Iraq Deployment - 2008

Iraq Updates (from my 2008 tour)

My job was "Senior Escort Officer" which means I was responsible for greeting visitors (i.e. Generals, senior Department of Defense people, foreign dignitaries, Congressmen, etc.) when they came to Iraq. I had to make sure they got from place to place safely and as close to on time as possible.

I was fortunate to get to visit a lot of different places in Iraq during my tour, so I included a map of all of the places I visited while I was there. Enjoy!

Where I've been *

Photo Albums...

Gowing Away (January 5, 2008)

Time at Camp Shelby (January-March)

Time in Kuwait (March)

Time in Iraq (April-December)

Iraq Update 2	January 21, 2008
Hello and welcome to the second "Iraq Update" email. I have found myself with a few extra moments of time after being placed on "quarters" for 24 hours. On "quarters" is just the Army's way of saying "sick day." A couple of nights ago I started with a little congestion. It grew all day yesterday, so I went to bed early to try and shake it. No can do, though! I woke up this morning and went on sick call. You have to do that to make it "official." So after SEVEN HOURS in the Troop Medical Clinic (lots of others there and not much staff due to the MLK holiday). So I have a few days supply of Mucinex and some nose drops to clear me up. As I mentioned in the last email, I was assigned a new position a few days ago. I found out that there was an acquaintance from high school in that unit so I looked him up at formation one day. As it turned out, there are TWO guys from my high school in that unit. What are the odds? There were only 36 in my graduating class (1993) and even fewer in their class (1992). We may have to start an alumni association and collect dues and stuff. We picked up a few new people on the distro list this time around. People that I remembered from that past that said "keep us informed on how you're doing." If you know of anyone else that wants in on the action, just shoot me an email. Mom and dad are in Branson on one last getaway before he goes back into the Army after nine years on retirement. Stacey and JJ are still hanging in there. I talked to Stacey earlier today and JJ was a-talkin' up a storm in the background! I'm not sure exactly what he was saying, but he sure was excited about it. I could tell. Jeremy

Iraq Update 3	February 1, 2008
In the last update I mentioned that I got a new position in the Joint Visitors' Bureau. It was a little fuzzy last time exactly what my duties would be, but it's starting to clear up. I'll be the "Senior Escort Officer" at the JVB. Basically, I'll be an Escort Officer/PSO (Primary Security Officer) for people when they come into Iraq for whatever reason - Generals visiting the troops, politicians shaking hands, entertainers performing for the troops, etc, etc, etc. My job is to be with them from the time they hit the ground until the time they leave (along with other security folks). So for the past week, we've been training on PSD (Personal Security Detail). Every time a VIP visitor comes in, we escort them from place to place (on foot and vehicles) and provide a PSD team for security. It's kind of like the CIA when they guard the President (or whomever) - except we don't talk into our hands and wear dark suits. :) It should definitely be an interesting tour. I got the chance to do some PT (physical training) today. We don't have organized PT, so it's kind of on your own. It makes it tough for a fellow like me who can easily find a reason NOT to do PT - it's raining, it might rain, it's too early, it's too late, I'm tired...I could go on and on. I haven't done it since getting here, and I felt it! Push ups, sit ups, and a 30 minute run; and I was beat! I was telling Stacey about my typical breakfast (eggs, oatmeal, fruit, bacon, OJ, a bowl or two of cereal) the other day. Compared to my usual breakfast (two bowls of cereal and a pop tart) I guess it seemed like a lot. I have strict orders from her not to come back fat (actually, many Soldiers do in fact gain weight during a deployment, the chow halls are apparently very good!). If I come back with too much "Daddy Foot Fat" (yes, that's the official term) she said she'd send me to the TV show "The Biggest Loser" to get rid of it! I have other plans for when I get back, so I'd better stay in shape! Dad passed his physical today and all the blood work came back good-to-go. So they cleared him to come off of retirement (after nine years!) and deploy with us. He's got some training time left at Fort Jackson and Fort Benning, but he should catch up to us before we leave Camp Shelby. Later, Jeremy

Iraq Update 4	February 10, 2008
Greetings friends and family! It's been about a week since my last email and I had a little lull here at Camp Shelby, so I figured I'd drop a message on you. I've had a few new additions to the distro list, so I'm including the past updates as an attachment. The day after the last email, I got two packages in the mail from Stacey. One package had a nice vanilla candle in it (I requested this). My room doesn't smell bad or anything and my roommates are neat and clean, but I just liked the smell of a candle in the house. I liked to burn them back home in Virginia, too. The other package had a bunch of our mail that had been forwarding from Virginia. I went through about two weeks worth of mail - some junk, some taxes, some statements, some other stuff. "Going through the mail" may not sound exciting, but it was nice to do it. It brought some normalcy (is that a word) into my world for about 20 minutes. It was nice! Then, the other day, I got a package from the First Baptist Church in Alexandria. The 1st-3rd graders took some time after church one Sunday to make Valentine cards for deployed Soldiers. One of those was in the care package, along with some candy and comfort items. I could picture those kids working on the cards and playing, maybe not even knowing the sunshine that their efforts would bring to me and others. It won't be long before JJ's doing that with his little friends at church! I made contact with the guy that I will be replacing when I get over there. Needless to say, I really been picking his brain for information. The training here at Camp Shelby is nice, but it's kind of a "one size fits all" type training. Everyone in the Brigade gets the same stuff even though we all have different, specific missions over there. It's very helpful to be able to actually correspond with the person who is currently doing the job I will have. We also had a guy from his company come to Camp Shelby. He is working with our company to relay the "here's what's happening and how we are organized" type of information to all of our guys. When we train, we have to be in "Full Battle Rattle." This is the slang term for the protective gear we wear over there. Full Battle Rattle consists of the body armor vest, eye protection, ear protection, knee pads, and M4 (this replaced the M16). Everyone talks about what it weighs - there's many guesses but it didn't seem like anyone knew for sure. I weighed it the other day. The body armor is around 35 pounds. I didn't weigh the M4, but I'm guessing around 7 pounds. If you're going to be somewhere all day, most Soldiers take a "bug out bag" (i.e. a backpack with stuff you may need in it - snivel gear, MRE, pogie bait, etc.). "Snivel gear" is stuff you need to make you comfortable when the weather doesn't cooperate (i.e. rain jacket, long sleeve shirt, warm coat, etc.). "Pogie Bait" (pronounced po-gee, the "gee" is a hard "g" not like "gee, that's nice") is the slang for food to snack on - it can be candy, chips, drinks, sardines in a can, whatever (as long as the Army didn't give it to you!) We have 4 days of leave coming up in a couple of weeks. Mine starts on the 22nd; Stacey will be here the night before. That's going to be nice to see her and JJ again. He's almost 20 pounds already - he's doubled his weight in a month! If he keeps doubling his weight every month, he'll weigh 10,240 pounds by the end of the year!!! They grow up so fast these days. UPDATE ON DAD: he finished his in-processing and re-greening at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He's at Fort Benning (Georgia) now waiting to start more Army training. Hopefully he'll be here in a week and a half or so. Take care, all! Jeremy

Iraq Update 5	February 18, 2008
Happy "Washington's Birthday (Observed)" everyone! Well, our company has been signed off as "ready to go" this past week. We completed our ARTEP validation - this is the period in which we conduct (here on Camp Shelby) our "real world" mission of escorting VIPs around Iraq. This was a five day process. We did everything we were asked; and so, as they said in "O Brother, Where Art Thou", we're bonafide! For the next few weeks, we will be catching up any required individual that we may have missed and also trying to plan our own training to better our skills. I've got a four day pass coming up from Friday to Monday. Stacey and Mom and JJ are coming down to Camp Shelby to hang out. We're going to get a couple of hotel rooms in Hattiesburg (nearby). I've only been off post two times since I've been here. Once was for training and once was for fun (lunch). I'm not really sure what all Hattiesburg has to offer, but I'm sure we'll find out. I'm looking forward to hanging out with the family. While they are in town, I've got "diaper duty" - Stacey is sure to remind me of this every time we talk! :) Once my leave is over, I'll come back to Shelby while Mom/Stacey/JJ head back to Virginia. Mom will stay with Stacey a week or so and then head south about four hours to see my sister in Fayetteville, NC. Then she'll come back home. While she's gone, the contractors will be tearing out the kitchen (and foyer, and dining room!) to make way for the new kitchen. (Hey, Mom...can you bring the plans with you? I'd like to see what you have drawn up!) Dad finally arrived to Camp Shelby this past week. He was with a group of IRR (Inactive Ready Reserve) guys at Fort Benning. [Sometimes Soldiers will sign an eight year contract, for instance, with six years being active and two years being IRR. When they are IRR, they are basically a civilian full time, but they can be called back during that two years. Quite a few are.] Anyway, the process at Fort Benning with the IRRs is to train them a week and then send them to a unit in Iraq. They had dad on that flight until he finally convinced them that the unit he was joining wasn't in Iraq yet! Now he is here doing the mandatory training that most everyone else has finished. He's catching up. In Iraq, he'll be about 20 miles away from me (about an hour by vehicle), but it's not like we'll be able to just drive up or down to visit. We'll just have to see how the OPTEMPO (Operational Tempo) is for each of us. The natural course of business may bring him down to me or me up to him from time to time. Well, that's it for this email. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures while the family is here in town. Later, Jeremy

Iraq Update 6	February 26, 2008
I'm a little later than usual on my weekly updates, and there's a reason for that. All of the Soldiers in the 39th get a four-day pass before we deploy. They are staggered so the whole Brigade isn't gone at once. I had mine over the past four days. Stacey, JJ, and my mom came down to Hattiesburg (outside of Camp Shelby) to stay during the pass on their way to Virginia. My pass is over and they are on the road. They will probably get halfway and stay over night. Then they should arrive back to the Condo on Wednesday evening. Spending time with them was nice! We hung out at the hotel room, drove around Hattiesburg, made a couple of trips to Camp Shelby, and just enjoyed being together as a family. Mom kept JJ for us one night while Stacey and I went out to eat. We had a nice dinner and then we mellowed at Starbucks. Dad wasn't on pass at the same time as me, but he was able to break free one night to have dinner with mom while she was here. We did get some pictures. I uploaded them to our site on Google (Four Day Pass Pictures). You can see thumbnails of the pictures in the slideshow. Jeremy

Iraq Update 7	March 2, 2008
Since we've finished up the majority of our required training, there's not much to report this time around. I finished my first book of the deployment - The Age of Turbulence, by Alan Greenspan. It's about his time as the Fed Chairman and his take on the future. I sent the book back home with Stacey and mom when they left last week. Stacey said they were fighting over who gets to read it next...ha, ha, ha! I've got a couple more to read that I'm sure Stacey would find equally interesting :) I'm saving those for the plane ride over. Stacey, JJ, and mom got in a couple of days ago and just got everything unpacked. Mom will be there another couple of days and then she will go to North Carolina to visit Natalie (my sister, remember?) Remember Stacey in your prayers as she settles in to life back at home with JJ. This week we've got a "farewell ceremony" planned for the 6th. The whole brigade will be out there on the parade field while important people give speeches. I get to play the part of an usher, seeing VIPs to their seats. Good times. This past week marked a couple of "anniversaries" for me. Yesterday (March 1) was the anniversary of my nativity - aka, it was my birthday. Thirty-three years old I am. When I'm asked how old I am, I usually have to stop and think, then do the math. [Just for the record, my "real age" - according to RealAge.com - is twenty-two. They take your calendar age and adjust that for your lifestyle habits (i.e. eating, exercise, medical history, etc.) to determine your "real" age.] The second anniversary from this past week is actually today - this marks my 16th year in the military. I joined the National Guard the day after my 17th birthday when I was a Junior in High School. It seems like it's always been part of my life, though. Actually, at this time next year I will have 17 years in the service and be 34 years old. That means half my life will have been spent in the military. I won't be retiring in four years, though. I have to have 20 years of "Active Federal Service" (i.e. Active Duty time). So far, I've got about eight active years, which means I still have a ways to go! When mom, Stacey, and JJ came up for the 4-day pass, they brought birthday cards and gifts from family back home. It's hard to pick out a gift for a deploying Soldier, so most just gave me cash. When I combined it with what was already in my pocket, I had $182. I made the off-handed comment to Stacey, "I bet that's enough to get me through my time in Iraq." Uncle Sam gives us pretty much what we need. She said, "No way!" So we made a bet...I don't know what the stakes are yet for sure. Stacey said something about going on a cruise. I may be on the short end of this arrangement because I spout my mouth off. But I think I can do it; I mean, what do I really need? Just the necessities - shaving cream, toothpaste, Mt. Dew, Mocha Latte - things like that. Just for the record, I'm not counting the cost of Internet access in my room or gifts I may buy for people. Those will go on the credit card! We'll see how this works out...

Iraq Update 8	March 9, 2008
Hello, again! Another week has come and gone. I thought this past week was going to be pretty uneventful, but it turned out not to be the case! The big news of the week was the tornado that rolled through Camp Shelby. Several buildings on post sustained some kind of damage, but only one was completely destroyed. It was one of the barracks buildings that belonged to the Company to which I am attached. It struck just after 11 pm and leveled about three-quarters of the building. This company has responded to several natural disasters back in Arkansas and that experience no doubt paid off that night. The Soldiers sprung into action digging through the piles to find first their comrades and then sensitive items. Fourteen people ended up going to the hospital to be checked out - mostly minor cuts and bruises. There were no major injuries, thank goodness! On Thursday, our Brigade had its "farewell ceremony" on the parade field. We arrived at 8:00 to start practicing for the 3:00 ceremony. When we broke for lunch at 11:00, I was called up along with a few other Majors to be presented the Brigade knife. The 39th is known informally as the "Bowie Brigade" due to it's association with the Bowie Knife, which originated in Arkansas. Field Grade Officers (Majors and above), Chief Warrant Officer 4, and Sergeants Major are all authorized to wear the knife with their uniform. Once you hit one of those ranks and you are in the Brigade (and you pay for the knife!), they put an order in to have it made. They are all made by hand in Russellville, Arkansas. They used to be made by a famous knife maker named Jimmy Lyle, but he died. Now they are made by a guy by the name of Teague (not sure of his first name). Supposedly, he was Jimmy Lyle's apprentice. The Brigade owns the patent on this particular knife; and they are all numbered. Mine is number 1097 (dad's knife is 208!). Anyway, I've got one now; so, I wear it with my uniform (as long as I'm with the 39th). I've got pictures on my PicasaWeb. This is probably my last email to you from the States. We're within a week of leaving. For security reasons, we're not supposed to put out exact times and dates for troop movements. So I can't say the exact day or time, but it's getting close now. So if you call or text me and you don't get an answer or something, you'll know why. We'll go to Kuwait and spend a couple of weeks doing some final training and getting ourselves used to the climate. Then it's off to duty! I'll catch you up on things when I get a chance.

