Jan update

We’re all thru with the holidays over here and buckled down for January and the rest of the year. All of the decorations have been taken down and the last of the pogey bait has been eaten or given away. We’re back into our daily cycle and started running again, working out and back into the PT groove. So far, all my New Years resolutions are holding strong, so glad one of them included staying away from bars and no vodka.

The good news is that we’re into 2006 which is the year we get to come home, so yay!

My sincerest condolences to the family of Major Anderson from Des Moines who was killed in this last helicopter accident. So far it looks like weather brought it down and not hostile activity. I know he left a couple of small children. We’re having a memorial here on Thursday, it will be well attended.

I am truly amazed when I fly that we’re not shot at more, that’s really telling. We fly the same helicopters he was on and they’re extremely reliable and sturdy. They all fly in pairs for security and safety reasons and we have gunners out the sides of the doors. I’ve never seen them fire a hostile shot, nor have I ever been in a bird that’s been shot at. We fly over most of Baghdad and there are plenty of places for a good rifleman to take pot shots at us without being caught, but so far we haven’t. I guess that’s why they let us fly because it’s infrequent and that’s good.

The fight’s now being shifted to the borders and we’re sealing them off from incoming insurgents and dealing with other pockets around the country. Very good news. The other information we’re getting on the ground is that we’re meeting with insurgent leaders who are breaking away from the more militant groups. Some are being pulled into the political process and out of the fight so even better news. Safer every day, that’s the dream. We still have mortar attacks here on this post, Mortar-itaville. There was one in mid December that landed not too far from where I stay and hurt 10. That’s the closest they’ve come so far.

I have a lot of travel scheduled for this month and I’ve already been out on three trips so far. My big one is going to be by convoy and we’re still putting the details on that together. That one’s going to be interesting…

Remember I was talking about stupidity? Our General has her own Rapid Response force which is comprised of the Senior Sgt in the command and his “volunteers”. We all just shake our heads at this because it’s a grown man with his own little group of killers and they take off and drive around the country whenever they feel the “itch” in up-armored HMMWV's. We weren’t in country for more than a month and this group got put together and drove out the front gate. Nobody disputes that there might be a use for them at some time, but they drove out without (as far as we know) taking anyone with them who was a veteran of convoy movements. There should have been at least one veteran per vehicle but there wasn’t even a veteran in the convoy, all of them were cherries. The first time out they got hit by a Vehicle IED and one of the kids got hurt. Nothing serious, but they got lucky that time.

There’s all kinds of rules of engagement we use over here on what happens if convoy's are hit by small arms fire, IED’s, RPG’s or even how to meet other convoys coming at you so you don’t shoot them up. Friendly fire is the most dangerous and so very deadly over here, many of the accidents are from each other. Or, it could be the Iraqi’s now, they're on the roads convoying as well. Convoy’s practice a lot on how to drive the roads and for that group to just drive off the base and into the war was stupid, and not something a leader with his years of experience should have done.

But since then, our little gun truck unit has been up and down the convoy routes, getting lost in the back streets of Baghdad as well as all the way up north to the Syrian border and back. If nothing else, they are brazen. I think they’ve been out enough now that we’ve got some confidence about riding with them. I have to get to this one location and the only means I have is thru them. I’m hoping that’ll be sometime in the next couple of weeks, so we’ll get that scheduled.

If Paul could see this, he would laugh. He’s out and about in the economy every single day and he knows VERY well how to travel the country. Air travel to me is very safe now but the first couple of times the pucker factor is damn high. I think it’ll be the same on the convoys but have to get the first one under my belt before we get comfortable with it. For sure, the camera’s going along.

I haven't heard from Paul since before Christmas, I'm hoping he's staying dry. Rainy season here, with lots of mud. The desert turns to clay and clogs up the boots. It's not very pretty but no doubt the killers out in the field have it even worse than we do, so here's hoping they have clean and dry living all the time.

Hello to everyone and Happy New Year!

Best wishes from Iraq