News and Personal dispatches from the front lines.
In their own words:
Northern Disclosure: Peter and his Eggs! - It is Easter and for the first time in many years I have felt its impact on my life. Of course there's the bit about Jesus getting sold out for a couple for silver pieces, dying for mankind then rising but I am talking about the great kid believe in Peter Cotton tail hooking up all the kids with some booty, preferably cadbury's. Peter was dressed a little different than in my past. He wore a white over coat and white chef's hat and spoke broken English with a name tag written in sharpie. Thats right he was a cook at a chow hall in Ramadi. I smiled and ordered a couple of "sunny side up" and he didn't flinch and cooked them with the briskness with out breaking that precious golden yoke. I couldn't believe it, for almost a year now I have approached the eggs to order grill at various places and ordered some sunny side ups hoping to get them but every time I got rejected because of the ban on fresh eggs thanks to that pesky Avian Bird Flu. (READ MORE)
LTC Rich Phillips: Short Update - I apologize for the extended break. I'm back at KAF now, and I have access to real, civilian internet for the first time in months! I'm getting ready to begin my trip home, which is really more of an odyssey, really. My journey home will look something like this: KAF to BAF to Manas AB to Pope AFB to McChord AFB and finally, home. I'll fill in the details in a future post. As always, I'd like to use my experience to shed some light on the experience of a typical Soldier deployed to OEF or OIF. I've been on the road a lot recently, mostly repeating the KAF run I posted about earlier. And the sights stay the same, but never get old. Here a few from my most recent trip. (READ MORE)
Tragically Famous: Hakuna Moqtada; no worries for the rest of your days... - I remind myself inconsequently that it is long past the time to quit after each cigarette has the life squeezed out of it. The reddish-tan debris from my cigarette butt lay haphazardly on the wooden lounge chair. A slight breeze enters unobtrusively, carrying them away as the charred cigarette rolls awkwardly between the gaps of the gazebo flooring. It’s a slow afternoon at the outpost. The out of form sun is high up in the sky, practicing for the relentless ass-kickery it will soon deliver during the upcoming months. But for now, the little bit of airflow keeps things manageable. (READ MORE)
Yellowhammering Afghanistan: Basket cases - Instead of spending Easter looking for eggs, we went out looking for kids. Girl Scout Troop No. 9278 of Liberty Township, Ohio, surprised the guys here at Camp Vulcan with Easter baskets and boxes of goodies sent to us through Operation: Show Our Love. (We also got some goodies from the city employees of Trotwood, Ohio, and the American Legion Post 619 in Dayton, Ohio. Thank you!) We enjoyed some of the treats, but decided the baskets and stuffed animals would look best in the hands of some of the Afghan children. (READ MORE)
Iraq Pundit: Singing the Same Old Song - Osama Bin Laden has presented himself to the Arab and Muslim worlds as a departure from the ordinary and the corrupt. He has impressed many young men of those worlds with his rejection of the flashy lifestyle (at least as far as we know) of the region's worldly leaders. Rather, he lives the life of a cave-bound ascetic. He's supposedly at one with the poor. Naturally, OBL says he's better than the Arab nationalists. He criticizes the "crownless" leader of Saudi Arabia. He blames Arab leaders for the recent tragedies in Gaza. The message to the Muslims is, essentially, do it my way and things will finally take a turn for the better. (READ MORE)
Jason's Iraq Vacation: Back in Kuwait - The whine of the landing gear pulled me from a light sleep. My butt was killing me, the dude next to me was snoring, and I couldn't feel my left foot. I didn't care about any of these small annoyances, though - I was finally out of Iraq. We took a pretty circuitous route to get to Kuwait. After leaving BIAP, we flew to Bahrain and stayed there for about 2 hours. When we got off the C-130 in Bahrain, I could smell the sea immediately; that smell of the sea mixed with a faint suntan lotion smell inside terminal gave me a pretty sudden dose of nostalgia. (READ MORE)
Kaboom: A Soldier's War Journal: Rules of Engagement - Hour 18 of a 24-hour mission. Well, two missions really. We had spent the day pulling outer security for General Petraeus himself, while he strolled down Anu al-Verona with no body armor, surrounded by a camo entourage and media parade Patton’s ghost would respect, to buy some falafels. I didn’t get to meet the Big Man, but I did get a photo of the aforementioned circus from about 100 meters away, with all three rings in action. Trust me, I didn’t want to be any closer. No matter how many gorgeous aides there were in his posse who would have been dutifully unimpressed with a too-cocky, too-skinny scout platoon leader who can’t get rid of the black bags entrenched underneath his eyes, had drank 10 bottles of water in the past eight hours to fight off sunstroke, and hadn’t showered in two weeks. (READ MORE)
