christmas and car bombs

a couple thousand pound bomb is pretty big, enough to blow up a village and that is what it did. the day before c-mas i was on a patrol... wait, let me back up a bit more....

A couple days ago we were able to attend a ribbon cutting in a village right next to our FOB (the place we live). It was for a school that had just opened up giving the chance for hundreds of poor farming kids a chance to read and write. But it wasn't much. It was a mud pasted building with a couple chairs and a blackboard... no frills, no play ground. but it did have a barb wire and barriers all around it with small sand bag bomb shelters. the opening was a success, until the day after. In Iraq the statement rings true that no good deed goes up punished. so Christmas eve day, a lone van found its way into the sheik's (local tribal leader) village, who was in charge of setting up the school, made a stop in the middle of the small town and detonated. thousands of pounds of shrapnel blasted from the former van smashing into and destroying several of the houses, trucks, cars, goats, etc in a 200 meter radius. when we got on site there was still smoke from the explosions, and a blast crater that you could fit a school bus in. looking around you could see fragments of the suicide bomber's face and body. the Iraqi soldiers around collected the face pieces in order to try and possibly ID the guy. One of my interpreters was so disgusted with the crime that he asked if he could pee on the remains of the fragments. (bad insult).

Only a couple kids were injured, but no deaths... so the bad guys didn't totally win. But the damage was done message sent: try to rebuild, try and improve your life in any way and they die trying to destroy it.

Christmas day (or as the terrorist would say: the day the infidels celebrate their false God) also brought a bad attack of mortars and rockets to US FOBs, killing some, wounding some, but mostly doing their best to cause chaos. How would you like getting a phone call on Christmas morning to find that your son, daughter, wife, or husband has been killed a couple days before they were to come home....?

most units have a memorial to those that have paid the price of freedom here and my favorite has the phrase "All gave some, but some gave all"

I have my blessings that i am grateful for, and events like this just remind me of how precious they really are. So i hope and pray that all of us are thankful that by the grace of God, we have our lives, family, and liberty.

Freezing at 500 FT!

So i was flying around the last couple days and I dont know if i think I am tougher then i really am or just stupid, but ALWAYS pack your jacket when flying around Iraq at night in a helicopter! yeah that was me last night, with out a jacket, or a neck warmer, flying around from base to base freezing my you know what off with each beat of the chopper blade! This was the 2nd most coldest i have ever been in my life. the first was in Korea during an all night TAC (tactical alternate command center) in the middle of a valley next to the DMZ. I couldn't feel my feet below the knees or my arms below the elbow the entire night. so note to self: bundle up retard!

But on the plus side i got to see a lot of old army buddies flying around bc the military really is a small world. I long for the hot 110+ degree weather in the summer and will prob long for the cold winter when that time comes.

I know dad, I know... and yes i would like some cheese with that wine... or may you should call the wahh-ambulince... ha ha

Good Guys in Bad Times....

So its Christmas time in Iraq (and the rest of the world). It is cold here but no snow to be found. When i was on patrol the other day i was the gunner and I'll tell you, that is no fun. I was freezing on top of that 15 ft armored vehicle! we started before the sun came up and i was frozen 30 mins into it. I couldn't really feel my hands and wondered that i could even work the 50 Cal (a massive gun) with any kind of precision if the opportunity came around. bc the roads are so wreck from past IEDs the vehicle constantly rocks all around slamming you into the armor turret, so the only way to control this is by standing for the 12+ hour patrol. It was so bad the other day i looked like a battered house wife the next day.
But the random presents from thankful Americans flood the FOBs and my boss alone gets close to 6-8 packages a day... we all make fun of him bc of his vast supply of wet wipes and candy (which he doesn't need... he is getting a bit big). but there is a clear message that America does support their troops, and i guess that is the only real important gift this season for me.

I do miss the family and the fun in this season, but i love experiencing the different holidays in different countries. a holiday tradition every year here is to cut your hair. Our Iraqi unit i am working with went to an orphanage to cut the kids hair and give out gifts of food. The Haaj that was a couple weeks ago was the time when Muslims take the trip to Mecca a trip they all must do once. It was interesting to see my Interpreters (of whom i hang out a lot with) pray and fast a lot during that time of the year. We all tease each other and i helped get a better azimuth to pray to Mecca then what they were doing before (bc they always pray to Mecca, southwest from our location). Some of them are getting a visa to America soon and i told them they could stay with me until they get a good job and get their new life started. i mean anyone who runs down an ally way with a gun (having all the $$ reason and opportunity in the world to shoot you and doesn't) while shooting at a sniper who is shooting at you... earns my trust. one of them, before entering a house that we thought the sniper was in, says stop, cocks his weapon, yells "Alla awkbar" (God is Great) and goes in before you, determined to kill the terrorist and putting himself in danger before you ... he can definitely sleep on my couch if he needed. good guys in bad times. Another guy, while on leave, had a car bomb blow up at a check point he was at killing a family and several others. He reacted and got to a wounded girl who's leg was blown off and stopped the bleeding and rendered aid that we taught him and saved the girl's life. they says war can bring the worst and best in a person...

Good guys in bad times.....

