0300

Two nights ago we were attacked at 3am by mortars from the same guy. We call him the "mortarman". He sent 9 mortars into the AF housing area. He's not too precise with his mortars but then how precise do you have to be to get inside a small area. He got off these 9 rounds and escaped before our counter fire could return the favor. But the whole attack took less than 3 minutes. It is a strange feeling to wake up to explosions all around outside your bedroom. Each one either getting closer or farther away and you wait to hear the next one because you know it didn't come thru your roof if you hear it somewhere else. It did come thru the roof of an AF hooch. In fact it was a room with two guys. The picture today is from these guy's hooch. One guy at just got called to work at 0230 to work an urgent issue and the other guy stayed in his bed asleep. When the mortar hit their hooch, it detonated at contact with the roof, spraying shrapnel onto the next hooches in an up and out kind of blast pattern. Luckily it didn't spray down and in or else the guy sleeping would have probably been killed. Most of the blast damaged happened on the side of the hooch of the guy that went to work. It's an amazing thing to see, the damage from a 82mm mortar. The guy that went to work had photographs of his family taped to the wall beside his bed. The wall had damage from pieces of shrapnel but amazingly his photographs were not touched. I can only believe that a higher power is watching over us when so many of these things happen in a location that a higher probability of casuality should have resulted. This is to me a physical touch of God, the results of prayer from people all over this world praying for us to safely do God's tough work for the people of Iraq that can't or don't have the ability to overpower these evil people. Of all the 9 mortars there was only one person hurt. He had minor injuries to his arm and side, when one of the mortars hit right near him as he was walking to the bathroom. No one else was hurt. Keep the prayers coming and I'll keep the good reports coming home. That is that.

Visitor

I'm glad that nearly every day we get to meet people that we otherwise would not have met. I got the opportunity to be involved in the planning for a visit from the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. He came to this region and made a visit here to see the troops as well as visit the Air Force Theater Hospital. Of course the entourage that follows him is huge and the personal security detail is much larger than the one that follows me around but it is cool to watch the process of planning a visit like this, making the itinery work for us and him, and making the security arrangements as simple and detailed as possible. He gave a 20 minute talk to nearly 500 troops then he spent time taking photos with everyone. My part was to ensure that the aircraft/helos arrived with no impact on the combat missions that were currently ongoing and that his motorcade made it from the flightline to the venue for his speech. I also had to work with the PSD (see above) to make sure that the flightline had no unauthorized people in the area. It is was a challenge since the flightline area is under construction and the contractors are ... local nationals or TCNs, third country nationals. So I had to get them away from the area without letting them know why. A little bit touchy since they are under contract to do something for the Air Force but I had to get them to stop work without breaking the long-term contract. But once the Secretary got to the speaking venue, my job was over, so I got to relax in the back of the venue and talk to his staff. As he was leaving, I was talking to his staffer and he came over to ask him a question, shook my hand and asked if I wanted a picture with him. So it was kinda cool to get a picture with him. Then off he goes into his car to continue his motorcade to the hospital. I went back to the office and grabbed my gear and left for my hooch. I was wiped out. That is that.

Haircut

I went to the barbershop yesterday and I have to tell you that I look alot like Brad Pitt when he had really short hair. The picture today is what I look like after the haircut. This will be the last time I ever cut my hair this short, unless Universal Studios offers me a lot of money. But the whole process here to get a haircut is very funny to me. The army guys get a haircut that I don't quite understand. They go bald all the way up the side of their head to a spot that is right at the crown of their head. Then they have a patch of long hair. And as I watch the barbers cut their hair, the barbers don't usually get it exactly straight and since it's on the back of their head, they don't know it is not straight. Looks funny. So I'm trying to get a new type of haircut for this place. I wanted something that was like a crew cut but not too bald. The guy did ok I guess, but he asked me to close my eyes then he started cutting my eyebrow hair. Boy, that hurts your self esteem. I think of my Grandfather. I guess I need to "watch" that in the future.

