Life in a combat zone...

I had planned on being able to type on my own laptop by now, but it's been difficult to get the Internet set up in our cluster of trailers, so I'm on a borrowed one. My arrival here was nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. I was a little concerned about what to expect in a real combat zone. During our 'in-brief' they gave the instructions on what to do when the "giant voice" says we are having an indirect attack -- listen for the siren, and take cover as necessary. O.K. We spent the first night in transient housing (small really crowded bunk house for 20), then we were able to move into our trailers. I was fortunate that indeed, the CW4's and above got their own rooms...yippee!! Finally some privacy, and space to myself...it's about 12'x13' floorspace, a table and chair and a wall locker and a decent bed.

So, I'm in my room unpacking at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and the giant voice says we're having an attack. I started to laugh, but went through the motions of laying down on the floor next to my bed, cover my head and ears and lay still, wait for the all clear...a couple seconds later there was an explosion about 800' away. Sounded like the artillery up at Camp Ripley, only closer...congratulations, I just survived my first mortar attack at Balad. I thought oh my, this is going to be a long year. Found out later that a civilian contractor was killed and 2 others injured. In our in-brief they nicknamed this place "mortar-ritaville" for all the attacks we get. They seem very sporadic, randomly aimed, and usually don't do much damage. So far I've been here for 3 attacks.

Upon my arrival, I realized how huge this base is. Air Force on the east side and Army on the west. 2 PX's to shop at, lots of dining facility's (DFAC), laundry sites, and we have a theater, an outdoor pool, and a couple gyms to work out in. So far our schedule is very busy, long days. 12-16 hr shifts, day or night. You can tell there is a war going on, it's busy here all the time. Lots of aircraft to watch, Army Air Force, Marines and British, etc. Pretty cool seeing all the different aircraft. It's comforting to hear the F-16 fighters take off on their missions every couple of hours...around the clock. They are very loud, using afterburner on takeoff to get them up hi quickly to be less exposed to the bad guys. I'm hoping to get a pic of them on takeoff at night, the flame out the back end is about 30' long...

My first day mission was a VIP support, a.k.a. the Baghdad shuffle...lots of trips back and forth all around the city, and suburbs. I had a hard time concentrating, while mesmerized looking out the windows at the city of Baghdad. Lots of things to see. Out in the 'burbs, there were lots of dwellings that looked just like Guatemala...made from adobe type blocks, kids running around poorly dressed, a mangy dog, and someone carrying grain from the fields. I had to pull myself back to reality and keep looking for these little bongo trucks with guys in the back carrying RPG's, and watching for heavy machine guns set up along the way... It was neat to land at Washington helipad, downtown Baghdad, in the heart of the green zone. While waiting for our VIP, to show up, we saw the small convoy, and large suburbans belonging to Gen Patraeus...he got in the Blackhawk in front of us. We had shutdown to refuel, and I had time to go in one of Saddam's former palaces, now converted to U.S Embassy offices. There was an Internet area there, and I sent a quick email home from the palace telling my family where I was. It's still pretty hot here, about 110-115 every day. I keep wondering when it will be cooling down some...at home, I'd be counting my water ski trips to my local lake on one hand before it gets too cold. I'm wondering if I'll be shivering like some say when it gets down to 55 degrees?

My room is working out okay -- enough room to hide some of our bags under the bed. The bad news is, it's about 130 yds to the toilets, and showers. It's about a half mile walk to the DFAC, and a little farther to our flight ops. It's about a mile to the PX and other food choices, sewing and alterations, and a barber. Lots of walking, and lots of dust. Strange place this is...I have yet to see a cloud in the sky...wind from the nw every day about 5-15mph. Then it picks up speed, and it blows dust around so bad, that we can't hardly see. We've already had a couple of missions cancelled, due to poor visibility. Completely clear above, but can't see 500' in front of me. The dust is everywhere...I have to mop and dust my room every few days, and shake out the a/c filter at least twice a week. My this is going to be a long year...

I've flown 2 other missions at night under NVG's...pretty scary, hard to see with all the dust. But much easier to see people shooting at you...we had some tracer fire the other night...not really too close to us; they seem to shoot at sounds, so they were spraying the sky, kind of in our general direction...no harm done. Glad these guys didn't have NVG's.

This is a little unorganized, it's 2:30 a.m., (I'm on nights now), my thoughts are rambling...did I tell you that this base has lots of civilians, from all over the world? We have Ugandan security guards, Pakistanis and Filipino's in the DFAC and laundry, other Europeans working other jobs. I'm surprised that many people would leave home to come here with out much protection(body armor, weapons, special training, etc), just because of good pay. Kind of dangerous (i.e. my first mortar attack).

Back to night flight, you should see all the aircraft over Baghdad in the middle of the night...lots to see and avoid. Fun watching some Apache gunships working over a 'hood near Sadr city (a no-fly zone)...pretty cool. We also have to avoid our own UAV's (unmanned aerial vehicles) doing recon stuff...photos, and the occasional armed attack on some sandal wearin' dudes in their man-dresses trying to plant more IED's. Well, it's even later now, and I need to head to the shower and bed. I need to wash the dust out of my ears...literally. Some of these summer days in the desert, trying to adapt, your body reacts differently than home (duh), have you ever been so hot you sweat between your fingers? One if the perks of desert life. I will say this, now whenever I read certain verses in the my Bible about going through the desert, it brings tears to my eyes...I can't imagine life here in Biblical times. It will never be the same reading those chapters again.

It gets lonely, as you might think; I miss everyone badly, especially my little Stef...she started school earlier today...I'm sure she did well. The first 90 days are really going to suck, getting used to the job, our 24/7 schedule, and all the other demands. I'm just trying to keep up with the laundry, and try to get 2 meals a day. I did get a new Our Daily Bread from our Bn Chaplain. He's from an Evangelical Church in Brooklyn Center back home...great guy. Take care back home and stay safe...there are people here and abroad that want to hurt us just because we're Westerners. I love my family, and am proud of what they are doing at home. God Bless you all. I'll try to send some pics for my son to post some time soon. Thanks for the prayers and support... My it's going to be a long year...