Iraq Update 9	March 22, 2008
As I mentioned in an earlier email, I've heard that a lot of guys gain weight when they go to Iraq. I am beginning to see why this is the case. The mess halls serve great food - and lots of it! Earlier this week we had crab legs - ooooh, so good! I'm trying to stay ahead of the game by PT'ing (Physical Training) three to four times a week. I may try to up that when I get to Iraq and on a schedule. Gotta' maintain this girlish figure! I'm having to get used to "combat showers" here at Kuwait. Each soldier only gets 15 gallons of water a day for personal hygiene. They have to truck the water in every day based on the number of people on post. So a combat shower goes like this...get fully dressed, walk to the shower trailer, get undressed, get in shower, turn on water, get wet, turn off water, soap up, turn on water, rinse, turn off water, dry off, get fully dressed, walk back to your building and get in your cot. Got all that?!?! There's no "shower police" or anything, but you do it for the good of the whole. Speaking of water, there's plenty of it here...for drinking that is. In almost every building you go to, there are coolers of water. The coolers are like the Coke coolers you see at convenience stores, except they are filled with bottled water. If you're thirsty, you just go into the nearest building and grab a bottle and go. They want to make sure we stay hydrated, and we want to stay hydrated too! I found out this week that we'll be here in Kuwait a week longer than we thought. So I have more time to spend here waiting for the move north. I've added a few pictures from our last days at Shelby and from Kuwait. They are on my Picasa page under "Iraq Deployment - Camp Shelby" and "Iraq Deployment - Kuwait". Stacey and JJ are still doing pretty good. She had her first "solo" trip to the commissary this week. All went well and JJ was very good for her. She keeps me updated by emailing me pictures straight from her phone. Check out the one attached! Isn't he the cutest baby ever!!! Until next time...

Iraq Update 10	March 29, 2008
I've made it to the 10th Iraq Update, but I still haven't made it to Iraq! I'm still here in lovely - and HOT - Kuwait. Instead of calling it "Ku"-wait they need to call it "You"-wait! It's not that bad, but the days do get long. The week started with Easter Sunday. Dad and I got up for the post's Easter Sunrise service, which was nice. It is good to get to hand out with him while we're here. I'm ready to get to Iraq and start doing the job for which I've been trained, though. It'll be nice to get into another routine where the days can start passing a little faster. As for now, I'll continue to wake up and get through the day. I have started to get into a daily workout routine. I'll alternate doing weights one day and then cardio (i.e. running) the next. If it doesn't get too busy in Iraq, I'd like to keep up the habit. You know, I was thinking the other day how interesting it is to keep this place (the camp in Kuwait) running. There is now electricity piped in and there's no plumbing. All of the electricity for the post comes from generators all over the place. Man, they go through some diesel fuel! Fortunately, it's just pennies per gallon! I mentioned in the last email that there's no running water either. All of the water is trucked in every day. The upside is that there are bathrooms (i.e. port-a-potties) everywhere! They aren't limited to where water pipes run. Seriously, you can't go 100 feet without encountering another group of portable toilets! Anyway, it takes a lot of effort to keep the place running with all of the moving pieces. We got a sandstorm this week that was just crazy! It was like a bad snow storm, except it was all sand...and it was HOT, not cold ("...but it's a dry heat...", that's the joke around here). The wind was blowing real hard and it stirred up the dust and sand. I could barely see 25 feet in front of me when the wind was blowing the hardest. And the sand stung as I walked across the post. Sand got everywhere!!! I finished my second book of the deployment the other day - "The Economic Naturalist" is the title. It didn't take as long to read as Alan Greenspan's book, thank goodness! It was a pretty easy read, and interesting too. It seemed a lot like "Freakonomics" but a little lighter. The author took some basic "enigmas" (odd questions or puzzles) of life and attempted to answer them with fundamentals of economics (supply and demand, price equilibrium, etc.). Well, it may not sound interesting to you, but it really is. My little overview there doesn't do it justice! :) Back on the home front things are still trucking along. JJ has had a little cold this week, so he's needed extra cuddle time with mommy. With a stuffy nose he doesn't sleep as well...which means Stacey doesn't sleep as well either! She's looking into getting an alarm on the condo with ADT. That'll add a little bit of a safe feeling for her there. Mom's kitchen remodel is progressing nicely. They are at a "wait" time right now - waiting for the cabinets to arrive and be installed. It's going to be nice! I can't wait to see the finished product.

Iraq Update 11	April 2, 2008
Well, gang, I hope this is my last email from Kuwait! It's been real, and it's been fun...but it hasn't been real fun! I'm ready to get to Iraq where we have rooms (rather than tents), bathrooms (rather than port-a-pottys), and running water (rather than trucked in water stored in tanks). Speaking of toilets (how often do you get that phrase in an email!), if you haven't seen my pictures lately - you should go check them out. You can see the two types of toilets on post (I've ranked one as "one thumb up" and the other as "one thumb down"). I can tell your anticipation is mounting as you search previous emails for the link to my pictures! One thing that is pretty entertaining about the port-a-pottys around here is the graffiti (unfortunately, yes, some Soldiers write on the walls). The last unit that came through before us was from Texas - apparently near the hometown of Chuck Norris or something. There are Chuck Norris one-liners all over the place. I bet it started with a few Joe's scribbling their thoughts and just grew from there. So, for your entertainment, I'm including some of my favorites below. I've been writing them down all week just for you (yeah, it's been that boring lately!). Here you go...my favorite Chuck Norris one-liners (in no particular order)... "Chuck Norris played Russian Roulette with a loaded gun - and he won!" "Chuck Norris is so fast he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head!" God said, "Let there be light." Chuck Norris said, "Say, 'please'!" "Chuck Norris doesn't do push-ups; he does earth-downs." "Chuck Norris' tears can cure cancer. Too bad he's never cried." "When Chuck Norris jumps in a pool he doesn't get wet - the water gets 'Chuck Norris'!" "Chuck Norris once killed two stones with one bird." "The 'C-Section' is named after Chuck Norris because he round-house kicked his way out of the womb." "Body armor is made from Chuck Norris' hair." "Chuck Norris went to Ranger School and the school got recycled!" (For the non-military, "recycled" means you weren't good enough the first time and you have to do it again.) "Little kids wear Superman pajamas to bed. Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas to bed." "When the Boogie Man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris." "Chuck Norris let the dogs out." "Chuck Norris can see the invisible man." "Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door." "Chuck Norris can be seen on the radio." "Chuck Norris can 'Name That Tune' in one note!" "Chuck Norris died three years ago, but Death is afraid to tell him." If I come across any more good ones, you know I'll pass them along! Hope you enjoyed them!

Iraq Update 12	April 9, 2008
I got a reply after the last email regarding Chuck Norris. It turns out that the trend is far bigger than phrases on the port-a-pottys. You can check out hundreds of Chuck Norris Facts at www.chucknorrisfacts.com. Don't go to this site unless you have 20-30 minutes free! Be prepared to be hooked! :) I am slowly learning my way around the area, which is good because getting lost is not highly recommended. All of the other guys in the company are getting more familiar with their roles as well and things are coming along. The half of the company that runs the hotel are learning their trades. We've got a mess section (i.e. cooks), front desk staff, room managers, maintenance (the "fix it" guys), and other miscellaneous positions. Then there's the other half of the company that has the DV (Distinguished Visitor) escort/security mission. They are busy learning routes, how to plan missions, driving techniques, and other stuff. We went out to an airport this week to practice entering and exiting the Blackhawk helicopter, which is used for almost all movements off Camp Victory. You'd think it is a simple thing, but there are some techniques that are good to know. We have to be very familiar with these things, not only so we can do them ourselves, but so that we can help the DVs do it as well...load, buckle up, stay away from tail rotors and helicopter blades...stuff like that. Due to the secure nature of our mission, I can't talk/write about things that are going to happen. However, all of our missions become declassified 48 hours after they are complete, so I can write about them after the fact. We went up onto the roof of the hotel the other day to take a company photo. While we were up there, I managed to catch a little video from the top of the hotel overlooking Victory Lake and Al Faw Palace. The link to the video is here. My "tower" is the building next door to the hotel, so this video basically shows the view from my door as well. I've got a big dirt yard surrounding my tower that I plan to leave in better shape for the next guy. If anyone knows anyone with deals on grass seeds, shrubs, flower seeds (perennials), or anything else that may "beautify" the place, please let me know. As far as places I could be in Iraq, I know I am fortunate. Now if they would just stop shooting mortars and rockets at us! Stuff is lobbed and shot towards the base every day or two, but our warning systems and counter-fire techniques are pretty good. Damage beyond broken concrete is pretty rare. I've uploaded a few more pictures as well. Some of them are of the area and some are of the training. I've got a couple of pictures of the "Tower" as well. I will continue to try and add more so you can see what it's like over here.

Iraq Update 13	April 15, 2008
I came all the way to Iraq and guess what languages I'm going to learn a little of? Tongan and Swahili, of course! Arabic? Who needs that? A lot of the people we end up dealing with on Camp Victory area are the security guards at different buildings or at Entry Control Points (ECPs). These checkpoints are contracted out, and the majority of these guards are either from Tonga or Uganda (Swahili). Right now it's the basics...hello, good bye, thank you. Maybe I can pick up a little every few days. They all speak English pretty well - maybe it's a job requirement - but, like anyone else, they enjoy others attempting their language. I finished up my first escort mission on the 13th. I supported the Department of State with a CODEL (Congressional Delegation). There were nine people in all - four were Congressmen and the others were professional staff and military liaisons. We had US Representatives Stephen Lynch (MA), Steve Chabot (OH), Todd Platts (PA), and Michael Michaud (ME). It was a lot of fun. Over two days we hit eight places for their various meetings. It's nice doing these missions because they fly everywhere! The flights (in a UH-60 Blackhawk) were each 5-20 minutes. I got to spend the night in the New Embassy Compound, which was quite nice. Parts of it are still under construction, so there hasn't been an official opening yet. I also got to see Abu Ghraib (it's more than just a prison!), Camp Taji (where dad will be after Kuwait), and several parts of the International Zone (aka "the IZ" or "the Green Zone") where the Embassy is. My favorite part of the mission was a "Market Walk" through one of the local villages. We linked up with a unit that "owns" the sector and got a brief from them. They have been working the area for a while to create a thriving community for the locals by supporting security, commerce, and economic growth. This is being done all over the country in little patches just like this. Unfortunately, all we get on the news are the reports of the "bad people." It's kind of like the news back home, I guess. I never thought about it until now, but when I watch the news back home it's always the bad stuff - shootings, robbery, car chases, etc. There's not a lot of stories on the "warm and fuzzy, do gooder" stuff, even though I'm sure those things happen every day in America just like they do here. It's a generally good place with some scattered bad that gets all the attention... Oh, yeah! The market walk! The group moved down the road with all of the shops on each side. I say shops, but it's more like a flee market with all the goods spread out. There was an interpreter (a local from the village) that assisted when locals wanted to talk to the CODEL or vice versa. There were lots of pictures taken with the villagers. Since I was "on mission" assisting the security detail, I couldn't just whip out my camera and take pictures like a tourist. However, one of the staff members on the trip was kind enough to snap a few shots for me (they are uploaded for you to see). This staff member, it turns out, remembered me from a time I was the Master of Ceremony for a presentation LTG Blum was making to SEN Tom Davis. It's such a small world! Since the staff members came from "the Hill" in Washington, I had a little in common with them just because I lived in Alexandria and worked in Arlington (Virginia). They were very nice! They told me to send them an email when I got back to the states to do a dinner or lunch or something. I told them it'd be 2009 before I'm back and they were like "No problem! Just give us a call!" I hope all of my missions are as fun and exciting as this one was. I got an "Iraq Countdown" calendar in the mail from Stacey this week. It's so awesome! It's got pictures of her and JJ for each month with a little caption underneath. I have more photos of JJ uploaded as well. Stacey is so good about keeping me stocked up on them! There's even one of him standing in his crib! He had help up for that picture, but the day after that he pulled himself up (almost all the way) all by himself! It's amazing! You know, children are just like people - only smaller!