At midnight last night we went into body gear. I thought, another attack and geez, I was alseep. So as I do what is required to protect myself from the mortars, I grab my brick and listen in to what's going on. As it turns out, and I feel sorry for the guy, this guy was driving his humvee around the base and his tire blows out. He grabs his brick, calls the alarm for attack and he goes running into a ditch with mud from ...... liquid from..... a porto potty leak. And then as the security force show up to checkout the damage, they find the blown tire and no other damage. He did the right thing but wow, he woke up the whole base. And that is that.

Amazing

I have been limiting what I say primarily because I don't want people to worry too much. But I've been getting requests for more information about what actually is going on. I will try to give more details but you still need to remember that what I say is not current or useable (hopefully) since the enemy can use this information against us. Mom is not gonna like this change but I think it is important to give a proper perspective of what goes on here and what I live through on a near daily basis. Like even as I write this, we are under mortar attack. I've really gotten used to the attacks, if you ever can, but I know that one of them may have my number on it but I really don't worry. I am cautious and I wear the protective equipment but if I went around worrying about the attacks we get, then nothing would get done. A little bit ago, there was 9 mortars that hit close that nearly caused a huge amount of damage but all it did was make some huge craters. One guy got injured but it wasn't life threatening. I am keeping a separate, accurate record of the attacks, the effects of the attack and what I was doing at the time of the attack. It is interesting reading. I like reading back over that log and see where I've been in the last two months. This place is full of awesome and amazing people. With the specific attacks we get, people continue to work hard at their duties. I can say without a doubt that I can't think of anyone that I dislike. Well that could be said for everybody everywhere, I can get along with everybody. Don't know what that says about me or my character, but everybody here is nice to be around. Everyone gets along with no bickering at all. Everyone respects everyone. We are here to do an important job and everyone does it very well. Practical jokes happen all the time and people are always having fun, it's a great work environment. But let me assure you that the work we are doing is amazingly important and that people's lives are at stake with nearly every tactical and strategic decision. I am also amazed at the quality of work that is done the first time around. Cuts down on the actual amount of time and energy to accomplish something. I know that Mom will not like this new trend in this blog, but maybe Dad can filter it for her. And I won't have bad stuff daily because I think a lot of the stuff I encounter is funny or at least self-induced. That is that.

The Pool

Yesterday I spent a relaxing time at the Iraqi Olympic Training Pool. This is a pool that Uday Hussein used to train/beat up the Iraqi Swimming Team. It is an odd structure in this part of the world. It is a top quality facility complete with a 10 meter dive platform for the high dive routines. But if you leave the facility, the people of this area live in mud houses with reeds for the roof. What a way to live.

But the water was cool and I was hot. I needed a break from the military stuff, plus I needed to wash my physical training (PT) uniform. They are the shorts and t-shirt I have to wear to and from the bathroom each morning. I usually send them off to the free cleaners a twice a week but, that leaves me either buying another set of PT uniforms so I can wear that pair while the first pair is at the cleaners or just wear them...ewwww dirty. So recently I've been wearing them dirty ewwww. It's mainly dust since everything gets dusty even when I carry my clothes from the free cleaners. By the time I get back to my hooch, there is a layer of dust on my clothes. That drives me crazy. But the pool was a good time to get them wet and dust them off, so why not!! As soon as I got to the pool, I knew I was in trouble though. Because, everyone there is tanned and well.... much younger and well....in shape. Here I am almost 45 years old, wearing PT shorts that are too short for my comfort and these white, almost cast like sticks with shoes on them pointing up to a belly that looks like the Michelin balloon floating above a football stadium. Not a good feeling for me. But of course, at this point what are you gonna do, so I pretend to strut around like you are very comfortable and confident and just walk to the pool and dive in. Well, I guess when you are younger you don't worry about diving into a pool. I found myself at the edge of the pool trying to figure how to get into the pool without making a big splash or causing more attention to myself than I already am with my white chicken legs. So picture me with these white, no let me say blinding white skinned legs and belly, standing at the edge of the pool trying to stick my toe in the water to see if it's too cold only to realize again that this is a dumb idea since it's 120 degree and no matter how cold the water is I have to get in. Mostly because everyone is reaching for their sunglasses to shield their eyes from the reflecting glare of me. Then I try to make a cool guy entrance into the water because I know I can't make a graceful dive into the pool without a big splash. But I feel like I have to make a dive since everyone else is making dives But as I start my dive I learn the momentum of the belly, white as it may be, is not easy to control. The belly actually leads the way and you fall way short of your intended water impact point. Making the belly flop sound that we all love to hear, on someone else. Then of course as you are screaming underwater from the pain you want to keep swimming underwater in another direction so that when you do surface people can't recognize it's you that just did the belly flop. Of course, that doesn't work because you are old and white easily recognizable and you can't hold your breath as long as you would like. So you just swim to the side, confidently get out of the pool and go sit down. I was in the sun for 14 minutes and I felt like I was getting sunburned. So I move to the shadows of the pool area and I notice I'm the only one in the shadow. I stay in this area of the pool for a good 10 minutes before I just get up and strut out like the proud man I want to be. That is that for now.

