Reoccurring Theme

It seems that every time I log on to post a new segment to this blog I find myself apologizing to all of you that I am not keeping up with this like I want to. Every time I say to myself and all of you that I want to get into a better habit of continually updating this blog so all of you have an idea of what is going on here, how the missions is going, and of course how I am doing. Again, like all the times before this one, I apologize for not updating this site as often as I should. I know the response from all of you will also be the same and will reconfirm the fact that as often as I can is good enough, but personally I will try to do better.

On to the topic of the post, reoccurring events. Although I previously accepted that in life there are things you can change and influence, and there are things you have no impact on whatsoever, you always strive to impact everything around you no matter the circumstance. For instance, when my platoon is sent out on a CIDF (counter in-direct fire) mission the hope is that they will either find a weapons cache that is full of all kinds of goodies, or they find people setting something up and they can make an arrest. All day yesterday platoons were sent out to patrol a specific area to prevent the terrorists from launching a CIDF attack and the searches yielded no results. What happened twice today, the COB received incoming mortar and rocket attacks. From where you may ask, the exact area that was patrolled and combed over all day yesterday. No matter how many times we patrol through an area in the attempt of deterring the enemy and preventing them from doing what they do, the process never ends. I prove my point, there are some things we just cannot change and therefore they are present in a reoccurring theme. The most frustrating part of the whole situation is that the sole reason I am here, my platoon is here, the Army is here, is to make a difference in this country and try to instill and encourage change, nationalism, democracy, and maybe most of all, peace.

Here is another good one. Everybody watches the news and reads the newspaper or news story headlines on the internet and is aware of the situations that are going on throughout the world. Every American is aware of the fact that the United States is fighting a war both in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Normally it might be acceptable or even encouraged to talk about what is going on and even if something bad happens to talk about it and wonder when things will get better. Here lies the issue: If you are personally attached to the war or have a loved one deployed overseas, its really not reassuring or even appropriate to hear about accidents or deaths that may happen for one reason or another. Why, if somebody specifically knows you are directly attached to the situation, do people specifically approach you and ask if you heard about some bad situation that just happened in either Iraq or Afghanistan. Case in point. Abby was out the other day and ran into somebody she knows, somebody that also knows she is dating me and is very close to the situation since she is in love with a deployed soldier, and specifically asked her if she heard about a local boy who was just killed in Afghanistan. Why do people do that? What motivates someone to approach an individual involved in the situation and tell them bad news? It makes absolutely no sense at all. If I am wrong please let me know but I think I speak for everyone in saying that it happens all the time and it really is not the right kind of thing to say. Again I rest my case, a reoccurring theme that happens over and over again with everybody all the time.

That is enough about that topic so now I will move on to how things are going because I am sure you all are sufficiently worried at this point, although there is no need to stress. Things are going well for us here, the missions have been keeping everybody busy and help us to believe that despite the bad we are still making progress. I am getting by one day at a time and making sure that all my soldiers do as well. We trust in our training and the equipment that surrounds us, including the IRAM machines that continually shoot all the rockets and mortars down so that they never even get close to us. We also know that no matter what happens, the chow will continue to be terrible, boring, and repetitive and the heat will continue to burn us through our uniforms and make everything a sweaty mess. At the end of the day I am as safe as safe can be and inching that much closer to the date that I can finally come back home.

July 4th

I hope everybody back home had a great holiday weekend and enjoyed the opportunity to grill some hot dogs, hamburgers, and steaks outside before extravagant firework filled evenings. If I was back home, I sure would have enjoyed all that myself and would have gotten to spend the day relaxing and enjoying myself. Its not like we had a totally miserable day though, I mean we still got the chance to do some stuff. After we came back from our mission the platoon got together and over a very small individual sized grill we cooked some hamburgers, hot dogs, and quite a few steaks. Throw in the sides that we got from the cafeteria and the sodas we got from supply, we enjoyed ourselves as much as possible. We are all safe and we are all working extremely well together, thats all I think I can ask for as we continue to complete our mission here in Iraq. I know everybody here wishes they were back home, and everyone back home wishes we were there but this is the reality of a 12 month deployment. I am learning it firsthand right now for the first time but some of these guys are seasoned and this is their 4th time overseas. I cant even imagine what it takes to be able to withstand that.

