Merry Christmas

I guess I should start off by saying Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays depending on who I am talking to, or what litigious people are reading my festive blog. :)



I have been lucky enough to have a couple of days off in celebration, which is pretty decent considering my recent schedule. I am glad to say that I can count the number of weeks until I'm back in the states using my hands. I have been counting down the days, even though it makes time go by slower. I'm not doing it because I want to though, I'm doing it because somehow, everyday I wake up I think, "hmmm... only 'x' days left.... [expletive] why do I keep doing that?"

Things have been going fairly slow here recently, attack wise. My unit has been very lucky, knock on wood.

I was able to see comedians John Bowman (check him out), Lewis Black (my favorite comedian), singer Kelly Pickler and Kid Rock here the other day. That was definitely a good break from the norm and definitely made my day (until my vehicle broke down, and the one that I took to replace it broke down... three times... but that's a different story). That day, I also met the Chairman to the Joint Chief of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen. I spoke with him for a few minutes, and he gave me a coin. For those of you who don't know, coins are specialized to the person that gives them out, and in a bar... the one who has the highest ranking coin gets free drinks... so.... I win.

I sincerely wish everybody back home a very merry Christmas and happy holidays. Wish I was there to celebrate, but you all have definitely made being over here much better.

To my family up in Canada, there isn't any Tequila in Iraq, or for that matter... any safe places to pass out, so I'm good!

Happy Thanksgiving

I was sitting in my room this morning, just after waking up, and I think, "I'm glad I don't have to work today." I didn't even realize that it was Thanksgiving, even though I thought about how much I wish I could be at home for it the night before. It took about an hour to realize what day it was. The days just blend together here, and I'm not complaining because it makes the time go by.



So... this is what I am thankful for:

First and foremost, my family - You have always supported me, even when times were rough. I think about you all of the time. You have taught me to be who I am.

My country - there really isn't anything else to say about it.

I'm thankful to my Platoon for always watching each other's six.

Eddie and the whole 7th grade class at Parkway West Middle for all of your support.

My friends - To the ones that have always been there, I couldn't ask for more. Jenn and your family - for being unbelievably supportive in all the years that I have known you. It is far more than anyone could ask for.

I hope that everybody is having a wonderful Thanksgiving. I wish I could be home. There isn't really all that much time left, and the time is flying by quickly.

Miss you all and hope everything is well.

Phil

In the news....

So yea... There are some interesting news stories out there today...

Toddler Trips, Accidentally Shooting Dad in Forest - Okay people... Let's take out all of the words that don't really mean crap in this headline... "Toddler Shooting Dad in Forest:" which, of course implied that the toddler had a gun... and since they were both in the forrest, looks like Dad let him have it... Serves him right.

Teen Pregnancy Linked to Sexy TV Shows - Let's see. Because you watch sexy tv shows, you are more apt to get pregnant? How about, the parents of the teens didn't have a tight enough grip on their children. Now, I might use this as a reason to lobby the government to cancel Sex and the City, because damn...

Iraq to Sell Saddam Hussein's Luxury Yacht - Maybe they can pay us back???

Paris Hilton: Men Used Me for Sex and Fame - Do I really need to write anything here? I think she forgot "...and MONEY."

Ex-Playboy bunny faces cat cruelty charges - I didn't read the article, but the headline kind of seems ironic

Woman Hit by Stray Bullet at NASCAR Race - Not that this is very funny... But really? Stop shooting weapons in the air you rednecks. "Make NASCAR year round!!!" "Earnhardt was my hero!" "Make the Daytona 500 a national holiday!" That part is the funny part...

That's about it. Everything is going well here, and I will have an update for you in the next couple of days.

I hope all is well with you.

I'm still here

Hey everyone,

Again, I know it has been a really long time since I have written a blog. I was in the process of moving to a new FOB. The Internet definitely hasn't been all that good, but more so, I have have been busier than I have been since I got in country.

Currently, I am at FOB Meraz in Mosul. I like the change of scenery, especially because it is much bigger here, but its not the best of places. We pretty much hit the ground running here and haven't slown down yet. I am still doing the same job, just on a larger scale.

Mosul is probably the most interesting place that I have seen since I have been in here. Every day I see the wall of Nineveh, a wall with many gates that was built circa 400 BC. The wall has been excavated and renovated sometime around the 1800s. It is pretty interesting. The gates and wall are in the bible in a couple of places. The other biblical place I get to see everyday is Jonah's Mosque (Jonah and the Whale). Anyway, this place is pretty cool, except for the violence... You should look it up.

Something that all of us have pretty much thought about here... If the people of Iraq (the bad ones primarily) would stop fighting for one minute to understand the importance of this country in history, they could actually profit from it. For instance, if there wasn't fighting here, this place could make so much money just from the tourism to the many vast religious and historical sights that are still here. Many people mission to many other countries that, yes, have a lot of background, but it is extremely unsafe here - especially for Westerners.

