Today had an early, annoying beginning. I had stayed up past midnight checking e-mail and sulking over the latest Army-Navy game fiasco. Around 0200 I went to bed. It didn’t take long before I realized there was an unusual noise coming from outside my hooch. Something was banging on the wall just outside where my head lay on the bed. It had also started to rain so there was no chance I was going out in the mud to investigate. The knocking and banging was just enough to keep waking me up. I finally did fall asleep but it didn’t last long. A huge thunderstorm rolled in and the resulting noise rocked me back out of my slumber. My good night’s rest was shot to hell.
Since I was already up I went to breakfast early. The rain had made a shitty mess out of everything. I tried to stay on gravel for my walk to and from the DFAC. It was impossible. The end result was an extra pound of spackle on my boots by the time I got back to my hooch. Everything turns into a complete quagmire. It had fortunately stopped raining. Now it was just cool, wet, and muddy. I’ve explained the texture of this mud before. It’s back. I commandeered some slate shingles and an old wooden pallet to create a stoop for my hooch. Something had to be done to cover up the mud. It isn’t the greatest landscaping job but it was a field expedient solution.
Since it had stopped raining I decided to investigate the culprit of my sleep demise. Sure enough, it was a cable that was sheared and dangling just outside my hooch. The wind was making it knock around – thus keeping me awake. I whipped out my trusty Gerber tool (every Joe has one of these) and cut it off. Problem solved! I have no idea what the cable was for and don’t care. My neighbor is probably without AFN now.
My team’s order of business was to travel to Taqaddum (or TQ). This is a Marine Corps FOB near Ramadi. It’s adjacent to a very large lake that I believe is called Lake Haditha. It will be a first for us. TQ is new territory for us. Flying there required catching a couple of Blackhawks from Liberty Pad. Our show time was 1730. Once we checked in, we were told the helicopters were running late. With that in mind, I sent some of our guys over to the nearest DFAC to grab everyone some chow. A big group of Iraqi special forces arrived with their U.S. advisors and began lining up in chalks. Shortly after dark a couple of MI-17 helicopters arrived and took them off for their mission. It was extremely dark due to cloud cover. Once chow arrived I took my food inside the tent and sat down to eat fried chicken and sliced cucumbers. No sooner than I opened the box someone was yelling in the tent, “Anyone going to TQ? Get your gear and line up!” Dammit! The helicopters were supposedly running late. I took four huge bites of chicken and shoved a handful of cucumber slices in my mouth - throwing the rest of the food away as I walked outside. My mouth was completely full. That was my entire supper.
It’s cold enough now that the windows are back on the Blackhawks. This is so the heater can run in the crew compartment. The helicopter holds eight in the back, three facing to the front for a total of eleven. All of my team and our gear climbed in the back. I climbed into a forward facing seat adjacent to the door gunners. It wasn’t until after we took off that I realized my error. The door gunners are open to the elements. I froze my ass off in gale force winds all the way to TQ. I sat stiff and tried not to let it show. I couldn’t look like a pussy in front of the door gunners could I? I wasn’t wearing my fleece, gortex, or gloves. It’s cool though. I made it ok.
I think it was around 2000 when we rolled into TQ. Our ride wasn’t there (what else is new) so we had to wait around. There wasn’t much to see. Although they had a VIP room for O5/E9 and above, I stayed outside with my team. We didn’t have to wait long. A couple of Captains arrived in a bus to pick us up. We loaded up and drove over to the transient billet area. It’s a series of buildings named “Hotel California”. I had a quick series of planning meetings for our mission and then we were off to bed.
Thanks to the dangling cable, today began at around 0200. I think my watch read 2300 when I turned out the lights. Now we’re “living it up at the Hotel California.”
Since I was already up I went to breakfast early. The rain had made a shitty mess out of everything. I tried to stay on gravel for my walk to and from the DFAC. It was impossible. The end result was an extra pound of spackle on my boots by the time I got back to my hooch. Everything turns into a complete quagmire. It had fortunately stopped raining. Now it was just cool, wet, and muddy. I’ve explained the texture of this mud before. It’s back. I commandeered some slate shingles and an old wooden pallet to create a stoop for my hooch. Something had to be done to cover up the mud. It isn’t the greatest landscaping job but it was a field expedient solution.
Since it had stopped raining I decided to investigate the culprit of my sleep demise. Sure enough, it was a cable that was sheared and dangling just outside my hooch. The wind was making it knock around – thus keeping me awake. I whipped out my trusty Gerber tool (every Joe has one of these) and cut it off. Problem solved! I have no idea what the cable was for and don’t care. My neighbor is probably without AFN now.
My team’s order of business was to travel to Taqaddum (or TQ). This is a Marine Corps FOB near Ramadi. It’s adjacent to a very large lake that I believe is called Lake Haditha. It will be a first for us. TQ is new territory for us. Flying there required catching a couple of Blackhawks from Liberty Pad. Our show time was 1730. Once we checked in, we were told the helicopters were running late. With that in mind, I sent some of our guys over to the nearest DFAC to grab everyone some chow. A big group of Iraqi special forces arrived with their U.S. advisors and began lining up in chalks. Shortly after dark a couple of MI-17 helicopters arrived and took them off for their mission. It was extremely dark due to cloud cover. Once chow arrived I took my food inside the tent and sat down to eat fried chicken and sliced cucumbers. No sooner than I opened the box someone was yelling in the tent, “Anyone going to TQ? Get your gear and line up!” Dammit! The helicopters were supposedly running late. I took four huge bites of chicken and shoved a handful of cucumber slices in my mouth - throwing the rest of the food away as I walked outside. My mouth was completely full. That was my entire supper.
It’s cold enough now that the windows are back on the Blackhawks. This is so the heater can run in the crew compartment. The helicopter holds eight in the back, three facing to the front for a total of eleven. All of my team and our gear climbed in the back. I climbed into a forward facing seat adjacent to the door gunners. It wasn’t until after we took off that I realized my error. The door gunners are open to the elements. I froze my ass off in gale force winds all the way to TQ. I sat stiff and tried not to let it show. I couldn’t look like a pussy in front of the door gunners could I? I wasn’t wearing my fleece, gortex, or gloves. It’s cool though. I made it ok.
I think it was around 2000 when we rolled into TQ. Our ride wasn’t there (what else is new) so we had to wait around. There wasn’t much to see. Although they had a VIP room for O5/E9 and above, I stayed outside with my team. We didn’t have to wait long. A couple of Captains arrived in a bus to pick us up. We loaded up and drove over to the transient billet area. It’s a series of buildings named “Hotel California”. I had a quick series of planning meetings for our mission and then we were off to bed.
Thanks to the dangling cable, today began at around 0200. I think my watch read 2300 when I turned out the lights. Now we’re “living it up at the Hotel California.”
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