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Letters From Iraq...
One Superintendent's View From the Front Lines
By ROB ADAMS
Superintendent, Ponds of Battle Creek
(Note: The following article will be one of a
series that chronicles the trials and tribulations of GC Superintendent/Captain
Rob Adams as he trained stateside and shipped out to the front lines of Iraq.
Rob is the golf course superintendent at the Ponds of Battle Creek in Maplewood,
Minn. He was called up to active duty out of IRR (inactive ready reserve). Rob
began his stateside training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and then reported
to Camp Shelby, Mississippi in June 2005 for more advanced training. It was here
at Camp Shelby he was attached to the 876th Engineering Company out of Rhode
Island. Rob was attracted to this particular unit because it was made up of
hard-working Italians that shared his same strong work ethic.
%20002.gif) (Rob
is more than willing to share his military experiences with his family, friends
and colleagues back home. I was fortunate to receive permission from Rob to
reprint all or parts of e-mails that he sends home as I see fit. He is allowing
me to edit his communications as well (primarily spelling and punctuation), due
to the time constraints placed on him. I hope you appreciate and enjoy his
honesty, insight, and wry sense of humor as he experiences these life-changing
events. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers - Paul Diegnau, CGCS)
May 18, 2005
Things here are going pretty well. The weather is nice and they are treating us
well. We finished the in-processing phase and are now doing some basic soldier
skills training. We have refresher courses on our rifle, the M16, our protective
mask, and the radios. All of it is very basic and we go through it very fast. We
also get the same briefings that the basic trainees get about military justice,
code of conduct and the law of war. That was a half-day I will never get back.
Tomorrow we go to a training site and learn how to clear a building and by clear
I don't mean clean it. It is supposed to rain so it should be interesting. All
of the soldier training will take about a week; then we will go on to our MOS
school, which means job school. It will be a refresher on the engineering things
that I do. We will be doing demolitions training, some construction, route
clearing and recons and whatever else they feel like training us on. They don't
have an idea of where we will be going so they just cover the basics on as many
things as they can. That will be about two to three weeks. Then, again, it's on
to who knows where.
May 20, 2005
Training is well. We finished up the basic soldier skills training on Friday. We
had some good training. Like I mentioned we did the building clearing and
learned to move in an urban terrain. It was fun. We had to capture prisoners and
search and detain them. Then we did the actual clearing of rooms in a building.
We also learned how to enter a building through a window. You may see guys doing
this on TV. It is taught to everyone that enters into the Army now. It is very
realistic and almost any unit could be doing it when they get in country.
Anyway, it was pretty funny to watch some of the teams throw 250 lb. guys
through a window. Not too graceful. We also qualified with the weapons that we
will be using, the 9mm pistol and the M16 rifle. I qualified expert with the
pistol and qualified with the M16. So I guess I have to play some more.
Next week I start the engineer refresher course. Since I have been a Captain and
completed more of my military schooling, I will be in a different class than the
other three officers that showed up with me. They still haven't given me an
overview of what I will be doing so I guess I’ll find out Monday.
We had the largest group show up here in the last six months. Eighty soldiers
and officers were supposed to show up and 29 did. That is really pretty good for
the IRR activations. In case anyone does not know that is what I have been
called up out of. It stands for Individual Ready Reserve. It is officers and
soldiers that either haven't finished their commitments, or asked to be put in
the IRR or just weren't smart enough to get all the way out. It sounds like
there are a lot of people in the same boat as I am. Anyway, we have a large
group herenow -- a total of 37 people. The new group is mostly Military
Intelligence officers and most of them are Majors. Some have been out for five
years or longer. Let me tell you they look like it. Not the greatest shape but I
bet they didn't plan on being back in the Army either.
June 2, 2005
%20001.gif) I
now remember why I joined the National Guard all those years ago. I like this
stuff to a point but I know it is only for a weekend and I get to go home. It
feels like we have been here forever. Even the people in charge of us are asking
when we will be leaving.
We have joined an active duty Captains Course and are learning about building
and repairing roads and airfields. It's something that could be useful. We also
had a major teach us (there are now five engineer officers in class) about
contracting in the Army. She has been to Iraq already and said there are many
engineer officers that are over there acting as general contractors. They deal
with the locals to get things built. She didn't say if that was on a base or off
in the community. I can't believe they are sending people out into public
without armed escorts.
Anyway things are going fine. I miss my regular job and being home. This stuff
can get old real fast. Once we get a clue when and where we are going, the tempo
might pick up a bit, but for now it we are just lost puppy dogs.
June 13, 2005
Anyway we did get orders at the end of the week to go to Camp Shelby,
Mississippi. It is the largest reserve and National Guard training center in the
U.S. It has been around since WWI. This is where we will be going (myself and
three other officers). I am reporting to the 876th Engineers out of the
Pennsylvania National Guard. On their web site it has them being deployed from
Jan 05 to Aug of 06 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. At this time I don't
know if they are in Iraq or not. I do know that most call-ups are for a unit to
be in country or deployed overseas for one year on the ground. That means one
year in Iraq, Afghanistan or Bosnia. I imagine I will find out when I get to
Mississippi what the deal is and when and where they are going. They are a
mechanized (armored vehicles) unit like the one I was in the National Guard so I
should not be too lost. Their web site does not have a lot of other information
about what they do. That is about all I know for now. I will keep you informed
when I find something else out. I am in the Houston airport waiting to fly to
Jackson Mississippi where we will bus to Camp Shelby. It is nice to get out of
Fort Leonard Wood and get this process going. The sooner I start the sooner I
get this done.