I am hopeful however, we continually here rumors about when we may be heading home or when patrols throughout the country will cease. I read a report the other day that within the next month 10,000 more troops will be out of the country and we will dip down below the total of 50,000. That is good news. The more we turn activities over to the Iraqis and the more we instill confidence in them, the sooner we leave. Progress happens everyday. Sometimes there are problems, but no problem is too great to overcome. Two nights ago we sent a patrol out to complete a night time mission and they found a few shacks loaded with weapons and ammunition and all kinds of things. Discoveries like that are happening all over the area and the country and the more we are able to stop the terrorists before they can take action, the better off we all are.

I am glad to say that things are different when you are not personally attached to a situation or event. Now, by me being here and doing what it is I am doing, and you all getting the opportunity to read firsthand what it is like from someone you are personally connected with, its puts a whole new perspective on things. A holiday like July 4th will never be the same for me when I finally get to celebrate it again next year in the US and it may never be the same for any of you. I am proud that I am here though and I am honored to be able to wear this uniform and serve with all these amazing people. This is already a life changing experience and despite all the hardships it causes it will be worth it in the end.

I love you all and send you best wishes, and hope that you all had an amazing 4th of July celebration and a great holiday weekend!

--

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”

SITREP

Situation Report

Let me give you all an update on what is going on here in Iraq for me and the platoon that I lead. Lately we have been given extra duties to take care of on top of our already busy PRT schedule. We typically roll out 5 or 6 days a week performing our responsibilities as PRT escort and security but in addition to that we have been given numerous CIDF missions as well as QRF missions. CIDF stands for counter indirect fire meaning our platoon goes out and patrols a specific sector or objective to prevent the enemy the ability to emplace and fire indirect munitions, aka rockets or mortars. CIDF missions are not difficult in the least considering the very simple nature of the task we complete while we are out driving around yet they add to the amount of time we are at a high sense of alertness. QRF, quick reaction force, missions however, are much more taxing and stressful.