LT Nixon: Dispelling Stereotypes - An disturbingly large portion of the blogosphere believes that US Soldiers are over in Iraq randomly killing civilians, wearing ear necklaces, torching mosques, and other such nonsense. These stereotypes are employed to give credit to their oft-repeated argument "Bush Lied, People Died". Sure, there's lots of intelligible debate about why getting into Iraq was wrong, but I don't see the troops being likened to the Mongol Horde as part of it. That maybe since I've been in the military for several years and have not seen this criminal mentality first hand. Not saying war isn't hell, but when some douche in the comments sections of Matt Yglesias fine blog starts droning on about the US only being over here to kill civilians, I find this ridiculous. (READ MORE)
ETT PA-C: Happy Easter - I've seen that alot of new stuff has come across the wire on the internet so I thought I'd update this to let everyone know that I'm fine. I've been on the move alot lately and haven't had much I can talk about to report. Right now I'm up enjoying some "down time" in Kabul. Nothing I'm willing to admit to here except I'm ready to get away from all the brass and worthless uniform policies around this place! Anyway, I truly hope that you all have had a happy Easter and remember why we celebrate it. (READ MORE)
Bill and Bob's Excellent Afghan Adventure: Out Processing Up The Chain - When you leave a theater of operations, you have to "out process." Out processing means filling out paperwork, clearing hand receipts* and making sure that you don't have any open issues, like legal issues or investigations. Here at Camp Phoenix, the headquarters of Task Force Phoenix (the people who I've supposedly been working for this year,) we are out processing for the third time. Each subordinate command has its own out processing, because each subordinate command has had some responsibility for us (at least on paper,) and some have actually given us equipment to use that they need returned. Some of this has been purely ceremonial. We belonged in name only, gaining no support from that organization whatsoever. At least nothing that was visible at my level; dirt level. (READ MORE)
Doc in the Box: Coping Cliques - We each find our way of coping with the distance. Being a Corpsman of Marines, it’s turned me into a watcher of people and being tapped as the unit photographer, that gives me an unbiased license to see everything. Humans are social beings, the interaction between people give me hours of enjoyment just observing. Lately my focus has been on the unconscious cliques people form to deal with the stress of deployment. If you’re watching us from the outside, the first people to catch your eyes are the PT Studs in all of their muscled glory. In some past life before they became Marines, they were probably jocks or someone who had dreamed of being a jock. Now they’re deployed and are unencumbered by the social niceties of family and network television and have free reign to shape their bodies into an Arnold-like state of physical perfection. (READ MORE)
Badger 6: Coins - Going 4 for 4 - Military challenge coins have become pretty common place these days and I would suspect that most service members leave with at least one from their unit if not others. Being in the position of supporting other units I have picked up quite a few of them. Most of them have been Army coins, but I have picked up coins from all four services now. My time in MNF-W gave saw me received coins from USMC Regimental Combat Team 5 and US Navy SEAL Team 10. Today a US Air Force Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron, "Prime Beef" gave me a coin for helping them out. Very nice to have worked with all the services over here. (READ MORE)
From an Anthropological Perspective: Experiencing Deployed Army Life - I've been offline for a while now. I never really thought that I'd experience so many aspects of deployment that soldiers face. I've been through a firefight, slept on cots, not showered for days despite going on patrols day and night, eaten MREs and cold chow from the gut truck, and then going on emergency leave. Soldiers go through quite a bit downrange. My understanding what they do while out on patrol or developing strategies and plans in a Tactical Operations Center has really been improved by experiencing so many of the challenges they face. (READ MORE)
