Those Wacky Iraqis

Hidden effects of the war

2008-10-03T18:17:00.003+03:00

I have been working with an old acquaintance in Saudi Arabia. He and I last worked together over 10 years ago in Los Angeles and while we were occasional pals we eventually lost touch with each other. I walked into our DFAC one day and there he was. That's the way this type of life is. You don't see people for years and then they just pop up.

I found out that he was in the sand box at the same time I was. When I was ducking mortars at Taji he was dodging rockets in the Green Zone. There are 4 of us (OIF Vets) assigned to this project and we really don't talk about the war to anyone else so when we shut the doors we chat.

His experience was pretty interesting also. He met a female Iraqi and married her. She is a Mechanical Engineer and is now employed by the same outfit that employs us. She is CONUS and they have a 17 month old son. On the surface it would seem like she got lucky but when you peel the onion you find that it ain't so.

Her parents were dispossessed of their home and had to flee to Syria. My bud has had to support them for over 3 years now while they are in exile. Their family has lost everything including a son who was killed in the fratricide that followed the invasion. She cannot go home as she married a Christian and would be killed on the spot in her old neighborhood for doing so. She is homesick at times and longs for the familiar to her.

Her family tells everyone she married a Lebanese and that she can't come home because the Lebanese government won't let her. So far this ruse has worked but I wonder what will happen when their son starts to wonder why he only sees one side of the family.

The other side of the family is another issue. They ask her some dumb ass questions like,"Ain't cha glad to be away from all those crazy killers?" "Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Iraq?" "When are you going to become a Baptist?" "Why are you teaching your son to speak Arabic?"

I invited them to come to my home for our overlapping R&Rs but it won't happen this time. It is Eid and they are very quietly celebrating this at their home. I hope they come at Christmas because if there is any house in Texas where an Iraqi would be welcome at Christmas, it is mine.

The Iraqi people were never the enemy. Their totalitarian government and the Islamofascists are the enemy, not the schoolteacher, the shopkeeper, the mechanic, the bricklayer. The war is almost over and we have won this round. Unless Obama unravels what has been so carefully built it is all over except mopping up and rebuilding.

Maybe one day my buddy's wife will get to tell her story. I hope so. There are so many hidden effects from this war. It definitely changed my life, it changed theirs and it changed the Bidens the McCains and the Palins.

All the candidates except Obama have a son in Iraq. I wonder what their stories will be?

9-11

2008-09-11T14:43:00.004+03:00

I wrote this in 2006 but on this day I can still think of no better way to commemorate what we went through. I want us to remember that 9-11 was about people. People died. Buildings came down but people died. Jeffrey Giordano was one of them. Do not forget. I haven't.

Jeffrey Giordano

I know that a lot of folks are expecting me to write about 9-11 and how it not only changed our nation but also how it changed the lives of myself and my family. Not this time. Instead I will concentrate on the memory of a man. He was a man much like me and the same age. I got his name from Project 2,996 which has been sponsored by DC Roe.He is Jeffrey Giordano 46, of New York, N.Y. and he died at the World Trade Center. He was a Firefighter from Ladder 3 in Manhattan and his Memorial Service was held on October 13, 2001.

As I look at his photo I wonder what he was like, what his hopes and dreams were. I look into into his eyes and I see a man who I would have liked to have known, have had a beer with, have called my friend. A man dedicated to public service, a man who understood the concepts of Duty, Honor, Country. A family man who loved his children but still selflessly rushed to the scene of the attack because it was the right thing to do. He is the same type of man as those I meet here, those who have risked all for those same three words; Duty, Honor, Country. I think that there has already been a more fitting tribute written about him than I ever could compose and I offer it here.

Athlete and devoted father lived a life that focused on helping and inspiring others

Sunday, October 07, 2001 By MIKE AZZARA ADVANCE STAFF WRITER Burlington, VT.

Three words that characterize the life of Jeffrey Giordano, 45, of Tottenville, are "compassion in action." Jeff, as he was known, was committed to excellence in everything he did. His great physical and mental strength helped make him a man with strong moral and ethical convictions. When someone would say, "That's good enough," said his wife, the former Marie Scotto, "Jeff's response would be, 'That's the problem with the world -- people think it's OK to accept less than perfect.'"

Mr. Giordano, a firefighter with Ladder Co. 3 in Lower Manhattan, has been missing since the collapse of the World Trade Center Sept. 11. That morning, he called his wife at 6:30 from the firehouse to tell her to awaken the children so they could watch him on television. "I'm going to be on TV with Larry Hoff in a fund-raising promotion benefiting the Firefighters Burn Center Foundation and the Widows and Orphans Fund," he told her. He was an officer of the foundation. "It was as if he knew it would be the last time they would see their father alive," Mrs. Giordano said. Shortly after 9 a.m., he called to say he was on his way to the World Trade Center. Mrs. Giordano said she "could feel the adrenaline flowing as he spoke."

Since Ladder Co. 3 is downtown, it was one of the first units to respond. "When the towers collapsed," Mrs. Giordano said, "I knew he was in one of them." Mr. Giordano, who joined the Fire Department in 1987, was assigned to Ladder Co. 3 from the start. His fellow firefighters became an important part of his life. "Jeff is treasured in the memory of those who knew him as a 'brother,' a fireman whose professional joy was to be among his fellow firefighters," Mrs. Giordano said. "In spite of his singular bravery, it was his habit to give the credit to others." In an interview in the spring, he told the Daily News: "We just pull them out. It's the doctors and nurses who save their lives."

Mr. Giordano was a highly decorated firefighter. Among his many honors and citations was the Albert Johnson Award for saving two people trapped in a blazing building. The Life Saving Benevolent Society honored Mr. Giordano for diving into the East River to save a drowning man. In March, he received the Hero of the Month Award given by the Daily News for saving the life of a 21-year-old woman he found unconscious in a burning apartment. He was recognized for bravery and citizenship by the Fire Department Honor Legion, the American Legion and the City Council. He wore a chest full of medals on his dress uniform.

While living in Westchester County, he was a member of the South Salem Volunteer Fire Department, where his helmet was retired last week at a memorial service. Mr. Giordano, a native of Brooklyn, moved to Staten Island four years ago. A man of powerful focus and endurance, Mr. Giordano participated in more than 15 marathons. He ran daily and logged more than 50,000 miles. Mrs. Giordano said many people, learning he was missing in the World Trade Center collapse, have contacted her with stories of how he inspired them to achieve more in their lives. He was vice president and a member of the board of the New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation. He was dedicated to raising funds for the New York Presbyterian Burn Center. Mr. Giordano was a devoted husband and father who took his children everywhere. "It was important to him that they be involved in the community," Mrs. Giordano said. He was the soccer coach for the Intrepids, the team his son, Nicholas, played on.

Mr. and Mrs. Giordano were childhood sweethearts who celebrated their 21st wedding anniversary in August. "Life is empty without him but I am thankful he has given me three beautiful children, the greatest gift in the world," Mrs. Giordano said. "I will always feel his presence for when I look at his gift, I will always see him. "Oh, how I miss him and love him." Surviving, in addition to his wife, Marie, and his son, Nicholas, are two daughters, Victoria and Alexandra; his mother, Jessie, and a sister, Debbie Caputo. His brother, Chris, died three years ago.In line with other honors from a grateful community he has had a street renamed after him. It is Jeffrey Giordano Boulevard, located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Hylan Boulevard and Page Avenue.

I see tributes that state, "Never Forget." I won't. I will always remember that day, what I was doing, how I learned about it, and how it has changed me but I still feel that I should remember Jeffery Giordano.

Tomorrow I will be on post and at the time that the first plane flew into the tower the PA will play Taps. I will stop, turn, and salute the flag. At that moment I will remember Jeffrey Giordano the way he should be remembered. You should too. Don't remember him as a victim, remember him as the man he was. I will.

Cluster Weapons

2008-09-11T14:30:00.003+03:00

I have been getting some interesting emails from a group called Survivor Corps. They are working to ban cluster munitions. I don't think they will be successful as cluster weapons are designed to kill over large areas and they are very, very good at that. They are also very good at taking out armor, aircraft on the ground and hard points. This is a lot like the land mine debate. The weapons are terrifying and for good reason. That is part of why they are effective.

The problem with both weapons systems is that they don't POP 100% of the time and can lay inert for years until some unfortunate soul who had nada to do with the prior conflict is killed or maimed by one. There are areas of the world where they litter the countryside like poppies. Afghanistan, Bosnia, Lebanon, and Myanmar are a few of them.

Even rifle rounds are not 100%. That is why any good soldier will clean and inspect every round he has in his ruck before he goes into the field. If it looks the least bit dodgy you toss it. Pilots and artillery men are usually the folks operating the delivery systems for cluster munitions and they can't inspect every bomblet as they are sealed in a canister.

Look at their site and make up your own mind. When you are up against bad guys and an A-10 Warthog comes in and drops a few hundred of these on them you love these things. It's when you have to MCAP the place later that you hate them.

The LOGCAP Diaspora

2008-09-07T07:07:00.003+03:00

More and more folks are fleeing this way of life and stresses. Until I left I did not really imagine I would be able to function again in a real world situation and in fact I have had some adjustment issues. I don't live in a Khaki world anymore. Everything is not dress right dress. People don't obey rules because rules are in place. Being around weapons and planning for war is not part of the new normalcy.

Some folks are having tough times. Many can't adjust to what amounts to chaos of life compared to the order and linear thought processes of the military. I know many who indeed think they will make oodles of money in the US just because they did so in Iraq. I'm doing very well but that is because I have a transferable skill set. This is when the skills you brought to the table or developed while in theater are usable to companies in the civilian sector.

Some of the retired military types looked down their noses at those who were in support roles like IT, HR, HSE, medical and such but those are the folks having the least amount of problems refitting to the civilian side. PKTSD while being a funny story is sadly enough based on some realities. There were many who did not save a dime and just powered through what they made.

The active duty folks have many ways to reach out and get help. The civilians don't. There are a lot of people who are a bit jealous and say that they don't deserve it as they made a lot of money. Truth is they did not make as much as a lot of people think they did. The combat truck driver made about 80K in a year. He gets a tax break and brings it all home but think about all the danger he faced to make that. When you add up the combat pay, deployment pay, and uplifts to the military this is about what an E-7 or an O-5 brings home too. Who faced the most danger, the trucker out on an MSR every two days or the O-5 who worked as a S-3 planner and hardly ever left the base? Who needs help the most?

The diaspora of the LOGCAPers continues and I keep up with a lot of them by various methods. Some have gone home and have no intention of ever going overseas again. Some have been trying to get another overseas job and some have just melted into the world.

I saw my neighbor's family destroyed by this. He fell victim to the temptations that many faced and most resisted. He made a wad of cash, planned a big vacation, found a new girlfriend and had it all going rosy. That lasted until he was terminated for trying to smuggle out a bullet. That's right, one bullet. The rules say "Don't do it!" I told him as I told everyone who deployed, "Follow the rules." He got caught and was held up in Baghdad until they could finish an investigation. He missed his oldest child's High School Graduation because of this. He came home with his head hanging down and took his family on that expensive vacation they had planned. He figured he would be able to go back with another company in less than a month so he did not worry about his money. They spent it. While on vacation his new girlfriend also came to the vacation spot although she was in a different hotel.

He made excuses and disappeared for a few hours. Everything was just ducky until after their return home. Seems he has been put on a "Do not rehire" list with us and can't get on with anyone else. Since 2006 companies are not desperate for help anymore. They won't just hire you because you are willing to come. If you can't make a single rotation you are a liability and are likely to repeat the behavior. Not only was he now not going back and had splurged all the money but his wife found photos on his digital camera of his girlfriend. Yep, he actually took pics of her at the family vacation spot.

Today he is at home struggling. He had to move out and they are getting divorced. He is working a "make ends meet" job and dreams of returning to the gravy train but knows it is not going to happen.

He is my neighbor but I don't feel sorry for him. He could have obeyed the rules but he didn't. he could have stayed faithful to his wife but he didn't. He could have been smart enough to not have evidence of his transgressions but he didn't. He looks at me and wonders why I made it for 5 years and still have a good overseas gig.

The diaspora of these people will be complete in a few years, sooner of Obama gets elected. I wonder what brainy post grad student will seize on this for a thesis or for a doctoral study in sociology. It will be interesting. The first outsourced war is going to present some very different problems once they are fully recognized by the "experts". I'm no expert and I know the diaspora is bringing new troubles. For many it will be too late before the answers are found.

Ramadan

2008-09-06T07:55:00.002+03:00

In Iraq Ramadan was not even a blip on our radar other than the fact that the bad guys seemed to want to die more frequently. They laid low all day and then got fired up after Iftar (The evening fast breaking meal) and came out thinking they were all Billy Bad Ass.

In Kuwait it was a local law and in our compound we were OK but made sure we obeyed the law outside the gates. The bases were not affected at all. We had one case where a girl walked outside the gate with a juice box and was given a 300 KD fine. That is about 1000 USD so it is a whopper. Other than all the restaurants being closed during daylight hours it was not that big an ordeal.

In Saudi Arabia it is something else altogether. Here they are dead serious about it. NOTHING is open. It is like the whole country shuts down. I tried to go to my favorite bookstore yesterday and it usually opens on Fridays at 16:00. When I got there at 16:00 it was closed and the security guard informed us that it would not open until 21:00. I am fast in slumber land by then so I gave it a miss.

We had to shut down the kitchen at work and place the coffee makers, microwaves, etc in a conference room and put signs up warning Muslims that they shall not enter. The hours of the client have been changed from 07:00-17:00 to 08:00 to 14:00 and no lunch break. They only work 6 hours and get paid for 8. Half my staff is on half days also but it is OK as ALL the Muslims leave early and that is when I start getting a lot of administrative duties out of the way.

One of our locals told me that we should all be observing the Ramadan rules but I told him I was a Methodist and we did not practice it. Religion is touchy here and you have to be very careful when discussing it. I explained Lent and how it is somewhat the same. I told him that I would practice Ramadan if we would observe Lent. It is a no go for both of us.

Oh well, only two more lunar phases until it is over and we get back to everything being back to normal....if you can call it that.

Chicagostan

2008-09-05T11:02:00.002+03:00

OMG! Thank god the junior senator from Illinois may get the power to call back all the trrops from Iraq. It really looks like he will need them in his own backyard. If this was the case in Texas or in Arizona where McCain comes from the media would be howling.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/chicago.summer.shootings.2.810166.html

Really Funny LOGCAP Story

2008-08-27T14:08:00.004+03:00

I wish I had written this but did not. I know the guy that did and while I was reading this aI just about pissed myself laughing. It is so true that it is sad. I do know folks who were in theater for years and don't have a dime and then there is my sister's boyfriend who is so tight he could rub two pennies together and make Lincoln scream.

FUTURE NEWS STORY

THE TRAGEDY OF PKSD
Date: TBD 2010

Across the United States we are seeing an unexpected result of the Iraq War play out before our eyes.

Many brave, patriotic civilians went to Iraq as part of LOGCAP (Logistics Civilian Augmentation Program), and returned to what they thought would be a normal life back here in the States. However, many of these individuals have since been diagnosed with what is now known as Post-KBR Stress Disorder, or PKSD.

These individuals became addicted to high pay for nominal work, very often in jobs they were totally unqualified to perform; and when they returned to what is known as "the real world" they were unable to adjust. Many have refused to return to whatever jobs they had prior to their tour in Iraq, having given themselves the delusion that they actually were qualified for the positions they had graciously been given while there.

A great number of them have refused to work for fair wages in America after having been spoiled on the pay they received while working (or at least, filling out a timesheet) overseas..

This has caused great stress in many families as sufferers of PKSD have refused to assimilate back into the real world.

Many, for years, only saw their families when it was R&R, fun and vacation. Now they are having to deal with the problems that go along with normal life, and they refuse to do it. Another problem is that when they were home in a vacation frame of mind they had more than enough money to spend on every whim of themselves and the family. They spent money like the cash cow would never stop giving and did not adequately plan ahead. Now that they have refused to go back to work they are frustrated that what money they had saved is now gone and they now face financial devastation. Also, since they are no longer the great financial provider that they once were, it has led to marital problems, in many cases.

For some reason that is unclear until further research can be done, everyone who ever worked in water purification and returned home has turned gay. That's right, they have all become flamers. Researchers say it may take years of study to determine why this has occurred. They have ruled out the chemicals, and now believe it may be the long hours they spent alone together in the ROWPU units.

With the war over in Iraq and things winding down in Afghanistan there is no longer a great need for highly paid, unqualified people in the LOGCAP program.

Former Operations Coordinator for KBR

Many companies that hired KBR HSE Coordinators are still trying to do what they did in Iraq are facing OSHA fines, and some, loss of contracting license

This new phenomena has overwhelmed the mental health industry. But, since these individuals no longer have jobs they no longer have health insurance (unless they are still married and the spouse provides it), so most are SOL..

Most truck drivers from Iraq refuse to go back on the road, claiming it is boring without the threat of roadside bombs and small arms fire. Many more truck drivers could not adjust to not driving in a convoy without a military escort. Almost all say they will not renew their CDL.

The Food Service Industry in the United States is enforcing a total ban on individuals who worked in KBR DFACs due to liability issues. Insurance providers will no longer provide insurance to restaurants, grocery stores or food industry suppliers who employ former KBR employees. Although it has not been confirmed, there are many rumors that some former KBR Food Service personnel are secretly being employed in restaurants that specialize in Indian Cuisine.

Almost 100% of the KBR Security Coordinators who did try to return to work are now overrunning local Wal-Marts, Krispy Creams and Waffle Houses in order to find security jobs in close relation to their experience in Iraq. Many have found these locations to be too dangerous compared to the Indians and Pakistanis they are used to being able to boss around without fear of harm or confrontation. There appear to be no jobs in the US that will allow them to follow around real law enforcement and play cop as they have with US Security Forces (real police) in Iraq. Many spend their time sitting around watching Smokey and the Bandit trying to emulate Sherriff Buford T. Justice, very sad.

Firemen… ? This reporter would not even know where to begin.

And one Home Depot store which hired a former KBR Materials Manager had to close down within 3 months of his hire because of the massive mismanagement of inventory. When asked for a comment, the Store Manager said, "I can't @#$%^&* believe how @#$%^&* incompetent this (&}%^ guy is. We {"+=&% hired him with the @#$%^&* recommendation from his *&^% former *^%$#& employer, but he surely had to be a ("+}^% when he %$#*)+ worked for them, too. He %^&$# things up at light speed. I don't see how his former @#$%^& employer kept from getting slammed by the government." He had more to say about the man's Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, etc.

Many of the former KBR employees spend long hours at the local convenience stores talking to the Indians and Pakistanis who work there, seemingly trying to re-experience their days of job and financial security. A strange twist is that they will not go to work for a fair wage, but many will readily sweep and mop floors at the local 7/11 for a six pack of beer and the privilege of being able to hang around and bore the owner with their stories of Iraq . This is ironic since in their previous job the South Asians worked as their labor.

