Vacation: Iraq

2007-03-25T12:24:00.001-07:00

2006-12-25T15:40:00.000-08:00

2006-12-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

2006-12-09T12:12:00.000-08:00

Greece...

2006-08-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

2006-07-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

2006-07-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

2006-06-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

2006-05-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

2006-05-20T09:29:00.000-07:00

On my way out...

2006-05-12T08:36:00.000-07:00

If all goes well, I'll soon be on the plane. 22 hour flight... MU ZIEN.

Ryan

Looking Back...

2006-05-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

A year ago I would have thought this was what Iraq would be like, but the desert breeze here is something alien to me after 11 months North across the border. It's hot, but the breeze never lets up. At Anaconda there was free time, but you were never really at ease. You were still in Iraq, you hadn't made it out just yet. Eleven months of built up tension carries with you. Here, it is more laid back. There are no helicopters constantly flying overheard, and the occasional boom can instantly be written off as Ordinance Disposal.
Arriving in the tents at around 2130 local, food was on my mind. The liason here in Kuwait told us not to go out in the storm because it was night and we'd get lost. For some reason, the danger of getting lost in a sandstorm in Kuwait brought out the dry, sarcastic sense of humor in most everyone. So we went out and searched for food, most wearing our dark lenses, some with towels wrapped around their heads to help keep out the dust and sand. We'd heard that there was a Subway open 24 hours, but when we finally found it, the Pakistanis or Bangladeshis that work there were packing up for the night. They've got a McDonalds, a Subway, some Panda Express type chinese place and of course the legendary Green Bean.
Green Bean had been the getaway, the taste of the real world. About every two to three weeks, some mundane task would beckon us to FOB Warhorse (where I spent my last month, about 15 minutes from Gabe), and no matter what the mission called for, the Green Bean coffee and tea shop was fit in. You would walk in and greet the men behind the counter, two friendly Pakistanis who were every bit the barista as the geeky white kid at your local Starbucks (me). And it seemed a little bit like home. A comfortable atmosphere. I'd lay down my weapon and read the stars n' stripes, away from Iraq for a few minutes. Retired Generals are calling for resignation. Some federal agency is being closely examined for mistakes made. The 9/11 scapegoat trial is floundering... What have you. And then you'd skip to page three and read an article by the hippie bearded guy that was roaming around with different 1/68 patrols last week and, oh yeah, hey... I was there. Of course, whatever it was sounds a little better in the endlessly optimistic Stars n' Stripes, but they're definetly talking about last week in Muqeesa. Or that cache down on Old Baghdad Road.
The Green Bean music selection is awesome. A collection of records released by Putumayo (not sure if that's the record company name or the name of the album series), 'Nuevo Arabic Groove' or 'Italian Cafe', always something interesting. The drinks are of a chai focus. They don't have mocha frappucinos, but chocolate chai frappes. It's a good thing, less caffeine the better I figure.
It just hit me. There's a million things you folks would love to hear about Iraq, and the one that I want to talk about is the one that most closely reminds me of the US. I give up. Give me a few days or weeks home and it will change.

I've been working on a little production as of late using an Apple program called iDVD. It's let me put together a DVD presentation of all the pictures I've collected over the last year. It's turning out pretty good... though I probably included far too many pictures. After sharing a bit with others I realize that the photos are much more interesting when you were there or if there's someone there to explain what's happening. At the reunion I promise to put on a little show if we have time. For those of you who won't be there I can mail a copy or just give you one the next time I see you.

It's been a long year. A friend of mine, one who deserves the respect of all of us, lost his life this year. I will not go into what a great person he was, that should be reserved for his family and closest friends who can do him justice. I will say this though, that it took only a few minutes, a short discussion, to see his truth, integrity and goodwill. He is a hero, a hero the caliber of Michael Strong, for those of you who knew him. He touched all that he came into contact with, and a piece of Cheyenne will live inside of me forever. I wish you all could have known him. Below is a picture of him and his little sister Stacy Willey. Stacy forgive me, I know the picture's a little racy, but I love it. :)

I'm only a few days from US soil. I'll see you all soon, I can't wait to be home.

Ryan

Waiting again...

