Protecting the Border

This is a photo of the forward operating base that Jake was stationed at in 2003-2004. The base is the walled in area at the top right of the photo. This photo was taken in 2004 and the vehicles you see parked within the walled in area are the Strykers that our guys drove. One of those Strykers is Jake's.

This next photo is the same exact area taken in 2009. The Strykers have been replaced by what appear to be Humvees. And as you can see there is a lot more activity at the border crossing. Notice the line of trucks on the left waiting to enter Iraq from Syria. Also note the road construction that has taken place in the past few years.

Palace Bridge

Al Faw Palace

Jake works someplace in Al Faw Palace. This was one of Saddams palaces in Baghdad. It's located on Camp Victory. He says he lives close by - I'll try to find out where.

A Little Education About Patriot

Click the link to view a video segment taken from the History Channels Mail Call.

Close Up of Patriot Launchers

Close up of the launchers and the command center that controls them. Click the photo for a better view. The launchers are on the little squares. The control center is the the larger regtangle.

Al Rifa Air Base - Bahrain

Here is where Paul works. This is Al Rifa air base on the southern end of the island. The loops at either end of the runways are where the fighter aircraft are housed. The blue circle marks the patriot emplacements. These are the Patriot missles that Paul and his buddies are responsible for.

Isa Air Base - Bahrain

This is where Paul livesin Bahrain. This is Isa Air Base. Not that large, with a very short runway. I think it's mostly helicopters at this base. He works at another location.

Photo of Comms Hill

Desolate and dirty. Not the most picturesque location in Iraq. But it's built for utility and functionality - not beauty.

The highest point at Camp Victory

Click the photo for a larger image. Comms Hill or Radar Hill is the tallest objest on Camp Victory. It's a man-made structure created from the earth removed to make Lake Victory.

The hill is also used for PT. The road around the base fo the hill is almost exactly one mile. Makes it easy to do a ten mile run.

Paul and Michelle

Our younger son Paul is in the regular Army and is deployed over seas in Bahrain for a year. He's a 14E Patriot Fire Control Enhanced Operator. He says it's a fancy name for somebody who gets to shoot s&!t out of the sky.

A couple weeks ago he met Michelle Rodriguez. They had a soup kitchen lunch and he had his picture taken with her.

Michelle was on the television show Lost, had a great part in Avatar and has been in a couple dozen other movies. This is a photo of her as "Trudy Chacon" in Avatar.

Another Entrance to Camp Victory

This is an alternate entrance into Camp Victory. Notice the concrete barriers across the road every few yards. This is designed to slow down a vehicle that is trying to crash through into the base. In order to negotiate the curves a vehicle would have to slow down to the point where it could be neutralized by guards at the entrance.

Entrance to Victory

This is the main entrance to Camp Victory. All vehicles must pass through the check point in order to enter. There are other entrances but this is the main entry point for Camp Victory.

Interior of a C-130

Jake didn't get to ride in a C-17 on his way to Baghdad. He got to ride in this instead.

Interior of a C-17

Riding in a C-17 is alot different than riding in a C-130. Here is the interior of a C-17 outfitted to transport troops.

Close-up of the Moat

Camp Victory

This is Camp Victory north east of Baghdad International Airport. Jake will be living at Camp Victory for the next year. Click the photo to get a better look. At some point maybe we'll know where it is he lives on base. The dark line is a moat that encircles the base.

The Trip In

He's been in Iraq for about 5 days now.

They were suppose to leave Washington at around noon on the fifth. The plane got delayed and they didn’t head to the airport until the next morning at 5am. They waited until 1PM when the airplane finally arrived. They boarded and left for Bangor, Maine. Upon arriving in Maine, the plane is refueled and they reboard the plane, wait an hour or so and are asked to leave the plane. The flight crew can’t fly, they are over the limit of hours in a day. They are taken to a hotel with what I was told are very nice rooms and stay the night. After breakfast in the morning they head back to the airport. The plane can’t leave until early afternoon, so it's lunch at the airport.

They finally leave the United States. THey arrive in Ireland with no problems and are out of their in about 45 minutes. Off to Kuwait.

When they arrive in Kuwait Jake is picked for baggage detail (unloading the bags from under the plane). It was in the mid-ninties and not a cloud in the sky. Bags are loaded onto a truck and soldiers onto a bus.

They arrive at Camp Buehring, a piece of desert in the middle of nowhere. Unload all the bags, it's hot and miserable. They throw their bags in a big tent, eat, and then get some sleep.

