Who's your Baghdaddy?

This is it

2006-02-25T05:23:00.000-08:00

It has been quite some time since my last post, which I closed with a promise to post more. I've noticed the same problem with other milbloggers as well...especially reservists like me. When I peruse the blogs of others who have journaled from inside the war zone and have recently returned home there seems to be a trend of posts that state "I'm going home...I'll post more soon". But those follow on posts never really seem to materialize. Of course, I can't speak for others but I can definitely share why I went from a dedicated blogger to having nothing more than crickets chirping since I've returned.

Its not that I have stopped caring. To the contrary I think about the war every single day, and I think about the blog almost as often. I think about the troops that are still there and how their story needs to be told, and I think about the loyal readers I had while I was still in Iraq and telling my story. When I think about the latter I actually feel a bit guilty... that I have somehow left people hanging by not continuing to post as I had promised. The reality, however, is that I can't tell that story any more since I'm no longer there. While I was deployed this blog became my outlet and I was passionate about making every single post as compelling as possible. I wanted to tell stories that kept readers interested by revealing people and places they wouldn't see anywhere else. But I don't have those stories to tell anymore. Even more so...those stories have been replaced with just good ole' regular life back in the U.S. After I returned I took the family to Disney, took a few weeks off, and now I'm back to work at my civillian job. I'm not a politician, or an activist. I obviously have my opinions, but at the end of the day I'm just a guy trying to be the best husband and father I can be and who also happens to be a resrvist that got deployed for a year in Iraq. I'm proud of what we accomplished there. In fact, my only regret is that I personally didn't do more...that I didn't try harder to make a difference. There are days when I wish I could go back with the knowledge I have now and do things better (my wife is gonna hurt me when she reads that). But my turn is over, and we still have the best trained, most professional military on the ground, and they will continue to do the stellar job they have always done. They still need your support so keep lifting them in prayer and keep the care packages flowing. Despite our short attention span as Americans, this war is not over nor will it be any time soon. So let's not forget about those who put themsleves in harms way on our behalf.

As for me...I'm going to get on with the business of living. I still have a lot of lost time to make up for and I intend to do so to the best of my ability. I want to thank all those who supported me while I was deployed. Sometimes it was an encouraging email or post, and other times it was a care package that came at just the right time. So many of you I have never even met, which makes it even that much more appreciated.

I will forever be amazed at how this blog became so much more than I ever intended, and I am glad I was able to share my small story with so many people.

The local news did a story on my return which is archived here.

This is Panther 4...out.

Home

2005-12-12T19:10:00.000-08:00

Our plane finally touched down at Ft Hood, Texas at approximately 3:30 in the morning on December 4th. This was a full twelve hours later than we were originally scheduled to arrive. The major part of our tardiness was due to the plane out of Kuwait being delayed by nine hours. By the time we actually landed, all 250 soldiers on the plane had been traveling by either bus or plane for over 43 hours. Needless to say we were all a little travel weary by the time we touched down, but it wasn't enough to quell the elated cheers of of every man on the plane as soon as we felt the Texas terra firma beneath the landing gear.

Once we unboarded the plane, we processed in, turned in our weapons and boarded a bus where we waited for what seemed an eternity before being shuttled to the gymnasium where our families were waiting. We formed up and ran in to the sound of loud, patriotic music playing and the ironically appropriate haze of a fog machine. We all stood there in formation and my eyes darted back and forth across the stands as I tried to locate my family. Once I spotted them, an uncontrollable smile broke across my weary face, and I locked eyes with my best friend and my wife, Amy. There was an appropriately short speech from our commanding general, and after the command of "Dismissed!" was given every man burst from the ranks and found their objective as quickly as possible.

At last we were home.

No words can describe

Back together again

Me and my best freind

This is not my final post. I still have more to say.

Until then...

j

On the way!

2005-11-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

This will be my last post from inside the borders of Iraq. Just typing that sentence and reading it back in my mind seems surreal. This place, these people, and this war have been the major part of my existence for the past year of my life. Reaching the end of this journey has been a daily obsession since I set foot into this desert land, and now that the time has finally arrived it is almost catching me by surprise.

I took a final walk through my area today and was amazed at the well of emotions that rose to the surface. It’s hard to believe, but I have actually become attached to this place. I can only think that it is some sort of “Stockholm Syndrome”, which refers to the emotional attachment hostages grow towards their captors. For the past year this place has held me hostage from everything I previously knew, and now by the grace of God I am about to be set free.

I have learned much about myself during this time, and though this experience has been difficult I have no regrets. Being here has changed me, and I know that ultimately it will be for the better. I once read somewhere that, “going into a combat zone is a one way door since the person that leaves is not the same person that returns.” This new person returning is committed to being a better husband, father, and friend. I have felt the pain of leaving all that I hold dear, and I will not take it for granted again.

This is not my final post. I will continue to write once I return home and share the experience of my homecoming. But it will take a while to make my way from here to finally being back in the states.

Until then.

j

2005-11-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

This was probably the last time I will interact with the local Iraqi people. My unit will be going back home soon, and I need to focus all of my efforts on redeployment activities.

Regardless of how many times I go on these types of missions, their impact is always the same. I am continually impressed and frustrated with the local populace, and I am always a sucker for the kids. If there is anything that will be forever impressed upon my memory from my time here it is a profound hope for the future of the Iraqi children.

This particular trip was to a school at a local village not to far from our base camp. We were able to sit down with the headmaster and the village sheik for a brief visit. As usual, the conversation quickly turned to the topic of what the Americans can do for them and poignant questions about particular projects they would like to have done in their village. Our Civil Affairs officer, CPT Sean Walton tired to explain to them that we do not have the liberty to randomly choose what projects are done and which village receives them. He also encouraged them to utilize their newly elected local leaders to lobby for the help they need. The concept is so foreign to them, they just don’t seem to get it, and before Sean could finish explaining what they need to do they were repeating their plea for American help. I could tell he was getting frustrated, but he handled it very professionally, but I’m not confident they got the point.

Afterwards it was outside to hand out some goodies to the kids. I’ve expressed before about how they can be extremely forward and demanding. I tried to instill some order and at one point shut the vehicle cargo hatch and tried to explain to them I wasn’t giving anything else out until they got in line and waited their turn. That lasted all of about a nanosecond and they were back at it again. At the end of it all, however, I’m just a softie and a sucker for kids in general. Besides, how do you say “no” to a kid who has no shoes, rags for clothes, no running water, and intermittent electricity?

You don’t….you just give.

False Alarm

2005-10-31T09:47:00.000-08:00

Late last night as I was sleeping I was jolted back to consciousness by the screeching sound of the camp siren. The siren is referred to as the “big voice” and it is used to sound the alarm in the event of enemy attack.

So here I am sound asleep and I hear the unmistakable sound of the sirens blasting in the dead of night. My immediate thought was,” Mortar attack!” and I quickly jumped out of bed and started heading for the bunker. Despite my sleep induced grogginess I quickly realized there was another noise that was noticeably missing…the sound of mortar rounds exploding. (This is an important point since no one would know to sound the alarm until after the first mortar round had impacted).

At about that moment the siren fell silent and was quickly followed by the “all clear” which indicates the danger has passed. As I stood there in nothing but my shorts and flip-flops I was completely befuddled by what had just occurred. “Surely that wasn’t a drill” I thought to myself as I made my way back to bed. It took me a few minutes to get my heart rate back down, but I soon drifted back to sleep.

The next morning I found out the truth. Some klutz in the TOC had bumped into the siren control panel and set it off.

Not cool. Not cool at all.

On the Edge of History

2005-10-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

I apologize for my long absence, but I have been on the road a lot lately with very limited internet access. I left my base two weeks ago for a two day meeting, and I just got back. In fact I just returned from Kuwait, which was never in my travel plans to begin with. Much has happened since my last post; the most notable of which was the election ratifying the Iraqi Constitution on October 15th. I think it is important to revisit the fact that the weekend of the vote was one of the most peaceful since the beginning of the war. Despite the looming threat of car bombs and suicide bombers 66% of registered voters cast their vote and thus took a significant step towards giving ownership of the governance of Iraq back to the Iraqi people.

During the day of the elections, our battalion chaplain had the opportunity to capture some photos of some local villagers at the market after they had voted. As he relayed the story he shared with me that when he noticed their dye stained fingers he motioned for them to raise them so he could take their photos. He said at first they gave him a puzzled look and it was apparent they didn’t understand why he was so interested in seeing the proof of their ballot casting. He continued by saying, “Sitting on the outside looking in we understand the significance, but they don’t see it yet. They don’t even realize they are on the edge of history.”

Maybe not now…but one day they will.

The Sacramento Bee

2005-10-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Erika Chavez with the Sacramento Bee for an article she recently published on milbloggers. The article is well written, and of course mentions yours truly.

The article can be found here.

Shadow Run

2005-10-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

A soldier came in tonight needing to borrow some equipment so he could get ready for a mission. It was about 2100 hrs (about 9:00 pm) and I was curious what they were getting ready to do.

"Where ya'll going?", I asked.

"Shadow run.", he replied.

A "shadow run" is when a gun team runs behind a convoy as extra security. The extra combat power gives the entire convoy added flexibility to maneuver against the enemy in the event of an attack. The practice itself is not unusual, but takes on new meaning when they are going north (north bad) and we are in the middle of Ramadan, which brings an increase in insurgent activity.

"Be safe.", I demanded.

"God, I hope so.", he unwittingly replied as he walked out the door.

We are down to the last couple months of our deployment, and I am anxious for the day when I don't have to worry about stuff like this anymore. I look forward to having a normal conversation with my coworkers, and I imgaine it going something like this:

"Hey, Gary...where you going?"

"To a meeting."

"Okay...be safe."

"Uhhhh...okay." (as I get a strange look).

Yeah...I can picture it now.

That will be a good day.

Endurance

2005-10-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

I have endured much.

I have spent the better part of the last fourteen months away from the family I adore.

I have endured a summer of 130 degree plus weather occasionally complimented by scorching winds and choking dust.

I have awoken to the sound of mortar rounds impacting and live with the constant awareness that there are evil men nearby that want to bring me harm.

But due to the wonders of modern technology I was able to watch a glorious event tonight, and even if it was only for a few hours...all was well with the world.

Texas Longhorns beat Oklahoma 45 - 12

Hook 'em

What the....?

2005-10-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

I literally have not seen a single cloud in the Iraq sky since last April, so this received the equivalent attention of a UFO. It is also a sign of the impending rainy season when the climate here changes from hot, dry, and dusty to cool, wet, and muddy.

I can hardly wait.

Interview AAR

2005-10-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Whenever we conduct a training event in the Army it is always followed by an After Action Review, or AAR. So here is my AAR on the Danny Fontana radio interview I did on Friday.

Overall I think the interview went well. I was extremely nervous at the beginning, but Danny was a gracious host and I got the heart palpitations under control after about the first minute. I felt like I was calm, cool, articulate, and all those things you need to be when doing an interview. Of course, I could be totally wrong and the radio prodcuer may have been reeling in the background and sending notes to the host to cut it short and get me off the air. The whole thing lasted about ten minutes.

Here are some of the topics of discussion we covered:

Q: What is the general morale of the troops?
A: I have commented before on how complaining in the Army is an art. If a soldier isn't complaining, there is probably something wrong. But the overall morale of the troops on the ground is high and it is because they know they are making a difference. The American public only sees the bad news, which is a very small part of what happens here on a daily basis. The soldier is able to see the other 98% of what is happening; the schools being built, the infrastructure being repaired, and the Iraqi people taking back control of their country.

Q: Are we making significant progress?
A: Yes! My unit alone has helped to restore dozens of schools, provided medical aid to local communities, and provided school supplies to local children. Those children are Iraq's future leaders.

Q: Do I feel safe doing my job?
A: I think we all go through phases over here. When we first got into country, I and a lot of other people were pretty nervous. You're coming into a nefarious situation and you don't know what to expect. After being here for a while you just deal with it. You know there is an enemy that is watching, waiting, and looking for just the right opportunity to bring you harm. You do everything you can to mitigate against it and ensure he fails miserably. You just deal with it.

Q: Do you feel like we have won the war?
A: It depends on how you define "won". I'm trying to invoke the phraseology of a certain past President by being evasive, but I see this war in phases. Phase one was getting rid of Saddam and his cronies. We won that phase hands-down, and it was a good ole' American butt whoop'n. Phase two is a bit more nebulous, but I define it as handing control of this country back to the people it belongs to. I do not believe we can defeat every insurgent any more than we can eradicate every criminal in our own nation. But we can leave this nation and its government in a position where they can deal with it themselves. Obviously we have not obtained the objective in this Phase, but we are making progress and we will succeed. Too many American lives have been shed here to accept anything less.

Again, I felt the interview went well. I once did a television spot on the Home Shopping Network as part of my job at Dell, and I can safely say that I enjoy radio much better. It's not nearly as nerve wracking since there aren't a bunch of cameras pointing at you along with monitors that allow you to watch yourself go down in flames. Besides, I've been told I have a face for radio.

Later,

j

Look Mom! I'm on the radio!

2005-09-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

I have been invited to do a guest interview on the Danny Fontana show, which is a radio talk show on the east coast. The show is not nationally syndicated, but you can listed to a live web cast here. The show begins at 1:00 pm Central Standard Time, but I'm not sure exactly when the interview will occur.

Who knows? Maybe this is the spring board for my aspiring political career (I know Amy is cringing right now).

j

Milestones

2005-09-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the sparse blogging of late, but I have found myself busier than usual. The good news is that the busyness is being driven by our quickly approaching redeployment date (i.e. we’re getting ready to go home). We still have a couple of months to go here, but we are definitely within the window that necessitates planning.

One particular milestone that brings me much relief and joy is seeing my little sister over here for the last time. (She has been serving in Iraq for the past year as part of Transportation Company from the Illinois National Guard). Although it has been a great pleasure having the ability to ocassionally spend time with family while I have been here, I will not miss worrying about her as she takes another trip on what are very dangerous roads. She has done her time, served with distinction, and now it is time for her to go and let someone else take their turn.