2006-05-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

Sitting at Anaconda waiting for everyone else to get here to go home. I ate pizza today. It stunk... greasy and yucky. I dropped my toothbrush on the floor, but it didn't really bother me. Back at Anaconda again... Went to the pool yesterday and got a lil sunburn on my legs. Haven't run much for missions in the last month or so. Been screwin around Anaconda trying to stay busy. RIP went well, good luck to the new guys. Have a good year fellas. In the meantime, I'm GOIN HOME!

2006-03-25T06:35:00.000-08:00

2006-03-19T00:26:00.000-08:00

Musemaya

2006-03-17T13:09:00.000-08:00

The sun is setting in the distance. It has that orangish, wavy glow that you only see in the desert. I'm sure it's the most calm I've felt since I came to Iraq. It's nice here. The contractors who run the ranges out here mill about, appearing to do something though I'm sure they're not... Looking out from the control tower it's obvious that no one is shooting. No one is moving really. These contractors are an odd mix. There's Bill, an old seafaring man he appears to be, with an overgrown mustache, speaking of the Colonel with respect... respect that wasn't earned. And then there's the Major. He has a different sort of air about him. For the last nine months while I have worked with Americans, he has worked with the Iraqis. He is the local Military Transition Team (MITT) Leader. And then there is Roman. A fellow CA guy who finished out his last tour, went to Arabic school and because of limited funding, decided to take up a contract in Iraq and conduct his own immersion course. He works the night shift out here, long nights I'm sure.

Bill is the one responsible for the milling. He walks to his computer and back to another room, occasionally cracking a joke about how little work he is really doing. Each moment he fights the urge to go out on the balcony and smoke a cigarette. He welcomes the visit of an Iraqi Officer who he can go smoke with and crack dirty jokes.

The MAJ says he is writing his wife about a conversation him and I had last night. He tells her he met someone else who understands. That's what it's come to, I guess. So few really understand why things are the way they are over here, it's almost a secret cult. You get a warm feeling and write home to mother when you meet one of the insiders. I do believe he is from somewhere in the North, whether it be Minnesota or Washington, I'm not sure.

Roman’s been here for 2 ½ months and he’s standing, leaning on the desk, telling me about all the burgers he used to go to Baghdad and buy. See, back then, Baghdad wasn’t what it is now. Back then, there was one Burger King, and that was it for the entire country. So they would scrounge up the money, three… four hundred dollars and go buy 'sacks and sacks of burgers you know.’ He’s recounting how he used to fight for a computer in Baghdad and now he calls his wife’s cell phone from a computer at Musemaya. The war was different back then. I got a little sense of that when I was heading out on leave.

I was at one of the local Logistic Supply Areas (LSA), about an hour from my home. It’s like Baghdad, with the sacks of burgers and the boxes of pizza. The PX is open 24 hours. The PX at Gabe opens when the guy feels like coming in and opening it up. I was on a bus (there’s about 10,000 people on this LSA) heading somewhere, I don’t recall where. Wherever I was going took me out by the perimeter. Outside, about a click out, I could see smoke, and as we went on, I caught a glimpse of a disabled HMMWV and choppers up in the air. Then I understood a little bit about the other side of life in Iraq. The folks on the bus perhaps gave it a glimpse, but they didn’t look interested. At Gabe we’d monitor our radios, check in at the TOC, see what was going on. The platoons would be spinning up their trucks, getting ready to head out. The Battle Captain would be on the radio, trying to find out what their status is. The transmissions would be hurried. What is your location. What is your status. Say again. The mechanics would be woken up or pulled out of the gym to spin up their wrecker. The medics would setup for incoming casualties. You are in the fight at Gabe. It’s the way things are. I looked around the bus and no one was concerned. They’re not going anywhere. They don’t have trucks to spin up. No one they know is outside the wire. Their faces are calm, not paying a moment of thought to the choppers flying overhead.

I come up here at night to check my email. I try to make it late so I don't get in the way of people that are milling about. Roman gets bored, though boredom is not really what it is anymore. He's used to it by now. It's more peace than boredom. He runs the ranges out here and they are rarely used. He makes good money and is able to improve his Arabic. From the tower he can see the nearest town, as well as the brick factories. They sit on the horizon, just close enough to remind him that the planet hasn't fully stopped spinning. I'm sure part of him wishes his job was out there, but even more so he enjoys the peace here. I like it too. The peace here makes me want to write. Allah Akbar. Ma Salaama.

Tell me about your latest adventure...