Anyway, here I am. I will try to write more. I am sorry that it took so long to write, it has been hectic.

My best wishes for everybody.

Phil

My day... (as requested). This is a long one

As requested, this is pretty much a day for me. There is some description of what I do, along with a lot of descriptions about what I observe.

So… I am laying in bed thinking of my time here in Iraq. As much as I hate Iraq, I think that being here has definitely instilled some values and experiences that I am growing fond of. I am more grateful for family, friends, freedom of choice, and of course all the material things. Of course, if I was asked tomorrow if I would like to go home… of course, who wouldn’t (unless you volunteered and are just here for the money)? Anyway, I figured I would go ahead and explain, in a little more detail, what goes on here and the stuff that I see – some of which is quite funny, some… not so much. I know that nobody back home really knows what goes on here.

Normally, my squad does a lot of missions at random times during daylight. I don’t like that so much for a few reasons: (a) daylight means sun – sun means heat, and I don’t like the heat; (b) the enemy doesn’t have night vision (um.. hopefully) and I do; and, (3) the chance of us catching bad people doing bad things is higher, and the feeling of accomplishment greatly offsets monotony. Nights are nice. For real. It’s a nice and cool 90 degrees, there aren’t very many vehicles out, and occasionally you come across a few people that are abusing animals in ways that scares the living hell out of me (but it is great conversation and video ops for later). Anyhow, we do day missions with a few nights thrown in here and there.

My day goes a little something like this. I wake up about an hour to hour and a half before mission and say, “$%$#, I’m in Iraq!” I lay in bed before my conscience tells me that I’m running late. I jump down off my lofted bed (which by the way, I don’t have a ladder for), grab my shower shoes, towel, clean clothes and sun glasses. That’s right… sunglasses. For those of you who don’t know, if you walk outside in Iraq without sunglasses after sleeping all night, the wonderful rays of sunlight will pierce your retinas (okay, that’s kind of an exaggeration, but you get the point, right?). It is this point in time when I know if it will be a good day or bad day. If I walk out of my CHU (think redneck trailer, but much smaller), and I instantly feel a blast of heat comparative to the barbeque end of a jet engine… it’s a bad day. Anything less than that, eh… I’m okay. I walk a short distance to the shower and into a trailer that has shower stalls and sinks.

I start a new paragraph because this whole shower thing needs its own, and my old English teacher told me that very long paragraphs lose the attention of the reader. These showers are… um… not as nice as mine back home. The showers run on electric pumps. Electricity on the FOB in the middle of the summer is not so good. So, hypothetically, I am taking a shower and just got all lathered up and the power goes out. Then, that then overrules the original good/bad day moment. Once, and I couldn’t even make this junk up, the water was brown. Thank god I turn the water on before I get in, which brings me to another point. We are supposed to take Navy/combat/conservative showers. This means you get in, get wet, lather up, rinse off, and get out. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. It depends on how rebellious I’m feeling that day. The water isn’t potable, so I brush my teeth with the bottled water that we have here.

I just realized this sounds like complaining (which, I guess it kind of is) but I don’t mean for it to come across that way, but I have written way too much to revise it. I’m in Iraq. I am lucky to be able to take a shower 99% of the time. The people on this FOB before me built this FOB up to how it is. It could be much, much worse. Actually, take everything I say in this blog as an explanation. When I complain about something, I will let you know.

So, after my shower, I go back to my CHU and get dressed in my uniform, grab and clear my weapons, grab a water and head to my Humvee. While my driver and dismount, West and Harris respectively, is getting the vehicle ready and my gunner, Warner, is mounting his weapon in the turret, I turn on the navigation, communication and electronic warfare equipment, making sure the security settings and radio timing is correct. I then check my team to make sure they have all of their gear, which they are pretty good about, and brief them on what I’m looking for that day. We get a quick mission briefing and we load up, get ice, test fire weapons and depart the FOB (we call it SP for start point).

My squad is responsible for a few Iraqi Police Stations (IPS). They are pretty far from the post, between 45 minutes and two hour convoy time. We travel through Hawijah, or what we call the Wij or Weej, however you want to spell it. The Weej, at one point in time, was the most dangerous place in Iraq per capita and square mile (at least this is what we were told). The infantry has kicked ass out here, and now on a scale of one to ten on how dangerous it is, I’d say a three. That represents violence against Coalition Forces; violence against Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), which includes Iraqi Army, IPs, and SOI (I’ll tell you about them later) is slightly higher. Anyway, the Weej is a fairly large city for the area and is a very conservative city. There is very little money, and but a ton of markets. The houses are concrete or mud, roads are paved, and there is a canal system that provides water, a place to bathe and swim for the thousands of residents in the city. Dogs. That’s all I have to say. I believe that there is one dog for every person in the city, except that nobody really owns dogs here. If you have ever seen the movie Resident Evil, they are kind of like those dogs. Not really, but they are dangerous and like to attack our vehicles (or try). There are a couple streets in the city, that if we had to dismount our vehicle, a few dogs might end up having a bad day.

