1. Because CNN says it is.
2. KBR employees (subcontractor of TCNs for Haliburton) are looking for new jobs.
3. We have stopped pouring cement for sidewalks.
4. We spend more time in staff meetings than actually flying.
5. We classify insurgents shooting at aircraft as “Celebratory Fire” instead of “Hostile Fire”.
6. More UAVs are flying than real aircraft.
7. People are wearing reflective belts instead of body armor.
8. Geraldo no longer comes over here.
9. All the hot looking female reporters are broadcasting from Afghanistan.
10. People are being awarded war medals for fixing copiers.
Peace - J
[J - I don't believe that anybody reading this blog will live long enough to see the end of conflict in Iraq. -ed.]
Quietly, as the United States presidential election and its aftermath have dominated the news, America’s three broadcast network news divisions have stopped sending full-time correspondents to Iraq.
In Baghdad, ABC, CBS and NBC still maintain skeleton bureaus in heavily fortified compounds. …….. Some of the offices have only one Western staff member.
The three network evening newscasts devoted 423 minutes to Iraq this year as of Dec. 19, compared with 1,888 minutes in 2007, said Andrew Tyndall, a television news consultant.
CNN and the Fox News Channel, both cable news channels with 24 hours to fill, each keep one correspondent in Iraq.
The staff cuts appear to be the latest evidence of budget pressures at the networks. And those pressures are not unique to television: many newspapers and magazines have also curtailed their presence in Baghdad. As a consequence, the war is gradually fading from television screens, newspapers and, some worry, the consciousness of the American public.
So there’s not much news reporting from Iraq. The costs and restrictions to reporting have pushed the American population’s ability to understand the war into the background. Basically, back home we don’t know WTF is going on. It’s not any better for Afghanistan. It was the “Battle of the Surge” argument between the presidential candidates until the global financial meltdown in September. Since the earth lost 50% of its wealth over the last three months, thinking about the wars has not been a top-shelf topic of attention. Maybe that’s the way it’s intended.
Real time personal archives like this one, even abiding by the military restrictions, may provide some of history’s clearest understanding of life in the war zone.
The Armed Forces Network is basically our cable TV provider in the Sand Box. We have 10 channels to choose from, two of which are identical menus that tell you what is programmed for the next two hours. Did I mention they are identical? Makes a lot of sense - think about it. The other 8 channels show TV programs from the states.
As I mentioned in a dispatch from an earlier trip, two of them seem to be locked on the Oprah or Dr Phil program 24/7. Which literally makes almost all of us want to poke our eyes out and rupture our eardrums with a pen. I’m convinced that the Oprah and Dr. Phil mission is to re-program the female population in the United States to rule the world, putting all men into concentration camps until they accept Scientology, and will jump up and down when they talk about their wives or girlfriends.
News is a nice mixture of CNN (Communist News Network) and Fox News, fair and balanced to both extremes. There is also a Pentagon Channel, which is similar to a 24 hour a day infomercial for the military. I can’t watch this station for more than 3 seconds, or how long it takes to click through with the remote control. Then there is ESPN for sports, and a movie channel.
The best part of AFN is that it has no commercials. Yeah, I see you right now saying; “That’s freaking great! No commercials!” Wrong. The worst part of AFN is that it has no commercials. Confused? Yeah, so are we. AFN doesn’t have commercials, but it does have what could be called “socio-military infomercials”. Video shorts like “Don’t get drunk and beat your wife”. (It doesn’t address the situation of not being drunk.) And are apparently an infinite number of necessary personal hygiene tips, interspersed with how to look for IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices). It never ends.
But the worst commercials start in November and carry on through January - the “Holiday Infomercials”. Seemingly hundreds of Congressmen and Senators send their greetings to the troops. I believe half of them have no idea where or what we are doing. But that’s just my opinion. Then you get the greetings from the Admirals and Generals doing a 2 minute stand-up, all decked out and surrounded in the Christmas scene from their homes, along their families and pets, saying:
Hey your Christmas is going to suck. But look how great my Christmas is going to be. Glad I am not over there with you!
