Welcome to Basra

I knew my welcome to Basra would not be a relatively "warm" one since we are in this country fighting a war but I did not figure in the least that I would be forced to get used to IDF as soon as the first night in country. IDF stands for in-direct fire and what the means is we got hit with a rocket and mortar attack. To make the situation more interesting, I was in the shower when it happened. Now I dont want anyone to panic or worry, the rocket was a dud and landed in no mans land between the fenced border and where the actual COB is located and the mortar was shot out of mid-air by out IRAM system. Nothing at all happened, but it still was a quick realization that tension still exists and we all have to be on our toes at all times. As it turns out, other than in a bunker or a hardened building, the shower is actually the next best place to be because of the steel and wood roof that houses the sink, shower, and toilet stalls. Lucky me. It was pretty funny to tell you the truth because myself and one of my Staff Sergeants were in the showers and we hear the rocket launch and then explode and I said out loud, "was that a rocket attack on the FOB?" Then he replied "Yep." I just shrugged my shoulders and said "wow thats pretty cool, the first day we are here and we are already getting attacked." Then of course my Platoon Sergeant came running into the structure yelling for me to find out if I was scared and nervous so he could laugh at me. It was a good way to start off the deployment in Iraq especially after the fact that we got delayed a day and a half leaving Kuwait to even get here!

So onto better news. Let me describe what it is that I am doing here in Basra, Iraq and what my sole mission will be for the next year. I am the Platoon Leader for a PRT patrol. PRT stands for Provincial Reconstruction Team. The PRT is made up of DOD Army COLs and US State Department personnel. They can be teams that consist of up to 6 guys and I am their personal security detail and escort anywhere and everywhere they go. Pretty much the way things work is that the State Department has identified jobs that need to be done in and around Basra and people that need to be aided and assisted in doing their jobs. There are close to 100 different things that the PRT does and when they need to do anything, I am the guy that takes them there. A lot of them sound like they will be pretty interesting and exciting so I am looking forward to the job that I will be doing not to mention the fact that it will keep us very busy and make time go by quickly. Tomorrow I roll outside the wire for the first time (I cant say where Im going) and Im really excited to get out there and see what it is I will really be doing. They have given us about a week to takeover from the unit we are replacing and do combined missions with them so that we can ease into everything. Originally we were hoping for a longer turnover period of time but I guess we will have to do the best we can. It is pretty ironic how Peter works for the State Department and with the relationship the family has with the Clinton's, I now too am indirectly working for them both.

I was hoping to have internet in my living space but the living conditions are a lot worse than what we were expecting. We are living in massive 80 man tents that are subdivided into 10 x 8 man sections. There is no internet but at least we do have twin beds and dressers to unpack into. There is not internet or phone lines so I am still forced to go to kiosks and centralized locations to use both. That is really annoying. Until I can get internet on my computer I wont be able to put up pictures and paint a better picture of what its like here. Soon I will however sign over for my official fleet of vehicles which will consist of 6 HMMWVs (M1151s) and 3 MRAPs (which kind is TBD). That will be pretty cool! So as of now we have a lot going on and a lot more to come. All of my guys are doing well with the exception of the living conditions and the fact that supplies out here are very limited. We are all excited to start doing what we came here for and now that we are in Basra it is very soon before we take everything over and start showing our worth.