Too Busy

So sorry I haven't written but the pace around this place is fast and the days don't seem to end. We are working on a few issues that won't make this blog but it's all good stuff and there are plenty of people who like what we are doing. Right now I'm in my 18th hour of work today. I'm drained beyond believe and I have to be back to work in 5.5 hours from this moment. My boss was on the news today giving a press conference and it was neat to watch the whole process. I sometimes wonder how or why the press ask questions that they have to know will never get answered because it's a dumb question.

I promise to provide a much better blog report tomorrow when things will calm down a bit and I can relax and enjoy my vacation here in Iraq. That is that for now, sorry.

Electricity

As luck would have it, right after I wrote my last post, we have electrical problems on this base. This problem is self-induced however. The local electrician cut thru a main power line and well, there goes the electricity. The generators cranked up with no problems but overheated after running in 125 degree heat for a few hours. So, the generator would not work, the main power was cut and getting fixed and our hooches were well over 100 degrees at 11:00pm. Plus we had a huge fire in a helicopter hanger, then a plane crash (no injuries), all in the hour or so after I got back from my trip to Kirkuk.

The trip to Kirkuk was highlighted by the stellar landing by our army pilots. Not!
The runway is nearly 10,000 feet long, but we didn't land until the runway remaining sign said 2,000 feet remaining. We landed and got on the brakes real hard. The general I was with was alittle ticked off. I'm having to get with all of the flying airplanes here, 17 different types, and help make them understand that this type of flying is unsafe and unacceptable. I guess they think they are gonna get shot down on short final. I don't think so.

Here another picture of the

The City of Ur

Yesterday I went to Abraham's house. I was part of a group of dignitaries that got a tour of a base close by and of the Ziggurat. The Ziggurat is a 4000 year old Pyramid like structure that was built well ummm 4000 years ago. That's some 2000 years before Jesus. It was amazing to be in the presence of such old history. The time of this era was in Genesis 12. Now that's a long time ago. It was a special tour that the Iraqi people set up with an Iraqi tour guide. This tour guide's age was anywhere from 30-65. We could not figure out his age. He taught himself English from a dictionary. His great-great grandfather was one of the few people that helped to excavate the area. Abraham's House was on the property of the Ziggurat and it was huge. It had 27 rooms with a 2nd floor for two rooms. It had a remarkable rain collection system that enabled them to catch and use water every time it rained. The area is very desolate now but the guide said that there was water all around the area. In fact he said that the Garden of Eden was close to this area. Hard to believe now. The picture with this post is of me on the Ziggurat steps. The tombs of this area have not been completely excavated, only a portion of the tombs are open. We walked down about 30 feet below ground level into a tomb. They buried Kings when they died and also their servants alive in these tombs. The guards also were duped into believing they would be let out of the tomb at a later time but when they excavated these tombs they found the guards at the door. I took lots of pictures so I'm gonna put them up for view when I get home.