June 17, 2005
Well, hello and I am finally here at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. I wish I were
back at Fort Leonard Wood! It is hot hot staying in barracks without air
conditioning. We are doing pretty much the same thing here as we did at FLW. We
went through a medical screening, which I passed again, then we went through the
administrative portion, which I passed again, and now we are going to start
doing the training portion. It includes many of the same things we did at FLW
but has some new things also. We train on land navigation, convoy operations,
improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and a lot more weapons training. We (still
with the same three guys) are going to be here for about 15 days. That is
supposed to be what happens anyway. We linked up with the 876 Engineers out of
Pennsylvania. They are part of a bigger group known as the 2-28, which is a
brigade combat team. The 2-28 is leaving on the 28th of this month for Kuwait
and then following on to Iraq. They will then go to Ar Ramadi north west of
Baghdad and be working with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force. So that should
tell you where I am going. Not the cush job that I wanted but I did not really
think that I would end up somewhere nice and cozy. Anyway, they are leaving the
28th and we won't be done with training by then so we will hook up with them in
country. The good thing is that my year in country starts sooner than later and
I could be home before my year and a half is up. Most of the 2-28 has been on
orders from January of 05 and will be done around August 06 if everything goes
ok. The unit seems pretty good of the guys we met. Most of them are home now
before they leave for Iraq. We got most of our "battle rattle" as we call it,
which includes all of the armor vest and everything. Hopefully I won’t need it.
I don't know specifically what I will be doing in the engineer battalion because
we haven't met the commander, but they didn't know we were coming either (big
surprise there). It was a shock to them to see four Captains walk in and say
we’re here. Anyway once we finish training we have to wait for a plane to take
us overseas which I guess can take a while so there may be a chance of my
getting home one more time before I leave. Otherwise, things are ok and I still
am in good spirits, a little more sarcastic, but good spirits anyway.
June 24, 2005
 Hello
all. Hope all is well with you guys. I heard the weather there is heating up -
over a hundred degrees with high humidity. Well, welcome to my world and buck up
little soldiers. We have the added bonus of chiggers. They are little bugs that
bite you all over when you sleep in addition to gnats and mosquitoes. Well
that's enough whining about being down here. No sense in complaining, it is
better than where I am going. Let’s see where did I leave off from last week.
Well we finally met the Battalion commander. He is a squared away guy and seems
very competent. He graduated from West Point so he is probably not a dummy
either. Anyway, we talked to him and got an idea of what he is looking for and
where he might put us within the battalion (BN). It is going to get a little
vague sometimes because I do have to keep some things out of public view. That
is just in case there are any Taliban members among you, especially over at the
workhouse (this is a reference to the Ramsey County Correctional Facility that
supplies the inmates and corrections officers that work on the Ponds at Battle
Creek GC). Nevertheless, the BN is leaving this week and will eventually end up
in Ar Ramadi. We will be doing various missions to secure the area and defeat
any insurgent we encounter. Pretty much that is everyone's mission; to search
out and capture or interrupt insurgent cells. It doesn't matter what kind of
unit you are in, you can be assured you will be doing presence patrols and
knocking on doors. The Iraqi police are still in the process of being trained
and organized and the coalition forces are giving them a hand when needed. As
for me, we are continuing to do training. This week we did land navigation and
some classes on radios, GPS and IEDs (improvised explosive device). Those are
the little honeys you hear about in the news all the time. They make them out of
everything. This weekend we will be firing our weapons and except for the gas
chamber next week, we will be done. We still don't know when we will be shipped
over but hopefully not until after the 4th of July. I am trying to get home that
weekend to see the family before I set sail. Anyway, that is all I have for you
this week. Take care and if I don't see you on the fourth have a good weekend.
Peace out to all the hommies.
July 16, 2005 - IN IRAQ
Hello all. Well I made it. I am in Iraq at Ar Ramadi. It was a long way to get
here but it's worth telling. We left last Saturday night at 1100 p.m. Drove on a
bus to Dallas to avoid the hurricane. We then flew from Dallas to Frankfurt
Germany. Had a two-hour layover there and then got back on the plane and tried
to take off. I say try because halfway down the runway the pilot aborted the
take-off. Neat. Never done that before. He said one of the engines wasn't coming
up to power. Anyway, flew from Germany to Kuwait. Drove to Camp Bruehling in
Kuwait and spent a couple of days there. Flew from there to a base called TQ in
Iraq. Spent a day there and then did a combat patrol to Ar Ramadi. Well I made
it. I am just getting settled tonight and will be able to get to the computer
and phone a little more frequently now and will have more for everyone in the
future.
July 24, 2005
Hello all. I am alive and well. Sorry for the sloppy e-mail last week. I was a
little tired and didn't really read what I wrote. Anyway I am much more awake
now and getting used to being here. Don't really like it but I am stuck here for
a while. The transition from the guys we replaced to our actually doing the job
is a little bumpy; too many people running around. It was my first day working
on my own. Stress level is a little more than I have at the golf course. They
say it takes a while to get used to it but I will. The units are out doing their
missions and I track everything they do on the radio and do a lot of the
coordination. I am safe in a building away from the action but it still is like
the "wild west" over here. As one person put it, the people over here are like
stone age but they have cars and guns. Not too much exciting to report but
simple things like trying to get broken-down vehicles off the road is a major
task. They don't have police or a tow truck you can call up and get it out of
the way. Other than that it is hot and dusty. Food is good though. They feed us
a ton. I am going to start working out or I could come back fat. Anyway things
are OK and I will continue to write these when I can. Hope everyone at home is
well and have a good rest of the summer. Take care, Rob.
