The End of the Earth

Things in the suburbs of Bagdhad are going just fine, there hasn't been a Significant Activity for over a month, so I think the National Police are all over it. Currently, the Iraqi High Command is directing several operations in areas on the borders of their area, not sure why, but I am happy that they are planning and directing operations. 3-1 had one of the missions and executed it as well as any mission I have seen them do.

BG E giving last minute guidance to his company commanders:

The mission was 2 days ago, in an area called the Brick Factory, the main brick factory for Bagdhad. There is a town there, about 50,000 people and a huge brick factory. I call the area the end of the earth - - it is on the far western edge of our OE, and the road actually ends shortly after you turn into the brick factory. It is pretty much the post apocolyptic vision - - - dark, dank, very polluted, raunchy area to live in. There are 400 brick ovens, fueled by crude oil, the exhaust is pumped straight out of the ovens. The EPA would go nuts in the joint. There is a permanent cloud of crud that hovers over the area, the day we went this was compounded by a major sand storm, so crud + fine sand + no breeze = 3 years taken off of the team's life expectancy.

The stacks of bricks with dirt on top are actually houses. 2 or 3 families live in there, the funny thing is, even though it is a crummy area, most of the houses have a satellite TV dish on top of them. I guess they watch pirated soccer games and soap operas from Turkey, as well as: Oprah (BG E's favorite show), The Doctors (a close second), Knight Rider (the orginal series) and the Dukes of Hazard.

Anyway, you get the idea. On an earlier mission in the area, we ran into a suicidal donkey. The donkey would walk down the road, cutting in front of each of our vehicles, stand there for a few seconds, look right up at the driver and give the "just run me over, please, put me out of my misery" look. When the donkey realized he wasn't going to get run over, he would go to the next vehicle. Kind of funny, but also pathetic. The donkeys have to pull huge carts of bricks from the ovens to the loading dock, and raw bricks to the ovens, so, not a really good job for a donkey. There isn't a whole lot of automation, most of the work is done by people and donkeys. I guess this is good because if the factory was automated, then all of those people and donkeys would be out of a job. I am pretty sure the donkeys wouldn't mind, but the people would head straight towards the insurgency recruiting office.

I think if I am reincarnated I want to be a horse in Kentucky or a dog in Germany. That would be the best life, definately not a donkey in Iraq or Haiti. If I had to be a donkey, I think I would want to be a donkey in Indiana, maybe in Western North Carolina.

Other notes:

I started my Army Ten Miler training plan this week, I am already two runs behind, todays tempo run kicked my ass, I couldn't keep the target pace for three miles. I am sure the runs will improve.

We had a Law/Judicial Conference at one of the big FOBs, we got there about 9:15, right before the chow hall closed for breakfast. Smelling French Toast, me and 6.5 headed straight to it, after we made sure our NP buddies were chai'd up and settled in. I had a big stack of French Toast, 6.5 go an Army omlette. Not sure if any of the readers have had an Army omlette, but they are pretty good, but they are only available at the bigger chow halls - - our tiny chow hall here does not offer them for breakfast, nor do they offer French Toast - - the fluffy kind that is made with Texas Toast sized bread, so it was a pretty big deal.

80 days to Kuwait, and no Kevlar.

Weak, winy post

OK, it is officially summertime here, 110 at least in the shade today and the wind was like a blast furnace. Perfect time for a road trip, especially if the air conditioner in your MRAP (55,000 lbs. of steel, hermitically sealed with a huge, sun magnifying, bullet-proof windshield) has started to laugh at you and the heat. The AC in our steel monster works sometimes (especially when the Socrates has it at the mechanics) and quits most of the time (especially when you are 5 minutes into a 1 hour and 30 minute trip). There are very few places that we have to go that are close, so driving these days kind of sucks the life out of you.

MRAPs are pretty good vehicles, in previous posts I have commented on how they do what they were designed to do, but their AC is definately a lowest bidder product. Today was a perfect example, we were driving to FOB Hammer with the National Police to drop them off for some training. FOB Hammer is truly in the middle of nowhere, the road to it is paved, kind of, but has these huge pot holes all along it, so you can't get over 20 miles an hour. We left at 7 AM, got there about 9 ish, before it got too hot (it was only about 90). The AC was just fine. We ended up hanging out there for 5 or 6 hours, opening ceremony, tour of the training base with the General, conference with one of the coalition force battalion commanders (who I went to Infantry Officer's Basic Course 21 years ago, and was stationed with at FT Ord, CA for a few years - - - small Army World), lunch at the big FOB (no ice cream for me, I just wasn't in the mood), some shopping at the PX (even if it is the same stuff you have seen for 9 months the pure joy of being able to shop trumps the selection, and some of the magazines were new) and one of our other MRAPs was in maintenance for 4 hours for - - take a guess - - a broken AC.

