I meant 'whole bag' in the last post, not 'back.'

Note the water bottles chilling in the AC unit. There are seperate dials for temperature and fan setting. It would behoove an occupant to set the fan on high regardless of temp in order to avoid waking up in the mornings with a moldy cough.

And that's about it. There are three rooms like this in a single trailer.

I am sorely tempted to purchase a 5D to replace the irritatingly inadequate point-and-shoot I'm using, Canon or no. Should have brought my 30D but I was running out of luggage space when we flew out.

I will post some pictures of my gear in the appropriate section.

>>29412
haha, there was just a 5d on craiglist here for 900 bucks. I'm assuming it's sold since the post is now gone.

>>29441
El Paso fag btw

>>28991

WTF is this DFAC shit? And WTF are those asshole ragheads slopping shit on a shingle on grunts' trays and shit? Yeah, it might be cheaper but if a fucking case of food poisoning breaks out nobody is going to get an Article 15 at best or general court martial at worst.

Repeat after me. MESS HALL or CHOW HALL. Fuck- it used to been cooks were actually uniformed personnel. You know soldiers. And despite the shit they slopped on the tray they were hard working motherfuckers b/c they had to wake up earlier and stay up later to make sure grunts got hot chow at 0730 and had to clean up after 1800 or whenever after the messhall closed. Why? B/c sooner or later when these guys are gonna qual on a rifle range there will be others to right and left of them who remember Tuesday's shit on ahingle resulted in a fucking sick call. A lot of those pogues looked forward to going out to the field b/c budgets were higher and less shit to wash (paper plates and cups and shit).

Now mind you shit could suck for the grunt if they were end of the line and all they got was white bread and a couple spoons of chocolate or vanilla pudding (blanc mange/custard for the Euro types).

>>29794
It is most certainly a different Army, even from the Army of two or three years ago, and before that, et cetera. The PMCs like to hire a lot of local nationals for a lot more than just cooking and serving food, and you're definitely right about the potential of avoiding accountability should something bad happen.

The 92Gs are still around actually doing their jobs, stateside. MKTs and whatnot. One of them would call it a half-day if he was lucky enough to get off at 1800.
---
Ever since we got here, the platoon cannot get two full squads up because the outgoing unit has seriously fed us a shit sandwich when it comes to vehicles, including the ASVs. They make the humvees look good--on that note, the one that hotseated is somehow not only going to remain a fobrunner, but is supposed to be rolling out. My battle took initiative and cannibalized some armor off one of the MRAPs because the 1151's turret literally has none.

Apparently my brigade is one of the first, if not *the* first, brigade to be in country on an advise-and-assist mission. In our AO, the Iraqi Army plateaued in their performance since 2004, and the IPs about two years after that. The IA is mostly where they want to be, but IP districts' leadership are requesting MPs to supervise and fine-tune. There are other elements we're working with out there as well, but I've already said enough.

Dinner was pasta primavera, half a Rock Cornish hen, and a beef potato stew. Highlight was kimchee from the salad bar, which is the first time I've ever seen it being served at chow. Spicer and better than I thought they would make it. Now if only they would serve sticky rice...

Whenever I used to see food left on someone's plate, whether they didn't polish off their chicken bones or had a quarter-inch of soup in their bowls, I would always try to police the offender up. This was how I'd always been raised. It hadn't occured to me until tonight's meal that every dinner was potentially the last, for at least a few people in the hall had to be rolling out the next day. Melodramatic, but placed in context, I don't think I can frown anymore when someone loads their plate, eats a bit of everything, but leaves no portion completely finished because they wanted to try all the food that was served that day.

Ran across some Romanian soldiers that wore tannish greyish berets. I don't know if that means anything special or if they didn't want to wear their PCs/boonies and were trying to get away with it.

On the way back from chow, I came across these really huge-looking portashitters. Turns out they're pop and squat style, which is the first time I've seen anything like that in a portajohn. There's even a set of steps and grab bars inside, but the booths were shoved so far up against a T-barrier that I was afraid the damn thing would tip over if I used it.

>>29955

Civilian contractors can do the job cheaper but folks need to remember especially fucking ossifers and senior NC-Nos- they're FUCKING CIVILIANS. They can tell you to pound fucking sand and you cannot do a fucking thing about it. You cannot write the fucker up on charges (which is a fuck ton of paperwork) nor can you do the old fashioned sergeants time- dig a fucking hole, line it with sandbags, and you will live in it. Or a fuckton of pushups, flutterkicks and running around like a mouthbreather with a rifle at high port screaming KILL KILL.

As for your rides I figure your motor pool dudes are either A) committed suicide en masse or B) are sucking somebody's cock to get shit what they need. You know the drill. Fuck me once, shame on you. Fuck me twice, shame on me. Fuck me three times. Welcome to the Suck and enjoy your fucking nigger AIDS.