2006-03-16T08:26:00.001-08:00

I don't write well when I sit down to write on my blog. I got in here tonight and was answering a question one of my good friends asked me. "Tell me about your latest adventure." So I told her about yesterday...

...as I was riding down this canal road going from place to place searching for weapons caches out in the middle of nowhere.
Someone called in a tip and we ended up raiding this house and finding all kinds of stuff. Supposedly the guy was a local militia and just used the gear to protect his village. He had IED making material though, and that's not really necessary for protecting your village. I guess one of the guys at the house was a local religious figure, an Imam, and so all these people came by telling us to release him and that he's a good man and all that. We didn't release him, though he probably was innocent. The US guys were ripping down pictures of ____ which will probably create some sort of backlash from that village. They didn't understand. They usually don't.
I spent about an hour and a half consoling these three women. One of the women had a young son, he was about 6; he really didn't know what to think of his dad being taken away. I think he was pretty confused, but he didn't seem upset. I gave him a hand sanitizing wipe to clean off his hands. He used it and I gave him another. He seemed like a good kid. The little girl kept starting to cry but I'd smile at her and she'd stop. I was talking to the women for a while, pretending like I was trying to help them so that I could collect information. Well, I think I was pretending to collect information so I could help them through this. They kept looking outside at their husbands lined up in front of all their weapons and explosives, bandana tied around their eyes, hands cuffed with flexcuffs behind their backs.
The mosque speakers came on. It sounded to me like a call to prayer but the interpreter was saying they were telling US forces to leave the town. That doesn't happen all that often. There were gunshots on the street. All the mechanics lining the street got in their cars and left. I motioned to my HMMWV to come block traffic but the gunshots were ours.
I went back inside and helped load the cache into the 5 ton that pulled up. Another unit had came and they were trying to say that we were in their AO and that the weapons were coming with them. We took the weapons anyway. I wish I had brought my camera. I would liked to have taken a picture of the boy.

Ahh!

2006-03-16T02:01:00.000-08:00

Every email I receive about this family reunion gets me more pumped up to go home. I can't wait.
Civil War in Iraq: From what I can see, it does not exist. I can't go into depth as to why not. I just wrote a little bit, reread it and realize I was delving into the world of OPSEC violation. For those of you who are wondering, BiG BRoTHeR is alive and well in the military.
I'm at an IA FOB currently about an hour away from where I usually stay. There is very little comms here as far as internet. One computer is all I've seen. There are no phones, but I should be back to Gabe in a day or two.
There's someone waiting so I have to make this once a month post shorter than usual. I will post again when I get back to Gabe, or maybe later tonight.

I am alive and well and miss you all.

Ryan

The months have become weeks...

2006-02-14T03:48:00.000-08:00

The new countdown has begun. The number has gone down from 12 to 3, and now it is back up to 10, but weeks are shorter than months. It's looking like late April I'll be packing my bags. Can't wait.
The Silver Lions (TF 1/68 CAB) ripped into Baqubah in January while I was on leave. Since then they've gone through some growing pains. Of course, as most new folks are, they came here excited about killing bad guys and driving fast. The first part they've done an alright job of, though right now killing bad guys isn't necessarily winning the war. Driving fast has had it's issues. Two KIA's and numerous injuries from HMMWV rollovers. 2-34 had two KIA's over 12 months. These guys have owned the ground for about 45 days and have matched numbers in a hurry. Both incidents were preventable, and hopefully as they spend more time on the ground they'll ease their nerves and figure stuff out.
Last night a complex ambush attacked a patrol in the hottest AO in Baqubah, and the guys seem like they handled it well. We went back to the ambush site this morning to conduct site exploitation (figure out what happened and try to gather some intelligence). I guess it would be natural to expect the locals to be somewhat shellshocked with an intense firefight only 6 hours before, but they weren't. In modern Iraq, the people simply mop up the mess and start running new power lines. There was almost no sign that the night before this street crowded with children had held witness to MK19's and 50CAL's unloading on numerous firing positions. That's just the way it rolls in Buhriz. Clean the shit up and get on with life. In Shah Allah.