I've been flying all over this country and get to see this place at night. If you didn't know it it could be any place in west Texas. Not too many lights on the ground, and then all of a sudden a big city. Baghdad has lights just like any other city in the US. They say in the newspapers that Baghdad is without electricity most of the time. That's not true. They have electrical problems occasionally because it's so dang hot here and the electricity system can't take it, just like Phoenix. When I was walking around the Ziggurat it was 120 degrees. The electrical load varies all over the country and they don't have the best electical system but they have electricity. The towns are spread out just like our towns and you see street lights everywhere as well.

Tomorrow I'm gonna go to the pool on base. It is an Olympic sized pool with all of the diving boards. Uday Hussein was in charge of the Iraqi Olympic Swimming Team and they used this facility to train. Should be neat to see. I'm so white though I hope I don't blind anyone or make them sick when they see real chicken legs. That is that.

Fun Times in Iraq

This has been one of those weeks where you just sit at the end of each day and say to yourself, what did I do to deserve that. I hate that most of the things that go on around here has to be filtered by me when I write this stuff because it would affect the security of our missions here but I can say that I'm keeping good notes and I expect someday to let you guys live a few days in my life here.

I went to a Combat Memorial Service Weds and was incredibly moved by the whole experience. I had a reserved seat up on the front row at our base theater for the service. Now I've been to military memorial services before, in fact in my F-16 days, I had to go to at least one a year for guys I knew. But to be in this huge theater that is packed with mostly army guys and girls and to not hear a sound is quite impressive. As the Memorial Service began the Army Band played music. Some soldiers got up to say a few words about their fallen buddy. The soldiers that got up to talk were this guy's friends from home that were servicing with him here, they were his Commanders and of course from other squad mates. At the end of the ceremony the Squad Leader gave a roll call to his troops. As he called out each name in his squad, each person yelled out from the silence, "Here Sergeant". As he called out this soldier's name, of course, there was no answer. He called out his full name....no answer. He called out his name one more time...no answer. Then there was a 3 gun shot salute, followed by taps. At the front of the stage was this fallen soldier's boots, with an M-16 sticking up from the boots. Then they placed his helmet on the M-16 gun and wrapped the dog-tags so that they dangled down. Then one by one the front row slowly walk up to the boots, and give a slow salute. The whole theater did this. I hope to never witness this ever again.

This week also has me traveling around this country. I got back from Kirkuk late last night. I was in Kirkuk for some strategy meetings and I have to say that the pictures I took were the type that someday I'll look back at say, now that's a great shot. If you know what I mean. Whew, that is that.

I Need a Real Vacation

I find myself thinking of the hurricane approaching Fla and of course I think of my family that lives in Fla but I also think of the rain. I would love to be in some rain. I know that Arizona doesn't usually get a lot of rain but I don't understand why this place makes me want rain more than normal. It's a bit more humid here since the Tigris River is about 1/4 mile away. The thoughts of rain, water, and I naturally think of beach, boats, and beer. When I think of these things I think vacation and that is what I really need. A good long vacation. Well we all know that's not gonna happen anytime soon, so Don just get over it. I even wouldn't mind doing a trip for Southwest Airlines, since they provide a good hotel with good food, usually, and nice company to visit with on the trip.

I gave a briefing to Central Command people today. They are from the Tampa HQ and they liked to hear all the progress we are making here in Iraq. I know the hard work of all of the young people is the tough work. I just have to sit back and plan for the actions as it relates to use of the land for airpower. But in the time that I've been here, I've witnessed tremendous progress. But the good part of the briefing was that I had a 'flash drive'. I needed to use a computer at the briefing and when I got to the tent for the briefing, they did not have the ability to use the internet where I have my briefing saved. Thankfully, I also put the briefing on a little biddie stick or a flash drive. It is smaller than a pencil but it can store up to 1GB of data. So luckily I put put the briefing on this stick...just in case. And all I had to do was plug it in and off I go into my briefing. Technology is great. Sorry not much to report today, this even bores me. But that's the way things are here. Really jammed packed with lots of excitement following periods of boredom.