My advice have mom and dad smuggle some booze in Listerine bottles and use it for trade commodities so you can get shit for your Hummvees you know fanbelts, new seats, gun shields or see if that can get you the hook up for new shit coming off the boat from Anniston or wherever. Naturally any such action will result in a severe thrashing by the first shirt, denial by the company commander, etc

>>30170
Unfortunately, I remain convinced that the motor pool is more than content to simply sit in the office and tell us that parts haven't arrived yet. It's gone to the point where today, we went to the rotating unit's bay and there they accomplished more in a few hours than ours do in an entire week, and in fewer numbers too. It was very inspirational.

Children sell contraband on the traffic circles and medians. There is the one boy who brandishes a sack full of whiskey in nondescript Mason jars. And yet, at the PX, they stock more brands of non-alcoholic beer than they do basic necessities.
-----
Lunch was a fair Jambalaya with hot dogs in lieu of andouille, pineapple ring and cheese salad, and lumpia.

Outside, there is enough grass, crops, and palm trees for you to realize that it is more of a desert on the inside of the base. Traffic circles are plentiful, with street signs and the occasional IA checkpoint. The curbs are painted more than the ones back Stateside, with yellow and black striping in lieu of red. Garish neon plastic palm trees in solid colors every so often. Camels. Flocks of thin-looking sheep. Dogs and goats. Jerry-cans of diesel and propane tanks sold in the alleys, though it took a bit of apprehension before we learned that particular bit. The city reminds me more of rural Taiwan than I care to admit.

Then I remind myself that we haven't gone a half-hour away from the base, and that every last bit of paint and cement was likely placed there on the American tax dollar, courtesy of Uncle Sam. During the latter half of the last deployment, the old hands remembered escorting Provincial Reconstruction Teams more than they cared to admit. This is likely the fruits of their planning and effort.

A few splotches of paint and an Iraqi flag on one of our tan 1151s, with an RPK in the turret, and suddenly it no longer an American vehicle, but that of their army, placed every few minutes or so on the roads.

Two days ago we noticed that a couple of main roads were blocked off, as well as half of the DFAC lane. Romanian guard detail stood alongside the Ugandans at the entrance and exit, with their full armor and wood-stocked rifles. Inside a whole slew of their soldiers stood around a table, so thick that they could be lining up to suck their President's dick and you wouldn't have been able to see. Flashbulbs reflected off the walls. I never got a good look at him, but a couple of the team leaders joked about assassinating him. Apparently the bodyguards inside the DFAC itself weren't doing a very good job.

Today there was a relatively brief memorial for one of our number. Copies of the program were monochrome for everyone that wasn't a sergeant major or at least O-4. Posthumous awards included an Iraq Campaign medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, and GWOT Expeditionary. He hadn't even been in country for 30 days yet. Good Conduct Medal. The guy hadn't been out of AIT for two months before he flew out with us. No Purple Heart, no Bronze Star. If I'm not mistaken, he had his 19th while we were still at Bliss.

It is difficult to break ranks and walk out, when the rest of the row stands to attention in order to execute a right face and march to the front of the post chapel. But it is a much more meaningful act than the two rows' worth of reserved seats that salute a K-pot, M4, dog-tag, and boots that never even belonged to the deceased, placing their challenge coins on the fill-in-the-blank memorial to an individual they never met or even realized that they were somehow in command of. If you took everything but the rifle away, you'd realize that the M4 has its bolt welded in place, and the muzzle has been sitting in the cement for quite some time.

Some of the congregation wear steel bracelets engraved with names and rank that no one else will recognize. None of them salute either, and follow suit. They have their reasons. Paying their respects is one matter; acknowledging the idea of honor is entirely another.

Breakfast was rice and eggs scrambled with bits of seasoning salt and bell peppers. Chocolate soymilk.

We linked up with our IP escorts, who were only 20 minutes late this time, and spent about another hour of waiting because battalion decided to tell us at that moment to stand by. Second squad was supposed to drive out by themselves to one of the JSSes about two hours away. It was supposed to be for the entire month, they were 11 days behind schedule because vehicles decided to deadline again. They were supposed to go out by themselves. First Squad ended up having to escort their asses because their staff sergeant doesn't know how to use the blue Force Tracker for shit.

Oh, never mind all that, because whatever Company decides to wait till we're literally two seconds outside the wire to stand by in order to tell us that two soldiers in 2nd can't go because the entire JSS cannot accommodate females.

This could have meant there were too many females over there already. Or that there were nothing but meatheads over there who would apparently dogpile our soldiers as soon as they stepped on base. Or that they didn't want to have to close the showers to males for a half-hour a day. In any case, the LT decided that either the entire squad went or no one went, so we ended up coming back to the COB and waited around a bit while he kicked up a shitstorm at the TOC.