Our New Home

2006-02-04T02:23:00.000-08:00

Pre-leave, the decision was made to switch our living quarters. Across the FOB, the other CA team lived in a much larger building along with their TPT and THT buddies. Now that THT is gone and TPT is downsized, we figured it's time for us to move in and enjoy the inhouse showers and real standing walls. Last night the rain started to leak through the walls, but aside from that it's great. There's 12 rooms, meaning our whole seven person team is under one roof which makes mission coordination much easier. The TPT is also under the same roof with their 3 guys. The shower is right down the hall, and although there is limited hot water, it still beats walking through mud and rain. We have two sinks with running water, which has unimaginable results in regards to my daily personal hygiene. When it starts getting warm again we have a roof to tan on (good luck with that ryan). We're still working on the tiki bar.

Oh, by the way...
THT - Tactical HumInt Team
TPT - Tactical PsyOp Team

More pictures from the last few missions...

2006-02-01T07:20:00.000-08:00

Back at home...

2006-01-29T08:19:00.000-08:00

I arrived back at Gabe two days ago... Friday? It feels good to be back (as compared to travelling and livin out of a duffel). Got stuck at Anaconda for about 3 days waiting on a flight. Weather was killing any rotary wing so HQ had to send up a convoy. It was good to spend the day with the HQ geeks, got some pizza and burgers and had a thrilling ride home (rides with HQ are always pretty fun).
Went on my first mission back today, a little post raid rolling dismount medcap attitudes and opinions intelligence assessment op. Twas' a good time.
I moved into our new place and I approve of the new living arrangements. I still have my own room, which isn't something you could say for 90% of the soldiers over here. Just working on decorations and furniture.

I miss home.

Ryan

It's funny that 'wait' is in 'Kuwait'

2006-01-25T01:37:00.000-08:00

So i'm sittin' here in the local cyberzone waiting to go line up so I can go wait somewhere else, surely to wait some more, and then possibly fly, followed by more waiting. But that couldn't possibly be as bad as the waiting I did in Dallas. Atlanta as well. Much waiting aboard planes. Shannon Ireland, yup I did some waiting there, though that wasn't as bad.

The travel back to Iraq, which just seems counterintuitive in the first place, has been surprisingly smooth. I got laid over in Dallas, spent the night at a Clarion Hotel, met some nice people and had some drinks. That will be the last of my drinking charades for some time I'm sure. I slept most of every single flight I've been on. Relatively painless I say.

And I say again, it just seems odd going back to Iraq. An intelligent person would go and come back... Not go again. But alas, I signed a contract and I'm on my merry way. Besides I'm sure my team misses me like crazy... OK, maybe not the whole team.

I met a PAO (Public Affairs Office) guy while sitting in my tent waiting. We shared some secrets about photography... Well, he did most of the sharing. I think I finally have this aperature thing down. For those of you who don't know, photography is my new found love, and I experimented with it a little bit while on leave. I'm far from good, but I seem to be improving.

K, gotta go sweep out the dust/dirt filled tent before I leave. For those of you I saw on leave, I had a great freakin time and you all contributed to make it what it was. For those who I didn't get a chance to see, I'll be back in a few months and we can make up for lost time... we'll share some coffee or tea or peanuts.

Love you all...

Ryan

Tahoe Vacation.

2006-01-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Momma's House

2006-01-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

1. The Frontyard.

2. Momma and Gary eatin' breakfast.

3. The backroom.

4. Duck

5. Momma and Gary eatin' breakfast.

6 & 7. Toby!

8. The Backyard.

2006-01-11T13:54:00.000-08:00

1. Rocky the head kitty.

2. Toby and Bovina.

3. Booters in my Mom's yard.

4. The backyard.

5. My Momma.

2006-01-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

Pictures of the beach in my hometown El Granada, California

The drive over 92 and down 1

2006-01-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

War memorial

War memorial

War memorial

Miramar Beach

Crystal Springs Reservoir

2006-01-10T13:36:00.000-08:00

A tree in my pops' backyard.

A beautiful view of the South Bay.

Crystal Springs reservoir from a vista point off 280.

A church in San Carlos.

The top of the hill.

2005-11-29T02:53:00.000-08:00

Talkin stuff out

2005-11-29T02:52:00.000-08:00

Patrol brief

2005-11-29T02:48:00.001-08:00

Sometimes care packages bring us to tears...

2005-11-29T02:48:00.000-08:00

Waiting...

