! It’s raining!” They were ready to go outside and tell him to shut the f*#@ up. Anyway, I sort of believe it except for the fact that the ground doesn’t look to wet. I would’ve never known if I didn’t hear about it. I’m surprised the ground isn’t muddy. I guess it didn’t rain that much. If so, I think it’ll be the most significant amount of rain we’ve had here since April. It’s been that long. This place really is a desert.

It was kind of overcast all day today. It never rained but it was never that cloudy either. Any clouds in the sky were high clouds, like it’s been for the past several months. I haven’t seen any low clouds for a while and it hardly ever gets cloudy here. It the sky is dark it’s mostly because it’s filled with dust. If that’s the case it’ll be windy and the sky will have that brown haze look that’s typical of LA.

The Scorpion King

2006-10-03T10:09:00.000-07:00

I was walking back to the pad from the MWR last night. I had just left the MWR to use the internet. It was around 2100 hours when I left and I was getting tired. As I was walking out I and walking back towards my crib I noticed something crawling along the ground really fast. I couldn’t see that well because there wasn’t much light but whatever it was looked big. At first I thought it was a mouse at the speed it was moving. But then I noticed the legs and started to assume that it was a scorpion.

It was running across the ground really fast and I wanted to stop it to see what it was. That’s when I started assuming it was one of those mythological camel spiders that I’ve heard stories about. It really was huge and didn’t take my eyes long to notice in the dark. I stepped on it lightly enough not to kill it. It was fairly easy since it was running in a straight line instead of running an irregular pattern. I turned my flashlight on to take a closer look and moved him with my keys. He didn’t move at all. I assumed that he might be dead but he seemed to move a little.

Just as a boy would do I picked him up. I was careful as not to get bitten. I wasn’t too sure whether they were poisonous or not. I took him back to the entrance of the MWR to check him out under the lamp. One of the other Joes that were there told me that it was a camel spider. He’d never seen one before either. I had to show him off so I carried the spider back to my room.

I showed the spider to my roommate, The Big Man. The minute I opened the door I yelled at The Big Man to get me a bottle quick. I wanted to keep him in a jar or something. I was thinking of taking him back home but my roommate talked me out of it. He said that if they don’t let us take dirt, do I think they’d let me take wildlife. Then he started making fun of me. Asking me if I remember what they always tell us, “Don’t mess with the wildlife.” It’s almost a common saying in the Army. I think they say it for stupid Joes like me that like to mess around with snakes, spiders, and other animals.

When I picked the spider up I picked him up by his antennae. They were so long I thought they were legs. They extended right out in front of him and Pennis, the kid, called them feelers. He did have eight legs like a typical spider and two noticeable body parts like most spiders, the abdomen and the thorax. He also had two pinchers and I was worried that he was going to bite me. I was ready to drop him any time he tried it. He also looked as if he could jump too but I’m not sure if they could or not. I did injure him when I stepped on him so he wasn’t able to crawl as fast as he usually does. He was very hairy and about 3 or 4 inches long. The Big Man said he was small for a camel spider. One other thing, I don’t know why I keep calling him a he. I don’t know whether the spider was male or female.

Broken Gun

2006-10-02T22:39:00.000-07:00

We made our frequent trip back to Ramadi today. It’s not bad and by now, I’m used to it. The trip out wasn’t bad, thank goodness. It was almost non-stop. We only stopped once and that was because some Marines were checking out an IED. Other than that, there was nothing exciting about the trip there or the trip back.

Before we left Ramadi I noticed a problem with my .50 cal. It’s not the same .50 cal I’ve always had. We turned in our old .50 cals last week and withdrew these new ones. They’re not actually brand new, just newly issued. Well I noticed while assembling the gun that the barrel didn’t lock into the receiver like it’s supposed to. I was able to twist the barrel back and forth with the bolt forward and it’s not supposed to do that. I’m sure the gun would’ve worked and my only guess is that by some chance the barrel would’ve shot right off too. I wouldn’t know unless I tested it out but then again, I don’t think it would’ve happened. Still, the gun does have its problems so tomorrow I’m going to clean it up and turn it in so the armor could look at it.

I’d rather get the gun replaced if at all possible. There’s just something I don’t like about this gun and I like my old gun better.

Time Change

2006-10-01T22:06:00.000-07:00

I got up this morning at what I thought was 0730 when it was actually 0630. It’s no wonder the chow hall was still open for breakfast when I left. I had no clue what was going on and I thought they were just letting the late arrivals in for breakfast.

I totally forgot about daylight savings time. I thought it was at the end of this month really. It’ really strange because it’s now 2140 hours and to me it feels like 2240 hours. I’m not sure how I’m going to like it now since the evenings will come earlier. I think it’s really weird having daylight savings time here. I’m kind of glad we don’t have it back home in Arizona.

Empty Streets

2006-09-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

I’m stuffed. I don’t know why I ate so much dinner but I did. That’s ok I guess. I’ll just have to work it off tomorrow. These workouts are going to be worthless if I don’t stop eating. Maybe it’s an eating disorder or something. I don’t know. It doesn’t help when all my roommate, The Big Man, does is eat. Right now he’s pushing around 280lbs. That’s what I weigh plus another 100 pounds.

Today’s mission wasn’t bad. It was a simple one. All we had to do was pick up the Captain and his Lieutenants in the IZ. They got to get a little R&R at the makeshift resort camp that’s in the IZ. I think they deserve it but I also think that we all deserve it. That’s ok though, I’m kicking it at my camp anyway.

There was another traffic curfew in Baghdad today. There were no cars on the roads. It kind of weird and kind of like watching those zombie movies where no one is on the streets. Some places of the city seemed deserted. That’s ok though. I like riding out in the city when there are no cars or people to worry about. That means there’s hardly anyone to watch on the streets. I guess I’d compare it to a cop policing a city with no cars or pedestrians on the street. It’d make for an easy day on the job. If I had my way everyday would be a curfew day, I’d ban all vehicles, and no one would be allowed out at night.

A Drill

2006-09-29T09:45:00.001-07:00

Maybe it’s short-timers disease. I’m almost like my roommate. I don’t feel like doing anything. Even an easy mission sounds daunting at times. Well, I didn’t have to worry too much this morning. We were getting ready to go to the IZ. I had got up an hour before link up like I usually do. In the mornings when I get up I brush my teeth and shave my face. I got dressed and had some cereal from my little stash of food and snacks. I didn’t make it in time for chow this morning so I had to eat whatever I had in my room.

I got all my shit on and carried everything including my .50 cal out to the truck. It was going to be the first time we were ever going to take out the new Humvee. T-Rex still had problems setting up the new radios but he’s learning. I’ll try to see how they operate them at a later time. We were already getting set to leave when this Sergeant from the unit comes out and tells us that the mission has been canceled. It’s funny because then The Colonel started saying that it was a drill. We were too slow and we would have to do it again tomorrow.

I don’t know what happened to me this afternoon. I just felt so drowsy all of a sudden. I ended up napping all afternoon. I woke up around 1730 and felt like getting off my ass. I didn’t want to waste the day sleeping. I had to do something. I went to the gym to do a short workout and to dinner afterwards.

A New Humvee

2006-09-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

Why I ask? I don’t know why? Why now? Am I complaining? Not really. It would’ve been nice to have one earlier but now that we’re short time it really doesn’t matter. I guess it’ll make it that much more enjoyable. We could go out on our last few missions in a brand new Humvee.

There are some differences between the new Humvee and the one we had before. For starters, everything is new. The seats inside were still wrapped in plastic and it smelled just like a new car. The paint inside was green and dark, without a mark of dirt or dust. The way the A/C is set up is a little different as well. The new truck also uses a different model of radios that we haven’t used before. The turret hasn’t changed that much and is pretty much like the normal style turrets, not the turtle shell type.

We spent this afternoon switching all our gear from our old Humvee to the new one. We’ll be taking the new truck out for a spin tomorrow. I’ll post some pictures of it soon.

Getting Ready

2006-09-27T09:33:00.000-07:00

I feel sick. I don’t know why. It’s not too bad though. I’m just feeling a little light headed and it seems like a headache. It’s really mild. I think I’ll feel better after I have some dinner tonight.

We had a very easy mission today. Anytime we go to the IZ it’s pretty much a simple trip. It takes us longer to get everyone ready than it takes us to get to the IZ. We have to make sure we have everything and all the checks are done. We have to check our radios to make sure they work. We usually make sure we have enough fuel and all the equipment that we’re going to need for our trip. And we make sure we have plenty of Gatorades and water to drink.

We’ll stop before we leave the camp and get some ice for the ice chest. We hate to go without having cold drinks for the drive. It’s not like there’s a Circle K or 7-Eleven on every corner over here. I make sure I have everything I need like my gloves, goggles, and earplugs. It would get loud if I have to fire my weapon and I don’t want to go deaf.

The weather here is becoming nicer. It did get a little hot again earlier this week but its seemed to cool back down. Maybe there was some high pressure or something. It’s still been dry and it hasn’t rained here since April. The days are getting shorter too. I’m not sure when the sun rises since I don’t get up that early anymore. The sun usually sets around 1900 hours.

Misplaced Equipment

2006-09-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

I thought I lost my stuff. It got really busy this afternoon. We really didn’t do anything this morning. It does feel like our time is getting short now. That’s because we’re starting to turn in some of our equipment. For example, yesterday I had to turn in my .50 cal. I don’t know why I had to turn it in because we’re not done with our missions yet. I’ll still need it. This afternoon I was told we’re turning in our chemical/biological suit. I was happy to hear that since I wanted to get rid of it. I didn’t want to be responsible for it anymore if it was lost or stolen.

Well, I just happened to misplace it. I thought it was in the job chest in my room but it wasn’t there. That’s when I got worried. I couldn’t remember where it was. I thought it was in the chest and I couldn’t think of any place it would be besides there and the Humvee. I just don’t remember putting it in the Humvee. I’m like that sometimes. I’ll put something away and then after time forget where I put it. That happens especially if I don’t see it for a while.

I started getting a little worried so I went to the supply sergeant to make sure it wasn’t turned in already. He told me that none of the chem. suits had been turned in yet. I was really getting worried and I was hoping I didn’t loose it. I’d hate to have to pay for a suit out of my pocket. I’d hate to have to spend my money on lost equipment. So then I went and checked the back of the Humvee and there it was. The whole suit was still in it’s wrapping, all covered in dust. Good! Whew! I felt relieved. I also grabbed the SAW barrel while I was in back of the Humvee. I had to turn that in too.

This late afternoon we had a formation in ACUs. That’s the new Army Combat Uniform that the Army just came out with. We had problems getting our trouser issues back home because of shortages in supply. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been getting my new uniforms ready for wear. I’ve made sure that I’ve had all the patches and rank that I need to wear on the uniform. It’s been ready to go for a couple of weeks and today it was time to show it off. I’m glad that our 1^st Sergeant has been able to get us out of wearing those uniforms until we leave. We’ll all be able to go home wearing brand new uniforms, which will be nice.

