Thank you...

I want to thank all of you for your incredible support over the past year, it has helped me tremendously and I hope I was able to help you in return. I have been home safe for about 2 months now (the artillery range still gives me the creeps) and hopefully will not have to return. Again, thanks to all of you for your amazing amounts of support. -B

HOME!!!

I AM HOME!!! BACK IN THE US!!! THANK YOU GOD!!! B

Bored out of my mind...

That's right, I am officially bored out of my mind. I thought that a few days just chilling in Kuwait would be nice. Well, they were and now I'm ready to do something besides sleep and watch movies. Yeah, I know there are worse places I could be right now, but at least time might go faster there than a slow snail's crawl. And they don't even know when we'll be getting out of here, could be a few days, could be 10 days. I have no idea what I would do here for 10 more days. I think I truly would lose my mind. I mean, you can only play so many games of spades and watch so many movies before even that gets old. I just want to be HOME.
Sorry about that rant, I know that I've got it pretty good right now, not being shot at or rocketed but man, I just wish I were home already. B

Back in Kuwait...

Hey all, I've been pretty busy moving myself and all our stuff to Kuwait. Yes, that's right, we're finally back in Kuwait. As much as I dislike sand, it is GREAT to be here. Because being here means that I'm almost home. :-) They keep changing the date on us, but as long as they're not planning to send us back to Iraq, I could care less.
Like 2 hours after I got into Kuwait, they put me on a detail for the next day. Wash rack. Yeah, we had to take ANOTHER unit's vehicles (ours were already done) to the wash rack for "the day" and get them cleaned. We ended up spending over 36 hours there, mostly just waiting in line to get the opportunity to clean the vehicle. It was a mess. I was so glad to get back to our camp, take a LONG shower, and sleep. Hopefully things will go more smoothly and we'll be out of here before we know it! B

TOA...

As of 1900 hours tonight, I have fufilled my duties as a combat platoon leader in Iraq. For the past few days I've been training my replacement and his platoon on escort missions in Iraq. We've been preparing for this for about a month now and all that is left is to ride along and make sure he's caught everything I've tried to teach him. (We call it trying to drink from a firehose.) I think he's going to do an awesome job and hopefully will do an even better job than I have done. We'll see tomorrow how things go....
This step means I'm that much closer to coming home back the land of the big PX. I am very very excited not only to be home but to know that I've been able to serve my country and bring all my boys home safe and sound. I know we aren't quite out of the woods yet and please, I ask that you continue to pray for my and my guys for a safe return. Thanks so much for all the support I've received on here. B

First and Last Call....

On Saturday, at our nightly meeting, we were informed that one of our platoons was missing because they were currently conducting a BEER RUN. A large beer company had donated enough for each person in all of 1st CAV to have 2 beers for the Super Bowl and the Commanding General found it in his heart to waive the prohibition against drinking for that night. So, imagine with me, 4 heavily armed humvees escorting a flat bed truck completely FULL of beer down the streets of Baghdad. So cool.
My plan was to go watch the Super Bowl at 0230 in the morning and drink my two beers UNTIL I found out that we still had a mission in the morning. Grrr. So, I went over with some of my buddies when the place opened at 2300 and sat down with my 2 beers. Wow, sitting in the middle of Baghdad with an M-16 in my lap and two beers in front of me. :-D It was definitely an experience to remember. And in closing, it's amazing what two beers will do when you haven't had any in a LONG time. LOL. B

CPT

Hey all,

I just found out I made the CPT Selection Board which officially makes me a First Lieutenant (Promotable). The down side is that it won't happen for about a year, but it's so cool to have made my first promotion list! Yay me! B

Elections...