Let me describe the longest day my platoon went through so far this deployment. The other day we went out on a mission that took us to a courthouse in a town that is approximately 90km away from the base. For the environment we are working in that is a really really far away objective considering most of what we do takes place in the city. When looking at the planning alone for a trip like that it takes great thought in ensuring my guys are prepared. We need to bring extra water, extra food, extra tools, and most of all extra fuel for the vehicles. My Platoon Sergeant and I have to debate the decision to take HUMMWVs or MRAPs and weight the consequences of both. Not to mention I have to do a map and aerial reconnaissance of the route and area we are going to in order to ensure I can navigate the vehicles on all roads and decide upon the best route to take and egress from. On top of everything required for this mission, in the back of my mind is the fact that once we do return I need to get my guys time to rest and refit because we go right onto QRF standby status in case we are needed.
Now here goes the day. We woke up extra early to get all the vehicles ready for the trip. We left ontime like always and rolled out to our link up location with the Iraqi escort to find that they sent us Iraqi Police instead of Iraqi Army. Everyone here that is involved with the planning process and coordination knows that the Iraqi Police is only used within city limits due to their jurisdiction and resources and if we are traveling anywhere outside the city we need IA. Already a problem! We sat for almost 2 hours waiting to link up with an Iraqi Army escort for them to tell us that we were going to roll unilaterally and had permission to leave. Keep in mind we are now 2 hours late for the PRT and have been up and running for almost 5 hours. For this missions we took 1 HUMMWV and 3 MRAPs because of the distance and number of people we were escorting. It took us 2 hours to get to the objective location once we finally left and let me say that as awesome as MRAPs may seem they do a lot of damage. We must have taken down at least 10 power lines going there because of how big the MRAPs are and how low the Iraqis hand their lines over the streets. That was not good at all but what can we do, we have a mission and when there are a limited number of ways to go from point A to point B you take the best one possible and accept the consequences. Thats what I did and nonetheless we may have pissed some people off. Anyways, we got there 2 hours late, because we left late, and the meetings and tours lasted about 2 hours themselves. By the time we left it was so late already chow at the cafeteria back on base was already closed so the majority of my guys were forced to eat MREs. Not the most moral boosting thing to have after a long hot day outside the wire. But wait, it gets better.
On our way back from the objective we are moving, I mean driving incredibly fast trying to get back to base as quickly as possible when the HUMMWV overheats. Guess who is in the HUMMWV, I am, leading the convoy not only a the convoy commander but also in the lead vehicle, double duty (lead from the front right!). When a vehicle overheats you have a few options, the least favorable but most safe is cutting off the A/C to save power. So for about 20 minutes we were forced to drive with no air conditioning and suffer from the heat, NOT FUN AT ALL. It however, was the right choice to make as I will explain later.
Finally as we are getting close to the base I hear over the Battalion radio a distress call come through about another platoon convoy that got hit with an IED. Im listening to the call and everybody scrambling around to figure out what unit is going to respond to the call and where they are in location to the area of operation. We get through the gate and rush back up to Command Post so my guys can drop me off and go refuel all the vehicles so we are ready if they need us. I walk into the office and 3 of the 5 other Platoon Leaders are sitting around talking about how they cant go because they need time to get ready and they have guys at the gym and some just got off a guard shift and their vehicles dont have fuel, making excuses. It took my platoon 15 minutes to get fuel and pick up 10 more cases of water for our vehicles and coolers and be ready to go back out if we were needed. I looked at all of them, including the Commander, and told them all they were being lazy pieces of shit and that I would go back out and take care of whoever it was that was out there waiting for help, because at that time, nobody knew if anyone was hurt or if a vehicle had been destroyed or what. So, after being out for almost 10 hours already, me and my guys went back out to go help recover this other unit of guys.
While we were rolling back out, with 4 more vehicles added to my convoy to include EOD and mechanics, I got a call over the radio from the Battalion S-3, the guy responsible for operations, thanking me for responding so quickly and giving me an update of information. About 30 minutes into the trip to the new objective I was given an air asset to help with visual identification and radio communications. The air asset was awesome because while we were driving we came across a group of 4 men on the side of the road digging a hole and burying something in it. I had them check it out to see what was going on and they eventually concluded it was Iraqi Police building a new checkpoint, but hey, I would rather be safe then sorry. Eventually we got to the unit in distress and assisted in their aid. Details about the incident I cant say but let me just say they were relieved to finally have some American there to support them and bring them back home safely. We blocked up so much traffic during the hour it took to recover the vehicle onto the back of a truck that it looked like NYC in rush hour. People were everywhere, outside their vehicles, trying to pass in the wrong lanes of the road, driving off the road in the dirt, literally cars were everywhere trying to get around or see what was going on and we had everyone stopped. You gotta do what you gotta do! No matter what the rules are or what the regulation states, the safety of an American is more important than anything else and that means owning the situation and everything around it. When it was all over it was 17 hours later and my platoon was exhausted to say the least. The kicker to the whole thing, my Commander was pissed at the way I acted when I had walked into the office, understandably, and made me turn in my daily report that night before I went to bed. I got yelled at of course, I get yelled at all the time, but would I really be a good leader or learn anything if I didnt?

That was probably the most eventful day we have had since my last post. Other than that we go about business in the same routine manner, switching up the positions and jobs the soldiers have in order to stay sharp and on our toes. Everyday that goes by brings us closer to the day we can go home, and I know everyone is looking forward to that day. Until then, we have something else to look forward to that is approaching a lot sooner, JULY 4! Yeah no fireworks to watch, loved ones to hold and kiss under the stars, or festivities to enjoy, but we have each other and we are safe. What more can any of us ask for?

14 JUNE

Why is this date important?

I am sure many of you are wondering what the significance of such a day in the middle of June and let me tell you that not a single soldier here in Iraq today will ever forget this day. It along with a few other specific days may be the biggest moral boosters that the Army has decided to recognize.

14 JUNE 1775 - The birthday of the United States Army.

14 JUNE 2010 - All soldiers stationed in a war zone are allowed to consume 2 BEERS in honor of the aforementioned birthday of the US Army.

