Slow down

30 JUN 09 = Iraqi Sovereignty Day, that is the day the brakes got slammed on and we moved into slow down operations. For us (folks outside of the big cities) there hasn't been a whole lot of impact, we just have to make sure that all of our operations and patrols are combined with the Federal Police (the organization formerly known as National Police, I don't know why the name changed). For about the past month that is the way the US Forces have been working in our corner of Iraq, there were very few US only operations and now there are none.

For the folks in the big cities, that means a lot of sitting around. I have heard stories of some units not going out the gate at all because their Iraqi partner units have said " . . . don't worry, we have it under control, if we need you, we will call you . . . ". BG E is a huge fan of partnership so I doubt he will ever say that. He has pretty much been directing operations in his OE for the past couple of months, so not a big change for the US Forces in this area.

The two weeks prior to 30 JUN were some of the worst ones that I had seen as far as targeting US Forces in Baghdad. There were several attacks that prompted us to decide not to bother going to the city for anything. Across the river in our area there have been a few attacks but the insurgents over here are not too good at the attacks. Their best effort so far has been lobbing 4 rockets in the general direction of COP Cashe South, but the berms around here are so high and the COP is so small that it is very hard to hit unless you are right outside the wall. Since 30 JUN the US Forces in the big cities have been keeping a low profile and there have been no attacks on US Forces.

There has been a few good sized attacks on the local population, but nothing too spectacular yet. It is hard to stop these sorts of attacks, you really have to go after the networks that are supporting and executing the attacks. In order to do that you have to have a warrant which is another whole story in itself.

The biggest thing we have going on is some training for the Federal Police out at FOB Hammer and getting ready for a big religious pilgrimage. For the most part, pilgrims will be passing through this area into the big city, not stopping here.

So, to keep busy, I read a lot, surf the net, work out and watch a little TV. I lucked out and got an entry number to the Army Ten Miler (my favorite race) so I have started a 16 week train up for the race (currently on week 5).

Not a whole lot else to report, but that is a good thing. Reconciliations are still going on, but to be honest, once you see one, you have pretty much seen them all. The SOI transition to regular government employees has not started yet, so no issues there and the next election cycle isn't until JAN 10, I will be watching that on CNN.

56 days until no Kevlar (helmets, body armor) is required.