I think they're going to end up sending the males out anyway with logistics when they go out on patrol, but everyone was pretty unimpressed over the whole deal.
----------

A couple days ago we were rolling into town on another key leadership engagement when we noticed that a)the traffic was jammed much more than usual to the point that their IPs, traffic wardens, IAs, and IP SWAT couldn't get people to make room for us, b) IP SWAT was running all over the place in full rattle, and c) damn near the entire population was lining the streets trying to wave us down or have us turn around.

That's when I saw a guy standing on a pickup waving while another guy was lying in the flatbed bleeding pretty badly. Or at least his shirt was really white. When the rear vehicle called up what I saw, at that point I noticed a bunch of ambulances going in the complete opposite direction of where we were headed.

As soon as we got to our destination, we asked the IPs inside as well as our escort what happened. Two v-bieds had gone off within a few minutes of us rolling out, one at the market place and another in a more rural-looking part of town. Both were less than ten miles of each other, and both were patrolled by IP stations we'd just visited in the last two missions. The marketplace had less than twenty locals killed, around fifty wounded. The LT called it up. Other elements were sent out to cordon and aid while we headed back and got placed on standby. Apparently someone's noticed that we're not the rotating unit and wants to test the waters.

We've had a couple days' respite, mostly because vehicles need to get redispatched, and that means QA/QC. Just when I thought contractors might be able to fix things better than our mechanics, it takes three of them a whole two hours to do little more than strip the threading on a whole bunch of bolts on a rear door. If parts hadn't finally come in, we would have been down another vehicle and the working number for our squad is something I can count on one hand.

In the absence of content, I'll post a couple pictures of IPs.

The one on the right is a SWAT equivalent of the IPs. The middle two are standard patrol officers, and I believe the left is a traffic warden, but those guys usually wear peaked dress caps, so I could be wrong.

This is usually what escorts us as we roll into town. No two stations are alike, so they may be slightly more or less helpful to us, i.e. helping direct traffic while mounted, assissting us in pulling security, and keeping the locals in check while we're dismounted.

I'll try to get a snapshot of one of their riot vehicles, but I've never seen one that wasn't already zooming down the road, so we'll have to wait and see.

>>32184

oh god, the berets...didn't any of the instructors show them how to form a beret?

>>32199
Shut the fuck up

WALLS OF WORDS

>>32201

uh, no. The point is valid. The berets look like shit. That's a sign of poor discipline and unit pride which in turn affects morale. Considering how much assistance has been given to these guys, it would be nice if they atleast LOOKED professional.

The afghans, on average, don't look like they have yet to go through basic.

There is some leeway in the proper way to wear a beret...

But, not all that much...

If you are actually a nasty arrogant chef in France, you can wear a beret any way you want. It won't effect your assholery...

Or, maybe, you are a pretentious artfag. It is actually a service to those around you to wear a beret badly. It warns normal people that most everything that comes out of your mouth will be repeats of what you heard in PolySci 101, Psyche 101, Hist 101, etc and not anything meaningful or exhibiting anything close to an original thought...

I would like to thank all the hipfags that have been marking themselves with Castro hats lately. I see one on a soccer mom and can just mark her off in my mind as a complete idiot...

Even Che Guevara knows how to wear a beret...

But, whatever. ANY military that wears berets improperly is just silly and needs to quit it.

>>32214

Mmmm, soccer moms...

>>32214
I used to wear one of those on account of having a Castro beard.

No comment on proper wear of the beret.
---
Lunch was a chicken avocado Ranch sandwich and chili cheese fries. Dessert was some sort of Cornetto with Arabic on the labels.

So I snapped a couple of wardens. These guys do a bangup job of directing the flow of traffic, keeping an eye on parking, and aiding the IPs/IA in searching vehicles at checkpoints.

While we were loading up for mission today, I overheard that news of the v-bied finally hit the media and that none of the newsgroups have the same story. Ear-hustling locals through the 'terps told us that this was an SV-bied by some Shiite guy from Syria or Iran, but S-2 says more likely it was a remote trigger, unoccupied. Considering our recent venture to the area, it seems JAM operatives in the area want to disenfranchise the current ISF general for our AO because he's apparently not hardcore enough for the Shia, who are the majority in where the v-bied went off.

Either way, we linked up at a station and surveyed the blast site. I'd post pictures but it wasn't pretty. Lots of stray dogs in the area, I'll say that much. Perhaps one of the newsgroups has pictures displayed that aren't stock photos from somewhere or sometime else.

It was in an open-air marketplace. A couple booths sold a whole bunch of knockoff ACUs.

The farther away from the COB we go, the more interesting things get. We were rerouted a lot of times; we ended up leaving without an escort at the stage point because there was no telling if the IPs were just being typical Iraqi late or someone-leaked-something-to-someone-so-wait-while-someone-else-sets-up-a-trap late. A car accident on the way; five dead and one on the way there. It's comforting to see that they have ambulances not far away, but I've yet to see the inside of one of their hospitals.