Money's Worth

2006-09-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

It was a day for busting my ass. Last night The Colonel told me that I’d be taking the truck to the motor pool to get the ‘A’ Service. That’s where they lube it all up and change all the fluids.

I gave Heavy D a hand while he went through all the checks and services. I replaced a worn tire and the air filter. He drained all the oil and placed a new filter. I filled the engine with oil. We replaced the power steering reservoir since the seal was bad and there was a leak. It was a pain in the ass getting the old one out and replacing the new one. That’s mainly because one of the bolts was hard to reach. We also replaced the gasket on the transmission since there was a leak there too. That was a pain in the ass because it got really messy. There was transmission fluid draining everywhere.

Not only was it taking me all day but also around 1530 hours I was told by T-Rex that I had to turn in my .50 cal. Great I thought. It’s just one thing after another. I wish I could’ve turned it in as is but I knew I had to clean it up. I wasn’t going to do a through clean up since I heard that armor was simply taking them in. I just wanted to wipe it down and turn it into the arms room as soon as possible. I didn’t feel like messing with it and was already tired from servicing everything on the truck already.

So, now it’s 1800 hours and I’m done. I am not going to the gym today like planned earlier. I guess the transmission and power steering service wasn’t planned either but Heavy D, the mechanic, wanted to change it since there was a leak. I’m done. I’m going to eat dinner, take a shower, and freaking relax.

The Cleveland Cavalier Girls

2006-09-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

We got back from Ramadi yesterday afternoon. I was hoping we wouldn’t have to spend the night and sleep in the transient barracks there. It’s not that I don’t mind staying there. Last time we spent the night there was just about the best time I’ve ever had in Iraq. I don’t know what it was but I had so much fun playing board games with a bunch of strangers from Louisiana.

I was tired because I couldn’t sleep at all the night before for some reason. I was tossing and turning until 0300 hours before I fell asleep. I had to get up at 0600 so I only had 3 hours of sleep. When I heard that we weren’t going to spend the night there I started making my plans. I had heard that the Cleveland Cavaliers cheerleaders were going to be in Baghdad and I didn’t want to miss it. That’s the biggest reason I didn’t want to stay in Ramadi. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see the girls.

The show didn’t start until 2000 hours. It was at the newly constructed gym that was just finished about 2 months ago. It’s a very nice gym and I was very impressed. It had wood flooring, side bleachers, and an electronic scoreboard on each end of the court. The Big Man and me grabbed a seat from some guys from second platoon. They were good seats because they were right at center court but unfortunately they weren’t at the front. We waited until 2030 before the cheerleaders came out. We were starting to wonder how long we’d have to wait.

The guys began drooling when they came out with their shiny cut off red tops and short black tights. All of the girls had huge smiles and they looked happy to perform for us. They did about 5 dance routines and in-between dances they did a little solo introduction. They would tell us a little about themselves while the rest of the cheerleaders went back to the dressing room to get dressed in another outfit. The girls had all kinds of outfits and my favorite was probably the one that plays homage to the Army. It was the classical Army WWII outfits with the pile cap, brown shirt, but they wore short shorts and tall boots. They looked very sexy.

Most of the girls were young and some were going to college. Others had interests in fields such as modeling and dance. After the performance they sat at tables to get pictures with the Joes and sign autographs. The audience was mostly filled with guys. We were all seemed happy to see them. And the line to get autographs was long.

Long Lost Friends

2006-09-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

It’s really weird when I meet someone on this side of the world when I haven’t seen them in years. Today my team leader came knocking on my door telling me that the 1^st Sergeant wanted to see me. I didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. I couldn’t think of why he’d want to see me in his office. Just the sound of something like that doesn’t sound good. It could never be a good thing. The cool thing is the 1^st SGT is a pretty cool guy. I asked my team leader if he knew what it was about and he didn’t know.

So I went to the TOC and sitting there in his office was one of my buddies I haven’t seen in a long time. That’s what it was all about. He had come by the unit to see whom he could find. I heard he was on our camp when another one of the Joes in the unit spotted him. It’s been a long time no see. I’ve been meaning to e-mail the guy and ask how he’s doing too.

Well, we spoke for a while and I got to know what he’s doing over here. He got here in July and is based out of Kuwait. He drives all the way up to Tikrit from time to time. He stops on one of the camps nearby too. We were trying to figure out where other guys we knew were. Most of the guys he knows from Arizona are here with me. That’s because he was in this unit. He didn’t see some of the guys he knew because of the fact that some of us are in Ramadi.

I took him out to dinner at Burger King and gave him a ride back to his camp where he’s staying, about a 25-minute drive from here. I had the opportunity to see another guy I haven’t seen in a long time. He’s doing fine too. All I could say is that we really lucked out with our mission here. We could be living like them, transients. He goes from camp to camp and really doesn’t have a home to go to. There home is a transient tent, like the one I sleep in at Ramadi. It was just a big tent filled with cots where a group of up to 14 guys share living space. That’s his life and that’s how he lives.

The Afghanistan List

2006-09-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe it. The other day they had a list going around looking for volunteers that want to go to Afghanistan. And we’re still here in Iraq. There are rumors that our unit is going to Afghanistan next year. Great, I thought. My kids will be all grown up by the time I get home. I guess I can’t complain much since I volunteered. But that’s right. Our unit is possibly getting deployed to Afghanistan next year. And what is my employer going to think? This is really going to put my career on hold. Maybe I should just go ahead and join the active duty Army. That way I don’t have to worry about my career when get home. The good thing is the pay is good. So I can’t complain there and the military benefits are among the best in the world.

I haven’t told my employer yet. I’m hoping she doesn’t get a heart attack when I do tell her. Most of the people in our unit did not list their name to go to Afghanistan. I think they feel the same way I do. I’m hoping I don’t get told because I’m not volunteering. I need to spend whatever time I have left with my boys. The cool thing about the Guard is that they’ll take volunteers before they take voluntolds. So, I’m hoping that there are a lot of volunteers back home or my stay there may be short lived. I’d like it better if they deployed me to the border. At least then I’d be in my home state of Arizona and I’d get to be with my family. I think that’s a good use of the National Guard, to guard our home country at home. That’s why it’s called the National Guard.

Sure I’d be happy to do it if I was single and didn’t have any kids. I’d be making bank over here. But my boys keep asking me when I’m coming home, the poor guys. Others have babies that were newborns when we left for this mission. They’ll miss all of those firsts before we get back home. It just goes with the job. There’s not much we could do.

Soldier Fun Night

2006-09-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

I didn’t know until yesterday morning that we were going to spend the night in Ramadi. I knew we were going to Ramadi yesterday morning but I didn’t know we were going to spend the night there. I found out when I got to the Humvee this morning and the convoy commander said, “You know we’re going to spend the night there right?” I figured why the hell is he asking me? He should be telling me. So I told him no and that I’d have to get my sleeping bag and shaving kit.

The drive there wasn’t bad. I think I’m getting used to it. I like going there more then I like going to Balad. The road is more secluded and there seems to be hardly anyone out there. I guess it’s where most of the violence is taking place too, the Anbar Province. It wouldn’t seem that way driving out there but it doesn’t take long to look at the blast marks from IEDs past. There are bits and pieces of tires and car parts scattered along the road. The fresh marks are easy to spot by their dark black color. The older blast points have faded over time from dirt and dust.

I can’t believe how much fun I had last night. After dinner last night we settled at the MWR and transient barracks to spend the night. I wasn’t in the mood for watching a movie or football, playing video games, or reading a book. I ended up browsing the new copy of FHM in the small room library. The library is made up of a little room with a table, a couple couches back to back, and a wall lined with shelved books. On the table were a stack of magazines, mostly girl magazines, but the girl in a skimpy bikini caught my attention. That’s when I knew it had to be a men’s magazine. I flipped the pages and sure enough, it was. I was browsing through the FHM magazine when these guys from another unit walked in with a board game and seated at my table.

The set up a game of Scrabble and I began to watch. I never played before so I wanted to watch and learn how to play. It was simple and it didn’t take me long to learn how to play. It got to the point where they began to ask me if words like via and teddy were words. It was a good game and I enjoyed watching them play. I think the word that got the most points was squid. The guy that won seemed to be playing for the prize of winner. He seemed like he’d be a sore loser if he lost.

After the game the wanted to play Risk. They invited me to play but I was tempted not to. The only thing that kept me from saying no was the fact that I didn’t have to get up early in the morning. It turned out to be lots of fun and I was beginning to bond with strangers real quick. That’s the kind of guy I am sometimes. I end up making friends out of strangers real quick. There were five of us playing and we all started to gang up on this guy what was taking control of the whole game. The only way for us to beat him was to group together and attack him. He was pissed and didn’t think it was fair but we kept making the point that he was getting global domination and we couldn’t let that happen.

I was being sneaky about it though because while everyone was fighting him I was building up my Armies. It didn’t matter though because later in the game he battled all my forces and won. I ended up becoming the second player out of the game out of being one of the strongest. Oh well. It was still fun and I hope that the other guys beat him. I didn’t bother to stay and watch the outcome of the game. It was 0130 hours by the time I got knocked off and it was time for me to get to sleep.

I thanked the guys for letting me play and told them that I’d like to stay but couldn’t. There were some pretty cool guys and it reminded me of the best reasons to be in the Army, to be around some guys and just have a good time. Those memories of being together and having fun are my most memorable. The guys were active duty from Ft. Polk Louisiana.

The Sleeping Giant

2006-09-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

I’m getting a routine down at the gym. Now that I have some time I’ve been spending it getting a workout. I’d like to work harder and harder and I feel like my body is giving me that chance. There’s a 10-mile marathon coming up and I’ve thought about signing up. I’m not the best runner in the company but I’m up there with the top. Maybe if I’m motivated enough I’ll sign up. Just the thought of running 10 miles then having to go out on mission later doesn’t sound like fun. I’d like to get some sleep or rest afterwards.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this but my roommate got back the other day. He was so tired because he had been up all night. He found out at the last minute that his plane was flying out at 0200 hours. It actually didn’t leave until 0700 hours in the morning. He stayed up all night waiting to fly back here. He told me that pass wasn’t worth it. It made me feel better knowing that.

I came back from lunch yesterday to find him asleep. I figured he’d take a nap for a while. I went to the gym yesterday afternoon and came back to find him still in bed. Well, maybe it was an extended nap. I went to dinner, got him a take out just incase he woke up hungry, came back, and he was still sleeping. I thought he might wake up and be up all night. Maybe it's something like the jetlag we felt when we arrived here. Our biological clocks were all screwed up. The thing is I don’t think he left the time zone.

He ended up sleeping all night. I couldn’t believe it. He didn’t wake up until this morning when I woke up. He slept from about 1400 hours until 0730 hours. That’s about 17½ hours. Wow. I can’t even imagine doing that.

