Gooooood Morning Mesopotamia

The final few days at Besmaya

2007-07-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

My last couple of weeks at Besmaya Range were, relatively speaking, pretty quiet. We had completed the training of the second set of Iraqi Army battalions and they had departed for Baghdad. The highlights of my last few weeks included a last trip to the Zatia School, a couple of going away parties for me and the construction of the base camp for the US Army 3rd Brigade Combat team that would be moving to Besmaya as part of the surge.

Here are some pictures and commentary on my last few days in Iraq.

Thanks to all of you who posted comments, sent me emails and packages and offered your prayers. It was an amazingly challenging yet rewarding 10 months.

But it's good to be home.

Semper Fi,

David

Tha tha tha that's all folks!!

2007-07-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

This is my last night in Baghdad, before I started the long journey home. Abu Fahed is on the left and Mr. Namir, the head man at Almco, is on the right side of the picture. They're holding the letters of appreciation that I wrote for them, my last official act as OIC of Besmaya Range.

My friends from Almco, who made my last few days in Baghdad most enjoyable.
Abu Fahed, Namir, me, Tony and Dean.

Thanks guys!!

MOD and CMATT

2007-07-03T18:27:00.001-07:00

One of my last official acts was to stop by the Ministry of Defense and say goodbye to Maj. General Jassim. MG Jassim is the head of the M-7, or Training, Directorate in the MOD. He is Col Abbas' boss. Over the course of my time there I came to know him quite well. He was very supportive of our efforts at Besmaya.

Col Schmid, my boss (on the left) was graciously submitted me for an award. Here's the ceremony where I recieved my Bronze Star.

In Baghdad

2007-07-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

The US government, in all it's generosity, provides transient billeting in the Int'l Zone in the form of something called a "fest" tent, as in Festival. It's a very large tent that holds a hundred beds. Not much in the way of comfort or privacy. So, during my last few days in Baghdad I was the guest of my friends at Almco. Here I'm with Tony and some of the cooks. Instead of the not-so-festive tents, I had my own room and bath and their kitchen staff to cook and clean for me. I was tempted to stay a little longer!!

The fish is about to become something called "maz goof", at least that's how I would spell it. It's an Iraqi way of smoking the fish and is very tasty.

My dear friend Abu Fahed.

Maz goof in it's final form. Very tasty.

An honor from Col Abbas

2007-07-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

It probably won't happen again in my lifetime, but I now have a road named after me!! That's right, Col Abbas chose to honor me by naming one our roads after me. Route Blue, our main north/south road on base is now 'Inmon Road'. It was quite an honor.

I'll have to visit in a few years and see if my sign is still there. If Col Abbas has anything to do with it, I'm sure it will!!

Final Zatia Trip

2007-07-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

The team for the my last trip to the school in Zatia. We're quite a diverse group; Marines, Army, Air Force and Iraqi Army. The Air Force folks were from an engineering squadron called Redhorse. They're kind of like Navy Seabees. They build things. At Besmaya they were building the base camp for the incoming US Army brigade.

On the 26th of March I was able to make one last trip to the school at Zatia and see my "kids".

A special thanks to the friends of Jim Gavitt. His friends from Muscotah Kansas sent us boxes of goodies for the kids. Here they are. We appreciate your support.

This is the little girl who lost her parents to insurgents (she's in an earlier post). She's just so adorable.

It was great to see the kids one last time, but definitely bittersweet. I hope to be able to return someday and check on their progress. My replacements, LtCol Bill Redman and LtCol Jeff Tontini are carrying the torch and continue to support the outreach effort to the school and the communities around the base.

An Air Force Chaplain and an a AF medic help hand out school supplies the kids.

Good night Mesopotamia

2007-04-05T09:12:00.000-07:00

My friends, I have:
pulled chocks;
punched out;
popped smoke;
departed the pattern;
exfil'ed;
E and E'ed;
CSMO'ed (close station, march order, an artillery specific term to be sure)
and my personal fave, another term gleaned from my time with the US Amry:
"un-assed the AO" (area of operation);

Simply put, I've let Iraq. I'm in Kuwait now. My body armor is packed and my weapon has been returned to the armory. I feel kind of naked without it.

I'll be back in SD in about 72 hours. I've got some catching up to do on events that transpired the last few weeks in Iraq. I'll do that when I get on the ground in San Diego.

Until then, Semper Fi.

David

Random Pictures

2007-03-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

Here, in no particular order, are a few of my favorite pictures, of the over 1600 I've taken so far. (My mother-in-law would be so proud!)
The sunsets here can be spectacular.

I took this in early March of this year. I don't know why it came out so blue. The others I took at the same time are very red.

Roy update: Roy has a new friend, Henrietta. Get it?? "Hen"rietta? Yuk, Yuk. I couldn't resist.

He's in full on mating dance mode. His head turns blue. No comments from the peanut gallery, please!!

This picture was taken by Navy Petty Officer Alesandro Diaz. He joined us for our last trip to the school and took some great pictures. This is one of my personal favorites. The soldier is Master Sergeant David Fesko. MSG Fesko is my NCOIC (Non Commissioned Officer In Charge), a former Marine and a great American. I can't say enough good things about him.

This is such a classic photo. Do yourself a favor and put your mouse on this picture and click on it and view it full screen.

MSG Fesko at our first visit to the school.

"Mrs. Fesko, we regret to inform you that your husband has some new 'friends'".

On family and friends

2007-03-16T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's always easier to be the one that leaves than the ones that stay behind.

You've all be wonderfully supportive in your emails and cards and letters, extolling the virtues of my service and sacrifice. I thank you for that. I sincerely appreciate your thoughts and prayers and want you to know they mean a great deal to me, and to all those serving here.

Any one who's deployed like this will tell you that it's easier to go than to stay behind. Of course it is difficult to leave family and friends, but there is a sense of adventure and camaraderie and being part of something bigger than ones self that drives us forward. The families and close friends that stay behind face a particularly difficult challenge that is seldom noticed or acknowledged. They live each day in uncertainty and with no way to do anything about that uncertainty. I know how safe my base is. I also have the benefit of the best training in the world and the certain knowledge that I can, to a great degree, protect myself and my men. But no matter how many times I tell my wife or my Mom or sister or brother, they will worry about me.

Our families hear, regularly, comments and compliments about how brave we are and how they must be proud of us. What's often forgotten in the workaday world of everyday life is how difficult it is for our families. There's a certain silent suffering that goes on, I think. No one wants to say "yes, but what about me! I'm lonely and scared, too."

