The final few days at Besmaya

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!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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....

... 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

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

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.