A Day Behind & A Day Ahead

2006-09-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

It’s really weird watching football over here. I woke up this morning looking to see if my ASU Sun Devils had beat Colorado. I was happy to hear that they won. I wasn’t too surprised and I expected them to beat a struggling Buffalo team. I’m an ASU fan obviously so I have to keep up with the Sun Devils.

I saw highlights of other games like the Oregon/Oklahoma game and the Michigan/Notre Dame game over the internet. It’s really weird because I saw the end of the Oregon/Oklahoma game in the chow hall even though I new the outcome. That’s the way it seems over here. We find out who won what game before we even get to see the game. I wish I could see the future like this back home. If I did I’d be so rich from betting.

Of course the games back home are played at night. College Football games are played on Saturday night, Sunday morning. NFL games are played Sunday night, Monday Morning. There’s no thing as Monday Night Football over here. I like to call it Tuesday Morning Football.

I’d like to stay up and see some of the games but I just can’t. I usually just end up watching the replays on AFN. There is some good coming out of it. The games seem like they’re edited for time. Most of the commercials are cut out and the game seems to go at a faster pace. I could end up watching a football game over here within 90 minutes. The other day while at the gym I swear the West Virginia/Maryland game was on only for an hour.

Laziness

2006-09-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

I wonder if we’ve gotten short timers attitude. My roommate said just the other day that we’re getting lazy. It seems like we all are getting lazy around here. No one is motivated to do anything anymore. It’s a change from when we first began this mission. Everyone seemed motivated and eager to get over here. We all trained hard and looked forward to coming overseas. Now we’re all ready to go home. I think just thinking about going home just makes it worse. Still, I can’t wait to take that flight out of here and go back to the other side of the world.

The Countdown

2006-09-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

It was another nice day today. It was hot but not like what we had to deal with during the summer heat. My roommate is probably on his second or third day of pass. So for now I still have the room to myself. Today was another maintenance day so I had to go take one of our extra Humvees to the motor pool. I washed it up and did a typical inspection of fluids like oil, transmission, power steering and brake. I inspected the tires and washed the whole truck.

We’re all looking forward to going home soon. When I first got here I never even considered counting the days. I started off by counting the months. There were some that had a day count, I wasn’t one of them. Now it’s getting down to weeks and I’m tempted to start counting down the days. It also helps with the weather getting cooler. It makes it feel as if summer is over and the season is changing. The sunrise and sunset is later and earlier in the day. The days are getting shorter and it finally seems like the end of our deployment is coming soon.

Almost a perfect day

2006-09-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

We didn’t go out the wire so it gave me a chance to get a lot accomplished. I missed chow this morning so I ate some cereal and yogurt that was stored in my room. Afterwards I went to the MWR to get online to chat with the wife. We chatted for a little while. She was tired so we didn’t chat long. I sometimes forget that she has to get up early and get the kids ready for school.

I came back to my crib to get stuff a little organized. I organized my closet, fixed my bed, and cleaned up the room. The only thing I didn’t do is clean the carpet or sweep the floor. I left to drop off my laundry bag at the drop off. That’s about the best thing about being deployed; I don’t have to wash any clothing. Not only that, it’s free too. We just drop off our laundry and it’s ready for pickup in about 2 to 3 days. They wash, dry, and fold the clothes for me. The other great thing is the food.

I left for chow, had some chili-mac and some cucumber/tomato mix for lunch. Then I left for alterations. We’re going to wear ACUs pretty soon so I wanted to get my rank sown on my new headgear. When I got that done I came back to the crib, picked up my ACU trousers from supply, changed, and left for the gym.

I worked out for about two hours focusing on my biceps and triceps. I also did a cardio workout for 30 minutes and an abdominal workout for 30 minutes. Came back to the crib, changed, and left to chow with my buddy The Mongolian.

Besides getting a lot accomplished today it was also great because of the weather. Some might consider it hot. I considered the weather almost perfect today. I would say it was hot but after dealing with 115° degree heat, this feels like heaven.

To Ramadi and Back

2006-09-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

We got back from Ramadi today. We spent the night over there last night. Again, we slept in the transient barracks. The accommodations weren’t too bad; it’s just that it’s too damn cold in there. I think next time we spend the night there I’m going to look for the thermostat to turn the temperature up.

I would’ve taken some photos to post here but I let my roommate borrow my camera. He left yesterday on a pass out of the country and wanted to borrow my camera to take pictures. He has a camera himself but his battery broke. His camera is unlike mine, which takes double ‘A’ batteries. He has a unique style of rechargeable battery.

Well, while talking with the guys from the other half of my platoon I was able to get a little info on what was going on over there. Supposedly they were in a gunfight a couple of days ago. No one was hurt and I’m not sure if they got any kills. I didn’t have time to investigate the situation. I’ll try to get more details when we go back next time.

On the way back from Ramadi we ran into another cordon. This time an IED hit a local national, an Iraqi. Bombs don’t distinguish between different people. I felt sorry for this poor, innocent, bastard. He had a typical sedan that’s white with an orange hood and trunk. I heard that he died on impact and that the local IPs came to pick up his body. We had passed them on the road driving pretty fast in the opposite direction.

Remembering 9/11

2006-09-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

I was working the graveyard shift at the hospital that morning. It wasn’t going to be long before I got off work, about 7am. I was anticipating getting out of there and going home to get some sleep. My relief had walked in and she was getting some breakfast before she came on shift. While I was waiting around this middle aged black gentlemen comes up and tells me about a plane that crashed into a building. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. Planes crash all the time and this one just happened to crash into a building. I wonder why that happened. Did the pilot not see where he was going? I brushed it off as a freak accident and paid little attention to the man. He left to the main lobby of the hospital to view the news on the big screen television while I continued to wait for the clock to hit 7am.He then came rushing back to spread the news that another plane had hit the other World Trade Center. What? I thought. What the heck? That’s when I left my office, clocked out, and went to see the big screen in the main lobby. There it was, clouds of smoke rising from both towers of the WTC. That’s when I immediately realized it was no accident. This was a terrorist attack. Oh man, this is bad I thought. I went to tell my relief about the incident before I left home. Instead of going home I decided to go to my Mom’s house to tell her about the news. This was bad and I wanted to see if she was watching the morning news. I knew she would barely be waking up so she wouldn’t know about it until she either turned on the television or someone told her.

While driving home I listened to the news-talk radio. All plane crashes in New York were the talk of the radio. I listened as reporters described the event and try to piece together any clues as to why this had happened. I got to my Mom’s house early in the morning when they were barely getting up. My wife was at work at the time and there was no way for me to call her. When my Mom answered the door I made my way in and turned on the television. My Dad was already making breakfast but hadn’t turned on the television or radio. There were stood and watched as the twin towers of the World Trade Center topped off in smoke. The news showed people waving from the upper floors of the buildings and some jumping. People were screaming everywhere and it seemed like mass hysteria.

I called my buddy in Mesa to tell him about the news. He answered the phone and said that he was about to call me. He was watching it on television too. “Who do you think did this?” He said. “I think it was the Palestinians,” I said. That was my first guess at the time. I figured it was either the Palestinians or terrorists from Palestine. They have no love for the USA so it wouldn’t surprise me.Then came the news of another plane crash into the Pentagon. Oh yeah, we’re under attack, I thought. The news on the third plane crash was new and the information was barely coming in. The news wasn’t accurate and a little vague but they started showing live feeds of the Pentagon on fire. My parents, siblings, and myself continued to watch as reports of another plane crashed in Pennsylvania. The news reported that it crashed into a field. What the heck is going on, I thought again.

We watched as the twin towers were engulfed in fire and smoke. Then the unthinkable happened. One of the twin towers began to collapse. Oh no! This can’t be, I thought. I couldn’t believe a monumental building like that could be collapsing from a fire. I assumed that there were still people inside while it was falling. I knew it would be too late for some of them. That’s when the grief and rage began to hit me. My parents and me were all in shock. We couldn’t believe what was happening. The skyline covered in gray ash and smoke and nothing seemed visible. The news anchors and newscasters seemed to be as shocked as we were. They described the events exactly the way they unfolded.

We were all in shock when suddenly the second tower began to collapse. That’s when I realized that the New York City skyline would be forever changed. My grief was overcome with anger and rage. Whoever did this would pay for what they’ve done. I left my parents and drove home afterwards. When I got home I went into a chat room and began chatting with all sorts of people that spoke of hate, grief, rage, and assumptions. I wanted to get a feel and communicate with others about the situation. I also had to get some rest since it was already past noon at the time. I knew I would only get a few nights sleep before having to go back to work at night.

There was another sense that overcame me besides the grief and rage I felt at the time. It was something I’ve never felt before in my life. It was a powerful feeling and it just occurred as if I had just woken up from a sleep. Suddenly I started seeing colors in my head, red, white, and blue. It was a feeling of unity. Where did this come from? What the heck is this? A sense of patriotism overcame me. I’ve never felt this way before.The next day I noticed flags popping up everywhere. As the days went by we were all in grief but there was also a sense of unity and patriotism. I took part by displaying Old Glory on the corner of my garage and a newspaper photo of the flag on my window. On the newspaper insert is said, “United We Stand.” I think it was true. For once, we all seemed to put our differences aside and come together. Flags were flying from cars, hanging from freeway overpasses, and waving from everywhere. I’ve never seen Phoenix that way in my life. Although all the events occurred on the east coast we still felt the pain. Out of all the pain and terror came something good, patriotism, unity, and faith. Suddenly the words where heard and said everywhere, “God Bless America.”

The Pass

2006-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

The weather is getting cooler. It’s still hot during the afternoon but bearable. The mornings and evenings are quite nice. The weather reminds me of the weather back home in Phoenix this time of year. Sure it’s still hot during the day but the evenings and mornings are more pleasant. It still hasn’t rained in months here. It’s a difference from Phoenix, which would be ending its monsoon season pretty soon. I’m just glad it hasn’t rained here. I can’t stand working in this mud. I’d rather go a whole year here without any rain whatsoever.

We went to one of the camp today that is a makeshift resort for some in the area to get away. I guess the big deal is that they have an Olympic size swimming pool there. I’ve also heard that there are private rooms as well. I don’t know what other amenities are available for the Joes. I’m sure they don’t have a casino or serve alcohol. A lot of guys like it because it just gives them a chance to get away from everyone and everything. It’s a local pass they get here in Baghdad.

There are others that get a pass to fly out of the country for a few days to an undisclosed location. I hear that the guys there get to wear civilian clothing and alcohol is served. It also sounds like a more entertaining place to be. I’ve gotten tired of hearing about people getting passes though. I especially heard it from my roommate up until now. He’s heard that he’s getting a pass out of the country. Lucky him. He used to bitch and complain about it all the time. “I don’t know why they’re getting a pass if they just got back from leave.” Or it’d be vice-versa and he’d say, “They’re getting a pass and they go on leave next month!” Well I guess now he has no right to talk since he’s getting a pass.