Iraq Update 14	April 21, 2008
I've heard a lot of people, who've been here a while, talk about it. And it finally happened to me this week. I didn't know what day it was until I walked into the DFAC (Dining Facility) and saw they were serving steak, shrimp, and lobster. That means it is Friday! We kind of lose track of days over here - one is really the same as the next. Back home, I was better at keeping up with the day of the week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc). Over here, I'm better at keeping up with the date (18th, 19th, 20th, etc). I think the majority of the people over here are that way. So it's not surprising that you can go the whole day and not know what day it is; that is, until you walk into the DFAC and see steak and lobster. Then you know it's Friday. On that same day, Friday, as I was walking to chow along the sidewalk by Victory Lake. I saw this group of four or five people walking toward me. One was in a Marine uniform. We have a couple of Marine Generals staying in the JVB hotel (they were walking towards the JVB), so I was looking intently at his collar to see if it was one of them. If it was, of course I was ready to salute. I didn't see any stars, so I quickly scanned the others in the group. The guy next to the Marine had four of them! It was General Petreaus! So training kicked in...before I knew it, I had saluted, rendered a "Good evening, sir", and we passed each other. It had to be as meaningful an event for him as it was for me. I'm sure he's sending a "Family and Friends" email in which he is describing his encounter last week with Major Foot! On Sunday, about five of us from the Company went to a guided tour of a couple of Saadam's old buildings. The Mayor's Cell on post does a tour each week. First we went to a palace that was under construction at the start of the conflict. It is called the Victory Over America Palace. He named it this because - in his eyes - he was victorious over America in the first Gulf War, when we kicked him out of Kuwait. He believed that since he was still in power, he won. This thing was huge...three stories, 150 rooms, 3 grand ballrooms (one as long as a football field). It was going to be his new residence when it was built. The other building we went to was the Baath Party Headquarters. This is the building where his political and military people met...like a combination of our Capitol Building and Pentagon. This building was the recipient of the first bombs in the current conflict. Nothing has been done to these buildings since the bombs were dropped, so stuff is still scattered everywhere! We also stopped by a place called "Flinstone Village." This was a place that Saadam built for his grand kids. He loved the Flinstone’s (the only cartoon allowed in Iraq during his rule), so the whole play area is modeled after the show. It's a kid paradise! There are pictures of Flinstone Village, as well as the other buildings, on my Picasa Site in the "Iraq Deployment - Iraq" album.

Iraq Update 15	April 28, 2008
Is it time for an update already? The past week or so has just flown by. I was on mission most of the week; maybe that had something to do with it. I've been escorting a Marine Major General (two stars) around for most of the past week. He will be here full time after Sunday. He is the new Chief of Staff for Multi-National Forces - Iraq (MNF-I). MNF-I is General Petreaus' current command, so Maj Gen Glueck (that's his name) will be his Chief of Staff. It's been pretty fun. One of the places we went on mission was to a Patrol Base (PB) where a small company-sized element works (around 100+ people). The PB works with the local city/town to help ensure safety and to help rebuild their town and economy. This is General Petreaus' method of working with Iraq. Rather than keeping all of our guys massed in one place and going out on patrols every day, smaller units have been pushed out to the towns and villages to forge relationships and assist with rebuilding efforts. While we were walking the city, the local Sheiks (local leaders or elders) were sitting outside just passing the time. They asked the General to join them for Chi (a VERY sweet tea). So he joined them and chatted - through an interpreter - for about 30 minutes. There's a picture on the Picasa site. As we left this PB, one of the Iraqi Police (IPs) asked me "Iraqi or Americi?" He wanted to know if I was an Iraqi or an American!?! I though my uniform would have given it away! I guess my face is darker from the sun and my five o'clock shadow must have been thicker than usual! We went to another place - this time a Joint Security Station, or JSS - where similar work was being done. You could almost fit the entire PB or JSS inside of a football field, it's pretty small. At this particular JSS, they were training some of the local men in basic trades - plumbing, masonry, electrical, carpentry, etc. They go through these classes and earn a stipend - a very small stipend by our standards, but good for the area - while learning a trade. Then they will assist with rebuilding their own towns. As more locals go through the course, the more experienced ones will start to act as job foremen as work is being done. I was amazed as I watched some of the class. It was in Arabic, but I could tell when the instructor asked a question. When he did, almost every student raised their hand hoping to get called on to answer! It was so opposite of what I've seen out of schoolrooms in the US. They were so eager to learn. The next day we flew to Kirkuk and then Irbil. Kirkuk is up north. Irbil is way up north. When we got to Irbil, Turkey was 75 miles to the North and Iran was 75 miles to the East. It really seemed like we were back in "civilization" again. There were mountains in the distance, green grass and plants, and normal looking buildings everywhere. This is where the Kurds live. When Saadam was in power, he gassed these people. So even though they live in Iraq, the generally don't call themselves "Iraqis." In Irbil we visited a VOTECH school where people are taught VOTECH skills. In Kirkuk we saw an oil field and processing plant. I tried to create a map on Google that marks the places to which I've traveled so far. If I did it right (crossing my fingers), you should be able to click this link (or go to the top of the page) to see the map with markers on the places I've been. I haven't figured out pictures plus map yet, so for now the map will have to do. Oh, yeah...did I mention Toby Keith was in town? He stayed at the JVB hotel a couple of days this past week. It was crazy around here with all the onlookers and people that generally come "out of the woodwork" when a celeb comes into town. I can see why, though. He is a super nice guy who is very generous to the troops. It's no wonder everybody likes him. On Saturday, he did three shows, made two flights, and had one very long day. Yet he still found time to go out on the back deck and spend 45 minutes to an hour signing pictures and doing photos with some of the troops here. He won't tell anyone "no" and he's constantly thanking us for our service (not just him, but his whole group of over 20 people are that way). Yes, there are some pictures on Picasa - we even got him calling the Hogs!

Iraq Update 16	May 2, 2008
This is a little different from my normal updates, but I just couldn't hold it in. I'll send another out in a few days that speaks more to the traditional "here's what I did last week" topic. I've reserved this one to do something I rarely do - get on a soapbox! I've gotten many replies to my emails that are very similar. They go something like this: "I enjoy your updates. I like hearing about other things that we're doing in Iraq rather than just the same old reporting." That's the topic of this "soapbox" email. First, though, here is my stance on the media. I like the media. I support the media. They are over here reporting. They are free to report as they want. I wish they'd slant every "war in Iraq" story in favor of the military, but like any organization we do have our faults. Their duty should be to "tell the story" with no bias. If they want to slant a story in some direction - though in my opinion it's not the right thing to do - they are free to do it. Whether they like it or not, they are a weapon - I hope they use it wisely. That's my view of the media. With that said... We had a guest in the JVB hotel the past week by a guy named John McChesney from National Public Radio. He's sent here to cover the "war in Iraq" I assume. He was here a week, went out on missions, and saw some of the same things I saw. The article he published wasn't on any of that. It was taken from a conversation he had with some of our guys - a round table discussion of sorts. Here is a link to the article. If I have your attention and you're interested in the rest of the email, stop and read the article now. Then come back to the email. OK...do you see a difference in what I'm telling you in my emails and what the media is telling you? A different slant, huh? Does he mention the VOTEC programs we are running to help Iraqis rebuild their nation themselves? Does he mention the Patrol Bases scattered around Iraq that provide security to local villages so they can feel comfortable moving about in daily life? Does he talk about the micro-loans and grants that are being strategically administered at lower levels to make a difference in the economies of local towns and villages? Does he talk about how these programs not only help the locals, but it also helps forge relationships that lead to genuinely useful intelligence about the real danger of radical insurgent activity? Does he mention that every unit, no matter what the mission, has some down time; and that down time is important to keep our Soldiers from burning out physically and mentally? I didn't catch that in the article. Instead of reporting on what is actually going on in Iraq, he's trying to lead you to believe that we Soldiers are over here sitting around with nothing to do just waiting to kill people. Be smarter than him! Don't believe it! Now, here's another piece of insider information! It falls in the category of subtle mind-manipulation. Go back to the article and take a look at the picture (which has nothing to do with the story, by the way). Here is a link to the picture. The caption they wrote is this: "U.S. soldiers attend a 2007 ceremony at Camp Victory, the post in Baghdad sometimes referred to as 'Club Med.'" Hmmmm....interesting? A photo just like this - not the same one - was just published in the local paper here on Camp Victory. It was the same thing - a ceremony with a bunch of people attending. It accompanied a story that, in my own words, went something like this: "Hundreds of military members from all services gathered in Al Faw Palace the other day to raise their right hand and become citizens of the country that they are already fighting for an have already sworn to defend 'against all enemies, foreign and domestic." I'm not sure why they would write "Soldiers gather at Club Med" vs. "Heros become citizens" by the picture. Can you? I heard on the news the other day that the "war in Iraq" is at new lows in approval ratings. I also remember that right after 9/11 and after GW announced we were going after Sadaam for WMD (etc, etc, etc) the public approval ratings were high. So what happened? Little by little, it's whittled away, through half page articles and 30-second stories on TV. My advice is this - pay attention to the news...with a skeptical eye. Remember that for every pessimistic war story you see, there are ten optimistic stories filled with hope for the future. There's lots of ways to tell facts in a story. Any news bite you get - even those emails from me - are just one way to tell it. OK, I'm off the soapbox (for now, anyway!). We'll resume to our regularly scheduled program shortly...

Iraq Update 17	May 4, 2008
I'm currently between missions, so it seems like a good time to get another [real] update out. I just finished escorting Eric Edelman around the area. He is the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. Apparently, as one of his staff put it, he's the "...third most powerful person in the Pentagon." This was the mission that proves Murphy's Law! Sand storms cancelled flights so we had to adapt on the fly, vehicles broke down, a tire blew out, we got rear ended, and we were consistently late. It was great fun! One of the meetings we had scheduled got cancelled on the first day. We rescheduled for the second day, but instead of having it at the office of the Iraqi National Security Advisor, we had the meeting at his house. I stayed outside, but it was still pretty cool. And I got to go to the Adnon Palace for the first time. This is where the Ministry of Finance (and other stuff) is located. I've updated the map on www.freakyfoot.com . I am starting to see some patterns, though. I'm starting to hit some of the same places multiple times, which is nice. This way I have an idea of what to expect when we get off the helicopter, the points of contact are the same, and we kind of have the routine down. I have another mission starting up soon. This is fun! I got a package in from my sister a couple of days ago. She included a packet of flower seeds - wildflower assortment. I planted in them around one of the trees outside our door. I took a "before" picture. Hopefully I can put an "after" picture up in a month or so. She also included a box of Crunchy Corn Bran cereal. This was one of our favorites when we were kids. We thought they stopped making it, but apparently they make it again. I ate a couple of bowls after we got in from the movie screening last night. What movie screening? Well, I'm glad you asked. :) D.B. Sweeney is in town promoting a new movie (Two Tickets to Paradise) that he wrote, directed, and acted in. He's staying in the JVB hotel. I didn't even recognize him, but when someone told me he was in "The Cutting Edge" (hockey player turns figure skater...remember? "Toe pick!") it all came back to me. He was the hockey player in that movie. He's a very nice guy, too. So down to earth. I was out watering my flowers before going on a run this morning when I saw him run by with one of our Lieutenants. I finished up watering the plants and caught up with them. We ran for about 20 minutes. He asked what I was doing with the water hose, so I told him my goal was to turn the pile of dirt into a nice yard and garden. He told me that he would try and find some seeds or something too. So he took my address. On my couple of days off, I also got to do some personal things. I wrote a couple of entries in my book "A Father's Legacy." My dad got me this book. It's a book with a question at the top of each page. You answer the question in your own words. When you're done, you have a book. I'll give it to JJ when he gets older. I also finished up Season One of the Golden Girls! Stacey sent season's one through three a couple of weeks ago. At family gatherings we'd often quote and laugh about the show. I get friendly teasing about the Golden Girls, but I don't care. They are funny. Funny stuff makes you laugh. And laughing makes you smile. And smiling is good for the soul! It keeps you young - I highly recommend it!

Iraq Update 18	May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there - especially Tata, Mom, Maw-Maw, Gi-Gi, and Grandma Edie! I'm so lucky to be surrounded by all of these moms in my life! I love you all! Ok, enough "sappy sappy"...back to the update! I had one mission since the last email. We escorted LTG Martin Kimmons (that's three stars) around this time. He works in the Army G2 arena. "G2" is Army shorthand for "Intelligence." He works in the Pentagon in the office that oversees the gathering and processing of intelligence. We visited where detainees are questioned. I just stayed in the lobby, though. Have you ever wondered what we do when we capture cell phones, computers, or other electronic devices from suspicious people? I sure have! And now I know! We visited the place where these things go after they are processed. There are teams of smart computer people that pull whatever information they can get off of these devices. There are also translators that assist in converting the information to English so we can understand it better. We also revisited several places to which I've already been. In the "it's a small world" category...there was a guy in the group - a Lieutenant Colonel - that was from Russellville. His dad was in the 39th Brigade! I started asking around if anyone remembered him. Several people did. I asked dad if he remembered him as well. It turns out that his dad was in the unit that my dad was the Battalion Commander of! His wife is from Benton just like my wife, though they are about 10 years or so apart. Whenever we have a DV (Distinguished Visitor) visit, they are assigned an Escort Officer (i.e. me), a medic, and a squad from the company to assist with movements and all. Guess who was on the squad that had this mission with me? The guy that was quoted in the article I included in Iraq Update 16! Remember, the one that made the comment about "sitting around" waiting for something to do? I made sure to bring that up every time I had the chance - good natured ribbing, of course! I'd ask him, "Are you busy enough? I don't want you to feel like you're just sitting around with nothing to do." He made the comment that his battery on his radio was starting to go out. So I said, "We need to get that fixed. I want you to be able to communicate while you're sitting around with nothing to do!" He was like, "Ha. Ha. Ha. You're not going to forget that are you, sir?" Nope! :) So I have a few days between this mission and my next one. I took advantage of the time to plant some flower seeds that my grandmother sent me this past week. I've got three flower beds at the base of trees going now. We are under a "water conservation effort" so I can't use our water hose to water them (the water hose pulls from the 'good water' stockpile). Fortunately, I'm on the lake! I bought a watering can from the Bizarre yesterday. I just go to the lake and dip it in and water that way. It takes me about 10-15 trips to get them all watered, but I've still got more to plant. I think I may look around for a little water pump I can attach a hose to in order to keep my garden lively! A group of eleven of us got up early this morning - around 5:30 - and went out to a local meeting place on post. One of the units on post sponsored a 4.4 mile "Run Under the Sun" today. The unit was the 44th, hence the 4.4 miles. I had to go run anyway, so I decided to go with the group and do this one. Hey, you get a free t-shirt! What could be better. I was hoping to run the race in about 33 minutes. This would be a pace of 7:30 per mile. My usual pace is 8:00 per mile, but I thought I may be able to make my goal...I have been running every other day to stay in shape. It turns out that I beat my goal by a minute and a half! It took me 31:30 to finish the race. That's a pace of 7:10 per mile. I was pretty pleased; I haven't run that fast in a long time. There's another race (and another t-shirt!) next Sunday as well. It's a 5k. I hope to make that one, too.