So, allow me a moment to acknowledge my wife, Rachel for her sacrifice and understanding during this long ten months. And my Mom, my sister Brenda and my brother Jack, and Martha Hower. Martha's husband Mike is one of my dearest friends, a fellow Marine Officer and has just returned from 12 months in Fallujah, his second trip there.

If you know the family of a service member serving here or in Afghanistan, thank them for their sacrifice. They're the real heroes in my opinion.

The little things....

2007-03-14T11:53:00.000-07:00

... do make a difference. Last week Col Abbas and I were summoned to see the Iraqi Army Minister of Defense. The equivalent in our government is the Secretary of Defense (the post formerly held by Donald Rumsfeld). For a Colonel to be called to the Minister's office is generally not a good thing. However, in this case, it was. It seems the sheiks from the local area got together and wrote a letter to the Minister, telling him about the work that Col Abbas and I are doing in the area. We made our way to the MOD (Ministry of Defense) building in the international zone (IZ) and proceeded to wait. For a very long time. We finally got to see the Minister at 3:30PM. It was, as you might imagine, a short meeting. He is, as you also might imagine, a very busy man. He did invite us to join him for lunch, which was a nice gesture since we missed lunch waiting for him and there's no place to get food in the MOD.

Col. Abbas is presenting a Besmaya Plaque to the Minister, Mr. Abdul-Qadar.

Me, the Minister of Defense and Col Abbas. The Minister has a very large and very nice office.

This picture was taken just after lunch. While I'm smiling, I was not feeling so well. As one of my favorite comic strip characters, Satchel Pooch from Get Fuzzy, would say, I was feeling kind of "growly in my bowely". When this was taken, at about 4:30 in the afternoon, I was about 45 minutes away from the onset of a particularly nasty case of food poisoning. I'm reminded of the time when Pres. Bush 41 threw up on the Japanese Prime Minister. Fortunately I made it out of the Minister's office without embarrassing myself or causing an international incident.

Some real "on the street" info

2007-03-07T12:34:00.000-08:00

Enough of my second hand info.
Go to www.iraqthemodel.com and get some real insight into what's happening on the streets of Baghdad. The guys who write this blog have been doing it since just after the war. They've been published in the Wall Street Journal and are in there today. It's pretty exciting stuff, and the troop surge is just getting started. We've pushed about three thousand Iraqi army soldiers through pre-deployment training in the last 25 days. By the end of May, there will have been another 4000 soldiers pass through here on their way to Baghdad.

In addition to the Iraqi soldiers training here before going to Baghdad, I learned recently that Besmaya is going to be the temporary home of one of the US combat brigades moving into Iraq. This is good news on many fronts. My soldiers and Marines will get mail on a more regular basis and we'll have access to some of the amenities that we've not had for the last 9 months. The brigade will consist of about 3,000 soldiers, so there will be a small PX (military version of a Target-type general merchandise store) and we may even get a pizza place and a Green Bean Coffee stand. Life will be good. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad now, but some diversity will be nice. (All this talk of food is making me hungry!).

In addition to the selfish benefits, the additional combat power will make a big difference in the area. More boots on the ground, and boots that stay for a while, make a difference. One of the most significant differences is the ability to disrupt the command and control of the bad guys. To be effective, the insurgency must be able to pass information and supplies to it's various field soldiers. When the leaders can't communicate, the soldiers fall into disarray. They either give up and get jobs or they do something stupid and get caught or killed. Either way, as long as they aren't planting bombs or shooting at guys.

Another significant and not-to-be-underestimated impact is relationship building. If you work the same roads and villages for a while, you get to know who the leaders and residents are, and more importantly, they get to know you. Once that trust begins to grow, information follows. Most Iraqis want a peaceful and prosperous country. One of the main points the sheiks wanted us to get was that they weren't bad guys, and they didn't want us to judge all of them if there were some bad guys in their villages.

I'll be leaving around the time the main body arrives, so I won't get to see the full effects, but I'm still excited they're coming to "my" base (Besmaya will always be "my" base) and that we've been able to support their advance elements as they construct the base.

DI

The Baghdad Update

2007-03-05T10:24:00.000-08:00

About a week ago, one of Col Abbas' guards, Akram, gave me an unsolicited update on the situation in Baghdad. As I was walking in the checkpoint that leads to my compound, Akram was there. He was just back from his leave. After welcoming him back, he said, in his broken English: "Sir, Baghdad so good, so good." Then, while making a motion with his hands like he was washing them clean, he said "Militia, gone, Osama gone, Al Qaeda gone. Police checkpoint, so good". He then pantomimed being searched and indicated the checkpoints were doing there job. Admittedly a sample of one from a 19 year old kid. But a data point none the less.

I've just this evening returned from the IZ (International Zone, often referred to as the Green Zone by the popular press, as opposed the Red Zone, which is outside the wire). I've had the chance to become friends with the owners of one of the largest contractors in Iraq. This company has almost 5000 employees now. The owners are all Iraqis who've lived in America or England at some point. These guys definitely have their finger on the pulse of things as they have multiple projects all over the greater Baghdad area. I asked them how things were in Baghdad. I got a similar answer. Things are much better. The daily body count has definitely dropped. Iraqi and Coalition forces are running operations every night. The rats appear to have abandoned the ship, at least for now.

Admittedly, this information is second hand. I'm not on the streets of Baghdad, so I haven't seen this with my own eyes. And yes, there was a big bomb at book market area today so things aren't exactly peachy.

The long term solution is, of course, political. The prime minister must exercise leadership and enforce the laws of the land fairly and evenly. Thus far he hasn't done that. He must demand that the militias disarm and at the same time ensure his police force and judicial system are obeying the rule of law. That's not happening yet either. The police force is still rampant with militia. The military is better, but is plagued by corruption. It's endemic and part of the culture. There is no sense of moral outrage when a Division or Brigade Commander steals clothing, food or equipment from his soldiers to sell and keep the money. Senior leaders in the Ministry of Defense have stolen hundreds of millions of dollars. It is very difficult to explain the cultural, tribal and societal influences that are at play here. You can't even begin to understand them unless you've been here. It's so completely out of context from anything we know in America.