Also I saw something in Aviation Week and Space Technology, thanks Rick, that I must reply to the editor. It was an letter to the editor that was published June 20, 2005 from Mr Milavic entitled "Enough is Enough". It basically said that the security of airports and pilots with guns in the cockpit is primarily for the pilots's ego and it does not have anything to do with keeping the airplanes out of terrorist's hand and away from national interest targets. And I can assure you that what Mr. Milavic said in his letter is completely untrue. So I plan to write soon to that magazine and give Mr Milavic a piece of my mind. And that is that.

Patriot Detail

Yesterday, I left rather quickly from my desk. The call came over the brick for a Patriot Detail. This Detail is when there is a fellow American that was killed in action and they have prepped the body for transport back home...to the United States. This soldier was from this base. He was returning back to base from a mission outside the wire when a VBIED, Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device, detonated as the Humvee drove over it. He was the driver. The others in the vehicle suffered non-life threatening injuries, very lucky but still...
The Patriot Detail is a ceremony that honors the fallen. Every time that a soldier comes through this base on the way home a Patriot Detail is called. This call came yesterday morning. All types of military members from Airman to Sergeants to LTs to Captains, Majors, Lt Colonel, Colonels, Brigadier Generals, from the Army, to Navy, Air Force, Marines, British Soldiers, Aussie Soldiers. Any and all walks of life on this bases came out to send this soldier home with a dignified ceremony and justified respect. We formed up in parallel formation, from smallest to tallest. Rank does not matter here in this formation. We marched silently toward where a Baltimore Guard C-130 was parked on the ramp. We marched past the C-130 then turned back to come back straight toward the aircraft's back ramp door. As I was marching, I noticed that the formation line was incredibly long as I was near the back of the line. It was something I will never forget, seeing the 2 long lines of nearly 300 soldiers, marching silently is one of the most heart wrenching ceremonies I've ever been a part of or witness to. As we got to the aircraft we were directed to march on either side of the door. We came to attention, did a facing maneuver to face the inside. At the designated time, they brought the flag covered casket slowly up between the formation. A slow hand salute was given as the pall bearers made their way up the ramp and onto the aircraft. It was noon time, the heat was intense, the sweat was rolling down everyone's brow, but not one person moved. A Chaplain gave a 10 minute ceremony, then it was over. And as we all filed out, and away from the aircraft, I felt emotionally drained. I did not want to do anything else for the rest of the day. I went to lunch and regrouped my feelings. I noticed that you must put that emotion into a small corner of your gut and move on. There are many people here counting on you to do your job. And we must not let tragedies like this or what happened in London affect our resolve to keep the fight IN THE BAD GUY'S BACKYARD NOT OURS. Please remember we did not start this war but we will finish it. That is that.

Yippe

Yea!! We are finally out of our equipment which is good for everyone. We have lightened our load and it feels wonderful. I don't care how hot it is now since it's not nearly as hot with all that stuff on your body. It's like wearing a 45 pound jacket in 112 degree heat. Glad to not have to wear it anymore.... until????

Had an opportunity yesterday to go shoot a couple of machine guns. It was a really fun time because you usually can't shoot these things in the automatic mode except while in combat. I was at shooting pit at the edge of the base and we got to shoot as much as we needed to get familiar with the M-4 and M-16. The picture today is of me and my trusty M-16. I probably shot upwards of 300 rounds of ammo. The shots were making the gun very hot of course so it was difficult to hold on to. Everyone forgot their gloves. Plus the blazing hot sun added to the difficulty in handling the weapons. My favorite weapon is the M-4. I didn't get a picture of the M-4, I forgot my camera as well. Let me explain first how this happened. A call came over the brick for help on a redeployment issue at the shooting range. The HQ staff has been involved with mission tasks and there were missions that were left uncovered by those redeploying home. So there are several positions in these missions that may need to be filled by qualified shooters. These missions will probably never happen but we needed to have bodies in these spots, just in case. HQ is where I work and couldn't see assiging an additional mission somewhere else. I like to lead from the front, by example, and not by the power of ordering others to do something extra that you could do yourself.