Recently, some of these PKSD sufferers caused an international incident. They pooled what little money they had and tried to start a rebellion in Tahiti, in hopes that the United States would intervene with the military and re-expand the LOGCAP program there. However, the poor fools ran out of money drinking in the bar the first night there.

The exception to this problem seems to be individuals who worked for KBR Medical. They are able to readjust on the street as if they never left. Many were smart and knew the well would dry up so they saved money for higher degrees in the medical field and are now making more than they did with KBR (even without up-lift).

An article authored by a KBR Medical person no doubt

Apocryphal but good

2008-08-25T18:24:00.000+03:00

I was talking to the daughter of a friend of mine. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied, "I want to be President!"

Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there. So then I asked her, "If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?" She replied, "I'd give houses to all the homeless people."

"Wow - That's a worthy goal" I told her, "but you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my sidewalks, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where a homeless man panhandles every day. You can give him the $50
to use toward a new house."

She thought that over for a few seconds. While her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked, "Why doesn't the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?"

And I said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Her folks still aren't talking to me.

My Friends

2008-08-24T18:00:00.003+03:00

My friends are basically useless, unemployable, and societal pariahs but I love them all. I hope they come to Jason's wedding in Las Vegas. If you don't know about the wedding email me at my gmail address so I can fill you in on the particulars.

BTW - Jason is a liberal and is an Obamaniac. He could have been gay. He could have been a gay Obamaniac. He probably knows one or two. Anyway he is my only nephew and I love him warts and all.

A snoot full of dirt

2008-07-28T17:05:00.003+03:00

When I got up this morning I went through my middle east morning ritual of coffee, checking email, taking a crap and then showering before dressing. Even though I take a shower when I get in from all the heat, sand and sweat I still take one every morning just to wake up. I just don't feel right until I have had that shower. I even did this when we lived at the Hotel California at BIAP back in 2003. Of course that was a John Wayne shower but it was a cleansing experience none the less.

Coming outside I saw what I detest. A friggin sandstorm had snuck in overnight and was lingering in the area. This means less heat because of the diffused rays of the sun but it also means limited visibility, everything coated in it and the inevitable snootful of dirt. You can pick some world class boogers over here. I know that most people don't talk about such things but I am always amazed an the footlongs (they seem that big!) that I pull out late in the afternoon. I don't like wearing a dust mask all day and I know from training that more than 99% of the particulates are bigger than 5 microns so they don't get down into the alveoli where long term damage happens. They just coat you nostrils, inner air chambers, back of your throat and cause you to sneeze, cough and dig for gold.

This also brings back a flood of memories from Taji when we would get walls of orange sand blowing down from the North of Iraq and we would get socked in for days at a time. Taji, I think about it all the time. Sand and boogers make me think about Taji, so does Burger King and Pizza Hut.

You may wonder why they do that but it is because that was all the fast food we had for a long, long time. I actually just got sick of both of them and still don't go all that often to either. Especially after getting a nose full of dirt.

I think tonight I will shower, SKYPE Mrs. MiG and little MiG and then put tape along my windowsills. If I get a whopper (not from BK) I'll take a pic and post. Who knows, I might make the Guinness Book of World Records for biggest booger. God, my momma would be so proud.

Obama is Clueless about Iraq

2008-07-23T09:11:00.002+03:00

OK, its has been a long time since I posted here. I have been adjusting to my new life and quite honestly I have been trying to distance myself from Iraq and the war. I didn't even look up any of my war zone buddies when I was at home last. I have been changing mentally back into a totally civilian mindset but I do still read headlines about the war when I see them. Most times I shrug and just chalk up the disinformation to the liberal media. I promised before to keep politics out of this website but today I read something that just really ticked me off.

All this Obama worship by the media has made me just wish we could find another Ronald Reagan but we only have John McCain. McCain and Obama. That is the best we can do? That alone is a sad, sad commentary on our society and the ability of the media to manipulate our politics. Obama said things today about the surge that are patently untrue. I know it is untrue. I was there, he was not. For the transcript you can go to Fox at the following link:

Obama has it wrong!

Jack Lucas - A Genuine American Hero

2008-06-06T23:51:00.007+03:00

Jack Lucas died today. Funny, most of you don't know him and probably have never heard of him. I never met him but I know that he was of almost mythical status in the Marine Corps. In their eyes he was John Basilone, R. Lee Ermey, and P.X. Kelley personified. He was the Marine that John Wayne wanted to be in The Sands of Iwo Jima. He was the Marine you see in the TV commercials who is dress right dress in his Class 1 Blues with the sabre.

What made Jack Lucas special? Imagine this for a second. A 14 year old kid lies about his age to enlist in the Marines. They take him because they think he is 17 years old. When he really is 17 he gets shipped to Iraq, to Fallujah in 2005 when it was at it's worst. A grenade comes falling into a Humvee and he throws himself on it to save his buddies. It explodes and he almost dies but does not. He fights back and returns to duty. He wins the Medal of Honor. One of the very, very few who is alive to receive it.

This would not happen now but it did in WWII. Jack Lucas won his MOH at Iwo Jima. He won the hearts of all his fellow Marines in the years after because of us unwavering support for the Marine Corps and the Marines in general. He never failed to speak his mind no matter who he was talking to and is the example that should be in the dictionary when the word "Patriot" is listed.

Here is the Citation for his MOH as was read by President Harry S. Truman in October 1945.

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR to
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JACKLYN H. LUCAS UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the First Battalion, Twenty-sixth Marines, Fifth Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands 20 February 1945. While creeping through a treacherous, twisting ravine which ran in close proximity to a fluid and uncertain front line on D-plus-1 Day, Private First Class Lucas and three other men were suddenly ambushed by a hostile patrol which savagely attacked with rifle fire and grenades. Quick to act when the lives of the small group were endangered by two grenades which landed directly in front of them, Private First Class Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon one grenade and pulled the other one under him, absorbing the whole blasting force of the explosions in his own body in order to shield his companions from the concussion and murderous flying fragments. By his inspiring action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, he not only protected his comrades from certain injury or possible death, but also enabled them to rout the Japanese patrol and continue the advance. His exceptionally courageous initiative and loyalty reflect the highest credit upon Private First Class Lucas and the United States Naval Service.
/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

God loves Marines or else he would not call so many of them to come a sit beside him. This is my last, slow salute for you. Semper Fi Marine.

Two Months

2008-05-22T13:19:00.002+03:00

It has been almost two months since I wrote anything here. I have just been living in Saudi Arabia and getting by and have not really put much thought to the war the last couple of months. I am insulated from the war, news of the war and being around the military. I see the guys everyday that were up North with me but we all find that we don't talk about it much. There is a guy here who was with me in Taji for a couple of years. He and I are with different companies but we are very close to each other already. After all, no one else here has laid beside me in a an open field while rockets fell around us and Iraqis ran in circles like Turkeys cornered at a fence line.

I guess all of us know that it is still there looming across the horizon like a bad thunderstorm or even a horse mounted group of Huns, Mongols, or the like. We talk about a lot of different things, mostly what a bunch of dumb asses the locals are but we do congregate and clan up when others are around. They are my brothers.

I dream about it though. I don't have those sweat filled nightmares that some people say they do. Actually I dream about unsettled business and people I miss. I dream about walking in Baghdad with no weapons and no troops around, looking at what we erected from the outside, almost as if I had a different view I could get a different perspective.

I keep getting offers to go back. Some of the money offers are just obscene. I think about it and I think about all the close calls I had. How long does your luck run? How long do you stay bulletproof? How many mortars do they have left with my name on them?

I think about that and I also think about the fact that I am bored silly here. I make great money and work with a great group of guys but it just does not have the same reward as being there, close to the troops, part of the end game. I was there at the beginning, I won't be there at the end.

A day like any other

2008-04-09T08:21:00.005+03:00

The day started like the ones before. I got up and made some coffee. I showered, got ready, and then strolled the 50 feet from hooch to office. I walked out to the front and started talking with Big Lou and Billy. We were discussing what we would do with our 43 people that day. We had lots of work, no material, few tools, and big heap of can do spirit. While we were talking one of the ops folks came out to tell me that the head shed in Baghdad was on the horn and that they needed to talk to me.

I went in and picked up the land line handset. The XO in Baghdad was on the line. He was a no nonsense ring knocker from West Point who also had a MBA from the Wharton School of Business. What he told me chilled my blood. "MiG, you have three shot up convoys heading your way. We have been taking fire all over the country on the MSRs since the early hours of the morning. We don't know how many casualties there are or the condition of the rolling stock. Find these men and give them shelter. We have put out a call for Safe Harbor all over the country. Send an immediate SitRep for each convoy through our COSCOM LNO in Balad. Git r Dun." Holy shit, this is a real war. I took a few deep breaths and went out to find my rocks. Where the fuck was Big Lou? What about Bob? Fritz? Billy?

Finding the first convoy was easy enough. They contacted us. They were on the runway at the CSC and were an Army/Civilian mixed unit if HETs (Heavy Equipment Transports). Bob and I drove over and got the head count. Good, all present and accounted for. They were angry and surly and wanted to take it all out on me but I stood my ground. I told them that not only was there a stop move order but that safe harbor means full battle rattle for everyone. They were not wearing their vests or helmets. While I stood there arguing with them 6 mortar rounds walked right across the runway about 200 yards from us. We could clearly see the impact and debris cloud from each round. These rounds were tightly grouped and the blast pattern was round, not concentric. This meant they were impacting almost straight down and were being fired from nearby. The Cav did not have all their aviation assets in yet so we did not have the 24 hour per day Kiowa CAP we had later. Once the last round impacted I turned to the guys who had been arguing with me and I said,"Any more questions Gentlemen?" They all just trudged off and put on their gear. Grumbling was heard but I didn't pay attention to it. Bob and I laughed about this as we drove off but it was that macho fake laughter. The mortar rounds scared us too.

Now to find the others. the second convoy was easy too. They came barrelling in and came straight to our man camp. I had them laager their vehicles in the future CHU locations and come inside our fence. Finding the third convoy was a bitch. Try as we could they just were not to be found on the 27 square miles of real estate at Taji. We kept getting calls that they were on post but we could not find them. We searched frantically. Some how this convoy had been split in two and the head count was messed up. Full accountability of personnel is crucial in times like this. We knew we had dead and missing personnel but we just did not know who yet. We kept being told that there was a missing guy named Joe Markup (name changed). They said his truck was found burned up with a body in it and that they think he is dead. They also told us that Al Jazeera was spreading his name out as the had found some of his effects.

Right about this time we started getting some of the news feeds and I was called to the DISCOM HQ for a briefing. When I got there they told us the plain facts. It was absolute fucking chaos out on the roads. The Shiites who had been very quiet so far had risen up to have a "Tet Offensive" aimed at inflicting enough casualties that they would force us out. Little did they know that this was not the same Army that was in Tet. We were told that we may get no convoys for days so we needed to plan the LSIP.

I went back and sat with my staff. We had to know how long we could hold out with water, food, and other consumables. We figured that we had FFV (Fresh Fruits and Vegetables) for 5 days and enough frozen stuff for two weeks. We also had enough MREs to last us a month. We were good. the ROWPUs were not up yet and we still relied on an NG unit to make all the water. We had warehouse full of bottled water and enough fuel for weeks too. We were GTG.

I reported this back. Most other camps were not so fortunate as us but I still did not have any lumber, wiring, nails, etc even though it had been on order for months. Purchasing was killing us by starving us of supplies. Anytime construction supplies showed (What was not looted in Baghdad by our own people) was sucked up in priority 1 projects. Usually something important like a stadium seating arrangement for the aviation unit or a stage for a USO show that never showed up.

Anyways it was madness, sheer madness. Everyone who acted like they knew what to do was winging it. There was no class at the War College that teaches this. There is no class at business school to tell you what to do with 25% manpower, no supplies, and an angry mob who just want to kill bad guys who, by the way, have all the Goddamn momentum and intel right now. Lot's of fun this. I winged it as well as anyone else I guess.

We found clothes for thew guys, made space for them to sleep, found an old Bedouin tent and had a tent raising party to boot. I turned a blind eye to any booze or other recreation. I was not about to tell these men that some namby pamby back in Washington said they can't have a drink after nearly being killed in one of the biggest Intel fuck ups since WMDs.

We took these guys and put them to work. The mayor called me and told me that the New Iraqi Army wanted their side of the base back and that a 2 story building on the East side of the flight line was to be vacated within 72 hours. His men would leave within 24 but the NIA did not get it for 72. I gathered up the troops and told them what was up. I shut down just about everything except fuel and DFACs and had a group meeting.

"Men, we have nothing and get more of it every day. We have an opportunity to gather up a big batch of material and equipment that may last us a while until we get something. The beauty of this op is that we are going to take back what we never intended to give to the Iraqis. Gentlemen, we have a license to steal and 48 hours to do it in."

These road warriors were hungering for an opportunity to sock an Iraqi in the mouth and this would do for now. It didn't matter that these were our "Allies". They were bigger thieves than the Leesville Mafia in Baghdad. We waited until nightfall and launched "Operation Locust".

They were locusts. They took the ceiling fans, generators, light fixtures, conduit, wiring, light switches, toilets, sinks, faucets, furniture, panelling, and carpets. The only thing they did not take was the paint on the walls. I was so proud. So was Lou and the Mayor. In fact when the Iraqis came bitching and told him how thorough we were he was just tickled shit less. he hated them almost as much as the Mahdi Militia because they were so demanding and did nothing outside the wire. They were nothing but parade ground soldiers and not even good ones at that.

We had forgotten about our missing man and one day we were walking to the DFAC and saw what appeared to be convoy drivers. We hailed them and low and behold, here was our missing group. Not only that but dead man Joe Markup was among them. He did not know he was dead. I hustled him back to the offices and had him call his wife while I called Baghdad ops. This was the best thing that had come out of this mess.

The drivers pitched in elsewhere too. They picked up trash bags, folded clothes at the laundry, made chow mermite runs, worked MWR, they just did anything we asked but they were all itching to get back out there. The call finally came when they were told "go".

Bob and I went to the convoy brief and BUB. The escorts were commanded by a nervous Captain but it was really run by a slow talking Southerner who drawled his way through it. After the captain spoke the E7 said,"Men it's hot out there. The rules are changed. If you see anyone with a long rifle they are a shooter and you drop them without warning shots. If you see anyone with a handgun, or anything that resembles an handgun or a long rifle they are to be considered a shooter and you drop them. If they are within 50 feet of a shooter and appear to be friendly to the shooter then they are an assistant shooter and you drop them too. Any questions?" This was peppered by two of the escorts ending the brief by saying, "Let's go hunting" and giving each other knuckles. I knew they would be OK. This was a different Army than it was three days earlier. this time they would be aggressive and not take any chances. Fuck their hearts and minds. Kill'em all.

The convoy made it safe and the convoy commander called to tell us so. I felt relief. I also knew I would miss those guys. Joe Markups wife made him promise to come home immediately. I promised him that if he hung out 30 days I would rehire him and that he would never have to go outside the wire again. He did and I did. I am gone but Joe is still there. He is an S-3 now and I am damn proud of how he got his start. Those days were bad, bad, bad. I didn't go over the dead. I didn't write about the scared folks and the ones who quit. I don't want to anymore. I want to think about the good ones and the good things that came out of that.

Here is what I learned.

1. You can't look at anyone and tell if they are tough inside.

2. Soldiers are people first and killers second.

3. No matter what is going on people still eat and shit.

4. The best asset in a fight is a strong person on your 6 (Big Lou)

5. Keep them busy and they don't think about the crap going on.

6. You can laugh in the darkest hours.

7. Never cry in front of your men.

8. Lead by example, deeds not words.

9. Nothing feels better than pulling the tail of a 155mm outgoing round.

10. I am a leader.

Waking Up in a Hurry

2008-03-20T15:59:00.003+03:00

In 2004 I ordered some brand new CHUs (Containerized Housing Units) for Camp Taji. I had been told that the Division HQ was going to move from Camp Liberty to Taji and to get ready for VIP housing. We spared no expense and dolled up some hard structure 2 story buildings for the Generals and ordered one man, wet CHUs (wet means it has its own toilet and shower) for the other VIPs. Keep in mind that most personnel on post lived 2 -4 to a room. These were full 12x40 trailer houses that would have made Brittany Spears homesick for rural Louisiana.

Well........the Division never moved. They stayed in Baghdad. Their loss, our gain. I moved my staff into the 1 man wets. I had my own living room, bedroom, shower, toilet, and TV. I was in hog heaven after living in GP Medium tents, the Hotel California, and sleeping in an Excursion. This was heaven and I wound up living in that CHU for a year and a half.

My first night in I tucked myself into that brand new full sized bed and went off to sandman land. You know how it is the first night anywhere. You don't really get a good sleep because it is a strange place. You don't know where anything is and just don't feel fully comfortable. I finally dozed off and went nappy.

WHOOM! I was tossed out of bed amidst a crash of thunder. I knew that we were taking incoming and I jumped up out of my destroyed bed to run to the bunker. Keep in mind. I'm in a new place. I did not run to the door. I ran into the door. I hit it so hard I knocked myself backwards and into the destroyed bed again. I then just went to the floor and waited for the next round. I knew that if one had hit this close it was most likely that the next one would land farther away. I waited. I waited some more. I then started to get puzzled.

There was no second round. There was no alarm. I got up and made a crab walk to the door and opened it. Nothing stirred, all was well. I stood up and found the light switch and flipped it up. The room instantly was ablazon with light and I noticed that the bed was all askew but everything else was fine except my nose which felt like it was broken.

I lifted the covers and pulled up the mattress and found out what happened. My big ass moved around during the night and caused the slats to shift which dumped the box springs, mattress and me into the floor. That was the crash and bang I heard. Not incoming, just me and the bed hitting the floor. I drug the mattress into the corner and made a pallet on it. Needless to say I did not sleep well the rest of the night.

Big Lou and Bob thought it was pretty damn funny too. I took a a lot of heat for that until Big Lou had the same thing happen to him. Funny how he reacted to that and got the carpenters to make new slats post haste.

My Saudi Arabian Adventure Blog

2008-03-19T16:32:00.002+03:00

OK, I started two new blogs. One is called 'The Magic Kingdom' and it is all about my time in Saudi Arabia. You can find it at:

http://themagickingdomflythemig29.blogspot.com/

The other one is called simply "42", I will use this one for personal ramblings and observations plus my past travels like my 2001 trip to Russia. It is located at:

http://wtf42.blogspot.com/

Happy reading! I just hope I can write enough to keep it all interesting.

Winning the fight, one doll at a time

2008-03-18T06:56:00.001+03:00

Here is another Good News Story just completely ignored by the MSM. This is how we win. We show compassion, honesty and our human side to the children. The adults may revile us but the kids won't, especially these kids. For the story go to

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080317/GPG0101/803170556/1207/GPGnews

I seen that train a rollin.....

