20 June 2007: "Rock of the Marne"

My second day at Camp Liberty found me up early for breakfast. The big event was a meeting with the DTO of MND-Central. They are located over at the Camp Victory compound within earshot of Al Faw palace. However, first came personal needs and that included breakfast. The Liberty DFAC was a short walk from my CHU. A foot bridge crosses a small canal next to the DFAC. Scores of carp congregate below the bridge waiting for Joes to drop bread for them. Every time I crossed that foot bridge there was at least one Joe throwing something to the fish. A few turtles were in the mix as well. I saw one of the turtles snag a carp and take him under. Perhaps that was his breakfast. Oh well, you can only entertain yourself so long watching fish frenzy over a piece of bread.

At 0930 we headed over to MND-C headquarters. Our meeting started just after 1000 and we had a good turnout. 3rd Infantry Division "Rock of the Marne" is the HQ for MND-C. On the way in the building visitors walk past a big statue of "Rocky". He's the bulldog mascot for the division. Apparently they take this statue with them everywhere they go. It reminded me of "Chesty" - the USMC mascot. Although I asked, nobody seemed to know the story of how Rocky came to be the 3ID mascot. Anyway, the meeting was extremely productive and will reap dividends for the upcoming missions my team will perform. During the meeting I met the G4 for the division. Lo and behold it was a West Point classmate of mine. We chatted for a while. He's also married to another classmate. Unfortunately, neither of them will be making our 20-year reunion in October. It was still good to see a familiar face.

Once our meeting was over we all headed to the 3ID DFAC. The division band was there entertaining diners with smooth jazz renditions. It was rather surreal sitting there eating with live jazz. You'd never know there was a war on.

The only thing left on the agenda was to get back to the Liberty pad to catch our Blackhawk flight back to LSAA. The roll call for the flight wasn't until after midnight though. That meant we were free to roam the rest of the day. I roamed back to the hooch for a nap. Then I walked over to the Liberty PX just to pass time. As usual, I didn't spend a dime. The rest of the evening was just a waiting game for the flight back to LSAA. It was some boring moments for certain. I completed a crossword puzzle in the latest Stars and Stripes. Then I packed and straightened up the room. This is a story to be continued. The flight didn't work out exactly as planned. Stay tuned......