Sis – if you are reading this, please know that I am very proud of you…but I am also glad you are leaving. :-)

I’ll see you when I get back.

Big bro’

Babylon

2005-09-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

For the past fifteen years any discussion about Iraq has been negative. I know most people my age knew nothing about the country until the first Gulf War. Now my teenage daughters have grown their entire lives knowing it only as a place ruled by an evil dictator, and now as a place where their Dad has to go serve for a year.

During that same time period the only news about Iraq has referenced war, Saddam Hussein, U.N. sanctions, and now the insurgency. Because of all of this "bad press" people no longer recognize this region for the incredibly rich history it contains. This area is the Cradle of Civilization and is the birthplace of some of the most ancient cities known to man. I had the unique privilege of touring one of those ancient sites, and the experience was pretty amazing.

Many people know of the city of Babylon from the Bible stories found in the Old Testament which tells of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, and the stories of The Tower of Babel and Daniel in the Lion's Den. This city was considered the mightiest of its time and contained the famous Hanging Gardens, which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The re-built Gates of Ishtar

The re-built Royal Palace of King Nebuchadnezzar

The Lion of Babylon

The city was eventually conquered and laid to ruin, and due to the kilned mud and clay bricks used in the construction the remaining structures have significantly decayed over time. In the early 1980's Saddam began reconstructing certain portions of the city. He did this not because of his love of history but because of his own dillusions of grandeur and because he saw himself as the next King Nebuchadnezzar. Archeologist cringe at what he did since he built over the actual sites thus destroying many of the artifacts. The original bricks, which rise two or three feet from the ground, contain ancient inscriptions praising Nebuchadnezzar. Above these, Saddam Hussein's workers laid more than 60-million sand colored bricks with the words, "In the era of Saddam Hussein, protector of Iraq, who rebuilt civilization and rebuilt Babylon." The new bricks began to crack after only ten years and based on what I've seen during my travels his "rebuilt cvilization" didn't fare too well either.

Some of the orginal ruins

Saddam's megalomania is further demonstrated here by the home he built for himself. First he built a hill so the structure would sit higher then any other in the area and then built a four story palace complete with marble floors and golden fixtures. Local villagers say that he had over a thousand people displaced during its construction, but then never really used it. Since the fall of his regime it has been looted and sits empty looking over villages of mud huts and stands as yet another symbol of his selfishness and greed.

Saddam's Palace overlooking the ancient city

One of the palace walls

A ceiling mural depicting the ancient kingdom and Saddam's new empire

The following picture is the Iraqi General that gave us the tour. He is showing us the ancient coliseum and explaining that the windowed structue at the top was the personal area for Saddam and his sons to watch theatrical productions. At one point the General turned and said that one day he and his friends would sit in those seats

This is a view of the Euphrates from the new palace. As you can see, the area is very lush with vegetation, which is why this particular region is referred to as the Fertile Crescent.

As we were leaving I overheard my brigade commander telling someone that people will one day pay thousands of dollars to visit this area and see what we had just seen. Obviously that can only happen once the country is stable and secure and I believe he is right.

I stood in the place where civilization was born and branched out into the rest of the world. Now it is time for us to bring civilization back.

Brrrrr

2005-09-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

I stepped out my tent this morning and was surprised by a very cool breeze. I looked at a themometer and it was 76 degrees. I can't remember the last time it was that cool. It's currently 9:30 am and the temp is only 90 degrees, and usually it has broken 100 by now. The forecast for today is 110 which will seem like a cool autumn day compared to the consistent 130 degree plus temps we have had for so long.

The season is changing.

The Lost Village

2005-09-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

I went on a Civil Affairs mission yesterday, and the experience proved to be a much needed shot in the arm. Since returning from my two weeks of leave I have found myself increasingly disinterested in this place with my thoughts consumed by my family back in Texas. The trip I made yesterday, however, reminded me yet again of why we are here and gave me a renewed sense of purpose.

The village we went to was just recently discovered by our Civil Affairs team. Obviously it has been there all the while, but our unit’s efforts have concentrated on more populous and evident areas of need. Conversely, this village is much smaller and out of the way.

I have commented frequently on the children we encounter here. At times they can be obnoxiously forward, but even then my interactions with them give me hope in this nation’s future. The children of this village, however, were a breath of fresh air. While they are just as impoverished as the children of other villages, they were amazingly well behaved and polite. After having tea with the sheik and some of the village elders the medics provided some very basic medical care (remember, they have no concept of a family doctor), and then we handed out some toothbrushes and some toys.

I am always so impressed at the beauty in these kids, and knowing they will now have an opportunity to grow up free makes this endeavor worth every effort.

This little guy kept trying to peek in while we were having tea with sheik, and kept getting "shooed" away. I couldn't help but chuckle at him, which I'm sure didn't help the situation.

One of the medics and me handing out toothpaste and tooth brushes. When was the last time your kid got excited about a new tooth brush?

The sheik overseeing the activities...and making sure the kids behaved.

The rest are just pictures of the kids I took that day.

Texas Tough

2005-09-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

The following story that appeared in the Austin American Statesman is about one of the soldiers injured in last week's mortar attack. I do not know the soldier, but based on his comments in the article I admire his tenacity. I have added emphasis to a couple of his quotes that caught my attention. As I have said many times before...it's all a matter of perspective.

Wounded in Iraq, Austinite unbowed

Paramedic grateful to be alive, keeps focus on helping others.

By Katie Humphrey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Patrick Phillips has shrapnel wounds on his legs, ankles and shoulders, and it looks as if somebody took a bite out of his right hand below his pinky finger. He has had multiple surgeries to clean the sand and shrapnel out of his wounds and reconstruct the tendons in his hand.

But the paramedic with Austin/Travis County Emergency Medical Services, who was serving a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard, is grateful.

"I've been probably in the best mood in my life," he said, summing up his feelings since a mortar exploded near him in southern Iraq on Saturday. "I'm such a happy person because the opportunity for my life to be gone was there and it didn't happen."

Phillips is one of about three dozen Austin-area public safety workers who are serving active tours of duty in the U.S. military.

That makes for some shuffling around at home, with some public safety employees, such as firefighters, traveling to different stations or working overtime to cover shifts for active military members, said Todd Pomroy, a captain with the Austin Fire Department.

Fifteen staff members from the Travis County sheriff's office are serving in the military, along with nine people from the Austin Police Department, five from the Austin Fire Department and six from Austin/Travis County EMS.

"It hurts, but we just double our efforts and keep on going," said Roger Wade, spokesman for the Travis County sheriff's office.

Phillips and his unit, the Fort Hood-based 142nd Infantry, were doing some maintenance on a Humvee when insurgents launched a surprise mortar attack. As he and a colleague ran toward a bunker, Phillips saw a flash of light.

He dove into the bunker, screaming, he said. Another member of his unit called the medics when he saw that Phillips was covered in wounds. Phillips was evacuated to a hospital in Baghdad and later transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for more surgery.

By Monday, Phillips, who had once been listed in critical condition, was on his feet and wandering around the hospital, chatting with other patients and going for walks.

"He had surgery that morning and a few hours later was trying to push another soldier to the Internet cafe with his injured hand," said his wife, Heather Phillips, who is also a paramedic. "I got onto him a little bit, and I threatened to call the nurses' station and have his shoes taken away from him."

Patrick Phillips' attitude doesn't surprise his co-workers at Austin/Travis County EMS, who said he has done nothing but downplay the severity of his injuries to assuage the fears of loved ones and reach out to others who are in worse shape than he is.

"He tried to make light of injuries so his wife wouldn't be worried," said Jason Martin, senior district commander over operations at Austin/Travis County EMS. "Even when he's hurt, he's helping people."

Heather Phillips said she expects her husband of one year to be back in the United States by the end of the week. He will have to spend a week or two in a military hospital to have surgeries to repair his right hand. Then he will be able to come home to continue rehabilitation at the house Heather bought while he was overseas.

"The first day he called me, Saturday morning, he said, 'You know, I'm going to be fine. The good news is that I'm getting a Purple Heart, so we don't ever have to pay for vehicle registration anymore,' " Heather Phillips said, laughing.

Gotcha!

2005-08-29T23:19:00.000-07:00

We caught some of the scumbags that were responsible for Saturday’s mortar attack. A raid was organized and conducted in the early morning hours yesterday and we netted several bad guys. Out of this group of thieves we have identified at least four of them as suspected members of Muqtada al-Sadr’s militia. The troops are all pumped from the results of a successful mission, but we are not done yet. We are continuing to tighten the noose in order flush more of these rodents out of their hiding places. Obviously I can’t provide a lot of detail, but I will post updates as I can.

"If you are going to yank the tiger's tail you had better have a plan for dealing with his teeth."

Wake up call

2005-08-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

My alarm clock went off this morning, and as usual I habitually hit the snooze button. About three minutes later we all woke to the sound of mortar rounds impacting. Needless to say I got up without hitting the snooze button anymore and headed straight for the bunker. Everyone is okay.

This was a real wake up call. After coming back from leave one tends to be complacent as your mind is filled with thoughts of home and a renewed sense of anticipation of returning. The stark reality is that we have a way to go before we return home, and there are people out there who want to bring us harm. It doesn't really matter whether their motive is political, criminal, vengeance, or anything else. All that matters is that they want to kill us. The reverse is true as well...we don't really care about their motive. All we care about is ensuring that they fail...

and they will.

j

Upadte: 28 August

My lovely wife just informed me that some people may not have a clue what a "Mortar" is. Sometimes I take for granted that I have been in the military for 11 years and a lot of this stuff is second nature. She really gets frustrated when I start throwing military acronyms around, so I've had to learn to temper the jargon-speak when I'm talking to her.

A Mortar is like a small cannon. It consists of a tube that can either be ground or vehicle mounted. The round comes in various sizes, and the insurgent's favorite flavor is the 60mm and 81mm. Our battalion has heavy mortars that are 120mm. Obviously the bigger the round the more damage it inflicts. Also, the larger the round the greater the range from which it can be fired. For example, a 120mm has a maximum range of about 7km (approx 4 miles).

The round is dropped into the tube (pictured below), the propellant charge fires the round on an arc trajectory and then the round explodes on impact. This is an oversimplification since the firer has to calculate the correct elevation and azimuth in order to hit the desired target...but that's it in a nut-shell.

I've also included a photo of our mortar platoon firing an illumination (illum) mission. An illum round ejects a parachute once it reaches the top of its trajectory and then brightly burns magnesium as it slowly descends. The glow is so bright it lights up about a square kilometer on the ground, and anyone trying to sneak around is going to get caught.

That's all for today. There will be a quiz next week.

Deflating

2005-08-25T07:22:00.000-07:00

I think I'm finally back in the swing of things. It took about a week for my internal clock to get switched over, and then a few more days just to get my head back in the game. The R&R program is great and it was a much needed break. But it definitely leaves you a little deflated after you come off the high of being home.

Things are much the same here. It's still hotter than Hades with the average daily temperature somewhere in the mid 120's. But the weather should break in about another month and become a lot more bearable. It may sound ludicrous, but anything below 110 is actually refreshing. It is, after all, a dry heat. :-)

Insurgent activity is on the rise, but that is to be expected as we await approval of the draft constitution. It is finally supposed to happen today after a multitude of delays. Of course, everyone here is extremely anxious and hopeful for its passage since it will be another milestone towards giving control of this nation back to the Iraqi people. Currenltly I am following the progress of the Iraq constitution more closely than pre-season football. I look forward to the day when football becomes enjoyable again.

This past August 15th marked the one year anniversary of our unit's mobilization. Over one year ago approximately 3,000 Texans left their families, their homes, and their jobs and went to Ft Hood for five months of training, and then left for Iraq in Janaury. It has been quite a journey and I think we have all learned something more about ourselves and what we are capable of. But I think I can safely say that we are all ready to come home.

We still have a ways to go, but hopefully it is sooner rather than later.

Operation Troop Appreciation

2005-08-24T23:10:00.000-07:00

This post is a salute to Operation Troop Appreciation (OTA). OTA was born from the efforts of Kristen Holloway who started with an idea to provide some comfort items to some National Guard soldiers deployed from her home state of Pennsylvania. The overwhelming response she recieved inspired her to take the idea to the next level and as a result OTA was established as a non-profit organization in July 2004.

I learned of Kristen's organization from the unit I replaced. I contatced her in the hopes of getting some Under Armour® t-shirts for our guys who are in the extreme heat all day. For those of you not familiar with Under Armour® apparel it is made of a special material that pulls moisture off the body and evaporates quickly thus keeping you dry. The stuff works and it is extremely popular over here, but it is also somewhat pricey. Therefore, some soldiers decide to do without it.

Kristen and OTA came through for us and provided 140 t-shirts and socks that I was able to hand out to some troops yesterday. These guys have the pleasure of manning guard towers, guarding entry control points, and/or riding in HMMWV's in the extreme Iraqi heat all day so they were extremely appreciative. Below are some pictures of the event.

Me providing a little story time

Christmas in August

Many of you continue to ask what you can do to help the troops over here. I encourage you to stop by the OTA website and make a donation. We are living proof that they are great organization and they continue to help deployed troops everyday.

A matter of perspective

2005-08-20T17:33:00.000-07:00

I'm back.

The time at home was everything I hoped it would be and less. No, that is not a typo. One of my fears before going home was that the time would be filled with a flurry of activities and it would all go by so fast that I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as I counted down the days. I also feared that after being gone for so long that I wouldn't fit in...that I would feel like a stranger in my own home. That was not the case at all.

We purposed ourselves not to get "stressed out" by trying to do too much. This was not a contest to see how much we could cram into two weeks. It was an opportunity for me to recharge my batteries and spend time with my family. The time went by at a pleasant pace and I soaked in every moment. Nothing was too little to appreciate.