2008-03-16T08:50:00.003+03:00

I got an email this morning stating that Camp Taji had a train come in. This is the first train to come in the gates since 2003. I remember the last one. It was a Turkish built model and they were going to use it to haul a flatbed car with a couple of T-55s for war trophies for some National Guard units. The locomotive went south to Baghdad for something and the bad guys promptly blew up the tracks. We never saw the locomotive again.

Well, I saw it this morning. It appears to be the very same locomotive that was there in 2003.

This is another sign that things are getting better but did you hear about this in the MSM? Of course not. No one died, no political candidate could use this as fodder for the gristmill. It is non news except to those of us who have been there. This is the kind of news I like hearing.

For a link to the website with photos try: http://mksviews.wordpress.com/2008/03/15/the-thunder-rolls/

WebCamming

2008-03-11T08:36:00.002+03:00

Before I left I bought those fancy, shmansy laptops at CompUSA. The Mrs. and I finally figured out how to link up via Skype and we have been happily webcamming away at night. T-Man thinks it is way cool and he and I conduct our Jedi Light Saber combat via the WWW. he and I back up a few feet and twirl around making "whoosh" sounds while we swing our "Air Sabers". The dogs hear me talking and head for the door thinking that I am at the door to take them for a walk.

I always wanted to do that in Iraq but the insidious firewall there prevented me from being able to do so. I still can't do it from work but since I have Saudi Internet in my room it has none of that protection and I can stream video away. Of course my Norton has stopped two Trojan Horse viruses also that the insidious firewall in Iraq would have blocked. I guess you have to understand security to understand why they do it that way. To have real security you give up some liberties and freedoms. I can deal with that on a temporary basis but not permanently.

I'm at a point right now where I already have to make some decisions. Since this gig is TDY I have to decide what my future course of employment will be. I have several offers on the table. I do NOT want to go back to Iraq and will use that as a last resort unless they pay me scads of money. I do not want to be in any dry country unless it is a set up like here where I can get a beer at least once a week. I'm also really sick and tired of being in hot places all the time. I really desire some seasonal changes other than "Summer" and "Hell". Of course there are working hours too. I don't want anymore 7 days a week, 12 hours a day gigs.

I guess what I really need is for a short war to break out in Poland or Norway. It will then be a Peacekeeping mission with a NATO base so we can have open canteens like Sarajevo had. That or would some one please look for oil in the Bahamas or New Zealand?

I'm here, where's the beer?

2008-03-08T16:22:00.002+03:00

OK. It's kind of weird now. No base. No uniforms. No weapons everywhere. No convoys. No PX. No DFACs. No women. Lots of sand and dirt. I knew it would be different but in a weird way I miss the action zone already.

It's OK though. I actually got a day off the day after I arrived. Seems the Saudis have an inviolable law which states that no one works on Friday. This means that the country basically shuts down on Friday. A bunch of the other guys took off for Bahrain for libations but I stayed and slept.

Anyway, I live on a compound that reminds me of a dingy Motel 6 but it's groovy to me. My own room, my own shower, a fridge and TV. Sort of cool but no AFN, just Saudi satellite TV. The Internet in the compound is controlled by them also. I couldn't even get onto Fox Sports because they list it is "Pornography". Seems they take offense to the fact that there are pictures of cheerleaders. I guess that means we won't get any USO shows from the Redskins cheerleaders either.

Oh well, more to come.

Wireless Blogging

2008-03-05T01:40:00.002+03:00

I am sitting in the Admiral's Club in Austin, Texas writing this. My flight is delayed so I sit here, linked up and with a cold Shiner Bock beer at my side. I won't get much beer for the next 90 days and maybe none so I am taking advantage of it.

I remember a couple of years ago sitting in the British Airways club in Dubai with Dave from daves-not-here. He pulled out a monster laptop, went online and started a blog feed. I told him that he was such a geek that I needed to go sit somewhere else. Well here I am 2 years later being a geek. I do also remember that Dave moaned about his monster laptop as it was so big to haul around. That does not really bother me as I need all the help I can get reading. Besides, i bought this one more for entertainment than anything else so i don't mind....yet.

My wife, son, and father in law took me to the airport. This trip is a little weird. I am going to a place I have not been to for over 20 years, to an unknown situation, to work with people I don't know. I also found out late that there are very few Americans involved in this operation and that I will be one of a fistfull of Yanks in British controlled operation. I'll be OK. I actually like English Football so I can talk sports with them.

Chat later when I get where I am going.

Bad for CompUSA, Good for me

2008-03-03T16:55:00.002+03:00

I was driving down highway 183 in North Austin on Wednesday on my way to the deli and saw a signboard dude with a sign stating that Comp USA was going out of business and had everything 50% off. I went in and they had everything 50% off except laptops and CPUs which were at varying percentages off.

I have been wanting a new laptop to take with me to Saudi Arabia as the company firewall does not allow streaming video so no webcam action will work. I had been hesitating because I am kind of tight with my money right now but I found an HP Pavilion dv9620 for $739.00 This was marked down from $1200.00. I bought it, a wireless router ( Since it is a wireless laptop that makes sense, right?) and a docking station. I came home fearful that Mrs. MiG was going to be all twisted up. Nope, she wanted one too. Since the store was being mobbed by techies from the Central Texas area I hustled in and found one more identical model new in the box. I bought it too. Now we are both armed with wireless, webcam, 17 inch screen laptops with a remote control for the DVD player.

My sister came over and we showed them to her. Her boyfriend is still in Iraq but he calls her every night. She told him what I had bought and he wanted one too. I warned my sister not to be disappointed as stock was running low but we went and were there Saturday morning at 10:00 when the doors opened. Seems they had a little surprise for everyone. They had brought in laptops from all the other stores that closed and they were 50% off. She wound up buying two of the same computers I had bought for her boyfriend. He will leave one in Iraq and one here in Texas and just carry a hard drive with him. This means that we bought 4 of these identical laptops for our family. I didn't seem weird though as I saw one guy who had 6 laptops he was buying for family.

I found two of those big planter speakers for outdoor use sitting in an aisle. They are the type that have a big speaker in the bottom and you actually place a plant in it. Two of these would be perfect for the deck we are going to build. They were marked $379.00 each and I got them for 80% off.

All in all I bought 2 computers, 2 speakers, two logitech wireless keyboard mouse systems, two laptop stands, two laptop coolers, a photo printer, a business card reader, power supply, surge protector, two cases, docking station, 3 digital picture frames, 4 video cameras, wireless router, two PC wireless PCI adapters, a wireless adapter for our printer, and several different software packages plus three video games. All in all I spent about 40% of retail for all of this. I am a happy camper.

My credit card has not seen this much action in a long time so it means that tomorrows flight to Saudi Arabia now has a bigger purpose. I gotta pay for all of this!

I listen

2008-02-24T18:46:00.002+03:00

OK,

Heard you all loud and clear and family was verbal about it. Change the title, keep blogging, stay away from politics, talk about re-adjusting to being a regular guy again and definitely write about Saudi Arabia once I get there.

I need a catch all title like Dave has so once I get over the hangover I have I will try and think one up.

One of our best friends came into town for the weekend as he is taking his annual Real Estate CEU class. We have know Todd since my sister and I were starving students at Southwest Texas State University (Now Texas State) in the early and mid 80s. Todd is one of life's challenges and we have stuck by him all these years. It was great to see him as I had not seen him since he came to my house in California about 6 years ago.

The bad part is that the Estancia wine flowed, the Sherry Cask CC flowed, the last of my Cuban cigar stash was smoked and we ate a light dinner. My wife passed out, Todd passed out, T-Man (A non drinker BTW, he's only 6!) passed out and the dogs passed out. My sister and I sat outside in the beautiful evening and just talked until almost midnight which is also when the whisky ran dry.

Thank God that we live in the same subdivision so I didn't get a DUI. There is a benefit to being 4 blocks from my sister! Now I have a headache and have to go outside and play on the new trampoline with T-Man.

What to do?

2008-02-23T05:44:00.002+03:00

I had the pleasure of entertaining Dave from daves-not-here at my home last week. He was in town with his galpal and they called me out of the blue. We had them over for dinner and had a great time. I had never met her but had a drunken cell phone converstaion with her once when Dave and I were in Dubai for R&R.

One of the topics of discussion is just what do he and I do now since we are out of the war zone? We both started blogging as a way to share our experiences with everyone about what it is like to live, work, and survive in a modern danger zone. We both have left and hopefully neither of us will have to go back to that God-Awful place.

I am going to Saudi Arabia but that is not a red zone at this time. I want no more of Iraq. I was there for 4 long years and have to wonder if I did not push my luck on that. Those rockets that blasted BIAP last week hit a compound I lived in last year.

Dave and I both agree that we need to change the titles, change the content, or just close these blogs and start new ones. What do you think?

Bar Stool Economics

2008-02-21T17:47:00.002+03:00

This is the best explanation I have ever read regards our tax system. I am one of the top 10% even though I am far from wealthy and if I did not spend so much time overseas to get my tax breaks I would be destitue!

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1.The sixth would pay $3.The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12.The ninth would pay $18.The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected.

They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men, the paying customers?

How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. I only got a dollar out of the $20, "declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up. The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, ladies and gentlemen, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.

Professor of Economics

University of Georgia

For those who understand, no explanation is needed. & For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

I wish these were true

2008-02-20T18:51:00.004+03:00

I'm sure these are fantasy especially since the French (See: Cheese eating surrender monkeys) are involved but they are too good to not pass along.

When in England at a large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building' by George Bush. He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return." It became very quiet in the room.

Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French engineers came back into the room saying "Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?" A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day each, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships; how many does France have?" Once again, dead silence.

A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., England, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of Officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?' Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.' You could have heard a pin drop!

The Super Bowl was actually...Super

2008-02-05T17:11:00.000+03:00

Wow. The first SB I have seen in over 5 years that I didn't get up in the middle of the night to watch. No 03:00 alarm clock. No gallons of coffee. Plenty of beer, food, and family to watch the game with.

I have installed a 42" Panasonic flat screen plasma HD TV. The T-Man calls it a "Flatsma". I installed a Samsung surround sound system and hid all the wiring by going wireless to the back channels and then using raceway to hide the rest of the wiring. It's a lot easier than going through your attic to drop wiring and then fish through the wall for it.

Needless to say we had awesome seats and I revisited one of our old California customs by cooking fajitas to serve at halftime. Of course we had too much food and too much beer but hell, it's the Super Bowl which is really the last bit of the holiday season and the last big winter party.

Lot's of other folks have commented on the "Catch", Manning, 18-1 and so on so I won't pontificate except to say that every person in our house jumped up with joy and high fived when the Giants scored that last TD.

You have to pick a reason to root for or against a team one way or another. When the Rams played the Titans I was really torn. As a kid and young adult I was a die hard Oilers fan and then as an adult I became a Rams fan. Both those teams fled their long suffering and loyal fans for money, money, money and then built up great teams. I wanted them both to lose. I searched and searched for a reason to like or dislike one more than the other. I then looked at the rosters and found that the Titans had 6 players from USC and the their coach, Jeff Fisher, was a former USC defensive back. Done. I rooted for the Titans even though they lost.

For this game it was easier. I'm not a Patriots hater like some others are. I actually like the Giants even though they are not my first choice team. I have seen them play in LA against the Rams and Raiders and once in 1993 I saw them in a playoff game at the Meadowlands. Really, I did!

They were a wild card against the Vikings and I was living in Philadelphia. My roommate and I took a chance and drove up the 90 miles to try and score a ticket. It was about 15 degrees and blowing like mad. We agreed we would spend up to $200.00 each for any kind of ticket just to say we went.

We found a miserably cold guy who had two tickets and was willing to give them to us for face value. We could not believe our luck. We had planned to tail gate whether we got in or not as our fallback plan was to find a Giants friendly sports bar to watch the game. No problem finding one in New Jersey for sure.

We parked next to a family of Ginats fans who are season ticket holders. Grandpa, dad, and son, along with a cousin. We hung out with them and shared our food and beer as did they. They were great folks and true blue Giants fans. Grandpa had season tickets as far back as the polo ground days. They informed us that Giants fans and Jets fans are from entirely different worlds just like the Rams and Raiders had such different fan bases.

When they looked at out tickets they were surprised we got them so cheap and said that while they looked real they did not recognize the seat locatijon. That caused us some trepidation as we now wondered if we had not been hornswoggled.

Game time came and we went to the turnstiles. Yep, the tickets were real and now we just had to find our seats. The usher looked at out tickets and took us to an elevator. We went up and were let out on the club level. Hey! Not so bad! Club level, seat beverage service, covered and no wind. We then found another usher who looked at our tickets, whistled and said ,"Follow me." He led us to the holy land of Gianst Stadium. Yep, we had scored tickets to a luxury box.

We went in and milled around for a few minutes and it was not long before a guy came up and asked us who we were. We were so out of place. We were bundled up for the Iditarod dog races and these folks all had on businesss suits and the girls were dressed to the 9s. We explained how we got the tickets and one of the guys was incensed. He wanted to know the name of who sold then to us. I told him we did not know but that we bought them fair and square and that it entitled us to a seat. He wanted us to leave and we stood our ground and said we just wanted a seat. We did not mean to crash their party but we need a place to watch from. He went to get an usher. While this guy was gone we chatted with some of the other folks who were really friendly. They apologized for the rude guy but said it was his suite and they were some kind of brokers or traders or something. They told us that wew were welcome as it was apparent that we were not the average type fan who buys scalped tickets.

In came a guy in a suit who worked for the Giants. He was super aplogetic to us and showed lots of deference to the suite holders as it was apparent that this suite was ultra expensive. He asked us to wait a minute and we just hung out in the corner while the national anthem was being played. He showed up a few minutes later with two new tickets and siad these were VIP tickets that were not picked up at Will Call. He asked if we would take these instead.

They were 5 rows from the field on the 45 yard line. Oh yeah! We took them. He also escorted us down there, grabbed the usher for that aisle and told him to have some one check on us every quarter to see if we needed anything. Also the suite owner realized that we were just a couple of lucky stiffs who scored tickets and not party crashers so they loaded up our back packs (pre 9-11 days) with beer and sandwiches in wrappers before we left.

Needless to say. Great game, the Giants won. We partied in the parking lot afterward and then drove back to Philly. No one beliveved us when we told them what happened but Mark and I know it really did. I still have the ticket stubs for both seats.

That was my reason for rooting for the Giants on Sunday. The team I wanted to win did. I was surrounded by family. I had legal beer and watched at home on my dream entertainment system. It was all great except for one thing. In the back of my mind during the entire game I thought about my friends in Iraq. I knew they were all bleary eyed, tired and hoarse from yelling at TVs on the other side of the world. I had a beer and when I was outside at the BBQ working the fajitas I had one silent tear come down my cheek. It was easy to hide it as it was smoky and that gave me a plausable excuse for having a weak moment.

Here is to you my brothers and sisters. May you come home soon and have a Super Sunday like I did.

Saudi Arabia

2008-02-02T17:56:00.000+03:00

Lots of folks have commented that they think I am bored or just can't stand not being part of the big grind and that this is why I am going to Saudi Arabia. Not true. I am thoroughly enjoying being off for the first time in years and really have no desire to go anywhere right now.

If I go for 60-90 days I can make enough money to put a really bitchin deck in the back yard with a built in kitchen and teak cover over it. I was also told that I will be helping out two other guys who have not been able to get their R&Rs because the rotation schedules have not been kind.

I don't know what I will do afterward. The siren song of Iraq keeps calling me but I have cotton stuffed in my ears instead of being lashed to the mast like Ulysses.

Final 4

2008-01-31T16:52:00.000+03:00

So we are down to this. McCain vs Romney and Hillary vs Obama for the right to pummel all of us about the whole enchilada. This really reminds me of 1996 when it was Clinton-Dole. I'm just not excited about any of these candidates. None of them really represent me or get me excited about any issues. They are not even covering real issues, they are sniping at each other and that is too divisive for me.

I sideline root for Huckabee simply because he is the one who signed my Arkansas Traveler certificate which was awarded to me by the 39th Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas NG. He is really a bit too religious for my tastes.

Hillary is a proven liar but at least we know that going in instead of being body slammed by it as we discovered with W. Obama is way too liberal for me and he will get the entire minority vote simply because of skin tone and the Kennedy connection.

McCain seems to be nasty and spiteful and I think he is a closet Democrat. Romney is a Mormon. That alone disqualifies him for me. I worked for a Mormon owned company and listened to their prostelytizing. It is a kooky religion and I'm sorry but I just can't follow a leader who really thinks that Jesus Christ cames to the Indians of upper state NY after he was crucified in Roman Palestine. Oh yeah, there is that whole golden tablet thing which is a big pill to swallow also.

OK. We have to choose. Most of us will simply follow party lines and either vote Republican or Democrat as always. I don't. Even though I am a foreign policy and fiscal policy conservative I am moderate when it comes to individual rights and law. I am liberal when it comes to women's rights and freedom of the press. At the same time I am fierce about my rights to own a weapon even though I have no problems with registration. How weird is all that?

Can't I just vote all four of them in on a power sharing ballot like they do in the UK?

The Worst Nightmare Ever

2008-01-30T04:25:00.000+03:00

The Worst Nightmare Ever

In the nightmare I found myself nude in bed, and I was looking at a mirror on the ceiling, and I discovered that I am a Negro,and I'm circumcised! Quickly I sat up, found my pants and looked in the pockets to find my driver's license photo and it was that same color. Black.

I felt myself being very depressed, downcast, sitting in a chair. But it's a wheelchair!! That means, of course, besides being black and Jewish, I'm also disabled!!! I said to myself, aloud 'This is impossible. It's impossible that I should be black and Jewish and disabled.

''It's the pure and holy truth', whispers someone from behind me. I turn around, and it's my boyfriend. Just what I needed!!! I am a homosexual, and on top of that with a Mexican boyfriend. Oh, my God.....black, Jewish, disabled, gay, with a Mexican boyfriend, drug addict, and HIV-positive!!!

Desperate, I begin to shout, cry, pull my hair, and Oh, noooooo...I'm bald!!! The telephone rings. It's my brother. He is saying, 'Since mom and dad died the only thing you do is hang out, take drugs, and laze around all day doing nothing. Get a job you worthless piece of crap... Any job.

Mom?... Dad?... Nooooooooo... Now I'm also an unemployed orphan! I try to explain to my brother how hard it is to find a job when you are black, Jewish, disabled, gay, with a Mexican boyfriend, are a drug addict, HIV positive, bald, and an orphan. But he doesn't get it.

Frustrated, I hang up. It's then I realize I only have one hand!!! With tears in my eyes I go to the window to look out. I see I live in a shanty-town full of cardboard and tin houses! There is trash everywhere.