I was trying to fight for a pass for myself but I gave up. It doesn’t matter anymore and with us having almost no mission, I consider myself having the ‘crib pass’. Yeah I use to hit to my squad leader and inquire how people get a pass. That didn’t work. I guess he didn’t get the hint. So then I went ahead and faced the platoon sergeant about it. I told him that I’ve done the most missions in the whole platoon and I haven’t had leave since I went home in February. I could prove that I probably have the most miles ridden in the entire company because my driver has the most miles. They keep track of mileage driven for each soldier in the company. They also keep track of how many missions everyone does. I’m tempted to go to the TOC and inquire who has the most missions. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s myself. I would vouch for my driver too but he was out for 10 days back in May because of pain in his shoulder. So that gives me 10 more days then him right there.

Operation Sun Tan

2006-09-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

I didn’t plan on going to the pool today. There’s a pool on one of the other camps that’s not too far away. I wanted to go to the gym this afternoon and get a little workout but my roommate convinced me otherwise. He wanted to go to the pool to work on his tan, and I’m sure he wanted to look at the girls too. As for myself, I needed to start getting some sun.The pool is set on one of Saddam’s little lakes he has around his palaces. It looks really scenic from where it is because the pool over looks the water from the lake. The pool doesn’t have a shallow or deep end. It’s mostly six feet deep all around and it rises a couple of feet above the ground. It was also quite full so water would be pouring out the sides and into the drains around the edge of the pool. The pool was filled with mostly guys, which didn’t surprise me. There were a few ladies there but not many. Mostly everyone was trying to get a tan. Some, like me, needed it more then others.

An Invasion of Privacy

2006-09-08T23:30:00.000-07:00

Since it was maintenance day it was time to take the Humvee to the motor pool for inspection by the mechanics. I didn’t feel like going because to me, it’s the drivers’ job. The Colonel asked me yesterday to dispatch the truck and I agreed. I figured I might as well since T-Rex has been dispatching the truck for the past couple of weeks. I’m going to let The Colonel know that I’m not going to do it next time. If The Colonel likes to play the “it’s your job” game than since I’m not the driver, it’s not my job. They never help me clean the .50 cal anyway so I don’t care.

One of the platoons had an in-room inspection. Actually, I guess they were looking for pornography. It’s considered contraband over here and anyone caught with it will get punished. I think it’s silly and stupid that they’re going through their rooms looking for this stuff. They should be fighting the insurgents, not the soldiers. Instead they’re spending their time looking for pornography instead of looking for insurgents. Again, I think the priorities are messed up.

Not only were they looking for magazines, they were also going through the guys laptops. They were going through the guy’s computers looking for porn. I heard that if they found any they would delete it on the spot. A lot of these guys began sharing this stuff, like the music, when we began our mobilization. There was some stuff so sick that I wouldn’t even consider it porn. It was just too gross to even mention here. I found it hard to believe that someone would download the filth. And I thought I was bad.

The photo above is burned out from a VBIED (Vechicle Borne Improved Explosive Device.) It exploded right underneath the traffic sign. The damage from the flames and heat is visable.

Morning Nightmare and The Harvest Moon

2006-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to link up until 0715 hours this morning. So I set my alarm clock for 0615 so I would have enough time to brush my teeth, shave, and get dressed. Things didn’t happened the way I had planned. It wasn’t because my alarm clock failed to go off or because I set it for the wrong time. It’s because early in the morning, around 0530 hours, I started to hear some mumbling coming from the other side of the room. It was from my roommate, The Big Man.

The random mumbling woke me up this morning. I wasn’t sure what was going on. I thought he might be groaning because of what happened yesterday. He came back from the gym last night with pain in his groin. When he came in the room last night he said, “I think I busted a Nut! Ooh! Ahhh!” I busted out laughing when he told me. He knows I felt sorry for him but it didn’t stop me from laughing at his pain. I guess he was squatting some heavy weight when he felt the pain occur in his groin. It caused him pain all night last night. He thinks he might have a hernia.

Well this morning I heard him mumble something so I hesitated to say anything. Maybe he wasn’t saying anything to me, then it got louder and louder. I didn’t want to wake him up. I figured I’d take the opportunity to see what he said, if anything. Then he began to scream. It had me confused for a minute. What the hell was going on??? It started soft but gradually became louder and louder. The funny thing was he was screaming like a girl. Then I realized that he was trapped in a nightmare and he was trying to get out. So, after I figured I’d had enough early morning entertainment, I tried to wake him up. “Eddie! Eddie! Hey! Hey! SGT R.! Wake up!!!” Finally he snapped out of it. I wanted to laugh my ass off but held back. “Man, are you ok? Are you in pain because of your balls or were you having a nightmare?” I asked. He didn’t say anything and got up. He got turned on his light, got dressed, and went out the door. I didn’t know were he left but he left his light on. It was 0530 in the morning and I wanted to get the last 45 minutes of sleep I had left. It was of no use. I couldn’t fall back asleep all morning.

On a side note, I walked out of the MWR tent tonight around 2200 hours on my way back to the crib when I looked up to check out the moon. I knew it was just a full moon last night or the night before. I'm not sure. Anyway, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me or I was going blind when I started to notice a blur on the northern tip. I thought my eyesite might be going bad but it looked too strange. Usually when the moon goes through it's phases we see the dark side from the left or right, not from the top of the moon. What's going on with the Hadji moon? So I went out to my Humvee to grab my binos and check it out. I looked up and noticed that there was a shadow on it. I thought it was strange because it was just in the full moon phase. Usually there isn't a visable terminator on the moon at this phase. I'm an astronomy enthusiast so I'm always interested and looking at the moon, the planets, the stars, and constellations. Something had to be going on so that's when I came here into the internet trailer to do a little news search on the moon. Sure enough, there's a partial lunar eclipse of the moon tonight that's visable from Africa to Australia.

Going to Train

2006-09-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

One of our teams is leaving pretty soon. They’re leaving to train some other troops that are on their way here to Iraq. I can’t mention where they’re going but I don’t envy them. They’ll still be in the Middle East. I’d rather be here in Iraq then where they’re going. At least we get to leave the camp and go either into the city or out into the countryside. The other thing is live on the FOB is a lot more enjoyable here in Baghdad then it is over there.

Leaving an Impression

2006-09-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

The thing that makes my day is getting to interact with kids. I don’t know why that is. Today we were at the Baghdad Police Headquarters, hanging around when these little girls were walking up to my Humvee. One appeared to be about five or six and her little sister was probably around three years old. I had no idea why they were there and they were walking all by themselves. There were some civilians on the grounds so it didn’t surprise me that much to see them. They had a bag full of those skinny Pepsi cans that looked like Red Bull cans. I figured someone else had given the Pepsi Colas to the girls. As they approached I called them over. I gave them the rest of the candy that I had left, mostly Tootsie Roll candy. It was assorted with small Tootsie Rolls and taffy.

The oldest girl then went around the Humvee and offered me the bag of Pepsi she had. I didn’t want to take it so I refused. She raised her hand with the bag again to offer it and so I decided to take it. It might be rude to refuse a gift in their culture. I told them thank you in English and Arabic and they started to walk away. That’s when I figured I’d give them some Gatorades. It would be like a trade, which is good. So I got down in the Humvee and got into the ice chest to get a Fruit Punch bottle of Gatorade. I thought that they could share amongst themselves. I got out and handed the bottle to the big girl and then jumped back into the Humvee. Then I figured I might as well give them another bottle so they each have one. So I grabbed a bottle of Lemon Lime Gatorade to give to the other girl. Both of the drinks were ice cold and I’m sure they would’ve appreciated that. The only thing I didn’t think of was if they were going to be able to open the bottles themselves. They might have to get someone to help them open them up.

The whole time this Iraqi Army soldier was watching me. At the time I started to wonder what he was thinking. What does he think of us? What does he think of Americans? What does he think of Soldiers? He saw everything I did and I didn’t do it to get attention, I did it out of the kindness of my heart. I don’t know what he thinks of us, but I hope he thinks that we are doing something meaningful and honorable here. As for me, I’m trying to leave a good impression of American Soldiers with the kids.

Labor Day

2006-09-04T10:56:00.000-07:00

I don’t know how it happened, but we didn’t have any missions today. Maybe it’s because it’s Labor Day and they decided to give us a break. I didn’t do anything special. I wanted to go to the gym but I didn’t even do that today. They were serving mainly hot dogs and polish sausages for lunch. They also had the band playing music again in the chow hall. Doesn’t feel like a Labor Day weekend here. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because we don’t have a whole weekend off. I’ve been thinking about everyone back home and how nice it would be to have a barbecue with the family. At last the weather is finally getting peaceful. Everyday seems nicer and nicer. The hottest part of the day is between 1200 and 1600 hours. The mornings are cooling off and the nights are really pleasant. The weather is becoming perfect again and it looks like summer is finally over.

Mission or No Mission

2006-09-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

There were so many rumors this morning whether we were going out on mission or not. I didn’t really care to go. It’s not that I’m lazy, it’s just that I’d rather spend the day as a Fobbit like a lot of other Joes do. Well, this morning I started getting ready to go out on mission. There was word that we might be standing down but we weren’t sure. The Big Man went to the latrine when he got up and got word from our squad leader that we were on standby. Too bad I was already up, dressed, and ready to go. I tried to go back to sleep but I just couldn’t.

A few minutes later, Useless comes knocking on our door. He came to get The Big Man and tell him that they were waiting for everyone at the linkup point. I told Useless that we just got word to stand by a few minutes ago. I asked him if the squad leader was out there and he said no. So, I wasn’t too concerned about going out there. The last word I got was to standby for further instructions.

So finally, after he came by a third time I had enough. I had to find out for myself what was going on. I went out and over to The Colonel’s room to see him. I told him that Useless was trying to get The Big Man and if we were actually going out. Unfortunately we were. It wasn’t too big of a deal, I was already dressed and ready to go.

A Weekend

2006-09-02T12:36:00.000-07:00

Again, there’s not much to say about today. It was a day off and I’m glad. We didn’t go outside the wire. It doesn’t bother me too much to go out, it’s just dealing with all the leadership that I have to deal with that bothers me. Fortunately, I’m not the only one that feels this way. To me that means that it’s not just me that it bothers. At this point, I really don’t care. We only have a few months left and it’s not worth making a big deal out of. It’s why a lot of us can’t wait to get out of here and go back home.

It almost felt like a weekend today, having the day off. We haven’t had two days of in a row in a while. I think we’re all ready to get back to work and complete some missions.

Not Much

2006-09-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

I didn’t do much today. I’m glad I didn’t. Today was supposed to be a maintenance day but our Humvee was in the shop getting the A/C fixed again. I got up this morning and ate breakfast. Afterwards I went to the MWR to get online to chat with my wife. I’m usually using Yahoo! Messenger to chat. I let her know I’m online by sending her a page to her mobile phone. I do call home from time to time and prefer calling over the internet as well. I use Skype in order to make a PC to phone call for only a few pennies a minute. It’s a lot cheaper than the 19 cents they charge per minute to make a call on the AT&T phones here.