Iraq Update 19	May 18, 2008
I've had a pretty busy week this week! It's been nice, and it has passed the time. My first mission started just after my last email. We had LTG Dempsey come into town to visit a few places. He is the acting Commander of CENTCOM (Central Command). This is the job that General Petraeus will go to if confirmed by the Senate. I got to go for the first time to the Prime Minister's Office (Nori al-Maliki). After they went into the meeting, I went back into the lobby area which was nice and big. After we sat there about ten or fifteen minutes, this guy came by with some orange drink in a long stemmed glass. I was thinking it was orange soda or something, but it was free and I was thirsty! I took a little sip and discovered it wasn't orange soda but orange juice - REAL OJ! It was freshly squeezed and ice cold (it even had some little orange ice slivers in it!). I'm not sure if I've ever had OJ that good! I guzzled it down. While I was sipping my OJ, I was watching the news on TV. I couldn't understand it because it was all in Arabic, but it was something to watch. All of a sudden I saw a news clip from earlier in the day. It was filmed in the same room I was sitting in. I was like "Hey, there's that chair!" and "That's that painting on the wall!" It was like sitting in the Rose Garden watching TV seeing what happened in the Rose Garden earlier that day. Well, I thought it was neat anyway. After that mission was over, I had another VIP in town. His name is Lieutenant Colonel Jim Foot! Dad went to visit where he will deploy after he leaves Kuwait. On his way back to Kuwait he stopped through Camp Victory for a couple of days. We hung out, I gave him a tour of the place, we played at Flinstone Village, we hit golf balls, and visited the palace. Dad even got his picture made in the big giant chair! There's pictures on the Picasa page. My next mission started the day after dad left. It was another Congressional Delegation (like my first mission) so we just supported the Department of State. The big name in this group was the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. There were seven other representatives in the group as well - Hoyer (MD), Putnam (FL, the lone Republican), Berman (CA), Harman (CA), Ackerman (NY), Hastings (FL), and Larson (CT) - so it was pretty "DV Heavy." There was no shortage of people to "assist" with the mission. A lot of my job was just to stay out of the way but be available if needed! We did get to visit the Prime Minister again. I was all geared up for my OJ! They were in there long enough for two rounds of drinks, but no OJ. The grape juice and fresh peach juice was mighty tasty though! I really didn't interact with the Speaker too much, but she seemed nice - regardless of your political view :) I did manage to snap a picture of one of her press conferences (at the home of the Speaker of the Council of Representatives, her counterpart in Iraq) and I got one with her during a meet-and-greet at the end of the day. Then on the way back to the JVB, I hear on the radio (BBC) "Nancy Pelosi is in Iraq today on a previously unannounced visit to Iraq where she is meeting wtih senior leaders..." Well, I guess that's enough for now. I have more missions coming up, so I'll get back to you in about a week or so!

Iraq Update 20	May 25, 2008
It's hard to believe that I'm already on Update 20...it seems like just last week I was only on Update 19! I had a couple of Governors come in this week - Gov. Daniels from Indiana and Gov Gibbons from Nevada. The Governor Delegations (GOVDELs) come in every now and then to visit their National Guard troops that are in country. The nice thing about this - being National Guard focused - is that usually the Chief of the National Guard Bureau (LTG Blum) comes as well. I've been looking forward to one of these missions since LTG Blum was my former boss. When I first moved to the DC area, it was to take a job as the NGB Protocol Officer - a very fun job, and one that I greatly enjoyed! We traveled around and visited troops. I did manage to get a picture with the General (and his Aide, another buddy of mine) as well. He was very nice and he even remembered Stacey and asked how she was doing. Stacey came and helped out at some of the events we did for him. I told him I had a son now; and thanks to Stacey, I had pictures to show him! I played the role of the "proud papa!" On one of my days off, a buddy of mine from back home dropped by. He was in the Guard, but got out to join the FBI. He's here on a tour as well. It was nice to get to see him as well. I had another mission after these days off, but it was a pretty short one - about 24 hours. We just shuttled a three-star and his crew from place to place around Camp Victory to places we've been a few times. So, not every visit is some glamorous, wiz-bang mission. Some of them are kind of slow. But even on the slow missions, it's kind of nice just because you get to meet people and make connections and see how small the world really is. For instance, the Aide de Camp for this last General is a Major that was in the small group down the hall from me when I went through my ILE (Intermediate Level Education) last January-April. At the time, I'm sure we never thought that we'd cross paths again in Iraq! I got a couple of pictures from mom showing the progress of her new kitchen. I was blown away! It looks so nice! The knocked out some walls and built it up very nicely! It looks so fancy; I can't wait to see it in person and watch JJ run around in it! I'm still watering the seeds every day, but nothing is coming up yet. According to the package, I have to wait almost two months before I'll see some sign of life from the flowers. But I should only have to wait another week or so for the grass to spring up (if it decides to grow!). If it goes another week or two with no sign of life, I may have to waive the white flag. But until then, I'm remaining vigilant about watering the seeds and hoping for the best! I did a little web cam with Stacey and JJ the other day. He's crawling around now! He's not at full speed, but he's getting around. I'm sure it'll be no time before he's scooting around like crazy and getting ready to start walking. One thing he does that really cracks me up - when Stacey holds him up under his arms with his legs dangling down, he just kicks his legs and flails them around until they hit the ground again. It is so funny to see on the web cam. I bet it's even funnier in person!

Iraq Update 21	June 1, 2008
It's been slow here this past week. General Petraeus has been gone, so our mission load has been low. A lot of the people we escort around want to meet with him. So if he's not here, they don't come. But he'll be back and we'll pick back up again, I'm sure. So I've been enjoying the time off, getting back into my exercising, whacking a few balls into the lake, reading a few books, etc, etc, etc. I began to feel guilty after my last email - about skimping on my PT (Physical Training) program. So I started doing PT again. I ran for the first time in a couple of weeks and I FELT IT! I went about 35 minutes and was sore the rest of the day...and into the next. But, it's subsided and I'm back in the routine. We had a diagnostic PT test this week. We take these just to see where we stand before we take a real PT test in a few months or so. We have to do two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups, and run two miles. Each even is worth 100 points on a sliding scale. In order to max the events, I have to do 75 push-ups (which I did), 76 sit-ups (I did 85), and run two miles in 13:18 (it took me 15:02). So I only got 284 out of 300 points. I think if I keep at it, I may be able to max the run as well, but that'd really be pushing it. I haven't run that fast of a two-mile since I was 17 in Basic Training! I hung out a little this week with my friend Matt (from the last email, the one in the FBI). It's nice to have friends stop by just to chill. Another friend from the Guard Bureau showed up in Iraq this week. MAJ Ramos worked in the same branch in which I worked (Budget Formulation) when I was recalled for deployment. He worked in the cubicle next to mine. Now he works just across Victory Lake in the Palace! I stopped by a few days ago to welcome him to the neighborhood. Anyone out there use LinkedIn? It's kind of like a "My Space," but it is more focused on the "professional" crowd. Anyway, I was on there the other day and found the artist that did a print for JJ when he was born. So I "linked" to her profile and she ended up "subscribing" to the Iraq Updates as well. When Stacey and I were on our honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, we decided to start an Art Collection. We bought our first painting there. We decided to build up our collection slowly by purchasing something every few years or when we had a memorable/milestone event. You can see the Art Collection we have so far through this link. I'll have to find something to add to the collection to remember the deployment. I've got my eye out for Iraq's version of Rembrandt! There are programs all over Iraq where you can get US flags flown over key buildings or bases. Dad and I had one flown over Al Faw Palace (one of Sadaam's Palaces that is now the Headquarters to Multi-National Forces/Corps - Iraq) to give to the First Baptist Church in Little Rock. They have a big event every year called the Walk of Honor on Memorial Day Weekend and Veteran's Day. They line the church property with US Flags and have a ceremony as well. The flag we had flown for them didn't make it for this year's Memorial Day ceremony, but it will make it for Veteran's Day this fall. Oh, an update on my ambitious goal of growing grass and flowers and creating a beautiful paradise here - it may have been too much to ask. I planted a test patch of grass over three weeks ago. I cared for it, watered it, played Beethoven for it, but still nothing! The directions on the bag of seeds say they should spout in 15 days. It's not looking so good. We also got put on a water conservation effort here, which really puts a crimp in my watering plans! I can still dip out of the lake since that is a separate water supply from the shower and bathroom water (which is delivered on trucks). I have a pump on the way so I can run a hose, but it may be all for naught. Green grass and flowers may have to be one of the things I add to the list of stuff I look forward to seeing when I get back home! And guess what else?!? I got a text from Stacey letting me know that JJ stood up all by himself this week! There's a picture of him standing up in the crib on Picasa. Until next time...

Iraq Update 22	June 8, 2008
This week was kind of slow again. I was doing prep for an upcoming mission. The Advance Party was here (these are the guys that come before the DV to make sure things are ready). We were working with them when we found out that the mission got cancelled due to some pressing issues back at work. So our days freed up again. This was kind of nice because the mission would have started today, and there was a 10K run this morning. I may have used the mission as an excuse not to do it, but since it cancelled I was kind of bound to do it. There were only four of us that ran it this morning. I wasn't looking forward to it to be honest - 6.2 miles is a long way! But I knew that if I did it, I'd feel good on the inside for having accomplished it. And I do! I finished in 44:10, which comes to 7:07/mile. That seems fast for me...I may go drive the route to see if it really was 6.2 miles. UPDATE: I did go drive the route. By the odometer, it was 5.8 miles. There could be come error, but if it really was 5.8 miles, that means I ran 7:37 miles - which I'm still extatic about! I've been trying to use some of my slow times to work on a web site of mine - the "business" one, not FrEaKyFoOt.com. This site is called Vend-Trak.com. I built is several years ago, when me and dad first bought some candy machines, to help us manage them - the inventory, the services, the expenses, the mileage, etc, etc, etc. After we used it for a while I opened it up for others to use as well. Now I have quite a few users. I've been through an upgrade and, thanks to my friend at DecodeTheCode.com, we're working on a Version 3. He's spearheading the development while I work on a marketing plan. It's been a nice "side project" for a few years, but we're ready to see if it can really grow. We'll see... Before I left, I went to the website www.flatdaddies.com and ordered a Flat Daddy for JJ. A Flat Daddy is just a life sized picture printed on contact paper. You can order one and get it quickly or you can put in for a free one and it takes longer (over five months in my case). People send in donations to pay for them for deployed Soldiers. Well, ours finally arrived! It's awesome! Now JJ can hang out with me, even though I'm not there. I (and JJ and Tata) can thank some thoughtful donor for our very own Flat Daddy! I found out the other day that there are videos made by the 39th Brigade PAO (Public Affairs Office) on www.dvidshub.net. This is a site where people go to post b-roll (like generic canned images of stuff) and finished stories. They can be picked up by news outlets and reused on their broadcasts. There are several there including the Toby Keith visit and our Combat Patch ceremony. I haven't had time to watch them yet, but I've heard they are good. If you want to watch them, you'll have to create a [free] account, though. That just takes a second to do. I talked to dad this past week and he had some good news! Actually he had some "good news" and some "better news" to share. His good news is that he's just a few days from being through with his time in Kuwait. The better news is that he is getting a different assignment. He's not going to be going to Camp Taji anymore; he's going to be going to work with the Brigade staff...they are on Camp Victory! We'll be right here on the same post together - just a few minutes by foot! How cool is that!?! I got a care package from Stacey this past week. She sent me The Foot Book and Where the Wild Things Are to read to JJ. Well, not really to him, but to a camera so it can be played for him. Now what I need is a Flat Daddy with a moving mouth! That'd be something! And speaking of care packages, I got another one yesterday! It was from D.B. Sweeney! Remember when I wrote that he was in town promoting his movie "Two Tickets to Paradise"? I mentioned in that Update that he saw me watering the "yard" one morning before a little jog. He ran by with one of our lieutenants, and I caught up with them a few minutes later (after I finished watering the dirt!). I told him I was trying to grow a nice yard before I left, so he sent me some grass seeds and flower seeds! I got my water pump in yesterday as well, so I can pick back up on the watering (straight out of the lake) without stealing the valuable "potable" water supply we use for showers and such.

Iraq Update 23	June 15, 2008
Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! This is my first to join your ranks! It would be nice to be able to get my necktie and watch sports all day at home, but here I sit in the cradle of civilization! Oh, well...maybe next year!!! At least JJ got to spend Father's Day with his Flat Daddy! Speaking of fathers, dad finally got himself settled in here at Camp Victory. He is using the next week or so to "RIP" into his position. RIP is the quick-military way of saying "Relieve in Place" - it's when you link up with the person already doing your job and they teach you how to do it. It's also known as a "left seat, right seat ride" sometimes. It's a pretty smooth way to transition people and units while continuing to do the mission. I ended a little bit of a "mission drought" the other day when I picked up a DV at the airport. We're spending most of our time at a permanent location off of Camp Victory. There aren't many movements with this one, so it's kind of slow. They will be in town for a while, so we may end up being pulled off the mission if they become "self-supporting." Until then, I'm on the clock! During some down time the other day, I found a painter in the International Zone! I think I may see if he as anything that he could offer to our art collection. He had an interesting and "fun" style - maybe he can do something especially for us! We shall see. One of the guys at our battalion headquarters caught a huge fish a couple of weeks ago. The sucker was over five feet long. There's one picture of it laying on the ground with a guy laying next to it - they are almost the same size! They sent in another picture of the fish to Field and Stream and it made it as one of the Pictures of the Week. Until I saw this one, I thought we caught some big fish! Well, that is all for now. Hopefully I'll have a more exciting update for you next time!