More donkeys, goats and sheep. Some of the women may wear the black burqa but the length or label on their shoes say otherwise. Black-and-white clothed schoolgirls with head coverings. My roommate talked to one of the children while we pulled security at some point: in unsettlingly decent English, he begged us not to take pictures of him, for his elder brother was one of the 'terps working with Coalition Forces, and if he were to see a picture of the boy mucking around US soldiers and vehicles...well, he showed us some horrendous bruises under his arms and shirt.

>Lunch was a fair Jambalaya with hot dogs in lieu of andouille

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

I'm sorry you have to endure such hardships. I would have went AWOL by now.

>>32513

Yeah, I think that counts as cruel and unusual.

We should mail this guy some andouille.

>>32547

All he has to do is say the word and I'll mail him or a proxy of his choosing a Cajun care package that would make him the envy of the whole company

>>32565

What part of Louisiana you from? I grew up in East Texas, crossed the border a lot, and later married a New Orleans girl.

Louisiana is the best spot on planet Earth for concentration of good food.

>>32588

Raised in New Orleans until i was 13 then moved north of the lake until 19, then big K happened and i moved to MD, came back 2 and a half years go and now live south west of NOLA in a small river town

>>32547
>>32565
Very much appreciated. I have everything I need here in the land of the PX, but I may be rotating to a JSS in the next month, so I'll keep that in mind.
-----

An early supper. A turkey yakisoba, and spareribs with fried sauerkraut.

New people added to our number: one joe and one E-5. Private straight out of OSUT; ouch, I feel for her. The sergeant taught some IPs a search-and-apprehension class within a couple days of his coming here, so that's good.

CREW system antennas had taken a couple beatings from the underside of a freeway on last mission, and someone discovered that it was using some old fills.

In the Warlock Yard, the electronic warfare crews do some seriously good work. Their unofficial insignia is that of White Spy and Black Spy. Near the exit side of their bay, several former radio-controlled IEDs are displayed as a testament to the crew's efficiency. It's like part mechanic, part commo.

Those who are more technologically inclined would do well to become an EWO or seek military contracting if they already have experience in that field. It is deceptively lucrative. A couple are former EOD.

A few days ago the Stars and Stripes ran an interesting special issue in which there were a bunch of articles concerning decorated soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan (many posthumous) and the actions they had taken which had merited such. Inspiring stuff. I showed it to my roommate and he recognized one of his old units that had gone to Afghanistan. He'd been unfortunate enough to get stuck back in Germany on rear detachment, but within a month, there were six Silver Star recipients. At the end of the tour, there were over thirty KIA in the battalion. One of his buddies had been with a couple of the departed described in the paper. Said buddy wasn't all there when he came back.

Speaking of which, we'd almost lost 2nd Squad's leader some time around when the paper ran. Copper-top hit his humvee through the passenger-side and turret, but didn't completely penetrate. Took out a staff-sergeant from the rotating unit's mid-team, though. He made it all the way back to the barracks before he just collapsed from internal bleeding. Didn't even realize he was that hurt.

Our platoon accompanied their unit at the airfield to see off his remains. Metal coffin draped in an American flag. Two ranks on either side of the plane, center face, present arms. Covers off. I hadn't been in a formation for some time.

During the briefing of the last 24 hours' S-2 before mission the next day, we'd found out the triggerman got snatched up by coalition forces. Gave up two other names. That convoy's IP escort had sold our guys out to someone calling themselves the Promised Day Brigade, whether they'd known it or not. This is why we don't tell anyone where we're going until absolutely necessary. When? The last possible instant so someone can't pull funny business on us in advance. Now turn on those sirens and honk your horn so we don't have to run over civilians, that's a good lad. Cheers.

LT took his shottie back. Put a pistol grip on it, added some rubber baton and taser rounds. I don't see the point, seeing as only children come near us these days, and one hit from that is going to break a growing boy's sternum. So much for less lethal.

Mission before last, we took along a PsyOp team, speakers mounted on the back of their turret, and a couple contractors with their own SUV. All of them were referred to as 'Mister;' the PsyOps guys didn't wear rank, though guessing wouldn't have been difficult. They brought their own terps with them, who I believe are more effective than the locals we usually drag along. But ACUs and sneakers? No armor? They might as well wear civvies like our own.

Earlier today, the better part of the morning and afternoon was spent running bullshit errands for 2nd. Shopping lists for the PX. Malaysian plywood and 2x4s at the D-HA. Nails, screws, hammers and hacksaws from S-3. Arabic-branded mattresses made in Korea from God knows where. They want beds. Cute.

Stay safe brother, thanks for doing what you do, and posting here.