Having said that, it appears the Prime Minister is moving in the direction of playing with a more even hand. He's announced a shakeup of his cabinet, a much needed adjustment. Here's an example of why: Muqtada al Sadr's political party have a number of seats in Parliament. That entitles them to some Ministry seats. So now the Sadrist run the Min. of Health. And it is hopelessly dysfunctional. Naturally, they put all their own people in key positions, not because of competence, but because of who they are. They also have used the hospitals has places to kill their opponents. They clearly haven't embraced the Hippocratic Oath!! Time will tell if Maliki (the PM) will do the right thing. He's getting a tremendous amount of pressure from the US and we do still have some leverage with him.

Enough idle rambling for now. More soon.

Sheik, Rattle and Roll

2007-03-01T09:43:00.000-08:00

Word about our efforts at Zatia has gotten out and some the sheiks had been asking Col Abbas about getting some help for their towns. Myself and Col Abbas thought it would be a good idea to invite some of the local leaders to have lunch. It was a very interesting and rewarding experience. We invited the 'sheiks' or village elders from the villages around Besmaya. Our intent was to tell them what's going on here and to let them know that we want to work with them and partner with them to help their villages. Not surprisingly, the main topics of concern for them was security and jobs. They were concerned that a few bad guys would lead us to believe that all of them were bad.

The sheiks.
Lamb, again? Indeed. I've eaten more lamb and drank more tea in the last nine months than any other time in my life. Arabs, for the most part, eat with their hands. Col Abbas and his staff have learned that we prefer utensils and respect our desires.

The Village Elders. (My original line here was "The Village People", but I couldn't quite pull that joke together).

All politics is local and this is the most local kind. One of things I like about Arab culture is the focus on relationships. Sitting and visiting and having chai is very important. We Americans tend to rush past that and want to get right to the point.

LtCol Bill Redman and I making friends.

Besmaya makes the news!!

2007-02-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

We're making the news!! This article was written by a Bill Ickes from AFP (Agence France Press). He did a credible job but got a few facts wrong. BRC is 220 square kilometers, not miles.

Enjoy.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/20022007/323/s-ready-baghdad-iraqi-troops-train-war.html

Zatia: Day Two

2007-02-28T11:20:00.000-08:00

Day two of our trip was a clinic for adults as well as children. The day dawned clear and bright, thank goodness. It would have been a real mess had it been raining. Col Abbas sent out some of soldiers early in the morning with fliers to let the local villages know about our clinic. We couldn't pass the word too early for fear of attracting bad guys. But not letting people know what we were doing reduces our outreach. I'm learning some real grassroots lessons about the role of government. Basic security is paramount, followed by the provision of basic services like health care, clean water and roads. Simple, but very difficult.

The Civil Affairs team with us was a big help. They've had lots of experience with this sort of thing. We got organized early and had Col Abbas address the folks about what we were doing and what to expect.

Little boys are the same the world over: hyperactive, mischievous little knuckleheads that you just can't help but like.

Just behind me and to the left in the picture is the Zatia Mall. It ain't the Mall of America I assure you.

This is one of the shops in the "mall" near the school.

Equal press for the girls of the village.

Mothers around the world are also the same: they want what's best for their kids. These ladies were a bit on the aggressive side earlier in the morning fearing they wouldn't get their kids seen. Maj Jaffer, Col Abbas' number two officer, was dealing with the ladies trying to keep them in control. They were wearing him out!!

My new buddy Akeel.

Another great day. The joy of helping is tempered by the knowledge that there was a lot we couldn't do. A father brought his adult son who appeared to be suffering from some mental health and/or development issues. His father clearly cared a great deal for the son and wanted to get him some help. We simply didn't have the resources for that kind of problem. One quickly learn to take the wins you can get and drive on.

Zatia Visit: Day One

2007-02-25T05:19:00.000-08:00

Our efforts to help the little school in Zatia have grown over the last few months. We've received an outpouring of support and all manner of goodies to give to our kids. The contractor who did some work on base offered to help with some work at the school. We had another mission yesterday and today. LtCol Jimmy Phillips, the commanding officer of 3/61 Cavalry Squadron, generously offered his squadron doctor, PA, and medics, along with his civil affairs team. We also had Chaplain Joel Jenkins and his assistant, SSG Bennet along with the MNSTC-I Public Affairs Officer. Our plan was to do our usual visit to the school on Thursday, except this time we were going to also have a picnic and play soccer and basketball with the kids. Friday was to be an adult medical clinic day.

The best laid plans of mice and men.......

Thursday morning: The trucks are loaded, the convoy is ready, my team worked late into the night to make 300 sandwiches. We're ready. Literally, as we're driving out of the compound, Col Abbas mentions that there are no kids at the school. "Excuse me?" "My brother, the Prime Minister declared a holiday. All the schools are closed". It seems they're not a strict with their holiday schedule as one might hope.

Great. I now have a convoy of 10 vehicles and 40 some people with lots of soccer balls and food. "No problem, my brother. I will take care of it" he says. And he did. Two radio calls later, the situation is in control. Sort of. He passed the word to have the kids in the village come to the school. OK, we can work with that. But there are no teachers to keep control. So what we had was most everyone from the village, including some "students" with facial hair, in line to get food and see the doctor. Did I mention it rained? It did. We had a hundred or more folks in a very small space clamoring for food, goodies and medical attention.

But in the spirit of things, my team and our visitors rose to the occasion. Everyone was fed, everyone who wanted to saw a doctor and we gave out lots of soccer balls, backpacks and other goodies.

Here I am with Col Abbas, Master Sergeant David Fesko, my right hand man and some of our little friends. I'm proudly displaying the flag of the Rotary Club of La Jolla, CA. They've generously supported me and the school.

My wife sent me some great little toys, including a soft plastic ring with a flashing light in it. I only had a few so I gave them out selectively otherwise I would have been mobbed!

A little "Tootsie Roll Diplomacy" with some of the "older" students.

A special thanks to Steve Hubbard, Rotary Club of San Diego and veteran of the US Army. He sends me some of the best jerky I've had and packs it with Tootsie Rolls. They come in quite handy. Thanks Steve!!

Myself, Abu Fiad and Chaplain (COL) Joel Jenkins. Abu Faid has become a dear friend. His company, Almco, built the battalion base camp for me on Besmaya. They did excellent work. He's a great man working hard for the future of Iraq.

"Abu Faid" is an Arab title of respect that means "father of Fiad". Fiad is his first born. His real name is Salam al Akabi. Col Abbas is Abu Abdulah.

We didn't solve every problem and didn't feed everyone in the village, but we did some good. Every one agreed it was a successful mission.

Catching up.

2007-02-21T13:47:00.000-08:00

Things have been hopping at Besmaya lately. Hence my absence from the blogosphere. Let's do a quick review of the last few weeks.