Again, just my opinion.
But the best of all the holiday commercials are the ones from the Hollywood actors and actresses. (L.A., which stands for the “liberal area” of California.) I personally know that these people have no Idea where we are or what we are doing. These are guys and gals whose biggest life crisis is when the guy at Starbucks forgets to put cream cheese on their bagel. While they are wishing us a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year on camera, you can tell they are just reading que cards. Very few of these people ever climb on a plane to actually come visit the boys in harms way. A shout out to some of them that have: Kid Rock, Robin Williams (Admittedly a liberal, but goes the extra mile for the troops.), Lance Armstrong, Arty Lange, Jessica Simpson, Charlie Daniels, and the list goes on. All are great Americans that really do support the troops.
Anyway, I bitch way too much, but it’s a pastime over here. I am just glad we have TV. During my first deployment here in 2003-2004 we didn’t have crap and lived in a tent. So the upgrade is very appreciated. –
Happy New year! And our mantra is, “Best New Years Ever!”
Peace – J
[J – Isn’t this last part a bit harsh? They’re only trained to act, and have great difficulty being normal. And I continue to have a conceptual disconnect between what is a “liberal”, and whatever the correct name is for the people that live on the other side of the fence. Does it involve garlic and onions, or just hats? – ed.]
This Christmas is in Iraq was the best ever, I mean compared to a Turkish Prison (à la the movie “Midnight Express”). Let’s see, the Internet was out for two days and the phone lines were hit and miss. We were busy and missed the big feast at the chow hall. So instead, Christmas dinner for my crew and myself was watermelon, pop tarts, and potato salad. We crammed that into a Styrofoam “to-go box”, and ate standing up in the para-loft where we get suited up to go fly. That was washed down with a lukewarm Redbull. Kind of like the Christmas dinner everybody dreams of.
Anyway, Mantra-Of-The-Day was “Best Christmas Ever!” We figured if we said it enough, we might start to believe it. Calling on the phone was a joke. First it took about 15 minutes to get through, then there was that annoying time delay in the conversation, and then at any moment the line dropped off. So it was pretty much a one-way conversation: “Hello (insert name here), this was the Best Christmas EVER!” Wait for a response… “Hello??” Then the line then gets cut off.
So yeah, the “Best Christmas Ever!”
OK enough about Christmas, which is only like 363 days from now. Kind of wish everyone understood that, and would stop making it a three-month celebration. Missing Christmas is bad enough, but being reminded everyday for three months is torture. The only really good part of having Christmas over here again is that it makes us appreciate Christmas with family and friends, whenever we get home.
But we had a great excuse for not buying anybody a Christmas gift.
So I like to bitch. It’s a pastime here. We like to feel like martyrs.
A big “Thank you!” goes out to everyone that has sent us goodie packages and Christmas wishes via email.
Football watching is great here. But it always starts right at the beginning of our sleep cycle. We can catch it the next day on a replay, but by then we’ve already searched ESPN Online and found out the score.
OK, it’s cold over here, long johns are a must. But my best purchase for this detachment was a pair of “Crocks”. That’s right, those ugly clog looking rubber shoes. They beat the hell out of flip-flops. Going from our pod to the shower trailer, two football fields away, now includes no stubbed toes, no rocks caught between the foot and the flip-flop. They’re great shower shoes, but really Really Ugly.
Anyway, hope you all had a great Christmas, and hope this is the last Christmas for all of us are here.
Since this Christmas was the “Best Christmas Ever!”, I can only hope that New Years can at least equal it as the “Best New Year EVER!”
I always get questions from my friends and family about the War (or conflict, or disagreement, or sustainment, or whatever the flavor of the day). My opinion? I really don’t have one opinion. I have many opinions, a different one for every part of this military action. I could probably write an entire library of opinions on the good and bad that has come from this effort. But I won’t, because I have to work.