I came back to the crib and took it easy for a while before going to chow for lunch. Then I took a little nap after chow. Fatigue was starting to get to me so I laid down to get some rest. After a little nap I got up and went to the gym to get a little work out in. I ate dinner and now I’m here, typing up this blog. It’s what I usually do on a typical day off.

Cooling Down

2006-08-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

The weather is finally starting to cool down. I began to notice it yesterday. This morning when I opened the door to go to the latrine I was hit with some nice, cool air. It was quite refreshing and it felt really nice. I couldn’t believe it. It’s finally starting to cool down. I thought the heat would never end. I’ve also noticed that sunrise is later and sunset is getting earlier and earlier.

Sleepover

2006-08-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

I wasn’t able to blog anything yesterday. That’s because we spent the night in Ramadi. There was internet access there but I was too tired by the end of the night and I just wanted to relax a little before going to bed.

I found a spot in the transient barracks to sleep. It was the best mattress I could find close to the back corner. The only problem was the lights from the other partition were on until 0200 hours in the morning. It was also very cold, just like last time. I learned from my last visit and brought my sleeping bag with me. The only problem with the sleeping bag was it kept me too hot. It could never be just right. The accommodations weren’t the best in the world but it’s a whole lot better than sleeping outside or in my Humvee.

On the way to Ramadi we stopped at Camp Fallujah to grab a bite to eat. It was already getting dark and we wanted to leave before we lost our daylight. So we were given 45 minutes to get inside the chow hall and eat before it got too late. I was glad we stopped. Most of us didn’t have anything for lunch and we were hungry.

One of the guys got promoted to Sergeant this morning. We left Ramadi after his promotion ceremony. The trip back wasn’t bad and there were no significant incidents.

Car Bomb

2006-08-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

We were at the Ministry of Interior this morning when it happened. In fact, if we’d left just five minutes earlier we would’ve been there when the car bomb exploded.

We were just sitting there, waiting before getting ready to leave. Most of the gunners were sitting down inside their turrets. A few of the guys were outside, standing, chatting around. Then there it was, BOOM! It shook everything from where we were located. I immediately knew that it must have been close and big. The first thing I noticed was that all the birds were flying away from the sound of the blast. I had an idea where the explosion came from but wasn’t too sure. Usually, after an explosion I’m looking for smoke. It’s the first sign of where the blast occurred. The birds also helped me identify the location of the blast.The smoke started rising into the air. The gunners started orienting everyone on the location of the blast. We were all just getting ready to leave too. IPs and IAs were immediately rushing out to the scene like firemen headed to a fire. They were jumping onto their trucks and gearing up as fast as they could. Some were running to the scene from where they were. I started to feel the adrenaline rush. So much of me wanted to get out there and help. I was hoping that we would leave and be the reinforcements on the scene. I knew something was still going on because I could hear the sound of sporadic gunfire continuously after the blast and following afterwards.We started moving towards the gate and I started doing some last minute checks on my gun and ammo. I wanted to make sure everything was ready just in case anything happened. I think all the gunners were psyched up and ready to go. We were ready. Then we got the call to standby. We weren’t going to leave the gate. A big part of me wanted to get out there to help. I don’t know what it was. I was anxious to just get out there then to just sit around and wait until things died down.

The Surprise

2006-08-27T10:44:00.000-07:00

I kind of won a game of poker last night. I say kind of because I gave up. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to win or not. There are five of us that were playing and it came down to this other guy and me. We had to play in the dark for a little while since the power went out, again. We were playing by chem.-light until they got the lights back on. Well, it was getting late when it came down to the two of us. So we both ended the game. I’m not sure how it would’ve turned out.

I knew that my roommate was coming back from Ramadi today since last night. I knew that they were going to come do some business here and then head back to Ramadi. Well, a few plans have changed and now my roommate, The Big Man, will be staying here. Well I enjoyed having the room to myself while it lasted. It sure didn’t last long. It’s still up in the air whether I may be going to Ramadi or not. At this point I don’t care. Wherever we go I know it won’t be long.

So I was a little surprised to when I found my roommate moving all of his stuff back in. He was getting situated and reorganized. I wasn’t too sure what was up but he told me that his team wasn’t going back. Well, that’s cool. At least I have some company again.

Mystery Mission

2006-08-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

Once our mission at Abu Ghraib had ended we’ve had a problem securing a stable job. We’re on the verge of losing the current mission we have right now. I somewhat don’t have a problem with it since I don’t like it that much. I’m tired of cooking out in the sun daily. If the choice was between what we’re doing now and going to Ramadi, I’d rather go to Ramadi.

A lot of the guys don’t like the mission over in Ramadi. I was talking to my roommate, The Big Man, and he said he liked it there. I was surprised. He likes being stationed there but he doesn’t like the mission either. Living there doesn’t bother most of the guys; they just don’t like what they’re doing over there now.

Well, whatever happens, happens. It won’t bother me if they decide to move me over there. I won’t care. We’ll all be leaving pretty soon anyway and I’m finally starting to look forward to leaving. Our time is getting short and I’m sure it’ll go quick enough. The month of August is almost over.

The Downhill Slope

2006-08-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

It seems as if we’re on the downhill slope now. Finally, our time appears to be getting short. We still have a few more months to go but it seems that everyone is ready to go home. Very few of the guys have volunteered to extend and stay here for up to another year. I’ve even contemplated the idea myself. Then I thought about my family and my boys. They need me more back home more then they need me over here. If I were single perhaps I would consider it. I do miss being back home and think about it a lot more often now. I think I’m ready. I’m ready to board that plane and fly home with the rest of the guys.

It was hard for me to make a decision early on in the mission. I wasn’t sure whether it was a good decision for me to volunteer to stay here. After about 8 months here my mind was made up. I’m ready to go home. I’m actually looking forward to it now and I’m hoping that nothing happens. Not just to me but to anyone for that matter. It would totally suck to be here for like 11 months just to end up a casualty.

Haba Kahnook

2006-08-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

The traffic is a nightmare in some parts of the city. Well, at least it’s not like that everywhere and I’m beginning to learn which parts of the city are most congested. Traffic isn’t as bad as it is back home. It’s a lot worse in Phoenix. Today we had to go through some really congested areas. I was trying as best as I could to get these people to pull over to the side of the road but they just seem to keep wanting to go forward. It just makes it worse when they all start bottlenecking up at an intersection or checkpoint. But I don’t think they get that. We even had to bump a guy because he was ignoring our warnings to pull over. I think it suits him right and who cares if he gets pissed off. That’s what he gets for not pulling over.

I had some more Iraqi food for lunch today. At least time it looked better even though I didn’t get to see how they prepared it. In fact, I didn’t want to know. It was basically a simple meal, nothing fancy. Pitas are really big over here. I had some chicken kabobs with an appetizer they call Haba Kahnook. My terp, code name George, told me to try it out. He mentioned that it was made from eggplant. I guess it was ground into a white creamy substance. He was so interested in eating some native food that I went ahead with him to eat.

Tomatoes and cucumbers also came on the plate of chicken kabobs. I’m getting the impression that they like tomatoes and cucumbers. Either that or there’s plenty of them grown around here. I asked George where they grew them and he said that they grow them here in Iraq. They also like their pitas, which they call Shamoot if I could remember right.

I tried eating the Haba Kahnook by itself but it tasted too strong. It was too bitter or something. It was perfect on the chicken pita I created. George said, “How did you know to do that? You’ve eaten this before? That’s what you’re supposed to do with it.” It was probably my Chicano heritage coming out. We’re always pouring stuff on our food like salsa, lemon/lime juice, or guacamole.

Waves

2006-08-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

We got our A/C fixed so now it seems cool again even though it’s still hot. At least the heat was bearable. Our mission today wasn’t too bad. I just hate driving through the mean streets of Baghdad. I’ve gotten really used to it but I hate it when the traffic bottlenecks and there’s no place to go. These people don’t understand the concept of pull over. I swear when they hear our siren coming it means to them to speed up and create a bottleneck ahead.

The IPs and IA soldiers are pretty friendly. It seems like we’re getting more waves too. To me that’s a good thing. I especially like it when the kids wave and it seems like they’re doing it more often. Or maybe it’s just me.

The Fashion Police

2006-08-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

The word is out. We have to make sure we’re in uniform anytime we step out of our crib. That means even if we wake up at 0200 hours I the morning to go to the latrine. I found out that there are people that have been tasked to go around and make sure everyone is in uniform at all times. Now I could see a point to this to an extent. What I don’t get is if we’re just going to take a shower at night or if we wake up in the middle of the night to go to the latrine why should we have to dress up?It was very hot and sweltering today. Seemed like one of the hottest days we’ve had since we’ve been here. In fact it’s seemed like the hottest week since we’ve been here. And to top it off our A/C went out again in our Humvee. It totally sucked because the only thing it was blowing out was hot air. That wasn’t the only thing that happened with our Humvee, we also cut the tire. It had a small leak so we had to change it out. Luckily we were at an IP station when we noticed so we felt somewhat secure. We changed it before we headed out.

Universal Blood

2006-08-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

We went to Ramadi again today. On the way we had to pass another IED cordon and some other stuff that wasn’t too bad. The trip there wasn’t too miserable. The weather seemed cooler because of the high overcast of clouds and it did sprinkle slightly once we were in Ramadi.

We were in the PX in between our trip back to Baghdad when we heard it. BOOM! It wasn’t too loud but powerful enough to rattle the walls inside the PX. For some reason I didn’t even think it was anything but the air pressure going up in the building. Everyone was going about his or her business since it is nothing really new for us.

When we went outside Sergeant Mechanic asked me if I hear the mortar impact. We looked over to our right and there was the rising cloud of smoke. That must have been it I assumed. Weird? Usually there isn’t that much black smoke with a mortar impact. Must have caught something on fire.

A little while later while we were hanging at the MWR mission before our clearance to leave we heard an announcement over the loud speaker. “All personnel with O blood type report to Charlie Med.” At the time I thought they might need to do a resupply of blood. Then a few minutes after that was another announcement, “Any available 91 Bravos report to Charlie Med. Any available 91 Bravos report to Charlie Med.” 91 Bravos? What’s that? I forgot but then later I remembered, medics. Oh man. I wonder what’s going on? A little while later there it was overhead, “All units clear the road. All units clear the road.” Oh shit. Man they’re some casualties coming in and they’re going to the medical facility.

Later I found out that that explosion was actually a car bomb and there were some that got hurt.

Curfew

2006-08-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

We went through Baghdad today and the first thing I noticed was that there were no cars on the road. Did they forget to tell us it was a holiday or something? Sometimes those intel briefs seem like a joke. They never tell us anything that is pertinent to what we’re doing. They could at least they could give us a traffic report. The last thing I want to get caught in is traffic or crowded streets.

Well the trip didn’t seem like it was going to be bad at first. There were no cars on the road and the city looked like a ghost town. There was hardly anyone out. That was until we turned a corner onto a certain section of town. There were crowds of people that looked like protesters all walking in one direction. I wasn’t sure what was going on. It definitely wasn’t a funeral procession since there was so many of them. They all seemed to be walking to the same place. I figured they were walking to go protest but I didn’t know where.