2005-11-29T02:46:00.000-08:00

2005-11-29T02:45:00.000-08:00

IA HMMWV

2005-11-29T02:44:00.000-08:00

Teachin' Slapsies

2005-11-29T02:43:00.000-08:00

2005-11-29T02:42:00.000-08:00

2005-11-29T02:40:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Dinner

2005-11-29T02:39:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Boxing

2005-11-29T02:38:00.000-08:00

2005-11-29T02:34:00.000-08:00

No mud in the hooch!

2005-11-29T02:33:00.000-08:00

Iraqi goat grab at a local IA headquarters

2005-11-29T02:32:00.000-08:00

2005-11-29T02:30:00.000-08:00

Turkey Day

2005-11-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone,
The days and nights are getting colder out here, but thankfully it seems that they are also passing by more quickly. 2-34 put forth a large effort to make thanksgiving as festive as possible... We've had basketball, lacrosse, football and soccer going on all day. Dinner started being served at the chowhall at 1300; The chow hall workers had been working for over a day straight. Baked turkey, deep friend turkey, glazed ham, pig on a spit, cornish hens, sweet potatoes, sweet potato pie, pumpkin pie, cherry pie... everything you could want for a thanksgiving dinner. I went to eat at 2pm, it's 4:30 right now, I'm planning on going back again in an hour and a half... Not sure if I'll be up to it. The highlight of today looks like it'll be the boxing matches at 1900. I didn't volunteer to box, I didn't want to be the guy to throw up his thanksgiving dinner all over the especially built thanksgiving boxing ring. But, luckily about 20 joes did sign up. One of the CPT's I work with will be rolling up in the gun turret of the PSYOP speaker truck blasting the rocky theme song wearing a man dress (He's from Philly). Frank Dizzle the Terp will be his corner guy, cleaning away the blood n guts in between rounds. It should be a good time.
I hope you all eat lots and nap aplenty.

Miss you all,
Ryan

2005-11-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

An old buddy of mine

2005-11-17T22:47:00.000-08:00

Tactical PSYOP

2005-11-17T22:45:00.000-08:00

George n' Tiff

2005-11-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

this kid was not having it

2005-11-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

2005-11-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

what you dont know from this picture is that I just pooped my pants

2005-11-16T13:34:00.001-08:00

Bravo employing new techniques to lure the enemy in

2005-11-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

This bad mama jama wasn't goin anywhere

2005-11-16T13:33:00.000-08:00

Tiff pointing at spaghetti

2005-11-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

Psyop Psyopin

2005-11-16T13:31:00.002-08:00

The locals

2005-11-16T13:31:00.001-08:00

Woman to woman talk

2005-11-16T13:31:00.000-08:00

Been smokin the ganja much?

2005-11-16T13:30:00.001-08:00

The new Iraq

2005-11-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

Bread factory

2005-11-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

Frankie investigating some writings on the wall

2005-11-16T13:28:00.002-08:00

Khan Bani Saad

2005-11-16T13:28:00.001-08:00

School supply handout

2005-11-16T13:28:00.000-08:00

At a medical supply handout

2005-11-16T13:27:00.001-08:00

Tiff's baby in Ah Sadah

2005-11-16T13:27:00.000-08:00

breakfast on the go

2005-11-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

Big Daddy SSG A

2005-11-16T13:25:00.002-08:00

Monday Night Barbeque

2005-11-16T13:25:00.001-08:00

Early Mornin' Wakeup

2005-11-16T13:25:00.000-08:00

I like ducks

2005-11-16T13:24:00.001-08:00

Monday Night Barbeques

2005-11-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

This is a scary place

2005-11-16T13:23:00.000-08:00

Kids

2005-11-16T13:22:00.000-08:00

Tiff workin' on a truck

2005-11-16T13:07:00.000-08:00

Our first camel experience

2005-11-16T13:05:00.000-08:00

Got Milk?

2005-11-16T13:04:00.000-08:00

Kiddo...

2005-11-16T13:03:00.000-08:00

"MONTANEY!!" A song written about unity in Iraq

2005-11-16T13:02:00.000-08:00

SGT Butler, one of the Charlie Company Fighting Aces

2005-11-16T13:01:00.000-08:00

Kids

2005-11-16T13:00:00.000-08:00

Soldier bringing school supplies into a local school

2005-11-16T12:59:00.000-08:00

Khan Bani Saad Mosque from a distance

2005-11-16T12:56:00.000-08:00

Out here we work with what we got as far as Halloween Costumes work

2005-11-16T12:50:00.000-08:00

Lighting the Hookah coals

2005-11-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

Frankie my terp...

