AN I LOVE ME MOMENT

Im a little scuffed up after some rough housing... boys will be boys as they say...



I dont know what it is but im looking at something...



playing with the MP5... its a fun little weapon.. i have a video of me shooting it but it wont load here... maybe once im back in the states i will be able to load it.



guys play dress up too... lol, this is my pirate shot.
i want a sword.... is that weird...



air guitar on the MP5, i think i exhausted all possible poses with this thing.



smoking by the fire... thats our fire pit.. we burn everything... fire = fun.

OWN ROOM

wrapping up the final 50 or so days of the deployment and i have finally got my own room. These are usually reserved for the higher ranking guys but this lowly E-5 has broken through. It's really nice being able to disconnect from everything and everyone. The best part of the whole situation is, when my squad leaves this home for our other in about a month, i will have my own room there as well... right now im currently sharing that room with one of the other squad leaders in the platoon... when im here (5 days a week), he has his own room... the reason we will be leaving this home for good in about a month is because we have 6 National Guard guys attached to our platoon. they will be leaving Iraq earlier then the rest of us. when they leave, our squad will go back to where the rest of our platoon is and reconsolidate our Joe's to keep our three squad size. my roommate over in the other place is one of the National Guard guys whose going home. so ill be going back there for good when hes going back home for good... which means ill still have a room all to myself.

finishing strong finishing strong...

LIFE AFTER THE SOFA...

It's been about two weeks since the June 30th transition and the whats and how’s are finally starting to show themselves... Leading up to the deadline I was irate... I couldn’t fathom why the worlds "best army" still had their heads so far up their asses and no one know what would happen on the 30th or how it would affect us... 2 months out the rumor mill was hot and heavy... We heard things like no MRAP's would be allowed in sector, and any time we leave the wire we would have to be with IA or IP's... We heard that everyone would move out of the city's and as an effort to decrease our footprint, and that we would take a back seat to the Iraqi's.... Most of this is some what true, but we by no means have are feet on the ground with this yet... There are still many unknowns and a lot of confusion... Here’s my take on the SOFA after a couple weeks..

Really quick.... DISCLAIMER....
This is my low rank low knowledge boots on the ground from my eyes view of things... this is in no way policy or "the standard"... The SOFA encompasses all of Iraq... I'm only in Baghdad....

First, we can't leave the wire between the hours of 5 in the morning and midnight unless our assistance is requested from the country of Iraq.... That hasn’t happened yet and I don't suspect it will... So for the most part there’s been a lot of sitting around... From the hours of midnight to 4 in the morning we are free to do what ever... It kinda sucks because all the logistical bullshit we have to do has to be done between these hours... being that we are 20 minutes away from our "HQ" all the bullshit dispatching vehicles, filling out paper work, sensitive items checks, and all the other time consuming nonsense requires us to convoy across Baghdad between these hours...

Second, the MRAP thing was kinda true, but a few units were give exception... My unit still get to use our MRAP's and a few QRF's are allowed them as well... Everyone else has to roll in the less protective Humvees.... This was one of the changes that really pissed me off... Even though it doesn’t affect me I found it hard to believe that our government would sign an agreement that included a stipulation that forces us to down grade our protection.... Point blank, that’s what it does... Humvees are much more likely to produce casualties in an IED blast then MRAP's are, but some self important big titled dick decided while sitting in his air conditioned office behind his desk that giving in on this issue was an acceptable compromise...

Why did Iraq want us to stop rolling MRAP's? Well MRAP's are big heavy vehicles... when we run over curbs or when in small mahollas we damage the infrastructure... Curbs sometimes break under the weight of the trucks and low hanging power lines in the tightly congested mahollas sometimes get ripped down... Ok, that’s a legitimate gripe, but giving up the MRAP's translates into potentially more US soldiers dying in IED's... Humvees are a much softer target... So to me this is a no brainier.... The power lines and curbs are acceptable collateral damage... If it means more soldiers will survive this war then tough shit Iraq... It comes down to this, who ever approved this stipulation within the SOFA even though they won't say it out loud, thought this... Making soldiers roll in the less protective humvees and risking more lives is acceptable... Then curbs and power lines are more important...

Third, the SOFA puts us in a tough spot... On the 30th a route clearing element in my Bat. was pelted by rocks go thru IA checkpoints.... The LT in charge of the convoy instructed his trucks to do nothing.... One whole side of one of the trucks had all the windows smashed... I rolled early morning on the 30th and got flipped off by IA a few times... They were singing and dancing on there trucks in a taunting way... I really wanted to stop.... The illusion of superiority is rampid in Baghdad with the Iraqi's... When I’m on the road, Iraq isn't superior to shit... These are the guys who we will have to role with if they ask... Some of them are corrupt... Not all, and probably not most, but some... Whats to stop them from leading us right into an ambush... I don't trust them at all... Another element that’s challenging is that there are a few different authorities in Iraq... The IP's, IA's, NP's, Sons of Iraq, and so on and so forth.... They all done get along or like each other... Each one feels superior to the other... So when we were being escorted by the NP's the other day we had trouble going thru IA check points... They IA's gave us a hard time because they don’t like NP's... We sat in a check point in the thick of traffic just hoping no one wanted to attack us... It would have been a tactical nightmare... No maneuverability, and just two US gun trucks.... I doubt the NP's would have stuck around for any kind of fight...