I wasn’t worried for certain reasons. The crowds were big in some sections and some of the people looked like they were chanting and raising their fists. Some had banners and flags that were waved in the air. The IPs were out in full force but it all seemed pretty peaceful from where we were. I have no issues with protests as long as there are no problems. I’m sure it could’ve turned into a bad day real easy.

Management

2006-08-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

I was having breakfast with one of the guys from another platoon. He’s a pretty good man, a devout Christian. He’s been in the military for years and it amazes me that he’s just a specialist. I was also surprised when he mentioned he had grandchildren. He definitely doesn’t look at all his age.

I asked him how things were going in his platoon. I hear that a lot of the guys like it now that Abu Ghraib is closed. There’s a big difference in the time they spend out on missions now. Since Abu Ghraib has closed their mission time has been cut by two hours each day. He mentioned how they go about their business now. Part of it didn’t make sense to me because of the way they do it. I came up with an idea for half the platoon to do part of the mission in the morning and come right back and the other half to go in the afternoon and complete the mission. He already tried to mention a plan like that but it seemed like no one wanted to try something different. I thought it would be great because it would motivate the guys since they’d have a shorter day. They’d want to hurry up and complete their mission so the could come back here to the FOB to go to the gym, do maintenance, or whatever it was they needed to do.

He also mentioned that there was a lot of tension in his platoon. It’s like a ticking time bomb ready to explode. That doesn’t surprise me either. That’s one of the hardest things to deal with anywhere, personal relations. The problem in the Army is that we eat, sleep, and live with these people. At least back home my job was only Monday thru Friday. So I only had to see my coworkers 40 hours a day. That wasn’t enough to get tired of them. He said he needed time to himself and I don’t blame him. That’s another problem around here. Even when or if we get a day off the leadership never ceases. They are always there bossing us around. I guess it be like comparing it to having a weekend when your boss come to your house, knocks on the door, and tells you that there’s something that needs to be done at the office. And that boss would knock not at 10am on a Saturday morning but like at 8am Saturday morning.

Rumors

2006-08-18T22:42:00.000-07:00

My time living by myself may be short lived. I guess I should enjoy the time I have here while it lasts. There’s rumor that the rest of us may be moving out west. I wouldn’t mind if we just got here but we only have a few months left. What’s the purpose of moving? I really wouldn’t want to go out to Ramadi either. The dust kills me out there.

Tonight I went to play Halo on the Xbox with the guys. It was fun and I had a good time playing. I got my ass kicked. I’m not that good at it and I hardly ever play.

Most of the guys have bought an Xbox 360 around here. I guess it’s the new thing. Everyone is getting them. In fact they have then networked all together. There’s network cable running to all the rooms that have Xboxes. When we were playing tonight we were playing with up to 14 other guys all over the pad.

The Ramadi Bus

2006-08-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

I feel like we’re part of the Ramadi transportation department now. We went there again today. Maybe someday soon we’ll make it a daily trip. Oh what fun that would be!

The trip there went without a hitch. We had no problems getting there and the trip seemed pretty pleasant. When we got there we did what we had to do. We planned on staying there for a good part of the day so we went to the MWR to hang out. The transient barracks weren’t too far away. I attempted to get onto the internet but the system was down, so I went to the MWR to see what the rest of the crew was doing. Most of the guys were around the makeshift movie theater. The place was in a dark room made up of a big screen television and surround sound speakers.

I sat down in front of the other big screen television that mainly played television shows instead of movies like the theater. I watched Wheel of Fortune for a while before nodding off on the couch. That’s when I decided to take a nap so I headed over to the transient barracks. I think that’s the best thing about Ramadi. At least there’s a place to lay down, instead of inside or on top of a Humvee, to get some sleep. The place is made up of bunk beds and worn mattresses but I didn’t care. The only problem I had with the place is that it was freezing.

I took a nap and we left. We did encounter a few problems on the way back. First off, we ran into a cordon. I hate the things and I’m sure the Iraqis do too. I’d be as frustrated as they are. It’s no fun waiting around for the area to get cleared, especially out in the sun. The second problem we ran into was a flat tire. It wasn’t a big problem since all it took was a simple tire change but it did delay us a little bit.

The Iraqi Police

2006-08-16T11:51:00.000-07:00

The men remind me of a New York Police Department cops. They all wear blue here. I’m not used to seeing policemen wear blue. Back home in Phoenix they wear. These guys wear long sleeve blue shirts and trousers. None of them wear shorts, as some of the policemen do in Phoenix. In fact, I’ve hardly seen any Iraqis wear shorts. I was surprised yesterday when I saw a man wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals. It’s the type of apparel I’d probably be wearing back home.

Very few of the IPs were clean-shaven and approprately dressed. Most of the IPs looked very untidy with their shirts wrinkled up and their pants hanging loose around their waist. I think the best ones are the guys that have pride in their uniform and in what they do. They look unlike any policeman anywhere back in the States. I’m sure it’ll take a lot of work but I’m not sure appearance is not on the top of their list.

The IPs remind me of single soldiers. They live the life of an IP 24 hours a day. Like soldiers that live in barracks these guys live at the police station. They sleep in small rooms on bedsprings and worn mattresses. Some of them even sleep on the floor with just a blanket. The police station is their life and they live the life of a policeman day in and day out just as a soldier lives on a military post. They give their life to a cause. The sleep there, eat there, and I’m sure they bathe there too. They don’t have many amenities and there doesn’t look like there is much to do there. They seem to spend their time socializing with others, smoking, or eating.

Operation Cookoff

2006-08-15T11:48:00.000-07:00

Oh this sun is killing me. I spent most of the day baking in it. It was hot, clear, and sunny like always. I’m sure that the forecast will call for the same. I accidentally left my lip balm out in the sun and it began to melt right away. I’m surprised I haven’t melted yet. I don’t see how it stays solid in my pocket.

I bought a pita for lunch. I was going to eat it until I saw the guy handle it with his hands. They don’t have the same sanitary standards that we have back home. I’m not sure where that guy had his hands and these people aren’t the most sanitary people on earth. I lost my appetite before I even took a bite. I wasn’t about to dare it and I didn’t feel like being sick later.

These people love their bread here. They also love their veggies. This pita was mostly filled with tomatoes and cucumbers. At first I thought it was a veggie pita because I didn’t see any meat in it. That wasn’t until I opened it on a second time to look inside closer. That’s when I found a small piece of beef at the bottom. As for the soda, I haven’t drunk it yet. I’m saving that for later. I was tripping out because the logo on it almost looks like the logo on a Pepsi can.

All Alone

2006-08-14T11:40:00.000-07:00

It’s like a ghost town here. It seems like there’s hardly anyone here now. I'm talking about on our pad. I’m part of the lucky few that didn’t have to stay in Ramadi. I’m glad. Now I have the whole room to myself. I rearranged things to make some more room. I moved some of the stuff to The Big Man’s side of the room. I figured since he’s not here he won’t need his space anymore.

It’s really nice having the place to myself now. It does feel a little bit lonely now. Now there’s no one here to speak with. If I want some company I either have to go visit someone else or hope that someone comes over to visit me. For me it’s ok. I like having my privacy and I do like to do things by myself. I’m a social person at times and sometimes I like having the time to myself.

I don’t know how long it’ll be like this but I hope it’s for a while. I’d hate to find out tomorrow that we’re moving to Ramadi too. I’m not looking forward to moving over there but if we do the good thing is that it can’t be that long. That is unless the Army decides to extend us over here.

About Ramadi

2006-08-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I misunderstood yesterday. I thought we were leaving back to Ramadi last night. Turns out we were leaving and coming back today. So, it wasn’t as bad as I first thought. I thought we were going to go back over there last night, spend the night over there, then come back later today. We left this morning and came back this afternoon. Usually it’s a two-hour trip. It took us about two hours to get there and only one hour and twenty minutes to get back.

Ramadi is like an armpit of Iraq. It reminds me of Kuwait, without so much of the sand and camels. The dirt is like a fine power type and the air is full of dust. The area is more arid then the Baghdad area even though it borders the Euphrates River. I found myself covering up my mouth and nose with a scarf which I don’t normally do. The wind was picking up every bit of dust it could find and the sky had a brown dusty haze because of it.

I wouldn’t want to be stuck there. The living conditions are a lot better here in Baghdad then they are in Ramadi. The PX wasn’t as grand as the one we have here, of course. The MWR/Recreation Center is undergoing some remodeling so it’s pretty chaotic inside. There were areas of the recreation center that were closed and parts of the place that were disorganized.

The trip to Ramadi

2006-08-12T07:42:00.000-07:00

It sucked, mostly because of the heat. There were some other problems too. One of the gunners in our patrol had to take a shit. I don’t know why he didn’t go before we left and I guess he couldn’t wait. They were also smelling some radiator fluid so it was a good time to check that out too. So we stopped so the Baloney could do his duty and they could check out their Humvee

for leaks.

We also had a problem with our Humvee. The A/C went out again. It might be because the air intake filter is all clogged up with dirt, I don’t know. The mechanics checked it out when we got to Ramadi and said that everything seems to be working fine, pressure wise.

We spent the night in the transient barracks there. The accommodations weren’t too bad. It wasn’t hot in there. In fact it was cold, really freaking cold. It’s part of the reason I couldn’t sleep last night. The only thing I took with me was a travel pillow and a poncho liner. I didn’t expect it to be that cold in there.

We dropped of the guys and the stuff that was staying. They started making themselves at home in their new temporary abode.

We were supposed to leave this morning, but ended up leaving this afternoon. I was happy to get back. With my roommate moved out I could rearrange the room to make it more for myself. It’ll be nice to live in privacy for a while. Too bad it’s only temporary.

I just found out some bad news. Not only do we have to go back to Ramadi, we have to back today. That sucks. It’s not like the drive is long and hot enough, but to make a drive here and then back there again. That’s just great!!! At least it’s seemed relatively safe.

Moving

2006-08-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

Thank God I’m not. Some elements of our platoon are moving. I can’t mention where, just yet. I might be able to do that, once we get back. The guys began packing their stuff today. Some of the guys packed everything they had. I don’t know why they did that. We were told it’s only temporary but I guess they didn’t care. They didn’t want to leave anything here. I was a little hesitant about leaving some of my personal belongings here myself. The crazy thing is that a lot of us are going to be leaving with more stuff than we came here with.

My team is going too, of course but we’re not staying. We’re just going to spend the night over there. Up until yesterday I thought we were staying too. I found out when I asked The Colonel if there was any suggested packing list and he mentioned, “For what?” For what else I thought, the move. “Didn’t you hear? We’re not going. I told you three days ago.” Yeah right I thought. Three days ago he told me we were going. It was just another lie that just makes me mad. The good thing is we’re not staying.