Suddenly I feel a sharp pain near my pacemaker.... Pacemaker? Besides being black, Jewish, disabled, a fairy with a Mexican boyfriend, a drug addict, HIV positive, bald, orphaned, unemployed, an invalid with one hand, and having a bad heart, I live in a crappy neighborhood.

At that very moment my boyfriend approaches and says to me, 'Sweetie pie, my love, my little black heart throb, have you decided who are you going to vote for in the Primary? Hillary or Obama??? Say it isn't so!!! I can handle being a black, disabled, one armed, drug addicted, Jewish queer on a pacemaker who is HIV positive, bald, orphaned, unemployed, lives in a slum, and has a Mexican boyfriend, but please, oh dear God, please don't tell me I'm a Democrat too....

Thanks to Mighty Fine Dodge for this heartwarming reminder of how good we all really have it. Other than the circumcised part I am none of the above. If this offends anyone I'm sorry. It is just a funny story and we all have to get over being too PC.

Just two weeks ago my sister took me to see the stage production of Tuna Christmas. This is a series of stage plays about a fictitious town in Texas named Tuna and they hold nothing back. Why this time they even made fun of Methodists! That I am!

Back to the Middle East

2008-01-25T03:19:00.000+03:00

I just accepted an offer to go TDY to Saudi Arabia for 60-90 days. I will leave in two weeks or so. Crap, just when I was getting the hang of being a regular Joe again. Oh well, I have to make a living. Our income stream fell to zero but our burn rate was still high. New car, new house, new furniture, lots of new projects. It eats at you fast. Gotta recoup the ducats!

Coincidence?

2008-01-21T00:02:00.000+03:00

Subject: Roswell New Mexico

July 8, 1947

Many of you will recall that on July 8, 1947, almost 61 Years ago, witnesses claim that an unidentified flying object (UFO) with five aliens aboard crashed onto a sheep and cattle ranch just outside Roswell, New Mexico. This is a well-known incident that many say has long been covered up by the U.S. Air Force and other federal Agencies and organizations. However, what you may NOT know is that in the month of March 1948, nine months after that historic day, the following people were born:

Albert A. Gore, Jr.
Hillary Rodham
John F. Kerry
William J. Clinton
Howard Dean
Nancy Pelosi
Dianne Feinstein
Charles E. Schumer
Barbara Boxer

Shit happens when aliens breed with sheep....

An Army Wedding

2008-01-20T23:54:00.000+03:00

We have been invited to a wedding between two officers I know from Iraq. Hell, I didn't even know they were friendly let alone bumping uglies together! The wedding will be in San Antonio and this will be the first time my wife has met many of these folks. She loved the invitation too. It was a Scrabble box with the invitation spelled out with Scrabble pieces. The paper invitation says"Mess Dress with Stetsons and spurs". You gotta love the Cav. They run that western heritage to the hilt and since they are based at Ft. Hood it is almost like they are the Texas Army.

I'm excited. I have not seen a lot of these folks for about two years so I am anxious to finally have a drink with them and celebrate something positive in their lives.

Georgia Frontiere is Dead

2008-01-20T01:32:00.000+03:00

I'm not sad about this. I'm not happy either as I am sure that there are many people who are grieving today and her having died of breast cancer makes it even more tragic for them. I though am part of that minority of people who absolutely reviled her. See, I am or was, a Rams fan. Not the St. Louis Rams. The Los Angeles Rams.

I had season tickets, I was an officer of the booster club, I worked charity events, I traveled to away games. I was about as passionate a fan as I could be but when they up and fled SoCal for St. Louis I was just crushed. I was so hurt by this that I have had a love/hate relationship with the NFL ever since. I now watch with interest but very dispassionately.

You may sit back and think that the fans had it coming for not going to games but you have to understand that L.A. was a Rams town until two things happened. Carrol Rosenbloom died and left the team to Georgia and Al Davis brought the Raiders to town. Georgia moved the team to Anaheim and abandoned the core base of fans who were from the San Fernando Valley and West L.A. Anaheim never really owned the Rams, they were just caretakers. Al and the Raiders went after a different fan base altogether, Ghetto love and bangers. Not a nice crowd to be in. I attended a few Raider games and it was downright scary sometimes. They also screwed up beer sales for Trojan fans. Trojan fans (Of which I am one!) could purchase beer for the entire game but Raider fans caused so much havoc in the stadium that they changed policy and quit selling it BEFORE half time. The Rams quickly followed suit and it sure was a different atmosphere.

The Rams were in L.A. for over 50 years. You think losing your team can't happen to your NY Jets, SF 49ers, Chicago Bears, etc? Think again. It happened to the Baltimore Colts (Indianapolis), Houston Oilers (Tennessee Titans), Cleveland Browns (Baltimore Ravens), Dallas Texans (K.C. Chiefs), Cleveland Rams (Yep, they started there first!), Portland Lions (Detroit), L.A. Chargers (San Diego), and Decatur Staleys (Chicago Bears).

Pro football is all about one thing. It is about money. Your money and taxpayer money. I will never vote for a bond election where my tax money is being used to pay for a stadium used 10 times a year for a multi millionaire owner of a team of multi millionaire football players. Sorry Charlie. That is what Georgia wanted from SoCal and they told her to pound sand. They told Al Davis the same thing. Georgia went to St. Louis and took the team she had worn down to a nub and then spent money and drafted players wisely. They won the Super Bowl in 1999 that should have belonged to L.A. Carrol Rosenbloom must have rolled over in his grave that day. Al Davis went to Oakland and not only scalped the fans and taxpayers there, he had them ruin the A's baseball stadium for the sake of 10 games a year. Keep in mind the A's play 82 games a year in that same stadium and you see how out of whack that is. Georgia did the same thing to Anaheim Stadium. After the Rams left the City of Anaheim and Disney spent over 130 million just to fix it for baseball again.

Georgia is dead. I am sad for her family but inside I am gleeful. I know it is wrong and petty to be that way but it seems like a little payback for the pain she put true Rams fans through. Carrol Rosenbloom can roll back over in his grave now.

Our Political Process

2008-01-17T07:27:00.000+03:00

Our entire process of selecting a President is just ridiculous. It takes too long, the media magnifies everything too early and no candidate who does not produce good sound bites will ever be elected again. This photo about sums it up. Just vote her in and get it over with. She will either be the worst President we have ever had or she will be the biggest warrior we have ever seen. I'm just sick of the whole mess anyways and no Republican has a chance in hell this time unless Osama surrenders and states the GW's campaign has broken the back of all insurgecies worldwide.

Same old story

2008-01-16T16:47:00.000+03:00

Well what do you know? The powers that be have fibbed to me again. Seems this TDY assignment is not in Nigeria after all. It is in Saudi Arabia and is for 90 days instead of 30. Oh yeah, they also forgot to mention that they want to underpay me this time. Ix-nay! Not going. I have had enough of the Middle East for a while and need another month at least with the family before I traipse off again.

Nigeria Part II

2008-01-15T03:02:00.000+03:00

I told them I would go. I was informed that they are waiting on the client to review my resume first. Not a problem. I'm in no hurry and neither is my wife.

Nigeria?

2008-01-13T16:53:00.000+03:00

I have an offer to go to Nigeria on a TDY for one month. It is to sit in for a friend of mine who is taking a month off. I'm thinking about it. Nigeria is dangerous but not like Iraq. If I do it I can pay off the Tahoe we just bought!

My Mindset

2008-01-09T16:39:00.000+03:00

I don't want to talk to anyone. I don't want to see anyone. I have been to my dad's house for a day and a half but other than that I have just been working around the house doing guy stuff like decking out the attic and installing a home theater. I am not trying to be anti-social, I'm just decompressing right now. The holidays came and went and I didn't get all caught up in it. Other than watching a pile of college football it could have been any other time of the year for me. One of the only people to contact me that I really wanted to see was Fritz but he and I missed each other. He was nearby and we missed becuase of my trip to see my dad. Oh well, that is how it goes.

I know that some guys get all gregarious and want to see and hang out with everyone, some want total solitude and some try to pretend that they were never gone. I know that I am doing just what I need to do. I am thinking less and less each day about the sand box and am trying to be a regular guy. My son's Karate instructors have asked when or if I will go back and I just give a non committal shrug and say, "I don't know." I really don't know but right now I really don't want to.

There are some class A a$$holes over there on the civilian side. Some of the Quality Assurance reps (QARs) for the DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) make it a point of contention that they WILL find you doing something wrong and you will be punished. It's not enough that we had a gaggle of retired Generals to deal with who were only interested in making the place a retirement community for their retired buddies; we also had our own employees who had this stateside sense of entitlement (Be careful not to hurt their feelings!), the various government agencies we worked for, and the client (DCMA), but we also were in an active war zone. We had Haji to worry about too. There are some days I wake up and know that no matter what I have scheduled for today it will never be as mentally tasking as what I have been through. I also know that I damn sure don't miss it right now.

Some of the guys who have come back say they miss it and want to go back. Maybe I will one day but right now I am enjoying doing the Seinfeld thing. Nothing.

Calls and Emails

2008-01-03T17:52:00.000+03:00

"When are you coming back?" "I am leaving now because you did. I will go back when you do." "I want to go with you to the next one." All this makes me feel really good about my abilities as a leader in a tough area but at the same time makes me feel guilty. I worked for a retired Marine O-6 who was one of the best leaders I have ever met. He told me, "Never take a group of followers with you to a new project unless it is a start up."

He is right. I remember when Hurricane Gonzalez (I changed the name so he can't sue me) came though Taji. That is what we called it; Hurricane Gonzalez. It was pure Hurricane management. Come in, flatten everything, and build from scratch.

I was the Camp Manager and Taji was so damn big that it was decided by the powers that be that it needed to be a stand alone project. The place had four full brigades at the time and the ADCS of the 1st Cavalry Division too. I had been handling this all alone with only my support staff and had been raped on the supply end by the materials department in Baghdad. We had survived despite our senior management, not because of it.

Gonzalez was an HR Manager turned Project Manager and he is a straight up hatchet man. He was in Bosnia too. They announced he would be the Project Manager and that I would be his Operations Manager (S-3). He brought a posse of people and he made a lot of promises that he promptly broke. He went on a witch hunt and ruined the careers of two of the finest people I had under me. He went after the Project Controls Manager because he had shredded a copy of a training cost report. He went after the LNO (Liaison Officer) because he was nice to a fat girl craving attention and Gonzalez called it Sexual Harassment. It was no such thing. She was flirty and just wanted some attention. The LNO was nice to her and told her he would take her to the cinema on post one night. His only mistake was he did this by email. She cried foul and it cost him his career. I have never trusted the Desert Queens and she was definitely one of them at that point. I'll cover the theory of Desert Queens in another post.

The cost report was a very minor issue and neither of these people deserved for him to do what he did. Gonzalez simply wanted to place his personnel in those positions and he did. He did every demeaning thing he could to me in an attempt to get me to quit. I didn't. I just put my head down and concentrated on developing the finest 3 shop in the theater and that I did.

When I was promoted out of there 1 year later I had developed this shop to a point where 6 of my 8 personnel were all promoted to senior positions in other locations. I am still proud of that. Mark, Jeff, Bruce, Mario, Joe, and David all went on to bigger roles and all did very well. I am proud of those six. The personnel that Gonzalez put in place all atrophied out within six months each. Without their sponsor in place they could not survive and each one either quit or was fired. The beauty is that they were fired by the same O-6 I referred to in the first paragraph. Them being crammed into positions caused so much animosity from the others that no matter how good they were, they never could overcome the stigmata of having been jammed in by Gonzalez. They were never trusted by the rest and it caused ripple effects that are still felt today in Taji.

If I go back...............strange I even consider that too. If I go back it will be with another company. If I go back it will be in a start up capacity too. Head Hunters are already contacting me and making me offers. It is hard to say no. If I get a good enough offer I will consider. Some of the fat cat offers pay enough that with one more year I can sit very, very well and not have to worry about bills ever again. I'll keep you posted but rest assured that I will not be taking a posse. That to me is a recipe for disaster.

Strange Days

2007-12-28T16:00:00.000+03:00

I was in Wal-Mart with my wife and sister. I walked up to look at cell phones and a young woman started chatting me up. It was obvious she was flirting but she finally said she was the T-Mobile rep and wanted to know if I was interested in a cell phone. I had forgotten how women will use their sexuality for sales and was actually taken aback by this.

I told her that I did not want to sign any contracts as I am not sure how long I will be here. She pried and I told her I had just come back from the sand box. I live close to Fort Hood so that is not an uncommon thing around here. She asked me if it was strange to be back. I gazed around the electronics department looking at all the fat people so self absorbed in consumerism and told her that yes; it was strange. I wound up getting a disposable phone and a $25.00 refill card. That is what I had in Iraq so that at least is not strange.

We needed another vehicle as I sold my Explorer a couple of years ago. My wife hates it when I car shop because my step father was general manager of a Volvo dealership and I learned from him how to grind them down. I did not want to go through that exercise but knew I had to. I just wanted to make it as painless as possible so I got my own financing before we went.

I found a Red Tag Tahoe for a good price and we went to the Chevy dealer. We looked at this one Tahoe, test drove it and then I bought it for the Red Tag price. It was as easy as that. No grind, no pain, no muss, no fuss. I bought it from Hewett Chevrolet in Georgetown, Texas and they were as pleasant as can be. My wife can't believe that I did not walk out twice and then go shop another dealer to attempt to play them against each other but I just did not have the energy or desire to do so.

We now have a new Tahoe in the front drive and she will be driving the wheels off of it this week to show it to all her buddies. That's OK. She has put up with a a lot while I have been gone and I want her and the T-Man to have the very best of life.

I hear them stirring about so I am cutting this short. I don't write when they are awake so Adios for now.

Home

2007-12-22T14:15:00.001+03:00

Wow. A one way ticket was placed in my hand and I had reasonable or good flight experiences the entire way. No hassles, no long lines, no delays, no running in airports, no surly customs officials, just a long trip....home. It is Christmas and Eid at the same time but the airports were efficient and everything went on time.

Baghdad to Dubai I got an exit row seat with extra leg room. I had 8 hours in Dubai and I spent that drinking a 6 pack and eating some really tasty Arabic food followed by sleep. I was put into a room with a guy from the Green Zone who was going on R&R. He left to go party and I crashed. He literally stumbled in about 03:00 and could not turn on the lights. I had to get up and do it for him. He passed out and I could not get him to roll out of bed on time. We were on the same 08:00 flight from Dubai. That means get up at 04:00 and catch the last shuttle at 05:00. I tried, I really did, but he is an adult and made his own choices. He missed the shuttle and the flight but I hope he made it home OK.

Dubai to Amsterdam was a full KLM flight but I had an aisle seat and a video on demand system to watch movies. I chose Stardust and then Superbad. Stardust was as good as the reviews said it was. Superbad is so damn funny that I caught myself laughing out loud a lot. The food was actually very tasty and the booze is free. The flight attendant spilled some orange juice on my arm and just could not do enough for me after that.

I then had a brief lay over in Amsterdam and the NWA flight was 1/3 empty. I had an aisle seat and an empty seat next to me so I had plenty of room to spread out and sleep. I watched an independent British movie called "Death at a Funeral" and it too was really funny. Not everyone gets British humor but I do and I really liked the flick. This time I took a Valium and slept hard for about 4 hours. Minneapolis must have gotten rid of all the surly customs people I ran into the last time I was there because this time they were polite and fast. It gave me plenty of time to go to Chili's and have a beer and a big'ol juicy burger. Best damn freedom meal I have had in years.

Minneapolis to Austin on NWA was almost full but I sat next to an older woman who spotted my three day bag with name tag and she started asking me all sorts of loaded questions. It was obvious she did not like Bush or his policies. I finally just told her that I really did not care what she thought nor does the Army so she will just have to live with it. I also told her to quit reading the NY Times and talk to a soldier of she wants the truth. There was an empty seat behind me and the woman in it asked her to move and sit with her for "More room". I winked at her and mouthed "Thank You". She mouthed back, "You're welcome".

I got to the airport and no one was there to pick me up. This is the first time that has ever happened. I started wondering what was going on and wondered if my wife got my emails, was there traffic, if the car rental counter was open, etc. She finally showed up and hugged me a kissed me while she was crying. She has not done that for a long time. She kept telling me over and over, "You're home. You don't have to go back." I turned and saw a young soldier in his ACUs watching. He was with his parents and it was obvious he had just finished AIT or boot. he had no unit patches, a fresh uniform and that single lonely little Private chevron that says to the world "FNG!". I looked at him and said, "Every soldier should get this sort of welcome home." He smiled and his mom said, "Not from his mother though." We all laughed at that. he hustled off to get his ruck and I spoke with his folks for a minute. I told them he would get great training, have the very best equipment available and have good leadership. I told his mom that he would be OK as most of them are. His dad is a vet and he said. It is his turn for us all. I know exactly what he meant.

I now have this strange feeling. I am up early and my wife and son still sleep as do the dogs. Their lives have just changed as has mine. I now have to tread the line of re-integrating myself into their day to day lives without upsetting their rhythm. The counselors tell you all of this when you get ready to come back but I don't think anyone is really prepared for it. This will be my challenge over the next few weeks. I will become a regular American.

I was hit with all sorts of last minutes offers and compromises to entice me to stay but I said to all,"Too late. It's time to go." I have only been back a day and a half and I already wonder how long I will be off. I had two verbal messages waiting for me, three emails, and a letter. Sorry guys, I just need some rest right now.

I'll write more later. I have to because for me it is therapy. I just wish I could have been more open before but the Internet watch dogs cover every posting. I want to tell the story from my perspective. I will but right now I need some coffee.

4 years, 2 months, 2 days, 21 hours

2007-12-18T10:23:00.000+03:00

That is how long I have been in this theater. I have lots of memories. Good, bad, indifferent, terrifying, and joyous. It is time to go. I have to turn in this computer in 10 minutes. As many have said, "AMF YO-YO!"

Adios Mother Fuckers, You're On Your Own!

Disconnecting

2007-12-17T08:24:00.000+03:00

Now that I have dropped paper and talked it out for my demob and Aloha bird out of here they want to try and talk me into staying. No, nada, nyet. I promised the little guy that I would be home for Christmas. That in itself is kind of strange though. Knowing I will be home before Christmas and beyond is some times a little frightening. I am so used to running full speed 12+ hours a day 7 days a week that I worry I will have trouble adjusting. Time will tell.

Right now time is dragging. I find myself just trying to wrap up loose ends. The new CO keeps adding taskers to me and I keep telling him I won't be here. I guess that I have been a fixture so long that they just don't fathom that I really will be leaving a vacuum that they have not filled yet.

I am divesting myself of all the creature comforts I colected over here. I have a wonderful automatic Braun coffee maker with a stainless steel carafe and a timer but it is 220v. So are my iron, hair dryer, etc. All that stays behind as does my cell phone because I discovered it has a 220v charger only. Can't even charge it at home.