August 4, 2005
I am still stuck inside monitoring radios and doing reports and stuff. I wonder
if they would go for the virtual office thing if I asked. Maybe I could do it
from home. We work 12-hour shifts. I work 930 a.m. to 930 p.m. It gets to be a
long day. I don't mind working those at the golf course if I'm outside and get
to go home at night but, oh well. One more thing to whine about - have I said
it's hot here yet. Holy crap - feels like a blow dryer on your body. Actually it
has cooled off. It only reached 110 today. I put on my long johns. Ok, enough
complaining. I have less than a year left now. I haven't had a lot of time to
get around the FOB (Forward Operating Base) but we have a couple gyms, a nice
dining facility, beautiful desert view (kidding) and all the free blowing sand
you can ask for. We do have a little shop that we can get all the necessities at
and Internet access and phones. Our Battalion actually runs the Internet café,
as they like to call it. We get 30 minutes on the computers and I am such a slow
reader and typist that I read my e-mails and then have like two minutes to try
and type something out. . . . Like I have said earlier I can't give too much
detail on what our mission is but some stuff you can probably find out on CNN.
On a bad note, the Marines have lost 21 guys in two days. It happened way out to
the west of us but news travels pretty fast here. Wouldn't want to be a bad guy
now because I'm sure the Marines are a little pissed off and are looking for
trouble. Just about every stereotype about a Marine is true. They have such a
different attitude about this deal. They literally go looking for action. If
they drive down a road and somebody shoots at them from a house they shoot back
and keep going. If it happens two days in a row from the same house they will
destroy the house the next day on their way to the office. The ISF (Iraqi
Security Force) is training here also. They have their own little part of the
camp. They still live in fear that the insurgents will do something to their
families if they find out they are in the Iraqi army but they need to stand up
and take back their country. They are very brave in that respect but not very
well trained. We are helping them with that. It is hard to tell the good guys
from the bad guys here so it is a slow process. Every night units go out looking
for bad guys and every night they find some. We are doing a good job but it's
not an overnight deal.
August 12, 2005
Hello all, I'm still here. Let me know if this thing is going to end anytime
soon. I have totally lost track of time and what's going on.... No, it is odd
because time just is not a factor over here. We totally lose track of time and
what day of the week it is. Days are the same, 100 plus degrees and sunny. . . .
Well that is all I have, it has been
 pretty
slow for us. Which is a good thing. We hear more about what is going on here
from people at home than we know from being here. Unfortunately it is mostly
negative, but so you all know, we are getting some of the bad guys - dead and
alive. The Marines caught like thirty-some the other day and discovered a
bomb-making facility, so that will slow them down for a day or two. The
elections are coming up in a couple months so it is going to be busy throughout
the country. This part of the country last year had a really low turn-out and
they are hoping to get a lot more people out to vote this year. We will probably
help set up the polling stations or something. We put huge concrete barriers out
to protect the people. We also provide a presence so they feel safe. Not to sure
what part we will play but we will be busy. The unit that was here before us
went out to do some civil affairs stuff and the people they talked to were very
proud that they voted. So that is pretty cool.
August 20, 2005
Hello all, how goes the battle? Oh wait, that's me. The battle is going fine.
Slow day today, which is a good thing. We are starting to do a few more
missions. Don't worry; I haven't been out in a while. But with the elections
coming up things are starting to get going and some of the people are looking
forward to voting. You might have read in the news that the Shia and the Sunnis
were fighting together against the bad guys in Ramadi to protect a Shia
neighborhood. That doesn't happen a lot. Most of the people over here are tired
of the insurgents and Mujadine fighting against us. It messes up their whole
day. There isn't a lot of indiscriminant bombing here, like in Baghdad. The
majority of the population here are Sunni which is what most of the bad guys
are. The Mujadine are the criminals and thugs that just intimidate people. They
aren't as organized but they pop up all over and create problems. The weather is
starting to cool off slightly. Still hotter than hell but it gets comfortable
after 930 at night. Full moon, so the nights are pretty. Sorry, had a sensitive
moment there. Anyway things are moving along and I am one day closer to being
home.
September 3, 2005
Pretty busy week. Four of our guys got some cuts and scrapes on them but they
are all o.k. and are (RTD) Returned To Duty. I, being the desk jockey that I
have now become, get to write up reports and send them to the next higher level.
Now I know why people that work at office jobs think the movie Office Space is
so funny. "Do you have my report yet" is very common here. Everybody wants to
know what's going on right now so you tell them what you know and five minutes
later what you told them is totally different than what happened. It's funny
because we hear the traffic on the radio not only from my unit but the rest of
the units around here. It's the same with everyone. Report one thing and when it
is all over what actually happened is not even close. Some funny things do
happen though. Some of the insurgents like to shoot rifles at tanks, which
doesn't do anything to the tank but makes the people inside the tank rather
upset. We can only shoot back if we can positively identify who is shooting at
us, so when the guys in tanks do positively identify the guys ,they shoot back.
The funny part is they mess with a tank and all the guns on it. The bad guys to
tend to run away very fast though. They are usually arrested later for something
else. The Iraqi army is starting to do pretty well but they still have problems
shooting themselves accidentally. I was able to get out this week. Nice to be
able to get away from this place every once and a while. Gives a different
perspective. If it weren't so hot and people weren't shooting at one another,
Iraq does have some beautiful sites. The Euphrates River is pretty nice and the
sunsets are pretty nice over the desert. Anyway, went out took a couple
pictures, drove around a bit and came back. Nothing exciting happened. The
pictures are from the top of a mansion that is partially built. It is in a great
location to watch several roads. We monitor the roads to make sure the bad guys
aren't using them to smuggle things into the city.