2005-11-16T12:47:00.001-08:00

Smokin the Hookah on Halloween

2005-11-16T12:47:00.000-08:00

Smokin the Hookah

2005-11-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

Narawanese child

2005-11-16T12:44:00.000-08:00

The woman who came to the door didn't know who this little girl was. That's an IP on the right. (Iraqi Police Officer)

2005-11-16T12:43:00.001-08:00

This dude looks stressed out

2005-11-16T12:43:00.000-08:00

Perrty wedding dresses

2005-11-16T12:42:00.000-08:00

When we dismount, we like to take a little extra fire power beyond the m4.

mmm good...

2005-10-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

'Of course, I want to hear about FOOD. What do you eat? Where do you eat it? Do you ever eat “in town” or at a café? Or are you restricted in certain places. Do they eat lamb or goat? ... Tell me about your favorites.'

Welp... As a whole, unfortunaetly the US military forces do not eat a lot of Iraqi food. Just about everything you eat, aside from any goodies sent from home, comes from the chow hall. The chow hall serves three hot meals a day, working in weekly rotations of what's served. All things considered, the selection of parmesan hamburger, ham mac n' cheese, baked chicken etc. etc. is actually not bad. Unfortunaetly, out here it's hard to have any perspective at all, and the same things every week tires me. Occasionally, we will make it to one of the larger FOB's and be able to enjoy their fine dining experiences, but on the daily basis frozen cordon bleu works. Not to mention, it is common place to be on mission through lunch time, making those goodies sent from home (poguey bait) even more key.

Now, being part of such a culturally focused team, as well as part of special operations, us and the PSYOP guys are of course inclined to pickup some local food whenever we get the chance. When planning our dismounted patrols, we take into account where the good food is in relation to our route. But, of course, the tankers would freak out if they knew they were standing around in an unsecured area so that Tiff and I could get some lunch, so we are forced to play it off. 'We're evaluating local businesses'. 'We're developing relations with shop owners'. Such phrases become common place when hunger sets in.

Usually, our local dining experiences consist of chicken or falafel. The chicken is roasted rotisserie style on the street, and in many places is quite delicious. It usually comes with a bag of samuun, a delicious bread that is similar to rice in that it accompanies most everything. The falafel is similar to a falafel you will have at home, and is every bit as delicious. Occasionally we will grab a kabob or two, which is lamb combined with cucumbers and tomatoes wrapped in samuun.

Hate to cut this short but duty calls. Will write again soon.

A Short Breather Before The Big Day

2005-10-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

The humm of the engine grows louder as I accelerate down the canal road in Al Abarra. The HMMWV in front of mine is only visible for short glimpses as it wheels around the turns 40 meters ahead. The small road is surrounded by lush vegetation caused by the numerous canals in the area, groves of palm trees and ferns. The children emerge from their houses to wave and give thumbs up to the passing troops, possibly out of support for the cause, but most likely hoping that the patrol will stop and pass out candy, or maybe even a coveted soccer ball. Five or Six vehicles ahead of me is an Iraqi Bongo Truck carrying what's left of the thousands of ballots that we've delivered throughout day. The sun is on it's way down; it's right around 1500 and my team has been outside the wire since around 0530. We've spent most of the day trolling around Al Abarra, stopping occasionally to talk to the locals, but our main purpose being to provide additional security to the ballot truck. There was discussion this morning of what this patrol might hold, and most seemed unconcerned. The idea of an insurgent attack on the trucks carrying the ballots before they've been filled out didn't make sense to me or any of the other soldiers, too easy to recover from. Most are guessing the dangerous patrols will take place over the next few days as the ballots are returned for counting.
We cross route Blue Babe into an ugly, dirty village, and setup our security. The children walk quickly down the dirt streets with no shoes, heading to the school to see what all the commotion is about. We're tired and in no mood to exit the vehicle and put on a show, so we sit here in the AC, thanking our lucky stars that today it decided to blow cold. Ah! Excellent. I know what it is before it comes. The CO comes over the radio telling us to jump in with blue platoon and head back to Gabe. Mission almost complete.
As we pull back onto Blue Babe and start our journey home, I think about what we'd done today. Then I think a little bit about what I'd done for the last two weeks. Some of the days have been good, some not so good, but I hope it's been enough to get this constitution passed. But then again, I have to remind myself, we're just setting the conditions for the referendum. We have no part in the outcome. I have my fingers crossed though.

