90 Days and counting

I've said before that I'm a National Guardsman from Maryland, and we were mobilized for serving in Iraq on 23 April 2007. We were (are) scheduled to be on active duty for a year. Well, we are approaching the finish line here. there is no reason to believe we'll get extended, so in about 90 days (give or take a few) we should all be at home, kicked back, drinking a cold one and celebrating a job well done. Our unit was given some pretty high praise by the Deputy Commander for Multi National Corps-Iraq, MG Simmons. He congratulated the unit on a superb job of sustaining the level of support here and making a positive material difference in the quality of life for soldiers here at VBC.

So as I get closer to leaving, I have been looking back on the last 270 days spent on active duty (and the 220+ spent in Iraq) looking for some meaning. There are fewer people getting killed here than there were when we first arrived. It was pretty wild when we got here. I think everyone probably thinks that before they go, except maybe the guys who were here in the beginning. Despite the blather from people like John McCain, the country doesn't seem a whole lot closer to coming together politically than it was back in June. You know, when you hear the pro-surge folks say that it's working, if they were honest they would say that the military objectives of the troop surge have been achieved. Of course, since there never has been a Plan B to the surge, qualifying the evaluation of its effectiveness begs questions; like, what else can be done by the US to get the sides to come together? The answer is, nothing. Or questions like, now what? The troop surge lasted (at full strength) about 6-7 months. There just are not enough forces ready, equipped, manned and trained to come over here. We are down to 17 Army Combat Brigades and two Marine Regiments. The contributions of countries like Georgia and Macedonia and Tonga, while appreciated, are frankly inconsequential.

So when I look at how I spent the year here, I sort of have mixed feelings. I'd be ashamed if I had wormed my way out of serving here, but I really don't have the sense of pride I hoped I would. I think it's because we still don't know how it's going to turn out. And with the election coming in the fall, now is not the time to be expecting bold new ideas about what to do here. By the way, I finally got my absentee ballot and filled it out. I will say that I felt pretty proud to be voting from a war zone. You know, people back home decline to vote when it's rainy or they want to eat dinner or they're tired, and I can tell people: dammit, if I can vote from a war zone, then you can vote from a peace zone. Get off your butt and do your civic duty. I voted for John Edwards in the Maryland Democratic Primary. I think we need someone who is going to kick some ass in the White House...uhhh, wait a minute. Maybe that isn't what I mean to say. We have someone like that in there now. I mean that we need a guy (or gal) who is going to do the right thing, and fight the morally right battles. That is sorely lacking in the current administration. They have to be one of the most immoral and unethical cabals to ever have the reins of power in recorded history. That takes a lot.

So, when it comes down to it, things here, in my opinion, will kind of reach an equilibrium over the next 12-15 months. After that, I am not optimistic. It's a mess. Yesterday the Iraqi government stated that they want to start transitioning US units to support roles this summer. THAT will be interesting. If they think that our units will just sit tight on the FOB waiting for a 911 call for logistical support, they are smoking crack. The Iraqis don't have the same concept of Operational Security (OPSEC) that we do--in fact, OPSEC is a foreign concept to them. The idea that we roll out only when they need us sounds like it could devolve into a more dangerous situation that we're in right now. Now we have the initiative. If we're simply a reactive force we'll be putting our soldiers at risk every time they leave the FOB. Not a very good idea.

I think I know what's best for this country. In fact, I should be named King For Life. I even picked out the throne I want to rule from:



Nice, huh? The big copper thing to my left is my "genie-in-a-bottle."

Here are a few pictures I took that I thought were interesting. This one is of two UH-60 Blackhawks landing. It looks like one of them is about to land on the water. I took it on my birthday, basically because there wasn't a whole lot to do that day.




I also took this picture of the sun coming through the clouds that same afternoon.




Finally, I took this picture of the sunset about a week ago. As plain as this place is, we have really been getting some nice sunsets the last few weeks.




That's all for now. I will be back this weekend or early next week. See you later.

OUT