Anyway, it is/was a beautiful house that is partially built that was taken over
by the US during the start of the war. We rent it from the guy for some stupid
amount of money. He complains all the time but he really wants more money. He
owns a farm and raises fish and grows dates. He must have some side business
because this house is huge and his farm is tiny. Probably sell weapons to the
bad guys. Just kidding.
September 14, 2005
I'm trying to start working out again. Went jogging during the day because it
was only ninety something degrees. I figured no problem, run a few miles, then
go work out. Well, it is still plenty hot and dry. The run alone just about
killed me. I didn't bother working out. They have several gyms, which is nice. I
have played ping-pong a few times. Still am doing pretty well with that.
September 24, 2005
Hello all. I am still here, again. Sorry that I missed a week. I was on vacation
and just wanted to relax and get away from work. I sat on the beach and ran my
toes through the sand and admired the view. Then I woke up. Still here and still
would rather not be. Things are going ok. Been a slow week for us but a bad week
for one unit over here. The bad guys are using bigger explosives. The next three
weeks we will be getting ready for the elections. There will be more troops
moving in and we will be getting more of the Iraqi army as well. Right now the
more bodies we have the better. Last year the elections here were a bust. Too
many people were afraid to vote. This year, more people are aware of the
elections and constitution but they still are scared. A lot of the people say
they plan on voting but they have no idea what they are voting for. It just has
never happened over here. We are a ways away from this area being secure enough
for the Iraqi army to take over. The insurgents are still strong over here and
are very adept at changing the way they work. Many are still pretty stupid and
pay for their mistakes. We tend to arrest the guys driving around with rifles
and binoculars in their cars but they still do it anyway. Air Force enjoys
sinking boats that drive across the river in the middle of the night. Wonder
what they are doing? Anyway I am fine and have settled into a nice routine of
working 12 hours reading for two and then sleeping for the rest of the time. I
read a lot of magazines.
October 1, 2005
Well I made it through the month of September without a scratch. I can't believe
it is October already. This is usually my favorite time of the year. The golf
course slows down a little and starts to recover from the stress of the summer.
The end of the year is in sight. I like the cool, sunny days and all the colors
of the trees. I don't think I am going to get a lot of that this year. We had a
pretty slow week for my Battalion but not such a good week for another unit over
here. They lost five guys in one day. Things are expected to get a little more
exciting around here with Ramadan and the elections. We start in a couple weeks
preparing the voting sites. Once they are set up we are to move away and let the
Iraqi army and the civilians run the show. We are to provide protection from a
distance. They want the elections to be free of the U.S. Good luck to them.
Anyway I am fine and keep plugging along. I miss being home and seeing all my
family and friends. Hopefully some good will come out of this mess and it won't
be time wasted. There are a lot of good people over here that would like to live
a safe and free life. They just need to stand up and do it though. Well enough
for now. Hope all is well at home. Take it easy. Rob
October 9, 2005
Hello all. Another week in the books. It has been pretty slow this week, which
is kind of scary, leading into the week of elections. I hope that it is not the
calm before the storm. Things are starting to fall into place and we are working
to improve the positions we already have. Life on the FOB (Forward Operating
Base) is not bad. I got out and played ping pong the other day. I am still able
to play pretty well but the competition is getting better. I may need to start
practicing. Your tax dollars hard at work! I only work 12 hours a day so the
rest of the time I sleep and read. They opened a new chow hall, which is
supposed to be mortar proof. These are the things we get excited about. I'm
trying to get a driving range built here but there is still the concern of
sniper fire and being hit by mortars while collecting balls. I figure with a
little chicken wire and duct tape I can rig a ball retriever up to a tank. There
are a few people over here that actually brought their golf clubs and balls. Tee
times are pretty wide open. The course has numerous holes from one bomb crater
to another. Carts are free with the round and come equipped with some sort of
machine gun. Beverage cart girls are hard to find so you need to bring your own
water. A common complaint is that the fairways don't get watered enough and the
greens are slow. Where have I heard that before? Anyway I still wish I was home
working on the course. I'm having green grass withdrawals. I did get a picture
off a guy who was doing a patrol in the middle of Ar Ramadi and they jumped over
a fence and landed in this guy’s beautiful grass back yard. They couldn't
believe it either, so they took a picture. One of the guys knew I was a
superintendent so they gave me the picture. I have it on my computer and look at
it often. Oh the things I miss back home! Well I should get back to staring at
the computer screen and listening to radios. Hope all is well on the home front.