The big event around here is the troop surge into Baghdad. Big news back there as well. I'm particularly pleased to see the House of Representatives so judiciously using their time and energy. But I digress.

As you may recall, we're a big part of the training piece for this surge. We were tasked with building a base camp for two battalions of Iraqi soldiers and putting together a training plan. We built the camp in about 75 days and we also had the plan ready. We thought we were ready, anyway.

The first battalion arrived 24 hours early. No problem, we're flexible. We got them in an bedded down. 36 hours later the next battalion arrived. We went from ~500 at Besmaya to 2300 in 36 hours. Yee haw!! Let the games begin.

In addition to that, we also had a company of tanks arrive to train. Its an Iraqi tank unit. They use T 55 tanks, old Soviet era beasts. I have some pictures to share later. As a Lt., we trained to ID and shoot artillery at these things. Now I'm training Iraqis to shoot them. And naturally, when tanks arrive here it rains.

And just to make life interesting, we've been picked as a site to house one of the new US units coming to Iraq. We'll have a large number of US soldiers here very soon. The base camp construction starts in a few days.

Oh, did I mention the VIP visits? It appears that we've been "discovered'. We've had Iraqi general officers here 3 of the last four days. And not just some flunky one stars. We're big time now. First up was the commander of all Iraqi ground forces, three stars. Today we had the commander of the Baghdad security plan, also a three star. And two days ago, the big dude visited. General Babiker, the Chief of Staff of the Iraqi Army, THE senior guy was here. He was very impressed with Col Abbas, Besmaya Range and the training we're doing here.
We also had my boss, Brig. General Wolff. And another US one star and a British two star. I think there was another Brit one star but I've bloody well lost track by now.

Here's the bottom line: Iraqi soldiers, who will be fighting in Baghdad soon, are getting trained here. It's not perfect, and not up to our standards, but they're firing their weapons and learning some tactics and no one has been injured or killed. My team has been amazing. Col Abbas is very short of officers, so my team picks up a lot of the slack. I'm so proud and so humbled to serve with these great Americans. They are consummate professionals and I've been blessed beyond measure to serve with them.

There are so many stories and anecdotes I wish I had time to share. Some of it is impossible to capture, it's so contextual. We have a standard joke when we see something that makes us scratch our heads: "you couldn't write this stuff if you tried". I'll try, but right now, I'm going to do some operational checks on my new bed. I forget to mention that in all this, our new furniture finally arrived. We all have new beds, desks and wardrobes.

Tomorrow, we go back to Zatia and the school kids. The battalions leave tomorrow as well.
A few days of resetting and we start again soon, hopefully wiser and more well prepared.

David

The "Mission"

2007-02-01T10:59:00.000-08:00

Arabs in general are very social people. They place a great deal of value on social interaction and time spent with family and friends. Col Abbas is very much that way with us. Any time I go into his office he stands for me and says "have you seat, my brother", and immediately yells at his house boy to "jeeb chai", which means bring tea. During one of my first visits he also served watermelon. I mentioned that I really like watermelon. From that point forward, every time I went into his office it was "jeeb chia, jeeb regee". "Regee", as you probably guessed, is watermelon. I ate a lot of very good watermelon this summer.

Upon my arrival I learned that one of my official duties was dinner with the Col. every night. Yikes!! I don't even like having dinner wtih myself every night, I thought, much less some Iraqi I just met who also smokes Gauliouse cigarettes like a chimney. And it was at 7:30. Much later than I cared for. But I didn't want to offend him so I pressed forward.

Somehow this evening meal came to be known as "the mission". It includes all of the senior Coalition staff.

One cardinal rule of Arab culture is to never let your guest be hungry. Consequently, the mission features copious quanities of chow, every meal. After about two weeks of this nightly gorging, we couldn't take it anymore. I went to Col Abbas and said we've got to cut this back to a couple nights a week. He was very gracious, but a little hurt I think. A small price to pay to avoid gaining 30 pounds. He is the single biggest fan of the US in Iraq and wants to do everything in his power to make sure we're happy and safe. He loves America and what we've done for his country. I wish you could spend a little time with him and get a sense of how much he appreciates what we've done for him, his family, his soldiers and his country.

During the summer months, we would take our fruit and chai and repair to the veranda (some plastic tables set up outside) to enjoy the spectacular night sky and some fresh air. It also allowed Col Abbas to smoke his Gauloises with abandon.

Here's a picture of our most recent mission. The table is always, literally, piled with food. We quickly figured out the cleaning our plates was mission impossiblej (no pun intended). We also figured out that the guards at the checkpoint nearby eat pretty well on mission nights.

One of the local delicacies is a fish call "booknee". That's how I pronounce it anyway. I'm not much of fish eater, but "booknee" surprisingly good. Booknee is prepared by splitting the fish from lips to tail fin, cleaning out the innards and throwing him in the oven. It arrives on the table with head, gills, and fins intact. A bit disturbing at first, I confess. But after a while I got over it.

Col Abbas always wants to insure that we are well taken care of and are comfortable. He's very quick to offer Iraqi remedies. Early on I was having a touch of what we call the "Besmaya Blues", a stomach flu. Col Abbas was very excited to offer me an Iraqi remedy to settle my stomach. He couldn't quite get the English word (he speaks good English) for what he wanted to give me. After some back and forth I was able to discern that it had something to do with a camel. Rest assured, at that moment, chicken soup was a stretch for my tender tummy. ANY camel byproduct was not in the cards. After some further discussion we figured out that he was trying to offer me camel's buttermilk. "It's so good for you, my brother". Needless to say I passed.

I did, in fact, try the camels buttermilk at a later date. I don't like buttermilk anyway some I'm not a good judge. It wasn't awful, but it was very sour. We know have a running joke about camels buttermilk.

The Mission has become a source of great fun and camaraderie for us. We watch a little Arabic MTV (some pretty racy videos, I might add) and chat about lots stuff. At the end of each meal, we have more chai and visit a while longer. It's a nice way to end the day.

A view from the front

2007-01-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

I've learned a new term from my Army brethren: BLUF. It stands for Bottom Line Up Front. Here's mine:

The presidents plan has a chance to work.
We are, in fact, engaged in the ideological struggle of our generation.
We CANNOT afford to lose this fight and let Iraq slip into chaos.