There are so many things I could talk about, but something as simple as watching my three year old son get into the kitchen pantry and pick out his "bweakfust" was amazing and amusing to me. My biggest daily task, above anything else, was to tell my wife how beautiful she is and how much I love her, and to hug each one of my kids. When friends had us over for dinner or took us out to eat I made it a point to tell them how much I appreciate their friendship (I don't think I've ever done that before). I made it a point to talk with my neighbors and not be in such a hurry to get back into the house.

Those are the things I remember the most. It's not the trip to Sea World...it's the laughter while you're there and seeing the amazement in a little boy's face. It's not the dining out, it's the conversation you share. This deployment has taught me that it's the little things in life that make it worth living.

It's all just a matter of perspective.

j

The Journey

2005-07-31T05:43:00.000-07:00

My last post was almost a week ago, and at the time I thought I would be home by the 28th...but that was not to be. I spent the better part of 3 days feeling like I was stuck in the movie, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

After the sand storm (of which I never really saw any evidence) there were more flight problems. I never really got the whole story, but it was something to the effect of, "they forgot to schedule flights for this air base so now they are playing catch-up."

Not cool. Not cool at all.

Anyway...after a few days of purgatory the plane finally arrived and we all made our first step in the journey towards that heavenly place called home.

Into the belly of freedom

This particular step just got us from Iraq to Kuwait, but at least we were one step closer. We arrived in Kuwait early on Tuesday morning and we were all hoping that we would fly out that evening (all Freedom flights depart Kuwait in the evening). Ahhhh...but that was not to be.

We spent about another 36 hours in Kuwaut and then departed for Shannon, Ireland on Wednesday evening. After approximately 8 hours of flight time I woke to the dizzying greenery of Ireland below. I never thought the site of vegetation could be so beautiful, but after 7 months in the desert it was a symphony to the eyes. We stopped just long enough for a cup of coffee in the airport and then we were off again.

I was travelling with our unit's Physician's Assitant, CPT Felkins (aka Doc Felkins) who helped me pass the travel time (and coincidentally helped me get my sleep schedule switched over) by giving me a happy little pill that knocked me out cold. By the time I awoke we were somewhere over the Great Lakes and I knew we only had a few hours left.

At last we found ourselves over Texas air space, and I could not stop smiling with anticipation. Once we landed and taxied towards the the gate we recieved a salute from the airport by way of two fire engines spraying the plane as we rolled through.

There was also a parade of people as we came off the plane that were there for no other reason than to cheer us on, shake our hands, and offer a snack as a show of support and appreciation. A small boy stopped me, gave me some home made cookies and said, "Thank you, sir." I thanked him back and then quickly moved through the crowd for fear that if I stopped for too long I would break down emotionally. I only wish that somehow I could let all of those people know how much I appreciate their support.

We arrived in DFW earlier than expected so I made a mad dash to the ticket counter in order to get bumped to an earlier flight, which to my elation was successful. I called Amy and let her know that I would be in a few hours earlier than expected. Her response was a mixture of joy and panic as she realized that she now had much less time to get ready.

At last, the moment arrived. The moment I have dreamed about for the past 7 months. I got off the plane and dashed through the airport trying not to be rude as I made my way through the sea of travellers. I finally saw them and as we all made eye contact the tears started to flow and we all wrapped our arms around each other and hugged a hug of joy and relief. I will remember that hug and that moment for the rest of my days.

The Uppermans together again

Me and my best friend

Like I said before, blogging will be light over the next couple of weeks. Thank you all for your continued comments and emails of support.

Later,
j

Finally

2005-07-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

Blogging will be light over the next couple of weeks as take some much needed R&R with my family. I am currently in a holding pattern since there is a sand strom brewing, which is preventing them from giving us a specific flight time. Once that is scheduled I will fly from here to Kuwait, then from Kuwait to Europe (probabaly either Germany or Ireland), and then to the great Republic of Texas.

Despite the current delay I am flying high as a kite and there is nothing that can bring me down right now. I figure by the time I get to the Austin airport it will have been 214 days since I last saw my beautiful family. I know the two weeks will go by all too quickly, but I plan on making the most of every moment.

I heard this song today and it pretty much sums it up:

It’s times like these you learn to live again
It’s times like these you give and give again
It’s times like these you learn to love again
It’s times like these time and time again
(Foo Fighters - "Times Like These")

I'll see ya when I get back.

j

MJL Photography

2005-07-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today I received an email from a Polish gentleman named Jordan, who is a photographer. He was commenting on how he liked my blog and sent me a link to his site as well. I spent at least an hour mesmerized by his photos, and I have included one of my favorites below. As you can see, Jordan has an amazing ability to see the world as it should be seen. He is able to see beauty where others looks past it, and then he captures it at just the right moment.

©2000-2005 by MJL. All Rights Reserved

Jordan also commented that he was sad due to a recent incident in which a New York photographer chose not to link to his site because of Jordan's support of the fight against terror. While we may not have the support of some of our own countrymen, it is good to know we have friends across the globe. I have interacted with some of the Polish troops fighting along side us in Iraq and they are impressive people.

So please stop by Jordan's site and let him know how much we appreciate our Polish friends.

Young Republican

2005-07-21T03:57:00.000-07:00

Our unit's Civil Affairs team was on a mission and found this young boy sporting a handsome t-shirt. I'm not sure who has his hands around his neck...but he must be a Democrat.
:-)

Here's to you Mrs. Greyhawk

2005-07-18T21:08:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Greyhawk (pseudonym) over at the Mudville Gazette conducts her daily "Dawn Patrol" and highlights some salient blogs of the day. I noticed my blog traffic was spiking and figured out it was because I had made the list.

I want to publicly thank Mrs. Greyhawk for the recognition, and for the work that she and Mr. Greyhawk put into such a great blog.

I also want to publicly thank all those that stop by and read the rantings of an idealist tanker stuck in the desert without his tank.

Later,

j

Scum

2005-07-17T23:24:00.000-07:00

Early yesterday morning there was an insurgent attack to the north of our base camp. This in and of itself is not unusual, but the nature of the attack serves to illustrate the level of depravity of these sumbags.

In the morning hours there was a funeral procession traveling along the main highway that eventually leads into Baghdad. As the procession was moving it came under insurgent attack, which resulted in a few dead and several wounded civillians. Subsequesntly, an Army Military Police unit was notified of the attack and moved into the area to provide support. Once they arrived and secured the area it appeared the insurgents had left the scene so the MP unit began treating the civillian wounded. Unbeknownst to them, however, the insurgents left behind a Trojan horse in the form of a car bomb. It was remotley detonated, which resulted in several more civillian and U.S. casualties.

In other words, the insurents attacked innocent civillians knowing that we would arrive to offer medical aid and then left a car bomb to attack the U.S. forces as they were treating the wounded.

This is the bile we are dealing with on a daily basis. I have a hard time referring to them as "men" becasue they are human in form only. They have no soul, no conscience, or anything else that permits them to be associated with the human race. They are an evil cancer and they need to be extracted from the body of earth.

We are here to conduct the surgery.

Shomali 2

2005-07-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

We took another trip to Shomali the other day. This time we went to the Mayor's house for lunch where we also met the Iraqi Police Chief, his Captain, and the local sheik. The food was much the same as the meal we had at the police station, except for the addition of fish and boiled lamb. The boiled lambs head was in a bowl directly in front of me. Since it's teeth and jawbone were exposed it was if it was smirking at me the whole time. I just smirked back and stuck with the chicken.

LTC Neal sitting in front of his portion of the meal

The amount of food was more than we could have possibly finished in one sitting. When we commented on the voluminous amount the Mayor told us that they know there is no way way we could even come close to eating it all. But providing more than one can possibly eat is a sign of respect and hospitality. I have found, if anything, the Arab culture is very gracious when it comes to how they treat their guests. If they invite you into their home it is as if you have become a part of their family.

CPT Walton with the Shomali Iraqi Police Chief who is speaking to one of our interperters (a.k.a. "terp")

After lunch we settled back into the sitting room where the conversation quickly turned to "what have you done for us lately", which is remarkably similar to the one we had the other day. We understand that there are important issues they need help with. For example: Shomali only has electricity for about one hour a day, and supposedly it has been this way since the first Gulf War (this project seemed particularly important to me as I was sitting there drenching with sweat). But one of the problems we contiually run into is that they ask for something different every week. CPT Walton vehemently tried to explain that if something is really, really imporant this week, then that same something should still be really, really important next week. In other words, let's try to focus on one thing at a time until we get it done. Unfortunaltey, there are too many chiefs, or in this case sheiks, that are trying to there pet project pressed through.

Wait a minute...I just realized that sounds a lot like something we have back in the U.S.

It's called congress.

LT Colicher, yours truly, and the Shomali Iraqi Police Captain

There was a breath of fresh air in the room, however. I made acquaintances with the Shomali Police Captain. He is much younger than the rest of the power brokers and seems to be more reasonable...and honorable. He is an intelligent man and the only reason we were able to talk on even a limited basis is because his English is much better than my Arabic. We spoke about our respective families and I showed him pictures of mine that I had stored on my PDA. He was more impressed with my PDA than the pictures and is anxious for the day when that type of technology is readily available in Iraq.

We had the following picture taken and I promised to bring him a copy. I already have it printed out and look forward to meeting him again. I only hope he realizes how important men like him are to the future of this country.

I think I'll make it a point to tell him the next time we meet.

See ya'

Two contestants in the Kojak & Erik Estrada look-a-like contest

The new me

2005-07-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I'm making some changes to blog. The old template was fine, but I really wanted a third column which it would not allow me to do (at least not with my limited knowledge).

I'll be tweaking this over the next couple of days and adding some new "stuff". I also hope to have a new post up in the next day or two.

j

Shomali

2005-07-11T10:25:00.002-07:00

I went with my battalion commander to a local villiage the other day along and had lunch with the police chief and mayor. The experience was rather interesting. The fare was the same as every other local meal I've had here; chicken on a bed of rice, freshly made flat bread, a tomato broth with egg plant, and some freshly cut vegatables. The food is actually pretty good and is nothing incredibly out of the ordinary. I was told the chicken had seen the sunrise that morning. Obviously it was their last.

As I have stated before, there is still very much a welfare mentality here. The discussion largely revolved around "we need this or that" and "how can you help us with this or that situation." After 30 years of Saddam's regime a majority of the people do not know how to take initiative to solve their own problems. This is why it is so crucial that we continually hand more and more responsibility to the Iraqi people so they can learn to look to themselves to develop solutions. I believe it will take an entire generation before there is real change in the general population. I fear most of the current adult generation are too set in their ways. However I have hope that the younger generation, with the proper influences, will grow to be more independent and productive.

Here are a few photos I took that day. The villiage has a population of approximately 30,000 people, is largely agricultural, and as you can see is in pretty poor condition. If you took down the Arabic and replaced it with Spanish you would feel like you were in a Mexican border town.

This is one of me standing on top of the police station making a good sniper target.

And here is the commander's personal securty team pulling security while we were inside.

Just another day in paradise.

j

Trouble sleeping...

2005-07-05T20:57:00.000-07:00

We received some intel last night that our base was going to be mortared (a mortar is an indirect fire weapon which has a range of approximately 3 to 7 kilometers depending on the size). Our area has been relatively quiet for a while now. We've had a few incidences outside the wire, but there has not been a direct attack on this base for about 10 months. However, we have seen increased activity since the commencement of some of the major operations in the Baghdad area to crack down on enemy activity. The insurgents are just like cockroaches that scatter when you turn on the lights and come looking for them, and it appears some of them may have scattered into our area. We immediately launched our Quick Reaction Force (QRF) and some combat patrols who were out all night looking for suspicious activity.

I'm happy to report that nothing happened. This was our first interaction with this particular informant, but when linked to some other activity his story seemed credible. Given that nothing occurred there are only a few possibilities:

He concocted the story in order to make himself look like a good guy and will later try to get something in return (job, money, ...etc).
He was telling the truth, but our QRF and combat patrols scared the bad guys (i.e. cockroaches) away.
The cockroaches intentionally fed this informant bad information just to see how we would react and thus gain insight into our tactics and procedures.

Only time will tell which of these is right.

Needless to say, it's a bit difficult to sleep when you have this kind of info looming over your head. I stayed up until about 12:30 a.m. and then realized there was little I could do (too many cooks spoil the broth). I tried to lie down and get some shut-eye but found myself bolting upright every time I heard a HMMWV roll by or any other strange noise. I felt like such a wuss since I know there are soldiers in other parts of Iraq that get mortared on a regular basis.

As I was lying there I began to reflect on all the times I had restless nights back home over such insignificant things.

"Please God, let me get that promotion."

"Man, I wish I made more money."

"What am I going to do about these bills?"

"How can I afford to get that new home...new car...or some new 'thing'?"

"Man, am I ticked off right now...ummm...what where we fighting about?"

All of those restless nights seem so trivial now that I almost start to laugh. I look at how most Iraqis live and realize that once I'm back home I should sleep like a baby. I am blessed with the love a wonderful woman. My children are all healthy, beautiful, and smart. I have great friends, a good job, and I live in a country that offers freedom and safety like none other in the world. What do I have to lose sleep over?

God is teaching me so much while I'm over here, and I have promised myself that I will not forget it after I get back home.

Later,

Wounded Warriors

2005-07-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

There have been almost 13,000 service members wounded in action during the war in Iraq. The thought of this may make some of you grimace, but there is actuallly a good side to this story. One of the reasons this number is so large is because of the military's improved ability to treat wounded on the battlefield. New technologies such as coagulants (a chemical that causes the blood to clot more quickly) and improved battlefield tourniquets are giving injured soldiers the precious, extra few minutes they need to get to a crtical care facility. Whereas in the past, many of these wounded would have been fatalaties.

