06 January 2008: Rain, then cold

Sometime around 0200 I woke up to the sound of heavy rain. A fast moving front came through and dropped just enough rain to make the morning trod to breakfast a very messy affair. I elected to skip the DFAC and, instead, ate dry cereal in the hooch. Fortunately, a fresh supply of my favorite coffee had arrived the day before so I enjoyed a taste of home. It was a bright and clear morning but the passing front brought colder temperatures. Today may have been the coldest of the deployment. It is at least 80 degrees colder now than it was just three months ago. I'm not going to debate my friends in Providence. This isn't Rhode Island cold. It's in the thirties with wind chills in the twenties. Winter has arrived in Iraq.

I spent a little time today staging stuff to be mailed home. That's yet another sign that the end is near. Most of the stuff I've accumulated in Camp Liberty I'll either give away or mail home. There's no sense in taking it back to Balad. I'll be doing the same thing with most of my gear there. It is astounding how much junk a person acquires in a year of deployment. When I first arrived, I had two dufflebags of issue equipment and uniforms, IBA, kevlar, weapon with magazines, and a backpack with laptop and personal documents. Now I've got two hooches (one in Balad and one in Camp Liberty), furniture (nothing that I paid for), TV's (again, not that I had to buy), a refrigerator, coffee brewers, loads of extra equipment that various redeploying units have given my team, and various other odds and ends. Most of this stuff I'll just hand off to my replacement. Combining the gear from this deployment with that of previous deployments, I've got enough to open my own military surplus store. It seems that way at least.

I stayed up late to watch the Titans - Chargers playoff game. As expected, the Titans lost. Jeff Fisher is a good coach but his offensive strategy always has Titans fans living on the edge. We call it "Fisherball". Fisherball is intentionally keeping the score close in every game - always rely on defense to bail you out. Have you every noticed how rare it is for the Titans to blow out an opponent? It almost never happens. This is why I love Bill Belichick. He goes for the jugular early and never lets up. I like that strategy so much better. Piling on the points is a great defense as well. Build an insurmountable lead early and then just unleash your pass rushers to feast on the opposing QB. The Titans can't ever do that because the game is always too close.

That's ok. I said it before and I'll say it again. This is the Patriots' year. I'm glad I like the Patriots.

05 January 2008: Joe knows NFL playoffs

Some days I just don't have much inspiration for an entry. Being deployed in Iraq is definitely not a life of exciting adventure every day. As a matter of fact, there are long stretches of boredom and routine. Unlike a Hollywood war flick, every day isn't filled with explosions, gunfire, and combat. Even Joes that go out on patrols or recons every day will tell you that it's more routine than exciting. That doesn't mean it's not dangerous. It just means that the normal patrol is uneventful. Although my team doesn't go out on patrol, or conduct recons, we still have days that stand out as one where danger was too close for comfort. By the same token, we have days that don't stand out at all - today for example.

My primary focus was working on the continuity book. Another day passed without any word on awards. I'm feeling more at ease in that regard. Awards may actually be complete.

At lunch I sat near a bunch of Joes who were all hyped talking about the NFL wild card games. There's ESPN Sportscenter, and then there's Joe. Joe takes sports to a personal level. He knows everything about every sport. What's even more amazing is that Joe knows every professional athlete personally. Joe never "speculates" on matters of sports. He knows. Do you want to know who is going to win a game? Ask Joe. Do you want to know how your fantasy running back is going to play? Ask Joe (your fantasy running back is a personal friend of Joe). Are you confused about a call on the play? Ask Joe.

Joe also gets very animated on sports issues. I was trying very hard to listen in on their conversation. Every one of them was talking, every one of them was loud, and every one of them knew the deal. I think half of them were convinced the Steelers were going to win. The Steelers lost. It had to be Divine intervention. Joe is never wrong.

04 January 2008: Reaching another milestone

It's been over 24 hours since the last word from higher regarding awards. I think we're all in the clear - finally. Quite frankly, I can't think of another setting that could possibly exist for their sliding scale of standards.