East of The Tigris

2006-08-10T04:20:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the first day I crossed the Tigris River. I liked operating in the western area of Baghdad better. Maybe it’s because I knew the streets better. Traffic circles, can’t avoid them. They’re everywhere. Traffic was still there and still disorganized. At least the people drive on the right side of the road over here. The area seemed more urbanized and there were more skyscrapers than anywhere else I’ve seen in Baghdad, especially along the east side of the river. I assumed that these parts of the city, especially areas around the river, are the oldest parts of this densely populated city.

There’s also something new here in Baghdad. Strykers. I haven’t seen them here at all until a couple of weeks ago. The news of more troops moving to Baghdad has been all over the news and I read about it in Stars and Stripes. I’m seeing these Strykers more and more in the city.

Traffic

2006-08-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

It’s a nightmare. Since our mission has changed we’ve had to go drive through the mean streets of Baghdad. I liked it before when we were in the outskirts, where there was hardly any traffic and more farmland. Trying to get traffic to pull over in the streets is a nightmare. They don’t do like in America where then pull over to the side of the road and stop their vehicles. Oh no, not here. When they hear a siren here it means go faster and try not to get pulled over. There’s only one way to get these people to stop and that’s a method I’m not allowed to use. I mean firing a warning shot right past them. I’m sure they’d hit the breaks real quick.

The streets are really narrow as well. I’m not used to riding on narrow streets. I’m used to the west where the streets are wide and straight for miles, unlike the east coast. Oh but that traffic. They just don’t pull over, which makes it worse. They’ll all drive forward and began to bottleneck when the road either comes to an intersection or there’s a checkpoint. I just wish there was some other way to make them stop. They know they’re always supposed to yield to military vehicles.

We almost got lost a couple times too. It happens all the time, especially when driving in new territory. It happens to anyone driving in a part of a city they’ve never been to before. At least this time we only took one wrong turn. We almost went over a bridge, crossing the Tigris River, to a bad part of Baghdad. I’ve even heard stories back home on the news a couple of years ago about how the Marines had to hold the bridge as a stronghold. I knew this was the bridge in reference to.

On the way back to our camp one of the Humvees got into a collision with a civilian vehicle. The Humvee was in front of us when it was crossing the traffic circle, going straight. Suddenly, out of nowhere, this car starts crossing from the left at a high rate of speed. I watched the car go right into the intersection, as the gunner was looking right at it. Then, all of a sudden, it clips the right rear of the Humvee real hard and the rear of the car comes a little off the ground. I knew nothing was going to happen to the Humvee because these things are built tough and the weight could handle that little car.

The Humvee that got hit started to keep going before they stopped. When talking with the guys inside they said it didn’t even feel like they got hit. They thought they ran a dog over or something. The guys that ran into them totally lost the front left end of their car and their bumper was lying on the road, off the vehicle. They totally messed up that car. They appeared alright when it happened because they got out and started swearing, cursing, and waving their hands. They were looking at me like it was my fault. That’s what they get for speeding through an intersection. I don’t know what was wrong with that guy but I saw the whole thing and he was totally at fault. I just wish we were recording it like we usually do with everything. Again, another missed opportunity.

Happy Birthday Peter!

2006-08-08T09:37:00.000-07:00

Today is my oldest son’s birthday. It’s also my birthday. He turns 9 and I turn 32. Yes, we have a birthday on the same day. I consider him my birthday present. I’ll give him a call in a little while since it’s still early over there. I hope he likes the birthday present I bought him, a Nintendo DS. Happy Birthday Son!

32 years. I can’t believe it. I’m 8 years away from turning 40. It’s weird because I don’t feel that old. I still feel young and some of the guys think I’m in my 20s.

I was amazed that no one personally said happy birthday today. Heck, I didn’t even get the day off when others did. Sometimes I’m kicking myself in the ass because I don’t say anything. I think its pride. I didn’t tell anyone but I did expect at least my team leader and platoon sergeant know about it. It’s not like I went around telling everyone it’s my birthday. I think it’s the first birthday in my life where no one has personally said Happy Birthday. I did get a few e-mails and letters so I’d like to say THANK YOU to those who sent me an e-mail or snail mail greeting.

I decided to treat myself to a birthday treat after I finished dinner. I was so stuffed after eating dinner that I skipped the cake and just went for ice cream.

The End of Abu Ghraib.

2006-08-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess I could spill the beans on one of our old missions since it’s mission complete. Since we’ve been here we’ve been convoying supplies back and forth to Abu Ghraib. For those who don’t know Abu Ghraib is the place where those detainee abuse photos took place. Well, we were told when we first got here that they would be closing Abu Ghraib. First it was supposed to be closed in February. February came and past and the prison was still open. Then the closing date got pushed back to April. April came and past and still nothing was happening. When the date got pushed back to June we began joking, “What year?”

Finally, I heard an ultimatum come down from command with a deadline for shut down. It was this August. For the past month I finally noticed changes and it finally looked like it was actually going to close. It began to look like a department store that was going out of business. The place was clearing out. Everything was getting cleaned up and all of the equipment was being moved.

We finished up our missions there this past week. It’s the last time I’ll ever be at Abu Ghraib. Abu Ghraib prison is finally closed and a part of history. So long Abu Ghraib. Never see you again.

Easy Mission

2006-08-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

I almost consider today a day off. The only thing that bugged me about it is that I had to get up early. Other then that, it was like having a day off. The only thing we had to do this morning is go to the IZ and pick up one of the Joes that was hanging around one of the camps over there. Other than that, there was nothing else to it. It took more time to get ready to move and get everything loaded then it took for us to get over there.

While we were over there I ran into this cute little girl. I gave her some pencils and note pads that Kathy from Tucson had sent me. The little girl was so cute. She was in a cute little dress and was wearing the shades just a little bit down on her nose. I had to get a picture with her so when we stopped I jumped out of the turret. I don’t get a chance to take photos with kids often so I’ll take opportunity I could get.

Where did the day go?

2006-08-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

We had an early mission today. Fortunately we finished by 1000 hours. It sucked because I had to get up so early. Well, I guess it’s not too much of a problem except for the fact that The Big Man and me stayed up late last night. He said that he was tossing and turning last night. Doesn’t surprise me. He sleeps all day, no wonder he’s not going to be able to sleep at night.

Another thing I can’t figure out is how some of these guys get up so early in the morning, especially when they don’t have to get up. I’ll get up at 0300 hours and walk to the latrine to shave and brush my teeth in the morning. It’ll be dark outside and pretty cool too. I’ll drag my body, half asleep, to the latrine hoping I don’t walk into anything. Then I’ll notice that there’s someone already up, just hanging out. What the heck? Are they getting up early to see the sun get up? It seems like it because they get up early every morning! They’ll sit around and chat while having a morning cigarette. They’re nuts!

Another thing that gets me is the people that get up at 3am to go running. What the heck? You won’t catch me running at 0300 hours in the morning. Forget that. It’s not like it’s the only time they’ll get to run. They’re plenty of people here that will run in the afternoon regardless of how hot it is. Heck, I’ll even find people running at 1300 hours when it’s like 110 degrees out. Won’t catch me doing that. I’d probably end up passed out on the pavement.

Another Day

2006-08-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

Not much to day about today. It was a maintenance day so I had to take the Humvee to the motor pool to do some maintenance. I guess they had to replace the pads on the front brakes since they were worn. I went to lunch, then the gym, then back to the motor pool to pick up the Humvee.

As for everything else, there’s not really much going on around here. The weather again was hot, sunny, and clear. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Cancelled Mission

2006-08-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to go up north today. That mission was cancelled. I’m glad. I didn’t feel like going on a 2 hour trip up north. We still had to get up early. Our missions today went pretty smooth. There was really nothing to report. When I got back I played some more poker with the guys again. I didn’t win this time but I did come in second which wasn’t bad.

The ASV Experience

2006-08-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

I got to command the ASV team today. Boy do I want to go to the ASV. It was so freaking nice!!! The best thing about it is that I wasn’t out in the sun, sweating my ass off in the hot air. We’re able to close all the hatches and let the a/c do its job to keep the cabin cool. Boy it almost felt like being in a regular car and not outside in the heat.

It’s been a while since I’ve rode in one, when I was training in Kuwait in December of last year. I really enjoyed the break from gunning. I didn’t have to do much, just sit there to monitor and operate the radios mostly. The guys did most of the work like driving and the gunning. It gave me a chance to recover from all that work of carrying that .50 cal from my room to the truck, getting the ammo situated, and getting all of my gear ready. This time I just jumped in and we were ready to go. It was so easy. In fact Baloney had one of those Staples, ‘That Was Easy’, buttons attached to the inside frame and I just wanted to press it to hear that voice say, “That was easy.”

Strangely it was fun. Maybe it was because I got to ride along and mess with the siren. The guys were laid back and the thing was I was in charge. I let them do their job because I know they know how to do it. I wasn’t there to change things. I was there to supervise and make sure they did their job in a military manner.

Newbies

2006-08-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

I was walking back from the chow hall this evening when I came upon this soldier. She was talking to another Joe before they bother turned and looked at me, as I was walking by. “Excuse me Sergeant.” She said. I thought she was going to ask for directions or something. It happens from time to time and I could read peoples faces to tell that they’re lost. “Can you walk with you to the end of the block? I need a battle buddy.” Oh, they’re definitely new. Battle buddies? Oh, I remember that. That was when we first got here and we had to have a battle buddy with us wherever we went. “Sure, no problem,” I said.

As we were walking she started fretting as we approached her unit commander. He was walking with an LT and I guess they were walking to chow. She was getting worried, I could tell. I don’t know why. There was some tension in her voice and she said, “Oh, here comes my commander.” Her sensitivity surprised me. What was she scared of? She wasn’t doing anything wrong. If her commander said anything I would’ve told him that I’m walking her to her pad as her battle buddy.

On the walk back to the pad I gave her some information on where she might get a phone. We’re leaving in a couple of months and some of the guys in my unit may be selling their phones already. I also explained how to access different phones and how to call online with Skype. It’s a computer program a buddy of mine showed me that allows me to make phone calls over the internet. I like it because it’s really cheap, like 2 cents a minute, and the quality is almost as good as a regular phone.

I also told her that the ‘Battle Buddy’ rule will go out the window pretty soon. I explained to her, “We used to do that too when we first got here. Don’t worry, they’ll forget all about ‘Battle Buddies’ in a month. Do you see anyone else walk around here with them? We had all kinds of rules when we first got here too. Don’t worry about it.”

Got to be kidding!

2006-07-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I’m trying to find stuff to post about. Some days the missions get routine and nothing really exciting happens. Well, today isn’t one of those days. This morning we came upon a group of Iraqis on the highway by some semi-trucks. It looked like a mob from the distance. As we approached I noticed what looked like a tire out in the road. There were a couple of vehicles in the area that were not moving as well. I began to think that either the truck broke down or there was an accident.

