News and Personal dispatches from the front and the home front.
In their own words:
Afghanistan Shrugged: All Before 0800 - Beep...Beep, Beep...Beep, Beep...Beep I look at the green face of my watch; 5 AM stares back at me. It's quite and pitch black in the room; nice that it's quiet; this it last time today that it will. The rest of the day will be filled with radio calls, reports, yelling. I lay there in the dark with my watch still beeping. The war in Afghanistan is typified by brand names, Oakley, Under Armour, Suunto, iPod and a myriad of others. It seems at times when we roll out we resemble NASCAR drivers with logos and brand names plastered all over us; subdued yes; but all over us. Right now it's Suunto that's upsetting me, with it's beeping and unwillingness to let me go back to sleep. Just leave me alone. I shut the watch off. No such luck. I get out of my bunk and put my feet on the cold concrete floor. It's fitting that we're ETT Vampire as we live in a concrete bunker with no windows, when the lights are off it's black no matter the time of day. (READ MORE)
Embrace The Suck: Mole Funerals, MRE Bombs, And Queens For A Year... - Monday, December 8, 2008 1950 hrs - So where to begin? How much douche baggery can one company produce in one deployment? I don't know, but I do think that this company is going to take a shot at the title. Well, we buried a mole yesterday. Yes, that's right we buried a mole. Not the digging under the ground animal type. We buried the type that grows on people's faces. Why did we do this? Well part of it is the fact that you have all these GI's around who are incredibly bored, but the other half of it, is in this case, the mole was an integral part of the human being from whom it was removed. (READ MORE)
Knottie's niche: Why I Tell My Story - Last night I was called some pretty nasty names. No worries as I have been called worse by better. But they stated also that I am in denial about my son's death and that I am simply seeking sympathy. This I take issue with. My son was well read in history and knew more clearly than most why we had gone to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He knew it was a just war and that it was a honorable and valuable fight. He also knew that fight may cost him his tomorrows. He was willing to take up the fight. I could do no more than support and love him.. So I did. Having gone through what I have I can assure you there is no way to be in denial. The realities brings it home. The flag covered casket coming off the plane, Taps being played, guns firing. Once you have experienced these things denial is not going to happen. Trust me my son's death is very real to me. (READ MORE)
Bill Roggio: Pakistan detains Lashkar-e-Taiba plotter of Mumbai attacks - Pakistani security forces detained one of the masterminds in the Nov. 26 Mumbai terror assault, according to reports from Pakistan. Zia-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi was detained along with eight other members of Lashkar-e-Taiba were arrested during raids on a camp and offices operated by the terror group in Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Zia-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who is also know as Chachaji, serves as the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based terror group founded by Hafiz Saeed. The identity of the eight others detained in the operation has not been disclosed. A spokesman for the Lashkar-e-Taiba confirmed Lakhvi and several others were detained. (READ MORE)
Michael J. Totten: Iraq at the End of the Surge - Last week I wrote that many Americans and Iraqis I spoke to in Baghdad recently expect a surge of violence after American troops withdraw from Iraqi cities as stipulated by the recently signed Status of Forces Agreement. Many readers seemed surprised by that pessimistic forecast and wondered, after two years of good news, if it could even be true. “Your report and that of Michael Yon,” Richard Everett wrote in the comments section, “published on the same day on the same subject are at so great variance that one has to ask; 'are you two in the same country?' He is positive, you are not. Why the extreme difference?” Michael Yon did, indeed, publish an upbeat report on the same day called The Art of the End of the War. I encourage everyone to read it. Yon's work is always accurate and informative, and this time is no exception. Richard Everett is right to point out that my piece was gloomy while Yon's piece was not, but Iraq is complex. (READ MORE)
Up Country Iraq: End of Mission - One final hello to everyone via electrons, I am happy to say that I am home and enjoying the re-integration process with my family. What a great feeling. For those who don’t know, families of individual deploying or returning military personnel are allowed to go through security and wait at the gates at the airport, so I was able to see those five friendly family faces as I was heading up the ramp from the aircraft. This will obviously be my final post. I will just share a couple of personal observations that are separate from what I learned with regards to my Lessons Learned duties. Many of those observations were “For Official Use Only.” These observations were more “big picture” issues and are, obviously, my opinion. I have no plans to boycott your businesses or picket in front of your house if you happen to disagree with my opinions. (READ MORE)
Big Tobacco: Tone Deaf - I wrote this while smoking a Coheba from a country below Florida. I return to the BDOC with a Styrofoam container of food. Its 0100: the witching hour. The rest of the FOB is asleep. A team of men sits in the BDOC watching a Haji bootleg of Oz while patrols comb the roads around the FOB in gun trucks listening to their iPods. Not quite war and not quite home, we mount up every night, check our trucks, log onto our computers and settle into shift. Tone deaf to the world. Just another night. My portable radio squawks: “YEAH ROGER TWO SIX. SP TIME IS 0110. OUT.” I punch in my door code and pull open the heavy metal door. I feel my container of food slip from my hand. I jump for my food and manage to catch it. The door smashes into the portable radio on my left side. “G-d Damnit! Motherfucker!” I scream, reeling as pain explodes across my torso. “You OK, sergeant?” asks one of my soldiers as he comes to my aid. “Yeah, take this,” I say as I pass off my lunch. (READ MORE)