After the Weej, we travel through some farmland, and not farms like in Kansas, I’m talking about large fields of hard mud and uneven rows of whatever. The majority of the farms are hand farmed, without and tractors. I have a theory of the farmers that have combines or tractors, but they haven’t been blown up yet, so… I don’t know. Regardless, the farmers out here farm hay, melons and sunflowers. The cows outside the Weej appear emaciated; they eat what they can of the fields, food thrown on the side of the road or trash. Farmers walk their cows and sheep down the road to get water, and apparently cows don’t listen to air horns, or armor hitting their heads (it didn’t even phase it… calm down PETA, it’s alive and it hit us, not the other way around). You shouldn’t eat anything from the farms, because whatever would want to grow there is stupid. Actually, I have had some fresh vegetables, and they are pretty good.

So we finally get to the Iraqi Police Station. I can’t really go into how we provide security, but rest assured… it’s there. My squad leader or, in his absence, one of team leaders, walk in with an interpreter and meet with the Chief or Officer in Charge. I usually walk in with another interpreter, unless I’m the one conducting the initial meet with the officer, and go straight to the detention cell. I use the interpreter to talk to the detainees to get their names and why they are there. Which by the way, they never ever, ever, ever, ever tell me the truth. “I don’t know,” “I’m innocent,” “it was my brother” are all excuses I hear every single day. You should see the look on their faces when I leave an come back with the investigative officer and have him ask them why they are in there. They won’t dare lie when he’s in there because he will have a little “coming to God,” I mean... er… “Allah” meeting once we leave. Anyway, I check their names against our wanted list. If they are on the list – score! If not, I usually take pictures and collect biographical data and biometrical (fingerprints, iris photos, etc) information. We do that, because if we ever find their fingerprint on an IED or something, we will swiftly kick them in the ass with a Hellfire rocket.

During our meeting with whoever is in charge, we have Chai. Iraqi Chai is a shot glass full of tea with enough sugar to wind a 5 year old up for a year. It’s 130 degrees out, and they give me hot tea with copious amounts of sugar. Iraqis think it is extremely disrespectful to turn down Chai. They also don’t like ice tea for two reasons: (1) it’s dangerous to drink anything cold unless it was bottled or canned; and, (2) they think iced tea is for [wimps] (there was another word used by a certain Iraqi, but I won’t use it here).

After the meeting, if we so decide, we can do a joint patrol of the city, either mounted (in vehicles) which is nice because I like being inside armor, or dismounted (alongside our vehicles). We will move around the city, stopping vehicles and pedestrians, searching them and making sure they aren’t bad guys. We joke with the citizens a lot, talk with shop owners, and play with children, all while maintaining a high level of situational awareness. It instances where we mean business or something is popping off, we keep everyone away from us, and we pretty much do as we please to ensure that everything is kosher.

Children are everywhere. I mean… everywhere. Procreation here is big. I mean, I should have guessed, but it’s much bigger than I could have ever dreamed. The kids seem awfully similar to the ones in the movie Hostel. The surround our vehicles, they run up on us and ask for anything. If a soldier gives anything to a child, they cherish it. It could be a hot water bottle or handful of candy, they want it. They want our weapons (which we don’t give them or course), sunglasses, gloves, candy, and SOCCER BALLS. I mean every child, boy or girl, young or teen, they want “football, football, sir, football.” We tell them and we tell them every single time we see the same old kids, “we don’t have any damn footballs!” But, they are persistent little people. There could be one child on the street, if you give him something, 20 kids will appear and beat the living crap out of him for it, which brings me to a fun thing. Every once in a while we throw a handful of candy to a group of children. Can you guess the outcome? You can’t buy entertainment like that in the states. In all seriousness though, the children here are awesome. It’s nice to have supporters, even if it is children. I gave some of the soccer balls that were given to me but many of you to some of the children, because it gives me a feeling of accomplishment. We can’t really change the attitude of a lot of the adult population here, but we can influence the way children think of us, or at least make them happy while we are here. I’m seriously thinking about starting a clothing drive for children here. There is this IP’s little boy that is always hanging around one of the IP stations that is the coolest little boy I have ever met. For his safety, I won’t write his name. It somewhat saddens me when every week we are there, he has the same clothes on. He always runs to the market for us to get us stuff when we arrive at the station, and we always compensate him, very well, and his dad actually lets him keep what we give him.

The last time I spoke about children, I got a few emails and spoke to a few of you about how we need to protect ourselves, even against children. I know. We are constantly observing and analyzing every situation we place ourselves in. When we get that little Spidy sense that something is up, we get our standoff and take a better look at what’s going on.