They are supposed to leave the next afternoon sometime. This gets pushed back until the following morning. They load up all the bags into the trucks and take another bus ride to an airbase in Kuwait. Unloaded all the bags, and then loaded them on to pallets for air transport.

They wait around a few more hours, and then load up the C-17 (big cargo jet) strap in and get ready for takeoff. They start up the engines and realize they are having problems with the elevators, so they unload and wait on the tarmac for about an hour and they decide that they can’t fix it. It's back on the busses and back into the base. That was the only C-17 going into Baghdad that day.

They wait around a few more hours. Finally get some news, they are taking 3 trips in a C-130. They unload all the cargo and reload it onto different pallets. Jake is at the end of the alphabet so he gets the last flight, at 2 in the morning. He had been awake for 24 hours now.

He lands in Iraq, wait around for in-processing, then unload the pallets and get on another set of busses to go to Baghdad. It's only a few miles. He gets to Camp Victory at 7AM unload the trucks and told to put their stuff away and go meet the people they are replacing.

They head into “work” and immediately start getting briefed. He gets to bed about 6PM and sleeps until 5AM the next morning.

He's getting into the regular schedule, working 12 hour shifts from 7am to 7pm.

It’s a 6 hour flight from Lewis to Bangor Maine, 6 hours to Ireland, 7 hours to Kuwait, and 2 hours to Iraq. It was a long trip.

Helicopters on the pads at Camp Beuhring

Had it Wrong - Camp Beuhring, Kuwait

Had it wrong - he flew into Camp Beuhring. Here's part of the tent city at Camp Beuhring. Soldiers bunk in these large tents, which are air conditioned.

Scary Night

This past Friday night was a really scary night. Ava was at Nicole's parents house for the evening, my wife was at a scrapbooking party and I was home watching TV.

Just before 8PM Nicole's mom called and asked if I could watch Ava. Nicole, who was at work, appeared to be leaking amniotic fluid and needed to go to the emergency room as quickly as possible. Her mom would meet her there.

I said I'd certainly watch Ava and said we'd meet at the emergency room. Her mom and I arrived at about the same time and transfered Ava from one vehicle to the other. Then off the two of us went, passing Nicole as she arrived at the emergency room.

Ava and I had a good evening. Well actually her evening was better than mine. We stopped at Nicole's house on the way home. Let the dogs out, fed them and took care of a couple other things befoer heading home.

It was a long evening, not knowing what was happening at the hospital. Naturally I feared the worst and thought that Nicole might lose the baby. My wife and I went through the same thing many years ago but this would be different. I was there for my wife but Nicole's husband was 7000 miles from home and wouldn't be able to be at her side if the worst happened.

Nicole's mom called me while Ava was taking her bath and let me know that the second of two test came back negative for amniotic fluid. This was a good sign. The tear that allowed the fluid to leak had repaired itself. They wanted to keep her a little while longer to see if things were actually OK before letting her go.

I'm not sure how things like this work. I know that when I "tear" something it usually takes more than an hour or two to heal. But then again a bloody nose can stop bleeding within a few minutes. The human body is a remarkable thing and will go to great lengths to protect the unborn baby.

Ava probably sensed my uneasyiness because she didn't settle down to go to sleep. It was about 10:30PM when I heard a car in the driveway. It was Nicole coming to pick up Ava. I was so relieved to see her as she walked up the walk to the front door. As she came inside we hugged, I told her not to scare us like that anymore and all the while Ava is saying mama, mama.

We sat and talked for a bit, everyone releived that the evening had turned out good.

He's in Iraq

Nicole just "heard" from him via instant messenger. He's in Iraq. Details to follow soon.

Still No Election Results

The election results are suppose to come out today. It's 11PM in Minnesota so it has to be about 9 AM in Baghdad. It will be interesting to see what happens.

In the United States, the president is chosen directly in a single election. After he or she is elected, the president selects a cabinet.

Iraq uses a parliamentary system similar to many European countries, where the government emerges from the winning parties, which in turn appoint a prime minister. He or she then picks a cabinet.

There’s alot of trading involved. There are conversations like, "If you’ll join the coalition, I’ll give you the education and trade ministries." Or "If I get the finance ministry, you can have the ministry of oil."

In Iraq there are four main players - Nouri al-Maliki the current prime minister, the Kurdish block from the northern territories, Ayad Allawi the former prime minister selected by the coalition and the Islamic block who we know as Muqtada al-Sadr. Remember Sadr's Army which did so much damage and killed so many US soldiers?