>>33553
Will do, and you're much welcome.
---------
We've been making brief runs to the other squad and doing some range recon at nearby outposts. The JSS that 2nd is stationed is run in tandem with the Iraqi Army. I took a picture of our escort there; he was waiting because the IA soldiers seem to have a not unfounded distrust of the IPs and ISF; they muttered angrily amongst each other when the LT made them let the IPs stay on their parade ground, because the escort wasn't willing to wait outside for us and the city was about a good 45 minutes away. On our way out we actually had to wait on them though, because before we knew it they were chatting over chai by the IA barracks' patio out front.

We made a raid on the D-HA. It is the sorriest excuse for a detainment facility I've ever seen, but then they're building a more permanent one across the road. However, there are four connexes in there with CCTV equipment, prayer rugs, uniforms and even care packages--and other things that could get the facility running if we actually got detainees. The staff office still had a DVD library and drinks in the fridge. I managed to snag an MKT icebox to replace my vehicle's water cooler, the OD green kind with the plastic snaps. It's the only one I've seen out here, because everyone else uses the commercial brands. Most of the stuff there we couldn't take, though.

Had a first real conversation with one of the 'terps, nicknamed 'Three Cigars.' That was my team leader's idea, since his real name sounds like a more difficult-to-pronounce version of that phrase. Used to offer him cigarettes until he told me he only smoked the first one out of courtesy, because that was maybe the tenth time he'd lit up his entire life.

He first learned English and translating for the Army at around age 14 in the early nineties, back in Kuwait where he's from. For one reason or another though, he can't return there and is stuck in this particular region of Iraq, so this is not a bad way to wait things out. He makes about a grand in USD each month, which is good pay around here, but I get the feeling he knows that he could make more if he could get a citizenship.

Yesterday there was a bit of a barbecue, or something like it. There are only two people in the platoon who bothered to cook meals when we were back home, and I am one of them. The other guy improvised a grill out of an exhaust grate shoved into a steel barrel. Company supply sergeant was gracious enough to procure some food and utensils for him. Fried chicken was precooked, but frozen solid, so a couple pieces had to be put back over the charcoal every few bites at first. Hot dogs were nice and salty, somewhat overcharred. We ate them in slices of stale bread and someone from PSD even had ketchup packets from the DFAC. The steak was probably the best because it was purchased from the PX out of my squadmate's own pocket, and he had the forethought to marinade it a couple nights before. Unfortunately, he and I usually have access to meat that isn't turned into rubber by freezer burn, and have silverware that doesn't leave bits of plastic in every bite. Potato chips were a hajji brand that lacked salt and tasted like communion wafers.

I imagine that this is what food in Purgatory must be like. But it was Father's Day and he gets an A for trying under the circumstances, because usually he outdoes me.

Haircuts at the PX are a tad better. The TCN (some are Indian) barbers give customary slaps, pounds and rubs on the back after they're done. This seems to throw off a lot of people, especially first-timers.

Routes are getting a bit tougher. Asphalt piles on the roads seem to grow. One unit found two guys digging a ditch without a work vehicle, and they ran off soon as the group dismounted. Reports have been given that the Sons of Iraq are welding RPGs to rooftops. I was under the impression that coalition had freelanced these guys in the past or something, but they were and still are wild cards.

Dinner was pot roast, stewed tomatoes and corn mixed with scraps of fat and meat. Saw a female Ugandan, which was a first. I wonder how she feels about being the only one on base. She had dreadlocks.

On the way to chow, my gunner and I passed by an AF lieutenant who was visibly overweight to the point of bursting out of her uniform. For some reason the gunner asked me if she worked in ordnance; I replied that she *was* the ordnance. Unfortunately, she overheard this exchange. I will not explain how I worked myself out of the situation.

Today's mission found us with an Al-Jazeera embed who professed to have covered stories on our President and local ISF commanders, among other things. Despite the fact that the article he was supposed to be working on was concerned with how Coalition convoys share the road with civilian vehicles, he insisted that we drive at speeds equivalent to the Trolley of Make-Believe in order to take staged photos of us handing out candy and water to kids. The LT told him that this was completely irrelevant to the current mission, as we were visiting an IP station, upon which the embed requested that he stay in the vehicle, as the local IPs knew who he was and did not favor his presence. The LT replied that it was just as well, since the embed would not be allowed to leave the vehicle during the mission anyhow.

At certain stations there are nearby kiosks or markets that the IPs stop by for snacks and beverages. We're familiar enough with them that some of our guys have felt comfortable enough to follow suit. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

My vehicle's 'terp gave our medic something to eat that he said the escort asked to pass on to us. It was bread shaped like a flattened crossaint, with the texture of a very thick tortilla, but with pockets like a pita. I'm not quite sure, but I believe this is samoon. This would be perfect for gyros or kebabs. I took pictures of it, but my comp's on the fritz and the MWR doesn't allow media devices.