Of course, because of this increased survivability many of these men and women will carry their scars and wounds with them for the rest of there lives, and they will be forever changed due to lost limbs or eyesight. While tragic, there are also stories of inspiration as some of these wounded soliders tackle this new adversity head on with no remorse and no regrets. While no one would blame them for feeling self-pity, they do just the opposite and show us all the true heroes that they are. You can read some of these stories at the Wounded Warrior Project. This is an organization that has dedicated itself to helping these brave men and women assimilate to their new way of life.

I truly admire these people who have given so much of themselves and continue to be an inspiration. I wanted to share this project with as many people as possible, and ask that you contribute to their cause. Many of you have asked what you can do to help soldiers in need. I can think of no better way to spend your resources than helping people like these. Get the word out by sending this to as many people as you know, and let's lend a helping hand to some true American heroes.

A typical day at work

2005-06-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

The following is an article about our unit that was published in the Dallas Morning News. The author enumerates his experience with one of our platoons when he was imbedded for a day. The platoon was conducting combat patrols, which is something they do almost every day, so this is just a typical day at the office for them.

LT Garcia was one of my Platoon leaders when I was a company commander. He is an excellent leader and an outstanding officer and this article aptly reflects that fact. It's also interesting to note that if not for the young shepard boy the platoon may not have found the IED that day. But because of his help it is very likley an American soldier was saved from injury or worse. This is more evidence of the typical citizen's disdain for the insurgency.

It's a bit of a lengthy read, but well worth it.

For Texas unit, job is explosive.
Guard members hunt for deadly homemade bombs along Iraqi route.

By VERNON SMITH JR. Staff Writer
Published June 4, 2005

The young Iraqi shepherd spoke little English but found a way to get the Texas soldiers' attention.

"Boom!" he said, pointing to a culvert in his field.

The shepherd approached on a recent morning as the Texas Army National Guard convoy stopped to scour a section of highway for the deadly homemade bombs used widely by Iraq's insurgency.

Since they landed in Iraq in January, the 56th Brigade Combat Team has had the dangerous job of searching for roadside bombs along one of the U.S. military's major supply routes. The crude bombs have killed and maimed hundreds of U.S. and allied troops and have sparked intense pressure for the Pentagon to provide American forces with more better-armored vehicles.

After confirming the shepherd's discovery - two 122 mm mortar rounds bound together in the culvert - soldiers stopped traffic on the six-lane highway in both directions, and cars soon began to stack up.

It would be more than five hours before Navy experts arrived to destroy the mortars, enough time for the Texas soldiers to experience the improvisational rhythm of life in a world thousands of miles from home.

Hours before the 56th BCT soldiers inspected the highway, ditches and culverts for bombs, Lt. Ben Garcia of San Angelo reviewed the game plan for the morning's patrol.

"We're going to keep them off us, today, right?" said Lt. Garcia, standing in front of his team inside a room with a foosball table and shelves crammed with paperbacks and breakfast cereal.

"Hoo-ah!" they responded.

"Nobody is going to get close to us!"

"Hoo-ah!"

The soldiers know the drill, but Lt. Garcia leaves little to chance. The briefing is as much a pep talk as it is a mini-lecture on the various insurgent tactics and threats that await outside Camp Scania, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.

Iraq's modern network of highways and paved roads provides coalition forces high-speed movement across the country. The same highways also make them vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Across Iraq, U.S. military convoys are routinely hit by attackers who try to crash their bomb-laden vehicles into a convoy.

Last month, 80 U.S. troops were killed, many in multiple blasts caused by suicide attackers, car bombs or roadside explosions, making it the second-deadliest month this year.

Signs warning motorists to stay clear hang on the back of each 56th BCT Humvee, and a driver who ventures too close risks a warning shot or worse.

Parked or abandoned vehicles along the highway also warrant concern.

"If we see a vehicle on the side of the road and nobody is in or near it, that's suspicious," Lt. Garcia said. "In this country, these people do not leave anything of value alone by itself."

The soldiers are reminded to stay alert for people and vehicles along traffic chokepoint areas where the convoy may slow and bunch up, making itself vulnerable to an ambush. Attackers have also dropped bombs, known by the military as improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, from highway overpasses and dangled them from bridge guardrails, making Humvee gunners especially vulnerable.

"Anybody you see watching you intently could be somebody with an IED," Lt. Garcia said.

Maj. Phillip Lunt, an intelligence officer from Killeen, said insurgents have found creative ways of disguising the weapons along roads traveled by military convoys.

IEDs have been hidden in soda cans, plastic trash bags and animal carcasses and under piles of rubbish. They have been stuffed into the frame of a child's bicycle and encased in concrete to make them look like harmless concrete blocks.

"They can look like anything," Maj. Lunt said.

Many of the weapons are made from artillery shells, mortar rounds and other unsecured munitions that can be found across Iraq. The bombs often are detonated from a distance by a remote control device like a garage door opener, car alarm, doorbell or cellphone.

Since January, 56th BCT route clearance operations have uncovered at least 28 IEDs and munitions caches. Seven of the brigade's 3,000 soldiers have been injured in roadside bomb incidents.

But the brigade has suffered no fatalities, a fact that the brigade commander, Col. James K. "Red" Brown, attributed to the armored vehicles and the protective helmet and vest each soldier wears.

Col. Brown said although armor can't guarantee total safety, "every Humvee we put outside the wire is Level 2 or better." Level 2 refers to factory-made kits with thick steel doors and anti-ballistic windows added to trucks or Humvees. Col. Brown said he was awaiting delivery of 60 new factory-armored Humvees.

"If you look at coalition vehicles, no other country has anything that even comes close to the level of protection the United States has on its wheeled vehicles," Col. Brown said.

Spc. Jerome Hawkins, a member of the unit, was riding in a convoy a few months ago when a bomb exploded between two Humvees approaching an overpass near Abu Ghraib, a western suburb of Baghdad. Two men were seen sprinting from the scene.

"They didn't time it right, which was a blessing on our part," said Spc. Hawkins, an Arlington resident.

Fifteen minutes after the explosion, another Army convoy up ahead found a bomb hanging from a bridge overpass and closed the highway, he said.

"I think everybody was a little shocked that day," Spc. Hawkins said. "We had just rolled through Ramadi, where they have Marines in tanks on all the bridges. So everybody got a little bit relaxed. I think when all this happened, it got everybody's attention."

Back on the highway where the shepherd located the latest bomb, a few Iraqi drivers waved tentatively to the Texas soldiers at the roadblock before turning onto an impromptu detour that sent them in the opposite direction. But in the relentless sun, most of the drivers wore resigned, grim-faced expressions.

The detour required sedans, pickups, station wagons and buses to drive off the pavement and across a winding, rutted dirt path more suited to four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicles. Dust clouds swirled around women in black abayas and other passengers forced to step out of vehicles so that drivers could get past the worst spots.

Although pleased about the morning's discovery, the soldiers grew more anxious by the hour. Wide open and stuck on the highway, they were a perfect target for trouble. At one point, a gunshot from an unknown source sent them sprinting for cover.

"I got eyes on a guy standing straight up at 3 o' clock," shouted Sgt. Brad Raphelt, a Humvee gunner from Arlington, training his binoculars at a figure in a field about 300 yards from the highway. "He's been standing out there ever since we pulled up."

Sgt. Jose Peredez of San Saba, the Humvee's commander, grabbed his binoculars for a look. He told Spc. Michael Scantling of Dublin to get on the radio and alert the rest of the convoy so that more soldiers could help watch the man.

At one point, an ambulance crept up to the roadblock, creating a brief frenzy as soldiers pointed their weapons and yelled for the driver and passenger to get out of the vehicle. Soldiers searched the ambulance because insurgents in Iraq reportedly have used them in car bomb attacks and to transport weapons.

The driver told an Iraqi translator that he needed to go through the roadblock to reach a hospital, but soldiers told him to turn around and find an alternate route.

The tension on the road eased when a flock of sheep paraded past the convoy to an adjacent field.

Finally, the team of Navy bomb demolition experts and Polish army soldiers arrived, and a small camera-equipped robot attached an explosive charge to the mortars.

Some soldiers reached into their pockets for cameras, hoping to document the blast for their scrapbooks. With a thunderous explosion, the mortars in the shepherd's field were destroyed. The highway reopened and traffic returned to normal.

"It's just a typical day out here," said Spc. Bruce Grove, a self-storage company operator from Lewisville, who pulled sentry duty at one of the roadblocks. "We see it all, and anything can happen."

E-mail vsmith@dallasnews.com

Patience, America.

2005-06-24T04:04:00.000-07:00

I'm hearing a lot of rehtoric lately regarding the growing concern over our progress in Iraq. In my previous post I took issue with Senator Chuck Hagel who made the assertion that we are "losing in Iraq". Today I've seen headlines about the grilling Defense Secretary Rumsfeld took from a Senate committe and caught snippets of the exchange on CNN.

Then they start throwing the poll numbers around. The one I've seen quoted the most along with some verbiage along the lines of how America is growing weary of the war in Iraq:

CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. June 16-19, 2005. N=1,006 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.

Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war with Iraq?

	Favor	Oppose	Unsure
	%	%	%
6/16-19/05	39	59	2
3/18-20/05	47	47	6
11/19-21/04	48	46	6
10/3/2005	54	43	3
4/22-23/03	71	26	3
4/10/2003	72	22	6
4/7-8/03	68	28	4
4/5-6/03	70	27	3
3/29-30/03	70	27	3
3/24-25/03	71	27	2
3/22-23/03	72	25	3

First, I'd like to know why we are still asking this question. To me it is the equivalent of asking a first time sky-diver if they "approve" of jumping out of a perfectly good airplane as they stand on the edge. Most likely you'll get a "thumbs-up" since they are at least commited to the "idea " of jumping. But let's imagine you were somehow able to ask them the same question once they have left the plane and are hurtling towards the earth at a very high rate of speed. At that point the answer is completely irrelavant since they are already commited to the cause and there is no turning back.

We (the troops on the ground) are just as committed, and we need to know we have the support of the American people. We believe in this cause because we are here and able to look into the eyes of the Iraqi people and know we are making a difference.

We've jumped, ladies and gentlemen. Now let's finish the job we set out to do.

We're losing?

2005-06-22T02:16:00.000-07:00

I ususally try to stay above the fray when it comes to voicing my opinions of the ongoing rehtoric about the war in Iraq. But I can't be silent after reading this article which quotes Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) as saying "that we're losing in Iraq."

Excuse me?! By which criteria are you making this assertion, Senator? As of this morning I have heard nothing from my chain of command indicating that we have lost the will to fight, have failed to hold key locations, or are on the verge of withdrawl or surrender. At least one of these criteria would have to be met in order for us to be "losing" here in Iraq. To the contrary, we continue to capture or kill insurgents daily through audacious, offensive operations. The Iraqi people have elected a government of their choosing for the first time in half a century, and I personally have talked to many Iraqis who are elated and have a new found hope because of the changes they are seeing in their country.

I did some reseearch on Seantor Hagel and learned that he is a Vietnam Veteran and earned two Purple Hearts as an Infantry Squad Leader. I am extremely grateful for his service, but I am also extremly dissapointed since he, above most, should be keenly aware of the impact of such statements. Is he entitled to his opinion? Absolutely! But he had better make darn sure he has his facts straight when making such bold statements. Otherwise it only appears that he is trying to draw attention to himself just like any other self-serving politician.

You can visit the Senator's web site here.

Balls instead of Bombs

2005-06-17T04:28:00.000-07:00

Some of the soldiers in our unit get together with some of the local villagers for a weekly game of soccer. Soccer in this part of the world (they call it football) is like football in the U.S. They are very passionate about the sport, begin playing at a young age, and follow their favorite teams. Personally, running up and down a field chasing after a ball in 100+ degree weather looks a little like "work" to me so I haven't actually played yet. Not to mention the Iraqis are really good at this sport so we usually take a schlacking (They even loaned us some guys in order to even the odds). However, I did take some photos at the last game in order to show you some more good stories you won't see on the evening news.

This little guy was a bit too young to play, but he anxiously stood on the sidelines anyway.

They take their soccer very seriously.

Team mates discussing strategy.

They even beat us playing bare-footed. Since most of these guys grew up without any shoes they can tolerate just about anything. It wouldn't surprise me a bit to see one of them walk over a bed of hot coals.

Having an irrigation ditch on one side of the field and barbed wire on the other presented some interesting challenges. I think you'll agree by the picture, however, that it presented some opportunities as well.

Regardless of the score, I think both sides won.

It'sHot

2005-06-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

This was taken at about 3:00 p.m.today. The themometer was out of direct sunlight so it was literally 120 degrees in the shade. Of course, this themometer only goes up to 120 so it may have been warmer.

I've been asked what it feels like when it gets this hot. The best way to describe it is; set your oven on 150, stick your head inside, take a blow dryer with it's hottest setting, and blow it in your face. That's pretty much what it feels like.

Now if there is anyone who would actually try this experiment it would be my brother, Jessic.

Let me know how it goes, bro'.

Another perspective

2005-06-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Michael Yon is a freelance journalist travelling with 1-24 Infantry, 25th Infantry Division also known as "Deuce-Four". I have been following his blog for a while and find his accounts from the frontline both gripping and honest.

In this particular story, Michael shares the story of time he spent in the city of Dohuk located in Northern Iraq. Dohuk's population is largely Kurdish, who have sought an independent state for decades suffered immensely under Saddam's regime. Michael's account of his time spent there is a refreshing contrast to the daily reports of car bombs and civillian casulaties. Stop by and give it a read. You'll be glad you did.

Knock, knock...

2005-06-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I rose to the sound of someone knocking on the door of my tent at about 2230 hrs the other night. I opened the door to find the Operations Sergeant Major standing before me. I was surprised it was him, and instantly curious since this was an unusual visit.

"What's up?" I asked.

"We've got a KIA coming in," he replied with a deadpanned face.

I looked down and cursed the air. "Is it one of ours?" I asked before I could stop myself. As soon as the words left my lips I began chastising myself internally. "What the heck difference does that make, Upperman? Is a soldier from another unit somehow less valuable?" A life was gone and a family would be getting a dreaded phone call. That's all that mattered.