News from the Front:
Iraq:
IA, CF discover 6 cache sites (Haswah) - FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition forces discovered six different cache sites Dec. 4 in the Haswah area. Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 31st Brigade, 8th Iraqi Army Division, and Troop C, 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, under 1st Bn., 76th Field Artillery, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., discovered the caches based on intelligence gathered from 2nd Bn., 31st IA Bde. (READ MORE)
IA, MND-B Soldiers detain suspected criminals in Baghdad - BAGHDAD – Iraqi Army soldiers and Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained five suspected special group criminals throughout Baghdad Dec. 7-8. At 3 p.m. Dec. 7, Soldiers serving with Task Force 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, detained two men in Sadr City who are suspected in a botched attack on Iraqi Security Forces involving an explosively formed penetrator. (READ MORE)
1st BCT Soldiers assist ISF to become self-reliant - FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq –Soldiers of the 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, bring more to the fight than food, fuel or parts; they bring years of experience and technical expertise as part of an ongoing mission to develop Iraqi Security Forces. The battalion, deployed to Forward Operating Base Falcon, located in southern Baghdad, provides advanced training and over sight to prepare the Rashid district’s Iraqi National Police to transform into a self-sustainable force, said Maj. Jeff Britton, support operations officer, 4th Spt. Bn., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div. (READ MORE)
MND-B Soldiers detain suspected criminal in early morning raid - BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers detained a suspected criminal Dec. 8 during an early morning raid in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad. At approximately 2:15 a.m. in the Abu T’shir community, Soldiers from Troop C, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, MND-B, detained the suspect reportedly linked with a terrorist cell dealing with rocket and mortar attacks in Rashid. (READ MORE)
Iron Dagger aims to improve Ghazaliyah, Shulla - BAGHDAD – As the security in Iraq improves significantly following the U.S. troop surge of early 2007, Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers from the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, now focus on an operation that will make long-term neighborhood improvements along its western operational environment. In the areas of Ghazaliyah and Shulla, Operation Iron Dagger, in concert with Iraqi Security Forces, will emphasize making improvements in the area, with programs such as route sanitation, essential service improvements and better communication with the local populace. (READ MORE)
Army engineer sees significant progress in Iraq - Thi Qar Province, Iraq — Lt. Col. Mike Darrow, serving two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, says he’s seen real progress during the past five years. He says the biggest change is that Iraqis are now making decisions and allocating their own resources to improve essential services for local residents. (READ MORE)
New agricultural center opens in Safwan - SAFWAN, Iraq – A newly renovated agricultural center in Safwan, a town in southern Iraq’s Basrah province, was dedicated Dec. 7. Members of the Safwan Agricultural Society Board, the Agricultural Society president and Coalition representatives were on hand for the celebration. (READ MORE)
Iraqi Air Force takes flight—at night - BAGHDAD – The Iraqi Air Force conducted its first rotary-wing night mission since the 2003 invasion in the skies over Baghdad, Dec. 3. Two Iraqi crews, using night vision equipment, flew their Russian-made Mi-17 helicopters outside the air base at Taji. The first Iraqi night vision goggle sortie occurred in August. The mission started with a trip to Besmaya range for NVG gun training for the Iraqi helicopter gunners and pilots and then a landing at Washington Landing Zone, in Baghdad’s International Zone, and Liberty Landing Zone, near Baghdad International Airport for familiarization. (READ MORE)
Public Works Boost Baghdad Efficiency - BAGHDAD — The citizens of Baghdad are on a new type of mission these days. Instead of worrying about the violence that once plagued their city, citizens are now focused on making their home town a cleaner place to live. With a central focus on water, sewage and trash removal, workers assigned to neighborhoods are hard at work trying to ensure that their fellow Baghdad citizens are afforded clean streets and clean water. (READ MORE)
Coalition Forces Remove 21 Suspected Terrorists from AQI Networks - BAGHDAD — Coalition forces detained 21 suspected terrorists, four of whom were wanted men, during operations targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) networks around the country Saturday and Sunday. Coalition forces further degraded AQI in the Tigris River Valley on Thursday, detaining seven suspects in Bayji, about 160 km south of Mosul. (READ MORE)
Bell Helicopters Arrive for Iraqi Air Force Pilot Training - KIRKUK — Five Bell Jet Ranger 206B helicopters arrived here aboard a C-17 Globemaster III, Dec. 3. The rotary aircraft were shipped over from the United States where they were converted from multiple sources, such as commercial use, for military application to be used as trainers for the Iraqi Air Force. They will later be joined by five more Jet Rangers from Taji to help establish the Iraqi Air Force Squadron 2. (READ MORE)
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