Now of course most of you know I rarely drink and if I do decide to allow myself the opportunity beer is usually one of the last things that I would choose to do. Many people in my platoon also know this information and therefore approached me with purchase propositions. I casually turned them all down as it is the right thing to do not to take money from soldiers, especially my soldiers (except when I kick their asses in poker, shhh!) so instead I sneakily slid the beers across the table to my dear Platoon Sergeant, who when not in a war zone, is an alcoholic. Wrong choice you think? No, not only is he the highest ranking guy I serve with so the perfect candidate, but being an alcoholic means that his body would be able to handle drinking the extra 2 beers whereas most of the other guys would have shown significant signs of being tipsy and inebriated. Ahhh, so you see, it was the perfect person to give them to and of course in return I receive much appreciation for the kind gesture. He will repay me somehow in someway eventually, maybe!

So now you all know why this day will be remembered by all those currently serving overseas in a war zone. That reason and the fact that we finally have reliable AIR CONDITIONING! Give it up for the air conditioning, WOOT WOOT!

Now signing off, 1LT Aaron Raymar.

P.S. Smile, because it can always be worse. You could be in the middle of a god forsaken desert in 124 degree heat right now sweating so much that you are literally drinking 10lbs of water each day!

Time Flies

I apologize to everyone that has been reading this blog and trying to follow everything that I have been going through while deployed overseas. I have not been doing very well trying to keep up with and maintaining a routine of posting new stories and information about what is going on over here. The last post I made was over 2 weeks ago and in that span of time an incredible amount of things have taken place. The best part about being incredibly busy is that it makes time fly and go by really fast. The worst part is that being busy, along with the ridiculous heat and the tedious tasks I deal with as platoon leader, make me very tired. Therefore, time to come over to the computers and get on to access the internet and in essence the blog become very limited to say the least.

Let me start off by saying that in the last 14 days we have had about 11 missions that have taken up most of the day if not the entire thing. On the 3 days we have had off we once were on "Standby QRF Duty" which means that we had to have our vehicles geared up and all personnel ready to roll out the gate on a 20 minute notice in case something happened to any of the other patrols that were out that day or any other incident that would need American support. Its annoying because you cant go and do anything and you have to be prepared for the entire 24 hour period of time. The other 2 days we had off were our maintenance days so we really did not have off and they actually are worse days than when we have missions. They suck really bad because our guys have to sit around the motor pool working on the vehicles and or waiting for the mechanics to be ready to take us into the bay. Whats crazy about it is that at this exact point in time I have 8 M1151's or HMMWVs and 3 MRAPs that I "own." But at any one period of time only 4, maybe 5, of my HMMWVs actually are operational. The MRAPs have had absolutely no issues so far except for the fact that they are huge and we can't roll them into downtown Basra because the power lines in the city hang down too low and will get destroyed by the MRAPs. Brilliant right?!

Now you all get to hear about the best part of the past 2 weeks. I will call it "Iraqi Sabotage." So just like most Government contracts, multiple companies bid to try and win the right to honor the contract and serve it for a specific period of time. Well there is a company on this base that is pretty much responsible for servicing everything from electricity to housekeeping. One contract covers everything that needs to be done here. Well, the company that has been handling everything for the past 2 years just lost the bid on the contract to a new company. In retaliation, the old company sabotaged almost everything. Im talking destroyed generators, cut circuits, damaged circuit breakers and boxes, rerouted power lines and switching stations, cut water lines, removed piping and tubing, all kinds of nasty horrible things in order to set the new company back and make them look bad. The result of all this was felt by us, the American Soldier, nobody else! At first it took a while for the effects to hit the system so we went about 3 days where the power went on and off and fluctuated somewhat regularly every few hours. It was annoying but tolerable. Then the shit hit the fan literally and the whole base shut down. Everything went out and cut off, Im talking power, air conditioning, and water. Most places we back up and running within the day, well mainly the important places and places with important people. Of course that did not include the whole camp that 1-68 is living in. Our tent was without power, air conditioning, and running water for almost 4 straight days. On the third day it went on and off a few times and then cut off completely again. The worst part about the whole thing is the air conditioning. I can deal without having any power because thats not that big of a deal, we all have flashlights. I can deal with no running water because we have water bottles and tons of wet wipes. No air conditioning sucks! Picture 120 degree heat all day long wearing all of your gear getting to come back to a tent that is close to 100 degrees itself, no relief, and the lowest that the temperature drops at night is still in triple digits! Not fun, just not fun at all. Plus, we had no cold water or gatorade to drink so everything was just a complete disaster for those days. A total mess to say the least. Luckily everything is fixed now and working again. We have all utilities and electricity back online and functioning so we have not had any problems recently. Lets hope that pattern is the one that keeps up for the future.