"No. It's not one ours," he replied. "Another unit had a vehicle accident north of here and they're evacuating the body to our location."

I cursed the air again. Every life cut short over here is lamented. But losing soldiers because of an accident is particularly painful because we're so certain it was preventable. Either a procedure wasn't followed, or a detail was overlooked. Something could have been done to keep it from happening.

After this short and painful conversation I quickly realized that the Sergeant Major wasn't looking for me. Rather he was there for my roommate. A fellow captain who is also a funeral director back in his civillain life. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time he's been called upon for this sort of thing. This happens about once a month because of our location on the route. All of them from different causes…

but all equally painful.

One medal I'd rather not have

2005-06-07T21:18:00.000-07:00

We presented our first Purple Heart the other day. Hopefully it's our last. The impetus for this particular award was for an event I chronicled back in February. (Yes, it takes that long to process the paperwork). As you can see by the pics below, the soldier is fine now. He was pretty banged up by the IED that hit his vehicle, but thankfully he and his crew members are back on the prowl.

I find it amazing to look at this kid and consider what he has been through at such a young age. He barely looks old enough to vote and yet he's taking enemy fire in a combat zone. Just a few short years ago he was probably conemplating what pretty girl he was going to take to prom. Now his only girlfriend is his M4 rifle that is always by his side.

It was a good day for a ceremony. The weather was pleasant and the soldier's brother, who is a contractor in Baghdad, was able to attend. He's a quiet and humble kid and he didn't want to have the ceremony, but we all wanted him to know we were proud of him, and most of all...that everything turned out okay.

Road Warriors

2005-06-06T02:22:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a short trip. My destination was six hours round trip, and the three hours each way just about sucked the life out of me. The ride is monotonous and the barely-working air conditioner was struggling to make a difference in the 115 degree temperature outside. Combine all of this with an extra 40 pounds of body armor and gear, and you have a sweat-drenched uniform at the end of the trip.

Yet I only do this a few times a month. The troops in our unit are doing this daily, and sometimes they are travelling ten or twelve hours round trip. They are either providing security for re-supply convoys, or they are performing patrols along the road looking for IED's or any other signs of bad guys. As they repeatedly drive along these routes they are watching and waiting for the next ambush. I'm sure they feel like moving targets as they wonder when the next IED, RPG, and/or the next round of gunfire goes off in a less than desirable direction. A vast majority of the time nothing happens, but sometimes there is that "brief moment of chaos" that I have referred to previously. So far we have been fortunate with no serious injuries. But there have been some very close calls.

I guess my point in all of this (and yes, I do have one) is that I see these guys doing this day in and day out, and it makes me proud. It reminds me of why we have the greatest Army in the world. Because men like these (some are barely old enough to be called "men") are willing to do a job that no one else will do. Do they gripe and complain? You betcha! Griping is practically an art form in the Army. If Joe isn't complaining about something, then he's probably sleeping. But despite all the monaing and groaning he crawls out of the rack every morning and does his job in a manner that should make you proud. Every day he puts his neck on the line for a place he doesn't call home and for a people that he doesn't know... and he does it with honor and integrity.

Let no one convince you of anything less.

Time Remaining

2005-06-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

I know some of my friends at Dell are really going to appreciate the spreadsheet below, but unfortunately I can't take credit it for it. Apparently some staff officer somewhere had too much time on his hands and put together this tool that calculates how much time you have left on your deployment.

Based on my arrival date of 5 January, and assuming I have exactly 365 days of "boots on ground" I have completed 41% of my time here. As of this writing I have to still have to complete the following milestones:

7.2 months
31 weeks
216.06 days
5,202 hours
311,148 minutes
18,668,050.44 seconds

I usually try not to dwell on how much time I have left and just focus on one day at a time. But now that I only have two months before my R&R leave I find myself thinking about it more often. I've got five months under my belt and at the end of July I'll get to spend two glorious weeks with my family. I can hardly wait.

I'll be on the road for the next few days, so this will probably be my last blog until I get back.

Until then,

Memorial Day

2005-05-30T02:48:00.000-07:00

Today is the day we remember the dead. In particular we remember those who have died in our nation's service. This day has become one mainly marked by a day off from work and outdoor barbeques. It has become more of an annual tribute to the opening days of summer than an actual day of reflection. I don't think any of these things are wrong. I just think that while we celebrate we should take time to remember why we celebrate. For 1,647 families this and future Memorial days will take on new meaning since this is the number of soliders who have paid the ultimate sacrifice since the war in Iraq began.

Obviously, we will not have the day off nor will there be any parades of festivities. So in order to observe, and remember I took time today to visit a few of the Memoriums we have here that are dedicated to soldiers from our base camp that have fallen. I took pictures as I went along. They didn't turn out very well, but at least a few more people will remember their names today.

Specialist Daniel Paul Unger
A Compnay, 1-185 Armor
March 21, 1985 - May 25, 2004
"SPC Unger, 19, of Exeter, California was fatally wounded on May 25th, 2004 at Forward Operating Base Kalsu when FOB Kalsu came under a heavy volley of 100MM Mortar Fire. In total disregard for his own saftey, SPC Unger directed local nationals that he was escorting to safety while executing the battle drill for indirect fire. His actions saved two lives."

Corporal Darrell L. Smith

D Company, 1-152 Infantry

February 22, 1975 - November 23, 2003

"CPL Smith of Otwell, Indiana, was part of an Infantry Squad assigned to provide security around Convoy Support Center Scania, Foward Operating Base Kalsu, Camp Nakamura, and MSR Tampa. CPL Smith gave his life on 23 November, while conducting a combat patrol on the nothern sector of MSR Tampa."

Sergeant Heath A. McMillin

105th Military Police Company

May 24, 1974 - July 27, 2003

Specialist Michael L. Williams

105th Military Police Company

September 11, 1957 - October 17, 2003

"SGT McMillin of Canandaigua, New York, and SPC Williams of Buffalo, New York were part of MSR Patrols patrolling their AOR when their vehicles were engaged by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)."

Specialist Paul T. Nakamura

437th Medical Compnay

October 17, 1981 - June 19, 2003

"SPC Nakamura of Santa Fe Springs, California was part of an Ambulance Crew transporting an injured soldier from CSC Scania to LSA Dogwood for further treatment when his FLA was struck by an RPG and small arms fire."

Sergeant Eric Toth

A Battery, 1-623 Field Artillery Battalion

April 16, 1983 - March 30, 2005

"SGT Toth of Edmontom, KY was part of a convoy escort that was returning to CSC Scaniaafter escorting a convoy north when his vehicle was struck by a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED)."

I attended SGT Toth's memorial service and wrote about it in a previous post titled Fallen.

I sincerley hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day full of good food and laughter. Just take time to remember.

Why I serve

2005-05-29T01:36:00.000-07:00

Left to right: Jessica, Alex, Jennifer, Luke & Seth

So they don't have be afraid every time they step out of the house.

So we can send them to school without fear of a car bomb going off.

So they have an opportunity to grow up and pursue whatever dream they choose.

I serve so that, hopefully, they won't have to.

Regardless of how you feel about our presence in Iraq we have taken the fight to their backyard, which is keeping them out of ours.

If you would like to know more about these handsome kids you can read more about them in a previous post.

More pics you won't see on the news

2005-05-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

I seemed to have found my blog niche. There are a lot of military blogs being published from the front lines and they all have the unique perspective of the individuals writing them. Some are simply day-to-day journals, others like Alexander the Average comtemplate the impact of American foreign policy and the idealogical war we are waging, and others like Michael Yon give gripping accounts of toe-to-toe slug fests with the insurgents that are both inspiring and painful.

My blog is none of these. I want to show you the real people of this country. Not the radicals and the criminals, but the every day people that are trying to live their lives and figure out how this is all going to pan out. The people of Iraq are no more like the cowardice insurgents you see on the news than you and I are like the people in Hollywood movies. I still have not reached a point where I easily trust any of them, but I occassionally see glimpses of their lives that reminds me that they are ordinary people...just like you and I. You can not allow your judgement of this nation and its people be shaped by what you see on the evening news. The main stream media (MSM) is only going to show you profitable news. News that shocks, grabs your attention, and drives ratings. They will never report the subtle victories that occur here everyday.

They won't show you people putting aside old prejudices and forging new friendships...

Nor will they show you people working to make a better future...

...or contemplating life just like you and I do.

They won't show you the laughter...

...nor the playfullness.

But I will.

Still kicking

2005-05-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

I apologize that I haven't posted in so long. I've found myself on the road a lot lately, and very busy with some change of missions that came down from higher. The optempo here goes from one extreme to another. I think the best description I've heard regarding the pace of life here is that, "there are long periods of boredom interrupted by brief moments of chaos and tragedy." Fortunatley there is nothing "tragic" at the moment, but there is plenty of chaos.

My last post really recieved a lot of attention, and I appreciate all of the tremendous feedback. Since that day I have found myself contemplating the plight of these children frequently. They truly are the hope of this nation. Our success or failure in shaping a brighter future for them will have tremendous implications for this entire region and ultimatley the world. I have a strong desire to find a way to do more for them, and I have some ideas I hope to share later. If you have some ideas, please let me know.

Until then...

john

Suffer the little children

2005-05-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

I went with the medics to one of the local villages the other day. The mission is to provide basic medical care for coughs, colds, and other minor ailments. Again, this is something we take for granted in the U.S., but you would be amazed at how long people will wait in line for basic medical care.

Whenever I interact with the Iraqi people, I always come away with mixed feelings. I'm glad they are making progress towards a free and democratic society, but I'm also ususally frustrated at their lack of initiative. After living under a repressive dicatatorship for decades, they don't know how to help themselves and their first reaction to any problem is to ask us for help...usually in the form of a handout.

But then there are the kids. Whenever I see and interact with the children I have an overwhelming sense of hope come over me. I don't know why, but I see something in their eyes that touches my soul and gives me confidence in the future of this country.

During the few hours we were there, they were all I focused on. I interacted with a few and took dozens of pictures of many. They are all overwhelmingly...kids. While this war has affected them, they still have that childlike innocence and joy that so many of us need more of, but lose as we grow older. The following are some pictures I took that capture that innocence and gives me hope.

Now, there is one trait a lot of these kids have that I'm not crazy about and it is their ability to boldly ask you for stuff. They ask for candy, food, water, pens, or anything else they see you have. This little guy pictured below is Hasim. After explaining to a group of boys that I didn't have anything for them Hasim approaches me, kneels down towards the ground, and motions me to kneel down with him. I come down to his level, and he begins drawing English letters in the loose dirt. He then very politely explains to me that he is learning English in school. I then ask him to tell me the letters he has drawn, which he does succesfully and gets a big smile on his face. I immediately took a liking to this smart little whip. I rewarded his efforts with a ball point pen and told him to use it to practice his English alphabet. You would think I gave him $100 as excited as he was. It's amazing how little these kids have. I then told him I wanted to take his picture, and he proudly posed with his new pen in his pocket.

He then motioned for me to give him the camera, and he took a picture of me. Like I said...he is a smart little whip.

The rest of these are just photos of kids I took throughout the day. I'm posting the ones that impressed me the most.

You can't go wrong with Elmo. Every kid loves Elmo.

I love this one. Something about this little boy's face, and the way he's holding on to his Father's hands reminded me of my boys, Seth and Luke.

This kid was all smiles all the time. Hopefully he'll grow into his ears someday. :-)

I call this one Rebel. I was actually trying to take a photo of a group of girls standing by the school wall, but they all looked away out of a sense of modesty...except for her.

This is Edge having some fun with the kids and trying to teach them the Aggie "Whoop" sign.

Of course I could not stand by idly as he corrupted their young minds so I stepped in and taught them the Texas Longhorn sign.

This was a good day.

In fact, I think this was my best day in Iraq yet.

Until next time.

John

El Jefe'

2005-05-03T11:02:00.000-07:00

The longer I'm here the more I get used to it. I don't like the fact that I am becoming comfortable here. I want to hate this place as much as I did when I first arrived here...but I don't.

I have grown accustomed to the environment, the schedule, and the fact that I am going to be here for another eight months. I have even started to warm up a bit to some of the locals. To say that I've been a bit "guarded" is probably an understatement. Those that know me well know I am not the most bubbly of personalities. Just imagine what I'm like in a foreign land surrounded by people who look and talk like the enemy. Whenever I'm interacting with any of the locals, I'm typically all business and make it pretty clear that I'm not their friend.

The other day one of the Iraqis that works on our base introduced himself. He was standing with a group of about fourteen other local workers who come on base daily to perform various tasks (filling sandbags, picking up trash, etc.). I was leaning against my HMMWV waiting to go outside the wire. I could tell they were looking at me, and that I was the subject of some of their conversations. It wasn't in a disrespectful, pointing their fingers and whispering kind of converation. But more of a "I've seen that guy around and he scares the bejeezers out of me" kind of conversation.

So after a few minutes of watching them doing this and pretending not to notice the leader of this little motley crew walks over to me. As he gets closer he offers a hand shake, and I reluctantly reciprocate. As soon as our hands interlock he pulls me towards him and gives me a customary hug. I return the gesture with a U.S. style machsimo pat on the back while I'm slightly freaking out. One because this guy has caught me completely off guard, and secondly because all Army guys are homophobic. He introduces himslef as Aknar and explains in broken english that he is "the boss" of this band of misfits. I ask him how to say "the boss" in Arabic, which I try to reapeat back several times but never really figure out the correct pronunciation. I then tell him that in Spanish he would be called "El Jefe'", which he correctly repeats back with a smile.

This all occurred over a five minute period, and then he was called back to his duties. Now whenever I see him on base I wave and call out "El Jefe'!" He waves back and calls out "Captain!", and we both smile.

I guess you could say there was a small battle fought in Iraq that day...

and both sides won.