First, some background. In the military we talk about the "tooth to tail" ratio. That is, the number of trigger pullers compared to the number of people to support them. The average is a 3 to 10 ratio. For every trigger puller there are 3.3 people supporting him. That includes the pilots and admin staff and, in this case, advisers like me. So, of the approximately 140,00 people we have in Iraq, a little over 40,000 of them are shooters.

Perhaps some perspective would be helpful. Any one care to venture a guess on how many cops there are in New York City? Anyone, Bueller, Anyone??* Would you believe over 37,000? That's right kids, NYPD has almost as many cops as we have combat troops in Iraq. Adding 20,000 more combat troops to central Iraq will substantially increase the number of shooters on the street. Of that 20k, there will still be some dilution of course, but the impact will be significant.

I know for a fact, because I've talked to Iraqis who live in Baghdad, that when the Americans arrive they breath a little easier. When some of the guys who work here call home and their wives tell them that the military is in the neighborhood, they ask "which military?" If it's us, the say "don't worry, you'll be OK".

The New Iraqi Army (IA) is a work in process. It is a force that is less than three years old. And while not as bad as the police force, it's had it's fair share of corruption and abuse. When we disbanded the old Iraqi Army, we lost the structure and process and the institutional knowledge. When we began recruiting for the New IA, the Americans here at the time had little knowledge of who was who and who was telling the truth about their experience or past rank. It was, as you might imagine, a bit chaotic.

Sidebar: Col Abbas, the Iraqi I work with and mentor, was the very first officer in the new Iraqi Army and he's very proud of that. Do a Google search of "Col Abbas" and you can learn more about him. I'll share my thoughts about him in a later post.

Another axiom of military thought is: amateurs talk tactics, professionals talk logistics. The most brilliant tactical plan will come to a grinding halt if you run out of fuel, bullets or food. One of great but perhaps unrecognized strengths of our force is logistics. Our logisticians are among the best in the world. We have fleets of cargo aircraft and ships and trucks and helicopters. The IA has none of that. Almost all of their combat support is provided by us. It is unrealistic and naive in the first order to think that after only three years they can sustain themselves. It would have been a difficult job to build this army had there been no insurgency. With the insurgency, it is doubly so.

Progress is being made. The main part of the force has been created. The service support element of the Iraqi Army is coming together now. The folks I work with at CMATT are working very hard to get new soldiers trained and to establish and transition the schools and support infrastructure required to run an army. Here at Besmaya, my Iraqis are now able to get their radios and vehicles repaired using Iraqi repair facilities. Sounds simple enough, but even the simple is difficult here.

I'll expand on my BLUF in the next few days.

* "Anyone, Bueller, Anyone". Another of my arcane pop culture references. This from the mid 80's classic "Ferris Buellers Day Off".

The "knife"

2007-01-29T07:04:00.000-08:00

We made another trip to the marsh recently. We've had some new guys arrive recently and I wanted to show them some of the charms of Besmaya.
But you've already seen the marsh. The reason I posted this pic to draw your attention the knife on the left side of my vest (right as you're looking at the picture). This knife was custom made for me by my good friend Josh States from Phoenix, AZ.

Here's a close up of this fine piece of work.

Josh, thank you for this wonderful gift. You are a true craftsman. I've received many compliments and am proud to wear your knife.

A comment about "comments"

2007-01-24T10:02:00.000-08:00

I very much appreciate your comments. I have a couple of requests for you: If we've not met, please give some idea who you are. If you would like a private response from me, feel free to send me an email at david.inmon@gmail.com. Don't forget that my comments are available for anyone to see.

David

A little piece of history

2007-01-21T09:51:00.000-08:00

Although we do work pretty hard here, some of the work can be pretty cool, particularly if you like guns!!

A couple of days ago we shot a .30 caliber machine gun. This a relic from a Sherman tank. The range guys salvaged it from a group of weapons brought here by EOD (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) to be destroyed. I don't have any idea how a machine gun from a Sherman tank wound up in Iraq. One of those things that make you go "hmmmmmm".

I realize there's no ammo in the feed tray. This is my "smile for the camera" shot.

We also get to shoot some foreign weapons. I carry an AK 47 rifle. We got a change to shoot RPGs (rocket propelled grenades) recently. This is a Soviet era antitank weapon that's a favorite with third world countries and terrorists.

This is the most ergonomically incorrect weapon imaginable. The trigger is forward of the support handle. Notice my right hand is forward and my left is behind, close to my shoulder. And once you put in the warhead it's very unbalanced.

It's also astonishingly loud. There's no kick to speak of, but the overpressure when the rocket motor fires and the sound is stunning.

We had to have a little fun.

Here's my "Jihadist Dave" pose.

That's a dummy warhead, by the way.

One of my more creative guys used an RPG with this training round as our Christmas tree. He decorated and it looked quite good.

2007-01-21T08:50:00.000-08:00

Here are our RPG Christmas trees.

I suspect this was wrong on some level, but I had to admire his initiative and creative use of available resources.

The Bemsaya Range Drive-in Theater

2007-01-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

Today, it was windy. Not just a little breeze, mind you, but some serious WIND!!!

Here's Roy (that's what we call him) on one of his fave perches. You can't really tell but the swing was swinging and his feathers were a bit ruffled.

Roy, by the way, has taken over the inner camp. He struts around, gobbling and flapping his wings, going pretty much where ever he chooses. He seems convinced he's in charge.

A ruffled turkey not enough to convince you of a wind storm, huh?

Alrighty, then.

Remember the CAS site I mentioned earlier? Feel free to go back and click on the overhead picture for a "before" look. Look for the "V" shaped structure at the top of the picture.

Here's what it looked like this afternoon around 1400 (that's 2:00PM for you non military types). We'll be starting a midnight showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" this weekend!
The question you're asking yourself right now is "why in the heck did someone use a wing shaped structure for a sun shade in an area that regularly sees 50-60 MPH winds"? That would be an excellent question!! Particularly considering this is the second time this has happened in the last 4 months. In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that it fell the other direction the first time.

"Luuuu seeeee, you go some splainin' to do". *

Lucy, in this case, is the US Army Corps if Engineers, the boneheads who accepted this site in the first place, with all its problems.

After the first time, the contractor said "we'll use more and bigger bolts. You won't have any more problems." Got it.

The bolts actually didn't fail. The concrete did.

Here neither bolt nor concrete failed. In this age old battle of unstoppable force against immovable object, the unstoppable force won.

So that's what happened today.