[I checked, “sustainment” is a legal Scrabble word. –ed ]
Most of the questions from friends and family are “what is like there”. Again, that’s hard to answer. This place has been constantly changing. Every time I’ve returned it has never been the same as when I previously left.
For those who would like to understand the situation from the perspective of a soldier/sailor/Marine (and yes even the Air Force), here are some recommendations. The best TV series is HBO’s “Generation Kill”. The best movie is “Harsh Times”, and the best book is “Lone Survivor”. All are excellent portrayals of this conflict. The war is over 5 years old, with many woven components. These pieces don’t judge or preach, they just deal with specific portions of the larger event. Topics like PTSD, the treatment of veterans, how we fought the war, and what really happens down range.
I just hope we have not created a new VA generation. That the soldiers who have done their duty in the Middle East are not neglected. That the country will stand up for the soldier, as he did for his country.
Alright, I’m getting off my soap box. Go watch the movies, read the book, and report back.
I only have one day to get by college football picks in before the close the window on football pool here, so I could use some help. We bet on all the bowls and the bets have to be in by the 20th. I need help on South Florida vs. Memphis, Troy St. vs. Southern Miss, N.C. vs. WVU, Rutgers vs. NC State, Air Force vs Houston (screw it I hate the air farce - I’m going with Houston), Iowa/South Carolina, and Conn/Buffalo? All the rest of the bowl games I already have the answers. But if you have advice on the for mentioned games - slide the answers to badtoad27@gmail.com
- J
[J – This time sensitive info presented a problem with my available computer access. – ed]
Well, I find myself back in the sand for another holiday visit. Christmas in Iraq - how do I explain it? In as few words as possible, Christmas in Iraq sucks. The temperature is great for flying, about 30 degrees in the evenings. During the days I really don’t know, as I haven’t spent much time outside during the day. But it’s got to be cold.
New Policies - things change yet stay the same. There are no thumb-drives allowed on computers here or any other place in the military. This includes camera downloads, iPod hook-ups for download - etc. etc. So that is a new policy worth mentioning.
(Which means no contemporaneous media for the posts. So the editor has free license to include images or media. He thinks that he’ll recycle some of the original artwork that was made for these reports and search YouTube. -ed)
I do want to give a shout out to President Bush. If you have seen the news, he is visiting the boys and talking to the Iraqi government in place. But the shout out goes to his agility for being able to dodge two shoes thrown at him when addressing a group of Iraqi reporters. Whoever threw his shoes had a good arm - rare here, where the national game is soccer. Anyway, the president did show some athletic skill dodging those shoes. Very impressive. Obama can shoot hoops, but I don’t know if he could dodge shoes with twenty cameras and lights shining in his face.
(Pres-Elect has survived 15 years on Chicago’s Southside dodging indigenous danger and political poison. Very few others on the national stage can claim that ability. -ed)
Anyway, back to Iraq. Same place I left in August. The same chow hall, and there’s the same faces of guys in the other units who are back here yet again. I am trying to find out who exactly is fighting the war. I think it’s the same guys over and over again.
Lets see, a recap of the food. The chow is the same stuff. It was taco night tonight, which is one of my favorite nights. The steak is still boiled - I do believe it’s cooked first, then boiled. Not sure. But I am sure that it tastes awful.
Been here since the beginning of December, or at least left the U.S. at the beginning, and showed up here about 4 days later. It’s funny, the minute you walk off the plane you kind of loose sense of all time. Everything is metered to Zulu (Greenwich Mean Time) time. So we never know what day of the week it is, just what date it is. Funny.
The realization of Iraq is immediate. You roll into your hootch, turn on the TV and there are - wait for it - no commercials. Well, there are commercials, but they are info-commercials from the AFN (Armed Forces Network). They include such topics as; don’t beat your wife (especially if she is bigger than you), stop smoking, stop chewing tobacco, stop drinking, don’t drink and drive, pay your bills, don’t drink and drive. I already miss real commercials.