What has been endearing is that I have had many personnel who have worked for me come up to me and press slips of paper into my hands with email addresses, phone numbers, etc with their contact info. They all tell me they will follow me to the pits of hell. That makes me sad as hell and I can't help but feel guilty but I have to live some life with my son and wife for a change.

Hell can wait a while!

Ferengi Rules of Aqusition

2007-12-14T18:32:00.000+03:00

There are 285 rules but I don't have them all. If anyone has any which are missing or even has a good one to add, feel free to do so. My favorite is # 211

1. Once you have their money, you never give it back.
2. The best deal is the one that brings the most profit
3. Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to.
4. A woman wearing clothes is like a man in the kitchen.
6. Never allow family to stand in the way of opportunity, or Never allow family to stand in the way of profit.
7. Keep your ears open.
8. Small print leads to large risk.
9. Opportunity plus instinct equals profit.
10. Greed is eternal.
11. Even if it's free, you can always buy it cheaper.
12. Anything worth selling is worth selling twice.
13. Anything worth doing is worth doing for money.
16. A deal is a deal.
17. A contract is a contract is a contract. But only between Ferengi.
18. A Ferengi without profit is no Ferengi at all.
19. Satisfaction is not guaranteed.
21. Never place friendship above profit.
22. A wise man can hear profit in the wind.
23. Nothing is more important than your health. Except for your money.
27. There is nothing more dangerous than an honest businessman.
31. Never make fun of a Ferengi's mother...Insult something he cares about instead.
33. It never hurts to suck up to the boss.
34. War is good for business.
35. Peace is good for business.
40. She can touch your lobes, but never your latinum.
41. Profit is its own reward.
44. Never confuse wisdom with luck.
45. Expand or die.
47. Never trust a man wearing a better suit than your own.
48. The bigger the smile, the sharper the knife.
52. Never ask when you can take.
57. Good customers are as rare as latinum. Treasure them.
58. There is no substitute for success.
59. Free advice is seldom cheap.
60. Keep your lies consistent.
62. The riskier the road, the greater the profit.
65. Win or lose, there's always Hupyrian beetle snuff.
74. Knowledge equals profit.
75. Home is where the heart is, but the stars are made of latinum.
76. Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies!
79. Beware of the Vulcan greed for knowledge.
82. The flimsier the product, the higher the price.
85. Never let the competition know what you're thinking.
89. Ask not what your profits can do for you, but what you can do for your profits.
94. Females and finances don't mix.
95. Expand or die.
96. MISSING
97. Enough... is never enough.
98. Every man has his price.
99. Trust is the biggest liability of all.
100-101. MISSING
102. Nature decays, but latinum is forever.
103. Sleep can interfere with...
104. Faith moves mountains... of inventory.
105. MISSING
106. There is no honor in poverty.
107-108. MISSING
109. Dignity and an empty sack is worth the sack.
110. Keep 10% of every transaction for yourself...just don't let your boss know about it
111. Treat people in your debt like family. Exploit them.
112. Never have sex with the boss's sister.
113. Always have sex with the boss.
114-120 MISSING
121. Everything is for sale, even friendship.
122. MISSING
123. Even a blind man can recognize the glow of latinum.
124. MISSING
125. You can't make a deal if you're dead.
126-138. MISSING
139. Wives serve, brothers inherit.
140. Lawyers should be killed.
141. Only fools pay retail.
142-143. MISSING
144. There's nothing wrong with charity... as long as it winds up in your pocket.
145-161. MISSING
162. Even in the worst of times, someone turns a profit.
163-167. MISSING
168. Whisper your way to success.
169-176. MISSING
177. Know your enemies... but do business with them always.
178-180. MISSING
181. Not even dishonesty can tarnish the shine of profit.
182-188. MISSING
189. Let others keep their reputation. You keep their money.
190. Hear all; trust nothing.
191. The most dangerous man is one who has no greed.
192. Never cheat a Klingon... unless you're sure you can get away with it.
193. You mother should be you best customer.
194. It's always good business to know about your customers before they walk in your door.
195. Fear will drive up profits..unless you are the one who is scared.
196. The government is the worst customer of all...avoid doing business with them unless they make you.
197-202 MISSING
202. The justification of profit is profit.
203. New customers are like razor-toothed Greeworms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they bite back.
204-207. MISSING
208. Sometimes the only thing more dangerous than the question is an answer.
207-210. MISSING
211. Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don't hesitate to step on them.
212-213. MISSING
214. Never begin a business negotiation on an empty stomach.
215-216 MISSING
217. You can't free a fish from water.
218. Always know what you're buying.
219-222. MISSING
223. Beware the man who doesn't make time for oo-mox.
224-228. MISSING
229. Latinum lasts longer than lust.
230-235. MISSING
236. You can't buy fate.
237-238. MISSING
239. Never be afraid to mislabel a product.
238-241. MISSING
242. More is good... all is better.
243-254. MISSING
255. A wife is a luxury... a smart accountant, a necessity.
256-260. MISSING
261. A wealthy man can afford anything except a conscience.262. MISSING
263. Never allow doubt to tarnish your lust for latinum.
264-265. MISSING
266. When in doubt, lie.
267-283. MISSING
284. Deep down, everyone is a Ferengi.
285. No good deed ever goes unpunished.

They don't believe me!

2007-12-12T20:48:00.000+03:00

"No, you are kidding. You don't really want to go." "You are just trying to get a raise." "You can't leave us now!" "You put this together! How can you leave now?" "I heard a rumor that you are leaving, that can't be true." "This project will crater if you leave."

Really folks. It is none of the above. The war effort will get along fine without me. I really am leaving. I really mean it. I had Household 6 tell the Little Guy that the Big Guy will be home for Christmas.

Dave from Daves-Not-Here leaves tomorrow. I wish I was with him but it looks to be about 1 week before I actually get out.

This will be the longest week of my life.

I go

2007-12-10T20:24:00.000+03:00

Time to go. I drop paper tomorrow. Maybe I will get out with Dave from Daves-Not-Here. He DDs the 13th. I'm not sad. I am actually relieved. Time to get some down time and hang out with Household 6, the Little Guy, and the dogs. Time to get to know my family again and have a beer when I want it.

Once i get CONUS and out from under GO#1 I will really let loose with what I can. I will tell it like it is without fear of reprisal or big brother kicking my butt. Stay tuned.

"Should I stay or should I go?"

2007-12-08T17:14:00.000+03:00

The seminal band of the late 70s was The Clash. Some of you may remember them from "Rockin the Casbah" but my favorite Clash song was "Should I stay or should I go?" That song has just been drilling through my head the past two days.

I'm getting close to my original departure date and I'm getting itchy. Things are not the way they should be here but they never are anyway so it is status quo really. My reality is not that of anyone in the land of the big PX so they don't know or care about all the phrases we bandy around like "Mission Essential", "Tertiary Effects", "OpOrd", or even "Hooah". I want to go so bad but these phrases always equate into the one factor I cannot shake. If it is not me it will be some one else.

I'm awfully damn good at what I do. I know my job and role and come in second to none but the grind, politics, difficulties and Iraq in general have just got me to a point where I don't have any reaction to bad news other than this: I am already in Iraq so they can't threaten me with that. The worst thing they can do to me now is put me on a plane and send me to America. You know what? That ain't bad at all.

Alive and Well

2007-12-05T21:05:00.000+03:00

I have been given yet another "temporary" mission and have just been swamped. This one was jacked up and I have been putting in 14-15 hours a day to try and get things going correctly. I have a Battalion sized unit that I am in charge of scattered over 23 locations in Iraq. It make command and control very difficult. There is nothing about this challenge that can't be overcome but it is a critical part of the overall mission and I have obligated myself for at least another 3 months.

I was prepared to go home. I am still looking at my target date with longing. I sent all my stuff home and have no winter gear here and it is getting colder. At least I am with good folks, some of who have also been here since 03. Oh well, war does funny things and has a way of driving you rather than you driving it.

Household 6 (Mrs MiG) just closed on a new house for us so she is tickled pink and my not being home yet has been padded by that. I guess that takes the edge off. I don't have any firm fixed date right now. The new CO coming is a friend and he and I have been deployed together before. he just finished a long stint in Djibouti but we kept in touch the entire time.

I'll write more later, I am bone tired and it is late. I did buy a "Christmas in Baghdad 2007" coffee mug though. that is the extent of my Christmas decorations. Bah Humbug.

Veteran's Day

2007-11-11T10:30:00.000+03:00

A year ago today I was in London for Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day) and the Lord Mayor's Parade which was the very next day. What I remember vividly is that the entire country comes to a stand still for two minutes on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. It was originally a time set aside for the British public to remember their terrible losses in WWI but has since been magnified to remember all those lost in combat no matter which conflict.

We in the USA have the same date set aside as Veteran's Day to remember all those who have served in conflicts but we as a people don't observe this to the same degree as do the British and other Commonwealth nations. Does this say that we don't care as much or that we are just "Too Busy" to take two minutes to observe a period of silence for those who served and those who died?

I remember that on that day in London almost all traffic came to a halt. People everywhere stopped what they were doing whether they were walking, talking, shopping, or anything else. The only sound I could hear was the pealing bells from St. Paul's cathedral and that seemed so right as St. Paul's is still a symbol of perseverance in the darkest days of WWII during the Blitz. Maybe the fact that the British spirit has been tested time and again with attacks on their homeland makes them more aware of the immediacy and importance of remembering and being ready to act.

I hope to god that we don't suffer any more 9-11s but fear that more will come as we get tired of the struggle and will pull back and let the forces against us have some breathing room. The only reason they don't attack us at home is because we have our boot on their neck over here. Once we let it up and step back, they will get on their feet and come after us with a vengeance. Remember this when you vote this November.

All holiday's of national significance are different to me now and this one is no exception. In a few minutes I will shut my door, stand up, and bow my head for two minutes in remembrance of my ancestors who gave all so that I could have free will and free choice.

I have attached a video from a Canadian Folk Singer named Terry Kelly who sings a poigniant reminder that we all need to take the time to remember. If we forget those in the past then why will the people of the future want to carry on our way of life? Being controlled is easy, being free is not, and freedom is never free. It costs two minutes.

Terry Kelly is a remakable person. He is blind but does not let that stop him from going to places such as Afghanistan to meet with Canadian troops. People like Terry Kelly are to be commended. I invite you to visit his website and read about what caused him to write this song.

http://www.terry-kelly.com/

Sounds

2007-10-23T07:29:00.000+03:00

No movie can make incoming fire sound right. It does not matter if it is artillery, mortars, rockets, or small arms, it just never sounds right. It may be because the film crews who conduct the Foley effects have never been under fire, then again live music always sounds different from recorded so maybe you just can't get it right, you get it close.

There is a marked "Crump" sound when a mortar lands. Sometimes you hear the tubes when they launch. That is a far away "POP" and you know it's coming. FNGs don't so they don't automatically scan for cover and then go for it. They stare at you like a deer in headlights until the first one lands,"CRUMP!" Then they would follow you into a pit of burning oil because you look like you know what you are doing. Hell, I'm just trying to keep my big ass from getting "blowed up" before I DD out for the last time.

After the adrenaline rush from the sudden adjustment to total consciousness and then literally running as fast as you can for cover your heart is just racing. Sometimes you eat dirt, sometimes you get to a bunker. Either way you lay or sit there until you get the all clear no matter how it is delivered. Small talk ensues and some of it is just surreal.

Some guys make light of the situation, some go into a silence mode, some are just plain chatty. I get silent and am not in the mood to chat. I just try not to be scared and try to rationalize what is going on. When you are in the bunker the only thing that can hurt you is a big rocket making a direct hit and that is about as rare as a No Hitter in baseball. They do happen but never when you are there. I have heard the big ones and even seen a couple land. Big Lou remembers he and I being stuck behind a convoy that was stopped and me yelling, "Drive! DRIVE!" He was going,"Where, WHERE?" I yelled,"AROUND THEM!" Then the third one hit and it literally punched a hole in reinforced concrete. That was a big assed "WHOOOMP" with a sound of concrete breaking mixed in. Big Lou then went off road and drove like the demon he is. Speed and distance are your best forms of protection in those situations, not hunkering down and waiting.

Bob from Las Vegas remembers when he and I were on an Iraqi base and all of a sudden the vehicle started taking small arms fire (SAF). We both ducked under the dash (like that was going to help with all that plastic protection) and he drove like a demon too. Thing is, it kept happening, the sound also increased in cyclic action when he sped up. That was when our buttholes unpuckered and we realized we were not under fire. We stopped and jumped out to do an inspection. No marks anywhere! What we found was that one of the tires had picked up a piece of trace chain and it embedded in the tire. The tire was whipping the chain into the wheel well and that was what we heard. Scared the bejesus out of us but it was good for a laugh that night at the DFAC.

Charlie remembers when 8 rounds walked into our LSA. I heard the first one land and knew it was close. I pushed a cleaning lady out of the office door and forced her to run. I was right behind Charlie and the second one landed behind us. It was fired from so far away that the angle was almost a flat trajectory. Most of it was backblast but I felt the heat and my ears where ringing. Charlie got hit on the finger tip. That one went,"WHING". I found out later that it landed on concrete and that is what changed the sound. This time there were 4 others in the bunker who beat me to it. The third and fourth rounds hit, really, really close. I looked over at one of my tough guys who was in the bunker. You know the type. They have all the brave tats and wear Harley shirts. this guy was shaking like a leaf and I asked him if he was hit. he just said, "I'm scared shitless. All I can think about is my kids." I told him we were all scared but just stay put. Charlie and I knew we needed to get to the Ops Cell. "Three second break, then we run." CRUMP! CRUMP! "OK, he is firing in sets of two. Wait until after the next set and run like hell." WHUMP, Whump, further away. We ran. I have not run that fast since I was playing football in high school. Once we made the Ops Cell Charlie said,"22 years in the Army and this is the first time I have ever been hit." It was like a paper cut and had one little drop of blood.

I don't know if the movie guys want to come over and sit through a barrage to get the sound right but i know these are all sounds I hope I never hear again.

The World Sport

2007-10-21T07:28:00.000+03:00

Football (Soccer) is THE world sport. We as Americans are very arrogant to think that the average Iraqi gives a hoot about baseball, the NFL or hockey. They care only about their brand of football which is the premier and most popular sport world wide. It is such a simple game and all a kid needs is one ball. You dont need gloves, tees, pads, bats, goalie sticks, pucks, ice skates or any of the other gear that only the rich nations of the world can afford. you just need a ball, some spirit, and the will to play.

I was at the Ur Market and came across this pick up game with some of the friendy Iraqis and an American Soldier. Well, they were friendly in the day, who knows what the hell they do at night but today was all about football. They tried to encourage me to play but I told them I am too old, too fat, and too slow. They just laughed. What you don't see in these photos is the onlookers. In the spirit of Opsec I did not photo the soldiers or older Iraqis who were watching. That is to protect the Iraqis more than anything else.

I have stated before that if we really want to win we have to win the heads of these people. The soldier playing here today is doing a much more valuable service by simply playing soccer than by going on patrol or sitting in a guard tower. He is reaching across the ocean, in a literal and figurative sense as no matter what the language, religion, education, or name, this simple game of pick up football is a bridge across it all. These pics are not great but I snapped them with my pocket camera.

The Valley of Tombs

2007-10-17T17:06:00.000+03:00

Not really so much a Valley as it is a Wadi of Tombs. It is a few hundred yards from the Ziggurat and has been covered in many areas with concrete or pitch to keep people out. Every tomb has been raided so there is nothing there as far as artifacts except that it is covered with more pottery shards that I have ever seen in any one location. I was just amazed at how many I saw and just plain walked on.

The entire area is zoned with concertina wire to keep personnel out. We did not cross over the wire as the last thing I wanted to see was some zealous USAF SP (Air Force MP) pop up from behind something and want to give me a hard time. As I stated yesterday, it is restricted access and you must have the base commander's permission to visit. We had it but were not challenged the entire time we were there.

It would be interesting to know who is buried here. I assume these chambers age back as far as the Ziggurat itself but there was no one to tell me, no signage save some in Arabic, and no research material I have found states otherwise. I have to admit i have let my imagination run and imagine Abraham walking these very same sands. maybe it was him who dropped the clay jug at my feet.This last shot is of the top of the Ziggurat. We were warned not to climb it so we didn't but I took this with a 300mm telephoto lens. You can see some detail and this must be the condition it was in when they first excavated it back in the 1800's.

Tomorrow - The Pottery Waterfall

The Ziggurat of Ur

2007-10-14T15:15:00.000+03:00

FOBs, COBs, ASRs, MSRs, DFACs, MREs, MRAPs, MEF, M1-A1. It seems like that is the only lingo we know but every once in a while we hear a phrase of word that just stops us in our tracks and we go,"What"? This happened to me when I heard the name "Ziggurat of Ur". I said,"What the hell is that"?

I was in Tallil and heard about this ancient edifice that existed on post. I had a vague remembrance of reading something about it years ago and went to wikipedia to read about it. It knocked my socks off! It is the oldest artifact in Iraq and the most profound archaeological site in Iraq. It is biblical!I was lucky enough to wrangle a pass to visit and get some photos. I love taking photos in the late afternoon because the long rays of the sun bring out such vibrant colors but it didn't help with pictures of the front of the temple as it was in some dark shadows. I was in mixed emotions when I saw that so much of it has been rebuilt. It cheapens the effect but at the same time it is a reminder of how much effort went into building this monument to their gods.
This last pose is me sitting on the stairs of the temple. I usually don't put pictures of myself in here but I don't think you can blow it up enough to see my face. I do promise though that I will come clean once I have finished my TDY and go home.

There is also the House of Abraham and a Valley of Tombs nearby. We visited both and I will run some more pictures later of these as blogger will only let me put three per post up.

Navy Birthday

2007-10-12T18:45:00.000+03:00

Since I live, breathe, eat, sleep Army I don't often say anything about the other branches of service. The Navy has been doing their part over here. All Corpsmen (Medics) with the Marines are Navy personnel. Navy personnel supply SeaBee construction efforts, contracting officers, base security, etc. My Nephew's good friend Ryan is in the Navy now and I remember how proud he was the night he told me that he had joined. I was proud of him too. I told him that he was about to become a member of a fraternity that no one else would ever be able to enter unless they experienced it themselves. I last saw him two years ago and every sailor I see reminds me of him. I have seen naval personnel at every base I have been posted to and this one is no exception.

I have been in An Nasariyah for the past few days floating between Tallil (Adder) Air Base and Cedar II. Not much to see here except the Ziggurat but I will comment on that tomorrow. I wanted to take the time today to honor the sailors here who risk their lives everyday and to show that even though the only water around comes out of a deep well, we still think about our sea going friends. Happy Birthday USN. Here is what the DFAC staff has whipped up in your honor.

Whose God?

2007-10-06T16:12:00.000+03:00

I have fallen back in the Iraq groove. That means everything sand colored except the ACUs the soldiers wear. I don't see how these things are good for cammo except for hiding in river rock which we have in abundance. The new USAF cammies are even worse. Digital Tiger Stripe. It looks terrible and the horizontal stripes make them all look fat.

