Chapter 1
In Transit Transient
We left Ft Huachuca under a good bye from the local Patriot Guard Riders and headed to Norfolk on Apr 10th. The flight went well. We landed once in Dallas just to get fueled up and got to Norfolk relatively early. We were checked into our rooms on base and a few of us hoofed it to Taco Bell for supper. The next morning we were allowed to sleep in a little and rallyed up at 10AM to catch a rotator headed for the middle east. We jumped on a nice sized DC-10 and got 2 seats to a person which was great because we could stretch out a little bit.
The flight was to land in Ireland for 2 hours which when we arrived, we were notified we now had a 5 hour layover. This was very well recieved by all as we all wanted a last beer before our deployment and what better place and time than 0-dark thirty at a airport bar in Ireland? One thing that stuck out to me was the bathroom. It was kind of like a big trough next to a wall with no dividers or anything. So you walk in, pee on the wall and your done. I found it humorous anyway... So after some free supplied snacks, a little shopping for my family for souvenirs, and a few Guiness and Smithwicks later we got back on the plane. Our next stop would be Qatar. I fell asleep quickly as a few pints of local nectar will do that to you. :)
We arrived at Qatar in the afternoon (i think) local time and got off. Here some troops would call home for their deployment. However we were herded into a tent to wait while the plane was fueled for our next leg of the flight. We sat around drinking water and staring at all the writing on the tent walls. Many (probably hundreds) of markings lined the tent from many years worth of transients in and out of Al Udeid Air Base. Some comical, some stupid but they had all done their time in country for the cause. A short time later we boarded the plane again and were bound for Kuwait.
It was dark when we landed in Kuwait and they started taking the lower rankings off to unload the aircraft. When they called the E-5's i got up and headed to the door but right when i got there, they said they had enough people. Instead i had to head count the people going on the bus. I was grateful but I know the guys who unloaded the cargo were in for a workout as i had to do the same back when i deployed in 2006. One item of note, and this is hear say, while people were getting off of the plane, a few saw a white hot commet fly out of the sky and land somewhere behind a building at the airport. They heard the collision and everything. We hoped it was a good omen...
After a short bus ride, long stay at a "bus area", then a long bus ride we arrived to Ali Al Saleem Air Base. Tired as we were, we in processed, i was given my 3rd Anthrax shot (which is still sore by the way), and we headed to our tents. I crashed out in my Army sleeping bag and wouldnt get up (except for a mid night pee break) until 10 AM the next day.
That day we had more inprocessing meetings and what not and were reissued our body armor late that night. I had to stay up until midnight to get it all put together and got a short 2 hours sleep when i had to get up at 3 AM to go do more training. We headed to the range to test fire our weapons, got more briefings and completed the roll over simulator one more time. We were done in the early afternoon and were told that we had a meeting at 1900 that night to see what our airflow out of Kuwait was going to be. I took this opportunity to get a couple things at the BX, make a moral call home, eat some chow, play a little Madden '09 on my PSP and get about 30 more minutes of sleep. I headed to the 1900 meeting with all the hope in the world that our flight out wouldnt be for a day or 2 so i could enjoy Ali Al Saleem a little more and catch up on sleep. It wouldnt happen...
When the LT told us that at midnight we had to get our weapons and 0100 load the bags and ourselves, i was first in denial. I kept hoping he was joking. The joke never came. So without sleep i packed all my gear, loaded bags, ate a quick meal, and we loaded up. Off to the terminal...
At the terminal we unloaded the bags and palletized them (i was so sick of hauling these bags around by this time. I also had 8 counting my carry on and weapons case). We recieved a briefing and did a head count. After that was over we headed in the terminal for some free snacks and tv watching. About an hour later at 0300 we rallyed up for a last head count and loaded the buses that would take us out to the aircraft. It was a C-17 that we packed with gear and troops. I sat in one of the troop seats on the side, in full battle rattle, with my carry on and my weapons out with one magazine full of ammo each weapon. The flight went well and only took about an hour. The combat landing was great...power up, bank, power down, bank, wings creak, dive,.... like i said...great.
We arrived into Baghdad, in processed, got chow, wet to our tents and i crashed out about 10AM and wouldnt get up until about 2030. I needed to sleep and it was all good. I was awaken once by the Muslim prayer chant and a test fire of the defense guns but it was all good. I have since hit chow and the BX. I have been breathing a ton of dust and sand which i know will mess up my throat soon. I should get transport from here to my final destination in Iraq in a about a week or so. It is now early in the morning and I am off to bed. OOORAH, welcome to the war!
** A note...this starts after a month of combat skills training in Ft Hood, Texas and about 2 months of weapons intelligence training in Ft Huachuca, Arizona**
Chapter 2
Beauty in Negativity
Geese and pigeons.
Bats and song birds.
Coyotes and geckos.
Palm trees lining the streets and swaying in the breeze.
If I asked you to close your eyes and told you to think of a place where all of these things were, where would you imagine you were? Orlando, maybe Anaheim? Add in a palace rising out of a man made lake large enough to be one of the seven wonders of the world and what would you say then? To me it sounds like something out of Disney's Aladdin.