So, after the patrol, we usually depart and head back to the FOB. When we get there, we clear all of our weapons, fuel trucks, complete any maintenance required and return to our CHUs. I am in my PT uniform in about… 2.3 seconds. I only wear ACUs when I have mission or am forced to. I like to stay cool. I usually get a bite to eat, fill out mission paperwork and take a nap or go work out.

That’s my day. Every day is fairly similar which is monotonous. I still get a little bit of an adrenaline rush while I’m outside the wire though… because you never know. I will tell you right now, and not one word of a lie, not much has happened since we have been here. I have no crazy war hero story. I haven’t called or written to people telling them about all of the stereotypical war stories, which if I did, would be completely fictitious. Of course a few things have happened; that is to be expected. Everyone in my squad is healthy and well, thank God.

I have seen things here that I can honestly say I wasn’t ready to see. Here are a few:

1. Pepsi can hoax IED – That’s right, Iraqi’s love Pepsi too!

2. A full out riot of all children – its like the LA riots with dwarfs.... Great!.

3. Donkeys Gone Wild – That’s all I’m saying. Don’t ask. I’m still in therapy.

4. I kid covered in sewage, who get this… is HAPPY – One question. Why?

5. Fields full of oil. Literally, full of oil – ever wonder what happens when a pipeline breaks?

6. And, a cow standing on the roof of a two story house – sounds like our senior prank idea made it to Iraq.

Nice list, huh? There’s more, but this has gone on long enough.

On days when missions don’t take place, I usually work out, eat, sleep, watch a movie or two, and… sleep. That is, of course, if I don’t have paper work, cleaning or maintenance to do (which is usually always)

Anyway, I figure this has probably taken you about a week to read and are pretty sick of me babbling on. I'm going to have to throw out there that this is make up for all of the blogs that I should have posted, but procrastinated (by the way, our Procrastinators Anonymous meeting was postponed.... again ;o) ).

I hope all is well at home. I miss you and can't wait to see you all.

Phil

If there is anything you want to know, let me know. As long as I'm allowed, Ill pretty much write about anything.

PS... I heard that "it was my brother" excuse again today from a detainee. Gotta love it.

My tour of Iraq

Before I write anything, just wanted to let you know not to send anything more to the address that was posted. I will be moving bases here shortly, and will update the address once I can. Thank you all who have sent care packages and letters. It really does make my day.

So I have been all over lately and realized a couple of things. (1) The FOB (Forward Operating Base) that I am on is the earth compared to the Sun. (2) If I were on one of the last two FOBs I have been on, I would be (a) fat, (b) poor, (c) in a lot of trouble, or (d) all of the above. I literally run the perimeter of my FOB for PT... and its just over a mile. The FOB I'm at now, it take 15 minutes to drive to the PX (department store). I spent a couple of days on a nice one up north... with a pool. That's all I have to say. I'm glad I am where I am... even though I will probably move eventually. Seriously though, politics are bad on big FOBs, like much worse than the US in election year. There are people here who have nothing better to do than read every Army Regulation and stop everyone for every small thing. You get away with much much more on small FOBs. Like I can wear civilian clothes at night on Saturdays. I can wear baseball caps on Sundays (except that my blue and white Cardinals hat is MIA), along with a couple more perks (like not a lot of brass).

Since I have been in Iraq, I have seen some decent sand storms. It usually just gets dusty one minute and you really don't see it coming. Yesterday, for the first time, I saw a sandstorm approaching that scared the living hell out of me (not really, I just wrote that for emphasis). If you have ever seen The Mummy, the first one, it looks like that without the big Pharaoh face flying out of it trying to kill you; however, you could use your imagination. Let me tell you something... I hate running... but I never ran faster than right before it hit. My dumb ass was out there with my camera like rednecks watching a tornado right before it hits the trailer. "Billy, you gotta look at this... maaan shes a mean one." "Well damn Bobby, don't it look like its comin right for us" "Aw damn... I didn't thank about that one der...I need somthin to cover my beer." That was me and all the guys. Notice: The actual dialogue was changed in an attempt to make this funny. I don't think it worked. It was more like... " HOLY SH!%, that is going really going to suck. Yep.. Here it comes. Damn, I hate Iraq!" So, it was interesting to say the least. I will put some pictures up here once I get a chance.

I have to run.. But I will update here soon. Hopefully I get to go play on a Black Hawk sometime soon, and will definitely have some pics to put up of that.

I hope all are doing well. I can't wait to see you guys

Phil

Ya ya, I know, It's been a whlie.