This scorpion is made of wood and is located out at the fuel farm. It was built about 4 years ago out of scrap. It is probably about 6 feet long so when you get up to it the size is almost SciFi. For now my photo opportunities are very limited. I finally got my DSLR out of the shop and it is working fine but I just can't carry it around here as I walk everywhere. I'm glad I finally bought a pocket camera for myself. I did that right after my last R&R when it dawned on me that once my DSLR was down i had nothing to take photos with. For a shutterbug like me, that is not a good thing to happen.

I have an observation to make though. Whose version of God/Allah is more powerful? As you can see above there is a mortar roof installed above the Christian Chapel but when you look at the Mosque, it needs no protection from mortars.

I know Haji is not a good shot so I am not convinced that he misses the mosque on purpose but it is amazing that it has never been hit. Makes you wonder just whose God is more powerful. When you consider that all Christians, Jews, and Muslims worship the same God and are all children of Abraham you start to see the absolute futility of it all. No God is more powerful than any other. It's the same dude!

¿Senor, es que un toro en su asno?

2007-09-30T16:00:00.000+04:00

I feel like the guy in this photo. Every BOOM and every POP makes me wonder just how long I can be lucky. I had some close calls in 2004-05 and now that I am back I think a lot about my own mortality. Back then we laughed and joked and called it "Mortar Bingo" but we really thought it would not happen to us. Most of those folks have left and are home safe. Hearing the Phalanx ripping out ungodly numbers of 20mm shells to tear apart rockets in mid air makes me feel better but I hate the "Big Voice". It either makes you jump out of your skin when they give incoming warnings or makes you just about crap your pants when they make an "All Clear" and you realize that you never even knew we had incoming.

The days just drag. It seems like they take 48 hours to complete. I guess that is part of the problem with having an end game. I wish I was man enough to just suck it up and press on but I am like a kid looking at Summer Vacation and counting the days until school starts. R&Rs were never as anticipated as this.

The guy in the photo knows that bull is on his a$$. That is how I feel. I am sprinting for the rails and that bull is behind me. I think I am going to make it but there is always the chance that I could trip and fall and the bull could get me. Like it says in the title. "Mister, is that a bull on your a$$?"

What can YOU do to help?

2007-09-27T13:35:00.000+04:00

One of my friends is the commander of a unit in Afghanistan and they are winning hearts and minds of the locals by being compassionate and caring. They have identified a group of Afghan children who are in dire need of winter clothing. I am including his info in the hope that some of you might understand that this is how we win. When we help a child they remember and maybe, just maybe, one of these children can make a difference in the future. Please help and while these children are Muslim the clothing is a fine, fine Christmas gift. There are 43 kids lsited here. You may not be able to help them all but i am sure you can help 1.

Dear Friends,

Winter soon approaches in Afghanistan and many children here have no winter coats, hats, gloves or shoes. We have several Afghan workers who make only a few dollars per day but work extremely hard and are happy to have a job to support their families with only the basic necessities. With the Christmas season approaching we here at Camp Julien are hoping that in someway that we may be able to help either through Churches or School Groups at home. We are aiming for a target date of 12 - 01 - 07 to distribute clothes to our workers and hopefully others as well. We are winning the war in Afghanistan and with your help we can continue to win the war one child at a time. Anything you can do will be greatly appreciated. Afghan children are smaller than children at home but I am including a list of ages and sexes of the children we are attempting to help:

New Born 1
3 Months Girl 1
1year Boy 2 Girl 1
2 years Boy 2 Girl 1
2 1/2 years Boy 2 Girl 1
3 years Boy 2 Girl 5
4 years Boy 1 Girl 2
5 years Boy 2 Girl 3
6 years Boy 2 Girl 1
7 years Boy 4
8 years Boy 2
9 years Boy 4
10 years Boy 1
11 years Boy 1 Girl 2

Our address is :

William M. Jacobs
COIN Academy
Camp Phoenix
APO AE 09320

Drifting Mind

2007-09-24T10:16:00.000+04:00

I am back in the savage north known as Iraq. It has not changed at all except more of the equipment is up armored and there are more T-Walls than ever. I am re-adjusting to my life and role but it is all a very bitter pill at this time. I am trying to get my heart into it as I made a promise but it is not easy. I find my mind drifting in so many directions.

"What will I do after this?" "Will I ever be happy in a regular job again?" "Will I miss the adrenaline?" "Will I miss the troops?" "How much of my son's childhood do I sacrifice?" "How will my wife take me being there EVERY day?" Then there is the biggest question for me....."When do I leave?"

Fox Hat

2007-09-19T11:31:00.000+04:00

I have seen this one a bunch of times and I still laugh every time I see it. If you travel to the British Isles like I do you will invariably run into linguistic challenges. This is an example. Just thought I would share it with you all.

Down to 2 bags

2007-09-18T19:12:00.000+04:00

I am down to 2 bags. I shipped a couple of footlockers up North to my TDY station for some bit of comfort. It is stuff like a coffee maker, blankets, water pot, extra boots, books, DVDs, etc. I have my clothing in a Bug Out bag and a suitcase. I gave my TV and DVD player to the Filipina girl who has been cleaning my room. I bought it from the guy who was there before me and I hardly used it at all. She was touched that I gave it to her. She can take it home or sell it, either way I don't care and it is better than me forking out a cash tip for her. I am going up and doing the job but I spoke to Mrs. MiG today and she is 100% behind me to do this. I just need the break before I break.

The best part about this is that I will get to watch my USC Trojans at a regular time instead of 03:00. College Football means Fall and Fall is my favorite time of the year. While the leaves don't turn colors in Texas like they do in other places I will still be able to enjoy some cool weather, BBQ, college football and my son's 6th birthday.

Rolling On, Cutting Back

2007-09-17T10:32:00.000+04:00

I am still handing stuff off and getting ready to leave Kuwait. I have agreed to go up north for a while and help out in a much reduced, less stressful capacity. This is a temporary situation and I am still committed to going home as soon as I can.

Leaving Ain't Easy

2007-09-13T13:05:00.000+04:00

Leaving ain't as easy as it sounds. I am working my exit plan and handing things off. My wife is just overjoyed to hear that I am sending her more of those black footlockers from AAFES. I am actively sending my stuff home and entertaining some interesting offers from elsewhere but it looks solid that I will be out soon.

It is like a huge weight off my shoulders. I know there is still so much to do but I have a son who just started Kindergarten and he is starting to notice that all the other daddies are home except his. It's time. I have spent hours just thinking about the future. 5 years deployed has drained me. I just want to be able to get up, read a newspaper, have a beer in the afternoon, play with my dog, make love to my wife, just be normal for a while.

Going Home

2007-09-11T09:00:00.000+04:00

I have had enough. It is time to go home. I am just burned out and need some down time with my family. Good luck my brothers and Godspeed. Get home alive and safe.

The Merry Go Round

2007-09-07T08:58:00.000+04:00

You are driving in a car at a constant speed. On your left side is a drop off - the ground is 18-20 inches below the level you are traveling on - and on your right side is a fire engine traveling at the same speed as you. In front of you is a galloping horse which is the same size as your car and you cannot overtake it. Behind you is a galloping zebra. Both the horse and zebra are also traveling at the same speed as you. What must you do to safely get out of this highly dangerous situation?

* Get your drunk a$$ off the merry-go-round. *

I don't know why this struck me as so funny. I guess it is because I have come out of the Yard House in Long Beach, CA and put my drunk a$$ on the Merry Go Round at Shoreline Village.. Maybe it is because it reminds me of Congressional politics. I think it is because more than anything it reminds me of some of the convoluted situations we run into where people in senior command demand that we operate exactly like our counterparts in CONUS. That would be very amenable to the situation except that... WE ARE IN A FRIGGING WAR HERE.

Sorry, had to vent.

Let's Try Video

2007-08-30T20:12:00.000+04:00

This is an experiment to see how a video link works. This is an original WankerVision Productions short we made in Bosnia. Unlike Iraq we were often quiet bored in Bosnia as the USAF had bombed the Serbs back past the stone age.

The cow came form one of the local Bosnian girls in the office and the rude Teddy Bear is English as is our star, The Wanker.

Is is safe to be a soldier?

2007-08-28T09:53:00.000+04:00

Thanks to my buddy BIG LOU for sending me the following article. I read and went, "Na, can't be true. This has to be skewed info. I know enough about statistics to know you can colorize them to say anything you want." Then I popped the link and read the report. I am stunned. I knew the Army AKO Safety plan had paid dividends but I did not realize just how many personnel were killed in accidents during the Clinton years. Read the info below and then read the official Congressional report. I think you too will be surprised. It is actually safer to be a soldier now during a hot war than it was during the 90s.

Why has the media not complained about military casualties before the Iraq war? Here are
some rather eye-opening facts:

As tragic as the loss of any member of the US Armed Forces is,
consider the following statistics:

Annual fatalities of military members while actively serving in the
armed forces from 1980 through 2004:

1980 .......... 2,392
1981 .......... 2,380
1982 .......... 2,318
1983 .......... 2,465
1984 .......... 1,999
1985 .......... 2,252
1986 .......... 1,984
1987 .......... 1,983
1988 .......... 1,819
1989 .......... 1,636
1990 .......... 1,508
1991 .......... 1,787
1992 .......... 1,293
1993 .......... 1,213
1994 .......... 1,075
1995 .......... 1,040
1996 ............ 974
1997 ........... 817
1998 ............ 826
1999 ............ 795
2000 ........... 774
2001 ............ 890
2002 .......... 1007
2003 ......... 1,410 ----- 534*
2004 . .........1,887 ----- 900*
2005 ............ 919*
2006 ........... 920*

* Figures are Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
fatalities only

Does this really mean that the loss from the two current conflicts in
the Middle East are LESS than the loss of military personnel during
Mr. Clinton's presidency? Were we at war?

Now, are you confused when you look at these figures?

Especially look at 1980, during the reign of President "Nobel Peace
Prize, Jimmy Carter" himself, there were 2,392 US military fatalities.

What this clearly indicates is that our media and our liberal
politicians pick and choose, and they tend to present only those
facts that support their agenda driven reporting.

Another fact our left media and politicians like to slant is that
these brave men and women losing their lives are minorities.

Wrong again - The latest census shows the following:

European descent (white) . 69.12%
Hispanic ....................... 12.5%
African American ............ 12.3%
Asian .............................. 3.7%
Native American ............... 1.0%
Other ............................... 2.6%
Now, the fatalities over the past three years in Iraqi Freedom are:
European descent (white) .. 74.31%
Hispanic .......................... 10.74%
African American ..... ..........9.67%
Asian ................................ 1.81%
Native American ... ............. 1.09%
Other ................................. 2.33%

These statistics are published by DOD and may be viewed at:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL32492.pdf

The Things We Miss

2007-08-27T19:47:00.000+04:00

It was my son's first day of Kindergarten today. I have missed birthdays, anniversaries, Thanksgivings, Christmases, and many others that I will never get back. My son does not remember ever having his daddy live at home. We have had one Christmas together in 6 years.

I'm not whining, I chose to come here and do this. I just know that I have made sacrifice after sacrifice for the job, the mission, and my future. I hope to God it all pays off because at the end of the day the main reason I am here is so that in 12 years my son does not have to come over here for any reason other than to be a tourist.

I'm really busy right now so off I go.

Bravest Woman This Year

2007-08-24T18:12:00.000+04:00

In our PC world of apologists and revisionist historians we never seem to get straight answers or straight talk from anyone in the media or on TV. It seems that most people are concerned about stating what the masses want to hear, whatever liberal stance is the popular one, or whatever will not offend loud radicals. We hear shrill voices arguing for everything except exterminating the bad guys which would just stop everything in its tracks.

A friend sent me a link to a refreshing bit of dialogue from Al Jazerra which has English subtitles. Here is a totally unafraid Arab woman stating what many of us say in private. We say what she says. Islam is 600 years behind the rest of the world. This about where Christianity was 600 years ago. Christians were slaughtering people who did not believe what they did. The Pope had absolute power and could send armies marching by his word alone. Christian martyrs believed they were going to heaven because they were fighting infidels. Women were cattle for sex, breeding, and work. If you did not profess full belief you could be burned at the stake as a heretic. In Spain the accusation of being a Jew or Muslim was enough to have you literally skinned alive.

I invite you to listen to this and commend this brave woman for what she says. I want to hear more!

Carrying the Load

2007-08-22T20:58:00.000+04:00

My support counterpart was transferred to a FOB in Iraq. His replacement is months out so I get the whole enchilada for a while. Oh well, done it before. It just means less sleep and more decisions to be made. The CO is going on R&R in a few days and the S-3 is leaving for good as he is done and headed home. It is going to be a very, very busy time for me the next couple of weeks. until the CO gets back.

I am actually so busy that I was able to duck a mission to Iraq and send some one else. It ain't chicken talking, it is just reality. I get that busy some times. I have never ducked a movement into Iraq or anywhere else but it was kind of nice to be able to send some one else. Of course if he gets hurt I will be feeling guilty for a while. I can't let that bother me though. Others have to make those decisions every day with even more tragic possible consequences. At least I dont have to worry about combat missions. I have always felt that combat unit leaders never get the respect they are due. It is bad enough to have to send some one across the berm or out the wire but to actually have to tell'em to go waepons hot and have a live load looking for Haji is something that I hope I never have to do. My hat is off to all of them.

My friend Butch came into Kuwait a couple of days ago. He walked up to an operation that he knows belongs under my AO and told the guy there to "Get Mig on the phone!" Now keep in mind that Butch is over 6 feet tall, a football coach in the land of the big PX, and a full Colonel who was wearing full battle rattle. The poor sap there just about crapped his pants and thought I was in deep doo doo. Butch got on the phone and we had a great chat. He was going up north and will cycle back in a coouple of weeks. I promised him I would bring pizza out when he gets here as he can't leave post. It is really funny to see the reaction that he has on people. He is very intimidating looking and his bearing is one of absolute malice but he is a big'ole teddy bear of a man. I cherish my relationship with him and many others. As I have stated many times, the finest people I have ever met have been part of this effort. Every other relationship (except family) will pale in comparison. Every expereince will too. I won't get so melodramatic as to say Band of Brothers but there is a comradeship and bond that no one else can break. We were here. We saw it up close. We were part of it. Proud I am of that, damn proud.

Oh well, thats my SitRep for today.

Heroes Part II

2007-08-14T11:16:00.000+04:00

More proof that we don't see who in our midst are the real heroes. Here is a story that I bet bottom dollar never made the MSM or your local news. I have no doubt that the father of that child does not see him as the enemy and I'll bet that when he comes of age the little boy will not either. CPT Powell's actions are the type that will win this war. These stories spread by word of mouth in the tribal environment of Iraq and according to the code of Wasta and Baksheesh that tribe now owes him and his men a favor of equal value in return.

CPT Powell is from Newport Beach, CA. For those of you who do not know; NB is a high dollar spread and you don't live there unless you have some serious ducats. CPT Powell is regular Army and a member of the 1st Cavalry Division. Those of you who know me know how I feel about the Cav so don't be surprised if you hear one day that I ran into CPT Powell at a bar in Killeen or NB and bought him a beer.

Heroes

2007-08-13T09:19:00.000+04:00

There is a TV series named "Heroes" which I have never seen. Sports personalities are sometimes called Heroes. Hollywood wimps are sometimes called Heroes. They are not. Never were. Never will be. We have let the media and glitz machines beat it into our collective psyche that they are but my years over here have taught me they are not. I love sports and am rabid about baseball and hockey but at the same time I just have the feeling that all the hype, hyperbole, and hoopla surrounding the games are not necessary. I look at all the Barry Bonds ink and teletype I see and think to myself, "What difference will this make? Just how does this change anything?"

There are heroes out there. They live among us. They are in little places all over America and all over the world. I am blessed to have met some of them and to call some of them "Friend." Chris, Butch, Vic, Mike, Joe, Jeff, Vaughn, Fritz, Joshua, and Jerry are all heroes. Yeah, they have last names but I don't use them. They are known to me by those names because they are my friends. They became heroes in places like Vietnam, Somalia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Iraq. They had all the spine and inner qualities that were needed to be heroes and these episodes provided the time and place for them to become that. You have never heard of them because they are quiet professionals just doing their jobs. They are extraordinary men doing an extraordinary task in extraordinary ways and damn well should be recognized.

One hero I am proud to know has finally been recognized. I know John. I met him in 2004 when he lived on my post. I knew he was in action and had a bad day but I didn't know the details until today. Please read the dispatch and understand that heroes are teachers, firemen, cops, and National Guardsmen. Where can you find them? You can find them on weekends at any NG armory in America. Common men with a common purpose for the common good is what the National Guard is all about.

I used to make fun of Arkansas but I don't anymore. I am proud of the fact that I know many of the heroes of the 39th Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas National Guard. They protected me, I took care of them. We sheltered in bunkers during incoming barrages, ate together, built shelters together, laughed together, worked together, trained Iraqis together, treated wounded Iraqis together and became friends. They awarded me the honor of being an "Arkansas Traveler" and took me into their confidence. I gave them back dignity and respect.

I have seen a lot of units pass through. Some are good, some are not. Some are full of esprit d'corps, some are not. The 39th is full of common men who are what everyone in the Army wants to be. They are Warfighters. They protect you regardless of whether you live in Arkansas, Texas, California, Canada, or even Iraq. They are called "National Guard" but what they really are is more like what the ancient Spartans were. Every citizen a soldier who is called upon in time of war or time of need. Much like the real Spartans at Thermopylae (Not the movie version) they train constantly for something they hope never comes. They just go when needed to do what they have to do to protect those at home. They should really be called "International Guard." No matter what they are called by nomenclature I know what I call them. I call the Heroes. They are and I am proud to know them.

English is Lingua Franca for our times

2007-08-12T18:57:00.000+04:00

WWII ensured that Democracy was safe, that human rights would continue to develop, that capitalism would grow and that English would become the language of business and commerce. The simple fact that all sea borne and air traffic was conducted in English is what precipitated this. To this day all air traffic and sea traffic world wide is conducted in English regardless of nation or nationality of the vessel. Even so there are changes on the horizon.

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility.As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement, and has accepted a 5-year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English".

In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy.The hard "c" will be dropped in favour of "k". This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.

Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling.Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.By the 4th yer, pepl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensibl riten styl.Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united Urop vil finali kum tru.Und, efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German lik zey vunted in ze forst plas.

Marines 1 - Murtha 0

2007-08-10T08:37:00.000+04:00

Pundit Review has a terrific article and blog roll on the fact that Lance Corporal Justin Sharratt was exonerated on charges of murder in Iraq. First of all, it is a war zone and $hit happens there. Secondly, it ain't Vietnam and no matter how many times those of us who have seen that particular Elephant say it, there are those that don't believe it. I think my buddy Fritz may have the best take on all of this if he will comment on it.