Fearless 1st Marines’ blog: ISF and Marines uncover 4,000 pound cache - SUBYHAT, Iraq (March 19, 2008) – March 13 started as a normal day for the Marines of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1. They were set to patrol the streets and talk to local Iraqi leaders, when the local Iraqi Police and Sons of Iraq stopped them. “One of them pulled us aside and said, ‘Come over here, you need to check this out,” said Sgt. Nathan Aja, section leader, JUMP section, Company G, 2nd Bn., 3rd Marines. “They saw something that didn’t look right to them so they brought us over to it and we began to dig it up.” (READ MORE)
The Angry American: Reup if your crazy.... - Well........ I did it again. 4 more baby 4 more. I didn't get any money. I did get my choice of duty station. I can say its non deployable and I'm really excited about that. Its off to Relaxin Jackson when I'm done here. Its actually pretty sweet. Since 2001 I've hardly been home at all. I was in the New York Guard and after 9/11 they kept me busy and away from home. Out of the last three years I've been home for 7 months of it. I'm excited to actually be able to be home and be a father and husband. Part of me will miss being deployed, thats what we do, its what we train for. I don't really know what I'll be doing in Jackson but I do know I will not be deploying. (READ MORE)
False Motivation: Schools...In For The Summer? - Yep, we visited the school again today. We were granted one more final stipend to help fix up the school (since we'll soon be handing over our sector), the teachers and headmasters agreed that cisterns and a water fountain would be a nice improvement. So off we speed to the market in our fancy Strykers, dismounting in front of the cistern shop (just so you know a cistern is a big metal box that holds water, it's what they use instead of water pumps). We haggle with the guy, he keeps insisting he sold us the last two cisterns we bought for the school for a way higher price than he actually did, and we keep insisting that we're only going to pay what we did before. So haggle, hagggle, haggle, he agrees (hey we're stubborn), we throw the cisterns up on our stryker's noses and drive back to the school. (READ MORE)
Paul McLeary: All the young punks - Earlier this week, I participated in a Pentagon conference call with Colonel Daniel Roper, director of the Counterinsurgency Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Since I’ve spent the bulk of my time on this site writing about the big counterinsurgency effort currently underway in Iraq—funding the Sons of Iraq movement—I figured it would be fruitful to ask the Colonel what the Center thinks is the way forward with the group. Remember, the Sons of Iraq—or Concerned Local Citizens, take your pick—are comprised of 80,000 armed Iraqis the American command is paying $10 a day apiece to, so that they’ll pull security in their own neighborhoods. (READ MORE)
That Krazy Korean: Happy Easter - I received my deployment award yesterday in what one would call a marathon ceremony. Being the eleventh out of twelve people recognized, it lasted over an hour and was full of your typical banter by folks with inflated awards, punctuated by the occasional moments of sincere gratitude. As I sat there listening to the awardees thank everyone and talk about their experiences, it made me a little more reflective than usual about what I've done in my last year here. But, just like my short speech, I will save everyone from my babblings until I have time to make them coherent. In the meantime, Happy Easter everyone. I hope that his will be the last holiday I spend in Iraq, although I'm not quite sure if one considers April Fool's Day as an official holiday. (READ MORE)
M&M's Home Blog: A fond farewell to my roomie - Colleen left the IZ three days ago, and this morning, for the first time, I wasn’t surprised by the sight of her empty bunk. The first couple of nights were pretty rough; I was very lonely and found that I couldn’t get the “Saying Goodbye” song from The Muppets Take Manhattan out of my head. Colleen is embarking on a journey that, to me, makes her awfully courageous – she is walking away from a good corporate job to become a full time student again. Resurrecting a dream that she pushed aside ten years ago, she has entered an accelerated education program that will result in her becoming what she has always truly wanted to be: a nurse. (READ MORE)
Back Stateside but still writing about Iraq:
Eighty Deuce on the Loose in Iraq: Being home... - is great! It is the most amazing feeling in the world to be back in the States after so long in Iraq. While over there, it seemed like this day would never come, but finally it did. The flight back was full of anticipation as we all just wanted to end our long journey and be back with the ones we love and care about. For myself, from the time I was last walking around the streets of Baghdad until I landed back in the United States, it was only 4 days. Mind blowing really. One we arrived at Ft Bragg, there were so many friends, family, whatever there, that it was a HUGE crowd. We formed up and marched in while everyone was screaming and cheering, and it was so hard to not break out with a huge smile across my face. The shivers ran throughout my body, and even a little bit right now just thinking about it. It was amazing and I couldn't of asked for much more. We headed back to the company, turned in our weapons and got released for 6 hours until we had to come back to receive our safety brief to go in to our 3-day weekend that we had. (READ MORE)
Desert Dude: 24 March - ok–again, I m using the Russian programmed computer—it’s cool to use the keyboard with all the Russian charcters…anyhoo–wow, I just found out the “Y” ke isn’t working very well…actually the whole keyboard sucks…I’ll do what I can…last night the local hangout–Pete’s Place–had their version of American Idol–”Manas Idol”….it was pretty entertaining–only 3 of the 6 contestants could actually sing and only 2 of them were actually worth listening to…there were also 3 judges that acted as the real AI judges–one guy acting like Randy, a female Lt. Col. acting like Paula and another Col. acting like Simon- (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
IRAQ:
Relentless MND-B Soldiers detain suspect terrorist after year long pursuit - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained a suspected terrorist March 21. The suspect was detained after a lengthy investigation of evidence collected nearly a year ago from a munitions cache find. Soldiers from 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad seized a munitions cache in West Rashid March 31, 2007, that consisted of rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 107mm rockets, mortar rounds and several blocks of TNT, as well as various smalls-arms munitions, repair parts and time fuses. (READ MORE)
Iraqi Security Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces, detain six suspected militants in overnight operations - BALAD, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces, detained six suspected militants during separate operations March 22. In Baghdad, Iraqi Special Operations Forces detained one suspected militant who is believed to be the leader of an improvised explosive device and explosively formed penetrator cell. One other suspect is being held for questioning. (READ MORE)
Al Qaeda leader in Kirkuk, 3 suspects detained - KIRKUK, Iraq – A suspected al Qaeda in Iraq leader in Kirkuk and three other suspects were detained March 20 during a raid conducted by Coalition forces near the village of Rashaad in the Kirkuk Province. Iraqi citizens provided the information leading to the capture of the suspected al Qaeda in Iraq leader and other suspects. The tips allowed Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division to conduct a precision raid to detain the suspects with minimal impact to Iraqi citizens. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers celebrate Easter sunrise - BAGHDAD – There are three elements that make for a strong, well-balanced Soldier – physical fitness, mental fitness and spiritual fitness. Members of the 4th Infantry Division and Multi-National Division – Baghdad exercised their spiritual fitness at sunrise with religious Easter services at Camp Liberty March 23. Easter in Iraq is something few get to experience, and as the services began, Soldiers took advantage of the spiritual opportunity to worship in Baghdad this Easter Sunday. (READ MORE)
Coalition forces kill 17 terrorists including six likely suicide bombers, detain 30 suspects - BAGHDAD – Coalition forces killed 17 terrorists and detained 30 suspected terrorists during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq in central and northern parts of the country Saturday and today. Coalition forces conducted an operation Saturday near the Hamrin Mountains, targeting weapons facilitators and associates of AQI leadership. Intelligence reports led the assault force to the targeted suspect’s location, where five individuals failed to comply with Coalition forces’ instructions or heed warnings. (READ MORE)
AQI conducts SVBIED attack against Iraqi Army, citizens - NINEWAH PROVINCE, Iraq – A suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive attack occurred in Mosul March 23 against members of the Iraqi Army. The suicide VBIED occurred at approximately 7 a.m. resulting in 12 Iraqi Army Soldiers killed and 35 wounded. The wounded were evacuated to local medical facilities for treatment or treated on-site. (READ MORE)
Suspected IED emplacers attacked in vicinity of Samarra - SAMARRA, Iraq – Suspected improvised explosive device emplacers were killed and some injured in a pre-dawn attack after five individuals were spotted conducting suspicious activity in an area historically known for terrorist IED emplacement near Samarra March 22. Coalition forces perceived hostile intent after confirming that there were no known friendly or authorized Sons of Iraq checkpoints in the area. (READ MORE)