To end with some positive news, today I lead a high priority and VIP mission which went very well from our end. Although we did run into a few hicups, who doesn't, everything at my level and the platoon level ran well and went off without any problems. We took out a 1 Star Brigadier General, 2 full bird Colonels, and a US Ambassador with us today to meet up with the Iraqi equivalent of the head of the Port Authority. It was very interesting to say the least. A young up and coming 1LT leading a patrol with all these seasoned veterans in it, I might easily have been the youngest guy in the entire patrol too. Its funny to think about but an honor to get the opportunity to lead them all and have their faith in my guys.

On the Road Again

I realized that I had let this blog go by the wayside during the busy times out here and I dont want to make that mistake again. That is why I am all of a sudden making a flurry of posts to try and not only catch everyone up but really show whats going on out here.

The past few missions I have gone on have been pretty exciting and interesting to say the least. We went on one mission maybe a week or so ago and were at this secure compound close to one of the rivers, which one I dont remember, and an IED went off about 1000 meters away. We could hear the explosion and it took out a random civilian car and injured 2 people. The quick reaction force from the FOB responded out there and helped handle the situation. We just went about our business no problem at all. A few days later we got hit with indirect fire again, like I described in a previous post, but like always they were inaccurate and ineffective. The rockets didnt even make it to any of the areas that soldiers are at and some were shot out of midair by the IRAMs. Speaking of the IRAM system, when they do the test fires to make sure they are functioning correctly, they are so loud and obnoxious you can hear them from all over the base. I guess I would rather deal with the noise than not have them work, right?

The last mission we went on took us to the Police Headquarters. It was really interesting because we are trying to get them situated like an American police unit would be. The PRT has brought in computers and all kinds of technology for them to use that it was very interesting to see. They are in the early stages of applying ballistics technology to link weapons to crimes, dna technology is being studies jointly with the professors at the university, and they finally have software to start fingerprinting not only all the inmates they already have in custody but also all the other citizens. Whats weird is that when two people have the same name, they refer to them based on their parents names as a means of individualization. It was neat to see those tools being established and the satisfaction of the PRT members that they are making a difference. While we were there the 3 soldiers and myself that were the security detail had a lot of fun. When the PRT go into a meeting of some sort, in this instance with a police general, the other 2 stand outside and guard the door. Well a soldier and I stood outside for about an hour and a half and tried communicating with the Iraqi Police guards the whole time. It was hilarious. It could have been a scene from a comedy movie where people try to talk to each other in 2 very different languages and have no idea what on another is saying except for the hand and arm signals we passed and could barely make sense of. We all were laughing at each other and trying to talk. I took a bunch of pictures and after I would take one they all wanted to see what it looked like and for me to take more. They also want me to print them and bring some back so they can have them. My soldier uses dip which is a form of chewing tobacco. He went to put some in his mouth and then convinced one of the Iraqis to try it. That was hilarious because the guy had no idea what he was doing and he had it all in his teeth and everything. All the Iraqis were laughing at him until he finally spit it out. After that, I convinced one of the guys to trade patches with me so I gave him a 4ID patch for his Ministry of Interior patch. We had a good time.

