Rock The Casbah

Another very late night. This time rolled into bed around 2:30 AM; dirty, exhausted, and sore. Mostly it is my head that hurts. The helmet gets heavy after 13 hours or so. Then when you attach a bulky radio headset, eye protection pressed against your face, and a heavy set of old night vision goggles, you start to feel like a bobble-head doll with a weak spring. Last night marked a touchstone in our tender military careers. We officially went kinetic. That is to say, we shook the dust off of our vehicle machine gun on some bad guys - something the team we replaced never had the opportunity to do. It was quite a dose of adrenalin, and something to behold through NVG's. Interesting side effect of an adrenalin surge: After the engagement, our gunner (played this evening by Marshall, who understudies for Bob in the role of gunner) dropped back into the vehicle and promptly fell asleep.

Now, something funny. Our convoy is waiting in the dark for the Apache helicopters to swing by and give us a hand. We're scanning the landscape through our NVG's which, as I've indicated in my previous post is something of a challenge. Duane spots a bright light in the sky and says, "Okay, here they come at our 12 o'clock!" I take off my NVG's and peer into the darkness at the steady red point of light in the sky. "um...Sergeant, I'm not quite sure how to tell you this, but that's Mars."

Trust me. It could happen to anybody. ;-)

The Real Deal

Had a very interesting evening a couple of days ago. We found ourselves careening through narrow alleys at - what felt like - breakneck speeds, with your humble narrator driving. It was pitch dark out, we were running without lights, and navigating with the use of night vision goggles (NVG's). Radio traffic crackled in my ears as I yelled to our gunner to pull down our antennae so that we didn't tear down low slung power lines. Yeah, there was a little bit of adrenalin flowing there. Driving with NVG's is a tricky proposition. You see the world in a Matrix-esque green glow, your field of vision is severely limited, and you have NO depth perception. You need to rely on other members of your team to tell you when you're getting too close to buildings, poles, etc. so there is a lot of communication flying around inside the vehicle, and nerves can get a little raw. At one point we stopped to wait for another patrol to take up a position. I took the opportunity to step out of the vehicle to ... relieve myself. Halfway through, I happen to look up and notice that the vehicles in our convoy parked in front of us were GONE! I looked back at our vehicle and saw frantic gestures coming from within. I couldn't hear a thing because of my headphones. Needless to say, I remounted the vehicle in great haste and we moved out. I didn't even have time to button myself back up!

All this activity was precipitated by a huge truck bomb that destroyed a nearby mosque a couple of days ago; a significant enough event to make the news around the world. It probably even made the crawl at the bottom of the screen on FoxNews while they continue to milk the Anna Nichole Smith "story". The near future is likely to prove very busy indeed.

We're all doing well, and keeping busy. Still, I can safely say that I would much rather be in San Francisco!!

A Taste Of The Culture

Today I discovered that there are some parts of the countryside that, although still riddled with poverty and things that go boom, are aesthetically really quite beautiful. Amongst the palm groves and canals that cover the countryside, here in the fertile lands between the Tigris and Euphrates, one can truly catch a glimpse of the glory that was ancient Mesopotamia. Unfortunately, we may never get an opportunity to visit Babylon in spite of the fact that it is so tantalizingly close. The security situation and agreements with the Iraqi government are obstacles that may prove to be insurmountable. Such a shame. However, today we sampled Iraqi hospitality for the first time when we met informally with some local eminent to discuss ongoing projects, and introduce ourselves. They had quite an elaborate feast of lamb, rice, fruits and vegetables laid out for us. Our first taste of local culture. While some in our party balked at the lack of silverware, sanitation, and method of serving oneself with fingers only, I dived in with enthusiasm. Yum. A local school down the road provided the first opportunity for me to interact with Iraqi schoolchildren. First and foremost, they wanted...stuff: soccer balls, book bags, pens, pencils, candy, etc., etc. Sorry, nothing today. Maybe next time, inshallah (God willing). These kids were very poor. Their shoes were in tatters (something else they asked for), but were very friendly and cheerful in spite of the fact that we showed up with empty hands. A couple of the older kids refused to be photographed. Perhaps they're spies. Who knows.

It was just nice to get away from the base, and away from the filth of the towns for a while.

Settling In

We're at our final destination...maybe. The battlespace is very dynamic, and we could be moved anywhere at any time, but for now we're here and getting settled. We hit the ground running, with a mission to one of the most dangerous parts of our AO (Area of Operations) on the first day. I'm sorry that we've been out of communication for a while, but it is standard practice that when a soldier is killed, they black-out all communications until the family is notified through official channels. So, we've had no phones or Internet cafe for several days. I can't go into details beyond that. Needless to say, things are pretty somber here. The guys at this base have had a pretty rough time since the beginning of the year. The base we're at is about as backwater as you can get. We have almost none of the "luxuries" that are found on the super-bases up around Baghdad. We're on the grounds of one of the largest and most important power plants in the country, and situated right near the banks of the Euphrates river.

Some general impressions about Iraq, or at least this part of it. The landscape would be very familiar to anybody who has spent time in a third world country. Trash is everywhere. Packs of feral dogs roam freely. Dead animals litter the roadsides. Power poles all stand at cockeyed angles with their lines slack. It is dry, dusty, dirty, smells of open sewage, etc. Roads are cratered due to the proliferation of IED's. It can all be pretty soul-crushing. Still...there are children everywhere, and they smile and wave enthusiastically when we drive by. On a mission the other day some middle-aged men approached our convoy and expressed in English their gratitude for American presence, and for all that we are trying to accomplish in their country. We've got an awful lot of work to do here, and I have no doubt that it is going to be a very trying year.

