Day 146

There hasn't been much action here at the JSS, but there has been lots of time for me to visualize what I will do on leave, and when I get back from Iraq. That's better than dwelling on the past, bad memories have a way of creeping in when you're far away from home.

The JSS is slowly being upgraded from a dirty old police station into something more like a hostel. We soon will have showers, toilets and sinks in addition to bunk beds and air conditioning. Right now we have to don our vests and helmets to go to the porta potties out front just to pee. That's about to change. Iraqi workers have been sawing tile and laying concrete for the past few days, causing an uproar. They mix well with the Iraqi Police, eating and drinking tea. For lunch they have shopping bags full of vegetable pitas, which are pretty good. Last night we got some more ready to eat meals of a different variety, Jimmy Deans. They come with a small sandwich, chips, soda and cookies. Everyone is thrilled, even the guys that don't have to stay long. The bridge to Baghdad was bombed a few weeks ago which stops any large shipments of supplies to come in from the south.

The Iraqi Police are not allowed to eat our food, and as a result we have a stair guard, who watches the entrance to the food and water area. That's my job while I'm not firing the mortar, which is almost always. I had a four hour shift today, 1200 to 1600. What a bore. The IP's took our fuel cans for a while too, until we started chaining them up outside by the generators.

The generator is another issue we face here. There are three of them, two for electricity and one for phone lines and internet. The problem is keeping them fueled up, and lately the work on the building has been overloading them. The mechanic is always running in and out to check on them, coming back in sweaty with dirty hands. We jab at him every time the lights flicker.

There are boxing matches scheduled for Labor Day, but I'll miss them. Some of the guys are good at boxing, and have been training for a while. It gives them something to do and something to focus their workouts on. A lot of guys keep in shape out here. In addition to being infantry, there's a lot of downtime.

We took fire from the south and west last night while me and another guy from my squad were out refueling the stryker. The enemy initially fired at a convoy a few hundred meters up the road, and then at the rooftop. This is a very common occurrence, and we hardly stopped to question what was going on. I calmly walked to fuel cans back to the fuel point as I looked up at the tracer rounds pumping out of the 240. We have been lucky with not having any casualties here at the JSS, although there have been several in our company.

Day 134

I am stuck here at the JSS for a double shift totalling more than ten days. There isn't much to do here for the mortars, we're just on standby. It sounds interesting going out on patrol but it's so hot out there I'd rather not. For the first five days I pulled guard on the roof with fourth platoon. Three hour shifts twice a day from 0300-0600 and then 1500-1800. It gets so hot up there on the roof that the corporal in charge of our four man team told me to go downstairs and 'lower my core temperature.' I thought it was a bit funny but he wasn't joking. The vest we wear weighs a good 30lbs. and with the helmet and weapon you have to drink water continuously. Wouldn't it be great if we took fire, I thought to myself. There were some pop shots down at the flea market 500yds away, but I couldn't identify a target. Sometimes they just fire their AK's around like toys.
There has been some action outside the wire, one of the snipers shot a suspected terrorist who fled from a vehicle with a rifle. An Iraqi man was escorted to the medic station by the Iraqi police after someone stole his truck and shot him in the crotch for resisting. The bulk of the cases our medics treat here are Iraqi citizens and the Iraqi police. Occasionally one of our guys will come in badly dehydrated but that's about it.
General Patraeus and another general came around this past week on separate occasions, but I missed them both. I had to pull gate guard, where you block the entrance to the compound with the stryker. I did however manage to swipe a coin from the second general, one of the other guys didn't want it. The generals hand out coins randomly based on merit. The visits were the highlight of the week, besides the new weight set they put in upstairs. That means that everyone can do bench presses instead of sitting around.
One day I was pulling radio guard outback in the stryker. I was standing up in the hatch getting some fresh air when I heard a whistling sound like a roman candle or something. They fired an RPG at the rooftop but missed. It exploded in the field on the other side, and then they shot at us and fled. We fired back and the whole thing was over quickly. They fired the 240 from the roof right over my head, and man was it loud. anytime a weapon is pointed in your direction it is much louder. Another time late at night I was standing up looking around, which I'm not supposed to do and there was a large fluorescent burst and a crack from a bat flying into the power lines. The guys were laughing about it over the radio. That's about all there is for real excitement out here besides DVD's and reading and some card playing. Everyone plays spades. I'm starting to smell bad and want to go back and relax and eat real food. All that's left is MRE's and self heating beans in a can. God bless America.

Day 118

After a six day shift at the JSS our mortar team is back at camp Taji for six days off. There was an air assault mission in which two of our team members helped raid a number of houses to confiscate weapons and capture suspected terrorists. I didn't go because they didn't need more people. I had mixed feelings about this; it sounded kind of exciting and boring at the same time. At first were told that our mortar team would set up outside of the village to fire white illumination rounds to light up the sky. We would have to wait a few hours to fire only a few rounds and not witness any of the action. Of course it's much safer to be removed from the actual raid. I don't get worked up over these missions because the details change as the event gets closer. There is continuous planning and changes to the structure of the mission. So I sit and wait until it's actually time to go and my team leaders give me direct orders. Other teams say they've been working very hard in comparison to us. a mortar team for a different company said they did two missions in addition to the air assault mission I described and they were exhausted. So maybe we're just cooling our jets. I don't mind, that gives me time to read books and stay in shape. Boredom has become my main concern. We did provide fire support for Bravo company one day last week. they called for fire some time in the afternoon. I'm not sure what the target was but it was for real this time.

Specialist Bowles, a member of the other mortar team on our squad will receive an article 15 for an accidental discharge into a clearing barrel. He didn't clear his weapon properly upon returning to the gate and fired off a round still in the chamber. It was unlucky that the company executive officer was standing behind him when it happened. So he'll be demoted and lose some money. This is another case where I don't pay attention to the details until it actually happens.

Guys have started going on leave. Initially leave was for 14 days, but they have extended it to 18. This is in addition to the week or so you must spend in Kuwait before shipping back, so you're really out of the action for a month or so. There are also guys that are going home for this or that reason, like settling a divorce or a family member's funeral. I go on leave in October. My destination is the Dominican Republic.