All the while we were sitting around the FOB, Socrates had the AC turned on and it was keeping the insides of the vehicle mostly cool. Once we got geared up and headed down the road, I felt the hot blast of air that means the AC just quit. So, 1 hour and some change worth of driving, heading due west, right into the setting sun, 110 ish degree air circulating inside our vehicle. I hit the ice water hard (we keep a cooler of water on ice for such an occasion, cold water beats warm water ten times out of ten over here) and just let the sweat pour on down.

While you are rolling outside the wire you wear: your Advanced Combat Helmet (good piece of gear, much more comfortable than the two previous versions I have experienced) which manages to keep all of the heat from escaping your head; radio headphones, rubberish pieces over both ears (nothing worse than ear sweat, especially when you can't do anything about it); ballistic glasses, which keep the heat right over your eyes; fireproof ACUs (if they are designed to keep fire out, do you think they are going to let the heat escape from the inside?); 35 pounds of assorted Kevlar plates and pads, nylon webbing, and other heat retaining materiel and your boots, weapon and fireproof gloves (see fireproof ACUs for my comments on that). Anything you touch is HOT because of the sun and lack of AC.

If I were back at Bragg or Riley when this happened, I would just roll down the window, but that is discouraged and well, impossible. The windows on the MRAP are more chunks of ballistic glass. Sigh, you just have to sit there and sweat.

Anyway, we made it back to COP Cashe South with no additional discomfort. It is funny when it is 110 degrees outside, you open the door and it feels like cool air is rushing inside the vehicle. Weird.

I am sure that the veterans of the WW II North Africa campaign that read my post will have absolutely no sympathy for me, they not only did not have AC in their Sherman tanks, they also rarely got cold water and most definately didn't have Baskin Robbins Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream. So, I will keep my complaining to a minimum.

87 days til no Kevlar is required. Sorry about the wining.

Quick Update

SPC Higgins, one of the paratroopers that was wounded last tuesday, is out and about. I saw him at a conference this morning. I talked to him for just a few seconds, but I let him know that I was very happy to see him and he said he was very happy to be seen.

LTC Shinners, another paratrooper that was wounded, is doing well I hear. He is still here in country, recovering from his wounds.

Tuff week

Rest In Peace SGT Duffy, when you get to Fiddler's Green stop off and have a few with your airborne buddies and watch a few Husker games as well.

Bragg soldier killed in Iraq (From the Fayetteville Observer Times)

A soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division was killed and four others injured Tuesday in Iraq after a road-side bomb exploded near their Humvee, authorities said.

Sgt. Justin J. Duffy, 31, of Cozad, Neb., died from injuries received from the blast.

Four other soldiers — Lt. Col. Michael Shinners, Spc. Ryan Higgins, Pfc. Adam Rosenbaum and Pfc. Alan Davidson — were injured but are currently in stable condition. The soldiers were on patrol in Baghdad at the time of the explosion. They are each members of the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd BCT of the 82nd Airborne Division.

A memorial service for Duffy is scheduled Sunday in Iraq.

A graduate of the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Duffy joined the Army in June 2007 and became a truck commander with the 82nd Airborne Division in July 2008.

“Sgt. Justin Duffy was an exceptional NCO and a leader of the highest caliber. He served as an Infantryman with distinction and honor in combat, sacrificing his life for our nation,” said Lt. Col. Kenneth Rector, commander, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd BCT, 82nd Airborne Division. “Our condolences go out to his family and friends as we all mourn his loss.”

The youngest of three children, Duffy is survived by his parents, Joseph M. and Janet L. Duffy, of Cozad, Neb., and two sisters.

His parents remembered him as the model son.

“We knew from when Justin was a little boy that he would succeed. His desire to serve his country and be a paratrooper is what made him exemplary,” Joseph and Janet Duffy said in a statement. “We supported him and prayed for him every day. Words cannot express how proud we are of him, and he will always be our hero.”

Duffy's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the Combat Infantryman Badge and the Parachutist Badge.

I didn't have the chance to meet SGT Duffy, he was on my Brigade Commander's Personal Security Detachment so I saw him around a few times, I did talk to SPC Higgins a few times, he had the additional duty of taking pictures at events so he had to lug around a camera with the rest of his kit, so we talked camera stuff while waiting around. LTC Shinners is the Deputy Commander of the BDE that I am attached to so I talked with him a few times. They were on the way to pick up the Brigade Commander at a lunch we were all to attend, so it was quite a shock to hear about.

Not much else to say about this week.