The government will be formed from these four major groups. The division of power and who will be prime minister depends on how the seats in parliment work out.

The United States is most concerned that the process doesn’t break down into violence. So if the parties manage to peacefully form a government – almost any government – the U.S. would accept it.

The Long Dark Night

In the high Artic above the Artic circle, winter is a long twilight. People see very little sun during the winter months.

I have to believe that being the spouse of a soldier serving overseas is a lot like that long dark night in the Artic. They ask themselves, "How can I go on when the sun doesn't shine?" Everything is so different for them now.

It's an exercise in dealing with unknowns. Simply sitting and waiting isn't an option even though it's what you want to do. You have to keep on keeping on. Learning to survive as a single parent is hard, especially when there's another baby on the way. Taking care of a house is hard. Even shopping for groceries is hard.

Soldiers and their families sacrifice when they serve their country. People can serve their country by serving these military families. If you know a spouse of someone in the military who is overseas, bake them some cookies, offer to babysit while they go grocery shopping, or even just send a card of encouragement. Mow their grass, shovel their sidewalks. Any one of a thousand things can do a lot to brighten the days.

I try to do as much as I can for my son's family and I already feel that I'm not able to do enough. I will keep on keeping on though until the day he arrives back home.

Ammo Bunkers at Camp Arifijan

The white roofed buildings in this photo are reeniforced concrete bunkers set down into the sand. Each bunker could be filled with ammunition for rifles, machine guns and cannons. The perimeter is protected by high fences and sand berms. If you look closely you can just make out the guard towers at the corners of the facility.

Barracks at Camp Arifijan

Here is a closer shot of the barracks area of Camp Arifijan. If he gets a chance to talk to us we will see if he can tell us where he is staying.

Camp Arifijan Outside Kuwait City, Kuwait

This is Camp Arifijan, Kuwait. I can't be posiitive that this is where he is at but this is the most likely location right now. There are two places in Kuwait where soldiers arrive and spend the first few weeks before going into Iraq. The small buildings lined up in rows on the right side are barracks and tents where the soldiers sleep while on the base.

The larger buildings in the lower left are the facilities where vehicles are put together and repaired. You can see some of these vehicles lined up on the sand to the left of these buildings. click the photo to get a better view.

Kia Sorento Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ux6lAWzXW98 This is the Sorento commercial from Superbowl Sunday. Now why would I post a link to a commercial. Because Ava made her own version of the same commercial and here it is.

Ava's a Fascinating Kid

Tonight, Ava visited for a little while. Our oldest son, who lives at home, is deaf and didn't have to work tonight. Ava went into his room and wanted to get up on his bed to play with the pillows - this is something she likes to do a lot.

She asked her mama to put her on the bed by standing by the bed and saying "Up!" Mama said, "Ask Chris to help you."

Ava turned around and looked at Chris for a little bit, looking like she wasn't quite sure how to get her point across. How likely is it that a one and a half year old understands deafness? But this little one knows that "normal" communication just isn't going to cut it.

After a few moments of thought she held her hands out so that Chris would pick her up. Then she pointed at his bed so that he would walk in that direction. When they were standing at the side of the bed she reached towards the bed with both hands and Chris put her down on the bed.

Now, that took some problem solving skills.

Mail for Ava Today!

I just happened to be visiting today when the mailman came by. Ava got a package from Fort Lewis/McChord in Washington! It was from her "dada". He mailed it on his way to Iraq.

It was a Dora book and DVD. Dora is one of her favorites. But this wasn't just any Dora book and DVD. He had gone to the USO and video taped himself reading the book to Ava.

Ava sat in front of the TV mesmorized as she watched her daddy read her the story while her mommy showed her the same pages in the book. It was a little surreal. Ava watching as daddy read the story while mommy turned the pages and all the while realizing that daddy was half a world away preparing to go into a war ravaged country.

When he reached the end of the story daddy kissed his little girl and told her that he loved her. And then Ava blew daddy a kiss back.

Watching, it brought a lump to my throat and a tear to the corner of my eye.

Hurt Locker - Winner of 6 Academy Awards

I didn't see this film in the theater. I saw it the day it was released on video. Picked up the movie from the Red Box for a dollar and change. I watched it and it mesmorized me.

It takes place during the later part of the initial Iraq war. After the Thunder Runs and Falujahs. It's about an EOD (Explosive Ordanance Disposal) team in Baghdad and the team's new leader in particular.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it so I won't talk about the film anymore.

When the film was over I called him and asked him if he had watched it. He said he had. The week it came out in the theaters. He went to it with a group of soldiers when he was training in Boston.

