SO I am at Camp speicher right now.  I am here attending phase I of the ARMY's Basic Non Commissioned Officer Course.  Got to fly here in a blackhawk, which is always a bonus.  The course will be two weeks long, and teaches you about leadership principles and standards.  I hope to learn a lot.  Should be going to the promotion board again soon for Staff Sergeant.  Hoping to add that rocker!  Anyway, this deployment differs so much from my last.  I am much busier this time around and Iraq has definately changed for the better.  Things here are much better and safer in fact.  I don't have a whole lot of pictures to post yet, but I will try to take some and upload them soon.  I hope everyone back home is doing well and please check back, as I will be updating this blog more frequently again, as people have been asking me what is going on with it.

So the food at the chow hall here on Camp Taji is hardly edible.  Seriously.  This isnt just an old ARMY cliche joke; it downright sucks.  I cant tell you how many times I have felt sick after eating there.  So I have taken to eating those good ol bean burritos from Taco Bell.  And as much as I hate to think how I am helping Taco Bell's profit margin, I cannot help myself.  I am glad we are leaving relatively soon because I am now getting tired of burritos.  I have also come to the conclusion that living with other people for extended periods of time is detrimental to one's own sanity.  Every time the guy next to me takes off his boots, I think my brother is here.  Those of you who have had the pleasure of being in the presence of Jason's feet know what i am talking about.  If you could somehow harness that stench into a weapon, you would have one hell of a riot control system.  Anyways, I will be back in Alaska by the end of this month and it is definately over due.  Here are a few new pictures from a range where I fired some different weapons and various other photos.  I wish I had more but there is a definate lack of photo subjects around here.

Once again it has been quite some time since I have updated this blog.  I will try to recap for everyone.  Some of these pictures are of one of Saddam's palaces.  We had to go here to get some paperwork signed so we decided to take a tour as well.  The grand chandelier you see here is worth over $1 million.  The chair there was Saddam's.  The place was huge and surrounded by water with some of the biggest fish I have ever seen.  It is said they will eat anything (someone threw a huge rat into the water at one time to test this theory and sure enough).  Even the bathrooms were marble and intricately designed!  It is a shame that Saddam only spent a total of 5 days at this place.
 The picture of all the weapons there is just a small sample of al the weapons that our unit confiscates from locals and insurgents.  There are also a couple of photos of a mosque that we see while travelling between the FOBs.  I don't really know much about it other than it is huge.  Then there is a picture of me in my office (not so exciting).  The pictures of me in civvies are from my trip to Qatar where I spent 4 days relaxing and resting.   I was able to go on a inland sea picnic, where we went off-roading over sand dunes on our way to the beach.  I don't know how proffesional the drivers were, but this is the most scared I have been during my entire deployment in the Middle East!!  Once we got to the beach (The Persian Gulf) we went swimming in jellyfish infested waters.  Only I and a few others were brave (stupid) enough to dare the waters.  I got stung by a pretty large gelataneous creature that felt like I had been branded with a hot iron for days and left a large welt from my belly button to the small of my back.  So I learned that while i am not allergic to a jellyfish sting, it does not change the fact that it still hurts like hell.  Oh and the pictures where it looks like I am partaking in illegal activities is actually me smoking a hookah.  It tasted like apples and kind of made me sick.  I thought the guy was asking me if I wanted a coke, apparently he was saying smoke.  All in all it was a good trip.  I would have taken more pictures in Qatar, but it was Ramadan and we were told we would probably get arrested. 
 From here it looks like we are about 40 days out so once again i look forward to goign home and being with my family.  I also put up some new pictures of Lorilie.  Hope everyone is doing well and I will see you all again before too long.
Oh there is also a short clip in the media player.

It has been a while since I have been able to update this page (About 2 months now!)  Many of you probably thought I would be back in the United States by now; I was one of those people as well.  On July 27th, two days before we were to start leaving for home, the ARMY announced we would instead be going to Baghdad. http://www.armytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-1982906.php   We shouldn't be extended for longer than 120 days.  This should put us back home right before Christmas.  I haven't been into the city here, although I have flown over it a few times in Blackhawks helicoptors.  There isnt much to say for the place we are staying.  It is plain and bears little resemblance to anything except barren land with army buildings on it.  I don't have any pictures of here yet.  I just bought a new camera because my other one burned up in the fire.   I have a few pictures that my friend/translator took when she was in Baghdad a few months back, and some new pictures of Lorilie.  Hope everyone is doing well and I will try to keep this updated more often while I am here.

I thought it would be a good idea to place at least one blog on here for the month of June.  Yesterday I entered my 30 day window.  For those of you who dont know what that means, IT MEANS I HAVE LESS THAN 30 DAYS LEFT HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Alot has happened here since the last entry way back in May.  First of all, I entered promotable status after passing the board.  Apparently I need more points though, because they went up again, and I didnt have enough points for August.  It will come though. 