PsyOps has been going out with us regularly now. According to them, there's going to be something akin to a national holdiay going on from tomorrow til the end of the month, so the streets will be crowded and a stand-down will likely be ordered. If it has anything to do with the turnover that's supposed to take place on the 30th, then all the locals're a bunch of ungrateful bastards.

>The TCN (some are Indian) barbers give customary slaps, pounds and rubs on the back after they're done.
wtf
>I will not explain how I worked myself out of the situation.
No you must!

>Al-Jazeera
>in order to take staged photos of us handing out candy and water to kids.
wat

Shouldn't you be happy that A-J is taking photos that show you as nice? =/

>>35181
A-J's major shareholders are all Israeli and American.

inb4 FOX-Jazeera

>I will not explain how I worked myself out of the situation.

Oh but you have to

>>35145

Probably he told she was a bombshell. :3

>>35531

i lol'd a little

>>35181
If you get a haircut in the right places in Asian countries, they'll do the same. Some will even clean out your nose and ears. It's traditional enough to be quaint, I understand.

As for the positive light, I know that the media is the media, but I believe in photojournalism in its purest form being more of a street photography rather than the Flat-Fatima horseshit it is nowadays.

But then, I suppose that may have to do with why their courts prefer eyewitness testimonies and photos of evidence piled next to corpses, rather than the evidence itself.

Vagrant, Gospel, Joe, Turk. I will have to stand by my word on that particular situation. The pun is a nice touch, though.
------------------------------------------
Lunch was a chickenfried steak with gravy and collard greens.

The stand-down seems to have gone through all right, at least that's what it looks like for my unit. This is just in time for the 4-5th of July 'EXTRAVAGANZA' that's coming as well. Other than running errands at the BDOC and putting in hours at the motor pool, not much has happened, so I guess all I have are some bullets for now.

-We finally managed to get six ASVs cleaned out, (somewhat) repaired, and equipped to a load plan. I guess these are for reserve and also so we don't end up screwing over the next (?) unit like the last unit did us.

-My particular MRAP is a BAE Caiman. It lacks mobility on any sort of terrain save for what the Iraqis consider paved road, has a plethora of flaws including one, but two that could potentially disable the vehicle from the outside, lacks armor where it really counts, and is ridiculously sensitive in handling to the point of rollover every time the wheel is turned. In short, it is a deathtrap. I'm not sure if the other variants are like this, though.

-Keyboards in the MWR are fitted with a CAC reader. Handy if you like going on AKO a lot and actually bothered to set up your profile and security certificates before you deployed.

-KBR had some issue with its supply, so for the past couple days they've been feeding us with scraps and whatever is in their freezers, which surprisingly are rarely used. No grits, no iced coffee, iced tea, other fresh prepared goods, etc.

-The Ugandans are hired by SOC. Entry-level salary for them is around 16 grand, but that's to start with.

-On another D-HA raid, my team leader snagged a few cases of halaal MREs for the IA over at one of the JSSes. They're not the ones for made for Gitmo in 2005 by the company that makes ours; they seem to be made by the Army itself, complete with font and overly plain description (eg. MEAL, INDIVIDUAL KIT, RELIGIOUS...). I want to snag one for myself to check it out, but unfortunately the team leader knows me and is watching them like a hawk.

-Also at the D-HA the officer in charge (a chem LT) let us grab some more rounds for the shotgun. A crowd dispersal round filled with some kind of rubber buckshot. Also some pepper grenades.

-The hajji marketplace right outside the inner checkpoint doesn't seem to have anything to do with AAFES, though they do take EagleCash cards. I purchased orange Fanta in a glass bottle and a dubious pack of menthols called Royale Club for two dollars total. There are a plethora of DVD from the latest movies to anime to television series, and on the massively cheap. I saw a Sandford and Son collection strategically placed next to the fourth season of Prison Break, which made me laugh.

-Same goes for electronics and electronics repairs. For twenty dollars you can get a cooling fan installed, or a copy XP SP3, or a copy of Vista Ultimate. This is sketch but also hilarious. I guess the night markets back in Taiwan make these guys look like amateurs, though.

-You can buy H. Uppmans (can't find the 46 Magnum though) and Cohibas (or the Siglo VIs either) here, though most of the time the shopkeepers don't watch their hygrometers very well. I suppose it is a relatively inexpensive if not proper way to try your first Cuban if you haven't had one yet.

-My roommate was selected to take an EWO-related class. According to him one of the students used to be an E7, but he was so hardcore that he refused to salute commissioned officers below the rank of Lt. Colonel and did other hardcore stuff that got him demoted. Apparently one our career counselors poked his head in the room to talk to him and the guy cussed him out in front of the whole class, saying he was 'only a staff-sergeant.' The hardcore NCO is an E5.