* I feel compelled to "splain" my rather arcane pop culture reference, particularly for my under 40 readers. Lucy, in this case, is Lucille Ball, the brilliant comedian of the golden age of TV. On her TV show, her husband, Ricky Ricardo was a nice Cuban boy. (He was Cuban in real life and her husband). One of his signature phrases was "Lucy, you've got some explaining to do" after she got into yet another jam. The phrase was said with his Cuban accent. Hence ,"Luuuuu seeeee, you got some splainin' to do".

That's all folks!

David

I'm OK

2007-01-21T08:27:00.000-08:00

I was not on the helicopter that went down. I know nothing more about it than what I've read in the news.

My life as "Advisor"

2007-01-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what it's "really" like to be an advisor to the Iraqi Army? No? I'm shocked!! :-)

But this comic captures it pretty well. On more than one occasion I'd thought I'd really made a connection only to realize later that either they didn't understand me or just ignored me. I'm never sure which it is. I've now worked with Col Abbas long enough that I can tell when he doesn't know what I'm talking about. He's smile and say 'yes', or 'yeah'. That means "I have no idea what you just said but I'm not going to be so rude as to ask you to repeat yourself". This place is great fun.

Comic credit: This is from a strip called "Get Fuzzy". It's one of my personal favorites. The writer is Darby Conley and he's brillant.

A Day in the Life

2007-01-15T11:59:00.000-08:00

There is no "normal" day here. It's an ongoing evolution of challenges associated with a growing installation. Our daily experiences range from the sublime to the ridiculous. For example: One of the projects I've been working on is opening a new school site. The school is for new infantry officers. It was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers via a subcontractor. My job, along with Col Abbas has been to prepare the site for the school staff that would run the place.

Here's a view of the site.

Sidebar: This is very important school. This is where new Iraqi Army lieutenants, infantry officers, will be trained after they graduate from the military academies and before they go to their field units. My counterpart, LTC Allan Elliott, US Army, and his team have done a fabulous job of getting this school up and running. He'll begin teaching the third class in about a week. This next class will be the first one where the new officers come directly from the academies to here. It will also be our biggest class, with over 150 students. This school is important for a couple of reasons. It's the first in a series of professional development schools for officers. The really important thing, however, is that we're training and influencing an entire generation of officers. These lieutenants will go on to be the leaders of the Iraqi Army and the government. Hopefully the training they receive here will serve them well and create a generation of friends for the US in the coming years.
End sidebar.

The buildings sat empty for about 4 months. We finally started turning them on in December, finding many problems. We don't have a Home Depot down the street, nor do we have easy access to qualified plumbers and electricians. We managed to get the subcontractor to make many of the repairs and some of my local guys also helped. However, we reached a point a few days ago where everyone was busy and some things needed to get done. So, being a farm boy from Oklahoma, I took matters into my own hands. I, along with Marine LtCol Bill Redman (my eventual replacement), armed with two screw drivers and a couple of Leathermans, proceeded to test water pumps and plumbing.

My Iraqi brothers have some different ways of doing things. You've heard the old adage that necessity is the mother of invention. It's well in evidence here. The last 15 years have been difficult but they've found ways to overcome the challenges of not having access to a lot of things we take for granted (like electric plugs). Some of them are very scary. A favorite of mine is their rather cavalier attitude when working with electricity. Plugs are optional. Bare wires in sockets are perfectly acceptable.

So, when in Rome!!!!

Look closely and you'll see that I've got my a small screw driver from my Leatherman inserted in this outlet to hold down the spring loaded inside cover as I ever so gingerly insert the bare electric wires. The look on my face is not the look of guy get 22o volts. It's just a goofy grin.

Bill was smart enough to keep his face out of the picture. And he wore gloves.

But we "got'er done" as my Okie friends might say!!

At one point we both stopped and looked at each and I said,
"you know, there's something comical about two Marine LtCols wondering around doing repair work and inspecting toilets". We found it pretty funny, although you may not find it a humorous as we did. Kind of had to be there I suppose.

About Bill: he's an active duty Marine infantry officer that got assigned to this individual augmentee billet. He arrived on time, but I had extended so we're overlapping. He's been a great asset and has become a good friend. He's 6'5" and has a deep voice. When I first talked to him on the phone I was a little concerned that I might have a very uptight, hardass Marine on my hands. Turns out he's got a great, dry, sense of humor. He cracks me up on a regular basis.

There's no end to the things that make us scratch our heads. I used to get pretty agitated about some of things I saw. I came to realize over time that even though their "way" was probably not correct and likely unsafe, it worked for them. I've learned to know when and how to provide guidance and mentoring and when to let them do things their way. I think it's been an educational experience for both of us.

David

I told you it was wet!!

2007-01-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

And you didn't believe me!

We had almost two days rain, and there's no place for it to go.

This an Army Bradley fighting vehicle. These lads were staying at base conducting an operation to our north east. They were very successful in rolling up some bad guys. More on that later.

This is "Lake Besmaya". This is inside my LSA. Most of this water is still there three days after the rain stopped. It least it's not snowing.

Comments

2007-01-14T13:19:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to comment on something I've said, I'd love to hear from you. At the end of each post is a link to a "comments" section. Put your mouse of the word "comment" and click and there you have it.

David

What's "REALLY" Going on in Iraq

2007-01-13T12:37:00.000-08:00

It's time to delve in to politics and world affairs. But first, a weather update: it's raining a the range! We had a full day of rain yesterday and it is wet and mucky. The water doesn't have any place to go and the ground becomes like clay when it's wet. But it's still better than 120 degrees.

And now, back to "The World According to Dave".

I've read the President's speech. I've given this subject a great deal of thought and I'm inclined to agree with his approach. I only see a small piece of this puzzle so please take my comments in that context. The equation is simple: provide security in Baghdad, restore and expand essential services, (get the water and power flowing, pick up the trash and open the schools and hospitals), and spend money to create jobs and rebuild infrastructure. Every thing flows from security. Like I said, simple.

However the good stuff will only flow from a secure environment if the government makes an honest attempt to treat everyone the same. That hasn't happened so far. Maliki hasn't shown the will or desire to stop the Shia death squads or to reign in Muqtada (the "radical" Shia cleric we should have arrested in 2003). I've heard a number of stories, albeit anecdotal, of US troops being limited in what they can do. It's also a well known fact that the police force is riddled with Shia militia. The Army, while better, also has it's unsavory characters.