Georgian, U.S. Soldiers Deliver Food, Toys to Gurtan Village - FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — U.S. and Georgian Soldiers helped get food and toys to a small village in need near al Lej, March 18. Leaders of Task Force Petro, consisting of Soldiers from 13th Georgian Light Infantry Battalion and 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, discovered Gurtan after the completion of Operation Sukihumi, March 7. During the operation, Task Force Petro Soldiers searched and cleared al Wehda, near al Lej. Now, with the area secured, the task force is planning for its revitalization. (READ MORE)
Enlisted Leaders Plan the Way Ahead - BAGHDAD — The Coalition Command Sgts. Maj. and senior enlisted advisors along with the Command Sgt. Maj. of the Iraqi Army and Iraqi National Police met together during the first Noncommissioned Officer Education System conference to discuss the way ahead for the standardization of training and doctrine for the Iraqi Security Forces' noncommissioned officers Mar. 20. "The focus of this conference was to give those senior enlisted leaders within theater a good lay down of what it is that we provide here at Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq, in the way of training, especially noncommissioned officers," said Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Tommy Williams, senior enlisted advisor. (READ MORE)
Mosul Shows Coalition Forces Spirit of Charity during Mawlid Celebration - MOSUL — Iraqi citizens treated Coalition force Soldiers observing the Islamic celebration of Mawlid in the Mosul neighborhood of al-Habda. The Islamic celebration of Mawlid is held in recognition of the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. The residents were practicing the tradition of charity as part of the celebration’s activities. (READ MORE)
Coalition Forces, Sons of Iraq Conduct Medical Engagement in Arab Jabour - FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division and Sons of Iraq conducted a combined medical engagement in Arab Jabour March 19. Two hundred and twenty-seven people were treated during the event, which provided treatment for minor injuries, such as scrapes, sprains and allergies. (READ MORE)
Those Who Fight - In Anbar in late 2006, a young Marine was shot by a sniper. All around him, Iraqi soldiers and fellow Marines scatter for cover. A sergeant, Jesse E. Leach, stepped forward and strategically placed himself between the wounded Marine and the position from where the shot was fired. Sergeant Leach dragged his man through the mud to a safe position; an act of bravery when there was no time to contemplate the consequences. (READ MORE)
AFGHANISTAN:
Freedom Watch Magazine 24 March 2008
MC2 James D. Hamill - Petty Officer Hamill was present at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of the Khost Provincial Hopspital. During the ceremony, a suicide bomber disguised as a doctor penetrated security intent on assassinating dignitaries gathered at the event. Petty Officer Hamill stood his ground between the assailant and the ceremony attendees and engaged the assailant at close range with his 9mm pistol, preventing the bomber from inflicting catastrophic casualties. Petty Officer Hamill’s gallant actions, taken without regard for his own safety, allowed the provincial governor and bystanders to escape without injury and represent the finest traditions of heroic actions in combat. (READ MORE)
ANSF, Coalition forces inflict casualties on attacking insurgent forces - BAGRAM AIRBASE, Afghanistan – Afghan National Security Forces, assisted by Coalition forces, killed more than a dozen insurgents March 21 when the combined force foiled a Taliban ambush in Oruzgan Province. “The combined force was conducting a security patrol north of Deh Rawood District to demonstrate the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s commitment to secure remote areas in the province,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, Coalition forces spokesman. (READ MORE)
C-130 aircrews, Army riggers reach airdrop record - BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan – February marked a 1 million pound airdrop record for C-130s of the 774th Air Expeditionary Squadron, but not without the support of the Army’s 11th Quartermaster Rigger Detachment and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force riggers here. The joint team delivered approximately 1 million pounds of humanitarian aid to villages and supplies to forward deployed forces in Afghanistan. This was a 40 percent increase from January operations and breaks the previous September 2007 record. (READ MORE)
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