Hey everyone. Ya, I know once again it has taken me forever to do a post. The internet hasn't been the best here. Honestly, there haven't been an awful lot going on. Missions have been going well here, there really haven't been many incidents close to me, which is definitely a good thing. Just north of here has had some stuff, but that's also the provincial capital. People out here are mad right now because they have indefinitely postponed elections, just before elections were supposed to take place. I can understand there anger, however large public gatherings are what we like to call targets of opportunity.

I am an uncle again... Congradulations to Dave and Amanda. Emma looks beautiful.

I can't wait to get up there and meet the addition to the family.

I am going to be taking some college classes here soon. I want to pass the time quicker, and I would feel bad having down time and not doing something productive, which is why I work out about 3 hours a day too. Trying to prepare myself for getting back in the swing of things once I get home.

Anyway, I miss everyone. Hopefully.... hopefully, I will end up getting leave. Right now it is up in the air.

Talk to you all soon.

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy birthday to me, happy Birthday to me, happy Birthday dear me, happy Birthday to me. That's right. It's my birthday... the big 2-4. I couldn't think of a better way of spending my birthday than to be in the middle of Iraq.... not.

I didn't really get anything, and yes, I still had to work. However, my team was cool and decided to steal... um.. .I mean acquire a cake from the chow hall for me and present it to me at my room. That was pretty cool. There might not be desert tomorrow at the chow hall.. but eh... It's my birthday dangit. Oh yea, and I got to toss some dumb people out in the city around for fighting... so that's always a cool thing to do on your birthday.

Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that I'm thankful for your birthday wishes. It means a lot. I can't wait to get back and celebrate this one, and the next one with you all.

Best wishes

Long days

Hello everyone. I am very sorry it has been so long since I have written anything. The Internet situation and time off isn't the best here. Hopefully soon, I won't have to deal with it anymore and will have better Internet.

Everything has been going well here. It has been busy, but it has been surprisingly quiet in our area recently, which is a good thing... but weird. Mainly, we have been working with the Iraqi Police in trying to make them be able to function on their own. The IP stations in this area have improved vastly, which is a good thing. The police chiefs out here are doing a great job. They actually throw their own IPs in jail for days just for missing work or messing up at work. They take like 2 weeks pay from them too for the same stuff, which over here, is a lot of money. 1 dollar is like 1200 dinar or something like that I don't know. I start getting confused when they talk about prices and stuff.

I am learning a little more Arabic, and am able to communicate a little better with the citizens and police. It's a good experience. I almost thought about minoring in Arabic in school, because it would help me out if I ever decided to go federal. I don't know. It's a hard language.

But, everyone here is doing well. People are starting to go home on leave, and I wish I was one of them, but what can ya do. I really miss good hot wings... like from Mulligans or Buffalo Wild Wings. It's been driving me nuts lately.

Anyway, I miss you all and look forward to talking to ya.

Phil

So... I'm very opinionated

Again, it has been a little while since I have updated my blog. The Internet isn't the best just yet, and it is hard to get on here long enough to make a thorough posting. Once I get better Internet, better believe there will be a ton of pictures and probably a significant increase in how much I write. It should hopefully be set up here soon. They are just waiting on the contract to be approved from command.

My patrols are going well. Nothing bad has happened, except a lot of sand in the air. Also, today's temperature.... 133; and, for some reason, it still feels better than St. Louis at 90 with 100% humidity. It's weird. One day it went from like 110 degrees to the next being above 120, without much relief in between. When the wind blows, it feels like a hair dryer blowing heat at you. It's okay though, it is a dry heat, actually makes it bearable. We will see what it is like in August.

I still miss all of my friends and family, but at least the time is going by fairly quick. Some days go by slow, but its hard to think that I have already been here for over a month already. Hopefully it goes this fast all the way through.

I am not sure about my leave yet. I might be getting it, I might not. We are trying to work out some kinks in the system... Hopefully that happens soon.

We have been pretty busy - mainly just gathering information, reporting and doing patrols. For a little fun, and to stray away from the normal involvement, we are thinking about putting together soccer teams with all of the IPs to participate in. There is already a Coalition Forces team here that challenge with local Iraqi teams throughout Iraq. LOL, we lose. But its a break from the normal operation tempo here. We will see how it goes. I am trying to collect soccer balls to assist us in that process.

So, there have been a few things I have read in the news recently that has really portrayed the nonsensical ignorance of human. It is amazing what a few select people do and say. For instance, this is what I like to call a twofer. Yep... two dumb people in one story.


Oregon Woman plans to parade topless - Who the hell does she think she is. Believe me, I could care less, except, she is trying to get the ACLU involved. Who is she to think that she can parade nude around kids and family during a family parade. What does she have to prove? Does she understand, that if allowed to do this, it would probably incite a lot of anger in families, and cause people not to go who otherwise would have, which is counterproductive to the community. So she moves from California because the police were "hassling" her. Maybe she should obey the law. And so what if there is no specific statute in this town about being topless, she should understand that not everyone wants to see her naked, and more so, no kid should be subjected to that. This woman needs to be exiled to some island somewhere so she can do what she wants. Perhaps the same island we do nuclear testing on.