Had you told me a year, a month or even a week ago that I would enjoy Baghdad, I would have laughed in your face. But I did. I like to think of my self as a relatively happy and easy going person. Someone who can find fun and beauty in just about anything. Looking past all the tents, concrete barriers, and uparmored vehicles, Baghdad stands as a true Oasis in the desert. Let it be known that I am talking about the green zone, on base as i did not travel off base here. I loved the archetecture. The buildings made of stone with beautifully carved details, the bridges with stone pillars, and the buildings surrounding a gigantic lake with stone porches leading right to the water where you could tie up a boat and just go fishing for the day. I saw a lot of beauty in this city. Even walking back from chow one night with the large amount of dust and sand in the air coupled with the lights of the base made for some really beautiful night time silhouettes when added with palm trees and other desert shapes. The night sky was filled with stars and I even saw what I believed to be the Little Dipper above the palace. I wish I had time to just wonder around like a tourist taking photos but I was not afforded that luxury.
One question...where is this kind of reporting on CNN and Fox news?
My first couple days in Baghdad were filled with briefings and orientation to our command there. In the little off time I had, my buddies and I would spend time getting stuff done or enjoying little things like a pizza at pizza hut, looking at things in the mini BX or just sitting in the tent watching movies on someones lap top. I remember one movie we watched was Gran Torino. I really enjoyed that movie and recommend it to anyone. We thought it would make a good drinking game though every time Clint Eastwood made a racist statement. I am pretty sure you would be comatose by the end of it.
After a few days I was given my flight assignment. I was to leave pretty late one night and when they came to pick me up at just before 8 PM that night, I had to say goodbye to my friends whom I had been with since Ft Hood, some 3 months prior. Cisek, Semple, Reisor and TSgt Solesbee all gave me a great send off along with our leadership. I truly felt a part of the Air Force team that night. I was also very saddened to say bye to my friends. Four months earlier we were all strangers and now I am proud to call them all my friends and will have an open door to my house for each of them whenever and wherever the time should hit.
After a truck ride back toward BIAP, I arrived at the Helo terminal to await my flight out. They marked my hand which would be my ticket to my destination and I sat down next to my pile of bags and proceedeed to wait for about 3 hours until my flight was up. Apart from watching a Family Guy episode, i didn't do much else. They could use a tv, snack bar,....something in there. Our flight was finally called and the group of us went and lined up. We marched out to the flightline to wait for the inbound 'birds'. They didnt come...atleast ontime anyway. So we were told we could sit on some makeshift benches because it would be about 30 min later. Almost 2 hours later our aircraft arrived. It was pretty dark and I was pretty tired.
We boarded 2 Marine Corps Chinook helicopters and sat down. It was easy to remember you were in a war zone with the 2 .50 cal machine guns hanging off each side. I buckeled myself in to the troop seat and prepared for the journey. We had 2 stops to make before my stop and I was a little nervous about getting sick and throwing up. I went through 2 of my Wintergreen lifesavers (never fly without them) and was on my 3rd by the time we took off. I think I had the freshest breath on the flight. As soon as we took off the 2 Marine crew chiefs locked and loaded the .50's. I was very impressed at their professionalism and vigilance of scanning for enemy activity. I soon became very sleepy and closed my eyes for just a second...the next thing I knew we had landed at our first stop. One crew chief came by and checked our hands (our tickets) and told the correct people to get off the aircraft. Then a few more got on and we proceeded on our way. Again, I closed my eyes for just a second and we had landed at our 2nd stop. Here we got off for a quick refuel. We loaded up again and yes, I again closed my eyes for only a second. When i opened them We had landed at my new temporary home, Al Asad Air Base.
I grabbed as many of my bags as i could and made my way to the terminal. After a couple min wait I was greeted by 2 Navy personnel who picked me up and took me to our office/rooms. They were people I was replacing. I found my little 8x8 room and quickly made my bed, climbed in and was off to never never land.
The next day was filled with in processing, and exploring a little of the base. It is huge and mostly Marine run. They took me around to see the group of MiG jets scattered throughout the desert, some just sitting there, some destroyed. We stopped by a little place on base that makes fresh bread. It looked great and I was going to buy a loaf when i saw they make sandwhiches as well. Shaorma (I pronounce it shwarma) is basically meat that they cut off and put in a sandwhich...i think...not sure yet. Whatever it was, it was awesome! We made a run to the BX, dropped off laundry (I had 2 bags at this point as it was the first time since Ft Huachuca I have been able to do laundry) and made it back to our little compound here. My room is pretty bare so I went to work making a couple little shelves which I will finish today.
We are truly in the desert here. Outside the wire is sand as far as the eye can see. I look forward to my new home and actually starting this adventure i set out on more than 3 months ago. Hopefully the time will pass quickly as I made a promise to the most beautiful little girl in the world that I would ride the flying elephant ride with her at Disney when I get home and that is promise i intend to keep.
