Day 237

After getting a late night flight to Camp Warhorse from Balad, I was quickly sent to the JCOP (joint combat outpost) in Baqubah, Iraq. This large three story building is manned by our company and Iraqi Army soldiers. Although patrols are more fun here due to the number of people on the street, the living quarters aren't that great. The building has high ceilings and is open to the outside. The weather has gotten cooler and it gets pretty cold at night. That means you get cold even in a heavy sleeping bag and we've been wearing plenty of extra clothes.

For the most part things are slowing down and the situation here is under control. Every so often you hear a random gunshot or an explosion from somewhere in the surrounding area. Usually the explosions are controlled detonations, IED's that our patrols find before our vehicles hit them. Our leadership has been working with that of the local town to clean up buildings and public works that were destroyed such as hospitals, schools and peoples' houses.

A few days ago a female suicide bomber injured seven of our soldiers while they were on patrol. She was wearing a vest with explosives and ball bearings, the equivalent of a claymore mine. A few of our guys might not make it, and seven of them are out of the fight for sure. There was an anonymous threat of more vests in the area as well, causing some tension and increased awareness on patrol and on guard at the entrance to the compound. The threat of suicide bombers and extremists is all too real, and it gets in the way of interacting with the people in the area. You don't want to get friendly with them because this can become a weakness. Often times children will come up and ask for food or chocolate, but this can be a big distraction.

There is a resistance group here in Baqubah called 1920, why they are called that I don't know. They used to work with al-Qeada but got fed up with them because they don't treat people right and pay them enough. Supposedly the 1920 forces have agreed to work with the U.S. forces to combat terrorism in the area. To what extent they are actually helping I can't be sure. There are also neighborhood guards who wear reflective belts and are allowed to carry AK-47's. We don't really work with them but they are not against us. I think these guys should join up with the Iraqi Police and get paid, but some people disagree with the Iraqi Police force. There is not enough entry level screening and some of them have ties to terrorism and extremist groups.

I have been hanging out with the Iraqi Army guys on the second floor where they stay. I like to play chess and some of them are willing to play, so I go up there every so often. Their Sergeant Major is a nice guy who tries to relate to the U.S. forces when he can. The Iraqis drink lots of tea, chai as they call it. They just toss the ground up leaves right in the pot and boil it. The tea is strong and they take lots of sugar. The other day I went up there during the afternoon and they boiled potatos and we ate them salted with pita bread and some kind of pickled vegetable on the side. The Muslim world has their own TV networks as well, including Al-Jazeera. They watch soccer and soap operas and lots of music videos, the music is mostly about Allah, their god.

We are all hoping this situation will end soon and that we will begin to pull out. There have been rumors that our unit will leave in May 2008, but there is no guarantee. The latest we will leave is August. I look forward to getting home and eating good food rather than this quickly prepared cafeteria food. I try not to complain though, things could be much worse.

Stuck in Balad

Upon reentering Iraq from Kuwait, everyone must go to Balad (buh-lahd) air force base south of Baghdad. Here in Balad, all soldiers entering and exiting the country wait for flights that will take them to their respective destinations. In some cases it takes up to a week to get the flight you need. I have been here for three days now with a few other guys from my unit. We were told yesterday that we will catch a plane out tonight.

Being here is something like being in limbo. You arrive after the long flight from the states with a few layovers and a stop in Kuwait for in processing. In processing is just a bunch of paperwork. Once in Balad you go to transit housing and put your stuff down. Transit housing is like row housing in the ghetto; little wooden buildings lined up in a big grid with a basketball court in the center. You get assigned a bunk in one of the little barracks buildings, each of which house 20 bunk beds, and settle in.

On the one hand this is an extension of your leave time. There's no one to order you around and the base is pretty big with lots of stuff to do. These things include a big movie theatre with a balcony, two PX's, a recreation center, and of course the row housing with your own little bunk bed where you can sleep as much as you want. On the other hand there is no work to be done and it gets boring being laid over.

There is no schedule, you simply go to the 1445 daily meet up at the PAX terminal to see if there are any flights out. Me and the other guys stuck here went to the PX and then Pizza Hut after the brief announcement that there was nothing new to report. 1st sergeant Horney who is an old army ranger in charge of our company talked our ears off over pizza about promotion opportunities and advancement in the military. The longer you're in the better you know everyone and the more options you have. Then today after the 1445 daily meet up we went to the movie theatre and saw The Guardian with Jamie Foxx. I give it a 4 out of 10. The theatre is pretty cool though, it has a balcony and a subway restaurant and popcorn and candy and everything. I went to the rec center later on and played chess with a guy in the air force stationed here. He was pretty good at it, but I pulled out a surprising win in the first game!

My Battalion has changed locations to Camp Warhorse which is about 25 miles northeast of camp Taji where we were before. I have yet to see how good or bad it is, although it has all the basic amenities such as a PX, chow hall, and laundry facilities. Once I get there I will sit around some more, we don't pick up our patrol route until the 1st of December.

On Leave in the DR

Today is the last day of my vacation in the Dominican Republic. Despite daily rain showers and in some cases a downpour, I have managed to squeeze out some fun every day. In fact a tropical storm called Noel hit the island, killing some people in the mountainous interior. I have passed all six days in the town of Las Terrenas on the Samanà peninsula. The town is mostly French, and then there are Italians and some Germans. If they don´t speak English or Spanish then I can´t talk with them. I have been hanging out more with the locals on the other side of town, playing dominoes or billiards and drinking mixed drinks. I say billiards because they play a different form of pool down here. And they´re good at it. I spend all of yesterday afternoon at a local pool hall open to the outside. It rained and it poured, but we kept playing pool on the four tables under the thatched roof. It was a lot of fun, and I have found out that I´m still pretty good at playing pool and speaking Spanish.

Another night I went out with some of the local surfers who I met playing volleyball in front of a hotel. We went and ate dinner, a plate of seafood pasta, and then split. I wandered a bit and ended up at a small bar with some women playing dominoes. It was too early to go to the disco, so I had a seat and we played for a few hours. It turned out that the older of the three was the mother of two daughters from different fathers. One of the daughters was clearly black and the other looked more like one of the natives that were pushed out with the conquest hundreds of years ago. You could tell there was competition between them, who was prettier and who could play dominoes better. After drinking a few beers and talking it up we all went to the bodega together and danced the night away.

The next day I woke up and went to El Limòn waterfall with a guide I had met from the town of that name. He was a nice guy at first, but it turned out he was more interested in getting my money than making friends. I should have known. That´s how the people are. If they see you are willing to part with your money they will pressure you. All in all they´re pretty laid back though. I had a good time riding a horse up the mountain from the town of El Limòn to the picturesque waterfall. When we got back, we had lunch at his mother´s house and met his family and the people hanging out at the small cafe next door. They were all very friendly in a way that isn´t seen in the US. I guess it´s because they don´t have much.

It rained all the next day which was kind of a bust. In the morning I walked along the beach and spent some time alone. It is off season here so there aren´t so many people. That´s both good and bad. I didn´t realize there would be all this rain. There will be rain when I return to Iraq as well but that place is really nasty. The mud gets caked to your boots and everyone tracks it inside with them creating a real mess. It´s either that or the heat.

Tomorrow morning I say goodbye to Las Terrenas which has been good to me. I haven´t seen another American in six days which is a bit strange. We dominate the fenced in resorts; these days the most notable is Punta Cana. I chose to go outside the fence and see some more of the local culture, which is "tranquilo" as they say.