The best part about all of the Iraqi soldiers is their strong desire to be just like us. Whenever we go somewhere it is each to see how they are trying to be like the American soldiers that had been there before. The gear they wear and buy is to copy what we look like. US soldiers all wear knee-pads but most of the time they are annoying and uncomfortable so they fall down to our shins. When the Iraqis see this they go out and buy knee-pads and wear them around their shins. They think they are shin guards and thats what they are for because they see ours like that. Some of them wear armor and they go out and buy pouches to put on their vest to look like us, but they have nothing in the pouches they just want to wear pouches. They all wear boots that are tan and they tuck in their laces because they see that is what we wear and what we do. It really is interesting how much they just want to try and live up to us and what we do professionally. That is one of the most interesting things I have learned. The Iraqi Army soldiers especially want to be just like us. The Lieutenant wants to talk to me, and only me. He wants the same respect that my guys give me, and he gets it because that is the only way to officially be able to train them the way they need to learn in order for them to take over and us to leave. So far it has been a very enlightening experience being here.

Of course, pictures to follow:

CONGRATS

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Yesterday morning / early afternoon my amazing girlfriend graduated from DeSales University! She graduated cum laude which is pretty awesome in my opinion and now officially has her RN degree. I guess she wont be a practicing nurse until she takes the boards in June but in my book she is a nurse now. My nurse!

Im so proud of all the hard work and dedication over the past few years you have put into achieving a goal you set for yourself. It is a testament to the extra effort you have put into your studies especially the last 2 years without having me around to support you from your side but only from a distance. I am really proud of you for being able to handle all of the stress you have in addition to the fact that you only get to see your boyfriend monthly, if that, and now not really at all.

I am really sorry that I could not be there to spend this once in a lifetime experience with you and share in the moment. You were in my thoughts all day yesterday and today and I am always hoping the best for you. I was cheering to myself during the time that you were graduating and going up to receive your diploma. I know that this whole situation and experience we are in and working through right now is difficult. Its hard being apart to being with but half a world makes it that much harder. Just know that you are always on my mind. The littlest things remind me of you. I cant wait to congratulate you in person when I eventually get to come home on leave.

I love you sweetheart.

routine

well i certainly have not posted in way too long of a time period. i guess i have just been letting everything slip my mind lately and not taken the time to come up and post to tell everyone how things are going.

so far everything is going very well. all of the missions we have gone on and participated in have been successful to the point that our PRT members are getting done what they need to accomplish. the fact that they all come home in the same form that they went out in is a testament to our keeping them safe. so, therefore we are all working together to accomplish something here and hopefully work ourselves out of a job sometime very soon. we have been to probably 15 - 20 different location so far and have gone outside the wire almost 5 times a week. usually we have a few days we go in a row and then a day off and that pattern continues the whole time. even when we have a day off from missions our guys are kept very busy doing maintenance on the vehicles and cleaning weapons. im sure there is no more an intimidating image than that of us rolling around on the streets and parking in front of building with up-armored vehicles and mounted machine guns sticking out and scanning the area. not to mention when we walk around with all of our gear on carrying our M4 rifles. i cant even imagine what the united states would be like if instead of traffic lights we had cops at every single intersection. and at major crossroads on highways we had the army stationed with checkpoints verifying passes and stickers. traffic in the US is already bad, imagine all that on top of it and think about traffic jams and how long it would take to get to work!

for the most part our days are becoming routine and all of the guys are getting set into some sort of schedule so they can plan out their time wisely. for the most part everyday we have checks on our vehicles and equipment, we have a patrol and security brief, we have an intel update, and then we roll. when we come back we refuel, wash down the vehicles, and prep them for the next mission. after that soldiers have time to go to the gym, watch tv or movies, diddle around on the computer, go use the internet, but more often then not, napping is the priority.

right now we are still in tents and the living situation is not the best that i could be. we are all pretty cramped but i guess it could always be worse. the worst part about the tent is the temperature. it is so hot outside and so cold in the tent that the temperature change is so drastic it makes me get headaches. hopefully i dont get sick. i dont know why all the guys like it so cold it just isnt comfortable at all for me.

im going to put up a few picture with this post and try to do that from here on out so you can get a sense of what things are like and see what it is we see. i hope all is well back in the states!