Take it easy. Rob
October 19, 2005
Hello all. We made it through the elections without too many incidents. The
voting went pretty well. In our area we had around 4,000 people vote. Last
January they had 67 so it was a big increase. The people are still afraid and
the Iraqi government did not give the people a lot of information on where to
vote. Several security measures were put in place to protect the people who
voted and the workers. Nobody could drive from the night before the election to
the morning after because of the threat of a car bomb. So if you lived far away
from a polling center you had to walk. The coalition forces put up security
around the poling sites at a distance so it didn't seem like we were
interfering. The Iraqi army had security at the polling sites. From what we were
told, the polling sites with the best turnout didn't have any coalition forces
securing them. I don't really believe that. Half the stuff that gets reported
from over here is total B.S. We see stories about protests and riots in Ar
Ramadi all the time. Truth is it doesn't happen or is overblown. There hasn't
been a riot here since I have been here and we only have had one protest. Not a
big deal. A local woman informed on some insurgents and wanted to be detained
for her own protection. The Iraqi police took her for her safety. The Iraqis
thought we (US Forces) had detained her. She was never here but the people
protested at the front gate. Women are still treated poorly here, but if they
think we have them they rally like it was their King. Anyway, the Iraqi police
were forced to let her go. No telling what happened to her. I just saw a news
story about air strikes in Ar Ramadi that killed 70 people. The press said that
it was mostly innocent civilians. I read the reports that the soldiers on the
ground give. Anytime a Sigact (significant act) occurs we have to write up a
report and send it to our higher headquarters. They take the report and send it
out to everyone so we all have an idea of what is going on. It's called
situational awareness in the Army. But we see reports from all over our area. It
is amazing how the stories get distorted. I can't go into detail but the story
does not contain all the facts and the reporter said they saw some of the
individuals. If they are reporting from that area where this occurred, they are
probably working for the insurgents. Not an area where any American would last
more than a few minutes. Anyway, don't believe everything you read! I thought
before I came over here that some stories seemed distorted but now I know it is
true. On the same token, it isn't a bed of roses and the Iraqi army is a ways
off before it will be able to stand up on its own. It isn't necessarily the
training or the equipment. It is more of a cultural thing. They lack real
discipline, which is funny considering that they were under Saddam for so many
years. After a few hours on patrol they lose interest and lie down and don't pay
attention. It may be just the units around here but I have heard this is a
common occurrence. Also time is not as important. If we have to leave for a
mission at a certain time the Iraqis may or may not show up when they are
supposed to. They argue among themselves constantly. I guess it is just the way
they are. As much grief as we give them they are still pretty brave to do what
they are doing. Some of the people respond better to the Iraqi army, but
sometimes they get less respect than U.S. troops. They are trying, and
eventually the people will accept them. Anyway, that is enough ranting and
raving for today. I am fine… same stuff, different day. It is even cooling off
here. It is in the 60s and 70s at night. Someone even said it rained last night.
I hope all is well at home. Well enough already. Everyone take care. Rob
November 3, 2005
Hello all. I am still here. Sorry I haven't written in a while, been busy with
things around here. We made it through the month of October. It was a bad month
for troops throughout Iraq. The Brigade I am with had some casualties as well.
November isn't starting out that great either. A Cobra helicopter was shot down
in the area, killing the pilots, and a soldier was killed trying to get to the
crash site. So things haven't been that great. Anyway, enough depressing news.
Halloween was pretty good; we had a little costume party. Not much else going on
around here. It doesn't seem like November though. It gets cold at night but
there aren't any leaves changing color and there aren't the cold days I am used
to. Things are still green in the spots that have water so there is no
difference in the seasons. I like the transition time in the fall at home where
you have the warm days and all the colors of the trees. One good thing is I
don't have to rake leaves. Well enough talking about leaves. I hope everything
is well at home. Everyone take care. Rob
November 13, 2005
Hello all. Still here. Not much going on. There have been a few changes as
suspected in the Ramadi area. There are some "special units" acting on "intel"
from other "special agencies" and they are rounding up bad guys and breaking
apart insurgent cells. They are doing a pretty good job from what we hear so
that will help. They are able to take the gloves off a little more than we as
conventional soldiers are, so they are more effective at getting the job done.
We just have to deal with the aftermath. We did hear some interesting things the
other day from an unknown source. Well, we do know who it is, but I can't say.
Most people will be able to figure it out. They get information from locals and
pay them for this information. Anyway, the majority of the fighters here are
Sunni Iraqis from the area. The amount of foreign fighters is down from the
start of this thing. The Sunnis are now conducting a true insurgency. They were
in power and now they are not and they do not want to lose their existing power.
The elections in December will give them some representation in the new
government. They will have a voice although it doesn't always seem like it. The
insurgent activity gets less and less as the months go by. They suspect things
will die down even more after the elections but the infighting will continue as
it has for thousands of years. Some Muslims here still do not like the west and
will continue to fight against us even after we are gone.
Another thing we learned was that much of the fighting here and bomb building is
about money. The average monthly income for an unmarried male in the area is $25
dollars. The insurgent cells will pay $25 dollars per IED they emplace and you
get a bonus if it hits the Coalition Forces. So why not take out the moneyman,
you ask. Because the amount of money coming in to fund the insurgency is
endless. As it was described to us, it is every Muslim's duty to protect his
brothers. Certain countries, that will remain nameless, continue to give money
to their fellow Muslims but still maintain that they are our close allies. So it
doesn't look like anything will change on that end for a while. Anyway, you all
probably were aware of this anyway but I though you might think it was
interesting. They shared some other pretty cool stuff with us but sorry can't
say.
Anyway, things are going. Still not my favorite place and I don't think I will
be vacationing here when it is all over. Nights are cool and the days are pretty
nice. It rained once otherwise it is always a beautiful blue sky. The nights are
clear and if you like to look at the stars this is the place to be. It's pretty
quiet at night except for the occasional explosion or two or three but for the
most part the bad guys like to sleep at night so sometime I go out on the roof
and look up at the stars. Then the mortars start falling so I go back inside.
Kidding… well not really but sort of. We are pretty safe here and they tell us
it is getting better. We are doing some good and that is probably hard to see at
home but good things are happening. The Ramadi area will probably be the last to
be cleaned up but it will happen and then the Iraqis will be able to fight for
themselves. I think everyone understands that this will happen. The only reason
it has been peaceful for so long is that Saddam ruled by terror.
The last thing I will leave you with is from the @#$ guys who have lived all
over the world. That is that we live in the best place in the world hands down.
