Saturday, January 26, 2008

25 January 2008: Reflections on Hammer


It's nice to be back at Camp Liberty for a couple of days. FOB Hammer was tolerable until it rained. Then the place became a complete disaster. A year ago there wasn't anything where Hammer is currently located. The FOB was established as part of the "surge" strategy. It has grown into a more functional location now. Everybody still lives in tents though. My proximity to the Mayor's Cell gave me access to the improvements in the works. Soon, CHU's will be placed to move permanent party personnel into better living conditions. I assume that will mean the VIP tent will get upgraded as well. Regardless, Hammer is a fighting FOB for certain. It isn't a staging area, or a contingency base. The Joes at Hammer are rocking the insurgency day and night. As time passes, they will have better facilities for their time off.

My day was spent with mission planning. The team's stay at Camp Liberty will be short. It was a spectacular weather day. The warm sun dried up a lot of the mud. Don't get me wrong, it's still a mess here. I did notice a huge upswing in the number of Joes wearing boots to and from the gym. I like to think I had something to do with that. It only makes sense. Perhaps the SGM I spoke with several days ago had a chat with his commander and had some policy memos changed. No matter what transpired, I'm just happy to see Joes aren't ruining their PT shoes in the putrid mess that's everywhere.

I know who my replacement is now. I'm really getting to be a short timer.

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