Mother's Day

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Hopefully I get the chance to talk to my mom today but in any case I want to wish her a very Happy Mother's Day! I hope that you and dad get to spend a nice day together enjoying yourselves doing something fun and relaxing. I know you have been working very hard recently so you deserve to take some time off to yourself. Hopefully the knowledge that I am ok and everything is going well out here will make you feel a little relieved about the situation and allow you to relax some more. Also, I want to wish a Happy Mother's Day all friends and family that are Mom's, and thank them for their continued support and the love they have given and blessed me with over the years. I know many people are reading this blog so that they can keep track of how I am doing and how things are going and I want to thank all of you as well for making comments and showing me your support.

While along the lines of me being thankful, I want to thank all those very much who have sent care packages. Again, thank you mom for being so supportive to me but also to my platoon by sending toys and goodies for me to pass out to the guys. I really am lucky to have the support system that I have and it is amazing to be able to rely and lean on everyone back home especially with me half way around the world. I can really see just in the dynamic of my platoon that not everyone is as lucky and those that are as fortunate in some ways are not in others. I have everything I could ask for. Close Family Friends sending packages with hygiene products, a incredibly loving girlfriend to send me anything and everything I ask for, and family that will always be there for me.

So, now that I have adequately given a brief thanks to my mom and all those who are continually supporting me, let me describe a little bit about Mother's Day in Iraq.

Today was a very long and tiring day to say the least. This morning we were up bright and early around 0500 to start preparations for the days missions. Typically this consists of getting all vehicles and gear ready to roll, loading up all weapons, doing pre-combat checks and inspections on personnel and equipment, making sure we have all communications programmed, getting chow, loading coolers with ice, water, and gatorade, and then giving a patrol brief. This concludes a few hours later at which point we go and pick up the specific PRT members that are the focus for the mission of the day. Today we got to the location right on time because we ran into a lot of Sunday traffic going through downtown Basra (pictures to come). We were there for an eventful 3 hours. During the time we were sitting waiting for the meeting to conclude, I decided not to go in but to stay in the street with the vehicles, it was quite exciting. My interpreter didn't get a chance to eat breakfast so he asked if he could walk down the street to a hole in the wall falafel joint. I went with him as his security element with one of my other soldiers because I wanted to walk around and talk to people, see what this little store was like, and try to make a positive American influence. First I must say, the falafel was delicious and my terp brought back one for everyone in my truck, a very generous gesture although 6 falafels cost him only 3 dollars. While in the store they were very talkative and gracious that we stopped by, taking pictures with us and of us, I got pictures of a bunch of Iraqi Police that were hanging out in the store drinking chai. It was very interesting and a great experience, every time we go back to that site I will be stopping by to say hi and grab some good local grub to eat. Hopefully I don't have any ill effects tomorrow in the latrine! After that we went back to the trucks to wait some more and we saw an incredible sight. 11 cows walked past us randomly, all by themselves, wild to say the least, in the middle of the road. Nobody even cared! Then to make it more incredible, they stopped and started eating trash off the sidewalk and off the street. Not grass mind you they were like scavengers eating trash, TRASH, that was just thrown in the streets and on the sidewalk and in the gutter. It was incredible I was dumbfounded. I got a picture of them too because I just could not even believe it. After that nothing really interesting happened while on the missions.

Later on this afternoon after we had already returned, debriefed, eaten lunch chow, and I had completed the plan for tomorrow an issue came up. I have a soldier whose wife is pregnant with their first child and we have been trying to get him home for the past week so he can be there for the birth. He is getting thrown around and given excuses left and right as to why they cant let him go and its really a shame to see they way the system is turning against the soldier. The Army always talks about how important the soldiers and their families are yet when something can be done that's simple and would not affect our ability to operate, they decide not to act. We have been trying to get his family and the doctor to send an appropriate red cross message that is worded in they way he needs to justify him going home but its not happening. Not to mention the case got more serious when her water broke over 24 hours ago and now she is high risk for infection and they will have to do an emergency operation. Its really hard because I don't understand what it is he is going through and as much as I try to explain the reasons for why he keeps getting denied the ability to get leave, it doesn't sit well with anyone. Its just one of the difficulties of being young and in charge of guys that not only are older but also are in completely different stages of their lives than I am. Luckily I have NCOs that support one another and I can rely on to be their for him but it just pains me knowing there is little to nothing I can do for him and to help out his situation.