No matter how bad things are we don't have anything like the people in these
other countries deal with. We may not like who the president is or how much we
pay in taxes or how much gas is but even among the developed countries we are in
far better shape than they are.
Well I should get back to work. I am covering for part of night shift so my day
started at 0530 and I will work until 9:30 at night. It will be a long day. Well
everyone take care I hope all is well for you. Can't wait to get home. Rob
November 29, 2005
Still here. Sorry it took so long to get the new update out. I know you all are
on the edge of your seats. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We had a
very traditional Thanksgiving meal of crab legs and lobster tails with prime
rib. I think there was some stuffing and other stuff to. We didn't call a time
out for the war or anything so for the most part it was just another day. The
food was good and everyone was in a pretty good mood. It is kind of funny; we
all miss our families and would much rather be home, but the people you are here
with really do become like family. You hear about all the strong bonds between
people from WWII and Vietnam but you really don't understand until you
experience it yourself. There are a lot of really good people over here.
Well things are changing over here. Things have quieted down a great deal. A new
unit has been moving through the bad areas and things seem to be getting better.
It is kind of weird because this new unit reports directly to the Division so we
don't hear how they are doing or what they are finding and if anyone has been
hurt. I guess no news is good news. They are doing a great job. Well things have
also been changing for me.
Apparently I have whined and complained enough about my desk job because I have
become a Company Commander. I am now in charge of 95 soldiers, their equipment,
planning and executing missions. No more desk job. I actually was asked if I
wanted to do it. The previous commander was removed and they needed someone to
take his place. I had met many of the soldiers in the company and knew they were
very good guys and they do an excellent job. I took the job so wish me luck. I
should have some good stories to share with everyone. Don't worry. I will be
careful. I can also kiss my cushy 12-hours-a-day schedule goodbye. I carry a
radio around everywhere I go and am always on call. The perks are that I am in
charge and I get to do the planning. I don't have to deal with the meatheads
above me too much. I also moved to a different building. I have my own room and
Internet access all to myself. I won't have as much time to read and write
emails but I have it.
December 16, 2005
Well my weekly update hasn't really been weekly lately but I am still here and
doing well. It has been a tough month so far. We lost our first soldier from the
Battalion the other day. We took it pretty hard but we have been very lucky so
far. Knock on wood! I also had two soldiers from my company get burned when an
explosive hit them. You might have seen the truck burning on Fox News. Oliver
North has been covering things in Ramadi. As a matter of fact I saw him tonight
in the chow hall. Little guy. Anyway my guys that got hurt are doing pretty
well. They got out before the whole thing went up. They are back in the states
and will probably sit the rest of this one out which is only fair.
On a positive note the elections were yesterday and they seemed to go very well.
Quick, funny story…We watch the election workers or some of them anyway and we
secure the ballot boxes. Well, the Iraqi soldiers were watching the election
workers at our base and some of the election workers were tampering with the
ballot boxes. The Iraqi soldiers caught them and they were going to shoot them
on the spot. We had to jump in and ease the situation. It all worked out in the
end but we must have taught them well because they are already trying to rig the
elections. Anyway things went pretty well here. The Iraqi officials wanted us to
stay away and let the local tribes handle security. We did and there were only a
few acts of violence mostly aimed at coalition forces doing normal patrols. The
turnout was much more than expected and some places did run out of ballots. We
are all hoping that the government will quickly organize and decide that they
don't need us here. I think it is realistic that they want us gone but they
still need the troops and the money we are supporting them with.
The new job is going well. I have a really good bunch of guys and they are good
soldiers. My new job takes me outside the wire more, but I feel pretty safe when
I am out there. I got to meet a Bedouin sheep herder the other day. He moves his
sheep and family around to where ever the grass is good. I have no clue what the
hell grass he was talking about and I grow grass. There is dirt, sand, rocks and
more sand. If it is green and in the desert, it is probably trash. I also met
with a sheik of a local tribe. Pretty arrogant guy and you can tell he is
playing both sides of the fence. Most people over here are. They don't want to
be associated with the American forces because the insurgents have threatened
them but they also know that when the violence ends we will leave. Like I said
in an earlier update, a good majority of the insurgents are locals. You can tell
from talking to the people that they have all these little fights among
themselves. One tribe or family doesn't like the other so they will say that one
of them is an insurgent and we go and arrest them and they say the other guy is
an insurgent. They probably both are but who knows. This is not one big happy
family over here. I think they all need some counseling. I say pull the troops
out and bring in Dr Phil! Hope that everyone will have a Merry Christmas and
Happy New Year. Take care Rob
January 3, 2006
Hello all as you can see I have changed from weekly update to just update. I
just don't get the time as much to sit back and write down all the things that
are happening to me and over here. Which is probably what I should be doing more
of since I get out and do and see more people. Things have been going pretty
well. It has been kind of slow. The December elections went smoothly for us
besides the possible voting fraud. I think now the people are just waiting for
the results. God only knows what will happen when the people get the results.