Iraq Update 24	June 22, 2008
Hello, everyone! Time for another update from my little corner of the big sandbox! I was "on mission" most of the week, but it was kind of slow. I was escorting one of the Deputy Assistant Secretaries of Defense. We were in the IZ (International Zone) almost the whole time and spent most of that time in the US Embassy. One thing that was nice, though, was that there was a TV and Internet in my room! Because of where I live, I don't have those luxuries at Camp Victory. I'm not complaining, though. It is actually nice not to have the TV to compete for my attention. If I did have a TV in my room, I could easily go brain dead and sit in front of it with a blank stare. Without the distraction, I use the time for other stimulating activities - reading a book, reading the paper (Stars and Stripes), working the crossword, working the Cryptoquote, unscrambling the Jumble puzzle, and other things like that. When I got back from my mission in the middle of the week, I had a package waiting for me. It was from Tata and the little Turd (i.e Stacey and JJ) for Father's Day! I got a coffee cup with a picture of me and JJ on it! It was a perfect "fatherly" Father's Day gift! No necktie, though. Maybe next year! :) I did a web cam with them this week to check in and Stacey showed me this funny thing that JJ does. Since he has the Flat Daddy now, he can get used to what I look like. So she'll look at him and say "Where's Daddy?" He'll look around for the Flat Daddy and pat it if he's sitting next to it. If he's not next to it, or it's not in the room, he'll just look around for it! It's funny! The other day I went to the Oasis (Dining Facility, or DFAC) with dad, and there was a group of like five or six guys in a little brass ensemble playing songs. There was a tuba, trumpet, and some other stuff including dad's favorite - the french horn! Dad plays the french horn in the orchestra at church (he also played in a couple of community bands like the North Little Rock Orchestra in the past). He was like a kid in a candy store - you should have seen his eyes light up when we saw and heard them! He said he could have sat there and listened to them for hours. I bet he's right!

Iraq Update 25	June 28, 2008
Another slow-ish week here at Camp Victory, but I've got some things in the pipeline! I spent this week doing some mission planning for one of my upcoming missions. That's not as fun as actually doing the mission, but without some planning beforehand the doing could be really painful! So, this email has a lot less "Iraq Update" stuff in it and more hodge-podge. I got an email from Stacey the other day letting me know that JJ's first tooth is coming in! The link will take you to a picture of him feeling of it. There's also some new picture of him watching me read books to him. Stacey sent them to me, remember, to read into the camera. I read the two she sent (The Foot Book and Where the Wild Things Are) and they watched them this week. She said he was fixated on the computer watching me read, and the pictures prove it! I got more in the mail to read, too. I read them into my digital camera and it comes out as a QuickTime file, so it's not the clearest, but it'll do! I was excited when another package arrived this week. It wasn't to me personally, though. It was to our whole company. One of the guys in our company sent an email to Ping (the golf company) and told them we had a driving range with a lot of old clubs. They have a donation program. They sent us three boxes of new (well, new to us...very good condition) clubs! They are demo models and rentals, but they look brand new. It's mostly drivers, 3-woods, and 5-woods, though there are some irons in there. I went out to hit them 15 minutes after they arrived. Man you can really tell a difference between old clubs and new ones. We're very thankful to Ping for this generous gift. And word on the street is that there are other companies sending some as well! I did get another package in this week that was just for me. It was from a buddy of mine from college (University of Arkansas). As you may (or may not) know, we have a new football coach - Bobby Petrino. He came from the Atlanta Falcons and before that Wisconsin. He's known for explosive offenses! Well, my pal came up with a t-shirt idea based on Petrino's reputation for explosive offenses. It's called Petrinol (as in a reference to oil, you know, "petro")...High Octane Offense! He's got several shirt designs featuring that slogan and the "Feed the Studs" catchphrase on sale at his web site www.Petrinol.com. My favorite is the Petrinol "Top Ten" shirt listing the top ten reasons to look forward to the Hog 2008 season (my favorite is "4. Hearing someone murmur 'wow, that was a great play call!'") I've got mine...do you have yours yet?

Iraq Update 26	July 6, 2008
Well, here it is again! Another update from the sand box! I actually got to go on another mission this past week. This was nice because the time really goes much faster when we're out on mission. This one was another CODEL (Congressional Delegation). We had five Representatives from Congress this time - Ms. Hirono (HI), Mr. Childers (MS), Mr. Bilbray (CA), Ms. Drake (VA), and Mr. Goodlatte (VA). I looked online to see if the two Representatives from Virginia were from my district, but they weren't. I did get to talk with them at the DFAC (Dining Facility) before they left. Their plane was delayed, so we at at the DFAC on base. I sat with Ms. Drake from Virginia. She was really nice and pleasant to talk with. I got to go one new place on this trip - Fallujah. I think Fallaujah sounds scary to most people (it did to me) because of the battles back in 2006. But it isn't that way these days. That area has turned around 180 degrees in the past two years. Don't get me wrong, it's not a playground; but it is much better now. That area still falls in the Marines area of operations. Since the Marines brought us in, we got to come in on one of their aircraft - the MV-22, or the Osprey! This is the plane/helicopter aircraft. It takes off like a helicopter and then transforms into an airplane while it's flying. It's really a fun, and interesting, ride! When we arrived, we got in vehicles and drove to the HQs for their briefings. The thermometer in the rear view mirror read 125 degrees! We had some free time in the company this week - I guess because of Independence Day it's slow - but we got a group of people together to play some softball. We played in the late afternoon, and it was hot! It was nice, though, to get out there and play. I guess my team back home (First Baptist Alexandria) is in the middle of their season by about now. There are tournaments periodically here on post. Our company may try and put together a team to play in one if we have the time. We celebrated Independence Day here at the company with tournaments all day and cookouts for lunch and dinner. First we played horseshoes. I was out in the first two games of double elimination. Then we played Ping Pong. I was out in the first round and lasted just a couple of rounds in the losers' bracket. Then we had a Texas Hold 'em tournament. I was about the third guy out! To bad we didn't have a typing competition or a "build a PowerPoint tournament"!!! I think I could have had a chance in those! All in all it was a good day, though. We had some fun together. We had another 10K run this morning. I haven't been running consistently in the past couple of weeks, but I managed to finish in 47:49. I was shooting for 48:00 and was cutting it close. I had to "gut it out" when I saw the finish line to make my goal. My pace (7:43) was a little slower than last time, but still under 8 minutes/mile, which is where I'd like to stay. An of course, there was a free t-shirt in the deal!

Iraq Update 27	July 13, 2008
This past Friday marked our 100th day in Iraq. At some point over the past few months, it has seemed slow. But at other times it has seemed to really fly by. I guess people have a lot of free time in the summer. It seems like our mission load is picking up. Of course there are always missions being added and dropped on an almost daily basis. Having missions is nice - it really does pass the time faster. This past week was a busy one. I finished the most complex mission I've had so far. It was a large party, but they split up when they got here. It was a combination of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen) and there was a group from the USO. I had the CJCS's party to escort and someone else took the USO group (Drew Breese, Osi Umenyiora, a couple of Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Roger Goodell, and some others). I got to visit two new places on this mission - Sadr City and Mosul. Both of these places have been recent "hotbeds" of action that have become more secure due to military efforts. The CJCS had reporters that traveled with him. One of them was Jennifer Griffen from FOX news. She did a story on both Sadr City and Mosul. I didn't make it into the videos, though. I didn't have a chance to put on my make up those days, so I guess I wasn't camera worthy! I got another package from Stacey this week. This one had our video recorder in it. She sent me this so I could record me reading books. I did a couple of books a few weeks ago, but I did them with my camera. It's not a clear as with a video recorder. So, it looks like I have some more reading to do! Speaking of reading, I finished another book this week. It was called "Dawn Over Kitty Hawk: A Novel of the Wright Brothers." I usually don't read "story" books - I watch movies for entertainment and read for "learning." It was actually a pretty good book - I had no idea that there was so much cut throat competition entering the age of flying! Alexander Grham Bell was even in the hunt! The last thing of note this week happened today. There was a volleyball tournament today. We had seven people show up. There were eight teams in the tourney; we played on a sand court at the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) building. I'm proud to say we took home the gold! We didn't lose a single match - or even a single game! They said they'd hang our picture in the mess hall - the "hall of champions."

Iraq Update 28	July 18, 2008
A few days ago, we noticed that our hot water wasn't as hot as it used to be. We let it ride for about four days or so before we put in a maintenance request to have it looked at. It turns out that it has not been working for almost a week. We still had some luke-warm water, though, just from the heat of the day and the sun beating down on the water tank! They had it fixed in 20 minutes - now it's super hot! With that major crisis solved we were able to move forward with the job at hand. I had just one mission to report this past week. We escorted the TAG (Adjutant General) from the Georgia National Guard. He was here visiting some of his troops that are in Iraq. He visited a few places, but we were only with him for the VBC (Victory Base Compound) portion of his visit. Gary Sinise ("Lieutenant Dan", CSI: NY) was in the hotel this week. I found out he was going to stay with us about 15 minutes before he arrived. I was walking through the hotel after lunch and came to a doorway. He was going through it at the same time I was. He said, "Hello." So I said "hello" back to him. Well, that was a pretty boring story. Sorry it wasn't more exciting. Maybe the next story will be a little more interesting! About a week ago I got an email that read: "...the primary trip planners and primary escort officers are invited to run PT with GEN P on FRI 18 JUL..." and it was sent by General Petraeus' Aide! That was a little shocker for us, but we easily translated the message: "Be there!" So for a week we were all wondering what it was going to be like, how fast he'd run, how far we'd go, etc, etc, etc. We heard horror stories about 10 mile runs at a six-minute mile pace and that he was featured in Runner's World magazine. Turns out that it was true (see the article). And the fact that the following line in the email was added didn't help any: "I am aware that all of them probably can not 'keep up' with the boss for the entire way." Boy, oh boy! We showed up at 6:15 (our "start time was 6:30) at his house and waited for him to come out. While waiting, we got a little "prep course" on running with the boss. This was to be a "social run." We had a total of nine in our group, so we decided to rotate through running side-by-side with him - one on the left and one on the right during the run. After some quick introductions, we walked a few hundred yards down the road and did some stretches. We started off at about a 7:30 mile pace. Kind of quick, but I kept up. But he gradually increased the pace as we ran. We rotated people through the "front" to talk with him. We heard that if he talked he ran slower. Yeah, right! After 5.6 miles he was done and our closest person was about 100m behind him. And, no, it wasn't me! At about mile four he started hitting about 7:00 pace and I hit the wall. I came in a minute or two after him. So, once we were done, I think we all breathed a sign of relief! We went inside his house to cool down, stretch, and drink some water. Or so we thought! There were PT mats laid out on the floor! We did do some stretching, but he also led us in leg and ab exercises. Then we moved to pushups! We were all beat - and we have some pretty athletic people in our group! We'd do pushups - he'd knock out 40 or 50 and we'd knock out 20-40! He's a machine! It was a great experience, though. It's just another day of PT for him, but it's a lifetime story for us! He presented coins to all of us for hanging in there. I gave him one of our "Charlie Company" coins that we had made up after we got here. It was cool to get to give the General one of our coins. A couple of the Lieutenants vowed to practice up and demand a re-match before he leaves for his new job as CENTCOM Commander sometime in the Fall. I'll pass. If they do get a rematch, I'll be happy to stand on the sidelines, take pictures, and cheer them on!

Iraq Update 29	July 26, 2008
It's been a fun, and busy, week this week! I started a mission right after the last update. I got several emails, so I'll answer the question right up front - no, I didn't escort Obama when he was here. I was going to, but then another mission for the Chief of Staff of the Army (CS) came in that we took. Since we (JVB) have the lead on this mission and we just play a supporting role on the Congressional Delegation (CODEL) that Obama was part of, another Escort Officer was put on that mission. So no pictures or stories from the Junior Senator from Illinois. Sorry :( The CSA mission was nice, though. It lasted three days. We escorted General Casey and his party to several places in country. He is another member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS). We had the Chairman the week before last and the Army rep this past week. We havn't seen the reps from the Marines, Navy, and Air Force yet though. But if they ever come through, we'll have the whole "Joint Chiefs" collection! We went to several places; one of them was new, so I added it to the map. It was another place up North called Q-West. The "Q" actually stands for "Quyarah" but it's easier to say "Q-West" (or "Key West" as it more often comes out!). The mission ended in Mosul, so once the DV party left that night we had to get home. We had a perfect plan to fly to Balad, spend the night, and catch a HELO ride to Camp Victory the next morning. But that whole plan was scrapped when the pilots said there wasn't room for me (and my medic) on the plane to Balad. So we spent the night there and worked on Plan B. Plan B was to catch a plane to Ali Al Salem (AAS), Kuwait that was supposed to turn around and fly back north to Baghdad. We made it to Kuwait and the plane shut down. I asked the crew chief if they were going to Baghdad. He was like, "Nope, we're done for the day!" That was their last stop! So we went inside and tried to find something to Baghdad, but there was nothing until the next morning. We took over a tent and caught a couple of hours of sleep and showed back up at 4:00 the next morning. We finally got a flight on a C-17 (BIG PLANE!) and made it back to Camp Victory by noon or so. We we arrived, we found out that we had another mission assigned to us. And guess where we had to go the next day to pick them up...Ali Al Salem, Kuwait!!! More on this one in the next update (ooooh, is the suspense killing you?!?) We're getting into the "hot" season over here. On this last mission, we flew to a Camp up north and got into an SUV. The thermostat in the rear view mirror read 140 degrees! We waited for it to go down a little, but alas it did not! When the wind blows it's like having a giant hair dryer blowing on you! Another "big event" happened this past week. At least it was big for us. The Brigade that will be replacing us sent representatives from their units to meet with representatives from our units. They come down in advance to learn about what we're doing and how they need to train, plan, and organize themselves before they come over to relieve us. It was nice to see them because it kind of let us see that there is a "light at the end of the tunnel." And now, before I leave you, we need to have a moment of silence. Several of you emailed me to let me know that Estelle Getty died this past week. While we will all miss Sophia, she will live forever in my Golden Girls DVD collection. I'm currently in Season 4 of 7. Maybe I'll send them to one of my lucky readers when I've finished them all. It'll be a reward for making it through these sometimes too-long updates! All together now (you know you want to sing it out loud), "...thank you for being a friend. Traveled down the road and back again. Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant..." There! That should stay stuck in your head for a while!