The Referendum

2005-10-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has sent me care packages, I appreciate it more than you know. Again, the referendum approaches closer. One of our jobs over the past month has been to gauge how well word has spread about the upcoming vote as well as how much the people know about the constitution. It often surprises me how word can spread in a country so seemingly torn apart by war. It is not uncommon to see a village of mudhuts, each with their own satellite dish perched on top. The general consensus among those that are not against the constitution by principle, seems to be that they understand that it is a good thing, but are really unsure as to what it will do for them.
Growing up in the US, the word constitution becomes part of our vocabulary almost immediately upon entering the public school system, and the ideas behind it ingrained soon after. But to an Iraqi, the idea of a written document that will form the foundation of their federal government may not be such an elementary idea. It seems to me that a great blunder was made in the process of Iraqi Constitution production, no one ever told the Iraqi populace what a constitution is.
So again, they seem to understand that the constitution is positive, but the complexities of how it is put together, the ideas of federalism and securing liberty, these concepts are beyond their grasp. But, this may not be so different from the United States in the days leading up to the ratification of the constitution in 1787. The average US citizen at that time had very little conceptual understanding of what formed the basis of their legislation and rights. At this time, as it is today in modern Iraq, citizens were much more concerned with immediate, pressing issues. For the Iraqis, these issues may consist of their children making it safely to school, or possibly the 2-3 hours of power they receive a day.
In 1787, it was not a nationwide vote. The representatives, elected by the people, voted in what they felt was the best interest of their constituents. These representatives were generally well educated, because of this being in a better position to fully understand the concept of a constitution and what it should consist of. Iraq, in it’s effort to be as democratic a state as possible, has left the issue up to the general population.
In the days before the final vote is to be held, I do not hope that the constitution passes, even though it may bring my job closer to completion. I do not wish for the Sunni population to vote for something they feel is not in their best interest. What I do wish is that for one day, the Iraqis will put aside their differences, stop mercilessly killing each other, and will simply go to the polls and put a check next to what they feel best supports the needs of their new government. Will that happen? No. But it's a thought.

Some Random Facts

2005-10-01T19:11:00.000-07:00

2-34 Armor Battalion is out of Fort Reilly, Kansas, home of the Big Red One, 1st Infantry Division.
3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division is based out of Fort Benning, Georgia. Fort Benning is also where I attended basic training June - September of 2002, under 3ID.
Despite popular belief, not all of Iraq is a desert. The Diyala Province, though disgustingly hot during the summer, has a good amount of vegetation. This is largely due to the countless number of rivers and canals that run through the area.
The Diyala Province is mostly agricultural, growing lots of dates, melons, and other good stuff.
Canals can prove to be quite an obstacle when driving down unlit dirt roads at night, with the headlights off and your Night Vision clouded by the dust of the truck in front of you.
The Iraqi Army, despite being somewhat rag-tag, does exist and does execute a substantial number of combat ops each night throughout Iraq.
The pending Iraqi consitution states that it will be illegal to enter someone's home without their permission. I wonder what we will be doing if it passes?
We do have TV's with the news playing in our chow hall. The TV's play the Armed Forces Network (AFN) news, which is a collection of different station's news clips pulled together. Yes, the information I recieve is filtered.
In Iraq there is such a thing as a sand flea, and it likes to infest your sheets and give you small bites all over your body. I thought it was baby mosquitoes that were too small to see. It took me weeks to realize I was wrong.
The Iraqi city councils have weekly meetings and they drive me NUTS!

Gonna go hit the gym.

Ryan

Little Help

2005-09-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

Maybe I'm suffering from a serious lack of creativity, but I'm continually drawing blanks. I know when I was back in the rear, I had all kinds of questions about what really went on in Iraq, but I seem to have forgotten what they were. See James' example below. Please forward any questions or suggestions on what to write about to my email address, ryancarrolliniraq@yahoo.com. Anything and everything is greatly appreciated.

thanks,
ryan

2005-09-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

Developing a relationship between the new Iraqi Army and it's people is very important. That's what we're trying to do here.

2005-09-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

Tankers hate to walk...but we make 'em do it anyway