In my next post I will talk about what I'm about to leave my desk to go do. It is my first experience with a Patriot Detail. More on that when I get back. Prayers for the Detail. Mom I'm not leaving to go outside the wire. That is that.

Still Dragging

I don't know what the deal is but everyone is dragging. As I said yesterday, everyone has the look I haven't ever seen before. It is look of being overworked and under stress. We know that this place is "under construction" and the enemy is close but we are just operating on adrenaline or Red Bull. I am watching people just go about their job in the exceptional fashion they usually do but the moment they leave their job, you see them just sag and look as though they just been in a fight. As I watch TV today and see the London attacks I see the eyes of the close victims and recognize that look.

I saw an F-16 takeoff earlier today. It was a normal take-off except that one of his landing gear did not come up. Now normally this problem is not a big deal. But now combine that with the fact that you are flying over some bad guy terrritory and it changes the way things are played out. You can't go too fast because the gear is not made to go very fast. And you can't go too slow because you're an easy target. What's a fighter pilot to do? I know he or she did a great job and I watched the landing without incident. But you hope that someone else on the ground doesn't need that plane. That is that.

Loud Noises

I find myself getting very tired over the past few days. I think that it is the daily grind but also the wearing of the vest and helmet everywhere. It's hot and sticky and just walking around just wears on you. I find it also very difficult to sleep at night because of the constant F-16s and all of the other aircraft taking off at all hours of the day and night. I keep hoping that I will get used to it, like living next to a railroad track. But not yet.

Tomorrow is my 11th anniversary at Southwest Airlines. I can't believe how fast the time has past there as well. I'm in the top third of senority of all the pilots. It's just hard to believe. I hear that we are opening another destination, Ft Myers Florida. We should do alright down in that part of Fla. I'm lucky to be working at that great company. I also am up for full bird Colonel this promotion cycle, but I don't plan on being selected. That's ok though.

Tomorrow is gonna be a long day and I'm tired and going to bed soon. Keep the prayers coming, we sure need it. Sorry that is that.

Our young Folk

I stood at attention yesterday as the National Anthem was played over the base's loudspeaker. It was timely since it was the 4th of July. And I'm in a country that is becoming a country. The people of Iraq understand that they are making history. But they want it fast. Of course nothing is fast here and for that matter wasn't fast for us some 227 years ago but in this day and age people want things fast. The soldiers that are helping this country rebuild, the soldiers in the trenches with the local Iraqis are doing some of the most amazing work I've ever seen. These young men and women are reaching into their souls to make a difference for Iraq. They continue to show me how much they want to help this country. They volunteer for dangerous missions outside the wire to build a school, a playground, secure a city street. All the while knowing that someone out there doesn't want them to make this a better country; because it diminishes their worth and value. But as I look at these young kids, it makes me glad to see that their generation is standing up to what their country needs them to do. They are becoming "the next greatest generation". The ages of these young adults range from 18-26 and they are so into doing a great job that it makes me proud to still be wearing this uniform. And then the wounded at the hospital are asking for prayers for their unit and all of the other men and women in the field. They ask nothing for themselves. Unbelievable!