Iraq Update 30	August 2, 2008
This week has been another busy one! As I mentioned in the last update, we finished up one mission in Ali Al Salem (Kuwait) and finally caught a ride back to Camp Victory only to find out that we had to go back there to start the next mission! We had two flights scheduled to take us to Kuwait the day prior to the mission starting, but they both cancelled on us. So we came back to the JVB hotel to get a little sleep before getting to the airport at 0415 for an 0815 flight. When we got to the hotel, we found out that General Petraeus (aka "P4"...P=Petraeus and 4=four stars) was on the back porch talking to someone. His staff was just hanging around waiting for him. Since he (Petraeus) had a rep on this mission, she was telling the staff about our problem of getting a flight to Kuwait to meet our party (CODEL Lynch). To make a long story short, P4 had his aide call in a flight for us! We rode in style in a UC-35! It's like a corporate jet or something!We arrived in Kuwait about 5 minutes after the CODEL arrived, and we parked right beside them. It couldn't have been better if it was planned that way! (Actually, if it was planned, there's no way it would have worked out that perfect!!!) The ranking member of the CODEL was Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA). If you remember from one of my first updates from Iraq, "CODEL Lynch" was my first mission. So this was the second time that I've been on his mission, although he had different representatives with him this time. They visited the port at Umm Qsar (another peg for my map!) where they met with the Coast Guard who is helping to train the Iraqi Navy and Marines in maritime operations. We got to ride on one of their boats around the port as well. That was pretty neat to see. It wasn't quite like going to "the lake" back in Arkansas, but you take what you can get around here! After the CODEL, we had a day off and then picked up our next mission - the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. All of the places we went were oriented towards the PAO (Public Affairs Office) and PAO units. One of the neatest places to me was the AFN (Armed Forces Network) broadcasting area. AFN has TV and Radio assets here in country so we get US TV and radio almost everywhere in Iraq. The radio booth is a little unassuming trailer with a bunch of CDs and a desk with a microphone. It was neat to see that there is actually someone in there picking out the songs they play and telling us how hot it's going to be today. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how the water heater went out and we didn't know because the sun kept the water pretty warm. I could take a shower with the "hot" side on full blast and it was just about right. We'll it's gotten so hot here lately that the "cold" water gets hot. On a couple of days, I've taken a shower after 10:00 or so in the morning. When that happens, watch out! You don't need the hot water side at all because the "cold" water is almost boiling! The cold water is kept in tanks and storage areas that can get baked by the sun. We've come to call this hot water in the cold faucet "scalding cold water!"

Iraq Update 31	August 10, 2008
This week started right after I sent the last update. We had another CODEL arrive last Saturday. This one was especially important to us (being from the Arkansas National Guard) because four of the six elected officials were from Arkansas! The Arkansas officials were Congressman Mike Ross, Congressman Marion Berry, Congressman John Boozman, and Senator Mark Pryor. We also had our Adjutant General (TAG), Major General Wofford, accompany the party on the trip. We got to see troops in a couple of places, and they met with General Petraeus in the International Zone. I got an email forwarded to me that said I made the news after this trip. Actually, a picture of the CODEL made the news - I just happend to be in the picture. (I'll do autographs when I get home!) They started the mission in Al Asad, which is west of Baghdad. This was my first time to this base, so I got to add another "pin" to my map. I was especially excited to go to Al Asad because I got to see a good friend of mine from high school, David. He had the day off, so we were able to meet for dinner at the DFAC (Dining Facility). It's always good to see people you know over here, and it was nice to get to hang out with David for a little bit. A couple of days after that mission was over, we had the Deputy Secretary of Defense come into town. He's the #2 guy in the Department of Defense. This one was different because we (his advance team and our guys) spent several days planning this part of his trip. He was on the ground less than 24 hours, though! Iraq was just one part of his multi-country trip. This is the case with a lot of the people that come visit. Stacey packed up this week to head to Arkansas to ride out the rest of the deployment. Since she's going to be there with JJ for a while, we decided to get a six-month lease on an apartment in Bryant. This way she can be close to family but not have to impose for an extended period of time. Visiting is fine, but you can easily wear out your welcome in half a year! :) This will also give us almost a month when I get back from Iraq to hang out together in our own place...just Mern (that's me), Tata (that's Stacey), and the Little Turd (that's JJ!). Oh, get this! When you use military computers over here, you have to insert your ID card into a little slot and then enter a PIN to log on. This is nice because you don't have to remember usernames and passwords and change them all the time. However, it sometimes causes headaches around meal time because you have to have your ID card to get into the DFAC as well. There have been times when I've made the ten minute walk to the DFAC only to realize that I left my ID card in the computer! It's at that point I have to hang my head, turn around, and walk all the way back to get it. When you see someone walking back to their office with their head hanging low, you can tell that they are making the "Walk of Shame." I've had to make the "Walk of Shame" a few times since being deployed. It'll be nice to get back home and go eat without having to worry about "do I have my ID card with me!"

Iraq Update 32	August 17, 2008
I finished another book this week. This one was special to me because I personally know the author. One of our trip planners (the people that plan the trips on which I escort) grew up as a Mormon in Utah, in a very strict Mormon family. After his two year mission, he became a Christian. This caused a lot of strife among his family. The book is about his growing up Mormon, his conversion, and other life experiences. I was surprised at how interesting his life is. And he is a gifted writer, making the book interesting to read. It's not for sale on the open market (not yet anyway, he's thinking about putting it on Amazon or something). He had it published and bought several hundred copies that he gives away. After I read my copy, I gave it to dad to read. He's working on it now. As far as missions go, I had another one this week. We escorted the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) for three days. The CNO is the Navy's equivalent of the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA). He is one of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since we've already had the Chairman and the CSA, the CNO is our third Joint Chief's member. All that is left is the Air Force and the Marines and the collection is complete! I'm not sure that I'll get those, though. The Marine representative (Commandant of the Marine Corps) came in but overlapped with another mission I had, so I didn't get him. And the Air Force Chief of Staff is brand new. I don't know if he'll get over here before we leave or not. Time will tell, though! The mission with the CNO ended in Kuwait, so we were stuck there again waiting for a ride back home. We ended the mission on the night of the 14th, and we were "space blocked" (i.e. reserved) for a flight on the 16th. As soon as we got to the terminal, we signed up for a space-a[vailable] travel. There were forty-something people ahead of us, but we ended up getting a flight one day early on the 15th. This was nice because it gave us a full day before our next mission to catch up on email traffic, conduct some planning, do laundry, get a haircut, and stuff like that! The Olympic Games are taking up a lot of air time on AFN here. It's nice to be able to watch the games between missions. I really enjoy watching Volleyball (indoor mainly, but beach as well). We were watching the basketball team beat up on someone the other day. It reminded me of the original Dream Team back in 1992 (Jordan, Bird, Magic, etc.). I didn't get to watch those games because I was in Fort Sill, Oklahoma at Basic Training at the time! I had to read about it in letters and stuff. Dad taped some of the games, so I watched one or two when I got home from Basic. Stacey and JJ made it to Arkansas this past week where they will ride out the rest of the deployment. There are several couples at our Alexandria condo complex that were very helpful to Stacey while she was there. They constantly checked in on her, JJ, Sophie, and Daisey and helped her out with a helping hand when she needed one. We are so lucky to have ended up in a place with such good neighbors. For the next several months, they will be in another apartment complex in Arkansas. I hope the neighbors there are as good as the ones in Virginia! I know one will be for sure! They are in the same apartments as Stacey's sister! She'll be there until I get back home and then we'll probably be there a little bit longer (a few weeks maybe) while I close out the deployment and take some leave. Until then, they will just hang out and enjoy being back in Arkansas!

Iraq Update 33	August 20, 2008
This past week began with another CODEL mission. This one only had two Representatives in the delegation - Jim Marshall (D-GA) and Christopher Shays (R-CT). They were in and out pretty quickly, but we did get a chance to see something new and interesting. One of the stops on the trip was Baghdad University. As I've traveled around to many places in Iraq, it's easy to forget that there is some normal life going on here. It's not all just poverty and fighting and insurgance and rebuilding. There are actually people going on with what you and I would call a "normal life" - finishing school, getting an education, trying to get a good job, and build a better life. Part of the time at Baghdad U was spent by the members (Congressional Representatives) talking to graduate students. It's hard to pick out which comments were their own and which were "coached" (if they were, in fact, coached at all). For instance, they almost all said something to the effect of "I love learning and I'd really like the opportunity to study in the United States at an American university. It would be nice if the US could provide scholarships for this." Now some in our group thought this was a "coached" theme since it was pretty much in unison. Of course, it could just be that they all want to study in the states. One comment that I heard stood out to me. The question was "how do you precieve the Americans?" Overwhelming was that they see them as a welcomed presence. One guy said, "...the Iraqis want to see them [US forces] as friends..." It was the "want to" part of his comment that stuck me. It reminded me of the very likable person that you want to like but keeps doing stupid stuff (like Matt Jones and cocaine!!!) It was a reminder that while we may be here doing good things with good intentions, it is still up to us - each individual soldier and civilian - to build the good reputation for the group. On one of my days between missions this past week, my squad had to make a move to the IZ (International Zone, aka the "Green Zone") to transport some DVs back there. I went with them so I could check on the status of my painting. It turns out that he was finished with it! The artists' style was like cubism or Picasso or something. I asked for a "representation of me, Stacey, JJ, Sophie, and Daisey" in his style. He asked for a picture (for inspiration, I assumed). Well, I got a mix of his style with our faces painted in there. Interesting to say the least!

Iraq Update 34	August 31, 2008
Well, the Olympics are over and our focus has shifted. Football is in the air! It's been nice to catch the different sports that are on display during the Olympics, and it will be nice to catch the College/Pro Football games on display as well. There have been a few pre-season games on AFN so far. Nothing real exciting, but enough to get the "fever" going. I signed up for my HogWired account so that I can listen to the games on the radio (well, through the Internet). This is the same way I listen to games when I'm in Virginia. I was on mission for the VICTORY against Western Illinois. From the looks of that game and the others I saw in the SEC, it could be a long season for the Hogs. I had a couple of missions since the last update. The first was escorting LTG Dempsey and his crew. We also had this mission when he came earlier in the year (back in May). LTG Dempsey is acting as the CENTCOM (Central Command) commander right now. This is the job that GEN Petraeus will be taking over when he leaves later this year. After that we had another CODEL come through - Representatives Joe Donnelly (D-IN), John McHugh (R-NY), Steve King (R-IA), and Donald Cazayoux (D-LA) - with another stop to Fallujah, Balad, and the International Zone. We had a one day break and then picked up our next one, a Rear Admiral (one star) from the Navy. All of these missions coming in back-to-back-to-back made time fly by. I can't believe it's just about September (maybe because it still feels like July!). At some point between the last update and this one we officially hit the "double digits!" The countdown to hitting the states is starting to get closer on the horizon. This month really did go by fast, we're almost to September! September will mark Stacey and I's 6th Anniversary (the 21st) and her birthday (the 30th). Then in October, JJ turns one! Holy cow! Speaking of Tata and JJ, they are all moved into the apartment in Arkansas now. They are settling down They will ride out the deployment close to, but not on top of, family. Then we'll have a place to hang out (and play with the Little Turd) when I get back before we head back to DC to return to "normal life" again. Oh, I got an email from a friend of mine who's eight-year-old son started a project to wet his entrepreneurial appetite. He started a web site to raise money to buy video-teleconference equipment for kids who have a parent deployed (and earn a little for a new PlayStation). His site, a pixel-advertising site, can be found at www.GiveMe20Bucks.com. Spread the word! :)

Iraq Update 35	September 7, 2008
We had a big event this past week, one that many others participated in all across the globe. This event was the Fantasy Football Draft! There are twelve people in our company in our league. We all got together (each on our own computer) one night last week and one-by-one selected what we hope to be the team that brings the coveted bragging rights among the guys! Since our league has all Arkansas guys, McFadden and Jones went way earlier than the "experts" say they should have. So I am without either of them, but I think my team is ok. We shall see! Last Tuesday Doc (the Medic that goes on all of my missions with me) had a little cookout on his back porch. He started with 24 steaks, since it was going to be a small event. By the time the night was through, he cooked over 40 steaks and some chicken! We also had potatoes and shells and cheese. They were going to do some kind of potato wedges, but we realized that we don't have a potato peeler anywhere! So baked potatoes it was. These were the same steaks that we get from the dining facility, but they are 100 times better when grilled by Doc's able hands! I was so stuffed that night that I realized that I really need to keep hitting the gym or else I'll be one of these guys that come back way heavier than when I left! I was surprised, though, when I weighed myself the next day at the gym. I started the deployment at 155. I weighed in yesterday at 169! What's up with that!?! Fourteen pounds!?! I'd like to say it's all "muscle" but I'm sure there is some ice cream and cake in there as well! Looks like I have longer runs in my future or Stacey will follow through with her threat to send me to "The Biggest Loser" when I get back home! :) In the previous weeks the Olympics dominated the TV around here. Here lately, the Olympics have been replaced by the Democrat and Republican National Conventions. After hearing about an hour of coverage, you've pretty much heard 90% of what will be said all week. All of the talking heads say the same thing - each from their perspective sides. At some points it just gets funny! Especially when CNN/MSNBC interviews Republicans and FOX interviews Democrats - questions are asked and questions are not answered, dodged, or avoided. It really cracks me up when direct questions are asked and the answer (from these supposedly smart people) has nothing to do with the question. Let the fun begin. At least the conventions are over now and we can concentrate on what's really important this time of year - FOOTBALL!