Sand Monster

2005-04-28T08:45:00.000-07:00

In my last post I shared my experiences with a sand storm that blew in the previous night. Unbeknownst to me what we saw was just the after effects of a much larger storm that occured to the north earlier that day. A good friend of mine, Steve Briscoe, is stationed at Al Asad Air Base as a civillian contractor. Below are some pretty amazing pictures he sent me.

This huge wall of sand came barreling in at approximately 60 miles per hour.

And you thought those scenes in "The Mummy Returns" were just Hollywood hype.

Steve described what began as a clear, sunny day becoming as dark as night within minutes of the cloud engulfing them.

I love this place!

2005-04-25T00:07:00.000-07:00

The temperature here is now consistently hitting 100. Of course, this is mild compared to what is yet to come. In about another month we will see 110 to 120 on a regular basis, and the Joes that were here last summer say they have seen temps as high as 140.

But wait…that’s not all! This is also the season for the coveted dust storm. Yes, “dust storm” not “sand storm". The terrain here is anything but sandy. It’s mostly dirt with very little vegetation. The top layer of which is a fine dust that gets all over everything. When the winds increase it kicks all that dust around and creates a huge cloud that swallows up everything like a hungry monster.
The picture below is a view out the front windshield of my HMMWV. It had started as a sunny, clear day and then the storm blew in. The visibility was less then 50 meters, and was actually less in some areas. This lovely little event turned what would have been a 2.5 hour drive into 4.5 hours.

Another one blew in last night. I was sitting in my tent and all of sudden the canvass started flapping from the strong wind. I stepped outside, and what was previously a very bright, full moon was now just a hazy white disc in the sky. I don’t know what this dust is comprised of, but it really plays havoc with my allergies. I tried going to sleep, but my eyes were burning like somebody had just squeezed fresh lemon juice into them, I was sneezing incessantly, and I began having a difficult time breathing. My chest became very constricted, and I couldn’t take a full breathe without conjuring up an emphysema-like cough. After sitting there arguing with myself about whether I was a wimp for even considering going to the medical clinic, I finally decided to go. I wrapped a t-shirt around my mouth and nose and made my way through the wind and dust as it was pelting me in the face.

Once I arrived I tried explaining that this is something I’ve been through before, and I just needed some good drugs and I would be on my not-so-merry way. Of course, it’s 11:00 pm and the medics are bored so we have to go through the whole rigamaroll. They did all the usual vital sign checks, and then took some chest X-rays. This part was actually pretty entertaining. As I was lying there waiting to get zapped I can see the medic flipping through the X-Ray machine instruction manual. His eyes are darting between the manual and the machine as he is trying to make the proper adjustments. I thought to myself, “Great... I’m going to survive a combat zone, but get cancer ‘cuz this guy pumped me full of radiation.” None of my body parts were glowing afterwards, so I think I’ll be okay.

In the end they ended up giving me some allergy medicine and an inhaler, which is exactly what I suggested in the beginning. I can’t blame them though. They did the right thing and were very helpful. I made my way back to my hooch, got about five hours of sleep, and dreamt of home.

Like I said…”I love this place!”

A daughter's poem

2005-04-22T04:19:00.000-07:00

This poem was written by my daughter, Jessica.

The Soldier

You are my hero
Doing what you are doing.
Leaving our family and
fighting for another
so that we may keep our freedom.
We live in the land of the free
because of the brave.
You are the brave.
You are my hero.
You are my father.

Thanks, sweetie.

I'm walking a little taller today.

Ali Baba

2005-04-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned before, part of my job here is making sure my battalion has the "stuff" it needs to function. That "stuff" includes everything from bullets for our weapons to paper for the copy machine. Think of me as "Red"; the character played by Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption. He was the inmate who knew how to get things. That's me. I know how to get things, and yes...this is a lot like prison.

One of the contacts I've made is the man I'm pictured with below. His name is Alawi, and if I ask for it there's about a 99% chance that he is able to sell it too me for a pretty handsome, cash only price. I tried negotiating a lower price with him once, and he explained to me that he travels all the way from Baghdad to bring me the goods, and that he has to change vehicles three different times because of "Ali Baba". It took me a minute to figure out what he meant, and then I remembered hearing about this nick-name the locals use to describe the bandits stalking the highways throughout the country. It stems from the old Muslim fairy tale, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Alawi is always travelling with a lot of goods, or a lot of cash so the highway robbers see him as a high-payoff target.

What's even more interesting about Alwai is that he used to be a Colonel in the Iraqi Air Force under Saddam's regime. (Don't worry...this guy is definitley not a Saddam loyalist). I explained to him the U.S. was helping to train a new Iraqi Air Force at one of the base camps, and asked if he was interested. In his strong arabic accent he politley replied, "No sir. No...this is much better."

I smiled and then thought to myself, "Man, what a dumb question. Enlist in the military of a country that is financially bankrupt, or make fist fulls of money selling stuff at a ridiculous mark-up to the U.S. military." I know which one I would pick.

Don't worry. I'm using your tax dollars wisely. At the very least you can take comfort in the fact that you are pumping money into the Iraqi economy. I do...and I actually feel pretty good about it.

Until next time.

j

Back from Baghdad

2005-04-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

I've made it back from my trip to Baghdad, and as dimented as it may sound I really enjoyed it. I'm pretty sure the photos will help to explain why. We actually ended up at Camp Victory which is part of Baghdad International Airport (the Army calls is BIAP...we can create an acronym out of anything). BIAP used to be Saddam Hussein International Airport, which you probably remember hearing about during the ground war. I like the new name better

The trip us took us a little longer than expected. Usually it would only be about 90minutes, but we were forced to stop about twenty minutes out due to an explosive device that was found on the road. Any time we have to make a stop along the route, the first thing we do is dismount the vehicles and pull security around our perimeter while simultaneously checking for other explosive devices that might be in the area. We were there for about 30 minutes, and then the lead vehicle found a bypass and we got out of there. Nothing like standing out in the open in area where the people really don't like you. It was a bit nerve wracking, but thankfully uneventful.

Obviously, the airport area was one of the focal points of both the air and ground campaigns during the topple of Saddam Hussein. I saw evedince of this as soon as we got inside the compound perimter. The picture below isn't a very good one, but it is one of Saddam's many former palaces. Apparently there was some one or some thing in it that we did not like since we dropped a very large bomb on it. Of course, being the nice folks that we are the palace is being restored.

Sometimes I think we're too nice.

Right after we got in, we parked the vehicles, took off all of our "battle rattle", and chilled for a few minutes. This is one of the gunners enjoying the downtime.

As you go further north there is a lot more vegitation than the southern areas of the country. At one point I saw a field of what looked like Texas Goldenrod. Regardless of what it was, I found myself sneezing incessantly and my eyes started to burn and itch. It was just like being home in Texas during the spring time.

This is the team medic, "Doc" (every medic in the Army is affectionately referred to as "Doc" regardless of rank). He hooked me up with some good drugs that helped ease my misery. He gave me a little pink one and said, "Only take this at night, and only take one. Roger?"

I slept like a baby.

When I plan on going anywhere in this country, I always assume the worse accomodations and I'm rarely dissappointed. This time, however, I was travelling with our Battalion Command Sergeant Major, CSM Callaway who is one of the most squared away NCO's I have ever had the pleasure of serving with. Those of you familiar with Army schools will know by the badges on his chest that their are really no other qualifications he could earn. About the only schools he hasn't qualified for is Army Scuba, and Army Astronaut...and I'm sure it's only because he doesn't want to.

And, yes, he has a Ranger tab on his shoulder too.

Anyway, CSM Callaway pulled some strings and got us a room in one of Saddam's smaller palaces (to him, it was probably just a guest house). The building is now called the Joint Visitor's Bureau (JVB <---- See! We did it again!), and it is basically a hotel for distinguished guests that come through the area. Charlie Daniels had stayed there the previous night since he was there to do a concert for the troops. Below is the entrance.

Again, you have to keep in mind that this is one of the smaller edifices in the complex. But even then the extravagance this guy went to was a sight to behold. I told Amy that I found it all at once amazing and disgusting. Amazing because of the level of opulence, and disgusting because Saddam and his cronies lived like this while he sucked his country dry.

This is one of the sitting rooms.

This is SPC Edge and MSG Goode sitting in the small dining area. There was one that was probably three times this size, but it was being used as a conference room.

This is the back patio, which backs up to a small lake, or maybe it's a large pond. (Just when does a pond become a lake anyway?)

Notice the windows are now lined with sandbags...just in case.

Now this next building is called the Water Palace, and it is by far the larest one in the complex. (This photo was taken from the back patio of the JVB). This is the Command Headquarters and houses the Generals and their staff.

I din't get in their this time...but I will find a way.

Now you can see why I enjoyed the trip. It was definitely something out of the ordinary...at least for me. The Joes that are stationed here see this stuff all the time so I'm sure it's no big deal, but for those of us stationed in the arm pit base camps it is quite a trip.

Well, it's late and I am back on the road tomorrow for about three days. I'm going south this time, which is really no big deal. It is much less dangerous, but not real exciting. I already have a few more stoires qued up, so I'll be blogging as soon as I get back.

Until then,

Soldier Silhouette

2005-04-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Soldier Silhouette
Originally uploaded by jupperman.

This is just a cool photo I wanted to share. It was sunrise, and we were getting ready to push out on a mission.

I guess you could say that this kid is helping to create a new sunrise for an entire nation.

j

Baghdad or bust

2005-04-09T04:27:00.000-07:00

I'll be making my first trip to Baghdad on 10 April (that'll be the evening of 9 April for those of you in the U.S.).

I'm looking forward to the trip. There is not any particular operational need for me to go, but the opportunity presented itself so I jumped on it. I hope to make some contacts there and do a little sight seeing. I plan on taking plenty of photos, and hopefully I'll be able to post them when I get back.

I'll be out of the electronic loop for a few days. So if you send me an email or post to the blog, there will be a slight delay before I can respond.

Until then,
j

Hail to the Chief

2005-04-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Today was a momentous day in the history of Iraq. Today, the first freely elected President in 50 years was sworn in and a new Prime Minister was appointed. The newly elected President is the Kurdish, Jalal Talabani and the PM is Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is a Shiite.

As I write this I can hear what you're thinking, "Shiite...Kurd...Sunni, what the heck does all that mean?" Trust me, I follow this stuff pretty closely and I still find it confusing. So in an effort to expand your geo-political knowledge from the persepctive of someone on the ground I'll give you a quick lesson. (I promise to keep it simple so I don't lose your attention. Especially you, Amy. Don't go surf'n over to Ebay before you read all the way through.)

Shiite (also referred to as Shia): Are the largest ethnic group in Iraq. They tend to live in more rural areas and practice a more conservative form of Islam. When I'm on the road and see sheep and camel herders outside of small villages, they are most likely Shiities.

Kurds: The second largest ethnic group in Iraq, and the hardest to categorize. They are considered Sunni Muslim, but because of their nomadic, non-Arab past they have a completely different heritage and dialect. They have been oppressed for centuries, and with the fall of the Ottoman Empire after WWI they were promised an independent state, which was never fullfilled. They have been striving for their independence ever since, and this strife contributed to Saddam's murderous chemical attack on the city of Halabja in 1988.

Sunnis: The etnic minority in Iraq, but the ruling power under Saddam. Saddam was a Sunni, so they have had all the power for the last 30 years. They have a minority of seats in the National Assembly largely due to the fact that most of them boycotted the elections.

Now that all of this is as clear as mud, maybe some of the news will make a little more sense to you.

I'm sure the news of the newly elected officials taking office may not be very exciting to everyone back home, and the story was probably buried beneath coverage of the Pope's funeral, and the Michael Jackson trial. To those of us here, however, it means we are one step closer to handing this country back to the Iraqi people, which means we are that much closer to getting everyone home.

Oh...one other thing that was pretty cool about today's proceedings...Sadaam watched the whole thing from his prison cell.

I love it when a good plan comes together.

Fallen

2005-04-04T03:23:00.000-07:00

I attended my first memorial service today. I hope it was my last.

The fallen soldier was not a member of my unit, nor did I know him. He belonged to an Artillery unit that is right next to us and conducts the same type of missions we do, so I felt an obligation to attend. On March 30th his squad was running a conoy north of here when a vehicle packed with explosives pulled up next to them and detonated. Two other soldiers in the squad were wounded.

I'm not sharing this story for the shock value, but rather I wanted to quickly record the memory I have of attending the service. One that will be forever etched in my mind. I will always remember the display. At the foot of an M16 rifle standing on its barrel end was a pair of desert combat boots filled only by the memory of the soldier that once wore them. Mounted on the buttstock of the weapon was the soldier's combat helmet with his name still afixed; a tradtion that stems from how the location of a fallen soldier was marked on the battlefield. Hanging from the M16 were the deceased's dog tags blowing in the wind like a wind chime singing the hopes and aspirations of a 21 year old man that will never come to pass. I'll never forget the haunting sound of a single bugle playing Taps, or the jolting report of a 21 gun salute. All of this was like a kick in the gut reality check of the price that is being paid here.

I find myself somewhat conflicted after an experience like this. I firmly believe in what we are doing here, and I know we will succeed. On the other hand, however, I question the cost and whether it is worth it. Don't get me worong, I'm not here to question or debate the war in Iraq. I just know this guy wanted to go home some day just as much as I do...but he won't.

"The soldier above all others prays for peace, for it is the soldier who must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war."

- General Douglas MacArthur

Soldiers

2005-03-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm finally back up and running with my computer equipment so I will be able to blog more often and post pictures again (and there was much clapping and rejoicing).

I've posted a lot of pictures of the local Iraqi people, and I will continue to do so in the future. However, I wanted to pay tribute to some real heroes...the American soldier. The pictures that follow are all of guys in my unit. You will probably never read about them in the paper, but they put their necks on the line every day. They obviously don't do it for the money, glory, or fame since they will recieve little or none of those during their deployment here. They do it because that's just what soldiers do, and at the end of the day all that matters is the guy on your left and your right and making sure everyone gets back home safe.

