A 40YO in Iraq

Some video from the 86th CSH that I was given while in the IZ. They were a part of the 44th MEDBDE, the unit we relieved. It is a bit graphic, so don't watch if you are squeamish.

I'm back. I've been back about six months now. I had some readjustment issues, but they seem to have been sorted. Here is my new "rack". I recieved a peacetime award for my wartime service in Iraq and my CAB was submitted just before I demobed, so I'm sure I'll never see that. In addition, I found out my reserve unit dinged me for not completing a task before I left for the war. Did I mention I was doing it on my own time? When I returned I reminded them of the old saw that you get what you pay for and that from now on there will be no such thing as a free lunch. It is good to be short and I cannot wait for 2010!

I spent some time in Fla after I returned and looked up some old grade school buddies. How times have changed! Javaland isn't what it used to be! My wife was favorably impressed by Tampa, so I suppose there is a faint glimmer of hope, but I'm not counting on it.

My return was wonderful. The airport let my wife and kids down to the gate to meet me. I do not think I shall ever forget that moment. We recieved our certificate of occupancy for the house we started building before I left 1.5 hours before I landed in DC, so we were all able to spend the first night in our house together. It really doesn't get any better than this.

Went to Balad recently. It was interesting, but sandstorms kept me there longer than I had wanted. The 3d Med guys at the Jameson Schoolhouse took very good care of me. It is a nice post, big pool, nice PX and bazaar. They do get mortared more than we do, so therein lies the rub. I did get to see what happens when an F-16 crashes. Here is what it looks like:

Here is the door gunner on my Blackhawk (yes, that's Kenny on his helmet).

And the new hole in my trailer.

This is a snap of the Rhino. It is used to shuttle us to & from the IZ on Route Irish.

And the escorts. Note that the all-terrain HMMWVs have been turned into lowriders by the armor.

And the new ambulance, slat armor and all.

And finally some birds playing in the mirror of one of our trucks.

Independence Day: my last federal holiday in Iraq! One of my soldiers was naturalized today at the al Faw palace. John McCain was the guest speaker and it was a mob scene as a consequence. I went, but didn’t stay because I could not see. Here are photos of the palace and the Senator:

They had an MRAP on hand; what for, I don’t know. It has a robotic arm to uncover IEDs, a hot arm to detonate heat activated EFPs, and slat armor to defeat RPGs.

We had a dining-in at the palace on the 2nd. It was a bit of fun and I was in a skit where I played the General. Nothing like lampooning your two-star for career advancement.

We had an attack a few days ago. I was in my room reading A.C. Clark (thanks, Andrew & Lee) when it happened. There were about 15 small arms rounds that came over into Dodge City, one of which went straight through my trailer. It sounded like a firecracker. I won’t be home soon enough!

I did the DANCON March a few days ago with about 2,000 other people and I had a lot of fun doing it. Some of the young hot shots ran it, carried their rucksacks, or wore their IBA; but most of us just walked. It was a bit like a volksmarch and the participants were all having a grand time. I took 4 hours and 8 minutes to do the 20 kilometers. We started at 0500. I caught a dragonfly sleeping on the way to the march.

We were issued chemlights because it was dark out and at least one soldier found a creative use for them.

Here is a snap of Sam and Charissa as we walked by the lake on our second lap. I spent most of the march with them.

And here I am about 1 mile from the finish. I was feeling a bit dizzy, but all of that “dizzy training” in college really paid off!

Here is the Al Faw palace across the lake and a minaret.

And the payoff! My medal:

And my blister!

Toby Keith was on Camp Victory a few days ago. We had a mortar during the opening act, but the C-RAM engaged it and it landed without detonating. The guy singing jumped out of his skin, but the soldiers just cheered. We had seats right up front. Here are some pix:

The crowd waits.

And grows.

Here is the Brew Crew with the big boss.

And here’s Toby.

And the mess afterward.

Almost my birthday, so I thought I might try and put something beautiful in my little bit of cyberspace. I was at the surgeons' conference in the Al Faw palace last week, and I managed to get some pix.

Here is a pic of the doors inside the palace. The design says Al Faw in Arabic and they are about 10 feet high.

This is the ceiling of the ballroom. It is carved and painted plaster, really gorgeous work.

And the atrium. Kind of fuzzy, but what the heck…

Here are some flowers I found. Most of them came from a parking lot in the IZ where they had thirteen rockets land the day before.

And a lizard from the front door of our HQ. He was really cute!

Wow! Less than 100 days left in Iraq! I’ll be stuck in Kuwait for 15 days or so before I fly home, but at least no one is shooting at you there, and I’ll be able to catch up with my troops I left down there when I moved to Baghdad. But I really cannot wait to see my family in the states! I think the entire task force is done and everyone is counting down the final days of the deployment.

Below are some snaps of the C-RAM shooting. It is really much more impressive than the pictures show; maybe my wife will let me get one when I get home. Rumor is that it costs a quarter million every time it shoots.