Iraq Update 36	September 14, 2008
It rained this week! First time, really, since we've been here (outside of a 10 second sprinkle a couple of months ago). We were in the eating area of the JVB and we saw it out the window. We all got up and ran outside and watched the rain from the back porch. It was cool to see it again! A couple of guys went out in it just to feel the drops hit them on the head! It was only a few minutes long, but they were real rain drops! I guess that was a nice way to usher in Fall. It's been cooling off here - barely breaking 100 degrees each day. I got up this morning (Sunday) and went to run another race - a half marathon! 13.1 miles! I signed up for this a few weeks ago, but I didn't write about it in case I chickened out! We ran a satellite race of the Akron Marathon here on Camp Victory. Surprisingly the first hour went by pretty fast. But then it seemed very slow after that. One of the best sites I've seen in Iraq was the 12-mile sign, which meant there was just another 1.1 miles left! I ended up running the event in 1:56:36 (8:54/mile). I was happy with that. I didn't think I'd make it below two hours, but I was happy that I did. Now I don't have to run another some time to see if I could beat it! One thing I did learn, though - I'm pretty sure I don't want to run a full marathon! I'm limping around like crazy now! (We played in a volleyball tournament later in the afternoon and that didn't help matters!) Most of this week has been spent planning for missions coming up in the future. I guess I'll have to cover them in a future email update. Until then, though, "peace and love" to all of you back home! I can't wait to see you all when I get back!

Iraq Update 37	September 23, 2008
Well, I'm a day late in my quest to get something out every Sunday. It's been super busy and I've been on mission for almost a week and a half straight That really makes the time fly by, but makes it hard to keep up on email! :) The planning that we've been doing jumped into execution this past week in full blast! I had three missions all back to back over the past week. If you didn't see it in the paper, there was a change of command ceremony here last week. General Petraeus left as the commander of Multi-National Forces Iraq and went to be the commander of Central Command (CENTCOM). General Odierno is his replacement. So needless to say, there were A LOT of people in for that event. My first mission was the Secretary of Defense (SECDEF), Robert Gates. He was here for a couple of days to make some visits and attend the change of command. There was a huge sandstorm in for both of the days he was here, so we had to move everywhere by ground. This is much more difficult than moving by air. But there were almost 50 people in his traveling party, so it really becomes a real trial logistically. The day after the SECDEF left, the Secretary of the Army (SECARMY) showed up. He was here for three days. I went to a couple of new places on this trip, so there are a couple of new pegs on my map. If you look at the map on my web site, you'll see one peg way over to the right, next to Iran! We went to see one of the places where people cross back and forth between Iraq and Iran. There were lines of people everywhere! It's like an all day affair to go across the border because you have to get out-processed on one side and then in-processed on the other side. We got to go all the way to the border, but I didn't get to put my foot over or anything. I was about two feet from Iran, though - the thickness of the wall I was next to. The very next day we picked up General Ham, the Commanding General of European Command. He came over to check on all the troops that are stationed at bases under his command (i.e. like US troops from Germany). This trip was something of an aberration in that for most of the trip he was EARLY to his events! It's nice when they run on time, but 90% of the time we are scrambling because we are behind schedule. We visited some of the same places that we went to on the previous mission with the SECARMY. That always makes for jokes between me and the support staff on the ground at these locations - "Oh, couldn't stay away, huh?" they'll say. "Yeah, I like it so much here that I just had to come back. Is my room still ready? You know I like a mint on my pillow and my covers turned down!" All of these missions are really putting a damper in my quest to complete the seven seasons of the Golden Girls on DVD. I did finish season six and I'm half way through season seven. It's good to have goals in life! I did manage to finish another book during one of the "wait" modes. I've been wanting to read "The World Is Flat" for a while. It took me a few weeks because it was over 600 pages! It was a little more deep, too, so I had to read it slower than other books just to be able to keep up. If you're interested in globalization and how the world has "flattened" due to different factors (i.e. the Internet browser, high speed data, outsourcing, etc.), then you'd like this book. P.S. Yes, I omitted the Razorback update this week. I did it on purpose. I'm in mourning!

Iraq Update 38	September 28, 2008
After a hectic period last week, I moved into a less busy week this week. All I had was finishing up that last mission and waiting for the next one. A little bit of prep work still needs to be done, but after that it's just wait for the DV to arrive! Here on Camp Victory, we are allowed to wear three different variations on our PT uniform. The first is the standard shorts with the gray Army shirt. The second is the same, except with the brown t-shirt (the same one we wear under our regular uniform). And thirdly, units are allowed to substitute the Army gray shirt for a unit "esprit de corps" shirt. We had some unit shirts made up and ordered several weeks ago and they finally came in. They are red and they have a logo on the front that says "Joint Visitors Bureau, Protective Services Detail" with our unit name in the middle. On the back, it has the same thing with "Baghdad, Iraq" added as well as - guess what - a runnin' Razorback, of course! The shirts came in just in time that we all wore them Saturday (aka "game day"); Saturday is our company designated "red shirt day." It wasn't quite enough that we all were wearing red Saturday. The Hogs continued their "rebuilding season" with a massive loss to Texas. The game was on TV here, at least for two and a half quarters. Half way through the third quarter, the score was 45-3 or something and the TV broke away to go to another [more exciting] game! "We'll continue to monitor the game and come back if Arkansas should mount a come back..." the ESPN announcer said trying to hold back his laughter! It's going to be a long season; the Texas game was just one of many to come, I'm afraid. Speaking of Texas, though...the unit that is coming to replace us is out of Texas. They are going through their train up right now, doing the same stuff we did in Mississippi before we came over here. I got an email from the actual person who will be taking my position when they arrive. It's nice to actually correspond with him. I've given him a little run down on how we run things here. I want to give him as much information and answer whatever questions he has so that he is ready when he gets here to do the "left seat, right seat ride" that I wrote about in Iraq Update 23. Except this time I'm the outgoing person, not the incoming person!

Iraq Update 39	October 5, 2008
We had just one mission this past week, but it still had some firsts for me. The DV was the "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary from Bulgaria to Iraq" (say that five times fast...or just say it one time fast!). He flew in to the civilian side of BIAP (Baghdad International Airport) on a commercial flight. This was my first time to pick up a DV from the civilian side. Surprisingly, it was pretty much like a "real airport" (minus the extra security checkpoints getting in). He came alone, which was another first for me. Most of the trips I've done have had at least a party of ten or more (with a couple over 40 or 50). He spoke good English, and he was a very pleasant fellow. I did reach another milestone this past week. I've been writing about it for several months now, but the chapter is finally closed. I have officially seen all seven seasons of The Golden Girls on DVD. There were a couple of episodes that featured some stars before they were stars including - Mario Lopez (an immigrant student), George Cloony (a sidekick cop), and Quentin Tarantino (elvis impersonator). You can save those nuggets for your next game of Trivial Pursuit. For the third week in a row, the Razorbacks managed to make it on the TV schedule on AFN! And, true to form, we had another 30+ point loss. However, there were a lot of moments in the recent Arkansas-Florida game that showed glimpses of hope for the future. JJ was sporting the team in his petrinol shirt, but the poor Hogs didn't manage to deliver that "high octane offense" this time. But at least there was a glimmer of hope for the seasons to come.

Iraq Update 40	October 12, 2008
"Be Smart. Do Your Part. Vote!" These commercials come on about every commercial break on the AFN channels. And there are signs up everywhere reminding us to vote. Is there an election of some kind coming up? Well, I can watch the last debate and all of the talking heads for entertainment now, because my ballot has officially been cast. It came in the mail this week, and I sent it back. Actually, I may try and vote absentee every year. It was so easy! If they could only get it set up online, now that would be the best! I celebrated Dad's birthday this week as well (October 7th), and I wanted to do something just for him. We took off early (i.e. just after 1700, or 5pm). We got all dressed up (i.e. we put on a clean set of ACUs). I took him out to a special restaurant (i.e. a "different" DFAC nearby). I even paid for his dinner (i.e I scanned his ID card for him) and got him a birthday cake (i.e. a piece of cake from the "pastry bar"). I'm sure it'll be a birthday he'll always remember! I had one mission at the end of this week. This was another foreign group - this time from Macedonia. We had the Minister of Defense (like our Secretary Gates), the Chief of Defense (like our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs), and a member of Parliament (like our Representatives). This was just a one day mission to a couple of cities in Iraq, so not too bad. They were a very nice group, and all of them spoke English (except for the Minister). I had to wake up extra early on Sunday in order to take the second PT test since I've been here. I have been running pretty regularly, so I thought I may have a chance to max the score on this one. I have to do 72 push-ups (in 2 minutes), 75 sit-ups (in 2 minutes), and then run two miles in 13:18 in order to score 100 points in each category. The first two events went fine - 80 push-ups and 82 sit-ups. Then came the run. I felt like I was sprinting the whole time! But it turns out I was about a minute shy on the two miles, coming in at 14:33. So, I had to settle for a 288. This is probably the best "running" shape I've been in since Basic Training, so it just may not be in the cards for me to get that elusive 300. I reckon I'll get over it. :)

Iraq Update 41	October 19, 2008
As I mentioned in the last Update, I sent in my absentee ballot for this year's election. A couple of people wanted to know who I voted for or who I thought was a good choice. Well, if you are curious on who I voted for, well, I think this video says it all! Enjoy! JJ had a big day this past week! On Wednesday (October 15th, 2:21 A.M. EST), he turned one year old! Stacey wanted to wait and have a birthday party when I got back so we could all do it. His Grammy and Mamote just couldn't allow nothing, though! So he had a little party on his birthday. He's also going to get to have one when I get back (scheduled for January 17th right now)! This boy is going to be spoiled rotten!!! There are some pictures of his party on his Picassa page. I was in the IZ this past week and had time to stop by to visit my painter while we had some free time. I took the original painting back to him to get some things touched up. When I took it back several weeks ago, I mentioned that I liked it and that I was looking for something more abstract. He seemed to understand and said he could do me another one, a smaller one. While I was there he told me that he was finished with the new painting! I really like this one. It is an "abstract representation" of our family. So now I have two paintings! I'm thinking I could save the first one with our faces and give it to JJ. It can be the first of his collection. The mission load this past week was heavier than normal. We picked up the Bulgarian Ambassador and took him back to the airport (we picked him up a few weeks ago and he's been "on his own" until we took him back to the airport). Then the same night our next mission arrived and we've been escorting him and his party around since then. This is helping the time to go faster. We're really starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our mission board that shows what missions we have coming up just started showing November this week! Oh yeah!

Iraq Update 42	October 26, 2008
It's been kind of a slow week. There's been a special assessment team in town and they have gotten most of the attention around here (here being the Visitor's Bureau). Since this group was the focus, most of the other requests to come here were either denied or postponed. I've tried to use the time productively, though. Mostly trying to learn a new programming language, C# (pronounced "see-sharp"), so that I can help re-tool my web site (Vend-Trak, not my personal one). I thought I was done with my "learnin'" but I guess you never really stop! It's been getting much cooler here lately. For several days it has "smelled" like it was going to rain. You know how you can sometimes, for lack of a better explanation, just "smell" the rain coming? Well, a few days of false positives gave way to a downpour (relatively speaking) the other day. It rained on and off for most of the day, and we have the mud left behind to prove it! Along with the rain has come some very nice temperatures. I has been in the high-60s to the low-90s almost all week. I can tell we're getting closer to the cold weather, too, because the Army - right on cue - had us all get flu shots this week. It's pretty much mandated around here since we have a lot of people working in close proximity to each other. I used to resist, but resistance is futile! Now when the Army says "You need a shot", I just roll up my sleeve and say "Fire away!" An exciting step in the transition happened for our Brigade. A very small group from the unit that is replacing our Brigade showed up! While no one is here yet that will take over the JVB, one of the people that showed up is the guy that will replace dad. So dad now has a shadow to follow him around and learn the ropes so that, when the time comes, he can hand the reins over and focus on the move back home. In the not-so-distant future we'll all be in the "teach your replacement" mode, a role we're all looking forward to filling.

Iraq Update 43	November 2, 2008
I spent this week waiting to start a mission, but waiting wasn't all that I did. In the spirit of "let's get ready to depart the area," all the guys in the company started packing up some of the stuff we don't need for a while. We can't hand carry everything back home, so we loaded as much as we can do without into big black foot-locker boxes. The black boxes are going to be loaded on to CONEXs (i.e. shipping containers) and loaded onto boats to be shipped home by sea. I had to do some thinking since this is stuff I may not see until the end of Spring 2009! Everything I have left now I have to carry myself from here to Kuwait to Mississippi to home! I have no doubt that I'll manage! I did have some down time prior to the mission starting. Doc called me into his office to get me to play a game on the Wii. I've heard of the Nintendo Wii, but thought it was kind of goofy. For those that haven't heard, this is the video game system that you move the controllers around to get the people on the screen to move with you. He put in Tiger Woods Golf and off we went. You have to swing the controller like you are swinging a golf club to make the guy hit it! I have to say, I was surprised! It really was a lot of fun! Too bad JJ's not a little older or I could get one for him (of course, I'd play a little too!!!) I almost committed to not writing about the Hogs weekly performance...until yesterday! We came out with a stunning win over unbeaten Tulsa! I know we're kicking ourselves for losing the previous two games (by one point and by two points) now. If we would have won those, we'd be bowl eligible now! Dang field goal kickers!!! Now we have to beat Mississippi State and South Carolina to get our six wins. Not an easy feat, but doable if luck is on our side. I mentioned that I started a mission, but since I'm in the middle of it I can't write about it just yet. But rest assured I'll be back next week with some details on the mission. You won't want to miss it!!! Well, maybe I'm exaggerating. Maybe not! But I probably am! Confused? Good, I'll see you next week! Counting down the days!