Anyway - The trip over was fun. By tradition I either get the flu the day before I leave for Iraq, or the day I get here. So I didn’t want to break tradition, and I got the flu when I got here.
Its funny, the happiest people you see on this journey are the guys being replaced. They seem to have been counting the minutes until you arrive. Then they can’t wait to get the hell out of here, especially during the holidays. Of course they talk all about their plans for the upcoming holidays, completely oblivious to the squashed holiday plans of the listener.
It’s all very nice. Especially for those of us who were not scheduled to come over here during the holidays, but were given the great gift of “Hey ahhh… do you mind?” That’s the polite way of saying, “Pack your bags, you’re getting some frequent flyer miles. And you don’t have to worry about buying Christmas gifts, because you aren’t going to be around for Christmas.”
So Christmas shopping was easy. Everybody likes gift cards anyway. Hopefully it will be a short tour. From the moment of arrival, you start counting backwards. Crossing each day off the calendar until the day that you get to be that guy who is happy to see his replacement.
Getting back into the swing of things, getting accustomed to living in a trailer, showering in a trailer, and having to walk the distance of a football field to use the bathroom, which is also a trailer. Getting back to high school games of thinking that burping and farting are funny. Killing out buddies on “Call of Duty” is a good way to spend an evening waiting for briefing time before we go fly.
Christmas packages are coming in already, and the food supply is getting replenished. Actually it’s the candy supply that is getting replenished. We start the cycle - sleep - eat - fly – eat - workout - watch DVDs - kill each other on the computer - sleep - for the countless days - that seem to have 36 hrs in them - and the calendar that seems to take a week to move just one day.
That’s what happens around holidays in The Box. Time stands still. So, when you think of time flying during the holidays, and if you want it to seem to last forever, get on a plane and head over to The Sand Box. You’ll at least double your holiday pleasure (kidding). (Reference Yossairan in Catch-22 for citation of a similar war related time-skewing experience - ed)
Anyway, Happy Holidays. And have a beer or twelve for my buddies and me in the box.
[Not an easy form of media when a war zone is involved. Lots of oversight, all the way from the dirty boots right through to the server logs. Definitely a situation of feeling a warm breath from back over the shoulder. Not a circumstance to explore the limits: just take the guidelines, take two steps back, and behave conservatively.
Allison Batdorff in a Stars and Stripes article “Blogging rules by branch” on July 8, 2008 summarized the variations of rules for each branch of the service. I republish this article here to allow our readers to understand why this blog can't read like an action film script. - ed.]
While all the military services are concerned about operational security and compromising the mission, each branch has its own rules for servicemembers who want to sound off in the blogosphere.
Army
An April 2007 operational security policy mandated that soldier blogs get “eyes on” by a blogger’s immediate supervisor and OPSEC officer before publication. The policy also covered (but was not limited to) “letters, resumes, articles for publication, electronic mail, Web site postings, discussion in Internet information forums, discussion in Internet message boards or other forms of dissemination or documentation.” The free-speech firestorm was fast and furious, and the Army released a fact sheet in May 2007 saying the policy’s depiction of camouflage-clad censors was wrong, that there is “no way every blog post/update a soldier makes on his or her blog needs to be monitored or approved by an immediate supervisor and operations security officer,” but that soldiers should receive “guidance and awareness” training before blogging. Pundits worried about the chilling effect the regulation would have on bloggers-to-be, but the Army has said the new guidelines have not affected blogging.
Air Force
The service recently banned all blogs from Air Force computers, except for those deemed “reputable media outlets.” The Air Force doesn’t prohibit personnel from blogs or social network sites on personal computers, but airmen bloggers are cautioned to be wary of posting information that is classified or might violate OPSEC. The service also warns that airmen’s blogs can be used as evidence against them if they write about committing illegal acts or acts under investigation.