"So what did you think?" I asked, probing a little before I told him I thought it was a good movie. I didn't want to say anything until I got his response.

"It was realistic. Watching it I thought I was back there. They recreated the Iraq I know perfectly. Except for the cats. I never saw a cat the entire time I was there. All I ever saw were dogs wandering the streets - never cats." he said. "It looked like they filmed it in Iraq and I know they didn't. They did a great job of creating Iraq and showing people what it is like there. They did a great job."

"The movie shows Iraqi civilians hanging around watching the soldiers and that's exactly how it was. No matter where we went we would always have people watching you."

So, if you want to see what it's like to be in Iraq for a couple hours rent the Hurt Locker.

Election Day

Violence in Baghdad

Throughout the day, Sunday, about 100 projectiles slammed into Baghdad and 13 bombs exploded.

38 civilians were killed and 89 others were injured, according to a source in Iraq’s ministry of interior.

A Different Iraq Timeline

2003 - US and coalition forces enter Iraq to oust Sadamm from power.
2003 - 2005 - Fighting continues. Battle of Falujah begins in 2005. Sunni's feel increasingly excluded from the new Iraq. War torn provinces of Iraq are increasingly Sunni.
2005 - Iraq holds it's first election. Sunni's ask that election be postponed, they move forward anyway. Shiite politicians sweep the elections and move into positions of power. Heavy Iranian involvement in the election taints the outcome.
2006 - Iraq holds another election. This time for parliment. Sunni's rally and try to get representation in the government. Shiite's see the threat coming and band together under "a religious mandate" and hold on to government control. Sunni emotions flair to breaking.
2006 - 2007 - Sunni "terrorists" attack Shiites. Shitte "militias" attack Sunnis. Civil war breaks out. (There seems to be little difference between the actions of the "terrorists" and the "militias".) US troops are caught in the cross fire.
2007 - The first troop surge starts. US says that things are stablizing as the bloodshed continues. Gen Petraeus sees that Sunnis are disenfranchised, to give them power he organizes them into "awakening councils". 100,000 Sunnis take up arms. Sunnis begin to battle against al qaida and build increasing power. Shiiti politicians try to stop them. US steps in with 30,000 more troops in a second surge and the US military steps between the Sunnis and Shiites. The US moves deeper into the civil war.
2008 - The troop surges are successful. Violence in Iraq plummets. Sunnis get some much desired control over their fate. But political unrest continues. The US surges don't bring about political reconcilliation. US turns it's attention to Afghanistan.
2008 - 2009 - Troop build ups continue in Afghanistan. US involvement in Iraq wains.
2010 - Iraq holds elections once again. These elections are very important. If Sunni and Shiiti politians can both be elected there is a chance that the bloodshed will stop and this will ultimately determine how the US will leave Iraq. If, after the election, things go smoothly then 7 years after it began the war in Iraq should be over.

If the elections are riddled with fraud - which is actually quite likely - then the US has a very important decision to make. Either stay in Iraq and try to create a working government of the people, by the people or keep to the deadline and withdraw and watch Iraq burn.

The next six months in Iraq are critical.

Our Future in Iraq

This is a paragraph from an MSNBC article about the Iraqi Eelections.

"The pullout agreements — including a July 2009 deadline for turning urban security over to the Iraqi military and the departure of all U.S. military forces by December 2011 — were signed two months before Obama's inauguration. In one of his first major foreign policy decisions, Obama inserted an interim withdrawal date, pledging to remove all designated U.S. "combat" forces by August this year, with 50,000 troops remaining to carry out training, diplomatic security and select counterinsurgency missions with Iraqi counterparts for 16 months."

Flight

He had a layover in Maine before leaving the states on Wednesday of this last week. Then it was on to Ireland. I got an email from him at about 7PM Wednesday night and he said he was in Ireland and would be leaving in about an hour.

Then it's on to Kuwait.

If it's anything like last time he'll spend a week or two in Kuwait acclimating to the new climate. Then it's into Iraq.

What does the title of the blog mean?

During World War Two, Winston Churchill said, "All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, mercy, duty, hope..."

I've always liked that quote and paraphrased it for the title of the blog.

Army Commendation Medal

The Army Commendation is awarded for sustained acts of heroism, extraordinary service or meritorious service to our country. He got this one the last time he was over there.

March 2nd, 2010

This tuesday he leaves for Iraq. He will be out of touch for a few days. It will probably be the hardest part of this deployment. Once we can start "talking" again things will be a little better.