This is one of some guys getting their gun-trucks ready to go right before a mission.

This is myself and SGT Hatt right before we left that day. SGT Hatt is an interesting individual. He is a gunner on a gun crew, which means he sits in the hatch in the HMMWV behind a machine gun as we fly down the highway. He also was one year away from completing his degree in English Literature when we got mobilized. Here's a steely eyed killer who can quote from classic works of writing.

This is SGT Hatt again. The picture was taken from inside the vehicle as we were going down the road. It was a little chilly that morning.

This is just another Joe in action as his crew gets ready to move out.

This is Lieutenant Holland who was riding in the back of my vehicle. It was a three hour ride. I guess he was tired.

This is SPC Edge. We affectionately refer to him as "The Edge". He was also about to start his last year of college at Texas A&M when we were mobilzed. As you can see, he doesn't like to have his picture taken.

All of these photos reflect every day occurences here. Nothing too exciting, but as my Father-n-Law aptly puts it, "...no excitement in a combat zone is a good thing."

I agree.

Let's save all of the excitement for when we all come home.

j

What I am up to

2005-03-19T09:58:00.000-08:00

I'm settling into my new location, and actually like it a lot better than where I was before. This base camp is a lot smaller, and not as crowded. We are about 3 hours south of Baghdad and the terrain is little more pleasant in this area. The base camp is surrounded by thick Plam trees, so it is not quite as desolate. (Don't get me wrong...it still ain't Texas.)

My command group will be taking command of the post, which actually presents some interesting opportunities. Just yesterday I found myself meeting with two local Sheiks regarding the lease agreements they have with the Army. One owns some of the land our base camp is on, and the other owns some of the buildings we are using, and the Army pays both of them a monthly lease to use their property. It was a really interesting experience; speaking through an interperter, trying to read their body language, etc. They are truly a passionate people, which makes for an interesting combination since I am just the opposite. Hopefully they don't think I'm smug.

There will be more opportunity to interact. In fact, one of the Sheiks has already invited us to his home for dinner. This is a common practice, and I've heard the meal is pretty bountiful. They take their hospitality very seriously, and once you are in their home you are a guest of honor. Make no mistake, though, the conversation will quickly turn to business; we deserve more money for the land, we want to set up vendor stands outside the gate, ...etc. It's a delicate balance of being fair without giving into every demand.

Anyway, I know this isn't a real exciting post, but I wanted to let everyone know that I am okay and actually enjoying the new location and new mssion. I feel like I can have a more direct impact here, which will make all of this more worth while.

Until next time,
j

On the road again

2005-03-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like I'm moving again. I got the word a few days ago that our command post will be moving to a base located a few hours north of here. Our mission is going to change a bit, and we will pick up some additional responsibilities. During the move I will have very limited access and it could be a while before I can post again. I just wanted to let everyone know so you don't think I'm being a slacker. Continue to post and send emails, and I will check on them as soon as I can.

I'm sure you have noticed that I have not been posting any pictures recently. I have run into some technical dificulties that currently prevent me from doing so. The "long and short" of it is that I can no longer connect my personal computer to the military network (I wasn't really supposed to be doing it to begin with, but as usual I was trying to "buck the system"). My personal computer has the software that allows me to upload photos, and obviously my military computer does not, nor am I allowed to install it.

In order to remedy this situation about 30 of us have gotten together to purchase our own satellite internet system so we can have unrestricted access at any time. It's a bit pricey at $7,000, but we've raised about half the funds and it will be well worth it. Once we have it set up I will be able to publish all the photos I want.

That's all for now. I would tell you more about the move and the new mission...but then I'd have to kill you. ;-)

TTFN

j

Thank You!!!!

2005-03-10T09:48:00.000-08:00

I have recieved so much support from so many people, I wanted to take a moment to show my appreciation to the following (in no certain order):

Ginny Rollie and all my coworkers at Dell
All of you have been incredibly supportive from the beginning. I'll never forget when I first found out that I was being activated for deployment. I was truly blown away by all of words of support and encouragement. Your recent packages have been a real morale booster to me and a lot of other troops. I look forward to getting back to the "real world" and working with all of you again. Ginny - you are the hub that keeps that wagon wheel rolling.

Jim Dunmire and his fellow coworkers at J.C. Penny
I recieved your care packages yesterday, and all I can say is "Wow!" Nine packages in one day made me really popular with the mail handler (he had to haul them all from the post office). I made it worth his while by opening them up and letting take what he needed. You have blessed more soldiers than I can list, and we all appreciate it greatly. Please pass on our gratitude to everyone who was involved in such a large effort.

Aunt Maidi and Uncle Ivan
Aunt Maidi, your emails of encouragement are always arrive at the perfect time and I want you to know what a morale booster they are. I appreciate your unwaivering support, and your care packages. You are truly a class act.

Mom & Dad
I know having two of your kids deployed has been tough for both of you. Your packages have been great...especially since they are just for me. :-) I am the man I am today because of both of you. I love you both, and I look forward to our next reunion.

Gary Moore
Your friendship has been a real blessing, and I always get a lift from your emails. It is always great to hear from you, and if there has ever been a time I haven't written back it is not due to lack of appreciation. You are a true friend and I look forward to my next flying lesson.

Justus and Joan
Justus, I appreciate your posts...especially the funny ones. I can use all the laughter I can get over here. I just recieved your package, and I really appreciate you both making the effort to show your support. On a final note...Justus, this is just for you...yeah, you little brother...lean in real close, and listen to your older, wiser brother..."Propose to the girl for the love of Pete!!" I expect to come home to a wedding.

John Geyerman
14 pounds of coffee and several hundred MP3's will go a long way in making this year more bearable. Thank you for the longest lasting friendship of my life.

Charles and Carol
Thank you for your thoughtful posts, emails, and the recent goodies. I know you have a true appreciation for all of this since you have "been there, done that, and got the t-shirt." It's always good to hear from you.

Donn and Sue
I am truly blessed to have such great in-laws. You both have been extremely supportive, and I know you are checking on Amy on a regular basis. Thanks for your packages and words of encouragment and support.

Amy, Alex, Jessica, Jennifer, Seth, and Luke
Each of you give me the motivation that keeps me going over here. While this is extremely difficult, I want to learn all I can from the experience so I can be a better husband and father when I get back. I constantly day dream of when we are all together again, and I can hold each of you in my arms. I am truly amazed at how much God has blessed me with such a beautiful family. You are my passion.

There are so many others that I could thank for their posts, emails, prayers, and lending a helping hand to Amy while I'm gone. I appreciate each and every one of you, and I want you to know that your support makes all the difference over here.

You are all awesome people.

j

Hope

2005-03-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

I apologize it has been so long since my last post, but things have been really busy. Nothing out of the oridinary, just a lot of nitnoid stuff that keeps me running around all day.

(For those of you wondering what the heck "nitnoid" means, you won't find it in the dictionary. However, it used frequently in America as slang to indicate a "small matter of no consequence, or something that’s nit-pickingly frustrating.")

Anyway, enough of that and on to more interesting things.

Last week our Battalion Chaplain had the opportunity to vist the city of Babylon (yes...that Babylon; Tower of Babel, King Nebecanezzar, etc.) He returned with some really interesting photos of the of the ancient sites, but what I found most interesting was the story he told about a conversation he had with one of the Iraqis escorting him through the sites. They broached the subject of the recent elections, and the chaplain asked him if he felt things were getting better in his country. To which the man replied, "Yes...before we had nothing to look forward to, but now we have hope."

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.

-- Orison Marden

School Daze

2005-02-26T05:48:00.000-08:00

I wanted to show all of you some more positive things that are happening here in Iraq.

The following photos show the current state of a lot of the schools located in the urban areas of the country. The picture below is a school located not to far from our base headquarters. As you can see, it is a very basic "mud hut" with a thatch roof.

This is a closer photo of the "school house"...

...and these next two are of the actual class rooms inside of the building.

Now for the good stuff. This is project funded by you, the American Taxpayer, to build new schools where they are most needed...

...in order to give these children a better environment in which to learn.

I know it sounds idealsitic, but I want to believe that our efforts will give these beautiful, Iraqi children the tools they need...

...to build a a brighter future for their children...

...because little kids shouldn't have to worry about stuff like this.

Call me a dreamer...

John

Grandma Jo'

2005-02-19T07:45:00.000-08:00

I recieved a card from my Grandma Jo' the other day. That in and of itself would not normally be "blog worthy", but I was tickled by something she wrote and wanted to share it.

As she concluded her letter, she wrote:

"Well my dear grand-son, keep out of harm's way. ..I have to get to line dancing class. At 78 I can still shake my "bootie"".

Yes you can, Grandma.

Yes you can.

I only hope that I am that spunky at 78. Actually, I hope even more that Amy is that spunky at 78.

;-)

j

Road Trip

2005-02-15T05:59:00.000-08:00

I went on my first significant road trip the other day. I know one of my previous posts talked about a trip I took "outside of the wire", but that one was only about twenty minutes from our current location, whereas this one kept us on the road for about six hours each way. We went through some areas where we are not real popular, which was a little nerve racking. Fortunately, however, the trip ended without any incidents.

Here are some photos I took along the way:

This one is a highway sign pointing the way to Baghdad. I hear there was a big bully that used to live there who would pick on people who weren't able to defend themselves, but then there were some good guys who came to town and kicked his butt so bad he ended up hiding in a hole he had dug in the ground.

This one is a little hard to make out, but all those little silhouettes along the side of the rode are children who come running up when they see American vehicles. I'd like to say its becasue they love us so much, but the truth is that they just want us to throw them some MRE's (meals ready to eat). Trust me, you have to be really hungry to want an MRE.

This one is interesting because during the entire ride all I saw was land that is as flat as West Texas, and then we suddenly ran into this huge escarpment. Other than that I just thought it was a cool photo.

This is the next morning when we were about to push out again. The soldier on the far right was giving the guys a briefing, which is standard procedure. I remember his briefing going something like this, "Alright guys, if you see someone with an AK-47 and they are pointing it at you...shoot 'em."

I enjoyed his brevity.

This is me with a good friend of mine, Captian Caanan Blake. He's the company commander of the unit we visited and stayed overnight with. I also wanted to include this one so Amy knows that I am wearing my body armor.

Relatively speaking the trip was not a big deal. My little sister, Megan, is in a transportation unit and she and her fellow soldiers are on the road, and putting themselves in harm's way for days at a time. As my mom pointed out in a previous post, they suffered their first loss last week. There is a 23 year old girl who will not be going home now. Please keep Megan and her unit in your prayers as well.

More to come.

j

Contact

2005-02-12T06:59:00.000-08:00

Our unit had its first contact with the enemy two days ago. One of our convoys was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) on its way to Baghdad.

Everyone is okay.

IED is just a fancy name for a home made bomb. This has been the insurgents modus operandi for quite some time. They place the bombs on the side of a road that has a lot of military traffic, and then wait for just the right moment to blow it. They are usually about 300 meters away hiding like cowards when they detonate it. They know if they fight us toe-to-toe they will get to meet Alah sooner than they hoped.

Two of the guys in the convoy suffered minor injuries. One caught some shrapnel in the face, and the other suffered a mild concussion. I saw them both today, and they both look and act fine. They are very fortunate since it could have been a lot worse.

I know this is news that a lot of people don't want to hear (i.e. my parents, wife, kids...etc), but I want to keep everything in perspective. Yes the elections were a huge success, and a true testament to what we have accomplished here, but the insurgents are still active and they will not stop until we have eliminated every last one of them.

That won't be anytime soon.

God Bless,

John

Shaping the future of Iraq

2005-02-07T09:50:00.000-08:00

A lot of you asked that I not publish any more material that would cause you to cry, but this has to bring a tear to your eye.

Freedom is a beautiful thing.

Future Longhorns

Hook 'em!

John

Nu Shooz

2005-02-03T10:33:00.000-08:00

Here is some good news from the front. This is the kind of stuff you'll never see on the evening news, but is more indicative of what is really going on over here on a day-to-day basis.

Our medical platoon went on a mission the other day to provide basic medical care for the local bedouin community. Additonally, they brought some donated shoes for the children, which for these kids is a rarity. Most of the time you see them running around in bare feet, and contrary to popular belief it does get pretty cool here in the winter (lows in the 40's). So you know their little tootsies have to get cold.

Below are some pictures that were taken that day:

This little boy was so thrilled with his new shoes that you couldn't have pried them away with a crowbar. Again, notice that he is wearing a hat and jacket but nothing on his feet.

Nu Shooz

I love this picture. At one point the little boy above had wandered off on his own, and was about 100 meters away from the rest of the group. One of the medics went to him, and they walked back hand-in-hand. If a typical picture is worth a thousand words, then I think this one is worth ten thousand.

Friends

I like this one just because I think its funny. The is our medcial platoon sergeant, and I think he and the camel really hit it off.

Do I know you?

I realize that some of my recent posts have been kind of "heavy" so I wanted to share something on the lighter side. I didn't intend to bring everyone down, but I do want this blog to be an honest depiction of my life while I'm here...both good and bad.

I sincerely appreciate the continual words of support and prayer from all of you. It truly is a morale booster, and I can feel God's sustainment. Things are going well here and the days are passing quickly.

The quicker the better since with each passing day I am one step closer to home.

John

Captain Orlando Bonilla

2005-02-03T08:08:00.000-08:00

Late yesterday I received an email from a friend of mine currently stationed in Baghdad. The subject line was titled “CPT Orlando Bonilla”, who is a mutual friend of ours and a helicopter pilot deployed with the 1st Cavalry Division.

I had a bad feeling when I saw the subject line, and unfortunately my fears were proven true. My friend was writing to inform me that Orlando had been killed in a helicopter crash on January 29th. The crash is still under investigation, but people close to the situation are confident it was an accident that ocurred when Orlando’s helicopter hit some electrical wires. Orlando and I were not close. It had been years since we last spoke, but events like this really hit home when it's someone you know.