Well I don't want to end on a negative note so I'll end with a joke ... please excuse the foul word at the end of it.

"An organization is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs at different levels. Some monkeys are climbing up, some down. The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but butt-holes."

Description of Pictures

So I figured that my next post should be a description of the photos and explain what is going on in each of them since my parents decided to make comments on all of them and ask questions regarding the majority. I will start with the ones posted in Pictures 1 and end with the ones posted in Pictures 7. Hopefully I am able to answer the majority of questions and explain a little bit about whats going on and what it is.

Pictures 1:
There are 2 pictures with the airplane in them. That is the rundown airplane that we flew on all the way from Colorado to Kuwait. It made stops in Bangor, Maine and Shannon, Ireland before eventually landing in Kuwait. The 4 guys in the one picture are all E-6s or Staff Sergeants that are in my Platoon. The 2 pictures with the USO sign are from the concert we were able to attend while at Camp Beuhring that featured the Zac Brown Band. The pictures are slightly out of order I recognize that.

Pictures 2:
The rugby ball were in a crate for sale in the Ireland Airport, I figured they were pretty Irish so I took a picture of them. The dogs in that picture were "Soldier Greeter" dogs. The Bangor airport is a big refueling terminal for flights going in and out of theater and the USO there hires greeters. These dogs belonged to a couple that were there greeting us. They were very playful and raised everybody's spirits. The license place is of the bus that got us to Camp Beuhring, it said Kuwait on it so I took a picture, plus it turned out pretty neat with the shadow. The other picture is obviously of my weapon with the M320 Grenade Launcher attached to it.

Pictures 3:
Here you see a picture of me and also of the Paladins that I control. Since the other Platoon pushed out to a different location, I am in control of all 4 M109A6 Paladins and their support vehicles. The other picture of me is while I am inside the MRAP simulator that I described in an earlier post. The Tabasco sauce was on every table in the DFAC and I thought it was funny that all the writing was in Arabic. The final picture of an enlarged jersey barrier was along the road we took to get out to the Artillery Range. The graphics on the barrier were pretty funny so I took the picture while on a moving bus.

Pictures 4:
Here you can see the Paladins loaded up on the 18 wheelers that we used to bring them to and from the range and how they were transported out to Basra. Also that is a picture of the drivers, they were oh so willing to be photographed. The tower is the observation post that the observers called for fire from. The picture of the 3 LTs include myself, LT Huth the HHB XO, and LT Pivito a LT from Alpha BTRY 3-29.

Pictures 5:
Now for the camels. I was able to get up close and personal with the camels and they were very calm and it wasn't a problem at all. Here you can see a baby and also the Bedouin with his travel camel. He did not speak English at all and I described that whole situation earlier. Camels are pretty cool and it was neat to see them in person, an arms length away, and not just at the zoo. The other picture is of the FDC crew that we took out to the range with us. It includes my chief, computer operator, radio operator, and myself.

Pictures 6:
These pictures include more of the men that are in my Platoon. There are 2 different gun crews and I am in the picture with one of them and my Platoon Sergeant (the bald white guy) is in the other picture. In addition we have a range control vehicle which was funny because the range control people were all Americans that come over and do short stints. They are just as difficult to work with as the ones at Fort Carson. Their truck was pretty neat though. The other picture is of me and 3 technicians that work at Camp Beuhring. They came out to support us in case we had any mechanical issues they were already on site.

Pictures 7:
The first picture is of the tent that housed about 60 of us. It was cramped and not good hygienically having us all that close together breathing and spreading germs. A lot of people got sick including me. That is part of the process I guess and what everyone has to deal with. The middle picture is of the actual MRAP simulator with the vehicle inverted to simulate a rollover. We had to climb out after they spun it a few times. The final picture with all the HMMWVs in it is of all the vehicles we trained on while in Kuwait. Every picture posted is from Kuwait. I just wanted everyone to get a chance to see what an Up-Armored HMMWV looks like with its turret.

Pictures 7

Pictures 6

Pictures 5

Pictures 4

Pictures 3

Pictures 2

Pictures 1