 

Our office burned to the ground, on June 6th, taking all of our equipment, records, and much of our personal items, my camera and pictures being among them. 

 

I dont have many pictures to put up.  I have some of the fire that a friend took, and soem pictures Ellie took at home.

 

Hope everyone is doing well and I will be home soon.

I caught this guy last week.  Kinda freaked me out till I found out it was a cricket and they are common in the US.  They must be common since I have seen so many of them  Here is a bit of info on them.

 

Mole crickets have robust front legs highly modified for digging. They tunnel rapidly just below the soil surface and make trails of pushed-up soil similar to that of a mole only much smaller. Mole crickets can run very rapidly when on the soil surface. They are attracted to lights and are occasionally pests of vegetables.

Not a whole lot going on.  Just thought I would put some new pictures up.  Maybe I will write more later.

So I think I have been sick more times since i have been here than i have in my whole life.  I have a stomach virus and its getting the best of me!  The days are ticking down and soon I will be home.  Not a lot to report from the front lines, but for the most part all is well.

It is getting hotter again now that Spring is underway and Summer is creeping in.  I am writing this from my room and sweat is just pouring off my head.  Cant wait for it to get even hotter  Redeployment procedures are already underway, so morale is a little higher, now that we see the end in sight.  I can't wait to get home.  It still seems so far away.  Not a whole lot else is going on right now.  I want to thank everyone for the packages they sent; the Longs, the Naifehs, and Ellie.  They are greatly appreciated and I get very excited when I receive one.  Thank You!  Here is a picture of Lorilie with the Easter Bunny.  I am not too sure that is the real easter Bunny, as he looks kinda shady to me, but maybe that is his nature.  Also here are some better pictures of the eclipse, taken by a friend of mine who lives in Mosul.  In case anyone actually is missing me I will be home soon, Inshallah!

As many of you may know, there was an eclipse the other day.  I tried to take pictures, but nearly went blind in the process.  As the eclipse was only partial from here (60%), the pictures werent the best, but the whole area looked very strange.  Here are the pictures I took, again not the best but I thought they were interesting.  Also there are some more pictures of Lorilie.  And the final weird picture is the burn pit, while not very exciting, I spend a lot of time here burning stuff and contemplating life and the mysteries of the universe.

There is an old Monastery here on the FOB that has always intrigued me since we got here.  Apparently it was originally constructed in 576 AD (Although there are date discrepencies).  The entire place is fenced off and has been off limits to me.....until today.  I drove out there by myself today on a hunch, and to my surprise, there were some officers touring the site.  I yelled at them from the gate and with a little persuasion, they let me in.  The site is very old, with few signs that it was ever a monastery.  But if you look close at the pictures you can see where the monks lived, worshipped, and even though I didnt notice it at first, in one of the pictures you can see a cross.  I will add more to this blog as soon as I find out more information.  For now enjoy these pictures I took today while I was playing Indiana Jones.

Too busy to really write a whole lot right now.  Heres some new pictures of Lorilie.  Bye.

     Sometimes we find that in life things just don't go the way we expect, no matter how hard we prepare for them.  There will always be unforseen circumstances, and consequences, intertwined in everything we do on a daily basis.  Please don't ask about the board; I'm going again next month.  No fault of mine, just a technicality that will just make me more angry if I keep talking about it. 

     This deployment is taking its toll on everyone over here.  The only thing that keeps my sanity in check is the fact that my roomate and I are already insane.  HA!  You can see it in the faces of every soldier you see.  They are ready to go home.  But our job is not done yet, so we drive on with the knowledge that eventually we will come back home and see our families again.  I know I miss my family terribly.  I have never been away fro this long---ever.  My daughter gets bigger every day and I am not there to witness it.  My wife, whom I am so proud of, is doing a hell of a job taking care of things back home. She worries that she can't do it alone,but I have the utmost confidence in her.

     I have seen so many soldiers lose rank over here because they are fighting with one another.  some of them can't take it anymore.  The nicest, most laid-back guys you would ever meet at the breaking point.  They are all good soldiers though and we are doing an excellent job over here, regardless of what the damned media wants you to believe.  Its strange because these guys are getting stressed over going out every day, twice a day; and the clerks cant wait to go out to release stress.  Different jobs, different situations I guess. 

    Well, i think I am done ranting for now.  I hope this message finds everyone back home doing well.  My utmost condolences to Sam and Jason on their loss.  I love you guys.  God Bless!

I know I havent written anything in a while but things arent always easy to do lately.  Things have gotten hectic here lately and I have been super busy.  Hope everyone is doing well; I will write more when i get the time.

Well I have been spending all o fth espare time that I have studying for this promotion board next month.  There i sso much to study it boggles the mind!  Not too much going on around here.  Things have seemd to slow down immesnsely.  I wish there was more to write about but there just isn't.  Well I guess that about does it for this entry.  Marsalama