Well, I’m not really sure what happened but we sent two of our Humvees to check it out. As soon as we started to approach the crowd started dispersing. Most of the Iraqis were running off into the nearby fields. Once they started running my interests started going up. Something suspicious was going on. Our first Humvee on the scene reported on the radio that they were being looted. I knew it. It doesn’t surprise me at all. Most of these people don’t care or have any respect for others belongings so they’ll take whatever chance they could get to steal.

That first Humvee on the scene, Sergeant Hard Balls, also reported that there was us property on one of the trucks. There just happened to be two trucks that were disabled on the road and the drivers didn’t appear to be anywhere. Strange stuff like this happens all the time over here. Once Sergeant Hard Balls mentioned there was US property on one of the trucks we gained renewed interest. That was until we found out that it was just food and water and also, the trucks were not ours. Command just decided to let it go. That was fine by me. I didn’t want a riot to start over food and water. They could fight for that.

This afternoon I was reading a book while we were waiting to leave at a FOB. That’s when the Colonel says, “You can’t read in the truck.” What? I thought. What’s he talking about. “Why can’t we read in the truck,” I asked. “Because the 1st Sergeant said so. Since Doc Ock got into trouble for speeding gunners aren’t allowed to read in the truck so that they stay alert to what’s going on.” What’s he talking about??? We’re just sitting here in the Humvee, waiting for a half hour before we leave. And we’re not doing anything. It’s the little shit like this that piss me off. It’s just another way to lower troop morale.

You have to be kidding me! I can’t believe that our leadership is worried about us reading a book, or maybe listing to our MP3 players, or playing pocket video games. What ever happened to METT-TC? It’s about the situation permitting and the situation doesn’t permit me from not reading. I could understand it if we were outside of the wire on patrol maybe or in a convoy but not when we’re hanging around the FOB. I could understand if it affected the mission. In no way did it interfere with the mission at all. Most of us are adults here. I wish they would treat us that way. And they want us to be professional. They need to start looking in the mirror I say.

It made me realize one thing for sure. The regular Army guys have to go through on a day to day basis and there’s no end in sight when they go home. Thank GOD I’m in the National Guard. As soon as I’m done with this, I’m outta here!

It’s no wonder why the guys in the unit are anxious to go home. I’d just wish they’d focus on the mission and our safety and not reading when we’re sitting around, doing nothing. Help! My morale is going downhill quick! Way to lower soldier’s morale! I’ll be ready to go home!

Change of Mission

2006-07-30T09:59:00.000-07:00

Supposedly one of our missions is supposed to be ending soon. I can’t mention when and I have my doubts if it’ll truly be ending. It’s mainly because of an event that’s taking place. I can’t mention that either, until it’s over, which is pretty soon. Needless to say, we’ll be out of a mission pretty soon. That means that we’ll be doing something else very shortly.

I’d like to go to Ramadi myself if I had the choice. I don’t know if it’s just me but it’s better than being a fobbit. Don’t get me wrong, fobbits are very important people and they have an important job to do. They’re the ones that secure us inside the wire to make sure we are safe. I’d rather be outside. I know the risks but they’re not really that bad. I’m not sure how bad Ramadi is because I’ve only been there once. I’m willing to take the risk. I just hate the fact of moving, if we do, for only a few more months.

Well, this morning I went out on missions, early. We came back to the came in the late morning, that’s when I got online for a little while to check my e-mail and chat with my wife. Afterwards I went to eat lunch, and then I went to the gym to workout for the rest of the afternoon. Then I got dressed, dropped of my laundry, at dinner, and went to the tailor to get my CAB patches sown on my uniforms. And here I am now, typing this post.

Community Day

2006-07-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

It was that time again, time for mandatory fun. This time the event was a scavenger hunt followed by an afternoon barbeque. I think it was too hot for any of it. As far as the scavenger hunt goes, we were given a list of items. These were items that could be found anywhere around the camp. Points were awarded for each individual item and some items were more points then others. We ended up getting items like, something made in china, a whole pecan pie, and some lake water. So, this is how we spent our morning, driving everywhere around post looking for items from the list. I’m not sure how many points we came away with.

The squad that came in first place got the chance to throw pies in the Commander’s face. The second was that they got to throw buckets of water in his face to wash him up. And there was also a prize for last place. The squad that came in last place got to pick up the mess. My squad fared right in the middle so we didn’t get to do anything at all.

Afterwards we had a Company barbeque with burgers, hot dogs, sodas, and all except the beer.

I went to get a haircut this afternoon. It only costs $3 dollars to get a haircut here. It’s a really good deal. The do some pretty good cuts and they also give a massage right afterwards. It’s really worth more than $3 but I’m not complaining. I usually give the guys a $2 tip. How high can I make the tip if it only cost $3 for the cut?

This evening I played Texas Hold’em Poker with the guys. I’ve never played Texas Hold’em before and it’s been a long time since I’ve played poker. The only poker I play is the video poker at the slot machines in Las Vegas. Anyway, it looked like I was going to lose for a little while there. My chips were slowly dwindling down. There were five of us that were playing. But all of a sudden, after the antes kept going up, I started wining. They started saying that I have played before. They said that I was just messing with them, telling them that I didn’t know how to play. I think it was because of the guys that were betting big and I was just winning those bets. I ended up winning the game. Not bad for beginners luck.

The Combat Action Badge

2006-07-28T11:19:00.000-07:00

It’s about time. I mean, the incident happened in March and here we are at the end of July. Today I got awarded the Combat Action Badge, otherwise known as the CAB. It took long enough. I was beginning to wonder if they had lost the paperwork or if I was ever going to get one. There were a few of us that got awarded CABs in the platoon. The LT was with T-Rex and me when we got hit. We’re still amazed that the IED didn’t do any damage. We were right next to the thing and when it blew up the others that were behind us thought we were gone for sure. No one was able to see us since we were in a cloud of dust and smoke. Fuzzy Dice, behind us, said that he was going to hook up his video camera before we left the wire but he never did. Oh well, that would’ve been a cool video to keep for old time sake.

Sudden Onset

2006-07-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

I got switch around with another team this morning. It happens once in a while when guys are doing other duties and with the guys that are either on leave or pass. There has to be some changes to accommodate the manifest. I happened to be going out with Chief and this new guy. Chief is pretty cool. I like him and hung out in Seattle together while we were on pass back in September of last year. The new guy is alright. He’s new so he doesn’t have much experience and its funny how he could get lost around BIAP. He doesn’t know the place like we do. I guess it’s like moving to a new city for him.

I got our intercom system hooked up last week so it’s working well, when everyone in the Humvee uses it. I love it because it gives me the ability to monitor and operate the radios. The microphone is great too because we don’t have to yell to each other to communicate. It gets frustrating yelling stuff back and forth. It’s so tiresome that I restrain myself from saying anything at all at times, and that’s not a good thing. It’s like communication stops. Well, it doesn’t have to anymore. Now I could listen to the radio again so The Colonel doesn’t have to relay everything that comes down on the radio. It also gives me the ability to monitor a different net so The Colonel doesn’t have to worry about handling radio traffic on two nets at the same time.

Well, one of the guys had a seizure this morning. I think it was sudden onset and may have been caused by some medication he was taking. I think he’s doing better now. I tried to go see him but he’s knocked out in his room, getting some rest. They air evacuated him to the CASH, Combat Area Support Hospital, to get medical treatment. When he was released we got suited up to go over there and pick him up.

The Problem With Doc Ock

2006-07-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

I don’t know what’s going on with this dude. He’s just having a bad week. He ended up losing his weapon today. Thankfully we got it back. He was really lucky. It all started this evening when we got back from mission. We had cleared our weapons at the gate and then took the 20 minute drive to get back to our pad. We were going to put our gear away and then go to the chow hall to eat dinner. Well, things didn’t go according to planned.

When we got back to the pad we started unloading our gear. I started taking the .50 cal apart when it happened. Doc Ock had the look of disbelief on his face. He was looking around in the back seat of the Humvee and I knew something was up. I had a feeling I knew what it was but I was hoping I wasn’t right. He looked upset then he called me quietly. “Sergeant Puebla, come here.” I had a feeling I knew what he was going to say. “I can’t find my weapon,” he said. “Are you serious? Did you check in the back real good? Did you freaking leave it at the clearing barrel?” I replied. “I think I did,” he responded. “Fuck! Go look for SSG C. real quick and tell him so we could go back over there.”

I was hoping that we would get lucky. I was hoping that know one picked it up and stole it. And the last thing I wanted was for it to get into the wrong hands. I didn’t want any local national to pick it up and stash it away. That’s all we need, a local or someone else running around the camp with a weapon. Ammo is very easy to find. All one has to do is go by the clearing barrels to look around for some stray rounds. I’m sure I’d be able to find enough rounds to fill a magazine myself. That was the worse case scenario. At least in another Joes hands, I know that we’d at least be safe.

So we got back into the Humvee and drove all the way back to the gate. Like I said before it was a 20 minute drive from the pad. I decided to drive since Doc had already got into trouble for speeding. I figured I’d speed over there this time and if I got pull over at least Doc wouldn’t be in trouble again.

We got to the clearing barrels and looked around. It was nowhere to be found. We didn’t have many options. Our next move was to check with the gate and hope that someone turned the weapon in to the gate guards. The Doc and I split up at that point. He went to see the guys at the gate and I went to question some guys that were sitting in their Humvee by the clearing barrels. The guys I spoke with didn’t know anything about the weapon. Even though they had been sitting at the gate for 30 minutes they were not aware of anyone finding a lost M16.

Doc just happened to get lucky. I went back to the gate to link up with Doc and there he was, talking to the guard. Luckily the guard had his M16. I guess someone had found it and left it with the guard. I told Doc he was real lucky. Well, his trouble didn’t stop there. It was reported to the Commander so we had to go see the 1st Sergeant as soon as we got back to the pad. I sensed more doom for Doc then I did for myself.

About Speeding

2006-07-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

We went into a village this morning to give away some toys and stuff. Most of it was toys. We do that once in a while. I’m sure the locals freak out when we show up because we hardly ever bother them. We like to keep to ourselves and do our routines. When we first got into the village a man appeared with his little girl. As soon as we brought the box of toys out of one of the Humvees I’m sure he knew what we were going to do. In fact, I think he called for his spouse or someone. Word of mouth spread and soon we had a small group of people there. We didn’t want to crowd to get so big that we wouldn’t be able to handle them. We also wanted to make sure that the toys got evenly dispersed so that everyone got something. These people were excited and happy. The smiles were growing on their faces. The women especially came out of their little huts, with face and all. I’m glad that we might have brought some sense of happiness to these people. Doc Ock was pretty depressed today. He is getting written counseling for his speeding incident yesterday. I think he’s pretty lucky. I think they should come down harder on speeders. I’m probably more likely to die in an auto accident than by hostel fire. My roommate, The Big Man, agrees. He says he’s told his driver, Grandpa, that he drives too fast but Grandpa doesn’t stop. The Big Man has finally gotten to the point, like me, where we’re just going to let them get caught speeding or get us into an accident. The Big Man said that he’s just going to say, “I told him.”