What makes this story even more tragic is the fact that Orlando's wife just lost her father in the Iraq conflict last March. I can not fathom what she must be going through, but was amazed at her response to the situation. Here is a quote from the CNN article:

"I stand behind my daddy and my husband, and I stand behind the job they had to do, and that's my take on it," she said. "I just support them, regardless of who sent them over there and why they sent them over there, no matter whether it's for right or wrong reasons."

No one would have blamed here if she had responded in bitterness or anger, but instead she responded with grace and courage.

I'm sure she will have difficult days ahead, and I ask that you keep her and the rest of Orlando's family in your prayers.

You can read the rest of the article here:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/01/double.tragedy.ap/

John

Photos

2005-01-31T09:06:00.000-08:00

Well...I finally got this to work. This is a photo of me in Kuwait, before we went north into Iraq.

This is pretty basic, and I hope to get a bit more creative, but this is all I have time for right now.

To all my friends at Dell...you finally have proof that I'm actually here and I haven't just been goofing off for the past six months.

February 1st

Wow! That got a lot of response.

I really appreciate all the encouraging notes. I know a lot of you are checking the blog regularly, and I want all of you to know that I do the same. Your words of encouragement are a real morale booster, and they are the first thing I look at when I boot up my computer in the morning(most of you post as I'm sleeping since we're 9 hours ahead of Central).

This has become my hobby while I'm here and I really look forward to putting more effort into it. Just know that all of your comments are deeply appreciated and are sustaining me while I'm here.

I am determined to "thrive" and not just "survive" during this deployment and become a better person in the process.

Thanks again to all of you.

John

Making History

2005-01-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

Our unit took part in a historic moment yesterday. We had the distinct privelege of escorting and delivering the ballots that will be used in Sunday's election.

I talked to one of the guys who was about to go on the mission, and he was really pumped about what he was about to do. The insurgents would love to get their hands on those ballots and cause havoc in the election process, and we are here to make sure they don't even get the chance.

Make no mistake, they will continue to use terror and intimidation to keep people from the polls. I only pray that the Iraqi citizens will have the courage and conviction to stand against them and begin the process of taking their country back.

I'm proud that we have the opportunity to contribute and make a difference.

"Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."

-Ronald Regan

The hardest thing I have ever done

2005-01-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

I’m going to bear my soul for a moment. I just finished “chatting” with my wife via instant messenger, and the pain of being apart from her is really starting to hit me.

This deployment is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

It’s not being here that is so hard. I have endured far worse conditions during my military career. It is being away from my family that makes this so tough. There is so much I miss that if I ponder it for to long it really starts to get to me.

I miss my oldest son, Alex and his incredible wit and sense of humor. I miss being amazed by his level of intelligence and maturity. I only wish that I had been as level-headed as he is when I was his age.

I miss my fourteen-year old daughter, Jessica, and the way she gives me a hug every single morning and puts her head on my chest…as if to remind me that no matter how big she gets she will always be my little girl.

I miss my thirteen-year old daughter, Jennifer who has a smile as big as the sun and laughter that is contagious. I miss the joy I feel when I see her taking the time to play with her little brothers for hours at a time. She has something special inside of her that she does not even realize.

I miss my five-year old son, Seth and his incredible grasp of the world around him at such a young age. I miss listening to him carefully enunciate every syllable as he speaks, and the mind-boggling statements he makes that are well beyond his years.

I miss my two-year old son, Luke and the way he runs to me with arms wide open when I walk through the door. I miss hearing him say to me, “lets wessle daddy”, and his incessant giggling as we “wessle”.

I miss my beautiful wife, Amy who is my best friend in the entire world. I miss looking into her beautiful eyes and holding her close to me. I miss the feeling I have when I am with her and the fact that I am still infatuated with her after fifteen years of marriage. I miss her laughter and her impenetrable optimism that keeps my suspicious pragmatism in check. I miss going to the grocery store with her just so I have an excuse to hang out with her. I miss feeling her next to me when I go to sleep at night.

I miss home.

I'm going postal

2005-01-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

It has finally arrived! I now have a mailing address!

Here it is:

John Upperman
HHC, 3-112 Armor
56th Brigade Combat Team
APOAE 09384

Now, there was an earlier address that I thought was the right address...and it was...to the other unit's address...but not to our address.

Make sense?

Bottom line: if I gave you an address before today (i.e. Dad and Amy) it had the wrong APO. So make sure you use this one.

I know a lot of you have been requesting this for quite some time, and have also asked what types of items guys would like to recieve over here. I can tell you that between charities, school organizations, churches, and other generous groups there are enough toilietries over here to stock a Super Wal Mart. Here are some suggestions based on my own experience and observations:

Lip Balm - the good stuff...I picked some up the other day and when I put it on it tasted awful

Foot powder - we're wearing boots all the time and our feet...well...'nuff said about that

DVDs - a lot of the Joes have a notebook, or a portable DVD player to pass the time when its not busy. If you have some laying around that you don't want anymore someone here will appreciate it.

Music - Just send anything you don't listen to anymore. Regardless of the genre, someone here will appreciate it. I even found a guy listening to Barry Manilow the other day. Kinda diminishes the image of a steely-eyed killer...but each to his own

Scooby Snacks - any kind of candy, or munchies. Keep in mind that it will be traveling half way around the world. You'll need to be even more selective once the weather starts to warm up.

Books & Magazines - again...anything you've got laying around that you don't want anymore (nothing inappropriate please)

Beyond the above, just use your imagination and send something you would like to have if you were in a desolate, third-world country for a year. :-)

Rick M. - I would have you send that boat over here, but quite frankly, there ain't a whole lot of water over here. So just put a cover on it and we'll take it for a spin when I get back.

TTFN
j

Interesting day at the office..

2005-01-18T08:34:00.000-08:00

I had an "interesting" day today. It was neither good nor bad, but it was an experience I wanted to share with all of you.

First, I need to put everything in perspective. As you may recall, when I entered Iraq last week I was flown in on a C-130 transport plane and landed directly in Talil where I am currently based. Therefore, I have never seen Iraq outside the confines of the base camp...until today.

As the battalion's logistics officer, I am responsible for the movement, tracking, and accountability of all the unit's equipment. Some of that equipment was mis-routed to a base north of our location, and I had to track it down. So I and my driver grabbed our gear, got into our HMMWV (pronounced "Humvee")and headed "outside the wire".

The surreal-ness of the day began as soon as we got to the gate, and had to "lock and load" our weapons. I've done this a thousand times before over the course of my military career and have fired my weapon many times, but this was the first time I did it with the intent of defending myself if necessary. I was a little on edge, but of course everything went fine and we made it to our destination without any incident.

We did, however, encounter some Iraqi citizens along the way. They were mainly bedouins (nomadic sheep herders) who had set up there tents along the highway. The conditions they live in would make most of you cringe, and it really effected me emotionally. There were children along the route, some appearing to be as young as 4 years old, running up to the edge of the road as we passed by, holding their hands out and/or motioning to their mouths indicating that they wanted something to eat. We can't do anything about it since giving them handouts only encourages them to run towards our vehicles. We are typically going about 60 mph and they could really get hurt. Not to mention that insurgents have used children in the past to get convoys to slow down in order to conduct an ambush. I thought about how protective I am of my kids, and these little tykes are running up to the edge of the highway.

I know it is an over used cliche', but we are truly blessed as Americans. We have wealth and privelege that these people can not even fathom. I ask that you take some time today and reflect on how blessed you really are. Regardless of your circumstances, I know you are better off than the people I saw today.

God bless,
j

Ur of the Chaldeans

2005-01-14T03:20:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm here and "here" is Talil Air Base which is also know as Camp Adder. You can read more about it at the following link:
http://globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/tallil.htm

The reference to Ur in my title is due to the fact that the ancient city of Ur is located right outside of the base camp. Ur, of course, was home to the patriarch Abraham in the Old Testament. They run regular tours for soldiers to go and see the archeological sites. I heard it is worth the trip, and plan on going there sometime.

Right now the weather is quite pleasant. It gets pretty cold at night. Enough to require a coat and gloves in the morning. But my mid-afternoon the sun is bright and the temp rises into the mid to high 60's. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. Some of the guys that have been here a while have witnessed temps in the 130's during the summer. You can check out the weather and forecast here:
http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/IZXX0007?from=search_city

I want to say "thank you" again for all the posts. It's great to see words of encouragement from all my friends at church, Dell, and of course, family. It motivates me to post more often knowing that all of you are reading regularly.

Amy, Alex, Jessica, Jennifer, Seth and Luke - I miss you all very much and think of you every day.

Mom - Megan and I are doing fine. We are emailing each other and trying to figure out when we can link up.

John G. - I adopted you as my brother about 20 years ago. I only wish we would have met sooner. Yes, I can definitley use some space to publish photos. Send me an email and let me know what I need to do.

All my friends at Dell - keep up the good work and get the stock price higher so I can get that boat when I get back. :-)

Gotta go. I'll be blogging again soon.

j

"Let's roll"

2005-01-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

Well folks, it is finally game time. I leave in about 2.5 hours for Iraq. I'll be going ahead of my unit as part of the Advance Party in order to get things set up logistically for the main body to arrive. I'm actually kind of excited for a couple of different reasons. One, we are finally leaving "training" mode, and moving into "execution" mode, which means we can start making a difference. Secondly, it means we are beginning the next chapter in this saga, which means I am one step closer to coming back home to my family.

Keep praying for all of the soldiers in my unit. We are entering a crucial time with the elections coming up at the end of the month. Let's also pray that the elections go well, and with a large turn out, which will solidify it's legitimacy.

Thanks again to all who have posted. I always enjoying your comments.

John G. - thanks for the offer on the bullet you found...but ammo is one thing that is not in short supply around here. They hand it out like candy at Halloween. BTW...was that post your last post to the last post, or is there another post to another post?

Still don't have an address, but I will in about two more weeks.

I have lots of pictures, but still no way to get them uploaded to the blog. I should be able to set something up once we get settled in.

Talk to ya soon.

j

Be fruitful and multiply

2005-01-06T04:50:00.000-08:00

Wow! I'm pleasantly surprised at the number of posts. Thanks to all of you who have left messages. I have not corresponded with some of you in quite a long time ( Ron M., Wes M., and Bob H., it's good to hear from you again)....and others I have never corresponded with at all. I wish I had the time to reply to each of you individually, but then again, that's the purpose of this blog...so that I can communicate with all of you.

Joey and Michelle - yes I got to watch the Horns win right before I left. They were showing the game in the dining facility, and I literally had to run out and jump on the bus right after Dusty kicked the winning field goal. It was a great time to leave since, at that moment in time, all was well with the world.

Not a lot new here. I went to the range today to re-zero my weapon. It took about 45 miniutes to get there, and after about the first 5 minutes I had seen all there was to see. Flat and sandy for as far as the eye can see. I did get to see a wild herd of camels (is it a herd or a pack? I know if one is referring to the brand of cigarettes its definitely a pack, but I'm not sure about the actual animal). They really are strange looking things.

Did I mention that tourism is not a big industry here?

Take care,
j

And then there was light.

2005-01-03T10:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm on the ground in Kuwait. After 15 hours on the plane we got in around 2:00 am local time. By the time we got to the base camp it was around 5:00 am, so I went and had some breakfast and headed to my hooch with the intent of getting a few hours of sleep. I woke up eight hours later so I'll probably be up all night. Apparently the time change takes some getting used to.

The flight was actually pretty pleasant. We flew on an American Airlines 777, and I got to fly first class. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to fly coach again. The experience definitely spoiled me. Even though it was a civillian plane, it was chartered by the military and all the passengers were soldiers. It was somewhat comical to think of the strict airline safety precautions we now have and then look down the plane and see every single person with an assault rifle in their hand. We definitely were not worried about any potential high jackers. :-)

In addition to the first class experience, the crew and staff were extremely gracious. They brought in a bunch of patriotic decorations and made the plan look like a July 4th celebration. They were very kind and continually told us how much we appreciated our service. It was a good morale booster.

Apparently we had a small sand storm today. Although I slept through it I did see the results of it later. The samd here is almost like talcum powder, and after a good windstorm there is a film of it on everything. I beginning to see why tourism is not a big industry here.

God bless,
j

In the beginning

2005-01-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

Well, here is my first post on the first day of the new year. Welcome to my blog. If you have found your way here, then you are probably a family or friend since I don't know why anyone else would come across this web site.

This is my first attempt at publishing any type of web site so I'm a little nervous about doing it right. I'm not sure if there is some sort of "blog etiquette" that I should be abiding by in order for this to meet the approval of everyone who sees it. Ultimately, I am putting this together so I can communicate with all of you while I'm serving in Iraq, and give you a way to communicate with me as well. It would be difficult for me to consistently email everyone with the latest news...so I'm hoping this will help me get the word out on a regular basis. I plan to post entries regularly, but I'm not sure how often that will be. I'd like to keep it interesting so I don't plan to pepper this site with daily posts that have no value. I also plan to publish pictures, once I can get the sotware installed. I'm currently using a military computer, and I can't even change the clock on the blasted thing without administrative access (which I obviously don't have).

I hope to chronicle the interesting events that occur with myself and my unit (56th Brigade Combat Team) over the next year, and hopefully publish some of the good things that are occurring in Iraq since they don't get published in the nightly news. Hopefully all of you will find it valuable, and we can keep it going. I'd hate for this to be one of those "projects" that starts out with a bang to only fizzle after a few weeks.

To quickly bring everyone up to date; I am currently at Ft Hood, TX and have been since my unit was activated last August. We have completed our training and I am scheduled to depart for Kuwait tonight. (I was supposed to depart on Dec 28th, but my name was not on the "list".) Once I get there it may be a while before my next post since I don't know what type of computer access I'm going to have. Once we get to our base camp, I'll have access on a daily basis.

Feel free to post and leave me some messages. I'll talk to you soon.

John