Now, for the good part. There is a quote from a certain city council member, City Council member Eric Navickas. Apparently, he is on her side. "If she can't be in the parade, Navickas said, it would be "an interesting commentary on our society that we're willing to tolerate dead bodies through our aggressive foreign policy from the war, but not healthy, naked bodies."" How about this, it's an interesting commentary on society that they would allow someone who was so ignorant to make a comment as insulting and completely nonsensical as that. Perfectly healthy naked bodies? How about children. To compare a woman who wants to run around naked to an aggressive foreign policy is to compare apples and clowns. That's right.. apples and oranges are both fruit, therefore comparable. I'm not saying that he needs to be a puritan, I'm saying he needs to understand that young children shouldn't be seeing it. I don't know.. maybe this is an overreaction.

Anyway... Now that I'm done venting about that... I really do miss all of you, and can't wait to get home.

Phil

What a week.

I know its been a couple of days since I have written. I'm sorry about that. Before I go any further though, I would like to take a moment to honor a couple of soldiers who were killed last week. These soldiers are not in my unit, but they are brothers nonetheless:

SGT Shane Duffy

SGT Cody Legg

SPC Johnathan Emard

Please don't be afraid or worry more about me after reading that, Everyone in my unit is fine.

Now, on a lighter note, these past 10 days or so since I have written I mainly have been out with the Iraqi Police like usual. We have been really working to develop good relationships within the community, as it is essential to gain the trust of the people whom we are working around. I hate Iraq - I'm not going to lie; however, I don't think there is any other job that could give me the type of experience I am getting. Not only are we learning the whole combat role, we are working and relating with Iraqi civilians all the time.

Since being here, I have learned that there are mainly two types of people here. Those who want us here and those who don't. The kids want us here (probably bc they want anything American, and we give it to them). I've noticed that many of the kids love us. As the saying goes, "Ignorance is bliss." The other day I saw a young boy doing the robot as we passed by him and he started jumping up and down waving and smiling. Not to far away are a group of males about 20 years old or so, and not a single of them will wave back. They look at us like they honestly would rather see us gone, instead of improving their economy and way of life. Note: I don't mean by "giving them democracy," I mean by investing so much money into their economy, building wells, doing street repairs, building schools and mosques, all of that good jazz that they should like us for. I have seen kids beaten by their parents for waving at us. At what age does that kid go from not getting enough of us to wanting to kill us. It's strange to me, because there is no gray area that I have seen; it's either they like us or they don't.

I want to let everyone know at home that I am going to try and update this thing more. I am actually in the process of trying to make some comics to add in every week or so. There will be some more Infinite Wisdom eventually to.

I love you all and miss you all

SGT Watson واتسون

Wow.

Okay, lately... Everytime I say something is going to happen, it does. I want you to read the infinite wisdom part of my last blog...

Now, read this:

Couple Arrested for Putting Baby for Sale on Craigslist - This is absolutely insane. Did I not just call that on my last blog? By the way, winning lotery numbers : 7, 13, 26, 5 and 4 (Is that the right amount of numbers? If not, let me know) I WIN HALF IF YOU WIN.

I couldn't wait til my next update to post that. :)

My Time Here So Far

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. It has been a pretty busy last week as we went through the TOA (transfer of authority) process.



In the last week there are some things I have learned:

(1) All the flies in the world are bred right here in Iraq (or as SSG Wilson puts it, they are insurgent flies sent here from AQI (Al-Qaeda in Iraq) to attack us).

(2) 105 degrees really isn't that hot, 115, however is.

(3) There are three groups of people that I have seen, kids, those who don't want us here, and those who don't want us here more.

(5) Holy crap do they like soccer here.

(4) Politics, unfortunately, is still the driving factor of all the ingenious decisions and ideas that goes on in the army, despite being here.



The living conditions here are okay, at best. We have decent places to sleep, shower, eat and the such. I am in great place to save money. There is no Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell, Starbucks or really any place to spend a lot of money (Like the bigger, more built-up camps)

Despite all of that, I really do enjoy my job here so far. It is a completely new experience and it has instilled a type of maturity that can only be presented when you come to a place like this. No matter what we learned in training a couple months ago, things have already changed. It is amazing to work among a culture such as this. Don't get me wrong, I DO NOT want to be here; however, because I am, I will walk away with this a better and stronger person.



So enough of that: now it's time for some more Infinite Wisdom of Phil:

Florida Police Say 7-Year-Old Girl Accidentally Shoots Sleeping Mom Twice - I honestly don't know what to say about this. Accidentally? My head is starting to hurt. They really need to provide more details in this story

German Couple Loses Custody of 7-Month-Old Son After Posting Him on eBay for $1.60 - Come on people, everyone knows Craigslist is a better place for that. Honestly though, these great parents should be stoned.