>>36592
>Hajji Marketplace
Is it true they sell XBOX 360s down there?
What about guns? I read about some PMC guy (in Afghanistan, I think), with a marketplace outside his 'safehouse', as he called it, selling all kinds of guns.

>>36601
Yes, as a matter of fact, they do, as well as the power conversion accessories needed to plug 'em in.

As for firearms, the closest thing I've seen is that some of the IPs and IAs favor our M9s over their Glocks, so a trade is not impossible, if you can get a hold of a sidearm that wasn't issued to you or won't be missed. The most I've ever done with trades are food and scrolls/patches.
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Breakfast was four eggs over hard with tomato, onion, and mushroom. Turkey sausage links in an English muffin with rice and country gravy.

I was just about to turn in for the night when I was suddenly informed that I was not to be going on mission, and that a 10k run at 0430 was in order. Someone is trying their damndest to make our unit as garrison as possible, which is not a bad idea, but last time I checked we were in Iraq. God forbid that there might be things to accomplish outside the wire, because holy shit it's the annual Peachtree race and we're going to get a free T-shirt.

My time was 58:50, but I wasn't trying after the third mile. I was approaching the halfpoint when a specialist with the battalion colors was running towards me. He'd already finished the race and was coming back for the sergeant major. The specialist usually represents Fort Bliss with five other soldiers for some big armed forces race in DC, and runs 15k in around 45 minutes. He's 38.

My roommate told me that my team leader finally snapped on my squad leader because my vehicle was being surrendered to charlie team. I trust the driver, but if I wasn't mistaken it was only her second time driving an MRAP, and she usually has a humvee.

One of the other MRAPs got its fire suppression system triggered off, so that was good cleanup times had by the ones who ran today and went to the motor pool after.

>>I trust the driver, but if I wasn't mistaken it was only her second time driving an MRAP, and she usually has a humvee.

You driver is a WOMAN? And inexperienced with the vehicle she's driving? Nice knowing you bro... >:P

>>36922
You misunderstand. I did not end up going out on mission that day. Since I too am a driver, they're not just going to add me as another dismount to a vehicle unless I replace someone else.

I understand that you're just joking, but she made it back okay.
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Breakfast was turkey bacon, quiche, and Total.

All the pomp and circumstance regarding the turnover mostly existed on paper, as far as I could tell. Even if our guys actually left the JSSes and district HQs and whatnot, we're still just minutes outside the cities. In short, not much has changed.

Unfortunately, the little that has is somewhat unsettling.

Lower enlisted at the district HQs are getting constantly asked by locals and IPs when we're leaving for good, because somehow turnover=withdrawing 100%. The local staffmajorgeneral or whatever is on leave, so their people are taking the opportunity to be a bit more surly with us.

Police transitionals for us began in earnest after the stand-down was lifted. A CPAT contractor came along this time--the fact that he used the same weapons and kit as us, as well as the fact that his 'terp was a DA employee was comforting. The neighboring COB has a better range than ours, and a classroom was already reserved so he would brief the ISF officers, while the enlisted would do hands on stuff with us. Snacks, drinks, smoking area even.

We waited for a solid four hours, calling them up every so often to see what was going on, and their answers kept changing. They blew us off completely.

The subsequent mission after that was to visit the station to see what was what. That was the first time that the we'd seen the escorts uncharacteristically early. They wanted to switch shifts in mid-route. Squad leader told them they'd have to do it at the destination. Not the first time that we had to be wary that they didn't ditch us, but still.

Streets were busy. A lot of people walking around, which was also good, more than usual.

My roommate was one of my vehicle's dismounts this time around. A few people saluted him; usually they just wave. They don't keep their distance as much anymore. Two old ladies passed him by. One asked him to help her cross the street, but a passing motorcycle IP did it instead. The other said something he couldn't understand. She spat carefully upon the ground at his boots.

I lent my gunner two bucks since he wanted our vic's terp to get something to eat. This got us six sandwiches made up of fried samoon filled with vegetables and pieces of fritter that tastes like hushpuppies. Some orange pulp drink called Rani Float as well. Either our government or their government, I don't recall which, has been encouraging us to start spending dinar instead. Maybe it would happen if they would have more places to change money than the finance office.

On the route back, the escort stopped and let us pass at an earlier point than what was agreed on. An IA checkpoint was coming up anyhow, but I think they're getting lazier since that one commander's not around. That and the IA always mean-mugs them when they pass through said checkpoint.

>>37523

Is she cute?

>>37542
Yes.
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Ran a 15k today. The 'Boilermaker,' out of Utica, New York. The previous week after the Peachtree run, I'd been telling myself that I wasn't going to get suckered into the next one. Didn't even get a shirt because you needed a number, which required registering during a period of time that already expired before I was even informed that I would be running, AND even if it hadn't, they were only giving numbers to the first 400 anyhow.