Another milestone in the deployment was reached today. I haven't passed it yet, but my team has reached this very important weigh-station. Today I began updating the team continuity book for our replacements. This book is a very important piece of any TOA. In my case, the continuity book will give the incoming Team Chief a complete overview of the team, its missions, mission requirements, standard operating procedures and command responsibilities. Most importantly, it will provide my replacement with a guide on how to perform his job. When I arrived back in March, there was no continuity book. I had to figure all this stuff on my own. My team had no mission statement, no guidelines, no mission definitions, or even description of individual responsibilities. I'm making certain my replacement won't be faced with the same shit sandwich I inherited. I'm also requiring each member of my team to create a continuity folder for their individual replacement counterpart. We will set up the incoming team for success.

I also started updating the command summary briefing. The last time I updated the thing was back in August. I didn't realize how much we'd accomplished over the past four months. We've been very busy. Our numbers are staggering. We've redeployed fifteen Brigade Combat Teams. This required processing almost 16,000 shipping containers, certifying over 700 HAZMAT containers, and providing in-transit visibility to almost 9,000 vehicles. My team has conducted redeployment operations from Iskandariyah in the south, to as far north as Tal Afar. Over 20 Forward Operating Bases have seen visits from my team. Busy? I'm only talking about everything we've done since August. Like I said, the overall numbers for my team dating back to March 2007 are staggering.

When it's time to leave, I can say with the utmost confidence that my team has earned their keep.

03 January 2008: I'm trying to sleep here!

Some of the lessons taught in Iraq 101 are reinforced on an unpredictable, inconvenient timetable. IDF attacks are one of those lessons. I'm not sure what time of the morning it was - maybe about 0500? I was sound asleep. It seemed like someone was shaking me awake. As I started to wake up, I realized the CHU was shaking. The cobwebs slowly released my senses. That's when it registered. "WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!" Each impact caused the CHU to rock and vibrate. Next the alarm sounded. "INCOMING! INCOMING! INCOMING!" This was quickly followed by another two impacts. They weren't hitting anywhere close enough to concern me (or anyone else on Liberty Pad 8 for that matter). I kept dozing back off just in time for another impact. All I could think was, "I'm trying to sleep here!"

I never could get back to sleep. The "All Clear" sounded. I got up and made coffee.

Later in the day I found out that the saga of awards wasn't over. That's right. Two awards were sent back to me with a whole new set of guidance from above. Fortunately, it was only two awards. I knocked them out in a jiffy. Then I took them to the Engineers' orderly room to digitally sign. They knew exactly why I was visiting as soon as I walked in. Their CQ, a Specialist, looked up and said, "Good evening Sir! Awards again?"

After supper I gathered up a big box of food items that have accumulated in my hooch. I've received a lot of packages in the mail. Once I picked through and retrieved the items I wanted, I had a lot of leftovers. I took them to the Engineers and thanked them for letting me continually use their orderly room. They were grateful.

Ok, no IDF tonight! I need some uninterrupted sleep.

02 January 2008: 300

I'm definitely not making reference to the movie. This was day 300 of my deployment. If I do the math correctly on that 365 BOG, I believe that means 65 days to go. It's been almost a year since I reported to Camp Shelby, MS, with my unit. I'll be certain to celebrate that anniversary - NOT!

Now that awards are complete (I hope), I was able to catch up on some considerable paperwork that has backed up. I had three separate AAR's to write for starters. My team didn't have any inspections or other work scheduled so I gave them a personal day. They did stop by my hooch late in the afternoon to drop off a couple bags of ice. Unlike Balad, my hooch here doesn't have a mini-fridge. I rely on a cooler.

I've attempted to watch a few bowl games but it's difficult at best. Most of the games are in prime time in the U.S. That means kickoffs are after midnight. I can't hang. What ends up happening is I catch the highlights in the morning. Then AFN shows repeats all day. Everywhere I go - DFAC, gym, MWR, HQ's - there are games on. However, it's no fun to watch because we all know who won and have seen all the highlights.