This army has only been together for less than three years, and it's very unlike our army. Most all of the officers and many of the NCO's (mid level enlisted leaders) came from the old Iraqi army. The NCO corps is poorly trained and not given much responsibility. Many soldiers are good people. Some are lazy, shiftless, stupid, corrupt, or all of the above. If a soldier joins the Army and after 6 months decides he wants to go home, he just tells his boss and leaves. There's no punishment or recourse. They also work an odd schedule which works out to 20 days on and 10 days off. It makes scheduling a real challenge because at any given time a third of the force is on vacation. The army is still not well equipped and is not yet in a position to support itself logistically. Just getting fuel for vehicles and generators is a real challenge. It continues to amaze me that a country awash in oil can have a fuel shortage, but it's the result of a lack of refining capacity, which is a result of Saddam not spending any money on infrastructure, and the bad guys blowing up stuff. But I digress.

I work with a number of Iraqi civilians. Many of them live in Baghdad and it's not a pretty picture they paint. The one constant is this: when the American Army arrives, everyone breaths a sigh of relief. We're the honest brokers in town. When our guys and girls are there, the rats go back in their holes and life returns to a semblance of normalcy, at least for awhile. The strategy of clear and hold makes good sense. It's definitely something we can do.

This is, however, a political problem. The Maliki government must be committed to a democratic Iraq where everyone is treated fairly under the law. We'll have to wait and see if that happens.

Earlier in the year I advocated a very large troop increase, on the order of 150,000. Upon further review, I'm modifying my position. A troop increase that large would be tantamount to a re-invasion of the country, not necessarily a good idea at this point. This does beg the question of the execution of this campaign. I have, from the beginning, felt that we had way too few troops and that we've rushed the turn over of control. It seems that as a country, we're not comfortable with being a superpower and using that strength for the greater good. If we had proceeded more slowly to rebuild the military, police and government, would they have been more functional organizations? Methinks they would have. I also think the President underestimated the willingness of the American people, of you, to understand and support what needed to be done here. He failed to explain what was needed and to ask you for your support. We should have maintained control longer and turned over the government more slowly, when security was more assured.

As I've spoken to the Iraqis who work here, they've consistently indicated that their country was not quite ready for democracy on the time table we had. They are fans of a democratic government for sure, but felt that the citizens were not ready for the complexity and confusion of democracy. We've had a long history with democracy and still don't always get it right. Keep in mind that many of the people here have only known a life with Saddam Hussein. Even the older folks don't have any real experience with a democratic system. Saddam also kept many of the Shia illiterate so a large part of the population can't read. Makes it hard to understand the political process and ballots!

Regardless of the size of the troop deployment, one thing is certain: the Army and Marine Corps must increase in size. We don't have enough people in uniform to protect our vital interests as we engage in World War IV, the long war against the stateless nation of radical Islam.

I'd love to hear your comments. Please let me know what you think.

David

The Besmaya "Animal Farm"

2007-01-09T06:50:00.000-08:00

Let's flash back to Thanksgiving, but not for the reasons you might think. There was some question as to whether we'd get our Thanksgiving meal delivered on time. (We did.) One of my interpreters heard about our dilemma and offered to bring us a turkey. I thanked him for his offer and assured him we had the situation well in hand. Being the nice fellow that he is, he brought us a turkey anyway.

Of course, this particular turkey was not quite ready for the dinner table!! Yes folks, we now have a live turkey at Besmaya!! This is Lt Hopkins and "Chicago" delivering the turkey to my door on Thanksgiving morning.

Myself and Col Abbas discussed the matter and decided to grant the young tom a pardon. Here's the pardon ceremony. Col Abbas is checking the bird's neck size in case we have to rescind said pardon. He was a bit on the scrawy side anyway. (The turkey, not Col Abbas.)

The other men in the picture are some of Col Abbas' officers.

We weren't entirely sure what to do with a live turkey. After a day or two of the turkey living on a short leash, we decided to let him roam the inner camp. There's only one way in and out, so we informed our crack Iraqi Army guards to keep him contained. One of our medics feeds him daily. He's putting on weight and getting quite full of himself, to be perfectly frank. He struts around like he owns the place. I suspect the pardon may not last thru the next holiday season!

We have a couple of cats who live with us too. They were born back in July. The medic has also adopted the kitties and has just about got them tamed.

The picture at left is an example of a little "feline detente". The turkey and the cats have reached an uneasy truce. The next few minutes after I took this picture, the turkey jumped down chased the cat off the lower bench. The cat jumped on the table in the rear. Tom the Turkey followed and the cat jumped on the top of the near bench. This slow motion chase scene continued for a 3-4 minutes and was quite entertaining.

The turkey provides me no end of entertainment. It just so bloody random to have turkey running loose. He hangs out just outside my office. Every time I here him gobbling it makes me laugh.

I promise to delve in to some of the more serious topics soon, but I thought you might enjoy a bit of the whimsy of this place.

David

2007-01-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

An admin note: My "How I got here" post is out of sequence. It got posted at the bottom of the blog so you'll need to scroll all the way down to read it. Sorry for any confusion.
David

About Besmaya Range

2007-01-07T07:11:00.000-08:00

Now that you know a little about how I got here, let's talk a little about what "here" is. Besmaya is a training range. The base itself is about 85 square miles total, roughly in a square. We train soldiers here. We have 15 ranges where a variety of weapons can be used, everything from a 9MM pistol to a tank main gun to helicopter missiles. The ranges and facilities have been built over the past three years by US Army units and a civilian contractor, MPRI. The range is now controlled by the Iraqi army. The Commander is Col Abbas, whom you've already met. He has about 350 soldiers working for him. They are the guard force for the base, run the logistics operations and run some of the courses here. MPRI has done a great job. Everyone who visits is very impressed with the quality and quantity of training opportunities here.

This is the LSA, or Life Support Area, our base camp. It's about 500 meters by 1000 meters. This was taken from a helo as we approached. The view is looking northeast.

A little closer view. See the area along the left edge that appears to have a wall around it. That's the inner perimeter where myself, my soldiers and the US contractors live.

Power comes from our generators, all water is trucked in. No running water in our quarters, but we do have decent showers. Until about 3 months ago all toilets were plastic portajohns. Trust me when I say that 120 degree temps (or the 40's we're having now) will cut into your reading time!!

This is a view from the very northern edge of the base looking due east. It's a flat barren place.

Except for the.........

marsh!! No kidding! We have a marsh on our eastern boundary. It's a really amazing place. It's so completely different from the rest of the base. In the summer, when this photo was taken, it recedes. Starting in October, it starts growing again. It's got fish and thousands upon thousands of all variety of birds. This picture was taken through the windscreen of a Russian Hip helicopter being flown by an Iraqi General. Really.