Here below is the reply I posted on Pundit review regards the situation.

How can Justin Sharratt stay in the Marines after this? Can he ever overcome this and get on with his career? I think he is made of strong stuff (All Marines are) and hope to God that he sticks it out to be the face that wins the fight. How many young men and women will be dismayed by this and decide to not be part of the few and proud out of fear of persecution from their own government? Enemies of the state exist in many places and sometimes they are from within. Murtha should be ashamed for his actions. He should not be re-elected. Who do I send a donation to for "None Of The Above" for his district at the next election? Even better, who is better to represent us in Congress; an embittered washed up hack job specialist like Murtha or a exonerated and proven warrior and volunteer to his country like Justin Sharatt? DRAFT SHARRATT FOR CONGRESS!!!!!

Pimp My Ride - Kuwait Style

2007-08-06T17:36:00.000+04:00

This Gawd-Awful colored beast was parked behind my crib and I could not resist taking this shot of it. There is some Kuwaiti in my neighborhood who is just proud as punch over this Jewel Tool of a Ghetto Fab cruiser.

Later in the day I am pulling up to a stop light and I see something moving in the back of this pick up. Is it what I think it is?My Gawd, it is. It is a pair of goats. Which is worse; the awful Big Bird Yellow wanna be HMWWV built on a Chevy Tahoe chassis or the Nissan complete with goats tied to the fake roll bar? You decide but what ever you pick just remember that this does not raise an eyebrow in Kuwait except mine!

Back to Terra Firma

2007-07-30T16:19:00.000+04:00

We made it back from the Caribbean after all. We visited Jamaica where we just went to Doctor's Cave Beach and spent the day while other passengers endured long bus rides on terrible roads to go to Dunn's River Falls and the like which are located in Ocho Rios. Being that we have been to Jamaica 5 times before we skipped all that and just lounged on the beach drinking Red Stripes at 6 for $10.00 US. Another couple with children that we know were on board with us so we hung with them all day.

The next day was Grand Cayman Island. We had not been back since 2000 when we were there for Thanksgiving Week. There are more buildings than before and it even has a Hard Rock Cafe. We took the T-Man to Stingray City. He loved it. He got to hold a Stingray and kissed one too. This was an important child development stop for us as he was terrified after hearing about the Crocodile Hunter being killed by one.I got sunblock in my eyes and could not see for a while. I had been there before so it was not so important for me to hold a Stingray. We had lunch at a place called Breezes and it came to $143.00 US. This is why we had never come back to Grand Cayman. It is super expensive.

Last stop was Cozumel but we never even set foot on that island. A tender took us straight from the dock and we ferried to the mainland to catch a bus to Tulum. Tulum is an impressive site and is deserving of a visit bu everyone. Our guide was wonderful and knew the history inside out. The fact that it as about 95 Fahrenheit and about 95% humidity led to a sweltering day. The guide told us we could swim at the beach if we wanted to. My wife did not as she did not wear any swimming gear but the boy and I were wearing board shorts so we dashed down into the surf to cool off.

Two days sailing back and then a 3 hour car trip and we are at home. My Father-In-Law came over and he and I started rum tasting. We found out that anyone who is a Texas resident can only bring back one liter of liquor but if you are from any other state you can bring back 5 liters. I have a California driver's license and am a legal resident of Kuwait so I was allowed 5 plus one for the missus. I actually bought 7 liters at the duty free and forgot the count but when I got to customs I flashed my DoD ID card and the customs agent started flipping through my passport. He looked at me and asked "Baghdad?" I said "Yep." He then just smiled and said "Enjoy".

I get two days here and then am off to London for a couple of days. No shows this time. I have seen all the ones I wanted to see so I will try and catch The London Walks Jack the Ripper Tour.

R&R, Yabba Dabba Doo

2007-07-24T22:08:00.000+04:00

I am on R&R. I had a miserable trip here. We circled Heathrow for two hours and than sat on the runway another two hours waiting on a slot to open at at Jetway. English weather you know, just bad luck. Anyways, the flight to Chicago was delayed but the connection was not so I got to stay overnight in Chicago.

One day at the house trying to cram in a haircut, shopping, and a baseball game before blasting out of the driveway early Sunday morning for a drive (4 hours) to the cruise port. We are on a monster cruise ship and it took 4 hours to check in, about as long as the drive.

Last night was formal night and my son dropped my very expensive DSLR so now the shutter release will not trip. Not a great start so far.

Oh yeah, forgot to add. I bought my wife a 22 carat gold hand made bracelet in Kuwait and the response I got was "Oh that's nice." My next R&R may be me alone in the Alps with some sticks on my feet.

Random Shots

2007-07-18T20:22:00.000+04:00

This was my first bunk back in 2003. I shared this billet with 18 other guys. I slept here one night before I moved the cot outside onto a balcony. Two days later I was on an RAF flight to Basra and then Baghdad. It was not very long before I realized just how comfy this spot was.

I took this photo about 8 months later when I transited back through Kuwait again. It is at a hotel in South Kuwait. There were these cardboard cutouts all over the place. It is the first time I have ever seen the locals characature themselves.

Finally we have a Ramadan tent. Rich Kuwaitis set these hospitality tents up for evening festivities. I snuck inside this one during the day to grab this pic. This was Ramadan in 2004.

Sandstorm Rolling In

2007-07-17T08:42:00.000+04:00

Overreactions

2007-07-14T09:55:00.000+04:00

OK, the powers that be in the exalted castles on high have overreacted to the issue and consequently so did a lot of us. What we are basically being told is, "Be very, very careful. Don't post pictures from facilities, of equipment, of personnel. Don't discuss detail of movement, numbers, unit names, etc." I have no problem with any of that and in reality I think I have done a pretty good job of that in the past. I know that there are some world class idiots over here who think that the bad guys are dumb and dont know how to link facts to make a bigger picture, They are wrong about this. The bad guys are as smart as us, they just are not wired like us.

Instead I will concentrate on my life and how being here affects me on a day to day basis. I am in wind down mode right now as I am getting ready for an overdue R&R. I can't wait to get out of here for a couple of weeks. I just wish my wife would be more understanding and would make the journey this way for a change. That transatlantic haul is wearing and I have done it 12 times in the last 4 years. When our son was a toddler I had some sympathy for her but now that he is school age I really wish she would see it through my eyes and understand that after 4-6 months with absolutely no days off I am mentally and physically exhausted and need to just wind down, not be thrown into another stressful situation.

On Hiatus - Maybe Forever

2007-07-13T11:30:00.000+04:00

The powers that be have issued an ultimatum regards blogging that it just about shuts down everything. Rather than be punished for my stress relief I will simply go on stand by mode until this is lifted or revised. Sorry but it is getting tight regards this issue. You may have read some about it in the media by a few who are outraged. It was really brought on by others who have violated OpSec and other elements of responsible blogging. I don't blame the one who issued the stop order, I blame the irresponsible ones who have jacked this up for the rest of us.

Just because I don't post for a while does not mean I am not monitoring the site.

Operation Earnest Will Remembered

2007-07-11T12:14:00.000+04:00

In 1986 I was part of the team that set up a reconfigured derrick barge as a support platform for the US Navy as part of Operation Earnest Will.

Most people don't remember that one. The Iraqis and Iranians were engaged in a brutal bloodletting in the Fao Peninsula that was started by Saddam Hussein invading a weakened Iran. The Shah was gone, Reagan was in office and the Iranians were on their heels. Saddam thought he could waltz in and grab some land, sea access, and maybe crush the home of Shiites. How wrong he was.

He forgot one thing. No one likes an occupier. We are learning that lesson now. No matter how bad Saddam was, at least he was a home boy. The Iranians felt that way too. They may have had no love for the Mullahs but they fought like Tigers for Iran.

I was responsible for navigation to the set up area and then we had to leave the barge to a US Navy crew. They were afraid we might be in harms way if the Iranians let fly with an Exocet. Funny how times change. Everyone is a target now!

I snuck this shot of the radar screen as we steamed up the gulf from Bahrain. This Furuno was state of the art in 1986 as it had an effective 60 mile range! Every blip you see is either a platform or a moving target. We did not have motion acquisition software or computers of any kind so we had to manually track each moving target by assigning an alphanumeric to it and watching it. This took constant monitoring and attention. The modern day stuff does it all for you, you just sit back and relax.

We re-flagged 7 tankers, put American crews on them and then we split. I didn't think about this one until the other day when I was talking with some Naval officers and one mentioned he was being assigned to an Amphibious Assault Ship. Every time I hear the term "Amphibious Assault Ship" I think about the USS Coronado and the USS LaSalle. These were AAS that were the flagships for US Navy ops in the Persian/Arabian gulf back in the 1980s. They were painted white. The official nickname of the Coronado was "The Great White Ghost of the Arabian Coast". Of course the Navy has wags just like the Army and the crew quickly renamed her "The Great White Whore of the Arabian Shore." God, I love soldier/sailor/marine humor.

The Navy brought PBRs (Patrol Boat River) to the barge to escort the tankers as well as provide screens for the Frigates who stayed a little further out. These were 1950s technology vessels that did about 35 knots on a good day in flat water. They were armed with a twin .50 caliber Ma Deuce up front and a 20mm on a stand in the stern. The crew carried the old style M-16s.

They bravely called themselves "Boghammer Hunters". Boghammers were Swedish built patrol boats that were modern versions of the old PT Boats from WWII. They were three times the size of the PBRs, made 70 knots in choppy seas, were armed with a litany of large and medium caliber weapons and , oh yeah, had Exocets! In other words, the PBRs would have been toast if the Boghammers had ever engaged them. The PBRs were bait so that the Frigates could rush in and blow the Boghammers out of the water. They should have been "Boghammer Bait".

Most of us have forgotten about this little chapter in Us/Kuwaiti relations. I had for a long time but now I remember.

Oil and all that

2007-07-04T13:54:00.000+04:00

Here is an oil tanker that is loading up on good ol' Kuwaiti black gold. Unlike the United Arab Emirates, the Kuwaitis have huge oil reserves and just pump it out as fast as they can drill it. They act like it will never run out but at the rate the western world gobbles it up they will be back to poverty in 100 years.

This offloading terminal is about 1 mile from where I bunk and this shot is from my rooftop. There is usually a patrol boat cruising around here. Oh wait, here he is!

They jealously guard the refineries, ports, tankers and anything else to do with this as oil is just about the only revenue they have. There is no other industry to speak of. There is no tourism, banking, stock market, manufacturing, trade or other type industry. There are no industries here that don't have some sort of financial tentacle going back to oil except those which support the US Military.

If you see an American in Kuwait he or she is about 95% sure to be involved with the military or the oil business. It makes for a very small and close knit EXPAT community here.

If it were not for the oil the British would not have carved Kuwait out of what is now Iraq in the first place. Kuwait was, is, and always will be about oil. If you are wondering why I have not written anything lately it is because the days have just run together. Eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work. That is life over here. There is no time for anything else. That is probably a good thing as this way I don't think about home.

Pet coke and random farts

2007-06-23T19:46:00.000+04:00

It has been a weird day. I went to a refinery today to look at some of our installations that are embedded there. It is pretty damn weird to see US Army ocean going vessels and gate guards who are US Navy. That is like some strange alternate military universe.

It is also weird to see brick after brick of petroleum coke just dropped all over the place. I used to work at the Port of LA and the terminal I was at exported pet coke to the far east. It is the solids that are left over after you just squeeze every bit of fluid from oil. It is actually the left over impurities but it burns extremely hot and is used for steel manufacturing. It was just all over the road. In California that would be a major environmental fine.

It was random fart day too. Every once in a while the DFAC serves chow that makes everyone fart. I'm not talking polite little gas poppers. I'm talking full scale gale force winds with a smell that will peel paint. Your eyes water and you do everything you can to get away. It also seems that during these force 5 fart a thons that everyone goes crop dusting. You will be walking in a hallway and walk into a cloud of death. You can just see the laughing skull as you furiously try and get away but all you do is cause an air plenum and it wafts behind you.

Girls are just as bad. They fart too.

"He just need a good a$$ kicking."

2007-06-21T08:56:00.000+04:00

I am trying to imagine the world outcry in the MSM if an Iranian Diplomat had been set upon and beaten in public in Washington, D.C. In today's Kuwaiti Times they describe just such an attack in Theran upon a Kuwaiti diplomat.

The dude was just walking down the street when a group of the Iranian Neoislamofascist government sponsored thugs set upon him and whupped him good. At least that is the way my dad would say it. What they really did was smack him around like they would one of their women, leaving some marks on his face so that they could send a message to Kuwait that the government of Iran is pretty ticked off at the Kuwaiti government.

This is all about regional politics. The Kuwaitis are our allies because while many of them may have short memories regarding the 1991 Gulf War, their senior government staffers and their Royal Family do not. Had it not been for GWB the 1st the Kuwaiti Royals would be like the Greek and Albanian royal families. Just a bunch of rich homeless people. They know who is their real friend. The Iranians on the other hand, have not forgotten that Kuwait backed Iraq in the Iran/Iraq war of the 1980s and gave the Iraqis umpteen bazillion petrodollars for the fight.

Draw your own conclusions but state sanctioned thuggery invariably leads to a suffocating level of totalitarianism which is exactly what Iran is heading toward. Our struggles with and in Iraq are paltry compared to what it would be with Iran. They scare the crap out of every Arab government over here. At the end of the day, if the Iranians rattle the saber enough, the Arabs may just wake up and say, "You know, the Americans and Brits are not so bad. Maybe we should concentrate on the looming 800 pound gorilla right across the gulf."

Manlaws

2007-06-16T09:32:00.000+04:00

The International Council of Manlaws, Ltd.

1: Under no circumstances may two men share an umbrella.

2: It is OK for a man to cry ONLY under the following Circumstances:

(a) When a heroic dog dies to save its master.

(b) The moment Angelina Jolie starts unbuttoning her Blouse.

(d) When she is using her teeth.

3: Any Man who brings a camera to a bachelor party may be legally killed and eaten by his buddies.

4: Unless he murdered someone in your family, you must bail a friend out of jail within 12 hours.

5: If you've known a guy for more than 24 hours, his sister is off limits forever unless you actually marry her.

6: Moaning about the brand of free beer in a buddy's fridge is forbidden. However complain at will if the temperature is unsuitable.

7: No man shall ever be required to buy a birthday present for another man. In fact, even remembering your buddy's birthday is strictly optional. At that point, you must celebrate at a strip bar of the birthday boy's choice.

8: On a road trip, the strongest bladder determines pit stops, not the weakest.

9: It is permissible to drink a fruity alcohol drink only when you're sunning on a tropical beach ... and it's delivered by a topless model and only when it's free.

10: Only in situations of moral and/or physical peril are you allowed to kick another guy in the nuts.

11: Unless you're in prison, never fight naked.

12: Friends don't let friends wear Speedos. Ever. Issue closed.

13: If a man's fly is down, that's his problem, you didn't see anything.

14: Women who claim they "love to watch sports" must be treated as spies until they demonstrate knowledge of the game and the ability to drink as much as the other sports watchers.

15: Never hesitate to reach for the last beer or the last slice of pizza, but not both, that's just greedy.

16: If you compliment a guy on his six-pack, you'd better be talking about his choice of beer.

17: Phrases that may NOT be uttered to another man while lifting weights: a) Yeah, Baby, Push it! b) C'mon, give me one more! Harder! c) Another set and we can hit the showers!

18: The girl who replies to the question "What do you want for Christmas?" with "If you loved me, you'd know what I want!" gets an Xbox. End of story.

19: There is no reason for guys to watch Ice Skating or Men's Gymnastics. Ever.

20: We've all heard about people having guts or balls, but do you really know the difference between them? In an effort to keep you informed, the definition of each is listed below:

"GUTS" is arriving home late after a night out with the guys, being assaulted by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to say, "are you still cleaning or are you flying somewhere?"

"BALLS" is coming home late after a night out with the guys, smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the ass and having the balls to say, "Roll over, You're next!"

I hope this clears up any confusion, The International Council of Manlaws, Ltd

Iraqi Editorial Cartoons

2007-06-15T20:48:00.000+04:00

Its been a while since I have posted but I am just jamming these days. It seems that I have no time for myself let alone anything as all consuming as taking my random thoughts and transcribing them to the keyboard.

I generally don't post just to post. I only do it when I think I have something to be said or when I need to get something off my chest.

Right now we are in the middle of yet another cycle of incoming and outgoing units. I feel like I have seen every unit patch in the Army now. I'm actually getting pretty good at identifying even the 1001 National Guard units that cycle through.

I guess that all I could say today is summed up in these two cartoons. A spook type friend of mine sent these to me. Its a sad, sad comment on the state of affairs up North. When we first got here in 2003 we were so full of hope and just knew that the shooting would be over in a couple of months.

OK, I'll admit it. We were wrong. We misjudged the enemy. We misidentified the enemy. We should have shot the journalists. Had we done so and then just kept them ALL out this would have been over. Like a lot of other conflicts we have won every fight and battle but lost the media war the day we rolled into the country.

I detest the media. I loath them. My brothers and sisters are still dying because they all want "The Story." They stand on a balcony in the Green Zone with their backs to Baghdad and speak as if they have actually been out on the street. They are cowards who will not even leave the Green Zone where there is AC, swimming pools, beer, and TV. They don't ride in a HUMMWV on a convoy mission at night. They don't walk the side of a stream zigging and zagging up and down the banks looking for trip wires or electronic sensors for IEDs. They don't carry a plastic rifle with underpowered rounds against an enemy who shoots .30 caliber (7.62) on "Spray and Pray".

AND....they have not a drop of ball sweat for bravery when it comes to the Iraqis who drew these cartoons. These people could be, may be, probably will be kidnapped and the shot, beheaded, or worse.

Ask me how I really feel.

Lest we forget

2007-06-06T20:22:00.000+04:00

I get a lot of email every day and some is junk mail. Some are daily newsletters and such. I got one today from Military.com and it had a link to a video remembrance of the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6th, 1944.

Even though it was over 60 years ago and seems like such a different war in a different time the words spoken by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt are a haunting alarm bell to the struggle we have today. I'm glad I tuned in. Today was not a good day for me as I just was overwhelmed by all the duties I have but this gave me some new found strength and vigor.

I also logged onto this video clip where there is a mockumentary of what the media would have portrayed as the invasion as had it happened today instead of over 60 years ago. It has the requisite graphics, talking heads, pseudo experts, and nay sayers who know not what they are talking about just as we do today.

I invite you to watch these videos and hear the words of a man who led us through dark, dark days and into a an era where American hegemony became a fact. It is always darkest before the dawn and it is dark today. The media is largely to blame as are poverty, religious intolerance, and ignorance. I know we have a real live human enemy but anyone involved in this effort long enough comes to understand that if we can defeat poverty then ignorance and religious intolerance will fade away.

On the road again.....