A funny thing happened to me on the way home from the gym. I've allowed some guys to use my roof on my hooch to attach a wireless internet signal booster. They need to use a plug in my hooch as well. So, thank goodness I let them because it required him to run this extension cord thru my window. As I am getting back from the gym I reach for my hooch keys only to find that I don't have them. Then I remember the window. I take off my flak vest and helmet and open the window. Well the opening is barely 1 feet wide. I think I can climb up and into my room. But, as luck would have it, I haven't worked out enough. I get halfway into the window when I get stuck. But I see my keys not more than 3 feet away on the bed. I can't reach it but I can reach my bathroom kit/bag. I put the kit on my keys but, this is where I've worked out too much, I pull it too hard dropping the keys onto the floor at the base of the window. By now I am securely stuck in the window. My hooch is behind a protective concrete barrier and I'm hoping nobody can see me. I can't go back out and I'm trying to suck in my gut to move in. I'm pulling at the bed, sucking in my gut and I'm moving very slowly into my hooch. I reach down and grab the keys and find that my feet are nearly pointing straight up outside window. My white chicken legs are waving about in the dusty breeze. My gut is getting ripped to pieces by the window, am I'm getting dusty from head to toe. I am stuck. I try to go back out, that don't work. I continue to try to go in only to find that if I continue inside, I will fall into the biggest pile of dust bunnies I ever seen on the side of the bed. By the way, this is not my bed, it's the spare one on the other side of the room. I see no other way but to force myself inside. I start moving my legs frantically like a helicopter to try to move forward. This starts to works so I twirl my legs harder, suck in my gut, keep my grunting low so as to not attract attention and I fall in a heap in the dust bunnies. Ha, I didn't have to walk to the office to get a spare key. That is that.

30 Seconds of Fame

I saw some impressive fireworks here yesterday. These fireworks aren't the type you see back home and you certainly don't want to be too close either. You can see the explosion then feel the shock wave hit you a few seconds later. Way cool. Only a few people knew this was gonna happen so I took my camera. I used the movie position and filmed the whole thing. Way cool. The day was jammed packed with visitors, Fox News is here as well as HBO so when I said I was going to bed at 2:00 in the afternoon yesterday, it was good timing. I was able to take a real combat nap in my vest and helmet while people were playing war outside my hooch. It's funny how you can sleep when so much is going on outside. And the vest gets to be quite comfortable when you use it as a prop. But when you take the vest off, you are nearly soaking wet. Our helmet is hot too and it makes our hair look funny. But it has saved people before when things bounce off the helmet. I think I'll be wearing mine.

I started this post 14 hours ago early this morning and got busy and well....thank goodness I don't have a deadline. Like I said Fox News has been here for a few days and they wanted people to get on tv and say howdy to people back home. And during one of the live telecasts, we got attacked and the Fox News guys had to break, but the bad part was people scrambled. So the Public Affairs people asked people to come out after the attack and fill up the tent and get on tv. So for the good of television I went and was asked a few questions. I didn't expect the question he asked me and I think I flubbed it, but who cares. The one I got on was taped for broadcast tonight, 4 Jul between 5-6 East Coast Time. So for you Phoenix people, subtract 3 hours. Enjoy your independence day. That is that.

4th of July weekend

Today is Sunday of the 4th of July weekend. I've been to a party already at the Hospital. I didn't think I was gonna get to go to any party or church today because I had people knocking on my door at 0230am to prepare a briefing for early this morning. Of course, I stayed up a few more hours getting the briefing ready, then slept for 3 hours, then got up to go into the office to make the final preparations for the briefing. I was satisfied with the briefing with only 15 minutes to spare. But as we were getting the conference room setup for the guests, the guests cancelled. So I quickly went to church and arrived only about 15 minutes late. I went to the chow hall after church and found out they were passing out, free I might add, two Red Bulls apiece. This makes two days in a row so of course I grab my two cans of liquid crack, as Jay Leno calls it, and took it back to my desk. I really need help staying awake sometimes and this will really help or so they say. But look at the can, there is English and Arabic on the can.

The Hospital party yesterday evening was just what you see in the movies. Doctors and Nurses and Med Techs letting their hair down and having races with decorated stretchers. It was fun and it was an opportunity for all of them to relax. Water filled balloons filled the skies and I felt myself jumping thinking it was something else, if you know what I mean. So they quickly stopped that part of the fun since most of the people were reacting the same way I was, kinda freaking out. But still it was fun until, just like in the movies, a helicopter came in with patients and off they go, party over. But that was the first copper of the day so that is good they've been slow.