Things in Ramadi have remained about the same. We still have bad guys hanging
around. On a possible positive note numerous sheiks from the area had a meeting
the other day to try and get more involved with the police force and army in the
area. I say possible because there were also a few insurgent leaders there. The
local tribes and sheiks may be trying to get things turned around in the area or
they may be trying to start up there own militia. We will find out shortly. I
have met the main sheik that organized this meeting and he is probably playing
both sides of the fence. Corruption is a part of the society over here. It kind
of reminds me of The Godfather. The sheiks are like the mob bosses and they have
their thugs out doing their dirty work like selling gas on the black market or
smuggling weapons. That's how they make their money. Since most of the people
here are poor, if you need something you go to your sheik for help. They give
you a little money and in return you do favors like put out IEDs or take a few
shots at U.S. forces, hide stuff for them or report on what US forces do. It all
works out pretty nicely for them. For the most part I think the people would
like to be left alone. They like us being here because we protect them from
insurgent groups, but like many other people feel, if we weren't here would the
insurgents still be here? From what I see I would say yes. The people here are
easy marks. Whoever has the power will come in and push them around and
intimidate them and do what they want when they want. There is no law to
government/police/army to stop it from happening. Even when one is established I
think it will take a long time to get away from the corruption that is so
prevalent here. Like I have said before, all we can do is put them in a position
to try and get things worked out for themselves. Hopefully this meeting with the
sheiks will get them together and moving in the right direction.
Well that is enough rambling for the day. I hope that you all had a good
Christmas and a happy new year. I am looking forward to being home in Feb. Hope
to see you guys then. For now take care. Rob
January 23, 2006
Well I better write one of these before I go on leave to let you know how things
are going. I am fine and am looking forward to getting out of this place even if
it is only for a short time. Unfortunately it hasn't been that quiet over here
and the bad guys have not left yet. We are making progress with the people here
though. We take two steps forward and then the insurgents knock things back one
step. On the positive side, after the bombing at the police recruiting center in
Ramadi people got back in line to be screened and hired to be policemen. There
were over five hundred that showed up and they hired three hundred or more. The
people are willing to stand up and take charge of their own security. I hope.
They will be trained for 10 weeks as police cadets, then they will come back
here to start their duties. It will be a while before they will be able to do it
without us backing them but at least we have some hired. The last recruiting
event we had only six people showed up.
The Iraqi army is coming around and they have been doing a good job cleaning up
bad neighborhoods. You have probably heard it before, but we will clean up an
area and it will be secured for a while. Then we will move to a different area
and the bad guys will move right back in. We just don't have enough people to
stay in every place. We use the Iraqis for this, and when the police are ready
we will use them. The insurgents are definitely losing support but they are
still willing to attack and run and hide. They have been doing it for a long,
long time. Things continue to move slowly forward so eventually they will fail.
"That's about all I have to say about that" (Forrest Gump) I am extremely
excited to be getting out of this place. I don't care if it is fifty below and
miserable every day that I am home as long as I am not here it will be great. I
can't wait to see my family and friends. I leave here on the 1st of February and
it takes about 4-5 days to get home. Hopefully I will get to see most of you.
Well I better get some work done. Take care and see you soon.
February 28, 2006
Sorry to say I made it back but only after a two-day delay in Dallas. Apparently
all you have to do to stay out of Iraq for a couple of days is have the airport
lose your luggage. Well, unfortunately they found it and I was sent on the next
available plane. Sixteen hours of flying and I am back. They did not cancel the
war on account of me being gone so I guess I will be here for a little longer.
Rumors are all over as far as when we will be getting out of here. The recent
violence all over Iraq is not helping our case for getting out of here early. It
is just another ploy by the insurgents to stir things up and delay the formation
of the Iraqi government. The bad guys are very good at these types of things and
the majority of the population being poor and uneducated; they will believe
whatever they hear. So as always it was the Americans who bombed the Mosque. We
have been out in the communities asking them what they think happened and the
educated, wealthier people know it was the insurgents and the poorer people
think it was either us or the Shia. Again, Ramadi is mostly Sunni. Well, we
can't expect much. They have been battling each other for thousands of years.
Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and we can move forward. I do hope someone
will smack the crap out of the Iranian president though. He is not helping the
situation. I heard a funny joke the other day though. Bush has announced his
exit strategy… "We are leaving through Iran". Anyway, things haven't changed
much here. Ramadi is still Ramadi.
It was very nice being home and seeing so many of you guys and sorry I wasn't
able to see everyone on this now pretty extensive list. I hope all is well with
you guys and I will keep up the updates. Hope to see you soon. Take care.
March 18, 2006
Since there is so much stuff going on in and around Iraq I thought I would give
you an update. First of all, I am fine. Nothing too far out of the ordinary
happening around here. On a good note, they have announced to us that we will be
leaving Iraq around the beginning of June. (Don't tell the Bad Guys). That
should put me home around the end of June. I really hope to be home before the
4th of July. Subject to change of course. That would put us on par with everyone
else meaning they serve about 11 months in country. Well either way, it gives us
all a little light at the end of the tunnel. Getting back to Iraq… not much in
this area as far as the violence. Like I have said before, it is mostly Sunni
here so there isn't a lot of Shia to try and kill. A great deal of these
killings are stemming from the fact that they don't like each other and haven't
for thousands of years. Some of them are reprisals for the years when Saddam was
in power and some are just power struggles within families, tribes and villages.