 

To put some minds at ease a little bit, we're all eating and sleeping quite well, and everybody is healthy.  God bless.

Boots On The Ground

Somewhere in Iraq

We're hunched over an antiquated Gateway computer is a dusty backwater of Iraq. The keyboard is clogged with dust and grime, so i now have something else to blame typos on. It was a relatively uneventful flight in a massive C-17 from Kuwait to Iraq, although the combat landing was a little stomach-churning. The soldiers in the plane cheered like kids on a rollercoaster with every g-force inducing maneuver the plane took as we approached BIAP (Baghdad International Airport). Once in Baghdad we started going our seperate ways, as teams sloughed away from the company. Our teams hopped on a couple of Chinook helicopters in the dead of night and headed South. Hauling all of our bags while in full armor really kicked my butt, and was NOT a lot of fun. Nevertheless, we're here. We're all just fine. Team Centaur is still not at our final destination quite yet, but we've hooked up with the team we're replacing, and hope to soon finally unpack and start doing the job we were all sent here to do.

Just a quick note on these bloody Internet cafes... They're simply awful, but they're all we've got right now. The connection is agonizingly slow, the keyboards are inevitably sticky (as mentioned above), they're HOT, and we're in very close quarters. The velcro on the arm of my uniform keeps catching on the velcro on the sleeve of the soldier sitting next to me, so I'm sitting on a broken chair at an uncomfortable angle to keep from snagging on the soldiers on either side of me. What fun...

Rollover Drill part deux

Camp Buehring, Kuwait

Training came to a screeching halt yesterday when an incident of superior training value actually occurred. Something interesting always seems to happen when Duane and a Alex are in close proximity to one another, and you should always have a camera at the ready. Such was the case when Alex was at the wheel with Sin-taur supervising from the passenger seat, and they sent their HMMWV tumbling across the desert. No, nobody was hurt. Body armor, seatbelts, helmets and cramped quarters saw to that. However, it did certainly break the tedium and make local celebrities of our dynamic duo. The local constabulary, however, was apparently not as amused as the rest of us. Even though this was a training exercise, the MP's cited Alex with two tickets, and revolked his military driving privledges...for three days. In practical terms this means absolutely nothing. Just another exercise in Army absurdity.

Taps

Camp Buehring, Kuwait

As I write this, Taps is flowing from a loudspeaker somewhere near the center of the camp. That means it is 11 PM here in Kuwait. If not for a flickering soft blue light generated by notebook computers atop soldierly bellies, we would be in total darkness. The diesel powered generator that keeps this dim light aglow drones endlessly just beyond the thin walls. It has become white noise which nobody even notices anymore. I made a discovery the other day, and it is being confirmed at this very moment. There actually is somebody in this Army that snores louder than I do! Thank you SGT Ryan! It is very easy to lose track of days here. Nothing appears to change from one day to the next. I even forgot that this was March. The desert kinda plays with your head. Rocks. Gravel. Sand. Sky. Buildings. People. All are the same timeless tan and gray color. At lunch this afternoon we watched the President give a speech in front of a sympathetic crowd from the American Legion. It was a little surreal listening to him talk about Iraq and Baghdad knowing that we'll be there in a few short days. This is all I can really crank out today. It has been a long one. God bless.

Lee

l'essence du Kuwait

Camp Buehring, Kuwait

Four days. Four days soaking in blowing sand, frigid nights, the body odor of soldiers packed into a tent like sardines, sleeping on hard floors, MRE's, and relentless UV bombardment from the sun (two days into it we were finally issued sunscreen! Good thing, too, because it apparently wasn't available at the local PX). We returned back to Camp Buehring this afternoon beat down, but in wide agreement that what we had experienced was a rare encounter with good training. It was all about the basics: shooting, moving, and communicating. It was the first time most of us had ever experienced trying to clear a building using live ammunition. A little scary, but far less scary than what we're likely to deal with up North in a couple of days.

One "highlight" was a small contingent of staffers from (I believe) the Senate Armed Services Committee. The officers in charge of these folks wanted to put on a show. I volunteered our little team much to the chagrin of our fearless leader and fellow contributor to this blog. I consider myself lucky that he didn't make me do push-ups until the sand beneath my palms turned to concrete for this little stunt, but ... I had my reasons for piping up. Anyway, the big-wigs from Washington climbed up on the walls of the "shoot house" with cameras in hand, and we went to work. My marksmanship was exceptional for this little demonstration, as I'm sure I scared the paper targets to death. I certainly didn't hit them... Wow... Afterwards, the staffers held a little Q&A with our team. They asked all manner of questions regarding our equipment, training, etc. Our intrepid lead "Sin-taur" was in rare form, using colorfully laced honesty to describe our ... situation. The Lt. Colonel in charge of the chaperoning party must have been impressed, as he suddenly seemed quite anxious to move the staffers back to the bus and get them on their way.

Ah, yes... there were camels. Gobs of camels. We had to wait half an hour one morning for range control to relocate a Bedouin and his herd from downrange of our muzzles. Another Bedouin got almost as irritated as his camels when soldiers with cameras ventured too close for comfort to his animals.

We love hearing from everybody back in the world. Keep in touch.

Lee

On the latrine wall: "When you find yourself going through hell, keep walking."