Speaking of football, I've heard that Army is planning on switching to the "spread-option" attack next season. My stomach is turning already at the thought. This offense is based on a quick passing scheme and utilizes multiple receivers. Why are the powers that be at Army so fixated on passing attacks? Army simply doesn't have the athletes or size to be competitive with pass-based offenses. The reason Navy and Air Force succeed is because they utilize offensive schemes that negate size advantages of the competition. Their running of triple-option offenses allow their outsized teams to put multiple "hats" at the point of attack. This should be an easy concept for Army to grasp. We teach the importance of having mass and deception when preparing officers to lead offensive operations. I want to be wrong, but, I already have a bad feeling about next season. As long as Army focuses on passing it's going to be a long season.

Anyway, I've got 300 days down on this deployment.

01 January 2008: Hello 2008!

Once again, I will buck my normal practice of posting the day after. New Year's is simply too important. Happy New Year from Camp Liberty! There were actually a few signs indicating some effort to celebrate. They were subtle.

I awoke in time for early breakfast. I got back to my room in time to see the ball drop in Times Square. That's 0800 here. AFN sports also showed the live broadcast of some guy breaking the world record motorcycle jumping record. Then I set about the task of completing the final touches on my team's awards. I took about another hour out of the morning to observe another HAZMAT inspection.

At lunchtime, I found the DFAC staff was in the New Year spirit. All the TCN's were wearing pointy party hats. They were serving Welch's sparkling grape juice to whoever wanted to pretend it was champagne. A couple of the TCN's were traversing the mess hall and randomly blowing plastic party horns. Most of the Joes ignored this. It was goofy though. Since it was random, every horn blast caused someone to jump.

I stopped at the engineer's orderly room after lunch. I had to borrow one of their computers to digitally sign the awards. I wished everyone a happy new year. The Sergeant Major was practically demanding that every Joe walking into the orderly room had to say happy new year. I said it on my own accord. Everyone seemed relatively happy.

A few hours later those same engineers were gearing up again. It may be New Year's Day but there's still work to do here. Instead of watching football, eating black-eyed peas, and spending a day with family, these Joes were going outside the wire to perform their dangerous mission. As I watched them gear up I couldn't help but be proud of all of them. They were laughing, joking, and feeling alright. Yeah they bad, they're nationwide.

I hope ZZ Top doesn't mind me borrowing a line of lyrics. Happy New Year everyone!

31 December 2007: Goodbye 2007!

The final day, the last act, the setting sun, and in mortar lingo - "rounds complete!" Yes, 2007 has come to a close. It's New Year's Eve in Iraq. I can only speak for the microcosm of Camp Liberty. Today was like any other day. If it weren't for the calendar, I'd never know.

I kept my eyes open for signs of celebration. The decorations in the DFAC are still leftovers from Christmas. There were no flyers at the MWR advertising festivities. Perhaps one in ten Joes even said "Happy New Year!" I guess they are saving up for tomorrow.

I spent a good portion of the day finishing up the latest round of awards. My team also conducted a couple of HAZMAT container inspections. Work went on as usual. As dusk started to fall, the Cajun engineers were gearing up as usual. New Year's Eve or not, they were doing their normal night route recon. All their RG31's, Huskies, Buffaloes, and MRAP's were loaded, armed, and ready to rumble.

My last gasp on any celebration came as the clock approached midnight. I stepped out into the very chilly night to look, listen, and wait. At midnight it was almost whisper quiet. In the distance I heard a car horn honking. I shivered for about ten minutes past. As I turned to walk back inside I noticed a helicopter popping flares on the western horizon. Happy New Year! I had to go look at the calendar again just to be certain.

At least AFN carried the bowl games. I watched the Armed Forces Bowl and pulled for Air Force Academy. I was too tired to stay up for the other games.

That pretty much sums up the entire day. Goodbye 2007!