They already have their own gangs set up. A lot of this has to do with the
bombing of the sacred Shia temples but it might not have even been the Sunnis
who did it. The insurgents are working to make sure that the newly forming
government fails because then they will win. The insurgents are very smart and
they know how to get others to do the work for them. In Baghdad, where there is
a mix of religions and sects, they just create a little friction between the two
and let them start fighting each other. The political parties will blindly stand
behind their own people and point fingers at the other. Sounds familiar. They
aren't looking far enough ahead to a unified Iraq. It may never happen in our
lifetime because it is such a foreign concept. They have no idea what it is like
to live where one set of people doesn't have absolute power over the other. Most
of the people I get to talk to will just keep their mouth shut and wait to see
who will be next in charge. All they want to do is raise sheep. I am totally
convinced that the reason that a lot of the people here have not evolved out of
the Stone Age (except for satellite TV hooked up in the mud hut) is that they
have nothing to lose when the next guy steps up into power. They have nothing
that the leaders would want except for their loyalty, which they easily get by
threatening them (a concept that has been employed here for centuries). Anyway,
enough preaching; you probably have your own opinion about this place and the
war. I think everyone is in agreement that it could have been done a little
better. Around here the insurgents are targeting the new police recruits. We are
having pretty good success hiring police here and shipping them off for
training. The bad guys have been targeting the police stations with suicide
bombs. My company does a lot of the force protection around these places. If we
build a bigger wall they build bigger bombs. The police are doing a pretty good
job hanging in there. The Iraq army guys that I work with are coming along
pretty well. They do a pretty good job and are starting to act like real
soldiers. The problem is that the upper echelon guys are old school and slow to
change. They are very short sighted and can't plan a trip to the bathroom. That
is true literally, but that is another story. All right, I think I have written
enough. I think you guys can figure out the rest. I will give you the "Iraq for
Dummies" scorecard: Insurgents bad, Iraqis scared, Iraqi army getting better and
police being blown up a lot.
April 16, 2006
Happy Easter everyone. Hopefully this will be the last major holiday I spend
outside the U.S. Sorry I haven't written in a while but things have been pretty
busy around here. My guys are all still doing well and not much has changed with
the missions we do. As we get closer to getting out of here, things will get
even busier for us. Since the new set of Marines has taken over, it has gotten a
little dicey for them. They are going into places that haven't really been
visited too much by us. They are doing a good job but it is at a price. You have
probably seen or heard about it in the news. Once again, to correct the news;
the Government Center in Ar Ramadi hasn't been overthrown. It just gets attacked
every once in a while or maybe a few times a week. It is all a blur to me. It is
pretty well defended and the insurgents take a few inaccurate shots and run
away. They are pretty good at video taping themselves during attacks. They must
edit the piece out where they get chased out of town by a helicopter or F18
Hornet. We have not seen too much of the sect killings that they have in
Baghdad. We did have one incident but not too much otherwise. You think we have
race relation problems in the United States? Say the wrong thing over here and
wham-oh, it's off to see Allah! We are still working with the Iraqi army and
they are doing pretty well. They haven't shot each other in a few weeks. They
do, however, have a problem with the dogs in the neighborhoods. Apparently the
Sunni/Shia thing must happen with dogs also because the Sunni dogs don't like
the Shia soldiers and the dogs usually lose that one. The dogs leave the U.S.
guys alone pretty much. They understand "come one step closer and it's going to
be a bad day for you" must be universal dog language or something. The people
here haven't changed. Having a new government probably will not affect them
much. They will still be led by those that intimidate them. Being Sunni, they
will resent anything that government puts in place. That is if they can get one
in place. The propaganda operation by the insurgents is pretty good. Most of the
people are uneducated and will believe anything they hear. In our area the
Coalition Forces are rumored to be responsible for blowing up a doctor’s clinic
that we planned, financed and hired local contractors to build. It was about 90%
complete before we decided to blow it up. Well, that is what some of the locals
have been told. We didn't in case anyone is wondering. Otherwise we keep
trucking along. Everyday gone is one day closer to home. I can't wait. Until
then, everyone be safe and take care.
“You wake up and do the same thing everyday with the
exception that sometimes people shoot at you and sometimes they try to blow you
up. It changes things up a little and keeps everyone on their toes.”
May 14, 2006
Hello all. All is well in Iraq. Well that isn't really true but it sounds good.
Another month has gone bye and there isn't a whole lot to say. After a while
here it gets to be like the movie Ground Hog Day. You wake up and do the same
thing everyday with the exception that sometimes people shoot at you and
sometimes they try to blow you up. It changes things up a little and keeps
everyone on their toes. We have been pretty steady with our regular missions and
have increased with some of the building and fortifying missions. I don't know
if I ever explained that or not but my company does a few things. We patrol a
large section of highway and then we also have heavy engineer equipment like
bulldozers and loaders. I have guys that run the equipment and they are kept
extremely busy. Every time the bad guys blow something up we go and repair it as
best as we can. We also do a lot of force protection things like put up barriers
or build fighting positions. Anything we can do to keep the soldiers safe from
bullets and bombs. We also do missions to interact with the local people.
Sometimes we go by ourselves and sometimes we take some Iraqi soldiers with us.
I can't say all the stuff we do but sometimes it gets interesting and sometimes
you just get hot. Speaking of which, we hit 100 degrees again and it is only mid
May. I am glad I will be out of here before it gets really hot again. I will
take the cold winters any day over the heat. No wonder the people are in such a
bad mood. I think they are all fighting for the air conditioners. Here is
another little story to show how corrupt some of the people can be. Last month a
high-ranking Iraqi officer was caught stealing air conditioners from the huts
and buildings that the Iraqi soldiers live in. Apparently he was bringing them
to Baghdad and selling them. Now there is a guy that you want leading troops.
Like I said before in one of the updates… the younger guys do pretty well
leading troops while the older guys that have seen all the corruption just fall
in line and continue the chain. It is really the norm over here. Hopefully
someday they will get tired of it all and figure it out for themselves or they
may be watching some of the politicians in the US and figure out if they can do
it so can we. Well I guess I did have some stuff to say. I am really looking
forward to getting home and living the American dream. We have it so good at
home. Unless you have been in a place like this it is impossible to know how
good we have it. Well I may do one more of these things before I leave just to
sum things up. I appreciate all the support from home. I hope to see you all
when I get back. Take it easy.
(Editor's Note: Rob is safely back in Minnesota)
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