My War Story - Chapter 3
Friends and Foes
You know those shelves I mentioned I was going to finish that day? Well they are still just a pile of wood on my floor. It seems like a lot has happened since I got here and yet, not too much. I am in-processed and the old crew flies out very soon. We have pretty much taken over. However, let me back track a week or so...
A member of the outgoing WIT team said he wanted to go to the Iraqi Army side of base and go to their little store to pick up Chi tea. Apparently Iraqis love to drink Chi tea. Three of them were going and wanted to know if i wanted to go. I said sure. I felt a little nervous heading over when we approached their gate and we all inserted our magazines in our M-9 pistols.... "just in case". We went in and there were no other Americans in site. Actually there weren't many people at all in site. We pulled up to the little shop and got out. It was locked. However just as we turned around, an elderly Iraqi man walked up. In our couple words of Arabic and his no words of English we came to an understanding that one of us wanted to buy something from his shop. He left for just a minute and came back with 3 young Iraqi men. They opened the door to the little shop and we all went in. It was just like a tiny general store with some food items, toys, and other little oddities. The one guy found the tea and bought it from the elderly man. Then some friendly talking went on as I kept looking around the shop. The next thing I knew I was following our group and the 3 younger guys out and to another building. I won't lie, my nervousness went up a bit. After all, all I had ever seen of Iraqi men was from t.v. where they threw bombs and things at American GI's....like me. So we entered the building. It was the Iraqi Army barracks. There were about a dozen of them in total, laying on their beds in casual attire watching a small 12 inch t.v. Some were over a couple rows playing a game which I think was backgammon. Not speaking any English, they invited us over to sit on 2 of their beds. The other three in our party seemed almost at home. One trying to talk to them in American and another going to join the game. I sat there, guard up trying to keep my wits about me. Apparently the young men from the shop had offered to make us the tea we just bought and we were basically having a tea party with members of the Iraqi Army. As we waited for it to cook, Duke continued to attempt conversation with them and we actually seemed to understand each other. He asked them what kinds of tv shows they liked...westerns and action movies (we could tell this by the almost comical gestures they made depicting gun fights and Segal like moves). Where were they from...they mentioned different towns all over Iraq. Did they have any family, brothers or sisters...one said he had one sister, younger than him, again, said in really broken bits of English. Our tea came and we all drank. It was sweet...vwery sweet. Aparrently they like it with almost a 50 percent mixture of sugar. Luckily about a year earlier my wife had turned me on to tea and I actually enjoyed it...or the sugar in it....whichever...
There I was, a kid from a small town in Illinois sitting down and having tea with people who were our enemy 10 years earlier. Mind you I never let down my guard, but it was an experience I know I will never forget. As we were getting ready to leave, they begged us to stay and continue to drink tea. We had to leave but said maybe another time. We parted their company, me with my simple plastic cup in my hand. I felt good. I felt like even though it was a small gesture, it may have done a great help to the bridging of two worlds together. Two worlds seperated by many thousands of miles and a war between governments since turned friendly...er. I still have my cup to remind me that not every person out here is my enemy. There are good people, and they shared their world with me one afternoon in April.
The following days were filled with trying to get used to everything from the layout of the base to the wind with sand in it. I learned about my job and what to expect from my deployment. A few days later the rest of my team, all Navy showed up and we have begun turn over. We are WIT 7 (Weapons Intelligence Team 7).
To explain my job, well, basically I do alot of what you see on t.v. on CSI, only on the battlefield. For example, say a convoy spots an IED, or gets hit with one, or they find a cache of weapons... I get called out to collect evidence and try to help figure out who, what, where, when, why and especially how. The intel i collect can potentially save many poor ground pounders from going home injured or in body bags so it is a job i do not take lightly.
One day we recived evidence from a unit farther out in the desert. Another day we got our first call but I did not roll out. 2 days later I got the call.
I geared up with my helmet, body armor, M-9, M-4, enough rounds to take a small city and my WIT kit. I met up with EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) and jumped in their vehicle. We began to roll and headed outside the wire with a few more trucks as our security team. As soon as I went outside the wire I looked around thinking, God, an IED could be anywhere. There were cracks in the ground, piles of trash and just things everywhere. My nerves were up and I tried to keep vigilant. Although, I have to say, I feel really good riding around with the Marines. Devil dogs to the core. Although for operations security I must be very brief in what I say about the call and how we went out, it turned out to be a very routine call. We finished and rolled back in. One of the Marines in the vehicle looked over and said "We need to get you a case of beer for your first time outside the wire." It was crazy because most of the time, I wasn't nervous about what might happen out there, I was more nervous that I left part of my WIT kit back in the shop. All went well though and atleast I can say I wasn't someone who went to Iraq and never left base...although honestly that would be fine with me too.
Well, the old team is now almost gone and I have already submitted multiple pieces of evidence and reports to aid to the good fight. I feel good now that our train is finally rolling but dont think for a second I dont have a timer in the back of my mind waiting for that day that I leave this country and ....hopefully... never return.