This is the marsh in late September. I couldn't get back to this place now without a boat.

We like the marsh, not only because it's a really beautiful place, but it's also a great natural barrier. Unless the bad guys are preparing an amphibious raid, we're pretty safe from the east.

So that's where I am. One of the great side benefits is the night sky. There's no ambient light here and we keep the LSA as dark as possible, so the stars are spectacular.

Next up: "What" am I doing and why.

Christmas in Iraq, Besmaya Style

2007-01-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

Finally, I'm entering the world of blogging. Sorry it's taken me so long. We'll have to play a little catch up. But first: What do you do for Christmas when you're 10,000 miles from home? Pretty much what you do at home, but with a different "family".

You eat.

This is our little cafe, all decorated for the holidays.

And you play football.

I'm loathe to admit it, but I was sore for four days after this little bit of holiday fun. I was in good company though!! The fellow second from the left is Col. Abbas, the Iraqi commander of Besmaya. He loves to play football. He's not yet grasped all the subtleties of the game but he's very enthusiastic. His throwing style is very unique. He's a very strong guy, so he grabs the ball like a rock and heaves it down field. It's not much to look at, but it goes a looonnnggg way.

All in all, it was a very good Christmas. Thanks to all of you who sent emails and cards and goodies. I've spent a fair amount of time in a food coma and am now paying the price on the treadmill and the bike.

But the best thing we did for Christmas was in the true spirit of the season: We gave something back to some folks who are less fortunate. Where I work is only about 20 miles east of downtown Baghdad but it's very rural. Just outside our base is a little village called Zatia. Many of the Iraqis who work on base live there. We've kind of adopted the little school there. Imagine a country school from the early part of the 1900's in the US and you'll get a good idea of what it's like.

Some photos of our Dec 27th visit to Zatia.

This is the manager of the school. Next is Col Abbas, myself, LtCol Bill Redman, and Master Sergeant David Fesko.

MSgt Fesko looks like he could tear your head off in a flash and, in fact, he could. But's he's really a softy at heart and the kids love him. He's been my senior enlisted man since June and has been a huge asset.

The 3rd graders.

The fourth graders.

This is the six grade class. There's only a few of them. The school ends at six grade and if their parents can afford it and are so inclined, they'll send the kids to secondary school. Many of the kids will go to work to help their families.

These little guys break my heart. Their parents and siblings were killed by the bad guys. They now live with their grandmother.

Some of the goodies we distributed. The little guy right in front with the "C" in his hat was killing me! He's a character.

In addition to taking toys and candy and getting the kids all spun up, we actually do some good stuff. Our medics run a clinic for a couple of hours and treat the kids and some of the village locals. Here Sgt Art Luneau is hard at work.

These are the teachers. The make the equivalent of $200 per month. They're all very nice people and very appreciative of what we're doing for their kids.

Here's the whole gang.

Here I am with some of my new friends. I don't know if you can see it in this pic, but I carry a small black flashlight on my vest. All the little boys want my flashlight. They point and say "Mister, torch. Give me torch". And I smile and shrug and pretend not to understand them. :-)

Here's my team as we're preparing to depart back to Besmaya. To a man, we all agreed that it was a great day and that we'd be back.

Thanks to everyone who sent me stuff for the kids. It was greatly appreciated.

So that's how we spent the Christmas holiday at Besmaya. It's not home and hearth, but it wasn't bad! We'll be going back to the school in February. The building itself has no power and no heat. I've got a contractor doing some work on base who's agreed to help me with some improvements. We want to get them a small generator and a water tank and pump, and do some rehab work on the toilets. We're also going to put in a soccer field inside the school yard area.

That's all for now. I think I like this blogging thing, so there'll be more coming soon.

David

A Little Catching Up.

2007-01-04T10:35:00.000-08:00

Let me take a few minutes and play catch up.

April 2006: I was notified that I would be getting mobilization orders, recalling me to active duty and that I would be deploying to Iraq. My first day back on active duty was May 1st. I wasn't really surprised by the orders, as I had not been recalled during the previous 3 years, making me one of the few reserve officers who had not yet served. The month of April was a whirlwind. Rachel and I moved from our place near the beach in La Jolla to a great but small place just west of Mission Bay. I spent a lot of time wrapping up loose ends in my civilian life and getting ready for the deployment.

For those of you that may not have much experience with the military, let me explain the active duty vs reserve thing. I spent 4 and half years on active, out of college. From there I transferred to the Reserve component. I've continued to serve, train, get paid and get promoted during that time. I've remained in the Marine Corps the entire time, just in a backup role.

May 2006: The first three weeks of May were filled with the inevitable bureaucratic things one must endure when going back into government service and preparing to deploy to war zone. Classes, medical and dental exams, records review, getting my field gear. Another fast and furious three weeks. On May the 22nd, I departed San Diego for Tampa Florida and the Headquarters for U.S. Central Command. I was at once excited about the journey and a little scared. I've developed a healthy fear for and respect of the unknown. And I definitely didn't know what I was getting myself into.

I'm filling what is called an "individual augmentee" billet, or job. There are a bunch of jobs that need to be filled during war time operations that aren't needed when we're not fighting at war. Here in the Iraq, the command where I work, the MultiNational security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) is a unit that was created just for Iraq to help start and train the new Iraqi Army and Police force. I'm filling one of IA position at MNSTCI. My stop in Tampa was to check in with Marine Component of Central Command, the folks who "own" me while I'm in Iraq. That took about a day and half. It would be another 4 days before I departed Tampa.

I have to give a very special thanks to my dear friends Gary Joubert and Emelie Tirre. They housed and fed and entertained me during my brief stay in Tampa. After the chaos of the previous two months, and the emotional roller coaster of leaving my wife and many friends behind, the peace and tranquility and friendship of their home was just what I needed.

I arrived in Kuwait on 28 May and Baghdad on 1 June. I left the IZ (Int'l Zone) on the sixth, for a very interesting helo ride. We left the IZ and went somewhere (it was dark and I had no idea where I was). We got kicked of our helo for some priority passengers, but with a promise to return soon, and they did. We flew a while longer and landed at another strange place that did not look at all like my base had been described to me. Got kicked off again, with a promise of a return. Remember, I've got all my gear with me, 4 big bags of stuff. We spent about 5 hours on the concrete before our helo returned. Turns out this was the night that Abu Musab al Zarqawi was killed, hence the strange helo ride. The airspace around Baghdad had been shut down to accommodate that operation