So I don't know how it happened, but all of December flew by and I didn't even make a blog entry! Sorry for all of you out there that were waiting in anticipation. (It seems like all of my blog entries start this way.) I will do my best to catch you all up, though. I arrived in Kuwait on November 18th but got stashed there for about a week before making it up to Iraq. I was on three different bases/camps while there: Ali al Saleem, Camp Virginia, and Camp Buehring. It was an interesting place... very desolate. It was more of a desert than where I am now. One day we were taking a bus to the range to test fire our weapons (to make sure they still worked after flying over from the states) and this herd of camels started running across the road right in front of us. We had to slow down to keep from hitting three of them. Apparently, some of the Bedouin peoples that live out in the deserts have large herds of camels that they have trained to respond to calls. They will wait for U.S. convoys to be moving through the area and then they will call the camels to run in front of the buses. If one of them gets hit and is killed, then the U.S. government has to pay for it... and if it is a female, the U.S. has to pay for it and every calf it would have potentially had over the course of its life. Crazy, huh?
Well, I finally met up with the 448th Civil Affairs Battalion at COB SPEICHER in Norther Iraq. It is a former Iraqi Air Force Base (and former home of the Iraqi AF Academy) that is on the outskirts of Tikrit in the Salah ad Din province. At first I was assigned to the Headquarters Company (HHC) of the 448th CA BN without a specific job, but was soon tasked to take control of the S6 shop (signals, communications, and computers). The CA BN supports the main effort in Iraq by embedding CA Teams within maneuver units (Army combat arms units) out in the field. So in that respect, HHC of the CA BN provides logistics and administrative support to those CA Teams who are spread all across the theater. As the S6 of the CA BN, I was directly in charge of a section of five sailors who were Information Technology specialists and Radiomen back in their regular Navy jobs. Indirectly, I was in charge of the communications and signals support personnel from five subordinate CA companies spread across Iraq from Baqubah to Mosul. The BN S6 job is normally held by an O-4 (Major), but at the time I took over there wasn't even an officer in the section. I held this position just long enough to begin my "battlefield circulation" with trips to Balad (Camp Anaconda), Baqubah (FOB WARHORSE), and Samarra (FOB BRASSFIELD-MORA). In the end, though, the Army had sent me to Civil Affairs school for nearly three months to qualify me as a CA Officer, and as the BN S6 I was not being employed to my full potential.
A little more than a week ago, word came up from one of our subordinate units, Alpha Company of the 490th CA BN (A/490), that one of their team leader positions had become vacant. The call went up to the Battalion Commander to send me down, and almost overnight I was reassigned. Fortunately for me, A/490 is also located on COB SPEICHER and so I didn't have to pack up and move. I am now the Team Leader for A/490's CAT-11. The company has about five Civil Affairs Teams (CATs) that are farmed out to different maneuver units who are stationed in this region of Iraq. Operational control (OPCON) for my team has been transferred from A/490 to the 3rd Battalion-7th Field Artillery Regiment (3-7 FA), while our parent company retains administrative control. The 3-7 FA makes up one of the battalions in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team (3BCT) who in turn works for the 25th Infantry Division (25ID). The 3-7 FA, then, happens to be from back home in Hawaii (headquarted at Schofield Barracks).
Having said all that, my CAT-11 works for the 3-7 FA whose Area of Operations (AO) includes all of the Salah ad Din province. In the last week, I have visited several different locations within our AO with the different company and battery commanders from the battalion. In some cases we have met with the local leaders and security personnel and in a few others we have just stopped in residential communities to interact with the locals nationals. I get a big kick out of seeing all the children. They are always happy and excited to see us (and very eager to get the free stuff they just know we came prepared to give away). My mom sent me a bag of blow pops that was specifically designated in her handwriting as what we call "Humanitarian Aid" or just "HA". On one trip I went thru those and two bags of jolly ranchers, poptarts, a pack of pens, some soccer balls, and a few notepads. They would have stripped us clean if we didn't have to leave. That is the fun part of the job. The "not fun" part is the paperwork, project nomination process, contract negotiation, and did I mention the language barrier?
Don't feel too bad, though. I have had some fun since being at SPEICHER. I played in a softball tournament, attended a free Aaron Tippin concert, met and got autographs from some WWE wrestlers and beauties, went to a free Granger Smith concert, and attended an early screening of the movie "The Spirit." In that last one, I got to meet and talk with Dan Lauria, one of the actors from the film, for almost twenty minutes. You all might remember Dan Lauria best as the dad from "Wonder Years." He as a really awesome guy to talk to... very friendly and very very sincere. He actually served three years in Vietnam as a Marine Corps infantry officer.
Well, I have written enough I think. It is getting late here and I have an early day tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for your Christmas cards, letters, and care packages. Thank you especially for your prayers and support. If I could make a special request, I would as for you to pray for the soldiers in my team - Alex, Ali, and Matera. They are all from the Dallas, TX area. Let me tell you one thing about that - I sure am glad that the Cowboys lost on Sunday, because I don't think I could have gone another three or four weeks hearing about the Cowboys. You better not tell them that, though, because they would hate me forever. :)
Happy New Year!
-Jonathan
P.S. I will post pictures when can get my computer to an internet connection again... that way I can prove that I met the dad from Wonder Years!
In this picture, one of the village leaders is showing us a water treatment unit this is in severe disrepair. This type of project is very common in this area of operations. Making sure these wells, canals, and water treatment units are operational is especially important before the dry season arrives.
In this picture we are meeting up with the Iraqi Police for the city we are getting ready to do an evening patrol in. This was right before the video I took during evening prayer.
This is a sheep farmer who is having a hard time feeding his sheep because there is a lack of food for livestock.
Here is the meat market where he butchers and sells his sheep. You would not believe the stench. We are trying to move this market to a different location just outside of town. Right now, it is in the middle of town and creates a sanitation problem because all the butcher shops don't have drains to the sewer or running water. At the end of the day they sweep their shops out onto the sidewalk. The location we have scoped out will have more room, allowing more business, and will be outside the city creating a healthier environment for all.
We were here assessing the progress of a water project that will eventually be able to pump water from the Tigris, treat it, and send it down an underground pipeline to the nearest village.