I paced with my roommate, who ended up hurting his ankle at around 11k. You know you're not moving fast enough when you've got less than three-quarters of a mile left and then Colonel Newell jogs past you in a baseball cap and a squeeze bottle strapped to his hip, flanked on either side by CSMs.

Breakfast was a tomato omelet and grits with honey.

A couple days ago I was working in the motor pool around 1500 when we were called up for standby. Civilians had been shot at while driving down the street, allegedly by our own guys. They turned out a lot better than their vehicle did--by the time we had our vehicles idling and kit laid out, we'd recieved word that the last guy had just left the hospital. The LT had me pick up a 'terp from the 'terp shack and we waited for a few hours.

Nothing ended up happening. This was just as well, because our request for an IP escort was canned (a first), and that the ISF general whatshisname was already having a talk with someone from higher, I think it was the batt-com.

While we were waiting, my roommate talked with the 'terp, who was new to us, about the JAM militia. According to him, the unit before the previous one had already cleared most of them out, so the previous one (the one that's rotating right now) didn't have much to do. Sometime between then and now, they went off to Iran to get some training and here they are. The 'terp suspected that they were the ones behind the shooting. He doesn't know how big they are, but the word is that they have larger numbers than Al-Quaeda and that were we to pack up and leave at this point, they could overtake the country within a week or two. I'm not sure if I buy that part, but the bit about returning from Iran is something that's been confirmed in our pre-mission briefings before.

The topic had come up because a) an IA checkpoint had been set up in that area because the same area had been hit by a v-bied (ref. the marketplace mentioned in older entries), and b) S-2 said there hadn't been any convoys in that area that day; mind you hardly anyone's been going out ever since the turnover happened, which I guess is now called Sovereignty Day or some other happy horseshit. Some of the team leaders as well as the 'terp surmised that the report was either embellished or falsified because of the financial incentives offered to locals for calling in that sort of thing.

Yesterday we were called to the squad leader's office to get some gear. I doubt that it is recoverable, but most of it I don't need. I already won a Safariland thigh-rig from a pistol qual way back, all the Wiley-X gloves are XL, the pistol lanyard is a single loop hook to the ring and mine's a double loop, Spec-Ops' rigger belts are nice but I prefer one without velcro, I don't have an M4 and the magpouch I got for it only attaches to the buttstock, and I've already got a double 9mm mag pouch coming in through the mail.

This is why I replace my gear most of the time out of my own pocket. It's stuff that I should have been issued from the beginning, but apparently Level 7 GEN-III, three ECWS sleep systems, six duffel bags, and a canteen cup are more critical to the mission in Iraq. I did get a D-ring, though. That's always handy.

Ants around here are very skittish, moving tentatively like spiders. Despite that, one was strong enough to engage me in a tug-of-war over a piece of Fruit Roll-Up.

Lunch was veal parmigiana and a cheese tortellini that definitely isn't your typical MRE's.

Some time ago the battalion piled into five-tons and made its way to the Ziggurat-at-Ur. Photo ops for everyone. The home of the prophet Abraham was supposedly nearby. Now there's some archaelogist or museum curator or whatever who has a nice mansion right next to it, where he's been living for quite some time. Apparently what remains of the monument's foundation had been well taken care of by the former regime. Quite a few, especially some females, posed with the IPs that guard the gate to the 'zig. This is about as far 'outside' the wire as three-quarters of the battalion is ever going to go. Cigarette butts and plugs of used dip littered the tarmac after we left.

Night missions have become the new standard, since the locals don't want us in the cities any more, even just to pass through. Don't have to drive in blackout, thank God. Most of the area is supposed to be under a curfew from 0000 to 0500, but we still encounter traffic out there, which in my mind is enough to raise an EOF situation every time a car passes by.

Last mission, we rolled with some cav scouts and a logpack. Since literally everyone's business has been crammed into low-visibility hours, IP escorts are even harder to get now, since they run more checkpoints in greater force during curfew hours. Some engineers stole ours when we got to the linkup point and we ended up having to push SP back to an hour and a half.

Half of 2nd squad over at one of the JSSes isn't even going out on missions anymore. Just guard tower shifts and that's it. One of them, a buddy since Basic, told me the IPs want three days' notice in advance because it's so far out there. No thanks. US Ambassador-to-Iraq Hill was already hit by an IED the same day that the battalion visited the Ziggurat, and the grid where that happened was the closest to our COB that I've heard any incident occur.

The moon is starting to wane where it used to be full. Portraits of prominent JAM leaders plastered amongst neon cigarette shop and cafe signs light the night.

Do you mean this scrapheap next to Talil AFB ?
damm iraqi's messed up the whole site by bricking up everything they though was an relic

An much more interesting site (at least not as fucked up) is about an hours drive further towards baghdad

also see: http://operatorchan.org/t/arch/res/41573.html