Woman Wakes After Heart Stopped, Rigor Mortis Set In - Now, this could go for some money on Ebay. This woman, woke up after being dead.... TWICE! This is a little better than a picture of Jesus on toast. This is going to scare the hell outta me.

Two Scuba Divers Rescued After Nearly 24 Hours Adrift at Sea Apparently, they have never seen the movie Open Water. They will probably write a book.





I have some pictures that I will try to post later tomorrow.



I know the question a lot of you are thinking (because I see the emails), nothing bad has happened. This area has been surprisingly calm. If something does happen, better believe I wont tell anyone about it until I get home, if that - there is no reason for it.

Love and miss you all, Phil

Welcome to the Suck

~~~~~CORRECTION: I made a correction to the way my name was. Apparently it will get here quicker, or they will identify me easier if you put my last name first.

So I'm here.. Everything is going okay. I got to fly in on a BlackHawk, which was kind of cool. I just wanted everyone to have my address. I will update more later.

SGT Watson, Philip J.

1175 MP CO, 2nd Platoon

FOB Warrior (McHenry)

APO AE 09338

I'm not sure how long it takes mail to get here, but feel free to send some :)

I look forward to talking with you all some more. I will update when I can.

The Infinite Wisdom of Phil

So... I believe I am going to make this news thing a new portion of my blogs, because honestly, there is some messed up stuff going on in this world:


Coven of Witches Casting Spells Against Marines - First thought: witch trials... Second thought: this would be fantastic for my blog. This definitely deserves a little more attention. So, here's the deal: this coven, dubbed "code pink," has... wait.. what? Code pink? What.. who in their right mind has ever heard of the color pink being used in witchcraft? Black... check, green... check, red... okay, pink... Stop it!, here.. I don't think of witches.. I think - Tinkerbell. Okay, so this group (who apparently has a themed protest fetish) is rallying outside of a Marine recruiting station in Berkley, CA. I'm all for freedom of speech.. but casting spells? eh, not so much.(Disclaimer: I am not against witchcraft, pagans, Norse, fairies, gods, spirits, angels, aliens, sorcerers, or the Wizard of Oz, I just don't like spells casted on brothers and sisters of mine... so back off ... please)

Anyway, her parents must be proud. Priceless picture.


Please folks, understand that just because you are against a war, you don't have to be against the troops. Recruiters are doing their jobs, as am I. There is no difference.

So, some more Infinite Wisdom of Phil:

Teens Tell Police They Converted Skull Into Pot Bong - Okay... again I'm not for pot.. but.. really? What happened to the good old days of just moving up a drug? They weren't even on acid. I bet you these were the people who were protesting... Hey! I'm just sayen...

Sleepwalking Defense Works to Clear Man of Molestation - Really, need I say more? "No your honor, when I shot those people I was having a dream about Grand Theft Auto, I didn't wannnnt to do it?" Oh come on. Score 1 for the bad guy

Pythons Bite Out of Boxes at Post Office, Cause Panic - Pretty sure it would have caused panic really anywhere. If I got a box, and then all of sudden I saw a snake... no more box. It would be hurdled back at the postman express priority style.

Man Uses Steak Knife for at-Home Tracheotomy - Woah. Huge balls, I wonder how he walks.... That guy definitely gets a cool card for that.

Anyway, there will be a more indepth update tomorrow. Just thought I should share. Comment and let me know if you all want more of this junk. :)

Watson واتسون

It wouldn't be the desert without Camels

So, I was out doing a training mission with my squad when a herd (?) of camels came strolling by. It was almost unbelievable. Of course we had to play with them. I got out of my Humvee and was just standing with the guys when one walked right over to us. Fantastic. So we all goofed around, took pictures and a couple of videos before it decided to be on its way. The whole time I was thinking... despite the heat and endless miles of absolutely nothing but sand still didn't hit me as hard as a camel walking up to our patrol... I'm in the desert.

So, the next thing that really made me think i was in the desert was this...

That's right.. not a serious one, but a sandstorm indeed. This was about 8 in the morning just the other day, just outside the berm of the training area. Thank God for goggles. Needless to say, respiratory infections are no fun. I woke up at about 140am or so, because sleep wasn't all that easy, and was already a little congested. This... this definitely made it worse. At the same time I was hating it, it was actually kind of cool - almost, surreal. Regardless, thank god for good goggles.

The heat is something that I can stand, and really has not bothered me. I drink about 9 or so liters of water a day. I sweat a lot, but I'm used to that anyway. Again... It is only spring, so it is bound to get worse.

So right now, I'm sitting in the computer center just working on this and uploading more pictures and reading the news. I'm guessing I'll have a couple thousand pictures by the time I leave here.

I like the news. It comes with being opinionated.

Here is what I think about the headlines thus far today:

"Risk Suicide to Quit Smoking?" - Isn't this kind of counterproductive (yet, it doesn't take as long)?