It's 2:00pm, it's Sunday and I'm tired and so I'm going to bed. That is that.

Relaxing

I woke up this morning to the sounds of explosions and sirens. The only night I've gotten to bed a descent hour after relaxing to some good music. I wanted to sleep much later but, whatcha gonna do?

Last night a band came to our base to play for the troops. As I walked into the tent for the concert I thought I might have missed it. There were only 20 or so people gathered to hear them. As we walked in, the General goes up on the stage to introduce them and I head over to sit next to some friends. The introductions are made and the band starts playing good ole music. Some rock and roll, some country, some hip hop and one rap songs are played. But their staple music was rock and roll. As the songs are being played the General leans over and says to me that these songs were written and orginally performed before most of the kids in here were born. And that we are probably the only two people in here that remember these songs on records or 8-track tape. I would have to agree, and I bet even the band probably wasn't even born yet. But the neat part about the night is just how good it is to hear familiar music. And how much music is a part of our life. They played music as well as the original artists. They played music from "Heart" like I heard in concert some 26 years ago. The lead guitar player was probably the best I've ever heard. The General knew him from back home, in the civilian world. It was just a fluke that they ran into each other over here, "43 miles north of Baghdad". But the concert was scheduled for a little over 1 hour but at the end of 2 1/2 hours, two broken lead guitars later, the concert was over. The band said that they thought when they saw only 20 or so people that this would be a short gig. But what they saw was how much we really enjoyed the music and much we really appreciated them being here for us. I think they saw it in our faces, we needed this break. They made a comment that made me feel good. They said they had a full house for the troops down in Tallil, Iraq the other night and that we made them feel better about this tour than that whole crowd. But I know I finally relaxed. It felt good for me to sit around, enjoying the music and the company of friends in a combat zone. The picture above are some of the people that I work with. In fact,the two people on the left are the people that put the show together. This is their job, to provide things like this for the troops. And the others are from protocol office and the girl on the far right is the General's executive officer. So really they all had to be at the concert. That is that.

Customs and Courtesties

First this morning, I'm trying to write this post in the morning when I have a break in meetings. Seems I can't get much done during the time between meetings so I will write in my blog. 2nd is the new ability to add pictures. This picture is from the air traffic control tower and it overlooks some of the base and most of the living area for the Air Force.

Anywhere on this base you must be in uniform. No one wears civilian clothes, in fact they are put away in storage. We have contractors in civilian clothes but most of them are non-US people and they're in a different location than the US forces. But, with so many military people, I am always saluting. It's no big deal, but my arm is getting really buff from the saluting. I need to work out the other side so I don't have chicken legs and one buff arm. I'll show you want I mean. Please put yourself in this frame of mind. Hungry, sweaty, hungry, hungry...must have food frame of mind like Homer Simpson. As I park my pick-up truck at the DFAC, that's Dining Facility, I'm thinking food, while trying to walk thru river rock?? (why that is here I don't know), food, trying not to fall due to river rock, food... food, Army guy saluting, AF guy saluting, saluting, saluting. Whew! But it's good to see that everyone is paying attention, unlike me. Finally get inside and everyone must wash their hands before they go in. Finally I get food. Back to saluting, when I walk around the base, I will watch people ducking out of the way, or crossing the street or just turn around so that they don't have to salute. Kinda cracks me up. It also cracks me up when people junior to me stand up when I enter the room. I don't mean just casually stand up, I mean come to attention. And I have to to say something to get them out of this crazy attention stance. I'll say something like..."oh no please no need for that" but they keep doing it. Then when that whole process is over, I forget what I actually came in their office for. So I leave shaking my head trying to remember, only to return 15 minutes later having remembered the issue, then nearly forgeting again because we go through that whole popping to attention thing again. Fun and games.

The young girl from last week has been improving and responding to simple tasks. Thanks be to God for her recovery. Also a mortar hit a building yesterday, went inside an office and bounced around and never exploded. This happens alot. So keep the prayers coming. Thanks. And that is that