Last days in Iraq...

Pictures on the banks of the Tigris are my favorite. This was probably my last opportunity to do it, so I jumped up on the bank and had one of my soldiers take the picture. "Aloha, Iraq!"

I had this picture on my facebook page with the caption, "This is NOT the engineroom of a submarine!" One of my Army counterparts left the comment, "What tipped you off? Is it the sunlight blazing in through the windows or the fact that you can't hear the Village People playing in the background?" I told him it was the latter. "In the Navy... you can sail the Seven Seas!!"

This is the balcony from which Saddam would review the parades that would march thru his palace in Tikrit on his birthday. You might remember seeing photos of him on a balcony shooting a rifle. Well, this is that spot. I just had to take the picture.

I am holding the "1st Navy Jack" in this photo. It is the smaller flag that is flown on the bow of a U.S. Navy ship when the ship is moored in-port alongside the pier. Before 9/11 the Navy Jack was just the blue star field from the American flag. This flag, however, dates back to the American Revolution and hearkens back to the wartime Navy. I think that is why the Secretary of the Navy changed it. Anyway, I thought it wouldn't hurt to show a little Navy pride. Over here I so often think to myself, "What a unique experience I am having as a Naval Officer."

So I had to get in some pictures of me wearing the Auburn hat my brother sent me. When there aren't any senior officers around, I will wear it with my uniform. In this picture, I am standing on the roof of Saddam Hussein's birthday palace with my back to the outskirts of Tikrit and the Western (Al Jazeera) Desert.

The 3rd Battalion-7th Field Artillery Regiment had an awards ceremony on August 7th. Since I am leaving soon, the battalion commander went ahead and presented my end of tour award at the ceremony. He spoke to the whole battalion assembled about everything I had done to help 3-7FA complete their mission here in Iraq. It was quite a moment... a very humbling experience. In contrast, my end of tour award onboard the USS HONOLULU was presented at a ceremony on the mess decks with only 1/3 of the crew there (the on-watch duty section). Shortly before that ceremony started, the Engineering Officer of the Watch called away an engineering casualty that required half the group to run back to the engineroom to respond. That left about 15 sailors there in the audience. It was such an anti-climactic end to my three years onboard the HONO. On Friday, though, there were nearly 400 soldiers assembled for this. Again, it was a very moving experience and poignant end to an amazing tour.

"TASK FORCE STEEL"
3rd Battalion-7th Field Artillery Regiment,
3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division