2007-06-05T20:52:00.000+04:00

After all my years in Southern California I swore I would never commute again but lately it seems like that is what I do. Thanks God the Army lets us use SUVs in Kuwait instead of HMMWVs. My ass could not take that.

Sometimes I just take some quick snaps as I am driving. The first one is an intersection of a paved road (Iron Horse) and an unpaved road (Dallas). Each has its own particular type of danger. Iron Horse has nutcase locals in Mitsubishi pick ups transporting sheep and doing about 150 KPH and Dallas has new potholes and ruts every time you traverse it.

This second pic is from some Kuwaiti Air Force junk. It is an A-4 Skyhawk which was a top of the line Navy/Marine close support aircraft from the 60s up until the early 90s. I'm not sure if that is battle damage from the Iraqi invasion or cannibalising of the airframe but it is an American made jet which has met a sad fate in Kuwait.

You saw the A-4 in action as it was the OPFOR (Opposition Forces) jet in TopGun. It was a really nimble aircraft with fighter characteristics except for its landing gear. It had an ungainly appearance on the ground as it had long, skinny landing spars because of all the ordinance it carried.

This last shot is a twilight snap of soldiers getting ready to leave the relative safety of Kuwait and head North to Iraq. This is the last safe sunset they will see for a year.

I like the color in this and what is most amazing to me is that all of these photos were taken with my telephone camera. It is just not handy to carry around a DSLR all the time but this is with me 24/7.

A Disturbing Find

2007-06-01T21:01:00.000+04:00

It's a dead donkey. It appears to have been dead for about 3 days or so because it is starting to ooze but the eyes still have fluid in them (Oh, the things you learn at Paramedic School).

I see dead animals on the side of the road a lot here. Dead sheep, goats and the like for the most part but this is a grown donkey. It does not appear to have been struck by a vehicle so I dont know how it died, I can only speculate.

I see them a lot. Donekyes that is. The bedo (bedouins) and the sheep herders use them for transport and as beasts of burden. Life is hard over here and doubly so for this poor beasty.

This poor animal was most likely born here which means that it never saw a green field of grass, never got to play in a lake, river, stream or pond. It never had a day in the warm sun just laying in the grass watching insects buzz about. No it did not.

This is the way that animals live and die here. In the heat, the unrelenting sun, in the oppression that is endless, mindless toil. The donkey was alone and excluded from companionship of its kind with only the sheep herder and the sheep for company.

I was filled with remorse looking at this and will remember it. I dont know why but with all the death and suffering that I have seen the human side does not affect me as much as that of a dumb animal. Maybe it is because we as humans make choices to stand and fight or go about our merry way. (Fight or Flight, another Paramedic lesson)

The donkey did not have that choice. It led a miserable life in miserable weather doing a monotonous, miserable set of chores. Maybe it is better off. What galls me though is how the person who benifited from the work and life of this animal did not even care enough to bury it. They just leave it there, bloating up in the sun and waiting for some Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi to come by in a trash truck and haul it off. That or let it rot.

How we treat animals says much about our cultures. Draw your own conclusions form this one, I have.

The T-Man's first underwater portrait

2007-05-26T20:26:00.000+04:00

I took this with my wife's Sony Cybershot with underwater housing. The extra $100.00 we spent on the housing is the best hundred bucks Ive spent on camera equipment in a long while.

Under Armor

2007-05-25T20:01:00.000+04:00

OK, its weird but I love this stuff. I started buying the t-shirts back in 2004 when they first started hitting the PX. I was at a town hall meeting in OIF II and BG Hammond (ADCS 1st Cavalry Division) was addressing uniform issues as some of the troopers wanted to go without their blouse in the heat. He countered that by showing us all one of these t-shirts. I bought one the day they arrived at the PX and was hooked.

I don't wear anything but under armor when I have an over shirt. It is light weight and wicks away the sweat so that you don't have that heavy, stinky, salt lick all over your body at 16:00 when it is 110 degrees.

They came out with skivvies and I started buying those. I have been getting a few pairs at a time because they are $20.00 each. I have just about replaced all my cotton undies.

Now I have socks! Crew socks and heat gear socks too. I have long sleeve cold gear, tactical for under blouse, and loose gear for wearing as a top cover. I even bought a couple of camp shirts. This stuff is really expensive but in this climate it is worth every penny because when it is this hot you are just miserable and anything you can do to allay that by an iota becomes a cost worth incurring.

My wife thought it was weird until she got some of it for her work outs. Now she likes it too. I wish I had bought stock when it went IPO.

The value of human life

2007-05-24T18:15:00.000+04:00

Everyone has a tough time over here with labor brokers and construction type firms when it comes to how they treat their workers. Our values and sense that all men are created equal just do not compute here. These brains are hard wired that if you are of a certain religion, nationality, caste, or tribe other than their own, you just don't count.

Even though I have been coming to this part of the world for over 20 years I still shake my head at how badly people from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are treated. They are just the lowest of the low here. There is indentured servitude in the form of up front labor contracts; there is a problem with people being paid and lots of sexual misconduct. Filipinos get treated a little better but not much.

Basically the Kuwaitis think that you use Lebanese to count your money, Filipinos to run your shop and work in your house, Indians for technical jobs, Pakistanis for construction and Bangladeshis to clean toilets. Us? Well, we don't work for the Kuwaitis, we work for Uncle Sam.

I took this photo behind my apartment complex. It is a typical construction scene here. A Pakistani or Indian construction hand with no PPE, no fall protection, shoddy scaffold, and no real tools performing dangerous and tedious work. As a former safety professional I cant help but be appalled at times but I understand that this is how they do business.

Sad but true, they just don't value human life. It goes to show why they fight the way they do. They don't care if they kill innocents. If the innocents are another religious sect or religion its OK. After all Allah only loves their particular sect, tribe, and belief system. Just ask them. Or if you really want to deliver a hard hitting question ask John Murrah or Nancy Pelosi if they understand that.

Iraq from the air

2007-05-23T10:46:00.000+04:00

I went up to Iraq last week to check on some operations which fall under my custody. I go occasionally now but don't tell anyone at home that I am heading north because they worry all the time. It used to be that they did not worry because I was in Iraq full time and only worried when I was in a convoy or flying in helicopters but now they worry when I go.

To tell you the truth I used to not worry myself about just being in Iraq but since I have been here in Kuwait for the past few months the immediacy of the war has faded away for me. Even when I return I feel more like an interloper and a tourist than anything else. When I was stationed there full time I always felt a little superior to those who visited and then split. I felt like they were just coming up to say they had been there and to suck up some serious payroll uplift or combat pay.

Anyways, I flew and slept on the way up in my stressed out snap in chair on a cargo aircraft similar to a Sherpa. On the way back though I took some photos with my cell phone camera. I did not take my regular photo rig because I was travelling light and fast and because of the weight limitations. Every person and every bag is weighed because of fuel and cargo considerations.

I still managed to get some interesting shots though. The first one is from a bend in the Tigris River about 50 miles south of Baghdad. You can see canals and irrigated farmland. this is ancient Mesopotamia and there has been some form of agriculture here for over 3000 years. The second pic is from a fade to the left of the first photo and it shows just how close the desert is. It encroaches to a point where there is a dramatic change between green and white. Green being crops and white being hard pack sand. The third pic is an open flare from a wellhead. That is a burning oil fire. it would be about an 80K per day fine in California were this to be there but as it is Iraq no one cares or monitors it.

As I cruise above the strife, heat, danger, poverty, and misery I reflect on how fortunate I am. I am fortunate to be an American, a free man who can make the choice whether to be here or not. Those folks below me can't make that choice but I can. They can't run and I won't run. Dangerous or not, I am committed to finishing my part in this honorably and to the best of my ability.

Arabian Gulf Sunrise

2007-05-18T20:20:00.000+04:00

An interesting issue in this part of the world is what to call international areas like waterways. What you routinely call the Persian Gulf is called the Arabian Gulf by the Arab nations so that they are not constantly reminded that at one time they were all subjected to the boot heel of Persian domination.

The Shatt al Arab or Waterway of the Arabs is the confluence of the Tigris and Euprhates and is the primary waterborne route into Iraq. In Iran it is called the Sha' Fao as it indicates that the Fao peninsula is the primary geographical influence here.

Just east of me is a gigantic oilfield known as Marjan by the Arabs and Nowrouz by the Iranians. It is the same oilfield and is bisected by an artificial economic zone which makes for some interesting sights and conditions.

In 1986 I was on the deck of a derrick barge and watched Iraqi Super Entendards (French built of course) fly low and just above sea level around the Marjan 1 GOSP (Gas and Oil Separation Platform) as they had vectored on the radar aero racon signal. They kicked in the aferburners, gained altitude and shortly after we felt a concusion and the heard the explosions they bombed the crap out of Kharg Island. Remember those days? The Iraqis were the good guys against the Theocracy of Iran.

I was thinking of all of this the other morning as I stood on my balcony watching the sunrise over the Arabian/Persian Gulf. I saw the most beautiful golden cast upon the water and ran in to get my DSLR. I almost missed the shot and actually did not get the one I really wanted. I'll try again later.

I have so many thoughts and memories like this. I want to one day capture them on paper or digits but I have to slow down for that to happen. As it is I am really pressed to write this or even take care of routine issues like picking up my laundry or getting my hair cut. One day I will visit this part of the world with my son and tell him how his father was raised in America and spent his adult life as a wanderer of the world. I'll be able to show him why daddy is always gone and why daddy is so weird because he likes to drink cider, eat greek food and watch soccer. Daddy loves hot dogs, baseball and southern fried foods too and in this part of the world that is weird.

Oh well, the coffee was good and for a few moments I was lost in my thoughts. Just a few moments away from the Army, the war, the constant push of men and material into the maw of the beast up north. A few minutes to be a regular person, just enjoying a sunrise in an Indian built building drinking Italian coffee made in my German coffee maker shooting photos with my Japanese camera and scratching my American butt. Ain't that weird?

If you ain't Cav.......

2007-05-09T17:39:00.000+04:00

I was archiving some shots and came across this one from early 2004. It brought back a flood of memories and a rapid succession of thoughts.

All of a sudden I was back in Taji with Fritz, Bob, Lou, the 39th ECB Arkansas National Guard and three brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division. The troopers had a lot of fun tagging all the armor in the bone yard and I saw this everywhere. It says it all about the Cav attitude. "If you ain't 1st Cav, you ain't shit."

I heard fired up young stud warriors yell this at each other before they went through the gates for patrol. I heard it when they came back with no injuries or incidents but with kills. I heard it yelled between escorts during convoy runs. I heard it when they played in MWR sports with other units. I heard it from COL James J. McConville when he was addressing his Aviation troopers in front of Ted Nugent and Toby Keith. I heard it from Brigadier General Hammond when he dedicated an new PX.

This Russian made APC was tagged by proud troopers as were many other things at Taji before the PC folks made us start painting over everything so as to not upset anyone. American soldiers have been writing graffitti for 200+ years and will do so in every war but it eventually gets painted over.

Not so the mind set of the soldier who wrote it. He ran the gamut of emotion that only those who have been in a combat zone will know. He has that deeply ingrained sense of the wonderment of exisistence after having come so close to death. You can't paint over that.

He has the sense of unit pride that comes from sharing those days, weeks, months in such an environment. The guy next to you is your best friend and you will share anything with him including you last can of Dr. Pepper even though the PX ran out weeks ago. The unit is your family. The Division is your family. You can't paint over that.

Being Cav is special. Soldiers who were not Cav were delighted to find out that they could claim a Cav combat patch since they served under their command. I have seen a lot of troops come and go but whenever I see a Cav combat patch I always ask them what FOB they were at. If they were at Taji I tell them I was too and I now have a new best friend for the next few minutes. I may have never met him and may never see him again but that connection will harness us together for that moment. No matter what went down I have his back and he has mine. You can't paint over that.

I saw a friend (Newly pinned O-6 too!) the other day when he transitioned through on his way to Afghanistan. He has the new Combat Action Badge. This is a new badge issued by the Army because only Infantry can earn a CIB or Combat Infantry Badge. So many others have seen action in thie war but were not eligible so the Army issued this new badge. Butch had it on and even though he is National Guard from South Carolina he had on a Cav combat patch. I asked about it and he said,"You know, I will go all my life knowing that I served under the finest combat division in the US Army." I asked if he remembered the engagement where he earned that badge and he said he did. He also remembered that I was there too and was under the same fire as were Bob and Lou.

So here it is. Butch, Bob, Lou and I all earned our CABs that day. We also earned our combat patches from the Cav. Some may argue that we don't deserve it but anyone that was there on that hellish day would argue with you. Haji does not care what unifrom you wear, he just wants to kill you because you don't think like him. Tell you what Haji. Come at me again. Cause if you ain't Cav, you ain't shit.

The Rock

2007-05-07T10:18:00.000+04:00

Ali Al-Salem Air Base is a KAF (Kuwait Air Force) base located smack dab in the middle of the country. When you consider that the country is only the size of Connecticut you can understand that it makes it literally an matter of minutes before anything going or coming crosses the border and then is overhead.

As a result of this proximity the Iraqis bombed the crap out of it when they invaded and they set up shop. We bombed more crap out of it and then when we invaded we set up shop. A a result of this it still has bunkers with huge gaping maws atop the structures and they are mostly off limits.

This base in now the home of the USAF in the region and has an Army LSA (Life Support Area) also. Since the base is co-occupied by the Army, Air Force, KAF, Australian Air Force, Korean Air Force and remnants of Japanese and others it is the most international base here in Kuwait.

AASAB is affectionly known as "The Rock" by those who serve there. Compared to most military installations is is cush. It has first class DFACs, MWR facilities and a BX/PX. Paved roads, running lanes and hard stand buildings for barracks combine to make it a place compared to other bases.

It is very secure and remote and only a few folks are allowed to go there. I make regular trips out there so I am indeed one of the few. This photo is the only Kodak Moment sign I can find in Kuwait. I see a constant parade of people getting their photos there and I see unit formations in front of it. It is one of the few places you can take a picture of an airbase over here and not be put in jail.

The Big Sombrero - Kuwait

2007-05-05T11:54:00.000+04:00

I know I have been remiss in posting. No excuse except that I am dead tired all the time. The surge has never ended and now it is part of the landscape. We have met the challenge and done evrything we needed to but it has taken its toll on us all. We are all tired right now.

I'm really looking forward to Memorial Day because we get a holiday and can take it 14 days either side of the holiday. I will take it as early as I can so I can just sleep in and do nothing for a day.

The other day I was driving to the northern end of the country on the 6th Ring Road and saw how far they have come on constructing the new Kuwaiti National Stadium. It has a fabric roof that makes it look like a sombrero. Sort of like the stadium in Tampa Bay but with a roof.

The Kuwaitis say that they are trying to promote tourism and this is one of their steps. It will take more than this, A stadium without beer stands is just not going to attract a huge influx of fans. Then again, there are constant rumors that just any day they are going to begin restricted alcohol sales but I don't see it happening. The way that Islam is becoming more and more strident I can't see the Kuwaitis loosening up on those laws.

French Elections

2007-04-20T14:38:00.000+04:00

I normally could care less about French politics because it generally does not matter to me what the French think but this time I have taken a keen interest in the Presidential elections becuase of the things that two main candidates are saying. These two could not be more disparate and are even farther apart in ideologue than Bush and Kerry were 2 years ago.

Nicolas Sarokzy and Segolene Royal are the main candidates. Sarkozy is a little too far to the right for my tastes and Royal is your typical European Socialist. He is a Trans -Atlantic advocate (Pro-America) and she, of course, thinks that everything wrong in the world is the fault of American foriegn policy.

Her stance did not bother me too much until I listened to their closing speeches. He was leaning more toward concilliation with the center and she stated that she was not going to listen to the USA and that France should lead Europe on a course away from America.

OK baby. You get what you want. We don't need you and we damn sure don't need any more self important, bloated ego French Presidents mucking up the works like have been in power since Georges Pompeidou. You stay away from us and we will stay away from you. No tourism from me!

Vive SARKOZY!

For an American Blogger's perspective try French Election 2007

Raoul Wallenberg

2007-04-15T21:12:00.000+04:00

How many of you know who he is/was? I admit I did not know a great deal about him but I did know that he single handedly saved the lives of thousands of Hungarian Jews during WWII.

He was a Swedish diplomat who issued Swedish passports to anyone who could provide the flimsiest of detail that linked them to Scandanavia. The German and Hungarian authorities knew what he was doing but stayed silent as they needed Swedish iron ore and chrome. The Swedes knew what he was doing but stayed silent because they were reaping the benefits of an intelligentsia diaspora. The Russians knew about him too but they could do nothing as they were too far away; until 1945.

Raoul Wallenberg disappeared in 1945 when the Red Army took Budapest. What should have been a rescue and celebration turned into a mystery that has never really been solved. What happened to him? Was he shot? The Russians say he died of natural causes in the Lyubianka in 1947.

No matter what happened it is a travesty. It is a shame that such a good man was left behind. Such a shame that he is now almost forgotten everywhere except Israel and Hungary. I ran across the pics from a trip to Budapest in 2003. I was alone in the park and just thought and thought about what had happened in this cultured and cosmopolitan city. How short our memories are! How focused we are on the here and now! How shallow and trite we can be at times. I wonder who is a modern day Raoul Wallenberg. I'll bet that every day in Iraq there is some unsung person who risks their life for the benefit of others. Some one who does it not for any national, tribal, or religious reason. They do it because it is just "The right thing to do."

Some one still knows and cares. I found pebbles, candles and this yarmaluke. Jews will leave pebbles and stones on the graves or headstones of those they love or admire. I think I remember my good friend Maxwell telling me that it had to do with an ancient belief that you helped to keep the dead at rest because you replenished the earth.

There is a group dedicated to find those who deserve to be recognized. The Raoul Wallenberg Committee were founded not only to memorialize him, but to recognize those who are doing great things. They do this for love of man, no other reason.

Here is why I write this today. In all this mess where are the unsung heroes? I know they are there, you know they are there but you don't hear about them because if it bleeds it leads and good news is page 3 filler. Shame on the MSM for not looking for more Raoul Wallenbergs. Shame on us for almost forgetting him completely.

I wish that the MSM would turn all those powerful resources out to help us find the Raoul Wallenbergs out there. Maybe the fact that I still find him to be a pertinent, contemporary hero is my pebble to leave behind.

When the war is all said and done I will write a book. I have been thinking about this for a long time. I'm not the best writer and my personal story is not one of glory and hand to hand combat but it is a thinkers story. It will be a tedious plod through the detail and behind the scenes effort that it takes to support and wage modern war. It will also be the story of my search for Lava, Raoul Wallenberg, and the ever elusive beer.

It will also be about my long suffering family. It will be about my beautiful wife and her maddening efforts to run the family in an alien culture (Texas), my son who grows up without his daddy, my sister who quietly leads the clan, and my father who I share so much with and converse with so little. It will be a story of love.