Iran: U.S., Britain Helped Mosque Bombers - Unfortunate attack, but don't blame us that we didn't help you... you should probably stop sending weapons to Iraq.

Maryland Woman Fined $310 for Killing Police Officer - Excuse me?

Prospective Juror in Pot Trial Caught Smoking Joint - Not for it... but hilarious...

Genes Reveal Platypus Even Weirder Than Suspected - Honestly? You think? Look at the name?

Nude Hiker Tells Women He Was 'Getting Close to Nature' - how about go to a zoo, smell a flower, plant a tree or mow your grass... all of those seem like healthier choices... I hope he walked through poison Ivy.

Anyway, enough for now. I will update again before I leave. I hope all is well with everyone and I miss you all.

You can view more pictures at http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn36/bulldog2c/

Camp Clark, Fort Dix, and New York....

I guess it has been a little while since I have written anything, but the Internet really, really sucks here. So, I will tell you what has gone on since I have started training at Camp Clark, Missouri. Just a little note, there is some information that I am not going to be able to write about on here.




I started this wonderful journey convoying down to Camp Clark, MO from the armory in St. Clair. While we were there, we did a ton of IED (improvised explosive device training) and just normal - basic training - type of stuff. We also did chemical training (see my in my chem suit below), combat drills, FOB work, and firearms. There were some issues with a lot of peoples pay and military insurance, but it got fixed as quick as they could... I guess... They sent us to Camp Clark for this new pre-mobilization training, so they could put us on state orders instead of showing federal orders for a longer time.. Which makes them look better for not having soldiers deployed for longer times... The food wasn't typical military food... It was worse. Actually, I would have had a joke about it, but it makes me too mad... Also, the military - in their infinite wisdom - had us training in Missouri in February to prepare us for Iraq.... Here are a couple of the pics I took there.

So, after twenty-some odd days in that place, we flew to the the greatness that is Fort Dix. Now when I said that, I had a hard time not smiling. Seriously though, it surprised me that there was a national terrorist incident here, look where it is, they're already dead. Now, it could just be this post, but it seems like there is nothing at all to do here. Now, that being said, there is a lot to do within an hour each way: Atlantic City, Philadelphia, New York, DC. All pretty cool places.
Fort Dix was the first stop on federal orders. We came here to go through federal mobilization training, to assist us in learning our job over there and to further our skills learned at Camp Clark. We worked with all of the weapon systems, did A TON of IED training, and lived on a mock Forward Operating Base (FOB). At the FOB, we lived in tents with wooden floors. It really wasn't all that bad due us having heat and electricity, but it was pretty dirty and dusty all of the time. Our latrines were Mr Bobs, same as Johnny on the Spots, out showers were actually in shower stalls in the back of a trailer to big truck (which wasn't bad, usually clean and always had hot water). It was about a football field to walk to though. Wind sucked... It actually blew down the tent down from us the housed another platoon's squad.

We did have some down time, but we trained about every single day from the time we got there, until the time we went on pass and I came back to StL - maybe one or two days off in between.
We learned a little bit of Arabic, and trained daily with natural Arabic speakers, which was a definite positive. It gave us a lot of experience using interpreters and how to be culturally aware of certain words and actions that could cause problems. We also did a ton of convoy training, some of which I deemed useless, but nonetheless. We would leave the wire (the FOB) in a convoy en route to all of training sites. We would then get hit by inert IEDs and and attacks by mock insurgents. Sometimes it was fun, other times... eh...

So anyway, our training ended with a well deserved four-day pass, in which I went back to St. Louis and spent time with my family and friends one more time before I left. It definitely was a good time. The weather was great the entire time. It pretty much culminated with a large family and friend barbecue which turned out well.

Once we got back to Fort Dix after the pass, we didn't do anything for a couple of days. The other day they took us on an MWR (moral, welfare and recreation) trip to New York, one of the places I have wanted to go to since I was younger. You can see the pictures here: http://s300.photobucket.com/albums/nn36/bulldog2c/ . It was definitely a good time. Some of us worked some magic with the police and security guarding the WTC Ground Zero site, and they let us in to the secure area where only construction crews and family members are allowed. I think it made the people standing around the fence pretty mad. I will go into more detail on my thoughts, really just to conserve time before flying out (I now leave in a half hour).

So, now its 1900 (7pm) on 30 Apr 08, and I am in the day room awaiting the bus to pick us up to go to the flight line. Definitely more updates to follow.

If you wish to email me, you can do so at pjwatson104@gmail.com

January 23, 2008 - Geting Ready

So.... I am getting ready to mobilize. The date has been set as January 2nd, 2008 (Drill, then leaving for St. Claire on Sunday).