Navy and Marine Corps
According to Wired magazine, compared to the other military branches “The Navy Hearts Blogs.” The Department of Navy regulation (SECNAVINST 5720.47B) mostly focuses on Navy-generated information but says this about personal blogs: “There is also no prohibition on blogs operated by individual members as private citizens. The DON recognizes the value of this communication channel in posting current information and supporting the morale of personnel, their family and friends. As long as personnel adhere to specific restrictions on content, the DON encourages the use of blogs and recognizes this free flow of information contributes to legitimate transparency of the DON to the American public whom we serve.” The “specific regulations” are left to commands to decide, with emphasis on observing OPSEC, and rules regarding proprietary information, Privacy Act, HIPAA and copyrights/trademark infringement.
A Department of Defense policy update (August 2006) notes that blogs are increasingly used by military personnel but tells commanders to ensure that blogs, other than ones sanctioned by the DOD, are not “created or maintained” during working hours. Blogs also can’t contain information “not available to the general public” including daily military activities, unit morale, equipment status and other information “beneficial to adversaries.”
It’s so freaking hot here at the desert resort! In the middle of the night the outside temperature cools down to a frigid 104 degrees Fahrenheit. During the day it’s like 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees F). It’s freaking crazy. Then throw on a flight suit and body armor, with all the crap that goes on top of the body armor, don a flight helmet, jump into a helicopter, and sit in the cockpit for 4-6 hours. You are now in Dante’s Circles of Hell.
[ J – I'm thinking that the Sixth Circle is most applicable. – ed.]
You may think that the blowing wind of the moving aircraft would cool you off. Wrong! It just feels like someone is trying to blow dry your body. During the flight we pound frozen bottles of water and sweat our asses off. When we finally get out of the aircraft the smell is like having been dipped in a septic tank, and we’re wet from head to toe.
You really have to stay up on laundry. The military’s laundry service is a three day turnaround, and 3 flight suits are standard issue. One flight suit is only good for one flight in the summer, so everyday you are headed to the laundry drop-off. It’s that or the guy you are flying with may kill you or die himself from the odor of your two-day old flight suit.
The key here is the shower after the mission. As soon as you can get back to the hooch you grab a towel, flip-flops, and head to the shower trailer. The funny part here is the cold water. There isn’t any at this time of year. In the winter, cold water is plentiful because it’s freaking cold. In the summer there are two choices, warm water or hot water. Trust me, we’re just glad to have water.
We bitch a lot about this meaningless crap. The guys downrange, living out of a rucksack, are really paying the price. They have two changes of clothes to use for weeks on end. They would laugh at this post. But I guess what I am getting at is - it’s really hot here!
[J - One of the well known contractor's subsidiaries retrofitted this former military fort into a beautiful desert spa. I understand that is it populated by Air Force pilots. Why not just break your hooch lease and move into this one? Same day laundry. - ed. ]
1. Because CNN says it is.
[Not an easy form of media when a war zone is involved. Lots of oversight, all the way from the dirty boots right through to the server logs. Definitely a situation of feeling a warm breath from back over the shoulder. Not a circumstance to explore the limits: just take the guidelines, take two steps back, and behave conservatively.
It’s so freaking hot here at the desert resort! In the middle of the night the outside temperature cools down to a frigid 104 degrees Fahrenheit. During the day it’s like 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees F). It’s freaking crazy. Then throw on a flight suit and body armor, with all the crap that goes on top of the body armor, don a flight helmet, jump into a helicopter, and sit in the cockpit for 4-6 hours. You are now in 
You really have to stay up on laundry. The military’s laundry service is a three day turnaround, and 3 flight suits are standard issue. One flight suit is only good for one flight in the summer, so everyday you are headed to the laundry drop-off. It’s that or the guy you are flying with may kill you or die himself from the odor of your two-day old flight suit.