"In Shallah"

"In shallah" meaning God's will or God willing. Sometimes I stop and think about the close misses we have had out here and really all I can say is "In shallah". a couple days ago a massive car bomb went off in a traffic circle that we used to go through every day. unfortunately, there we a couple US casualties, a sign marking the new strategy used by insurgents to once again aim their sights on US troops, rather then the Iraqi Army. its unfortunate, but at the same time maybe it will give us the chance to see the whites of the their eyes before we kill them. "in shallah"

With Obama's promise to bring us out of Iraq, on my level bring new challenges. The SOFA (status of forces agreement) is now a security understanding that will prove difficult for US troops to do their job. without going into detail, its like conducting covert operations by letting everyone know (even the bad guys) what you are going to do, then doing it with both hands behind your back in a big awkward chicken suit. (if you can crack that one... you know too much...)

a prediction of the future....

as my father likes to remind me, "War is 90% boredom and 10% crazy adrenaline rush...", sadly to say I have hit boredom way too often lately. Yesterday that you may have heard in the new were complex bombing in Mosul and Baghdad. most CFs were ok but messed up some local Iraqis. We are going to see this near the end, but after just hearing the new president's plan to fulfill his promise to withdraw the BCTs from Iraq, it looks like an unavoidable victory for the insurgents in Iraq. as long as they keep up bombing and attacks from time to time they will claim to be the victors that endured longer in the fight then the Americans. Iraq as we know it now will crumble due to corruption. Think about it. an army is as strong as its logistics. Iraq's logistics are corrupt from top to bottom. We leave and the corruption continues until the army is broke and shoeless. Moral is down and operations slow to a halt. with no operations the insurgency wins and takes control of local areas all the way to the tops of national government. (I'm sure plenty of politicians wont even frown at the influx of terrorist supported money. as long as their pockets are fat.)
Depending on how the propaganda is spread of the insurgent victory, terrorist cells all over the world will gain hope and strength. then it starts all over..... maybe in a different country.... maybe on our own soil?

If you read revelations (and I'm just speculating) maybe Gog and Magog are not the vast armies with countless ranks and weapons, but an idea of fear and corruption that first rot the ancient lands, then the world. hasn't this always been the way of the devil. Whisperings of dark ideas in dark rooms?

sorry to sound so negative but these are dangerous times....

a bounty on my head.

Ok- so I'm not even really sure that that is how you spell bounty, but basically people want me dead. I'm prob being a little dramatic but my head is worth $10,000! Currently the terrorists in this region have a 10,000 dollar reward for any Iraqi soldier to shoot am american. there have been couple of them already and that is the new and improved method of fighting the insurgents have come up with.... cowards. Taking advantage of the poor, weak, and starving families of the jundi (Iraqi soldiers). How can this be you say? Why would anyone in there right mind do this...? You see here, a man's worth is sometimes equated to how well a man can provide for his family. If he or his family feels he is worth more dead or in jail then alive then sometimes the family and local leaders will persuade the man to do something drastic. This is the culture. We always watch our back, but now that we are planning on living with the Iraqi unit, this may prove difficult to do 24/7. I joke with my interpreters that they can shoot me in the leg and we can split the money.... or maybe we can have every jundi shoot (not kill) every us soldier and bankrupt the terrorist...?!?

We were able to do a couple missions with the navy seals- fun stuff, real commando hanky panky. We found some bad guy toys and slapped their wrists, but there is more to find.

I can tell that my patience and temper when dealing with the other team members are getting tested. Its hard to find satisfaction in our mission with so many obstacles in the way. As a team we are good when it comes to planning and mission times, but horrible when there is nothing to do. I cant tell if I have become more annoyed, or if they have become more annoying. probably both. Its like this whole thing is some kind of new army reality TV show, where 11 strong willed dudes, with an impossible mission, in cramped quarters duke it out until there is one left. There are prob a couple generals in the Pentagon watching the cameras they put on us laughing hysterically. Bastards.

But i guess all in all i cant complain (which i just did if you weren't paying attention), there are several soldiers far less fortunate then I, fighting in far less fortunate times. I just need to remember to count my blessings...

been a while

so, yeah its been a while since i wrote last, but sometimes its hard to jump on the old computer that is not controled by the military. but as we speak, i am sitting on the west bank of the tigris river in mosul. We have a make shift base on an old sadaam river house. its pretty nice, but i got about 20 flies on me and about the throw the computer bc they DRIVE ME CRAZY! And its like these desert flies and bugs are aggressive as hell bc food and water is far and few between. We are seeing dudes bc of a mass mutiny and without going into detial, some stuff that is suposed to be right is not and people could die. The AWOL rate is rediculous with the Iraqi Army. I mean some if not most are good and brave, but MANY will turn and run if they dont like the situation, or out of pure laziness.

On a brighter (kinda) note- i offically recieved my CAB (Combat Action Badge) for some fights up in mosul. Not really a big deal, but its is just some flaire or bling for the old uniform.

I met my new counterpart with our iraqi unit, which brings me to another problem. This guy has been in the iraqi army for over 20 years but with the old regieme (you know the guys who twice fought against the US forces) Most have a smooth transition into working well with us, but some like this dude just has an old way of thinking. Not really hate or distrust with the US, but just an overall "thats not how we used to do it" kinda attitude. Its a problem bc all those commanders in key postitions are "old regieme" dudes. What we really need to do is fire all these old dudes and let the newer, modern thinking leaders take charge. not saying that is really the answer to all the preoblems but it would be a blood transfusion that this decaying country needs.

sorry a lot of complaining this time- but im about 3 months in and sometimes its just starts dragging....