The Iraqi Democratic Elections happened yesterday and I think I'll join the rest of the world in declaring them an unqualified success. The bad guys mission was to disrupt the election process and it was an utter and complete failure. Only 44 people were killed yesterday across the ENTIRE country of Iraq. That is so many less than anyone projected, it's amazing. It's hard to contain my optimism at this point for Iraq and its people.
We did have some missions to do yesterday and mine enabled me to drive around a little of Baghdad seeing for myself what was going on. Amazingly, even though the sounds of explosions echoed across the area, people were out voting. Voting in droves. Voting with wives, friends, strangers. But VOTING. What really made me happy was when I went out in the afternoon and saw kids in the street playing soccer. Couples walking down the street. Older Iraqis sitting on front porches (well, not porches, but sitting in front of their houses). There was no fear. No scared looks. To me, it was almost a glimpse into the future of Iraq, where that kind of thing is normal, commonplace, expected. I do not know if anyone on that street felt as I did, but I sure hope so. Throughout the day, multiple reports flooded in about IRAQI security forces stopping car bombs, walking suicide bombers, bad guys trying to mess the elections up. I know how I felt when my very first mission was a success and the confidence it gave me to do the harder things. I hope that the ISF feel the same way. I think they performed over everyone's expectations. And if they are able to follow this success with others, they'll be on their way to securing their own country without our help.
I just have a great and optimistic feeling about Iraq today with how well things went yesterday. I just do.

B

An explosive day...

Hey all, just wanted you to know that I hadn't yet gone out when the car bombs reported today on the news went off. So, I'm safe and those that do, keep praying that these elections do happen and that as many people as can get to vote. And for the safety of all here. Thanks.

B

It wasn't the sound of the explosion that scared me. It was feeling the roiling wave of heat and seeing the dust cloud envelop everything around me. A moment of absolute quiet before someone yells out "INCOMING!" I become aware of the staccato sound of machine gun fire all around. I saw it land 15 meters behind us, yells my driver. Principles. Must get the principles out of here. Are my boys alright? That was too close. Yes, we're good. Got to get out of here. NOW. Nothing until...At the entrance. Forever waiting, not moving...they're here? Ok, time to go. Get everyone to safety. Everyone else running towards the blast and I need to get away. You want me to what? Analyze the impact? Now? Shouldn't I get the principles to safety first??? Yes, ok. Inside the International Zone. Deep breath. Wait. Am I okay? Still got all fingers and toes. Nothing wrong but a slowly building headache. Deep breath. Yes, we're mission complete. And you have another mission for us...................................

Iraqi Elections

I've been asked to comment on the Iraqi elections and I will do so staying within my own parameters for information that I can put out on this forum.
I believe the Iraqi elections absolutely have to happen on time. I think that any delay will give the AIF (Anti-Iraqi Forces) the proverbial foot in the door that they need to continue their attacks against Iraqis. (And I say against Iraqis because for the most part, they have ceased attacking US military targets.) I believe the elections need to happen, even if a large number of the Sunni population refused to vote, because Iraqis will elect someone. Even if every Iraqi hates this person, he will still have been ELECTED in a true democratic election. He will have a "mandate" from the Iraqi people for the first time. He cannot be called an American stooge because the Iraqis elected him. I think no matter his motivations for running he will realize that the hopes of every Iraqi rest in him. Also, I believe that the few numbers of AIF forces that are truly Iraqi will give him a chance to prove that he can run this country. Those that are foriegn fighters will be driven out by the increasing potent Iraqi Army and Iragi National Guard. I may be wrong, and that comes from being an optimistic person, but I truly believe that elections on January 30th can turn this country from the brink of war to peace. A truly lasting peace that will allow Iraq to become a prosperous and powerful nation.

Still doing okay...

Hey all,

Not much going on here with me. There've been LOTS of explosions but luckily nothing near me. We're all pretty much ready to come home and very much looking forward to that. I can't wait to touch American soil again.
For those keeping up with the news, pray that they either have the elections on time, or push them back at least 3 months. That way we can leave on time. If they only get pushed back a little, then we have to stay, something no one here wants. Anyway, that's about all that's going on here. Out.