So as you can see the challenges are plentiful... I'm just hoping to make it thru the next 80 days so that i can pass this headache onto the next guy.... Hey fuck you buddy i didn’t my time... Good luck...

THE PATROL

I’m point man on a dismounted foot patrol thru the streets of Baghdad. It’s just my squad, our Iraqi meet and greet escort, and me. We walk thru narrow streets with shop vendors and concrete barriers all around us. Multi sized buildings congest the skyline and piles of trash and rubble line the streets. The locals stay out of our way but stare more inconspicuously then normal. As a show of force, I stare back. It must be 120 degrees outside because I can feel the salts starting to crystallize on my forehead. That’s when you know your dehydrated, when you stop sweating. I’m feeling the locals staring and its starting to overwhelm me. A sense of impending doom consumes me, and now im paranoid and I feel alone. Every look, every movement, every car, driving or parked now feels threatening. Times like these you can feel your trigger finger tighten on the trigger and your thumb putting slight pressure on the selector switch. Tunnel vision creeps in. All I see is the potential threats, but we keep moving. Each block is exactly the same as the last, but completely different. Same smells, but different piles of trash. Same looks, but different locals. Same skyline, but different buildings. It’s the same but its not. My tunnel vision and paranoia die down and a feeling of acceptance takes its place. Complacency creeps in and we keep moving. I can hear the sidebar conversations behind me and I can see dogs up head playing. It reminds me of my dogs back home. I watch them intently to see which one wins the scuffle and BANG…. All thought stops.

An explosion on the left side of the street engulfs us. The concussion itself is very powerful and violent. I’m thrown across the street in to a concrete wall. Lifeless and thoughtless for a few seconds I lay there still. Then in an instant my mind comes back to my body. I open my eyes and I can see if thick black smoke all around me. Fear and adrenaline are racing thru me. I’m so high on it right now I probably couldn’t even tell if I was hurt. I fear for the worst though. I try to move my arms and legs, check. I move my head and neck, check. I feel my stomach and torso, check. I sit up and check for blood by running my hands down my legs and arms, check. I think im alright so I stand up. The thick smoke is starting to dissipate and I can now see some of my other squad members checking themselves, but I can’t hear anything. I run over to them. After about another minute of checks everyone is accounted for and no one is seriously hurt. We start lifting our muzzles and scanning everything. Rooftops, windows, cars, doorways, alleyways, but see nothing and no one. Was this street empty when we came on to it? Did I not notice that no locals were around? We all are gathered in some what of a security formation on the right side of the street. I look over to the left and I can see the blast seat from the explosion. Black char is on all the Jersey barriers. I walk over to it. I stare intently at the big black crater the IED left. Anger, rage, and the never stopping adrenaline pump is all I feel. I look behind the jersey barriers and everything slows down. Seconds are like hours and fear takes over my body. The kind of fear that complete immobilizes you. I can’t move. All I can see is three secondary devices behind the barriers, and I‘m standing right over top of them. I turn back to my squad and yell SECON BANG. Then I woke up.

I couldn’t even get the words out of my mouth before they went off. The term is secondary’s. After an IED is found or detonated your suppose to sweep for secondary’s. Secondary devices are emplaced so that after the first one goes off who every comes up to examine the blast can get taken out.

I’ve been trying to figure out what these dream means. I’m I going to get hit by another IED? Is it warning me about my complacency? WTF. These dreams are starting to become common place again. I’m starting to remember more and more of them and most of them are bad. I don’t think I want to remember anymore dreams. My dreams suck.

BLAH

The internet sucks here in my new home.... it's about the only thing that sucks here... i have about 90 days left till im home.... thats if i dont go home early... i heard i might because im PCSing to Germany in Jan... its probably just smoke being blown up my ass but we'll see... sorry about the inactivity on the blog.... so much shit happens on a daily basis that its hard to keep you all updated.... i tried the week long photo blog thing too... it last about 15 hours... then i said fuck this shit... so many good things happened that i didnt get pictures of... i cant leave out stuff like sticks head butting bermutes and spliting his head open in the process... or my squad fucking with me when i was in the shower.... making walk back to my room stark naked.... or the 15 other things i didnt have my camera for... it would have been bland and boring and not an accurate representation of the week being documented.... so fuck it.... maybe next deployment.... other then that i really dont have much to say.... till next time... Nught out....