Iraq Update 44	November 9, 2008
It's been busy since the last time I wrote you all! I was in the midst of a five-day mission escorting retired General Barry McCaffrey around Iraq this time. He was here when he was active duty, and now he is one of General Odierno's mentors. He also has a consulting business / think tank, he is a senior professor at the military academy, and provides expert commentary for NBC (and CNBC and MSNBC). Unlike many of my mission that have 10-40 people, he was here by himself. So I got more interaction time on this one. He was a very pleasant individual to escort. And after I Googled him I realized that his office is just 1.4 miles from my condo in Virginia! I've run into a lot of people from around that neck of the woods on this deployment. I uploaded a photo from this mission to my Picasa site and added a couple of new places to the map (top of the page). While I was on this mission I hit another couple of firsts - my first Chi and my first Iraqi meal. Chi is a special kind of tea from India, an Iraqi General told me, that they add sugar to. It's served in these little cups - like espresso cups made of glass. It is common for every household to be able to serve Chi at pretty much any time. You sit around and sip it and just chat away. It's a social thing. I had it with one of the Iraqi Generals while GEN McCraffrey was inside talking to some "higher ups." My first Iraqi meal came the next day on the mission. We were somewhere visiting with an Iraqi Brigade. I waited outside, but when the meeting was over, we all gathered around a table. There were about twenty of us. There was flat bread (like thick tortillas) and meat and other stuff (sauce, veggies, and I'm not sure what some of it was). But as soon as we got to the table, everyone just started reaching and grabbing for food. It was like Thanksgiving at the Foot house! It wasn't uncommon to "double dip" (for you Seinfeld fans) your food into a sauce. Everything on the table was considered fair game to the community of people that hovered about it (we were all just standing and eating and talking...well, more listening for me!). It was very interesting to say the least. I few Update's back, I wrote about a friend of mine here that wrote his own book called "I'm A Nomron." It's an auto-biographical book about his Mormon childhood and adolescence, his conversion to Christianity, and his family's reaction. He originally wrote it for his kids so they would know something about his past (and why they don't see his parents - he's basically been shunned). It is very telling and he holds nothing back. He had a few copies printed to hand to friends. I've been trying to talk him into publishing it; and, well, he finally did! I've seen the advance copy and purchased one for my own. It is an interesting read and an insightful glance into the life of a Mormon who gave up the life he knew for Christianity. You can see more or even get your own copy at https://www.createspace.com/3353287. I recommend it! We are getting closer and closer. This past week we hit the "point of no return" for mail. We were told to tell everyone to stop mailing stuff. Actually, you can still mail stuff, they just can't guarantee that it'll make it before we leave! That is nice to hear, making our short time left here even more real!

Iraq Update 45	November 16, 2008
Our big mission this past week was the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (General James Cartwright). He is pretty high up, but I think he got more visibility with the troops because he was escorting a USO group with him. There were a couple of comedians, a model, and the Ying Yang Twins (rappers, I think). This was a quick mission that spanned two days, but lasted less than 20 hours! We're starting to see more of our replacements as their "advance" people start showing up. These are just reminders that the rest are on their way and our time here is growing short. From the looks of the board, I may have just one mission - possibly two missions - left before the TOA (Transfer of Authority). I'll be moving out of my place very soon to somewhere temporary in order to make room for the incoming unit. Today was "cleaning" day at the JVB. We had everyone here cleaning the place from top to bottom so that the building and the vehicles were in good shape before the main body arrives. With each passing day, we're getting more and more excited about getting home. Stacey is still sending me pictures every few days (which are posted on Picasa, by the way!). I haven't been able to be there for his day to day growing up, but thanks to the pictures I've felt like I was there. I'm looking forward to seeing him in person. I'm sure he feels the same way, too! And from what I hear, his Flat Daddy is almost worn out from being played with. It's time for him to wear out "3D Daddy!" A week or so ago, JJ had his "I Am One" pictures done. I got to look at the proofs online, and I've got to say...he's pretty cute! I've posted them on the Picasa site as well. Between these pictures and the paintings I had done here, we're going to have to find some wall space on our little condo back in Virginia!

Iraq Update 46	November 23, 2008
God bless Texas! Why would an Arkansan say such a thing? Well, there are a few thousand of us all saying it here in Iraq because the Texas brigade has arrived to start learning our jobs so they can take over for our brigade! The replacements have started arriving on mass, including my replacement! It was very exciting! :) I started a five-day mission earlier this week by flying north to meet LTG Kimmons (Army G2) and his party. This was the same day my replacement arrived. This is the second time I've escorted LTG Kimmons. We spent the first two days away from Camp Victory so the new Senior Escort Officer got moved in and computer accounts set up and such. Then he spent the next three days of the mission with me as we moved from place to place. We made introductions at our various stops and got a chance to conduct our RIP (Relief In Place). Since the new guys are here, I had to move to make room for them. So I'm no longer living in "the tower" by the JVB. Some of our company moved into transient quarters (i.e. tents) and some of us moved into the hotel. I was happy about that! I'm sharing a room with the commander, and I'm sleeping in a REAL BED. Oh, yeah! It's nice! I found out that my dad will be staying back a few weeks and coming in later. He'll probably miss Christmas at home, but it will be for the best in the long run. It's long and complicated, but it has to do with being on active duty again for a set amount of time. Since he's working for another year at NGB (National Guard Bureau), he'll be able to re-retire. I can't remember if I've mentioned it; but, yeah, dad will be in Virginia for the next year working in the same building as me! How about that! I guess I better run! I've got some more "RIP-ing" to do so the new unit is set up for success! Time's getting short!

Iraq Update 47	November 30 , 2008
We still have a couple of days until the official TOA (Transfer of Authority) ceremony and Texas officially takes the reins. But for all intents and purposes, they've got it! My counterpart is totally running his own missions now. It's kind of bitter-sweet for me. It's nice to have it off my plate knowing that it's one step closer to home. But with any job I've had that I've really enjoyed, it has kind of become a part of me. Well, I guess if I ever get nostalgic I can just go back and read some of my old updates! In order to make room for some busy times ahead (for the Texas crew), we who were staying in the hotel had to start freeing up some space. So that means that my time on the "real bed" has come to an end. I've moved across the hall with some of the other guys. I'm still in the hotel, but in a room with about eight bunk beds. Back to the hard life! We had a nice "End of Tour" Awards Ceremony this past week. Everyone in the company was recognized for their contribution to the mission by receiving an award. Since our mission directly supported MNF-I (Multi-National Forces - Iraq, that's the group General Petraeus/Odierno was/is in charge of), they wanted to be a part of the ceremony. While General Odierno couldn't make it due to a tight and busy schedule, he did send his Chief of Staff - Major General Kenneth Glueck - to present the awards. I was excited about that. General Glueck came into that job a few weeks after we arrived and took the mission. My second mission was to escort him for about a week to units and locations all over Iraq. I really like him - he set a great example of an understanding and rational leader, and he really looked out for us and our best interestes while we were here. Not bad for a Marine! Later that day, another two-star came by to express his thanks to our company. This was Major General Oates, the Commander of the 10th Mountain Division. We just had an informal gathering around him while he thanked us for what we did - being professional when bringing guests to his division, helping out his "Mountain Visitor's Bureau", and the like. This was pretty classy for him to do, I think, because we don't even fall under the chain of command for 10th Mountain! We're just another unit outside of his command, but he made time to come over to the JVB to say thanks, hand everyone in the company a certificate of appreciation, and present the unit with a nice token of appreciation. He - and his Sergeant Major - are another example of a great leader. Most people wouldn't take the time to come thank a unit that doesn't belong to them or report to them. But they did. I woke up on Thanksgiving and one of the LTs came into the room to let me know Aaron Tippen (see his albums) was in the lobby. So I grabbed my camera and snapped a quick photo before he left to go do his show. Aaron Tippen has been around a while...I could still sing along to several of his songs from back in high school!!!

Iraq Update 48	December 7, 2008
Well, it is official. Arkansas is out of the "JVB Business" and Texas is in. We all moved to another camp early in the week that is closer to the airport. So - barring really bad luck - this should be my last "Iraq Update" that is actually sent from Iraq! Until we hit the states again, it's sit around and wait in tents - here in Iraq, then Kuwait. Once we do get some flights out of here, we'll head to Mississippi for a few days of out-processing, medical checks, more briefings (I'm sure) and things like that. For the past week our time has been spent finding things to do to pass the time. One night, while we were still in the hotel, we were playing cards in our room (to pass some time) someone knocked on the door to let us know the USO was sponsoring a Meet-n-Greet with some pro golfers on the back porch. So we headed out there and hit balls with them and passed some time. General Odierno (who took General Petraeus' place when he left) was out there, too, to introduce and welcome them. We took the opportunity to get in a quick photo op with the Commanding General in front of our company sign. Now that our time is officially done here, I got to thinking about the past year - what we've done, what we've missed, and where we're going. I decided to use the rest of this update just to provide a few stats and final thoughts from Iraq before I hit the states for my final update [or two]. Some random stats from the deployment: Total number of escort missions = 36 Total number of DVs (General Officer and above) escorted = 87 Total number of people escorted (including travel staff) = 378 Total number of flights made on mission = 177 Different types of aircraft = 6 Number of Ground movements made on mission = 428 Number of different DFACs at which I've eaten = 32 Number of coins given to me (people always ask this for some reason) = 41 Things I'll miss from Iraq: Thirsty? Just stop in the nearest building and grab a bottle of water (be sure to replace it with one from the stack next to the fridge). Hungry? Head to the nearest dining facility for a free meal - just scan your ID card. Traveling everywhere "in style" - uparmored SUVs, Blackhawk Helicopters, airplanes Tax free earnings and hazard duty pay when deployed to a combat zone Meeting or just seeing top-level decision makers in the DOD, US government, and Iraqi government Hanging out with "the guys" - watching sports, playing cards, cooking on the grill Running into famous people from the USO tours that stay in the hotel Things I'm looking forward to in the States: Normal commercials. Can you believe that? The AFN (American Forces Network) commercials are played all the time...however, some are so goofy, they're funny Dinner with Stacey and JJ every day Wearing jeans and a t-shirt Weekends and Holidays off (for the most part) Not carrying a gun EVERYWHERE you go Running outside with an MP3 player (it's not allowed here) No concrete T-Walls everywhere you look My bed! No smoking in public buildings (Iraqis smoke in their public buildings) Cell phones generally work when you pull them out to use them Next update will be from me state-side!

Iraq Update 49	December 10, 2008
It seems odd to title this message "Iraq Update..." since I'm not there anymore! But I'm big on tradition, so I stuck with the trend. We left Iraq on the 7th (Sunday) at 1130 and flew to Kuwait. When I arrived, I went over to see my dad. Dad flew in a couple of days before me to join the TOC (pronounced "tock", Tactical Operations Center) that was running the Arrival/Departure mission for the Brigade. He'll be there until the last person from the Brigade passes through to the states. Anyway, I checked in with him to see what our outbound flight situation looked like. According to the board at the time, we were going to fly out on the 9th (Tuesday) at 10:30 PM. But to make that time we had make a few gates first. We had to get up, clean the tents, pack the bags, sort the bags, load the bags, load the bus, drive to customs, go through customs, drive to the main airport, and then load the plane to fly home. After doing all of the "backward planning" it was determined that we would start the process by having our bags and people outside the tents ready to go at 0000 hours (i.e. midnight) on Tuesday. We moved out as planned and were through customs by 7:30 that morning. So we waited until 5:45 that evening to load the bus to drive to the main airport at Kuwait. Surprisingly, everything went on time and on schedule! We flew out of Kuwait to Frankfurt, Germany, where the plane was refueled. Then we continued on to Gulf Port, got on a bus and drove an hour to Camp Shelby, where the out-processing will begin tomorrow. I've got to tell you, I feel a little guilty. We were on this HUGE double-decker plane. They actually had first-class, business-class, and coach (unlike when we came to Iraq and every seat was the same). I guess that since there weren't a lot of higher ranking people on the plane (I was in the top three), I got a seat in first-class. And I tell you, it was very nice. My "bed" converted into a "seat" and had it's own TV with movie player. We had XM radio (I dig the 70s Channel and the 80s Channel!), hot towels before meals, blankets, pillows, etc, etc, etc. So I did feel guilty for being up there...but I managed to get over it ;) The out-processing process is "scheduled" to be four days and then travel on the 5th day. Some of the units that made it before us have gone through a little faster, so there may be a "plus or minus" thing going on. We'll see...

Iraq Update 50	December 17, 2008
After arriving in Mississippi, we had a five day out-processing ahead of us - four days of briefings, medical checks, interviews, etc, and one day to travel home. Out-processing was so much better than in-processing! For one, the "prize" was better after we finished. And for two, it was much shorter since they don't need to check every little thing (it's easier to verify you are "fit to leave" rather than "fit to fight"!). If only a few people had to go through everything, it could have been done in a day. But since we have over 3,000 to process (in increments of 200-300 people) it has to be a little more structured. So we finished early most days, each one getting us closer to home. On the travel day (Monday), I got on the bus at 8:00 in the morning and set out. Less than 48 hours later, I pulled into the armory in Little Rock where I met family and where Stacey and JJ picked me up to take me home. I've been hanging out ever since, just enjoying the good life! And I've got to say, JJ is even cuter in person than in his pictures!!! I'll be here until the first week in January. After that we'll head back to the D.C. area to get settled in at our regular home. I took 30 days of leave, so I'll have a couple of weeks in Virginia until I head back to work. Until then, it's just enjoying time in America with friends and family! Well, since I'm all the way back now, I guess this is where I bid you all farewell - at least according to these Iraq Updates, that is! Hopefully it hasn't been too awful bad to drudge through these things week after week. I did have a good time writing them, and it helped me pass the time while I was away. So I hope you enjoyed getting them as much as I enjoyed sending them! And remember, there will always be copies of all of these updates as well as pictures (past and future!) on www.freakyfoot.com!